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By ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — President-elect Donald Trump promised on Tuesday to “vigorously pursue” capital punishment after President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of most people on federal death row partly to stop Trump from pushing forward their executions. Trump criticized Biden’s decision on Monday to change the sentences of 37 of the 40 condemned people to life in prison without parole, arguing that it was senseless and insulted the families of their victims. Biden said converting their punishments to life imprisonment was consistent with the moratorium imposed on federal executions in cases other than terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder. “Joe Biden just commuted the Death Sentence on 37 of the worst killers in our Country,” he wrote on his social media site. “When you hear the acts of each, you won’t believe that he did this. Makes no sense. Relatives and friends are further devastated. They can’t believe this is happening!” Presidents historically have no involvement in dictating or recommending the punishments that federal prosecutors seek for defendants in criminal cases, though Trump has long sought more direct control over the Justice Department’s operations. The president-elect wrote that he would direct the department to pursue the death penalty “as soon as I am inaugurated,” but was vague on what specific actions he may take and said they would be in cases of “violent rapists, murderers, and monsters.” He highlighted the cases of two men who were on federal death row for slaying a woman and a girl, had admitted to killing more and had their sentences commuted by Biden. On the campaign trail, Trump often called for expanding the federal death penalty — including for those who kill police officers, those convicted of drug and human trafficking, and migrants who kill U.S. citizens. “Trump has been fairly consistent in wanting to sort of say that he thinks the death penalty is an important tool and he wants to use it,” said Douglas Berman, an expert on sentencing at Ohio State University’s law school. “But whether practically any of that can happen, either under existing law or other laws, is a heavy lift.” Berman said Trump’s statement at this point seems to be just a response to Biden’s commutation. “I’m inclined to think it’s still in sort of more the rhetoric phase. Just, ‘don’t worry. The new sheriff is coming. I like the death penalty,’” he said. Most Americans have historically supported the death penalty for people convicted of murder, according to decades of annual polling by Gallup, but support has declined over the past few decades. About half of Americans were in favor in an October poll, while roughly 7 in 10 Americans backed capital punishment for murderers in 2007. Before Biden’s commutation, there were 40 federal death row inmates compared with more than 2,000 who have been sentenced to death by states. “The reality is all of these crimes are typically handled by the states,” Berman said. A question is whether the Trump administration would try to take over some state murder cases, such as those related to drug trafficking or smuggling. He could also attempt to take cases from states that have abolished the death penalty. Berman said Trump’s statement, along with some recent actions by states, may present an effort to get the Supreme Court to reconsider a precedent that considers the death penalty disproportionate punishment for rape. “That would literally take decades to unfold. It’s not something that is going to happen overnight,” Berman said. Before one of Trump’s rallies on Aug. 20, his prepared remarks released to the media said he would announce he would ask for the death penalty for child rapists and child traffickers. But Trump never delivered the line. One of the men Trump highlighted on Tuesday was ex-Marine Jorge Avila Torrez, who was sentenced to death for killing a sailor in Virginia and later pleaded guilty to the fatal stabbing of an 8-year-old and a 9-year-old girl in a suburban Chicago park several years before. Related Articles The other man, Thomas Steven Sanders, was sentenced to death for the kidnapping and slaying of a 12-year-old girl in Louisiana, days after shooting the girl’s mother in a wildlife park in Arizona. Court records show he admitted to both killings. Some families of victims expressed anger with Biden’s decision, but the president had faced pressure from advocacy groups urging him to make it more difficult for Trump to increase the use of capital punishment for federal inmates. The ACLU and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops were some of the groups that applauded the decision. Biden left three federal inmates to face execution. They are Dylann Roof, who carried out the 2015 racist slayings of nine Black members of Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina; 2013 Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev ; and Robert Bowers, who fatally shot 11 congregants at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue in 2018 , the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S history. Associated Press writers Jill Colvin, Michelle L. Price and Eric Tucker contributed to this report.Syrian rebel groups said on Sunday that they have begun entering the capital, Damascus, without any sign of army deployments. "We celebrate with the Syrian people the news of freeing our prisoners, releasing their chains, and announcing the end of the era of injustice in Sednaya prison," they added. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad boarded a plane and left Damascus for an unknown destination on Sunday, two senior army officers told Reuters. All flights at Damascus International Airport have been suspended, and staff have been evacuated, AP reported. The rebel fighters announced they had gained full control of the key city of Homs early on Sunday. The leader of the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, Ahmed al-Sharaa, said their control of Homs marked a "historic event that will distinguish between truth and falsehood." Homs lies about 140 kilometers north of the capital and is the third major city seized by the rebel groups, who began their advance on November 27, reigniting a years-long war that had become largely dormant. Existential threat to Assad government The fall of Homs and the threat to the capital pose an immediate existential danger to the Assad government. Special commentator Song Xiaojun told China Media Group that once Homs is captured, the key port cities on the Mediterranean coast, such as Latakia and Tartus, will be cut off from Damascus, preventing the Syrian government from receiving supplies from the coastal region. Noting that Latakia is the stronghold of Assad's Alawite sect in Syria and also the location of Assad's hometown, Song said that the loss of Homs will put enormous psychological pressure on the Syrian government. Homs' capture is also a powerful symbol of the rebel movement's dramatic comeback in the 13-year-old conflict. Swathes of Homs were destroyed by grueling siege warfare between the rebels and the army years ago. The fighting wore down the insurgents, who were ultimately forced out. The pace of events has stunned Arab capitals and raised fears of a new wave of regional instability. Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Türkiye and Russia issued a joint statement calling the crisis a dangerous development and urging a political solution. The United Nations said the violence has displaced 370,000 people. UN Special Envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen, called for "urgent political talks" to implement a 2015 Security Council resolution that outlined a roadmap for a negotiated settlement. Allies' role in supporting Assad Assad has long relied on allies to subdue the rebels. Russian warplanes conducted bombing raids, while Iran sent allied forces, including Hezbollah and Iraqi militias, to reinforce the Syrian military and storm insurgent strongholds. But Russia has been focused on its conflict with Ukraine since 2022, and Hezbollah has suffered significant losses in its own conflict with Israel, which has greatly limited its ability, or that of Iran, to bolster Assad. Now, with Homs captured by rebel groups, Russia's military presence in Syria has been significantly impacted, said Song, who explained that Russia's military forces in Syria are mainly concentrated in Latakia and Tartus, while Homs serves as an important passage to and from these two locations. Song added that Russia faces a difficult decision: If its ground forces are insufficient, the heavy equipment at these military bases may need to be withdrawn early to avoid heavy losses, such as bombing oil depots or damaging aircraft and ships. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that the U.S. should "not get involved," after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Friday for a "political solution to the conflict" in a call with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. After Fidan and his Iranian and Russian counterparts discussed Syria in Qatar on Saturday, Iran's top diplomat, Abbas Araghchi, said they agreed on initiating political dialogue between the Syrian government and rebel groups. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said it was "inadmissible" to allow a "terrorist group to take control" of Syrian territory. (With input from agencies)
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By Maya Gebeily and Timour Azhari DAMASCUS (Reuters) -Syria rebel fighters raced into Damascus unopposed on Sunday, overthrowing President Bashar al-Assad and ending nearly six decades of his family's iron-fisted rule after a lightning advance that reversed the course of a 13-year civil war. In one of the most consequential turning points in the Middle East for generations, the fall of Assad's government wiped out a bastion from which Iran and Russia exercised influence across the Arab world. Moscow gave him and his family asylum. His sudden overthrow, at the hands of a Turkish-backed revolt with roots in jihadist Sunni Islam, limits Iran's ability to spread weapons to its allies and could cost Russia its Mediterranean naval base. It also may pave the way for millions of refugees scattered for more than a decade in camps across Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan to finally return home. For Syrians, it brought a sudden unexpected end to a war that had been in deep freeze for years, with hundreds of thousands dead, cities pounded to dust, an economy hollowed out by global sanctions and seemingly no resolution in sight. "How many people were displaced across the world? How many people lived in tents? How many drowned in the seas?" the top rebel commander Abu Mohammed al-Golani told a huge crowd at the medieval Umayyad Mosque in central Damascus, referring to refugees who drowned trying to reach Europe. "A new history, my brothers, is being written in the entire region after this great victory," he said. It would take hard work to build a new Syria which he said would be "a beacon for the Islamic nation". The Assad police state - known since his father seized power in the 1960s as one of the harshest in the Middle East with hundreds of thousands of political prisoners in its gulag - melted away overnight. Bewildered and elated inmates poured out of jails after rebels blasted away the locks on their cells. Reunited families wept and wailed in joy. Newly freed prisoners were filmed at dawn running through the Damascus streets holding up the fingers of both hands to show how many years they had been in prison. "We toppled the regime!" a voice shouted and a prisoner yelled and skipped with delight. EYES RIPPED OUT As the sun set in Damascus without Assad for the first time, the roads leading into the city were mostly empty, apart from motorcycles carrying armed men and rebel vehicles caked with brownish mud as camouflage. Some men could be seen looting a shopping centre on the road between the capital and the Lebanese border, stuffing goods into plastic bags or into pick-up trucks. The myriad checkpoints lining the road to Damascus were empty. Posters of Assad had been torn at his eyes. A burning Syrian military truck was parked diagonally on the road out of the city. A thick column of black smoke billowed out from the Mazzeh neighbourhood, where Israeli strikes earlier had targeted Syrian state security branches, according to two security sources. Throughout the evening, intermittent gunfire rang out throughout the city in apparent celebration. Shops and restaurants closed early in line with a curfew imposed by the rebels. Just before it came into effect, people could be seen briskly walking home with stacks of bread. Earlier, the rebels said they had entered the capital with no sign of army deployments. Thousands of people in cars and on foot congregated at a main square in Damascus waving and chanting "Freedom". People were seen walking inside the Al-Rawda Presidential Palace, with some leaving carrying furniture from inside. A motorcycle was parked on the intricately-laid parquet floor of a gilded hall. 