map genie
MONTREAL — Second Cup Canada is cutting ties with a franchisee operating at Montreal’s Jewish General Hospital who was allegedly filmed making hateful and antisemitic comments during a protest in the city last week. Second Cup Canada announced Saturday it was cutting ties with a franchisee for “making hateful remarks and gestures,” and adding in a statement the actions breach the franchise agreement as well as inclusion and community values held by the chain. Peter Mammas, CEO of Montreal-based Foodtastic, which owns Second Cup Canada, said in an interview on Sunday that he was at the movies when his phone started pinging non-stop. He saw the videos and the company’s operations staff spoke to employees that knew the woman, and they confirmed it was indeed the franchisee. Video shot during a pro-Palestinian demonstration outside of Concordia University’s downtown Montreal campus Thursday shows a woman walking around, masked, saying the “final solution is coming your way” — wording used to describe a Nazi plan to eliminate Jews in Europe during the Second World War. Another video also shows what appears to be the same woman, unmasked, making a Nazi salute while walking away. “We’re all for free speech and respectful conversations, but this wasn’t that,” Mammas said. “This was hate speech, and it was something that we thought could incite violence and we’re completely against that, so we sat down with our team and decided to revoke the franchise agreement.” Attempts to reach the franchisee were unsuccessful on Sunday. “Second Cup has zero tolerance for hate speech,” the coffee chain said in a statement on X. “In co-ordination with the hospital, we’ve shut down the franchisee’s café and are terminating their franchise agreement.” Mammas said lawyers for the franchisee and Second Cup were expected to meet on Monday. The regional health agency serving West-Central Montreal, which includes the Jewish General Hospital, said it was made aware of the video “containing antisemitic and hateful messaging.” The video is related to a franchisee of Second Cup, one of the private tenants operating within the (Jewish General), Carl Thériault, a spokesman, said in a statement on Sunday. “We fully support Second Cup’s decision to take swift and decisive action in this matter by shutting down the franchisee’s cafés and terminating their lease agreement.” The hospital has two locations operated by the same franchisee and both were shuttered on Saturday by the owners of the chain. The health agency “is committed to fostering a culture of inclusion and stands firmly against antisemitism and any other form of discrimination or hate speech,” Thériault said. “We have franchisees who are Muslim, we have franchisees who are Jewish, we have franchisees that are Greek, French, we have employees from all different nations,” Mammas said. “So we definitely have no issue with that and we don’t take any political side, but ... hate speech ... you know we can’t accept that.” This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 24, 2024. Sidhartha Banerjee, The Canadian Press
Second Cup dumps Jewish General Hospital franchisee over video with ‘hateful remarks’
HENNIKER, N.H. — When Hector Xu learned to fly a helicopter in college, he recalled having a few “nasty experiences” while trying to navigate at night. The heart-stopping flights led to his research of unmanned aircraft systems while getting his doctorate degree in aerospace engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Then, he formed Rotor Technologies in 2021 to develop unmanned helicopters. Rotor built two autonomous Sprayhawks and aims to have as many as 20 ready for market next year. The company also is developing helicopters that would carry cargo in disaster zones and to offshore oil rigs. The helicopter also could be used to fight wildfires . A Rotor Technologies unmanned semi-autonomous helicopter flies away from a van containing a ground control pilot/operator during a Nov. 11 test flight over Intervale Airport in Henniker, N.H. For now, Rotor is focused on the agriculture sector, which embraced automation with drones but sees unmanned helicopters as a better way to spray larger areas with pesticides and fertilizers. “People would call us up and say, ‘Hey, I want to use this for crop dusting, can I?’ We’d say, OK maybe,” Xu said, adding that the company got enough calls to realize it was a huge untapped market. The Associated Press reporters were the first people outside the company to witness a test flight of the Sprayhawk. It hovered, flew forward and sprayed the tarmac before landing. Rotor's nearly $1 million Sprayhawk helicopter is a Robinson R44, but the four seats were replaced with flight computers and communications systems allowing it be operated remotely. It has five cameras as well as laser-sensing technology and a radar altimeter that make terrain reading more accurate along with GPS and motion sensors. At the company's hangar in Nashua, New Hampshire, Xu said this technology means there is better visibility of terrain at night. Hector Xu, CEO of Rotor Technologies, gestures during an interview Nov. 11 at the company's hanger where unmanned semi-autonomous helicopters are assembled in Nashua, N.H. One of the big draws of automation in agriculture aviation is safety. Because crop dusters fly at about 150 mph and only about 10 feet off the ground, there are dozens of accidents each year when planes