Two British men in their twenties were sentenced to four years in prison on Tuesday for Facebook pages they created.
20-year-old Jordan Blackshaw and 22-year-old Perry Sutcliffe-Keenan both created events last week encouraging rioting in their northwest England town of Warrington.
According to prosecutor Martin McRobb, the two men acted independently. McRobb said the men were wrong to believe that inciting disorder from the safety of the virtual world would not have real world consequences.
A 52-year-old Pierrefond man was charged on Tuesday for producing, distributing and possessing child pornography over a span of three years. Kimberly Byron Moskalewski is also accused of secretly watching or recording a person for a sexual purpose.
The violations allegedly occurred at Moskalewski's home, which is located a block away from an elementary school. According to sources, that same home is where Moskalewski's wife operated a small daycare since 1996.
It is not yet known whether the daycare was involved in the charges.
Moskalewski...
Debris from U.S. space shuttle Columbia surfaced in a dried up lake in Eastern Texas late last week. Lake Nacogdoches, north of Houston, had been receding as a result of a severe drought.
The globe-shaped object discovered was one of the 18 tanks that helped...
In a rare move, 5 professionals instead of the usual 3 will determine Guy Turcotte’s fate at his psychiatric hearing August 12. The hearing will decide whether the 39-year-old cardiologist who was accused of stabbing his two children to death last February may be released from hospital.
Turcotte was...
In local news, getting around by car this summer is about to become an even bigger challenge in Montreal. That's because, starting Wednesday, Transport Quebec is closing lanes along one span of the Ville-Marie expressway.
The lane closures will affect both directions and are due to more roadwork scheduled for the next four months. Transport Quebec announced the lane closures on Tuesday.
One lane heading west will be closed between Panet St. and the University St. exit. One lane, and in some areas two lanes, heading east will be closed between the entrance of the Ville Marie tunnel and Panet St.
A Montreal family will soon be reunited with their lost dog, a year after she was lost. The Labrador mix named Pollux escaped from owner Isablle Robitaille's home last June. But that the runaway dog was found after so long isn't the most surprising part of this story.
Pollux was found in Kamloops, British Columbia, over 4,500 kilometres away from home. A good Samaritan had turned her into the local SPCA. Officials at the Kamloops SPCA were able to identify the dog thanks to a microchip in her neck.
Pollux was adopted by Robitaille from the Montreal SPCA. They have a standing policy...
An unidentified piece of space-junk narrowly missed the International Space Station on Tuesday, as it flashed by at high speed. The incident forced the six astronauts on board the orbiting lab into their rescue craft.
Space...
Residents of several West-Island municipalities will have to forgo watering their lawns until further notice. Municipal officials announced a complete watering ban on Tuesday.
The affected boroughs are Pierrefonds-Roxboro, Île Bizard, Ste. Geneviève and Dollard des Ormeaux. These municipalities rely on the city of Montreal water filtration plant on Rivière des Prairies. However, according to Pierrefonds-Roxboro spokesperson Johanne Palladini, this filtration plant is currently under some stress. The plant is undergoing a major expansion that has temporarily reduced its capacity...
Drug raids targeting the Mohawk communities of Kanesatake and Akwesasne will curb intimidation and harassment tactics. Authorities announced the news Tuesday.
So far, the operation dubbed Connectivité has targeted 55 people during the raids. 38 people were arrested under drug trafficking and conspiracy charges. Many of them will be appearing in court Wednesday.
The investigation involved 500 police officers from native, provincial and federal police forces. At the centre of the raids is an alleged criminal network believed to be trafficking drugs produced in the greater...
News read by: Sofia Gay
Produced by: Alina Gotcherian
Stories written by: Chris Hanna, Sofia Gay, Jacqueline Di Bartolomeo
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News June 13th, 2011
An innocent passerby has died from his injuries after being hit by a stray bullet fired by Montreal police. The incident happened early Tuesday morning in the downtown core, near the corner of St-Denis and Ste-Catherine.
Police were firing on a 40-year old man who was seen wielding a knife and overturning garbage cans. The 40-year old was gunned down after a foot chase, a block away from the initial incident.
The innocent passerby was on his work at the St-Luc Hospital when he got caught in the fire.
Both men were rushed to hospital where the 40-year old Mario Hamel was pronounced dead....
Animal-welfare advocates will be taking to the streets this Saturday in cities across Quebec. They will be protesting Montreal's use of for-profit animal-control service The Berger Blanc in many of the city's municipalities.
The Society for the Protection of animals, the body organizing the demonstrations, is also threatening the city with a tourism boycott. The group says they'll call a boycott if the city does not produce a written pledge that it will take over animal-control services by next year.
The Berger Blanc came under fire last...
Prime Minister Stephen Harper will announce his new cabinet at a Rideau Hall ceremony Wednesday morning. According to government officials, Canadians should expect to see more of the same. Officials say that while there might be a few surprises, Harper's cabinet shuffle is unlikely to introduce new faces.
