Role of news media

Please review each article prior to use: grade-level applicability and curricular alignment might not be obvious from the headline alone.

Judge dismisses convicted mail bomber’s second bid for release in past month

Dean Pritchard 3 minute read Preview

Judge dismisses convicted mail bomber’s second bid for release in past month

Dean Pritchard 3 minute read Friday, Sep. 12, 2025

Convicted mail bomber Guido Amsel has lost his second bid for release in the past month after his motion, claiming he was being unlawfully detained, was dismissed by a judge Thursday.

Amsel, 59, was convicted after trial in 2018 of four counts of attempted murder and sentenced to life in prison for mailing a series of explosives in 2015. One of the explosive packages was mailed to his ex-wife and another to her lawyer Maria Mitousis, who lost a hand and was severely injured when a booby-trapped tape recorder exploded.

Amsel, who represented himself in court, filed the motion arguing he was being detained in custody illegally.

“This is all fraud,” Amsel told Court of King’s Bench Justice Jeffrey Harris, claiming evidence was withheld at his trial and DNA evidence tying him to the bombs was “planted.”

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Friday, Sep. 12, 2025

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Amsel, 59, was convicted after trial in 2018 of four counts of attempted murder and sentenced to life in prison for mailing a series of explosives in 2015.

SUPPLIED
                                Amsel, 59, was convicted after trial in 2018 of four counts of attempted murder and sentenced to life in prison for mailing a series of explosives in 2015.

Widespread availability of graphic Charlie Kirk shooting video shows content moderation challenges

Barbara Ortutay And Kelvin Chan, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

Widespread availability of graphic Charlie Kirk shooting video shows content moderation challenges

Barbara Ortutay And Kelvin Chan, The Associated Press 6 minute read Sunday, Sep. 21, 2025

Immediately after Charlie Kirk was shot during a college event in Utah, graphic video of what happened was available almost instantly online, from several angles, in slow-motion and real-time speed. Millions of people watched — sometimes whether they wanted to or not — as the videos autoplayed on social media platforms.

Video was easy to find on X, on Facebook, on TikTok, on Instagram, on YouTube — even on President Donald Trump's Truth Social. The platforms, generally, said they were removing at least some of the videos if they violated their policies, for instance if the person was glorifying the killing in any way. In other cases, warning screens were applied to caution people they were about to see graphic content.

Two days after Kirk's death, videos were still easily found on social media, despite calls to remove them.

“It was not immediately obvious whether Instagram for example was just failing to remove some of the graphic videos of Charlie Kirk being shot or whether they had made a conscious choice to leave them up. And the reason that it that was so hard to tell is that, obviously, those videos were circulating really widely,” said Laura Edelson, an assistant professor of computer science at Northeastern University.

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Sunday, Sep. 21, 2025

FILE - Charlie Kirk speaks at Texas A&M University as part of Turning Point USA's American Comeback Tour on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in College Station, Texas. (Meredith Seaver/College Station Eagle via AP, File)

FILE - Charlie Kirk speaks at Texas A&M University as part of Turning Point USA's American Comeback Tour on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in College Station, Texas. (Meredith Seaver/College Station Eagle via AP, File)

Bewildered and ‘in horror,’ Toronto man fights fake news that he shot U.S. influencer Charlie Kirk

Sharif Hassan, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

Bewildered and ‘in horror,’ Toronto man fights fake news that he shot U.S. influencer Charlie Kirk

Sharif Hassan, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Friday, Sep. 19, 2025

TORONTO - Michael Mallinson had never met Charlie Kirk, nor had he ever heard the name of the American right-wing commentator who was shot dead in broad daylight at a Utah college event on Wednesday.

But the retired Torontonian has done some research about him after his death.

"I gather that he appeals to young conservatives. I'm an old socialist. I guess that's the best way I could put it," Mallinson said in a phone interview.

They would never have come across each other, but a piece of viral online misinformation has tied Mallinson to Kirk's story. Now the former banker, 77, is fighting to make the truth understood: he is decidedly not the person who put a bullet in the controversial commentator's neck.

