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☆ For white-collar prisoners who just can't disconnect, $3,000 contraband cellphones can literally fall from the sky
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-08 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

White-collar criminals who can't disconnect are spending thousands of dollars on prison cellphones. Contraband phones go for $1,000 or as little as a few hundred dollars, depending on supply, at minimum-security camps, the so-called Club Feds. The stakes are particularly high for Wilson; his office continues to prosecute a violent, 90-defendant drug ring run by imprisoned people using contraband cellphones. The bureau urges Congress to pass the Lieutenant Osvaldo Albarati Stopping Prison Contraband Act, which would upgrade the charge of smuggling contraband cellphones into a Federal prison from a misdemeanor offense to a felony, Murphy said. White-collar criminals tend to put their contraband phones to more benign uses.

Persons: —, Craig Roth, Joseph Degregorio, Degregorio, it's, Justin Paperny, Paperny, Martha Stewart, Scotty Carper, Carper, Ron Kuby, Norm Pattis, Alex Jones, Pattis, Alan Wilson, Wilson, Donald Murphy, Osvaldo Albarati, Murphy, Christopher Carr, hadn't, Rothfeld, I've Organizations: Service, Devens, National Institute of Justice, Fed, FCC Devens, Feds, Federal Communications, of Prisons, FCC, South Carolina, AGs, Prisons, Georgia's AG Locations: New Jersey, Devens , Massachusetts, Lewisberg, Pennsylvania, Alderson , West Virginia, Leavenworth , Kansas, Sacramento , California, Leavenworth, Manhattan, Georgia

But five months later, the overall number of people filing refugee claims in Canada has risen instead of falling. But it has sought to discourage those applying for asylum, chiefly through an agreement with the U.S. under which each country turns back asylum seekers. Asylum seekers are drawn by Canada's reputation for swifter processing and greater acceptance of asylum applications compared to the U.S. But overall, the number of asylum seekers entering Canada has surged. People applying at airports comprised about a third of all refugee claims made in July, up from about 16% in March.

Persons: Shauna Labman, Joe Biden's, Craig Damian Smith, Remi Lariviere, Lariviere, Abdulla Daoud, Loly Rico, Hana Bakhit, Maureen Silcoff, Silcoff, Grace Nanziri, Anna Mehler, Denny Thomas, Deepa Babington Organizations: Reuters, Human, University of Winnipeg, U.S, European Union, Centre for Refugee Studies, York University, FCJ Refugee, REUTERS, Refugee Centre, FCJ, Thomson Locations: Canada, U.S, Toronto, Quebec, New York, United States, Mexico, Haiti, Turkey, Colombia, India, Rwanda, Montreal, Canada's, Sudan, Uganda

[1/5] Shaira Tasnia, 16, puts her helmet on while on a group cycling trip with community program Hijabs and Helmets, in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada, August 17, 2023. Hijabs and Helmets aims to provide education and a welcoming environment toward people new to cycling and the city - especially to Muslim women who may come from backgrounds where cycling was not the norm. The program was created three years ago to meet a community need, said Menna Badawi, a community health worker at Access Alliance Multicultural Health & Community Services and program lead for Hijabs and Helmets. The group realized "there was a gap in services for Muslim women in the community ... who are interested in cycling and kind of don't know where to go," Badawi said. "As a Muslim hijabi I did find there was a gap in recreational sports for women who look like me," she said.

Persons: Tasnia, Laura Proctor, Menna Badawi, Badawi, Elhassan, Anna Mehler Paperny, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Cycling, Access Alliance Multicultural Health & Community Services, Maple Leaf Sports, Entertainment, Toronto, Maple Leafs, Raptors, Muslim, Thomson Locations: Scarborough , Ontario, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Toronto, Toronto's, Taylor

☆ Why insider trading is so difficult to stop
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Charlotte Morabito | In Charlottemorabito | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Martha Stewart was famously accused of insider trading in the early 2000s, but she didn't face criminal insider trading charges. "It is incredibly difficult to prove an insider trading case," said Daniel Taylor, a forensic accounting professor at the University of Pennsylvania. "Insider trading is judge-made law," said John Reed Stark, former head of the Office of Internet Enforcement at the Securities Exchange Commission. The SEC adopted an amendment to a rule that will "enhance investor protections against insider trading." The Department of Justice prosecuted the first insider trading case exclusively based on the rule in March 2023.

