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‘Spamouflage’ campaign targeting Trudeau, MPs linked to China: Global Affairs Canada

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 17:42:24 GMT

OTTAWA — Global Affairs Canada says there’s a social media campaign connected to the People’s Republic of China is targeting dozens of MPs with spam. The department says a bot network known as “Spamouflage” began spreading propaganda and disinformation messages across Facebook and X in early August. Global Affairs says the bot network left thousands of comments in English and French on the accounts of MPs claiming a critic of the Chinese Communist Party in Canada accused the various MPs of criminal and ethical violations.It says the messages appeared across the political spectrum, even appearing on the accounts of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre and several members of cabinet. The same bot networks spread disinformation claiming that the Hawaiian wildfires were caused by a secret U.S. military “weather weapon,” and have been connected to disinformation about Japan’s Fukushima water release in August.The department...

S&P/TSX composite up in late-morning trading, U.S. stock markets also rise

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 17:42:24 GMT

TORONTO — Utility and telecommunications stocks helped lift Canada’s main stock index in late-morning trading, while U.S. stock markets also moved higher.The S&P/TSX composite index was up 20.67 points at 19,136.31.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 38.15 points at 33,165.43. The S&P 500 index was up 11.79 points at 4,235.95, while the Nasdaq composite was up 65.51 points at 13,049.32.The Canadian dollar traded for 73.09 cents US compared with 73.02 cents US on Friday.The December crude contract was down 66 cents at US$87.42 per barrel and the December natural gas contract was up two cents at US$3.28 per mmBTU.The December gold contract was down US$5.30 at US$1,989.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was up a penny at US$3.57 a pound.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)The Canadian Press

Man who took guns to Wisconsin Capitol while seeking governor says he wanted to talk, not harm

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 17:42:24 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The armed man who twice went to the Wisconsin state Capitol looking for Gov. Tony Evers said Monday that he had no intention of hurting anyone, has moved out of state, and does not want to go anywhere near the governor.Joshua Pleasnick went to the Capitol on Oct. 4, with a loaded handgun in a holster, demanding to speak with Evers. The governor was not in the building at the time. Pleasnick was arrested and after posting bail he returned that night to the Capitol with a semi-automatic rifle and a baton hidden in his backpack. He again demanded to talk to Evers but the building was closed and he was arrested again. Pleasnick was charged with a misdemeanor for openly carrying a gun in a public building. He was released on bond on Friday.Pleasnick on Monday, in a telephone interview, said he has moved to Nebraska to live with family because the incident in Wisconsin made him unemployable, he’s homeless, has no money and his “reputation was completely ruined b...

2 New York hospitals resume admitting emergency patients after cyberattack

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 17:42:24 GMT

KINGSTON, N.Y. (AP) — Two New York hospitals that were hit with a cyberattack have resumed admitting emergency patients after shutting down their computer systems to investigate, hospital officials said.Ambulances were diverted from HealthAlliance Hospital in Kingston and the affiliated Margaretville Hospital in Margaretville last week due to a cyberattack, which hit those two facilities as well as Mountainside Residential Care Center, a skilled nursing facility.The ambulance diversion ended Saturday night and the hospitals resumed admitting patients, hospital officials said.Emergency stroke patients will still temporarily be taken to other area hospitals, the officials said.The Westchester Medical Center Health Network, which runs the three facilities, said in a statement that the network’s IT experts shut down computer systems at the facilities Friday night and then started them back up, a process that is ongoing.“I want to applaud everyone at HealthAlliance Hospital, Margar...

Better data, management of water needed for Canada’s agri-food sector: report

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 17:42:24 GMT

OTTAWA — The Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute is recommending that governments across the country develop a national plan to sustainably manage and use water for the agri-food sector.In a report released Monday, the institute called for ambitious commitments from governments and partnerships with stakeholders to prioritize the critical natural resource.“Water is a strategic asset for Canada, and an increasingly critical and important one,” said Tyler McCann, CAPI managing director and report co-author.“We need to do a better job understanding its value, understanding that it’s an asset that can and should be leveraged, but an asset that also needs to be conserved and managed.”The report calls water “the challenge of the 21st century.” “The urgency of the need to produce more food, more sustainably, while adapting the food system to extreme weather and climate change should be felt by governments, farmers, food processors and everyone that is involved in the food system from...

