With calls for change of one kind or another continuing to emerge, Canada's Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) is still weighing up its future in the country. Among the questions being asked are whether the organisation should be withdrawn from small communities in order to focus on larger issues and whether the Federal mandate continues to be appropriate. Although the organisation may have to consider fundamental change in order to survive, many suggest that improving the ways things are currently being done may be the better option. Meanwhile, another argument suggests that there should be a new approach to federal financing of provincial and municipal policing, with more cash being given to communities to ensure adequate policing in rural and remote areas. Regardless of what happens, it seems police forces will have to adapt to an evolving landscape of social and mental-health services as well as the need to break down silos between different government-funded services.
A second arson attack on a business in the St-Laurent borough of Montreal is being investigated by the police, this time involving the throwing of more than one incendiary device. A spokesperson for the police states that one device has been recovered and this attack follows one earlier this month on May 7. No injuries have been reported, but the shop has suffered serious damage from the sprinkler system. Montreal is reportedly experiencing a wave of arson attacks that are apparently linked to extortion attempts.
Former UK Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, has announced he is to stand down from parliament at the next election, citing mounting concerns over the pressure of the job on his family. The move comes a month after Raab quit his position in Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Cabinet over accusations of bullying by civil servants, claims which Raab fiercely denied. With Raab's constituency among the top targets for the Liberal Democrats in the election, he had faced an uphill battle to hold on, having won the seat by a slim margin of 2,743 votes at the 2019 election. Raab's departure is the latest in a string of withdrawals by prominent Conservative MPs; the former cabinet ministers Sajid Javid and George Eustice have both confirmed they will leave, along with younger MPs, Chloe Smith and William Wragg.
A US appeals court has overturned a decision in Nevada that labelled longstanding legislation as racist and unconstitutional. Section 1326 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which outlaws returning to the US after being deported, was deemed discriminatory against Latinos by a federal judge in the state in 2019. The ruling was a blow to campaigners who had hoped for changes to immigration law, but the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has now reversed that judgment, ruling the law "is facially neutral as to race".
TikTok has sued Montana, claiming the state's ban on the social media platform is unconstitutional and violates freedom of speech. Beijing-headquartered ByteDance's video-sharing app argues its users' data is secure and has not and would not be ceded to the Chinese government. The lawsuit follows one filed last week by five TikTok content creators, who said the state had no authority to intervene on national security matters. The law, signed by Montana governor Greg Gianforte last week, takes effect on 1 January 2022. Half of US states have already prohibited TikTok use on government-owned devices.
Ontario Provincial Police are investigating a suspected double homicide in Pembroke, Canada, that happened early in the morning of May 22. A third person was also found with life-threatening injuries and remains in hospital. The police believe the victims were targeted and are urging the public to be vigilant and report any suspicious activity in the area. The investigation is in the early stages, and residents should expect a significant police presence.
The Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador has called for the resignation of a Quebec government representative after he alleged that Indigenous women had invented stories of being sexually assaulted by local police officers. Pierre Dufour made the accusations during a city council meeting in Val d’Or last week, upsetting First Nations representatives and bringing back to light a 2015 Radio-Canada investigation which focused on widespread physical and sexual assaults against women in the province. Dufour, who has apologised for his comments, is a member of the Coalition Avenir Quebec party.
The record fine imposed on Facebook's parent company Meta by European regulators serves as a warning to businesses that transfer individuals' data across borders. The €1.2bn ($2bn) fine was made by Ireland's Data Protection Commission at the request of the European Protection Board for Meta's inadequate protection of user data transferred from Europe to the US. Europe has the toughest data privacy legislation globally, enforced via its General Data Protection Regulation law. US social media companies have accumulated large fines, including Amazon's €746m ($1.24bn) 2021 penalty for alleged misuse of data. Meta has previously been fined €1.3bn for related breaches. The EU and US are working towards a new data privacy regime potentially in July 2022, guaranteeing privacy protection for data stored and transferred in the US. Without a new agreement, companies operating “data for service” models may be unable to collect or hold data on Europeans.
E. Jean Carroll, who won a $7.4m in a sexual assault lawsuit against former US president Donald Trump earlier this month, is seeking additional damages over comments he made in response to that verdict. Appearing in a one-hour town hall broadcast by CNN, Trump repeated his claim that Carroll had manufactured the assault story. Despite a photograph from the 1990s showing him with her, Trump insisted he had never met her and dismissed her allegations as “hanky-panky”. Carroll's new legal filing seeks an amendment to a case filed against Trump in 2019, arguing that his continued comments demonstrate that he was “undeterred by the jury's verdict” and had persisted in defaming her. Trump is also under investigation in relation to allegations of election interference and mishandling classified data.
Readers of The Sydney Morning Herald have responded positively to an article by former ABC journalist Stuart Littlemore and screenwriter David Salter, which criticised the broadcaster for bias in its news coverage. One correspondent wrote that they wanted a media organisation where "journalists provide details with objectivity, where presenters present without bias or favour and where egos are left at the front door." Another queried why the ABC has allowed high-profile presenters to be political activists on the channel, pointing out that other public broadcasters, such as the BBC or America's PBS/NPR, would not do so.
Another correspondent called on the police to improve their de-escalation and violence prevention management training in light of the case of 95-year-old Clare Nowland, who was tasered. In a separate set of letters, readers criticised the Australian Defence Force over a toxic chemical spill, and voiced concerns about the country’s policies towards transgender people.
A federal judge has temporarily blocked a Mississippi supreme court justice from appointing judges in the majority-black capital city of Jackson and Hinds County, prompting a legal challenge from the NAACP. The civil rights organisation alleges that the appointment law, signed by Governor Tate Reeves in April, creates unequal treatment of Jackson and Hinds County compared with the rest of the state. The law would expand state policing in Jackson, and permit the state Chief Justice to appoint four judges to work alongside the elected circuit court judges in Hinds Country until 2026.
The EU and Apple are appearing in front of the European Court of Justice today, with officials defending the revocation of Apple's license to trade in Ireland in 2016. The Commission argued the company exploited Irish corporation tax laws to avoid paying billions of euros in taxes between 2003 and 2014. In 2020, the EU General Court overturned the Commission's case, stating that the EU had failed to show Apple had gained an illegal advantage, but this case is now being appealed. The hearing is expected to last three days with a verdict in around three to six months.
Police in Chilliwack issue shelter-in-place alert for residents near Skowkale
The Toronto Star
23-05-23 04:46
Police in Chilliwack, British Columbia are dealing with an "active, ongoing, high-risk police incident" in the 46-thousand block of Knight Road. Residents in the area have been warned to shelter in place, and police are asking the public not to report police movements on social media. Further details have not been released.
Hungary's talks with Brussels to release nearly a third of its EU funding have progressed swiftly, according to János Bóka, Hungary’s EU negotiator and junior justice minister. Political tensions and state reforms had frozen funds for over a decade but the country adopted a justice reform that fulfilled preconditions for nearly €13bn under the cohesion policy. The remaining funds are unlikely to be granted due to unresolved ideological differences over reforms on academic freedoms, LGBTQ rights and asylum rules. To access a share of its regular cohesion funds and €12.4bn worth of loans and grants from the post-pandemic recovery fund, Hungary requires transparency and accountability guarantees and further measures against corruption and embezzlement.