Persons: Martha Stewart, Stewart, Daniel Taylor, John Reed Stark, Stark, Justin Paperny, Paperny, I've Organizations: University of Pennsylvania, Internet, Securities Exchange Commission, SEC, Department, Justice, United, White, Department of Justice Locations: United States

Arif Virani, a Toronto member of parliament, was appointed justice minister in a broad cabinet shuffle by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last week. "I think that empirically it's unlikely" Canada is becoming less safe, Virani told Reuters in an interview on Monday. According to Statistics Canada, the country's police-reported crime rate increased 5% last year, with the violent crime rate increasing 2%. An April poll by Leger found nearly two-thirds of Canadians surveyed thought crime had gotten worse where they lived. Canada will allow people whose sole underlying condition is a mental illness to access assisted death starting in March.

Persons: Arif Virani, Justin Trudeau, Virani, Leger, Anna Mehler Paperny, Matthew Lewis Organizations: TORONTO, Reuters, Statistics Canada, Calgary, Thomson Locations: Toronto, Canada, Uganda, Surrey, British Columbia

July 15 (Reuters) - Rare twin strikes by Hollywood actors and film and television writers are casting a pall over British Columbia's creative industry, which has become a hub for American film and TV production. Film production in British Columbia is down to "a trickle," said Gemma Martini, Chair of the Motion Picture Production Industry Association and CEO of Martini Film Studios. TAKING A TOLLReverberations that started on May 2 with the writers' strike grew in British Columbia, where most productions have American components. First the business was hit by the writers' strike: "Because no scripts are being written, people aren't coming to scout our locations." The Hollywood strike could affect the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), set to open in early September.

Persons: Gemma Martini, Synnove Godeseth, Godeseth, Martini, Oscar, Anna Mehler Paperny, Divya, Denny Thomas, Grant McCool Organizations: Hollywood, Industry Association, Martini Film Studios, Creative, Vancouver Economic, Toronto, Film, Thomson Locations: Canadian, Vancouver, North America, British Columbia, Los Angeles, British

An expansion of the criteria for medically assisted death that comes into force in March 2024 will allow Canadians like Pauli, whose sole underlying condition is mental illness, to choose medically assisted death. In 2021, the most recent year available, 10,064 people died through medically assisted death, about 3.3% of deaths in Canada that year. Dembo served on an expert panel on assisted death and mental illness that presented a report to Canada's parliament last year. loadingThe reported cases of people resorting to medically assisted death in part due to lack of supports are "tragic," Lametti said. "It does in one sense [represent a slippery slope], doesn't it, because it started off with terminal illness and it's ended up with non-terminal illness and mental illness."

Persons: Lisa Pauli, Pauli, I've, David Lametti, Lametti, It's, Marie, Claude Lacasse, Georges L'Esperance, Sarah Dobec, Justine Dembo, Dembo, She's, Mary Heatley, …, Heatley, Sonu Gaind, Michelle Hewitt, Hewitt, Sean Tagert, Lou Gehrig's, Tagert's, Sean, Charles Falconer, it's, Anna Mehler Paperny, Denny Thomas, Suzanne Goldenberg Organizations: TORONTO, Reuters, Health, Quebec Association for, Canada, Health Sciences Centre, Labour, Thomson Locations: Canada, Netherlands, Belgium, Provinces, Quebec, British Columbia, Ontario, Health Canada, Canadian, Britain

But it sent the case back to a lower court to determine whether the contested agreement violates asylum seekers' right to equal treatment under the law. But the court also found an unaddressed question when it comes to whether the agreement violates equality rights. The agreement stands and the case will return to federal court to determine whether the agreement violates asylum seekers' right to equal treatment under the law. Refugee advocates claimed the agreement violates that right because they argue the United States is less receptive to refugee claims predicated on gender. In March, Royal Canadian Mounted Police intercepted 4,173 asylum seekers on their way to file refugee claims in Canada after crossing irregularly.