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Friday, Sep. 19, 2025

A well-wisher adds flowers to a makeshift memorial set up at Turning Point USA headquarters after the shooting death at a Utah college on Wednesday of Charlie Kirk, the 31-year-old founder and CEO of the organization, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, in Phoenix. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP - Ross D. Franklin

A well-wisher adds flowers to a makeshift memorial set up at Turning Point USA headquarters after the shooting death at a Utah college on Wednesday of Charlie Kirk, the 31-year-old founder and CEO of the organization, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, in Phoenix. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP - Ross D. Franklin

Impact of cyberattack on Nova Scotia Power could be bigger than first thought

Michael MacDonald, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

Impact of cyberattack on Nova Scotia Power could be bigger than first thought

Michael MacDonald, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Saturday, Sep. 20, 2025

HALIFAX - Nova Scotia’s largest electric utility says the impact of a sophisticated cyberattack in March could be much broader than first thought.

Nova Scotia Power said in May that about half of its customers — 277,000 ratepayers — may have had personal information stolen by hackers. But the privately owned utility is now saying all of its customers may be affected in some way.

The new information comes from a Nova Scotia Power report submitted last week to the independent Nova Scotia Energy Board, which is investigating the cybersecurity breach.

“This investigation is ongoing and has been complex given the severe nature of the cyberattack," the report says. "It remains possible that all of the company’s customers may have been impacted by the cyberattack."

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Saturday, Sep. 20, 2025

The Nova Scotia Power headquarters is seen in Halifax on Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan

The Nova Scotia Power headquarters is seen in Halifax on Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan
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Most US adults think individual choices keep people in poverty, a new AP-NORC/Harris poll finds

Claire Rush And Linley Sanders, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview
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Most US adults think individual choices keep people in poverty, a new AP-NORC/Harris poll finds

Claire Rush And Linley Sanders, The Associated Press 6 minute read Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025

WASHINGTON (AP) — Most U.S. adults think personal choices are a major driver of poverty and homelessness, according to a new poll, while fewer blame a lack of government support.

However, just over half also think the government spends too little on those in need, the new poll from the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows.

The poll comes as homelessness is on the rise and as officials across the country, including Republican President Donald Trump in the nation's capital, push to clear encampments where unhoused people live. At the same time, the GOP tax and spending cut bill signed into law by Trump in July is expected to reduce benefits for low-income people.

“It seems like people are a little conflicted,” said Bruce Meyer, a professor at the University of Chicago Harris School who helped craft and analyze the poll. “I think people probably realize, in part at least, the complexity of what leads people to get in trouble in terms of their economic circumstances. And I think a lot of people are generous at heart and will help people out and think the government should as well, even when individuals aren’t blameless.”

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Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025

FILE - In this photo illuminated by an off-camera flash, a woman walks past a homeless person's tent with a chair in downtown Los Angeles, Feb. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

FILE - In this photo illuminated by an off-camera flash, a woman walks past a homeless person's tent with a chair in downtown Los Angeles, Feb. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
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Carney surprises many with appearance at long-distance trail race

Rob Drinkwater, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview
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Carney surprises many with appearance at long-distance trail race

Rob Drinkwater, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Friday, Oct. 10, 2025

Politicians typically do most of their running on campaign trails, but Prime Minister Mark Carney surprised many people when he competed in a long-distance trail run in southern Ontario on the weekend.

Carney was entered in the 26-kilometre event in the Haliburton Forest Trail Race, an annual event held about 160 kilometres north of Toronto, which also has longer distance categories, with the longest being 100 miles (160 kilometres).

"It has a reputation as one of the harder trail runs in Canada," organizer Tegan Legge said in a phone interview, noting the course features steep hills and an occasional rock face that competitors must scramble up.

"A 'crushing course' is what we hear, but we take that as a compliment."

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Friday, Oct. 10, 2025

Prime Minister Mark Carney takes part in the 26-kilometre event in the Haliburton Forest Trail Race in southern Ontario as shown on Saturday Sept. 6, 2025 in this handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout - Haliburton Forest-David Sweeney (Mandatory Credit)

Prime Minister Mark Carney takes part in the 26-kilometre event in the Haliburton Forest Trail Race in southern Ontario as shown on Saturday Sept. 6, 2025 in this handout photo.  THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout - Haliburton Forest-David Sweeney (Mandatory Credit)

Gaza as a twisted real estate opportunity

Gwynne Dyer 5 minute read Preview

Gaza as a twisted real estate opportunity

Gwynne Dyer 5 minute read Saturday, Sep. 6, 2025

A motley band of greedy fantasists got together at the White House a week ago (Aug. 27) and came up with a cunning plan to bring peace to the Middle East while lining their own pockets at the same time. It was “leaked” within days, as it was clearly meant to be, and since then the sound of outraged clucking has been loud in the land.