'THE FUTURE IS OURS' Golani, whose group was once Syria's branch of al Qaeda but has since softened its image to reassure members of minority sects and foreign countries, said there was no room for turning back. "The future is ours," he said in a statement read on state TV. The Syrian rebel coalition said it was working to complete the transfer of power to a transitional governing body with executive powers. "The great Syrian revolution has moved from the stage of struggle to overthrow the Assad regime to the struggle to build a Syria together that befits the sacrifices of its people," it added in a statement. Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali, prime minister under Assad, called for free elections and said he had been in contact with Golani to discuss the transitional period. The pace of events stunned Arab capitals and raised concerns about a new wave of instability in a region already in turmoil following the spread of conflict after the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and the ensuing Gaza war. Jubilant supporters of the revolt stormed Syrian embassies in a number of cities around the world, lowering red, white and black Assad-era flags and replacing them with the green, white and black flag flown throughout the war by his opponents. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Assad's fall was a direct result of blows Israel had dealt to Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah, once the lynchpin of Assad's security forces but pounded by Israel over the last two months. French President Emmanuel Macron said "the barbaric state has fallen" and paid tribute to the Syrian people. DAUNTING TASK When the celebrations fade, Syria's new leaders will face the daunting task of trying to deliver stability to a diverse country that will need billions of dollars in aid to rebuild. During the civil war, which erupted in 2011 as an uprising against Assad, his forces and their Russian allies bombed cities to rubble. The refugee crisis across the Middle East was one of the biggest of modern times and caused a political reckoning in Europe when a million people arrived in 2015. In recent years Turkey had backed the rebels in a small redoubt in the northwest and along its border. The United States, which still has 900 soldiers on the ground, backed a Kurdish-led alliance that fought Islamic State jihadists from 2014-2017. President Joe Biden's administration was monitoring developments but has not adjusted the positioning of the U.S. troops, officials told Reuters. The biggest strategic losers were Russia and Iran, which had intervened in the war's early years to rescue Assad, helping him recapture most territory and all major cities. The front lines were frozen four years ago under a deal Russia and Iran reached with Turkey. But Moscow's focus on its war in Ukraine and the blows to Iran's allies following the war in Gaza - particularly the decimation of Hezbollah by Israel over the past two months - left Assad with scant support at the end. Even after Assad had fled, Israel continued to strike targets associated with his government and its Iranian-backed allies, including one in Damascus where Israel had previously accused Iran of developing missiles. Netanyahu said the toppling of Assad could make it easier for Israel to reach a ceasefire deal to free hostages in Gaza. On Sunday rebels stormed Iran's embassy, Iran's English-language Press TV reported. Iran's foreign ministry said Syria's fate was the sole responsibility of the Syrian people. Hezbollah had pulled all its remaining forces from Syria on Saturday, two Lebanese security sources said. (Reporting by Maya Gebeily and Timour Azhari in Damascus, Suleiman al-Khalidi in Amman, Tom Perry and Laila Bassam in Beirut, Jaidaa Taha and Adam Makary in Cairo, Clauda Tanios, Nadine Awadallah and Tala Ramadan in DubaiWriting by Angus McDowall, Matt Spetalnick, Michael Perry, Michael Georgy, Peter GraffEditing by Philippa Fletcher, Andrew Cawthorne and Frances Kerry)
Gutermann announces the release of ZONELOG, a compact IoT data logger for water loss managementLabor’s Deputy Prime Minister and Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus “need to resign” from their positions in cabinet after the government's controversial vote on United Nations motion, a Liberal MP has demanded. The Australian government this week voted to support a UN resolution which endorses the permanent and “ irreversible pathway ” to Palestinian statehood. The resolution also calls on Israel to end its “unlawful presence” in Palestine, to “cease... all new settlement activities” and evacuate current settlers. Liberal MP Julian Leeser lashed out at the government's vote and singled out leading members from the party who have been outspoken in their support for Israel in the past. “I’ve got a very big question to ask the Labor Party here,” Mr Leeser said to Sky News Australia host Chris Kenny. “Labor claims to have within its ranks people like Richard Marles and Mark Dreyfus who claim to be supporters of the state of Israel, but they have been silent for more than a year.” Mr Leeser then called out “opponents of Israel” who sit in Labor’s cabinet, arguing that Industry Minister Ed Husic, Education Minister Jason Clare and Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke “have been able to freewheel”. “At what point do Mark Dreyfus and Richard Marles say ‘enough, we cannot let this happen. We need to resign on a point of principle’,” Mr Leeser said. “If they don’t, they will show themselves to be the cowardly lions of Australian politics. “This is a shameful day in the history of our foreign policy and shows everything about what the modern Labor Party has become.” Mr Leeser doubled down on his point before claiming Labor's foreign policy was driven by securing votes in Australia. "Speak out and resign ... it's come to that," he said. "We cannot have our foreign policy being dictated to by base political interests and one political party deciding they will sell out our values in order to appeal to green voters in the city and Islamists in other parts of the country." He continued to call on the senior Labor ministers to speak out in their party and stand behind the nation’s “fundamental foreign policy”. “I want to see Richard Marles and Mark Dreyfus show some guts and demonstrate that they're prepared to put their money where their mouth is here because the government has gone too far on this point,” Mr Leeser said. The Deputy Prime Minister declared Israel had a right to respond after Iran launched 200 missiles at the Jewish state in October, which many fellow cabinet ministers avoided explicitly joining him. Mr Dreyfus spoke at the United With Israel Rally in October this year and moved a motion condemning the October 7 attack about a week after they occurred in 2023. Meanwhile Mr Burke, who represents a Western Sydney electorate and serves as Home