BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association
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Attorneys ask Tennessee governor to pause executions until legal challenge is resolved
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Attorneys for two Tennessee inmates facing execution this year asked Gov. Bill Lee on Thursday to declare a reprieve until a judge determines the legality of the state’s new execution protocol. Executions have been on hold in Tennessee since April 2022, when Lee halted the execution of Oscar Smith just an…
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Trump administration will screen for antisemitic activity in granting immigration benefits
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump ‘s administration will immediately start considering “antisemitic activity” on social media and physical harassment of Jewish people as grounds for denying immigration benefits, according to a federal agency announcement on Wednesday. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will begin screening the social media activity of immigrants that request benefits,…
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Texas AG Ken Paxton launches Senate primary challenge against Republican Sen. John Cornyn
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is running for the U.S. Senate in a primary challenge against Republican Sen. John Cornyn, setting up what is likely to become one of the GOP’s most contentious and expensive contests of 2026. Paxton, a close ally of President Donald Trump, made the announcement Tuesday after…
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Facebook parent Meta will pay $725M to settle user data case
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Facebook’s corporate parent has agreed to pay $725 million to settle a lawsuit alleging the world’s largest social media platform allowed millions of its users’ personal information to be fed to Cambridge Analytica, a firm that supported Donald Trump’s victorious presidential campaign in 2016. Terms of the settlement reached by Meta…
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Canadians gleaned naval intelligence from Russian defector, newly released files show
OTTAWA — The young Russian seaman who turned up exhausted and bleeding on the British Columbia shore struck a Canadian intelligence official as well mannered, sincere and athletic, built like Tarzan of the movies. Less than two years later, defector Sergei Kourdakov would die in a California motel room — apparently by accidentally shooting himself — after…
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Feds opt to focus on making access to info law work better amid calls for reforms
OTTAWA — The federal government says departments will focus on making the access-to-information system work better amid calls for fundamental changes to the transparency law. The Access to Information Act allows people to request government documents, from internal emails to expense reports for a $5 fee, but it is widely considered to be outdated and poorly administered. The law…
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Watchdog: Under 1% of Israel army probes yield prosecution
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli soldiers accused of harming Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip over the last five years have been indicted in less than 1% of the hundreds of complaints against them, an Israeli rights group reported. The watchdog argued that Israel’s military systematically fails to conduct a credible prosecution of…
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Ransomware attack delays SickKids lab results, systems could be offline for weeks
TORONTO, Ohio — A ransomware attack has delayed lab and imaging results at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children and could lead to longer wait times, the hospital said Thursday, noting that some of its systems could be offline for weeks. The hospital said it was unable to provide details about the nature of the attack,…
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‘Gag by-law to selfishly protect incumbents’: Rowena Santos’s Brampton outdoor election sign ban challenged by Canadian Constitutional Foundation
“In selfishly protecting their incumbent positions with this by-law by banning outdoor election signs outdoors on private property, Brampton politicians have trampled on the rights of residents to express their political opinions in the most crucial time — during an election.” That was the stinging statement by Christine Van Geyn, the Canadian Constitution Foundation’s litigation director, who…
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Documents appearing to come from government sent to Muslim charity were forged: RCMP
OTTAWA — The RCMP confirmed Tuesday that documents sent to the Muslim Association of Canada that appeared to be internal records of the Canada Revenue Agency and the Mounties are forgeries. The Globe and Mail reported last week that the association had been sent records, which the newspaper determined to be fake, that implied both…
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Police seize on COVID-19 tech to expand global surveillance
JERUSALEM (AP) — Majd Ramlawi was serving coffee in Jerusalem’s Old City when a chilling text message appeared on his phone. “You have been spotted as having participated in acts of violence in the Al-Aqsa Mosque,” it read in Arabic. “We will hold you accountable.” Ramlawi, then 19, was among hundreds of people who civil…