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SNP MP Lisa Cameron defects to Conservatives

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:34:33 GMT

Scottish National Party MP Lisa Cameron has announced she is defecting to the Conservatives. The MP for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow, told the Daily Mail she is switching sides due to what she called “toxic and bullying” environment within the SNP. Writing in the paper, she said: “I do not feel able to continue in what I have experienced as a toxic and bullying SNP Westminster group, which resulted in my requiring counselling for a period of 12 months in Parliament and caused significant deterioration in my health and wellbeing as assessed by my GP including the need for antidepressants.”Cameron has been outspoken on a range of issues in recent months, including her opposition to the Scottish government’s controversial legislation making it easier to legally change gender. Cameron was facing a battle in her own constituency to be reselected as the SNP’s parliamentary candidate.Her move to the Scottish Conservatives has been welcomed by the leader of the party, ...

Japan’s government will ask court to revoke legal status of Unification Church

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:34:33 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s government said Thursday it would ask a court to revoke the legal status of the Unification Church after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s assassination raised questions about the group’s fundraising and recruitment tactics.Education Minister Masahito Moriyama said the ministry proposed seeking the revocation after interviewing 170 people allegedly harmed by the fundraising tactics and other problems. The church failed to respond to dozens of questions during the hearings, he said.If its legal status is stripped, the church would lose its tax exemption privilege as a religious organization but can still operate. Decades of cozy ties between the South Korea-based church and Japan’s governing Liberal Democratic Party were revealed in the investigation of Abe’s 2022 assassination and have triggered public outrage. The man accused of shooting Abe at a campaign event allegedly told police he was motivated by the former prime minister’s links to the...

Malaysia questions Goldman Sachs lawsuit over 1MDB settlement, saying it’s premature

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:34:33 GMT

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — The Malaysian government questioned Thursday a move by Goldman Sachs to file for arbitration in a dispute connected with the multibillion-dollar looting of a sovereign wealth fund. Johari Abdul Ghani heads a task force to recover assets lost from fund known as 1MDB. He said it’s too early for arbitration since talks are still underway to resolve the conflict and accused the U.S. bank of trying to shift attention away from its payment obligations. Under a 2020 deal, Goldman Sachs paid Malaysia $2.5 billion to resolve criminal charges over the 1MDB saga. It also guaranteed it would help recover $1.4 billion in 1MDB assets. including $500 million by August 2022. If it failed, it had to cough up $250 million as an interim payment. The two sides are at odds over the interim payment. Malaysia says Goldman Sachs failed to recover the agreed amount last year and must pay the $250 million. The bank disagreed.Johari said the government has extended the deadline f...

Germany offers Israel military help and promises to crack down at home on support for Hamas

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:34:33 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Germany is offering military help to Israel and promising to crack down on support for the militant Hamas group at home following the group’s attack on Israel. Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday underlined Germany’s historical responsibility for Israel’s security.The Defense Ministry said it agreed to an Israeli request to use up to two of five Heron TP combat drones that are currently leased by the German military and were already in Israel for the training of German servicepeople. And Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in Brussels that Israel has requested ammunition for warships, a request that will now be discussed.Scholz told the German parliament that he has asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to inform Germany of any needs, “for example the treatment of wounded.”“At this moment, there is only one place for Germany — the place at Israel’s side,” he told lawmakers. “Our own history, our responsibility arising from the Holocau...

Hollywood studios break off strike talks with actors, who slam ‘bullying tactics’

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:34:33 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Talks bitterly broke off between Hollywood actors and studios late Wednesday, killing any hopes that the three-month strike by performers would come to an end anytime soon. The studios announced that they had suspended contract negotiations, saying the gap between the two sides was too great to make continuing worth it, despite an offer as good as the one that recently ended the writers strike. The actors union decried their opponents’ “bullying tactics” and said they were wildly mischaracterizing their offers.On Oct. 2, for the first time since the strike began July 14, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists had resumed negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents studios, streaming services and production companies in strike talks. When negotiations resumed with writers last month, their strike ended five days later, but similar progress was not made with the actors union. ...