Affairs Minister, recently rejected an ex-Israeli politician’s visa application, while Mr Husic in August said Labor should be “open” to sanctioning Israel . The Education Minister’s comments on the Middle East have attracted backlash, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese overruling Mr Clare’s characterisation of the phrase “from the river to the sea”. “I’ve seen people say that those words mean the annihilation of Israel,” Mr Clare said in May. “I’ve seen people say that it means the opposite. I’ve seen people say they’re slogans Israeli political parties have used.” Mr Albanese was quick to denounce the phrase as one that opposes a two-state solution the following day. While Australia voted for Israel to end its “unlawful presence” in Gaza and the West Bank, it abstained from voting on a motion in September that demanded the same thing. There has been a dramatic shift in the number of countries voting against Israel at the UN with 157 voting in favour of Israel withdrawing its military forces from Palestine, up from 124 in September. Meanwhile, just seven voted against this week’s motion and another seven abstained while 14 voted against September’s call and 43 abstained. Labor’s vote in the UN was lambasted by the Australian Jewish community, with one leader claiming the government had gone back on its election promise in a bid to lure votes ahead of the next election. “This is a shameless pursuit of a domestic political agenda that puts Labor’s aspirations in vulnerable seats ahead of historic and principled support for a democratic ally,” the Executive Council of Australian Jewry president Daniel Aghion said in a statement. “It makes a mockery of Labor’s pledge to the ECAJ before the last federal election to ‘never play domestic politics with Australia’s foreign relations’. The ECAJ was also told that ‘Labor is a strong supporter of the State of Israel and that will never change’.” Mr Leeser also lashed out at Labor for damaging relations with Israel, echoing Mr Aghion’s claim about going back on a pre-election promise. “The Labor Party have shredded decades of bipartisanship in relation to Israel,” he said. “What has been terrible here is the conduct of the Labor Party right from the time they first came to office. “Before the last election, they promised that there would be no difference in the foreign policy of Australia, whether it was a Coalition government or a Labor government. But they've been shredding it every single day that they've been in office.” SkyNews.com.au has contacted both Richard Marles and Mark Dreyfus' offices for comment.
California water savings could return 16 feet to Lake Mead, officials sayBy LISA MASCARO and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Ethics Committee’s long-awaited report on Matt Gaetz documents a trove of salacious allegations , including sex with an underage girl, that tanked the Florida Republican’s bid to lead the Justice Department . Related Articles National Politics | Bluesky finds with growth comes growing pains — and bots National Politics | How the US economy might fare under Trump National Politics | Who’s who in Donald Trump’s new Silicon Valley entourage National Politics | Trump again calls to buy Greenland after eyeing Canada and the Panama Canal National Politics | A million taxpayers will soon receive up to $1,400 from the IRS. Who are they and why now? Citing text messages, travel receipts, online payments and testimony, the bipartisan committee paints a picture of a lifestyle in which Gaetz and others connected with younger women for drug-fueled parties, events or trips, with the expectation the women would be paid for their participation. The former congressman, who filed a last-minute lawsuit to try to block the report’s release on Monday, slammed the committee’s findings. Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing and has insisted he never had sex with a minor. And a Justice Department investigation into the allegations ended without any criminal charges filed against him. “Giving funds to someone you are dating — that they didn’t ask for — and that isn’t ‘charged’ for sex is now prostitution?!?” Gaetz wrote in one post on Monday. “There is a reason they did this to me in a Christmas Eve-Eve report and not in a courtroom of any kind where I could present evidence and challenge witnesses.” Here’s a look at some of the committee’s key findings: The committee found that between 2017 and 2020, Gaetz paid tens of thousands of dollars to women “likely in connection with sexual activity and/or drug use.” He paid the women using through online services such as PayPal, Venmo, and CashApp and with cash or check, the committee said. The committee said it found evidence that Gaetz understood the “transactional nature” of his relationships with the women. The report points to one text exchange in which Gaetz balked at a woman’s request that he send her money, “claiming she only gave him a ‘drive by.’” Women interviewed by the committee said there was a “general expectation of sex,” the report said. One woman who received more than $5,000 from Gaetz between 2018 and 2019 said that “99 percent of the time” that when she hung out with Gaetz “there was sex involved.” However, Gaetz was in a long-term relationship with one of the women he paid, so “some of the payments may have been of a legitimate nature,” the committee said. Text messages obtained by the committee also show that Gaetz would ask the women to bring drugs to their “rendezvous,” the report said. While most of his encounters with the women were in Florida, the committee said Gaetz also traveled “on several occasions” with women whom he paid for sex. The report includes text message exchanges in which Gaetz appears to be inviting various women to events, getaways or parties, and arranging airplane travel and lodging. Gaetz associate Joel Greenberg, who pleaded guilty to sex trafficking charges in 2021, initially connected with women through an online service. In one text with a 20-year-old woman, Greenberg suggested if she has a friend, the four of them could meet up. The woman responded that she usually does “$400 per meet.” Greenberg replied: “He understands the deal,” along with a smiley face emoji. Greenberg asks if they are old enough to drink alcohol, and sent the woman a picture of Gaetz. The woman responded that her friend found him “really cute.” “Well, he’s down here for only for the day, we work hard and play hard,” Greenberg replied. The report details a party in July 2017 in which Gaetz is accused of having sex with “multiple women, including the 17-year-old, for which they were paid.” The committee pointed to “credible testimony” from the now-woman herself