Jim Flaherty will continue as Canada's finance minister, a position he has held for five years. In Quebec, Harper is expected to reappoint Maxime Bernier to cabinet and elevate Natural Resources Minister Christian Paradis and minister of state Denis Lebel.
Meanwhile, the New Democrats are expected to announce...
It might still be another two years before the Liberal party elects a new leader. After an unprecedented fall to third party status and the withdrawal of party leader Michael Ignatieff, the Liberal’s national board suggested they have bigger priorities.
In a statement sent to the party’s caucus, the board cited challenges and responsibilities that the federal Liberals now face. Under recommendations released by the board Tuesday, the next liberal leadership race could be delayed to 2013.
In the meantime, the elected and defeated candidates in caucus will meet Wednesday to discuss the recommendations....
The White House is considering whether it should release photos of Osama bin Laden’s body. CIA director Leon Panetta said Tuesday he thinks a photo will be revealed eventually. The final decision, however, rests with the White House.
According to a senior U.S. official, the White House received three sets of photographs showing bin Laden’s body. An image currently circulating online and displaying Bin Laden’s bloodied face is reportedly a fake. It is believed that the graphic was made using the lower half of Bin Laden’s face from a photograph published years ago.
U.S. Homeland Security...
In federal election news, the Liberal and NDP parties may need to consider merging the centre left, according to one Liberal senator. Sen. Larry Campbell told reporters in Vancouver Tuesday that this may be the only solution to beating conservative leader Stephen Harper.
Campbell said that when the Conservative party merged with the Canadian Alliance in 2003, they had little in common. However, he suggested that there is a lot of agreement in the major points of both Liberal and NDP parties.
While sen. Campbell's leader, Michael Ignatieff, calls the Liberal party the only party that can be a...
The wife of former Habs captain Vincent Damphousse pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to charges of assaulting him with a weapon. Damphousse pressed the charges against his wife, Alanna Henderson, after being himself accused of 6 counts of assault against her.
The two filed the assault charges against each other. Their accusations stem from alleged incidents that occurred in March. According to Damphousse's lawyer, the charges are linked to divorce proceedings.
Neither Henderson nor Damphousse is speaking publicly about the allegations, but both are maintaining their innocence.
...
In Concordia news, ASFA’s chief electorate officer Nick Cuillerier presented his general election report to the ASFA council Thursday evening. Cuillerier proposed changes to the electoral regulations to encourage voter participation and ensure fairer elections in the future.
Among the suggestions made was the return of parties, slates, and affiliations in ASFA elections. This recommendation was highly contested by the council who ultimately voted to table the motion. Many executives agreed that the slate system had been toxic, preferring candidates to continue running solo.
Other recommendations to the...
Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak was admitted to a hospital Tuesday. According to Egyptian state television, Mubarak suffered a heart attack during questioning over possible corruption charges. Egypt's chief prosecutor had been questioning Mubarak for two days.
The former Egyptian ruler maintained his innocence throughout the interrogation. He decried accusations, saying the probe was aimed at tarnishing his and his family's reputation.
According to Egyptian health minister Ashraf Hatem, Mubarak's condition is not critical. Hatem suggested that...
In sports news, a winter Olympic event that has previously been open to men only will now be welcoming female athletes. Women's ski jumping is among the few new events that will be added to the program at the 2014 winter games in Sochi, Russia.
Among the new events are men's and women's ski halfpipe and mixed relay in biathlon. Team events in luge and figure skating will also be premiering.
Women's ski jumping was twice rejected from the 2010 Vancouver Olympics by the International Olympic Committee. They said the sport lacked elite...
A Montreal North minor-league hockey coach convicted of sexual abuse is blaming Hockey Quebec for allowing him near children. 55-year-old Gilbert Dubé has been sentenced to five years in jail for sexually abusing four children on his teams.
Dubé was also convicted in 1993 for sexual touching.
He told reporters before his sentence hearing Tuesday that Hockey Quebec should have checked his background before permitting him to coach. Dubé says he's come into contact with over 400 youths during his 20 years of coaching.
Although he's pleaded guilty to six counts, Dubé vows he has protected most of the young...
A Canadian man was arrested at Toronto's Pearson International Airport Tuesday evening in what's being called a new kind of terrorist case. The man, 25-year-old Mohamed Hersi, is being accused of attempting to participate in terrorist activity.
Although his boarding pass said he was bound for Egypt, police allege that the young Muslim man was actually headed to Somalia. Officials say Hersi quit his job in order to enlist with a group of Somalian insurgents linked to al-Qaeda.
Police say they spent 6 months investigating the case before making their pre-emptive arrest. They are not...
In local news, drivers may find themselves dodging fewer potholes by the end of the week.
According to a city spokesperson, 75 per cent of Montreal’s potholes had already been filled as of Wednesday.
While work on major roads is nearly complete, smaller side streets are expected to be finished in the coming days.
The city’s attempt to plug-up potholes started last Monday, after a winter season particularly tough on the roads.
The wide fluctuations in temperature this year can be blamed for the 154 damage claims motorists have filed with the city. That...
