Over 120 people buried by massive landslide in China
( STR / AFP/Getty Images )BEIJING—More than 120 people were buried by a landslide that caused huge rocks and a mass of earth to come crashing into their homes in a mountain village in southwestern China early Saturday, officials said. The provincial government said more than 120 people were buried by the landslide. Article Continued BelowLocal officials have launched emergency rescue operations after a landslide smashed through Xinmo village in southwest China early Saturday. The village is known locally for tourism, and Chinese reports said it was unclear if tourists were among those buried by the landslide. Chinese military police and rescue workers at the site of a landslide in Xinmo village.
Source:thestar
June 24, 2017 14:34 UTC
Hundreds evacuated from London towers amid fire safety concerns
( Stefan Rousseau / The Associated Press )LONDON—Britain’s fire-safety crisis expanded substantially Saturday as authorities revealed that 27 highrise apartment blocks across the country have cladding that failed fire safety tests. The evacuation comes amid widening worries about the safety of highrise apartment blocks across the country following the inferno that engulfed Grenfell Tower in west London on June 14, killing at least 79 people. Read more: Firefighters battle massive blaze in London highrise buildingArticle Continued BelowThe burnt Grenfell Tower apartment building stands in London on June 23, 2017. ( Frank Augstein )The government said Saturday that the cladding samples that failed fire safety tests came from 27 apartment towers in cities including London, Manchester, Plymouth and Portsmouth. Tower blocks on the Chalcots Estate in north London.
Source:thestar
June 24, 2017 14:20 UTC
Fête nationale celebrations underway across Quebec
The Fête nationale parade is underway on St-Denis Street in Montreal, kicking off with Annie Villeneuve singing Gens du pays atop a float depicting Quebec colonial history. Pretty awesome to see a personified Habitat 67 marching in the Fête Nationale parade in Montreal today! Friday night, thousands of people attended the main Fête nationale concert at the Quartier des Spectacles to kick off a weekend of celebrations. Some Quebecers are celebrating at home to mark Fête nationale. Under then-premier René Lévesque, the Parti Québécois declared it the "Fête nationale du Québec" in 1977.
Source:CBC News
June 24, 2017 14:05 UTC
The Maud goes home: Norwegians will float the long-sunken ship halfway home this summer
Eighty-seven years after the Maud sank and a year after it was pulled up from the seabed, the ship will start its float home to Norway from Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, this summer. Maud's rig was also used on the Fram, the ship that took Amundsen to the South Pole. (Submitted by Jan Wanggaard)The wooden ship was named for Queen Maud of Norway and christened when polar explorer Roald Amundsen shattered a piece of ice against its hull. It left Norway in July 1918, heading for the North Pole via the Northeast Passage. Wanggaard says some say the Maud is cursed because it lost Amundsen "all his money" and never reached the North Pole.
Source:CBC News
June 24, 2017 14:01 UTC
Spain rescues 224 migrants from 5 boats in Mediterranean
MADRID — Spain’s maritime rescue service says it has rescued 224 migrants from five different boats trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea. The rescue service says it reached two boats, carrying 66 and 77 migrants, in the Strait of Gibraltar overnight. A few hours later, a Portuguese plane with the European Union Frontex border patrols spotted two more boats to the east, carrying 35 and 37 migrants each. The rescue service says the migrants were from North and sub-Saharan Africa. Tens of thousands of people cross the Mediterranean Sea each year, trying to reach Europe from North Africa, the vast majority in unreliable smugglers’ boats.
Source:National Post
June 24, 2017 14:01 UTC
'It's about making people think': Trademark ruling on The Slants motivates Canadians
Nevertheless, the name sparked an eight-year-long legal battle with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, after the group's request to trademark the name was denied on the grounds that the term disparaged Asians. Canadian Hank Bielanski has had a similar experience with his Oshawa, Ont.–based heavy metal band God Helmet. Bielanski filed to trademark God Helmet with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office after the band first formed in 2012. The thought that God Helmet would be considered offensive "never crossed my mind," Bielanski told CBC News on Friday. It's better speech and more nuanced speech," Tam said.
Source:CBC News
June 24, 2017 13:52 UTC
Vermont bar changes name under pressure from LGBT activists
BURLINGTON, Vt. — The owner of a gay bar in Vermont is changing the name after months of controversy. Craig McGaughan announced in March he was naming his bar “Mister Sister.” McGaughan saw the term as inclusive but some said it was a slur used to disparage transgender women. The new name for his Winooski bar is “The Bridge Club.”The Burlington Free Press reports that McGaughan posted on Facebook that he hopes people see humour in the new name and a nod to the historic Winooski Bridge. He also wrote that the name recognizes “the camaraderie and necessity in building bridges.”Among the critics of the “Mister Sister” moniker was the Pride Center of Vermont, which serves the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
Source:National Post
June 24, 2017 13:43 UTC
Canada may be poised for a tech comeback with innovation-friendly Liberal agenda: CEOs
But Holmes says the outlook for early stage tech companies looking to grow may be improving thanks to factors including the innovation-friendly agenda of the federal Liberals and easier access to financing in a historically low interest rate environment. Former BlackBerry Ltd. co-CEO Jim Balsillie serves as chair while John Ruffolo of the venture arm of OMERS, a leading pension fund that has been a steadfast investor in high tech companies, is deputy chair. The coalition believes Canadian rules, policies and procedures need to favour domestic tech companies the way the policies and standards of countries around the world support their own firms. Bergen added that there is opportunity for tech companies on a growth trajectory, but Canada needs to act fast given the burgeoning global demand for tech talent. Read more: Trudeau attends Microsoft summit to promote Canadian tech, lure foreign investmentTrudeau is the first sitting head of government or state to be invited to address the annual gathering of CEOs, his office said.