as well as “multiple individuals” who corroborated the allegation. The then-17-year-old — who had just completed her junior year in high school — told the committee that Gaetz paid her $400 in cash that night, “which she understood to be payment for sex,” according to the report. The woman acknowledged that she had taken ecstasy the night of the party, but told the committee that she was “certain” of her sexual encounters with the then-congressman. There’s no evidence that Gaetz knew she was a minor when he had sex with her, the committee said. The woman told the committee she didn’t tell Gaetz she was under 18 at the time and that he didn’t how old she was. Rather, the committee said Gaetz learned she was a minor more than a month after the party. But he stayed in touch with her after that and met up with her for “commercial sex” again less than six months after she turned 18, according to the committee. In sum, the committee said it authorized 29 subpoenas for documents and testimony, reviewed nearly 14,000 documents and contacted more than two dozen witnesses. But when the committee subpoenaed Gaetz for his testimony, he failed to comply. “Gaetz pointed to evidence that would ‘exonerate’ him yet failed to produce any such materials,” the committee said. Gaetz “continuously sought to deflect, deter, or mislead the Committee in order to prevent his actions from being exposed.” The report details a months-long process that dragged into a year as it sought information from Gaetz that he decried as “nosey” and a “weaponization” of government against him. In one notable exchange, investigators were seeking information about the expenses for a 2018 get-away with multiple women to the Bahamas. Gaetz ultimately offered up his plane ticket receipt “to” the destination, but declined to share his return “from” the Bahamas. The report said his return on a private plane and other expenses paid by an associate were in violation of House gift rules. In another Gaetz told the committee he would “welcome” the opportunity to respond to written questions. Yet, after it sent a list of 16 questions, Gaetz said publicly he would “no longer” voluntarily cooperate. He called the investigation “frivolous,” adding: “Every investigation into me ends the same way: my exoneration.” The report said that while Gaetz’s obstruction of the investigation does not rise to a criminal violation it is inconsistent with the requirement that all members of Congress “act in a manner that reflects creditably upon the House.” The committee began its review of Gaetz in April 2021 and deferred its work in response to a Justice Department request. It renewed its work shortly after Gaetz announced that the Justice Department had ended a sex trafficking investigation without filing any charges against him. The committee sought records from the Justice Department about the probe, but the agency refused, saying it doesn’t disclose information about investigations that don’t result in charges. The committee then subpoenaed the Justice Department, but after a back-and-forth between officials and the committee, the department handed over “publicly reported information about the testimony of a deceased individual,” according to the report. “To date, DOJ has provided no meaningful evidence or information to the Committee or cited any lawful basis for its responses,” the committee said. Many of the women who the committee spoke to had already given statements to the Justice Department and didn’t want to “relive their experience,” the committee said. “They were particularly concerned with providing additional testimony about a sitting congressman in light of DOJ’s lack of action on their prior testimony,” the report said. The Justice Department, however, never handed over the women’s statements. The agency’s lack of cooperation — along with its request that the committee pause its investigation — significantly delayed the committee’s probe, lawmakers said.
Ottawa firefighters extinguished a fire that started at the top of 22-storey apartment building in Overbrook on Monday afternoon. Ottawa Fire Services say in a news release they received multiple 911 calls with reports of smoke and flames coming from a structure in the 200 block of Donald Street shortly before 12:10 p.m. Crews on scene confirmed the flames were coming from a unit on the top floor and began a "fast attack" on the fire inside. One they located the burning unit, they had to force entry. "Upon entry, the apartment was full of smoke causing zero visibility conditions," Ottawa fire said. Firefighters began searching for any occupants, but two full searches of the unit found no one inside. An Ottawa paramedics spokesperson reported no injuries. The fire was declared under control shortly before 1:25 p.m. Fire crews ventilated the building and checked the air quality before allowing residents to return to their homes. An Ottawa fire investigator has been dispatched to determine the cause. Shopping Trends The Shopping Trends team is independent of the journalists at CTV News. We may earn a commission when you use our links to shop. Read about us. 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Trump again calls to buy Greenland after eyeing Canada and the Panama Canal First it was Canada, then the Panama Canal. Now, Donald Trump again wants Greenland. The president-elect is renewing unsuccessful calls he made during his first term for the U.S. to buy Greenland from Denmark, adding to the list of allied countries with which he's picking fights even before taking office. Canada regulator sues Rogers for alleged misleading claims about data offering Canada's antitrust regulator said on Monday it was suing Rogers Communications Inc, for allegedly misleading consumers about offering unlimited data under some phone plans. Multiple OnlyFans accounts featured suspected child sex abuse, investigator reports An experienced child exploitation investigator told Reuters he reported 26 accounts on the popular adults-only website OnlyFans to authorities, saying they appeared to contain sexual content featuring underage teen girls. King Charles ends royal warrants for Ben & Jerry's owner Unilever and Cadbury chocolatiers King Charles III has ended royal warrants for Cadbury and Unilever, which owns brands including Marmite and Ben & Jerry’s, in a blow to the household names. Man faces murder charges in death of woman who was lit on fire in New York City subway A man is facing murder charges in New York City for allegedly setting a woman on fire inside a subway train and then watching her die after she was engulfed in flames, police said Monday. 