It is “a Trumpian get-rich-quick scheme reliant on war crimes, AI and tourism,” wrote the Israeli daily Ha’aretz.

“It’s a textbook case of international crimes on an unimaginable scale: forcible population transfer, demographic engineering and collective punishment,” said Duncan Grant, head of Swiss-based human rights group Trial International.

“It’s insane,” said H.A. Hellyer of the Royal United Services Institute. They are right, so far as they go — but they only know the half of it. The other half is that this is an insane crime that could actually happen.

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Saturday, Sep. 6, 2025

The Associated Press

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza Strip, seen from southern Israel. A plan to convert wasteland to luxury, expelling Palestinians in the process, is still being planned in the White House.

The Associated Press
                                Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza Strip, seen from southern Israel. A plan to convert wasteland to luxury, expelling Palestinians in the process, is still being planned in the White House.
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Winnipeg independent music magazine Stylus set to fold

Conrad Sweatman 4 minute read Preview
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Winnipeg independent music magazine Stylus set to fold

Conrad Sweatman 4 minute read Friday, Sep. 5, 2025

The future of Stylus Magazine, Winnipeg’s flagship indie music publication, is in jeopardy.

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Friday, Sep. 5, 2025

A 2003 issue of Stylus Magazine

A 2003 issue of Stylus Magazine

Attorneys general warn OpenAI and other tech companies to improve chatbot safety

Matt O'brien And Thalia Beaty, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Attorneys general warn OpenAI and other tech companies to improve chatbot safety

Matt O'brien And Thalia Beaty, The Associated Press 4 minute read Sunday, Sep. 21, 2025

The attorneys general of California and Delaware on Friday warned OpenAI they have “serious concerns” about the safety of its flagship chatbot, ChatGPT, especially for children and teens.

The two state officials, who have unique powers to regulate nonprofits such as OpenAI, sent the letter to the company after a meeting with its legal team earlier this week in Wilmington, Delaware.

California AG Rob Bonta and Delaware AG Kathleen Jennings have spent months reviewing OpenAI's plans to restructure its business, with an eye on “ensuring rigorous and robust oversight of OpenAI’s safety mission.”

But they said they were concerned by “deeply troubling reports of dangerous interactions between" chatbots and their users, including the "heartbreaking death by suicide of one young Californian after he had prolonged interactions with an OpenAI chatbot, as well as a similarly disturbing murder-suicide in Connecticut. Whatever safeguards were in place did not work.”

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Sunday, Sep. 21, 2025

FILE - The OpenAI logo appears on a mobile phone in front of a computer screen with random binary data, March 9, 2023, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)

FILE - The OpenAI logo appears on a mobile phone in front of a computer screen with random binary data, March 9, 2023, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)

C-SPAN announces deal for its service to be carried on YouTube TV, Hulu

David Bauder, The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

C-SPAN announces deal for its service to be carried on YouTube TV, Hulu

David Bauder, The Associated Press 3 minute read Friday, Sep. 19, 2025

NEW YORK (AP) — C-SPAN said Wednesday that it had reached a deal to have its three channels air on YouTube TV and Hulu's live television feed, ending a dispute that had led to a revenue squeeze for the public affairs network in the cord-cutting era.

The network said the streaming services would pay the same fee as cable and satellite companies, roughly 87 cents a year per subscriber, and that C-SPAN would continue its no-advertising policy on television.

Congress involved itself in the issue, passing a resolution this spring calling on the services' parent companies — Alphabet for YouTube and Disney for Hulu — to add C-SPAN to their programming mix. Because congressional sessions and hearings represent a big portion of C-SPAN's programming, the politicians faced diminished airtime without a deal.

At its peak a decade ago, C-SPAN was seen in some 100 million homes with television. The number of homes paying for TV has since dropped to some 70 million, with roughly 20 million of those consumers now getting television through services like YouTube and Hulu, and they weren't showing C-SPAN.

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Friday, Sep. 19, 2025

FILE - In this image taken from video provided by C-SPAN, the final vote count on President Barack Obama's economic recovery plan is displayed, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2009, in the Senate in Washington, D.C. (C-SPAN via AP)

FILE - In this image taken from video provided by C-SPAN, the final vote count on President Barack Obama's economic recovery plan is displayed, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2009, in the Senate in Washington, D.C. (C-SPAN via AP)