Source:thestar
June 24, 2017 12:56 UTC
My date only wanted to talk about his cat and his car: Dating Diaries
It was the same two topics the entire coffee date. I told him I'm allergic to cats, and that I'm not a cat lover. I asked him what he was looking at, and he said he was looking at his car. I thanked him for his time, and told him I’m a very honest person and didn’t want to lead him on. Lily rates her date (out of 10): 2 Want to be a dating diarist?
Source:thestar
June 24, 2017 12:56 UTC
How laneway housing could ease Toronto real estate woes
With the ongoing housing crunch in the GTA, laneway housing deserves a look as a potential way to help increase supply and provide much-needed rental units. Local councillors Ana Bailao and Mary-Margaret McMahon had a vision to allow laneway homes in the city. Last week, the Toronto and East York Community Council reviewed and authorized staff to move forward with a number of recommendations for laneway housing. In addition to providing an alternate housing option and to increasing the quality of affordable rental housing in the city, laneway homes offer a place for adult children, empty nesters and aging parents to live and be close to family. Across Canada, cities including Vancouver, Ottawa and Regina have adopted laneway housing as an effective way of delivering gentle density.
Source:thestar
June 24, 2017 12:56 UTC
Canada Day 150th home party etiquette
The most noise complaints in Toronto stem from construction, while loud music comes second and barking dogs is No. Fireworks:Canada Day and Victoria Day are the only times when Toronto residents can light fireworks on their property without a permit. WHAT’S OPEN, AND WHERE TO PARTYOntario’s Retail Business Holidays Act says retail stores must be closed on Canada Day. • Woodbine Park hosts its annual Canada Day Picnic with events leading up to Toronto’s largest fireworks display at Ashbridges Bay. • Look for Canada Day fireworks displays at Harbourfront Centre at 10:40 p.m., Amesbury Park at 9:45 p.m., Downsview Park and Canada’s Wonderland at 10 p.m.
Source:thestar
June 24, 2017 12:56 UTC
Conference: US mayors may shape national climate policy
MIAMI — With the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the Paris climate accords, national policy on climate change will emerge from U.S. cities working to reduce emissions and become more resilient to rising sea levels, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said at the annual U.S. “There’s near unanimity in this conference that climate change is real and that humans contribute to it. There may be a little bit of a disagreement about how actually to deal with it,” said Landrieu, who will replace Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett as conference president this weekend. A May survey of local sustainability efforts, conducted by the conference and the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, initially only included 80 mayors who hold leadership positions within the conference. “I think most mayors in America don’t think we have to wait for president,” whose beliefs on climate change are disconnected from science, Landrieu said.
Source:National Post
June 24, 2017 12:48 UTC
Tau Lewis: Of roots, and uprooting
Tau Lewis in her west end Toronto studio in June, 2017. ( Sian Richards ) A work in progress, where a tree-like creature carries a small doll figure on its back. " ( Sian Richards )Blink and you’ll miss Tau Lewis’s studio, tucked into a below-ground grotto on Niagara Street in Toronto’s west end. “When I’m putting things together, it’s about touch, and feeling, and weight.”A wider view of Tau Lewis's studio on Niagara Street. Tau Lewis is showing with Curtis Santiago at Cooper Cole Gallery, opening July 21.
Source:thestar
June 24, 2017 12:41 UTC
Penang govt justifies consultation fees on three roads - Nation
GEORGE TOWN: The Penang government has stressed that it did not overpay on consultation fees of the three paired roads meant to be the traffic dispersal system for the proposed undersea tunnel. "The civil and structural consultation fee was only RM64.3mil and not RM177.5mil as thought by Barisan Nasional strategic communications director Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan. Chow said the RM41mil consultation fee calculated by the Board of Engineers of Malaysia (BEM) was just 75% of the total consultation fee. He stressed that the RM177mil paid did not include any consultancy work on the undersea tunnel itself. Related stories:Opposition mum on bloated fees of three Penang roadsBN leaders dismayed over bloated fees
Source:thestar
June 24, 2017 12:33 UTC
Suicide bomber blows himself up as Saudis foil Mecca plot
A suicide bomber blew himself up near the Grand Mosque in Mecca as police disrupted a plot to target the holiest site in Islam just as the fasting month of Ramadan ends, Saudi security forces said Saturday. The interior ministry said it launched a raid around Jiddah, as well as two areas in Mecca itself, including the Ajyad Al-Masafi neighbourhood, located near the Grand Mosque. (Bazuki Muhammad/Reuters)Saudi state television aired footage after the raid Friday near the Grand Mosque, showing police and rescue personnel running through the neighbourhood's narrow streets. The interior ministry said the thwarted "terrorist plan" would have violated "all sanctities by targeting the security of the Grand Mosque, the holiest place on Earth." Iran's foreign ministry on Saturday condemned the Mecca plot and said it remains willing to work with other countries in confronting terrorism.
Source:CBC News
June 24, 2017 11:49 UTC