'Serious safety issues': Edmonton building where security guard was killed evacuated An apartment building where a security guard was killed earlier this month is being evacuated. Santa Claus cleared for travel in Canadian airspace Santa's sleigh has been cleared for travel in Canadian airspace, the federal government announced on Monday just ahead of the busy holiday season. Ex-OpenAI engineer who raised legal concerns about the technology he helped build has died Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who helped train the artificial intelligence systems behind ChatGPT and later said he believed those practices violated copyright law, has died, according to his parents and San Francisco officials. He was 26. Atlantic No need to dream, White Christmas all but assured in the Maritimes An early nor'easter followed by a low-pressure system moving into the region all but ensure a Maritime White Christmas Santa Claus cleared for travel in Canadian airspace Santa's sleigh has been cleared for travel in Canadian airspace, the federal government announced on Monday just ahead of the busy holiday season. Court of appeal certifies class action lawsuit against health authority, former nurse A New Brunswick mother who is the lead plaintiff in a court case has received an early Christmas gift after the province’s top court certified her class action law suit. Toronto LIVE UPDATES | Parts of Ontario under snowfall warning Monday as holiday travellers hit the road Holiday travellers and commuters could be in for a messy drive on Monday morning as a significant round of snowfall moves into the region. Here are live updates on the situation in Toronto. Doug Ford dresses up like Santa to grant wishes in Christmas video In a video posted on social media on Monday morning, Ford is seen dressed up in a bright red Santa suit performing a personalized rendition of the famous 1823 poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas." 3 suspects wanted after alleged armed robbery at Vaughan commercial business York Regional Police (YRP) police are searching for three people after an alleged armed robbery in Vaughan, the latest in a series of violent commercial robberies happening around the Greater Toronto Area. Montreal Quebec fugitive killed in Mexican resort town, RCMP say RCMP are confirming that a fugitive, Mathieu Belanger, wanted by Quebec provincial police has died in Mexico, in what local media are calling a murder. Snow on the way as Montreal is put under weather advisory A weather advisory has been initiated for the Greater Montreal area, with 10 to 15 cm of snow expected to hit the ground. Judge rejects lawsuit tied to controversial 2017 Montreal Formula E car race An entrepreneur who sued the City of Montreal for not considering his bid to organize a 2017 electric car race has failed in his effort to obtain more than $3 million in compensation. Northern Ontario Fatal snowmobile crash in northern Ont. near Parry Sound A 30-year-old has died following a snowmobile crash near Parry Sound on Sunday. Teen passed out at coffee shop with bottle of booze on the table, northern Ont. police say A 19-year-old from Blind River is facing several charges following incidents at a coffee shop and in jail. Man charged with damaging downtown Sudbury eatery A man free on probation has been charged with causing significant damage to a restaurant on Elgin Street in downtown Sudbury over the weekend. Windsor City of Windsor reviewing other H4 properties, no longer pursuing Wellington Avenue The City of Windsor has announced it is no longer pursuing land at 700 Wellington Avenue and is looking at other properties for the new Homelessness and Housing Help Hub (H4). Parvovirus found in Belle River A local groomer has confirmed a positive case of parvovirus, found in Belle River. Santa Claus cleared for travel in Canadian airspace Santa's sleigh has been cleared for travel in Canadian airspace, the federal government announced on Monday just ahead of the busy holiday season. London Anonymous $2 million donation given to St. Joseph’s Health Care St. Joseph’s Health Care Foundation has received an anonymous $2 million donation from a local community member. Police issue holiday reminders following pair of break and enters Two break and enters in the north end of Sarnia within two kilometers of one another has prompted Sarnia police to issue an alert to residents. Next chapter for St. Thomas Elevated Park as it joins forces with Railworks Coalition Canada’s only Elevated Park is joining forces with other railway entities in St. Thomas. Kitchener Parts of southern Ontario under travel advisory Anyone planning to travel today is being urged to be prepared as 5 to 15 cm of snow could hit a large portion of southern Ontario. Beloved bookstore in Uptown Waterloo forced to close for months following fire A beloved bookstore in Uptown Waterloo is bearing the brunt of some holiday misfortune. Must-see moments of 2024: A superstar surprise, roundabout resident and CKCO studios come down From a WWE surprise for a Guelph superfan, to the recovery of a lost aviation artifact, to a reporter getting the story right from the goose's mouth, here are some of our can’t-miss moments from 2024. Barrie Several collisions reported along Highway 11 as driving conditions deteriorate Highway 11 was closed briefly in Oro-Medonte on Monday afternoon as driving conditions deteriorated, causing multiple collisions. Firearms seized after 'violent threats' made against secondary school: YRP Police say officers found several firearms during a search at a teen’s home after he allegedly made violent threats against a secondary school. Single-vehicle crash in Springwater Twp. One woman was taken to the hospital following a single-vehicle crash in Springwater Township. Winnipeg Manitoba government to make permanent cut to gas tax Manitobans can expect to see a permanent change at the gas pump as early as next week Snowmobile crash leaves 10-year-old dead: RCMP A 10-year-old boy is dead following a snowmobile crash near Rosebank, Man., on Sunday. Trump again calls to buy Greenland after eyeing Canada and the Panama Canal First it was Canada, then the Panama Canal. Now, Donald Trump again wants Greenland. The president-elect is renewing unsuccessful calls he made during his first term for the U.S. to buy Greenland from Denmark, adding to the list of allied countries with which he's picking fights even before taking office. Calgary Taxpayers Federation unveils its annual spending 'Naughty and Nice List' A media president and the Prime Minister have topped the Canadian Taxpayers Federation’s annual 'Taxpayer Naughty List' for 2024. Serious crash closes part of Highway 1 near Bassano, Alta. RCMP responded to a serious crash on Highway 1 near Bassano, Alta., on Monday morning. The collision occurred approximately two kilometres east of Highway 56. 