Persons: Jamie Chai Yun Liew, Anna Mehler, Denny Thomas, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: TORONTO, Rights, Refugee, Supreme, Reuters, Freedoms, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Canada Border Services Agency, U.S . Customs, Border Patrol, U.S . Border Patrol, Customs, Thomson Locations: Canada, United States, Canada's, U.S

Smoke from wildfires in Quebec has settled over southern Ontario and travelled into the United States, disrupting flights and sending people indoors. On Wednesday mask supplier United Canada sent out an email with "Wildfire Season Safety Tips" that included an N95 mask. It's "a little disheartening" to be wearing a mask again, she said, but "that's what you have to do. Hume-Beardall added she hopes the spectre of smoky air "is a little bit of a wakeup call to people around the environment." Studies in people have linked wildfire smoke with higher rates of heart attacks, strokes, and cardiac arrests, increases in emergency room visits for respiratory conditions, and weakened immune defenses.

Persons: Canada Strong, Rivi Hume, Hume, Beardall, Samantha Green, Green, Marietta Haberer, Anna Mehler Paperny, Diane Craft Organizations: TORONTO, United Canada, Reuters, Unity Health, Toronto . Studies, Thomson Locations: Canada, Atlantic Canada, Quebec, Ontario, United States, Toronto

He said there are no statistics available showing more people are committing violent offences while on bail. The bill introduced this week comes after multiple high-profile violent crimes that police allege were committed by people on bail, including the killing of a police officer late last year. The bill needs to be passed in Parliament, where the governing Liberals have a minority and require support of another party. People jailed awaiting trial may feel pressured to plead guilty to get out of jail sooner, Brown said. "We just need to hold those accountable when they fail to do their jobs as bail supervisors or when people fail to abide by their bail terms."

[1/2] A smoke column rises from wildfire WCU001 near Wildwood, Alberta, Canada May 5, 2023. Alberta Wildfire/Handout via REUTERS/File PhotoTORONTO, May 16 (Reuters) - Tinder-dry weather and shifting winds in Alberta on Tuesday elevated the risk of spreading wildfires in the Canadian oil-producing province where thousands have already been forced from their homes. Some 90 wildfires are active in Alberta, with 23 out of control, according to the provincial government. Judy Levesque, 50, stood outside in the central Alberta town of Drayton Valley on the night of May 4 as ash rained down. The change in wind direction can pose a problem for firefighters as the path of the fires changes suddenly, said Christie Tucker, spokesperson for the Alberta Wildfire agency.

☆ There may be more 'Chinese police stations" in Canada, minister says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TORONTO, May 14 (Reuters) - There may be more "Chinese police stations" operating in Canada, the Public Safety Minister told a Canadian TV station on Sunday, months after police said they were investigating whether two community centers in Montreal were being used to intimidate or harass Canadians of Chinese origin. Earlier this month the Canadian Press reported the centers were operating normally, despite the minister's statements that all secret stations in Canada have been shut. Last week Canada expelled Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei after an intelligence report accused him of trying to target a Canadian lawmaker critical of China's treatment of its Uyghur Muslim minority. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government has been under pressure to clamp down on suspected Chinese interference and call a public inquiry into the matter. Trudeau said last week Canada "will not be intimidated" by Chinese retaliation.

OTTAWA, May 13 (Reuters) - Canada's main oil-producing province of Alberta faces another hot and dry weekend, with warnings of more intense wildfires after blazes forced thousands to evacuate homes and temporarily shuttered energy production. Residents forced to evacuate early this month say they are frustrated with the indefinite displacement. "We are expecting hot and dry conditions in most of the province, which will make the wildfire danger climb," Alberta Wildfire official Josee St-Onge told a briefing on Friday. Recent cooling and rain helped firefighters tackle some blazes and restored most of the energy production, but expectations of rising weekend temperatures have fanned worries. On Friday, the town of Drayton Valley told residents in a Facebook post that they should expect to be out of their homes "at least another week."

Immigration lawyer Ksenia Tchern's office is getting calls from worried clients, she said. The delay caused by the strike comes as Canada's immigration system is playing catch-up from pandemic delays. Immigration department spokespeople, whose work has been affected by the strike, could not provide details on the strike's impacts on immigration services. An immigration system perceived to be dysfunctional could complicate efforts to woo talented immigrants, said immigration lawyer Guidy Mamann. "It just gives our immigration system a black eye.