In the news today: Trudeau in Yellowknife, Canadian citizen killed in Israel

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:34:33 GMT

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed on what you need to know today…Prime Minister Trudeau visits YellowknifePrime Minister Justin Trudeau is continuing his tour of the fire-ravaged Northwest Territories today in Yellowknife.Trudeau is scheduled to make a housing announcement then attend a roundtable discussion with the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce.The capital’s 20,000 residents were forced out of their homes for three weeks in the summer due to an encroaching wildfire.Family mourns death of daughter with deep Ottawa connections killed in IsraelA Canadian citizen has been killed by Hamas militants in Israel according to the head of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa.CEO Andrea Freedman announced that Adi Vital-Kaploun was killed after Hamas militants stormed her kibbutz near the Israeli border with the Gaza Strip.The family said Vital-Kaploun was driven at a young age to be successful, having completed a master’s de...

Greenpeace files securities complaint against Suncor over climate risk disclosures

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:34:33 GMT

CALGARY — An environmental group has lodged a formal complaint with the Alberta Securities Commission over Suncor Energy Inc.’s climate risk disclosures.Greenpeace Canada says Suncor may have failed to provide full, true and plain disclosure of all material facts in its forward-looking financial statements.Greenpeace senior energy strategist Keith Stewart says the Calgary-based oil giant used to prepare an annual report on climate-related risks, which included the disclosure of business strategy risk and the potential for stranded assets in a low-carbon future.Stewart says Suncor stopped disclosing the expected impacts on the company’s business strategy and profitability in various climate scenarios this year.He says this change in disclosure comes as the company appears to be doubling down on fossil fuels by selling off its renewables assets and purchasing a larger stake in the Fort Hills oilsands mine.Suncor put out a 52-page climate report earlier this year in which it deta...

Ottawa locals to testify about ‘Freedom Convoy’ at organizers’ criminal trial

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:34:33 GMT

OTTAWA — The court is expected to hear today from Ottawa locals who lived in the midst of the “Freedom Convoy”, as part of the criminal trial of two of the protest’s organizers.Tamara Lich and Chris Barber are on trial for their role in organizing the demonstration against COVID-19 public-health measures, which saw big rigs and crowds take over Ottawa’s downtown early last year.The Crown says it plans to ask the witnesses about the turmoil they observed during the protest, in an effort to tie disruptions to Lich and Barber. Justice Heather Perkins-McVey delivered a ruling Wednesday allowing the Crown to call the witnesses after the defence asked her to block their testimony. The defence argued the testimony of eight civilian witnesses from Ottawa was irrelevant to the charges against Lich and Barber, since both signed admissions that mischief took place during the protest.Perkins-McVey said she will make sure the witnesses stick to the things they observed fi...

Royal LePage downgrades Q4 housing price forecast; expecting seven per cent increase

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:34:33 GMT

Real estate firm Royal LePage is forecasting the aggregate price of a home in Canada will increase seven per cent in the final quarter of 2023 compared with the same period last year, downgrading its previous outlook of 8.5 per cent.The decrease reflects a sluggish third quarter in which the national aggregate home price rose 3.6 per cent year over year to $802,900, but fell 0.8 per cent on a quarterly basis.More than half of the 63 regional markets analyzed by the company for its latest house price survey posted a quarter-over-quarter price decline in the third quarter as sales activity softened.“While many Canadians have adjusted to the increased cost of borrowing, elevated interest rates continue to impact activity in markets across the country,” stated the report, released Thursday.Aggregate home prices in the Toronto and Vancouver regions fell 2.8 per cent and 1.8 per cent, respectively, compared with the previous quarter, while the Greater Montreal Area posted a 0....

Trudeau visits Yellowknife during tour of wildfire areas in Northwest Territories

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:34:33 GMT

YELLOWKNIFE — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is continuing his tour of the fire-ravaged Northwest Territories today in Yellowknife.Trudeau is scheduled to make a housing announcement then attend a roundtable discussion with the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce.The capital’s 20,000 residents were forced out of their homes for three weeks in the summer due to an encroaching wildfire.Flames didn’t enter the city but destroyed most buildings and homes in Enterprise, a hamlet of 100 people near Hay River.Trudeau toured that area Wednesday, walking among burned-out homes and vehicles as he spoke with officials.The territory saw nearly 70 per cent of its population displaced by wildfires and a record amount of land burned during the fire season.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 12, 2023.The Canadian Press