Is operating a social media account in the likeness and purported voice of a public official “parody” or “impersonation?” Is there a reasonable limit on this behaviour that is, at best, “trolling” or, at worst, intentionally perpetuating libelous misinformation? The recent proliferation of Twitter profiles bearing misspelled federal cabinet ministers’ names and using their official…
The Syrian government has been found culpable for the killing of veteran conflict correspondent Marie Colvin in a £230m judgment in a US court – a landmark case holding Bashar al-Assad’s government to account for war crimes. The civil lawsuit, filed by Colvin’s sister Cathleen in Washington DC, was the first of its kind brought…
Ontario’s decision to cancel a basic income experiment early is unethical, professors from around the world said in an open letter published Tuesday. “It appears to us that 4,000 vulnerable research subjects will have made decisions to improve their lives … only to have the promise broken,” the letter read. “Not only is the cancellation…
At one of his recent shows, the Pulitzer Prize winning rapper and emcee Kendrick Lamar asked a white fan to stop rapping the N-word. The crowd in Gulf Shores, Ala., started booing as the fan used the racial slur. The rapper had invited the fan identified as “Delaney” on stage to sing “M.A.A.D. City” during…
Famed for its sandy beaches, timeworn temples and Unesco-listed rice terraces, the Indonesian island of Bali has developed a less desirable reputation of late – for rubbish. Now the authorities are considering introducing a tourist tax to help tackle the rising tide of waste. According to the Bali Environment Agency, the island produces 3,800 tons of…
It was pure coincidence that both meetings happened on the same day. Fourteen participants in Ontario’s basic income pilot project met Aug. 8 at a business incubator in the south end of Thunder Bay after the Progressive Conservative government announced it would wind the program down early. They had been receiving cheques from the province…
Henri d’Orléans never achieved his goal of ascending the throne of France, but the presence of Prince Albert of Monaco and other royals lent his funeral the solemn pomp of a state occasion. Queen Sofia of Spain, the mother of King Felipe VI, Crown Prince Moulay Hassan of Morocco and a host of European aristocrats paid their respects to Henri,…
VICTORIA — A Vancouver businessman banned for life from entering the United States over his investments in American marijuana companies says he plans to seek a waiver that permits him to cross the border. Canadian Sam Znaimer said he was recently denied entry at a Washington state border crossing by officials who said his investments…
Malta has reached a deal with other EU member states to allow 49 migrants aboard two rescue ships off the coast of the island nation to disembark, Joseph Muscat, the prime minister, said Wednesday. "An ad hoc agreement has been reached," Mr Muscat told journalists, adding that it also included a decision on the fate of 249…
OK, so is there actually anything Tessa Virtue can’t do? She’s a gold medal ice dancing champion (and the most decorated figure skater in Olympics history, alongside her skating partner Scott Moir), which, honestly, is enough. We could stop here and we’d all be suitably impressed. But we won’t, because since the Olympics Virtue has…