2 Alberta men charged with sex crimes involving children in separate investigations Two registered sex offenders are facing charges after separate investigations in northern Alberta. Edmonton 'Serious safety issues': Edmonton building where security guard was killed evacuated An apartment building where a security guard was killed earlier this month is being evacuated. City of Edmonton to lift Phase 1 parking ban Monday evening The City of Edmonton will lift the Phase 1 parking ban on Monday at 5 p.m. 2 Alberta men charged with sex crimes involving children in separate investigations Two registered sex offenders are facing charges after separate investigations in northern Alberta. Regina Estevan police officer arrested following SIRT investigation An officer of the Estevan Police Service (EPS) is facing several charges following an investigation by the province’s police oversight agency. Heavy fog descends over Regina, most of Saskatchewan Dense fog is being reported across much of the province to begin the week of Christmas, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC). Riders acquire quarterback Jake Maier in trade with Stampeders The Green and White finalized some Christmas shopping ahead of the holidays, acquiring quarterback Jake Maier in a trade with Calgary on Monday. Saskatoon 'There are lines': In year-end interview, NDP leader says Moe went too far in election campaign Saskatchewan’s two main political leaders had agreed before October's provincial election not to target the families of candidates during the campaign, says Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck. Sask. RCMP on the scene of rollover on Highway 40 The Saskatchewan RCMP said Highway 40 was closed Monday afternoon following a rollover just west of Hafford, a village just under 100 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon. Saskatoon woman arrested following machete attack A 55-year-old woman was arrested following a stabbing with a machete early Monday morning. Vancouver Cleanup underway after rockslide derails train in B.C. No injuries were reported after a rockslide derailed a freight train, sending railcars into British Columbia's Fraser River, on Sunday night. Union for striking aviation fuel workers in Vancouver says aging pipeline poses risk A union representing striking aviation fuel workers in British Columbia is warning that diversion of the fuel to get around the industrial action could pose an environmental hazard. Chilliwack farmer facing multiple charges after crashing tractor into police vehicle A Chilliwack man has been charged with multiple criminal counts in connection to an incident involving a tractor being driven dangerously during a protest last year. Vancouver Island Cleanup underway after rockslide derails train in B.C. No injuries were reported after a rockslide derailed a freight train, sending railcars into British Columbia's Fraser River, on Sunday night. More than 280M trees planted in 2024 in B.C., focus on fire-damaged areas British Columbia's forests ministry says more than 280 million trees were planted in the province this year. Several storms in store for B.C.’s south coast over Christmas A series of storms are expected to bring heavy winds and wet weather to B.C’s south coast over the festive period. Kelowna Forfeited Hells Angels clubhouse in Kelowna, B.C., sold to the city A former Hells Angels clubhouse that was seized by the British Columbia government in 2023 after years of fighting in court has been sold to the City of Kelowna. Death of woman found in Kelowna's Waterfront Park in June deemed 'non-criminal in nature': RCMP Police in Kelowna say a death they began investigating back in June has now been confirmed as "non-criminal in nature." B.C. man sentenced for 'execution-style' murder of bystander in drug trade conflict A B.C. man convicted of the "intentional and ruthless killing of a bystander" while acting as an enforcer in the drug trade has been sentenced for a second time in the slaying. Stay ConnectedSouth Korean president declares martial law, then backs down amid calls for his impeachmentFathom Holdings Expands Verus Title Elite into Amarillo, Texas
By JILL COLVIN and STEPHEN GROVES WASHINGTON (AP) — After several weeks working mostly behind closed doors, Vice President-elect JD Vance returned to Capitol Hill this week in a new, more visible role: Helping Donald Trump try to get his most contentious Cabinet picks to confirmation in the Senate, where Vance has served for the last two years. Vance arrived at the Capitol on Wednesday with former Rep. Matt Gaetz and spent the morning sitting in on meetings between Trump’s choice for attorney general and key Republicans, including members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The effort was for naught: Gaetz announced a day later that he was withdrawing his name amid scrutiny over sex trafficking allegations and the reality that he was unlikely to be confirmed. Thursday morning Vance was back, this time accompanying Pete Hegseth, the “Fox & Friends Weekend” host whom Trump has tapped to be the next secretary of defense. Hegseth also has faced allegations of sexual assault that he denies. Vance is expected to accompany other nominees for meetings in coming weeks as he tries to leverage the two years he has spent in the Senate to help push through Trump’s picks. The role of introducing nominees around Capitol Hill is an unusual one for a vice president-elect. Usually the job goes to a former senator who has close relationships on the Hill, or a more junior aide. But this time the role fits Vance, said Marc Short, who served as Trump’s first director of legislative affairs as well as chief of staff to Trump’s first vice president, Mike Pence, who spent more than a decade in Congress and led the former president’s transition ahead of his first term. ”JD probably has a lot of current allies in the Senate and so it makes sense to have him utilized in that capacity,” Short said. Unlike the first Trump transition, which played out before cameras at Trump Tower in New York and at the president-elect’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, this one has largely happened behind closed doors in Palm Beach, Florida. There, a small group of officials and aides meet daily at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort to run through possible contenders and interview job candidates. The group includes Elon Musk, the billionaire who has spent so much time at the club that Trump has joked he can’t get rid of him. Vance has been a constant presence, even as he’s kept a lower profile. The Ohio senator has spent much of the last two