collide with power lines, cell towers and other planes . Older, poorly maintained planes and pilot fatigue contribute to accidents. A 2014 report from the National Transportation Safety Board found there were more than 800 agriculture operation accidents between 2001 and 2010, including 81 that were fatal. A separate report from the National Agriculture Aviation Association found nearly 640 accidents from 2014 until this month, with 109 fatalities. “It is a very, very dangerous profession and there are multiple fatalities every year,” said Dan Martin, a research engineer with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agriculture Research Service. “They make all their money in those short few months so sometimes it may mean that they fly 10 to 12 hours a day or more.” Job hazards also include exposure to chemicals. A Rotor Technologies unmanned semi-autonomous helicopter sprays water during a Nov. 11 test flight over Intervale Airport in Henniker, N.H. In recent years, safety concerns and the cheaper cost has led to a proliferation of drones flying above farmers' fields, Martin said, adding that about 10,000 will likely be sold this year alone. The size of the drones and their limited battery power means they can cover only a fraction of the area of a plane and helicopters. That is providing an opening for companies building bigger unmanned aircraft like Rotor and another company, Pyka. California-based Pyka announced in August that it sold its first autonomous electric aircraft for crop protection to a customer in the U.S. Pyka's Pelican Spray, a fixed-wing aircraft, received FAA approval last year to fly commercially for crop protection. The company also sold its Pelican Spray to Dole for use in Honduras and to the Brazilian company, SLC Agrícola. Lukas Koch, chief technology officer at Heinen Brothers Agra Services, the company that bought the Pelican Spray in August, called unmanned aircraft part of a coming “revolution" that will save farmers money and improve safety. The Kansas-based company operates out of airports from Texas to Illinois. Koch doesn't envision the unmanned aircraft replacing all the the company's dozens of pilots but rather taking over the riskiest jobs. Joao Magioni, chief flight officer of Rotor Technologies, flies a simulated unmanned semi-autonomous helicopter Nov. 11 from the company's remote operations center in Nashua, N.H. The interface also can be used as a ground control station for real-time flight operations. “The biggest draw is taking the pilot out of the aircraft inside of those most dangerous situations,” Koch said. “There’s still fields that are surrounded by trees on all borders, or you’ve got big, large power lines or other just dangers, wind turbines, things like that. It can be tough to fly around.” Koch acknowledges autonomous aviation systems could introduce new dangers to an already chaotic airspace — though that is less of a concern in rural areas with plenty of open space and fewer people. Companies like Rotor incorporated built-in in contingencies should something go wrong — its helicopter features a half-dozen communications systems and, for now, a remote pilot in control. If the ground team loses contact with the helicopter, Rotor has a system that ensures the engine can be shut off and the helicopter perform a controlled landing. “That means that we’ll never have an aircraft fly away event," Xu said. The safety measures will go a long way to helping the company receive what it expects will be FAA regulatory approval to fly its helicopters commercially. Once it has that, the challenge, as Xu sees it, will be scaling up to meet the demand in the U.S. but also Brazil, which has a huge agriculture market but more relaxed regulatory environment. Avionics Technician John Beto installs components Nov. 11, 2024, in the cockpit of an unmanned semi-autonomous helicopter being built in a hanger at Rotor Technologies in Nashua, N.H. Test pilot Joao Magioni, seated left, talks with production manager Brett Worden while preparing for a Nov. 11, 2024, flight of a Rotor Technologies unmanned semi-autonomous helicopter in a hanger at Intervale Airport in Henniker, N.H. A Rotor Technologies unmanned semi-autonomous helicopter flies away from a van containing a ground control pilot/operator during a Nov. 11, 2024, test flight over Intervale Airport in Henniker, N.H. A Rotor Technologies unmanned semi-autonomous helicopter flies Nov. 11, 2024, near Pat's Peak ski area during a test flight over Intervale Airport in Henniker, N.H. Joao Magioni, chief flight officer of Rotor Technologies, flies a simulated unmanned semi-autonomous helicopter Nov. 11, 2024, from the company's remote operations center in Nashua, N.H. The interface also can be used as a ground control station for real-time flight operations. A Rotor Technologies unmanned semi-autonomous helicopter sprays water during a Nov. 11, 2024, test flight over Intervale Airport in Henniker, N.H. With communications and control components installed where a pilot would sit, Brett Worden, production manager at Rotor Technologies, carries a spray boom following a Nov. 11, 2024, test flight of an unmanned semi-autonomous helicopter at Intervale Airport in Henniker, N.H. Christian Nowosiadly and his son Logan, 5, look at an autonomous helicopter Nov. 11, 2024, at a hanger at Rotor Technologies in Nashua, N.H. Receive the latest in local entertainment news in your inbox weekly!
WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s allies on Capitol Hill rallied around Pete Hegseth , Trump’s Pentagon pick, on Thursday even as new details surfaced about allegations that he had sexually assaulted a woman in 2017. The GOP embrace of Hegseth came as another controversial Trump nominee, Matt Gaetz, withdrew from consideration for attorney general. Gaetz said it was clear he had become a “distraction" amid pressure on the House to release an ethics report about allegations of his own sexual misconduct. An attorney for two women has said that his clients told House Ethics Committee investigators that Gaetz paid them for sex on multiple occasions beginning in 2017, when Gaetz was a Florida congressman. Fresh questions over the two nominees' pasts, and their treatment of women, arose with Republicans under pressure from Trump and his allies to quickly confirm his Cabinet. At the same time, his transition has so far balked at the vetting and background checks that have traditionally been required. While few Republican senators have publicly criticized any of Trump's nominees, it became clear after Gaetz's withdrawal that many had been harboring private concerns about him. Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin, who served with Gaetz in the House, said it was a “positive move.” Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker said it was a “positive development.” Maine Sen. Susan Collins said Gaetz “put country first and I am pleased with his decision.” After meeting with Hegseth, though, Republicans rallied around him. “I think he’s going to be in pretty good shape,” said Wicker, who is expected to chair the Senate Armed Services Committee in the next Congress. Republican senators' careful words, and their early reluctance to publicly question Trump's picks, illustrated not only their fear of retribution from the incoming president but also some of their hopes that the confirmation process can proceed normally, with proper vetting and background checks that could potentially disqualify problematic nominees earlier. Gaetz withdrew after meeting with senators on Wednesday. Sen. Thom Tillis said Gaetz was “in a pressure cooker” when he decided to withdraw, but suggested that it would have little bearing on Trump’s other nominees. “Transactions — one at a time,” he said. As the Hegseth nomination proceeds, Republicans also appear to be betting that they won't face much backlash for publicly setting aside the allegations of sexual misconduct — especially after Trump won election after being found liable for sexual abuse last year. Hegseth held a round of private meetings alongside incoming Vice President JD Vance on Thursday in an attempt to shore up support and told reporters afterward: “The matter was fully investigated and I was completely cleared, and that’s where I’m gonna leave it.” A 22-page police report report made public late Wednesday offered the first detailed account of the allegations against him. A woman told police that she was sexually assaulted in 2017 by Hegseth after he took her phone, blocked the door to a California hotel room and refused to let her leave. The report cited police interviews with the alleged victim, a nurse who treated her, a hotel staffer, another woman at the event and Hegseth. Hegseth’s lawyer, Timothy Palatore, said the incident was “fully investigated and police found the allegations to be false.” Hegseth paid the woman in 2023 as part of a confidential settlement to head off the threat of what he described as a baseless lawsuit, Palatore has said. Wicker played down the allegations against Hegseth, a former Fox News host, saying that “since no charges were brought from the authorities, we only have press reports.” Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., said after his meeting with Hegseth that he "shared with him the fact that I was saddened by the attacks that are coming his way.” Hagerty dismissed the allegations as “a he-said, she-said thing” and called it a “shame” that they were being raised at all. The senator said attention should instead be focused on the Defense Department that Hegseth would head. It's one of the most complex parts of the federal government with more than 3 million employees, including military service members and civilians. Sexual assault has been a persistent problem in the military, though Pentagon officials have been cautiously optimistic they are seeing a decline in reported sexual assaults among active-duty service members and the military academies. Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, who will be the No. 2 Republican in the Senate next year, said after his meeting with Hegseth that the nominee is a strong candidate who “pledged that the Pentagon will focus on strength and hard power – not the current administration’s woke political agenda.” Senate Republicans are under pressure to hold hearings once they take office in January and confirm nominees as soon as Trump is inaugurated, despite questions about whether Trump’s choices will be properly screened or if some, like Hegseth, have enough experience for the job. Senate Armed Services Chairman Jack Reed, who will be the top Democrat on the panel next year, said the reports on Hegseth “emphasized the need for a thorough investigation by the FBI on the background of all the nominees.” It takes a simple majority to approve Cabinet nominations, meaning that if Democrats all opposed a nominee, four Republican senators would also have to defect for any Trump choice to be defeated. Trump has made clear he’s willing to put maximum pressure on Senate Republicans to give him the nominees he wants – even suggesting at one point that they allow him to just appoint his nominees with no Senate votes. But senators insist, for now, that they are not giving up their constitutional power to have a say. “The president has the right to make the nominations that he sees fit, but the Senate also has a responsibility for advice and consent,” said Republican Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota. In the case of Gaetz, he said, “I think there was advice offered rather than consent.” Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.
Back Up The Truck Buying Opportunities May Be Ahead, Record Bets On Bitcoin Drop