Oaktree Capital Management investing $150 million Aecon Utilities

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 17:42:24 GMT

TORONTO — Aecon Group Inc. has signed a deal that will see Oaktree Capital Management LP invest $150 million in the company’s utility infrastructure services business.Under the agreement, Oaktree will acquire a 27.5 per cent stake in Aecon Utilities through a convertible preferred equity investment.Aecon chief executive Jean-Louis Servranckx says the investment will accelerate growth in the business and strengthen Aecon’s balance sheet.Aecon will own a 72.5 per cent stake in Aecon Utilities once the deal closes.The conversion value of the investment implies a $750-million enterprise value for Aecon Utilities.Aecon shares, which were halted pending the announcement of the deal, were up 78 cents at $11.19 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Monday morning.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:ARE)The Canadian Press

Ontario NDP MPP Sarah Jama removed from caucus

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 17:42:24 GMT

Marit Stiles, leader of Ontario’s NDP, announced that MPP Sarah Jama has been removed from caucus in the wake of a controversial social media post she made about the Israel-Hamas war.Stiles issued a statement on Monday confirming Jama’s departure. “In our caucus, there is room for different viewpoints, even dissenting ones. But that is based on the foundational principles of trust and working together as a team,” Stiles wrote.“Ms. Jama and I had reached an agreement to keep her in the NDP Caucus, which included working together in good faith with no surprises. Our caucus and staff have made significant efforts to support her during an undoubtedly difficult time.”On Oct. 10, Jama, the MPP for Hamilton Centre, posted a two-paragraph statement under Ontario NDP letterhead that made no mention of the surprise attack by Hamas. Related: MPPs debate whether to censure Sarah Jama for statement on Israel-Hamas war NDP M...

Orbán blasts the European Union on the anniversary of Hungary’s 1956 anti-Soviet uprising

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 17:42:24 GMT

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Prime Minister Viktor Orbán compared Hungary’s membership in the European Union to more than four decades of Soviet occupation of his country during a speech on Monday commemorating the anniversary of Hungary’s 1956 anti-Soviet revolution. Speaking to a select group of guests in the city of Veszprem, Orbán accused the EU of seeking to strip Hungary of its identity by imposing a model of liberal democracy that he said Hungarians reject. Brussels, the de facto capital of the EU, employs methods against Hungary that hearken back to the days of Soviet domination by Moscow, he said. “Today, things pop up that remind us of the Soviet times. Yes, it happens that history repeats itself,” Orbán said at the event, from which all media were excluded except Hungary’s state media. “Fortunately, what once was tragedy is now a comedy at best. Fortunately, Brussels is not Moscow. Moscow was a tragedy. Brussels is just a bad contemporary parody.”The Oct. 23...

Georgetown coach Tasha Butts dies after 2-year battle with breast cancer

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 17:42:24 GMT

Georgetown women’s basketball coach Tasha Butts died Monday after a two-year battle with breast cancer, the school’s athletic director said.The 41-year-old coach was diagnosed with advanced stage breast cancer in 2021. She stepped away from coaching Georgetown last month. Her diagnosis inspired the Tasha Tough campaign which has brought awareness and raised money to bring quality care to women who can’t afford it through the Kay Yow Cancer Fund.“I am heartbroken for Tasha’s family, friends, players, teammates and colleagues,” said Georgetown athletic director Lee Reed. “When I met Tasha, I knew she was a winner on the court, and an incredible person whose drive, passion and determination was second to none. She exhibited these qualities both as a leader and in her fight against breast cancer. This is a difficult time for the entire Georgetown community, and we will come together to honor her memory.”She came to Georgetown from Georgia Tech this past April after a long co...

Even with carbon emissions cuts, a key part of Antarctica is doomed to slow collapse, study says

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 17:42:24 GMT

No matter how much the world cuts back on carbon emissions, a key and sizable chunk of Antarctica is essentially doomed to an “unavoidable” melt, a new study found.Though the full melt will take hundreds of years, slowly adding nearly 6 feet (1.8 meters) to sea levels, it will be enough to reshape where and how people live in the future, the study’s lead author said.Researchers used computer simulations to calculate future melting of protective ice shelves jutting over Antarctica’s Amundsen Sea in western Antarctica. The study in Monday’s journal Nature Climate Change found even if future warming was limited to just a few tenths of a degree more – an international goal that many scientists say is unlikely to be met – it would have “limited power to prevent ocean warming that could lead to the collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.”“Our main question here was: How much control do we still have over ice shelf melting? How much melting can still be prevented by reducing emissions?” ...