weeks in Palm Beach, according to people familiar with his plans, playing an active role in the transition, on which he serves as honorary chair. Vance has been staying at a cottage on the property of the gilded club, where rooms are adorned with cherubs, oriental rugs and intricate golden inlays. It’s a world away from the famously hardscrabble upbringing that Vance documented in the memoir that made him famous, “Hillbilly Elegy.” His young children have also joined him at Mar-a-Lago, at times. Vance was photographed in shorts and a polo shirt playing with his kids on the seawall of the property with a large palm frond, a U.S. Secret Service robotic security dog in the distance. On the rare days when he is not in Palm Beach, Vance has been joining the sessions remotely via Zoom. Though he has taken a break from TV interviews after months of constant appearances, Vance has been active in the meetings, which began immediately after the election and include interviews and as well as presentations on candidates’ pluses and minuses. Among those interviewed: Contenders to replace FBI Director Christopher Wray , as Vance wrote in a since-deleted social media post. Defending himself from criticism that he’d missed a Senate vote in which one of President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees was confirmed, Vance wrote that he was meeting at the time “with President Trump to interview multiple positions for our government, including for FBI Director.” “I tend to think it’s more important to get an FBI director who will dismantle the deep state than it is for Republicans to lose a vote 49-46 rather than 49-45,” Vance added on X. “But that’s just me.” While Vance did not come in to the transition with a list of people he wanted to see in specific roles, he and his friend, Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., who is also a member of the transition team, were eager to see former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. find roles in the administration. Trump ended up selecting Gabbard as the next director of national intelligence , a powerful position that sits atop the nation’s spy agencies and acts as the president’s top intelligence adviser. And he chose Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services , a massive agency that oversees everything from drug and food safety to Medicare and Medicaid. Vance was also a big booster of Tom Homan, the former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who will serve as Trump’s “border czar.” In another sign of Vance’s influence, James Braid, a top aide to the senator, is expected to serve as Trump’s legislative affairs director. Allies say it’s too early to discuss what portfolio Vance might take on in the White House. While he gravitates to issues like trade, immigration and tech policy, Vance sees his role as doing whatever Trump needs. Vance was spotted days after the election giving his son’s Boy Scout troop a tour of the Capitol and was there the day of leadership elections. He returned in earnest this week, first with Gaetz — arguably Trump’s most divisive pick — and then Hegseth, who has was been accused of sexually assaulting a woman in 2017, according to an investigative report made public this week. Hegseth told police at the time that the encounter had been consensual and denied any wrongdoing. Vance hosted Hegseth in his Senate office as GOP senators, including those who sit on the Senate Armed Services Committee, filtered in to meet with the nominee for defense secretary. While a president’s nominees usually visit individual senators’ offices, meeting them on their own turf, the freshman senator — who is accompanied everywhere by a large Secret Service detail that makes moving around more unwieldy — instead brought Gaetz to a room in the Capitol on Wednesday and Hegseth to his office on Thursday. Senators came to them. Vance made it to votes Wednesday and Thursday, but missed others on Thursday afternoon. Vance is expected to continue to leverage his relationships in the Senate after Trump takes office. But many Republicans there have longer relationships with Trump himself. Sen. Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican, said that Trump was often the first person to call him back when he was trying to reach high-level White House officials during Trump’s first term. “He has the most active Rolodex of just about anybody I’ve ever known,” Cramer said, adding that Vance would make a good addition. “They’ll divide names up by who has the most persuasion here,” Cramer said, but added, “Whoever his liaison is will not work as hard at it as he will.” Cramer was complimentary of the Ohio senator, saying he was “pleasant” and ” interesting” to be around. ′′He doesn’t have the long relationships,” he said. “But we all like people that have done what we’ve done. I mean, that’s sort of a natural kinship, just probably not as personally tied.” Under the Constitution, Vance will also have a role presiding over the Senate and breaking tie votes. But he’s not likely to be needed for that as often as was Kamala Harris, who broke a record number of ties for Democrats as vice president, since Republicans will have a bigger cushion in the chamber next year. Colvin reported from New York. Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.
Vance takes on a more visible transition role, working to boost Trump’s most contentious picksNearly half of low-income families do not use social fund support for their children. This is evident from research that ABN Amro conducted together with the Youth Fund for Sport & Culture. Approximately 1.2 million people have to survive on an income around the poverty line. They may, therefore, be eligible for support for additional expenses for their children, for things like sports and cultural activities. However, almost half of the families do not use this. People with work and a low income are especially reluctant to ask for support. Uncertainty about the application criteria and shame in asking for help play an important role, according to the researchers. Many parents also fear complicated procedures and think that the money may have to be repaid. People on benefits or social assistance often ask for support. Funds that parents can call on include the Leergeld Foundation, the Youth Sports & Culture Fund, and the Jarige Job Foundation. According to the researchers, it is noticeable that once people use a fund, the threshold for applying to other social funds becomes lower. For example, 15 percent of families have applied for a facility from two and 19 percent from three or more funds.
Democracies Around the GlobeNew law could help California renters facing eviction stay in their homes