World

Ford: Canada police probe Doug Ford land deal

Published

7 months ago

2023-10-16

The RCMP, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, has initiated a criminal investigation into a land transaction that Premier Doug Ford and his administration facilitated.

The Greenbelt land transfer aimed to facilitate the development of portions of an ecologically protected region near Toronto.

A September ethics report determined that Mr. Ford’s administration “favoured certain developers” in the transaction, which led to its cancellation.

According to Mr. Ford, the government will “fully cooperate” with the authorities.

The RCMP announced the criminal investigation about the Greenbelt agreement on Tuesday. It will be handled by the Sensitive and International Investigations unit of the federal police force, which conducts political investigations involving fraud, corruption, and breach of trust.

The statement further stated that to guarantee a “fair and proper” resolution, it would not divulge any additional information regarding the investigation’s characteristics.

“While we recognise that this investigation is of significant interest to Canadians, the RCMP has a duty to protect the integrity of the investigations that it carries out,” Cpl Christy Veenstra added in a statement.

Canada police probe Doug Ford land deal.

It is the most recent development in a political scandal involving the Ontario government’s proposal to open up 3,000 hectares of the Greenbelt, which stretches from Peterborough to Niagara Falls and is a protected territory encircling the Greater Toronto Area.

Ford, a Progressive Conservative, had previously made a solemn commitment to refrain from activities on the Greenbelt after his inauguration in 2018.

However, after his re-election in 2022, he recanted his pledge and asserted that the Greenbelt’s opening is imperative to facilitate the construction of additional dwellings in Ontario, where the housing crisis is escalating.

In contrast, authorities have asserted that sufficient land is available for development beyond the Greenbelt’s protected areas, comprising wetlands, forests, and agriculture. Moreover, environmental advocates vehemently opposed the proposal.

Subsequent news investigations unveiled that significant portions of the land involved in the transaction are under the ownership of developers who make substantial contributions to the Progressive Conservative party in Ontario. Furthermore, it was discovered that some of these developers had acquired the land after Mr. Ford assumed office.

Inviting one of the developers to attend the matrimonial rites of Mr. Ford’s daughter in 2022 has prompted inquiries regarding the deal’s potential involvement in conflicts of interest.

Canada police probe Doug Ford land deal.

In response to the revelations, the opposition New Democratic Party in Ontario demanded a formal investigation into the transaction to determine who stands to benefit if the land is made available for development and whether specific developers were informed beforehand.

Two investigations conducted in August—one by the integrity commissioner and one by Ontario’s auditor general—determined that the Greenbelt agreement resulted from a “biassed” process influenced by senior political staff who favored particular developers.

Additionally, they discovered that the fresh-to-be-developed land could increase the proprietors’ net worth by over C$8.3 billion ($6.11 billion; £4.97 billion).

Steve Clark, the housing minister of Ontario, and Ryan Amato, his former chief of staff, both tendered their resignations in early September in response to the revelations. According to the investigations, Mr. Amato was instrumental in the Greenbelt proposal.

After the development mentioned above, Kaleed Rasheed, a minister, tendered his resignation in late September after media reports exposing his concurrent visit to Las Vegas with a developer who stood to gain financially from the Greenbelt agreement.

Mr. Ford renounced the Greenbelt plan the following day, on September 21, and apologized for breaching his prior commitment to prevent the development of environmentally protected land.

“We moved too quickly and we made the wrong decision,” he commented. “This process allowed an excessive amount of advantage to accrue to a select few at the expense of others.” It prompted individuals to doubt our intentions.

Bonnie Lysyk, Ontario’s auditor general, communicated her findings with police as part of the investigation to determine whether a criminal investigation was warranted.

Mr. Ford has maintained that there was no illicit activity. His office announced on Tuesday that he intends to cooperate completely with the investigation.

Mr. Ford’s office issued the following statement to the media: “We have zero tolerance for any wrongdoing and expect all parties involved in the decision-making process regarding the Greenbelt lands to have adhered to the letter of the law.”

While the precise details of the RCMP’s investigation into the transaction remain undisclosed, prior police inquiries into legislators from Ontario have led to criminal prosecution and incarceration.

SOURCE – (BBC)

World

Messi Plays Through A Scare, Inter Miami Rallies Past Montreal 3-2 For Fifth Straight Win

Published

21 hours ago

2024-05-12

Kiara Grace

AP News - VOR News Image

MONTREAL — Lionel Messi played the entire game despite a first-half injury scare, Benjamin Cremaschi broke a tie in the 59th minute, and Inter Miami rallied from a two-goal deficit to defeat Montreal 3-2 on Saturday night, its fifth consecutive Major League Soccer victory.

Luis Suarez scored his 11th goal of the season for Inter Miami, while Matías Rojas scored from a free kick. Montreal (3-5-3) got goals from Jules-Anthony Vilsaint and Bryce Duke.

AP – VOR News Image

Messi Plays Through A Scare, Inter Miami Rallies Past Montreal 3-2 For Fifth Straight Win

Inter Miami (8-2-3) extended its unbeaten record to seven games (5-0-2) despite Lionel failing to score or assist for the first time in nine MLS appearances this season. Inter Miami is 7-0-2 in those nine games, with one loss coming against Montreal in March when Lionel did not participate.

Playing in Canada for the first time, Lionel abandoned the game late in the first half due to a problem with his left knee caused by defender George Campbell’s foul. The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner as the world’s best player collapsed immediately, clutching his knee and moaning in agony.