[1/2] Picketers gather and march downtown as approximately 155,000 public sector union workers with the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) continue to strike, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada April 24, 2023. For the 155,000 Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) on strike, the main sticking point is wages. "If they do get the remote work language in the collective agreement, then others will be inspired to do the same." PSAC, which names remote work as its second priority after wages, said on its website that it is time to look to the future "by enshrining remote work protections" into collective agreements. On Tuesday the Treasury Board said remote work remained a sticking point.

☆ FIFA concerned about Canada's refusal to honor Afghan visa letters -court filings
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Anna Mehler Paperny | Thomson Reuters | Toronto-Based Correspondent Covering Among Other Topics Migration | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Canada refused to accept "visa facilitation letters" FIFA and Canadian Senator Marilou McPhedran handed out based on a template provided by a Canadian Department of National Defence employee in attempts to evacuate 640 women athletes, their coaches and others, according to court documents. Canada said those letters were inauthentic and that it did not authorize anyone to issue them and asked police to investigate their distribution. The email is among newly released court documents that convey FIFA’s role in efforts to get young Afghan athletes and those close to them out of Afghanistan. FIFA and the Canadian government did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the documents. "After I received the visa facilitation letters from Canada, I chose not to follow through with evacuation by the American government," one unidentified plaintiff said in their affidavit.

☆ Top Bank of Canada officials speak after rate decision
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MACKLEM ON POTENTIAL FOR NEGATIVE QUARTERS FOR GROWTH"We're forecasting small positives. When you're forecasting small positives you can't rule out that there's going to be a couple quarters of small negatives. MACKLEM ON NEEDING A PERIOD OF WEAK GROWTH"I would remind you that we actually need a period of weak growth. We're expecting pretty weak growth for the rest of the year, something a little less than 1%." MACKLEM ON NOT FORECASTING A MAJOR CONTRACTION"We're not forecasting a major contraction.

Yet congenital syphilis is easily preventable if an infected person gets access to penicillin during their pregnancy. There were 2,677 cases of congenital syphilis in the U.S. in 2021 for a population of 332 million, according to preliminary CDC data. Canada had 96 cases for a population of 38 million, according to Health Canada. Health Canada told Reuters it has dispatched epidemiologists to help provinces contain the increase in congenital syphilis. The province had an incidence of 185 cases of congenital syphilis per 100,00 live births in 2021.

After almost 40,000 asylum seekers entered Canada from the U.S. through irregular border crossings last year, the two countries revised their two-decade-old asylum pact last week to stem the flow of asylum seekers. After moving thousands of asylum seekers from Quebec to Ontario, the federal government relocated some 393 asylum seekers to the Atlantic provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland as of March 19, according to official data. These transfers over the past several months have been Canada's first relocations of asylum seekers, the government said. Some of the asylum seekers and advocates told Reuters there is inadequate access to legal counsel, potentially jeopardizing refugee claims. Chamagne said her three staff lawyers are trying to help 164 asylum seekers transferred to Halifax, Nova Scotia.

[1/5] Asylum seekers that stated they were from Afghanistan cross into Canada at Roxham Road, an unofficial crossing point from New York State to Quebec in Champlain, New York, U.S. March 24, 2023. REUTERS/Christinne MuschiMarch 24 (Reuters) - Canada and the United States on Friday changed a two-decade-old refugee agreement as part of their attempts to reduce the record influx of asylum seekers entering Canada via unofficial border crossings. DIRT PATH ENTRYThe vast majority of irregular asylum seekers coming to Canada cross at Roxham Road, a narrow dirt path linking New York State with the province of Quebec. Hours before the new deadline kicked in, Roxham Road was relatively quiet. A Reuters photographer at Roxham Road saw a group of 11 Turkish refugees cross into Canada, brought to the border by a Turkish Uber driver.