A Montreal man whose blog is being called anti-Semitic has no plans to stop - not even after a restraining order was filed against him.
Pierre Lacerte’s blog “Accommodements Outremont” chronicles what he considers are annoying bylaw violations committed by his Orthodox Jewish neighbours. Many photos on the blog prominently feature Hasidic Outremont residents, who...
In Japan, fear of a full-blown nuclear catastrophe rises after radiation levels surge at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, north of Tokyo.
A new fire at one of the plant’s reactors is believed to be the cause of the dangerous rise in radiation levels. Safety concerns forced emergency workers at the plant to withdraw on Wednesday, paralyzing efforts to cool down the overheating reactors.
Since last Friday’s earthquake and tsunami, Japan is trying desperately to avoid an environmental catastrophe, but radiation leaking into the air is making it difficult to control the disaster.
A plan...
Quebec launched its own model of WikiLeaks Wednesday morning. QuebecLeaks allows Quebecers to anonymously submit and access compromising documents online.
Access to Information Minister Pierre Moreau, however, says he’ll be keeping an eye on the whistle-blower site. Moreau claims that sites like QuebecLeaks are unnecessary because, according to him, Quebec is the most open province in Canada.
Concordia student and WikiLeaks mirror host Nadim Kobeissi disagrees. Kobeissi, who is also a security software developer, says pushing for better government transparency is in the public’s best interest.
...
In Concordia news, The Link has uncovered a story of collusion between former CSU president Amine Dabchy and current student union executives.
According to Cinema Student Association President AJ West, Dabchy is secretly working with the CSU to run a slate in the upcoming elections.
West says he agreed when current CSU president Heather Lucas first asked him to run with the CSU in mid-December. However, when Dabchy became increasingly involved in the meetings and interviews that followed, West decided to back down. He says he was concerned that Dabchy, who was president two...
Quebec police issued arrest warrants alleging a $120-million fraud linked to defunct children’s animation company Cinar.
Co-founder and former head of the company, Ronald Weinberg, is wanted for fraudulently investing company funds for personal profit. Police are also looking for two executives from scandal-ridden Montreal investment firms connected to the fraud. Police arrested Ex-Cinar chief financial officer Hasanain Panju Wednesday.
The four men face a total of 36 counts of fraud.
Police have been investigating the scandal-ridden television production company for nearly a decade.
...
The “Jeopardy” winning supercomputer Watson finally met his match Monday night in an actual rocket scientist. New Jersey physicist turned politician Rush Holt beat the computer in an exhibition match held in Washington.
Holt, who is a 5 time jeopardy champion, beat out four other politicians before defeating the computer.
IBM created Watson and hosted the mock “jeopardy” game to highlight technology’s impact on society. A representative from the company said that the untelevised event was more than a trivia contest.
Watson is equipped with some of the most advanced information processors in the...
It’s definitely a sign of modern times when you can follow the Catholic Church on Twitter.
The newly appointed archbishop of Quebec City and top Catholic official in Canada now tweets on the microblogging website. 53-year-old Bishop Gerald Cyprien Lacroix, pictured here, was formally promoted to archbishop by the Vatican earlier this week.
A spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Quebec says that Lacroix isn’t new to social networking.The archbishop’s Facebook account was recently deactivated after it was hacked...
Concordia Fine Arts professor Geneviève Cadieux has won the 2011 Governor General’s Award in Visual & Media Arts. The eight winners were announced on Tuesday in Toronto.
Cadieux is a Montreal photographer and the only Quebec recipient of the award this year.
Concordia President Fred Lowy praised Cadieux and said the recognition of her work is well deserved. Lowy also mentioned Cadieux’s instrumental role in developing the University’s highly regarded photography program.
Geneviève Cadieux’s photography has been exhibited internationally, as well as in Montreal’s Contemporary and Fine Arts museums...
You might already know about TED. He’s 25 years-old and likes sharing good ideas. His name is an acronym for technology, entertainment and design, and he’s become something of a global phenomenon.
If you haven’t heard about TED, chances are you’ll be hearing more about him on campus, as Concordia hosted its very own TEDx event on Saturday, attracting a crowd of over 400 people from the student body and beyond.
TEDx (x=independently...
Concordia’s beloved Art Matters festival is kicking into gear for its 11th edition. This year, however, is special – it’s been ten years in the making.
On Thursday, February 10th, Art Matters unveiled its retrospective 10th anniversary publication at a stylish press cocktail on the second floor of the MB building. A few dozen art students – many of them curators of the upcoming shows – as well as a handful of press members nursed glasses of wine as they mingled and...
In Provincial news, the dispute over Sikh kirpans is making a comeback in the Quebec legislature.
The Parti Quebecois announced on Tuesday it would introduce a motion barring Sikhs carrying ceremonial daggers from entering the National Assembly building.
Last month, four Sikhs were denied entry into the building because some refused to surrender their kirpans.
The Charest liberals said little then, but PQ member Louise Beaudoin commended the security guards for making the right choice.
The PQ declared that multiculturalism was...
