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Years After #MeToo, Defamation Cases Increasingly Target Victims Who Can’t Afford to Speak Out

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:40:52 GMT

Elise Aubuchon felt she owed it to other women to speak out. It was 2020, and #MeToo had prompted countless people to publicly expose those who had harassed and abused them. Years after she says she was raped, and once she realized the police weren’t going to pursue her case, she decided to make a public post on Facebook naming the alleged rapist. “MY VOICE WILL BE HEARD,” she wrote. “THIS IS FOR ALL THE VICTIMS OF THIS SICK MAN!!!!”She wasn’t planning to pursue legal action; she just wanted to warn others. Instead, it was the man she accused who sued her. Almost immediately after she put up her post, he sent her a letter threatening to sue her for defamation if she didn’t take it down. She refused. She hoped it was just an empty threat. But less than three weeks later, he filed a defamation lawsuit against her, according to court records, and demanded $25,000.“I felt defeated,” she told The Intercept. She was making $11 an hour and had no resources to fight him off; he already...

Japan cruises to 5-0 opening win over Zambia at Women’s World Cup

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:40:52 GMT

HAMILTON, New Zealand (AP) — Hinata Miyazawa scored a pair of goals, while Mina Tanaka and Jun Endo each added a goal and an assist, as Japan shut out Zambia 5-0 to open Women’s World Cup play Saturday for both sides. Miyazawa found the back of the net with one-time finishes on either side of halftime to secure an easy win over the Copper Queens in what was their World Cup debut.Tanaka, denied goals twice on offside calls, scored in similar fashion in the 55th minute, assisted by Endo.Endo then scored in the 71st minute, finding herself alone on the left side of goalkeeper Catherine Musonda’s goal and slotting home a left-footed strike.Not only did Tanaka see two goals called back by VAR for offside, the Nakeshido were awarded an early second-half penalty only to see it rescinded for yet another offside call.The Group C clash was the first time a senior World Cup match was hosted at Hamilton’s Waikato Stadium. Saturday’s attendance of 16,111 nearly filled the stadium that holds just...

Japan 5, Zambia 0

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:40:52 GMT

Japan14—5Zambia00—0First Half_1, Japan, Miyazawa, (Fujino), 43rd minute.Second Half_2, Japan, Tanaka, (Endo), 55th; 3, Japan, Miyazawa, (Tanaka), 62nd; 4, Japan, Endo, (Hasegawa), 71st; 5, Japan, Ueki, (penalty kick), 90th+11.Goalies_Japan, Ayaka Yamashita, Momoko Tanaka, Chika Hirao; Zambia, Catherine Musonda, Letisha Lungu, Eunice Sakala.Yellow Cards_Musonda, Zambia, 51st.Referee_Tess Olofsson. Assistant Referees_Lucie Ratajova, Polyxeni Irodotou, Massimiliano Irrati. 4th Official_Anahi Fernandez.___Source

Patriots training camp countdown No. 4: Will special teams be fixed?

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:40:52 GMT

Welcome to 7 Patriots training camp questions!Each day leading up to the start of camp, the Herald will explore one of the biggest questions facing the Pats this summer. Several pertain to the offense, which welcomed back Bill O’Brien this offseason and added JuJu Smith-Schuster and Mike Gesicki. Other questions cover the defense and special teams, units that might rely heavily on rookies and must overcome the loss of longtime captain Devin McCourty.Once the Patriots hit the practice field, here’s what they must learn before the season kicks off versus Philadelphia on Sept. 10.No. 7: Can Mac Jones return to form?No. 6: How will the Patriots replace Devin McCourty?No. 5: Who will make a Year 2 leap?No. 4: Will the special teams be fixed?Patriots head coach Bill Belichick clearly saw his team had a glaring weakness last season, so he made substantial moves to upgrade that flaw this offseason by adjusting his coaching ranks, ensuring he would bring back the unit’s best play...

Bulgaria agrees to send heavy military equipment to Ukraine for the first time since the invasion

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:40:52 GMT

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgaria has agreed to provide the Ukrainian army with some 100 armored personnel carriers, marking a turnaround in its policy on sending military equipment to the country to aid Kyiv’s battle against the Russian invasion.The parliament in Sofia late Friday approved by 148 votes to 52 the government’s proposal to make the first shipment of heavy military equipment to Ukraine since the beginning of the war.“This equipment is no longer necessary for the needs of Bulgaria, and it can be of serious support to Ukraine in its battle to preserve the country’s independence and territorial integrity after the unjustified and unprovoked Russian aggression,” the Parliament’s decision said.The Soviet-made armored vehicles were delivered in the 1980s to Bulgaria — then an ally of the Soviet Union in the Warsaw Pact.Bulgaria, which joined NATO in 2004, still maintains stocks of Soviet-designed weapons and has numerous factories making ammunition for them.Althoug...