[1/5] Migrants wait to cross into Canada at Roxham Road, an unofficial crossing point from New York State to Quebec for asylum seekers, in Champlain, New York, U.S. March 25, 2023. U.S. President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced changes to the Safe Third Country Agreement on Friday after a record number of asylum seekers arrived in Canada via unofficial border crossings, putting pressure on Trudeau to address it. Roxham Road, which had become a notorious unofficial crossing for asylum seekers into Canada, closed at midnight Saturday. Quebec RCMP did not immediately respond Saturday morning to questions about what will happen to people intercepted at Roxham Road. The new deal's stated aim is to promote orderly migration and ease pressure on communities overwhelmed by a spike in asylum seekers who crossed at places like Roxham Road to avoid being turned back at official entry points.

[1/2] People walk with their luggage on Roxham Road before crossing the US-Canada border into Canada in Champlain, New York, U.S., February 14, 2018. REUTERS/Chris Wattie/File PhotoOTTAWA, March 24 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau struck a deal aimed at stopping asylum seekers from traversing the shared U.S.-Canada land border via unofficial crossings, an official U.S. document showed on Friday. Biden will address parliament on Friday, after an introduction by Trudeau, and the two leaders will hold a joint news conference afterward. Canada has been pushing the U.S. to extend the deal for a while. In recent months, there has been a sharp increase in asylum seekers entering Canada through unofficial border crossings.

[1/2] Asylum seekers, who state they are from Turkey, walk down Roxham Road to cross into Canada from the U.S. in Champlain, New York, U.S., February 28, 2023. Growing numbers of asylum seekers have been crossing: 40,000 last year and 5,000 in January alone. Quebec’s premier and opposition politicians have called for Roxham Road to be "closed." This would allow Canadian officials to turn back asylum seekers trying to cross at Roxham Road or anywhere else. Migrant crossings at Roxham Road may decrease in the short term but refugee advocates say people hoping to evade detection might take riskier routes.

Many of the arrivals abandoned plans to seek asylum in the United States, deterred by long processing times and restrictive definitions for asylum, according to aid officials and interviews with asylum seekers. "We want to help asylum seekers stabilize their lives whether in New York City or elsewhere." REUTERS/Christinne Muschi Acquire Licensing RightsThe Quebec government has said the increase in asylum seekers is straining its capacity to house people and provide basic services. The federal government said it has relocated more than 5,500 asylum seekers to other provinces since June, the first time it has done so. Immigration experts said closing off the border to asylum seekers could push migrants to take even riskier routes.

Persons: Zulema Diaz, Maryangel Diaz, Carlos Osorio, Diaz, Justin Trudeau, Joe Biden, Sean Fraser, Alejandro Mayorkas, Trudeau, Biden, Zulema, Eric Adams, Kate Smart, Fabien Levy, Smart, Ilze Thielmann, Raymond Theriault, Theriault, Christinne, Pierre, Luc Bouchard, You’re, Jamie Chai Yun Liew, Anna Mehler Paperny, Ted Hesson, Denny Thomas, Suzanne Goldenberg Organizations: REUTERS, New, . Homeland, Washington , D.C, Ottawa, New York City, Department of Homeless Services, U.S . Department of Homeland Security, Reuters Graphics Canada, United, Colombian, Immigration, Refugee Board, Canadian, Reuters, U.S, . Citizenship, Immigration Services, TLC, Border Patrol, University of Ottawa, Thomson Locations: U.S, Quebec, Niagara Falls , Ontario, Canada, CHAMPLAIN , New York, WASHINGTON, Peru, United States, New York City, Plattsburgh, Washington ,, New York State, New York, Haitian, Syracuse, El Paso, West Virginia, Niagara Falls, Guatemala, Champlain , New York, Montreal, Canada's province, Manitoba, Washington

[1/5] Asylum seekers board a bus after crossing into Canada from the U.S. in Champlain, New York, U.S., February 28, 2023. Many of the arrivals abandoned plans to seek asylum in the United States, deterred by long processing times and restrictive definitions for asylum, according to aid officials and interviews with asylum seekers. "We want to help asylum seekers stabilize their lives whether in New York City or elsewhere." The Quebec government has said the increase in asylum seekers is straining its capacity to house people and provide basic services. Immigration experts said closing off the border to asylum seekers could push migrants to take even riskier routes.

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