Inter Miami’s medical personnel entered the field to treat Messi, who stood up after around two minutes and headed to the Miami sideline. He was not subbed out, allowing him to return moments later.

AP – VOR News Image

Messi Plays Through A Scare, Inter Miami Rallies Past Montreal 3-2 For Fifth Straight Win

And for some reason, the match shifted at that moment.

Inter Miami was behind 2-0 when Messi was injured; when he returned, the score was 2-1, and it was tied moments later. Rojas scored on a free kick that Messi would normally take to put Inter Miami up, and Suarez added a goal from a corner kick late in the first-half stoppage time.

Suarez became the third player in MLS history to score 11 goals in his first 800 minutes of the season, following Mamadou Diallo (11 in 2000) and Ola Kamara (11 in 2021).

The game-winning goal occurred when Rojas threw a ball into open space, and Cremaschi ran it down. Then, he made a second attempt to nudge the ball just clear of two defenders and into the net for a 3-2 advantage. Messi had two final-minute chances to extend the lead, which he missed narrowly.

AP – VOR News Image

Messi Plays Through A Scare, Inter Miami Rallies Past Montreal 3-2 For Fifth Straight Win

Inter Miami was met by hundreds of fans when it arrived at its hotel Friday night, and Montreal, thanks in part to Messi’s signing with Major League Soccer last summer, sold out its 15,000 season tickets for the first time since joining in 2012. Messi has scored in 31 nations.

The match drew an announced sellout crowd of 19,619 spectators, including one dressed in a Messi tracksuit and sporting a goat mask in tribute to Messi’s status as the Greatest of All Time.

SOURCE – (AP)

World

Taizhou Zoo in China Slammed Over Panda Dogs

Published

3 days ago

2024-05-10

Geoff Thomas

A zoo in China has been accused of attempting to trick visitors over dog pandas by dyeing two dogs black and white to resemble panda bears. Videos circulating on Chinese social media show the two “panda dogs” at an exhibit at Taizhou Zoo, in the eastern province of Jiangsu, which opened on May 1.

Though the dog pandas are designed to resemble pandas, which are unique to China and an iconic symbol of the country, their swinging tails reveal their identity.

Zoo administrators claimed Chinese state media that they were Chow Chows, a fluffy dog breed native to northern China, painted black and white to resemble gigantic pandas, and that they had explicitly sold them as “panda dogs” without making any misleading claims.

The dogs are still at the zoo, officials told NBC News by phone on Friday, and the number of people visiting them is “at a normal level.”

Despite the fact that the zoo does not have real pandas, state media and others have attacked it for misleading visitors and mistreating the dogs.

“It is not funny at all to dye Chow Chow dogs to attract tourists,” one Weibo user said. “Their fragile skin and naturally thick coats make them susceptible to skin diseases.”

Zoo administrators defended the exhibit, claiming that the dogs were unharmed.

“Normal people dye their hair,” a spokesman told NBC News. “Dogs can also dye their hair. It is the same as hair.

In 2019, a dog cafe in the southern province of Sichuan prompted animal rights issues with its six Chow Chows that had also been dyed to resemble bears.

In 2020, in the same province, a “panda” walked by a woman in a viral video was discovered to be a dyed Chow Chow.

Other Chinese zoos have also been accused of keeping phony animals, usually dogs disguised as wolves or African cats.

After a video showing one of its Malayan sun bears standing like a person went viral in July, a zoo in the eastern province of Zhejiang denied that the bears were humanoid.

Experts refuted the story, and the zoo stated that a person wearing a fur suit would not be able to tolerate such hot summer conditions.

Science

Strong Solar Storm Could Disrupt Communications And Produce Northern Lights In US

Published

3 days ago

2024-05-10

Kiara Grace

CAPE Florida’s Cape Coral — This weekend, a very powerful solar storm approaching Earth may cause communications outages and cause the northern lights to appear in the United States.

For the first time in almost 20 years, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a rare geomagnetic storm watch. The entire weekend is under scrutiny, beginning on Friday.

VOR News Image

Strong Solar Storm Could Disrupt Communications And Produce Northern Lights In US

According to NOAA, the sun started to create powerful solar flares on Wednesday, which led to five plasma explosions that might have disrupted Earth’s power infrastructures and satellites in orbit. A coronal mass ejection, or eruption, can produce billions of tons of solar plasma.

The flares appear to be connected to a sunspot that is 16 times the diameter of Earth, which is why NOAA is classifying this as an uncommon occurrence. In 2003, a strong geomagnetic storm destroyed power transformers in South Africa and knocked out power in Sweden.

VOR News Image

Strong Solar Storm Could Disrupt Communications And Produce Northern Lights In US

According to NOAA, the most recent storm may cause northern lights as far south as Alabama and Northern California in the United States.

An amazing natural occurrence is the aurora borealis, sometimes known as the northern lights. The night sky in Earth’s polar regions is home to these vibrant, dancing lights. When charged solar particles clash with atmospheric gasses, these lights are created.

VOR News Image

Strong Solar Storm Could Disrupt Communications And Produce Northern Lights In US

Though the lights are usually observed in green, pink, and violet hues, they can occasionally be seen in other colors as well. Countless people travel to locations like Alaska, Canada, and Scandinavia every year to see this amazing show in person since it is such a stunning sight.

SOURCE – (AP)