3 people die in Serbia as a second deadly storm rips through the Balkans this week

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:40:52 GMT

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Three people died in Serbia during another deadly storm that ripped through the Balkans this week, local media said on Saturday.The storm on Friday first swept through Slovenia, moving on to Croatia and then Serbia and Bosnia, with gusts of wind and heavy rain. Authorities reported power distribution issues and extensive damage — including fallen trees — that destroyed cars and rooftops.On Wednesday, another storm killed six people in the region, four in Croatia, one in Slovenia and another in Bosnia. Meteorologists said the storms were of such powerful magnitude because they followed a string of extremely hot days. Experts say extreme weather conditions are likely fueled by climate change.In the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad, a 12-year-old was found dead in the street during the storm but it remains unclear whether he was struck by lightning or was electrocuted, said the official RTS television. Local media say Novi Sad was hit the hardest, with the stor...

‘He was such a gentleman’: Canadian actor Dave Thomas on working with Tony Bennett

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:40:52 GMT

When SCTV invited Tony Bennett to make a guest appearance in the early 1980s, one of the stars of the Canadian television comedy sketch show figured it was a long shot. “We thought … well he’s not gonna want to do that,” Canadian actor, comedian and writer Dave Thomas recalled in a phone interview from Los Angeles. Not only did Bennett say yes, he was “very game” to try out comedy and have fun on the show, Thomas said as he remembered the legendary American singer who died on Friday at age 96. “He was such a gentleman,” Thomas said. “And such a sweet, sweet man.”SCTV, or Second City Television, was “very hot” then and Bennett’s career was in a lull, Thomas said. Bennett’s son was his manager at the time and had hoped the SCTV appearance would boost his father’s profile, he added.Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis played Doug and Bob McKenzie, fictional Canadian brothers who starred in the “The ...

Canadian intelligence flagged Chinese meddling 37 years ago: newly released report

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:40:52 GMT

OTTAWA — A newly released document shows intelligence officials have been tracking China’s attempts to meddle in Canadian affairs for more than one-third of a century.The February 1986 intelligence report warned that Beijing was using open political tactics and secret operations to influence and exploit the Chinese diaspora in Canada.It said China was using new and potentially more potent techniques to accomplish these goals.The Canadian Press used the Access to Information Act to obtain the report, called “China/Canada: Interference in the Chinese Canadian Community,” produced by the federal Intelligence Advisory Committee.Much of the document remains secret on the grounds disclosure could harm the conduct of international affairs, the defence of Canada or the detection, prevention or suppression of subversive or hostile activities.Release of the heavily redacted report comes amid pressure on the Liberal government to hold an inquiry into foreign interference in C...

What ideas were left on the cutting room floor in passport redesign? We’ll never know

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:40:52 GMT

OTTAWA — Garry Keller recalls the first images passport staff brought before the then-Conservative government for consideration during the last major passport overhaul.“We laughed,” Keller recalls. “It looked like a C-minus effort.”The original concepts featured a Canada goose, a beaver and a maple leaf — ideas the government found uninspired and “lowest-common denominator.”Keller served as chief of staff to John Baird, who oversaw the passport redesign as foreign minister. Baird and his team sent the department back to the drawing board.“I think we delivered a passport that was certainly esthetically beautiful in the inside, but also pulled from the historical story of Canada,” Keller said. When he saw the latest redesign of the Canadian passport unveiled last May, he said it reminded him of those early concept images.Canadians might never know what ideas were considered and rejected before the federal government finalized the reimagi...

Russian strikes kill at least 8 civilians as fierce fighting continues in Ukraine’s south and east

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:40:52 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian attacks on 11 regions across Ukraine overnight killed at least eight civilians and wounded others, authorities said Saturday, as fierce fighting continues in Ukraine’s attempts to dislodge Russian forces from territory they have occupied. The regional prosecutor’s office in the eastern Donetsk region said that at least four people, including a married couple, were killed as Russian forces on Friday night shelled the settlement of Niu-York, south of the city of Bakhmut — the site of the war’s longest and bloodiest battle until it fell to Moscow in May. Three other Niu-York residents were hospitalized.Also on Saturday morning, Ukraine’s interior ministry said that two civilians died as Russian forces Friday struck Kostiantynivka, a city in the Donetsk region, from multiple rocket launchers. In a post on its official Telegram channel, the ministry said that another civilian was wounded in the same attack, which also destroyed 20 private homes, cars an...