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‘Clone’ or competitor? Users and lawyers compare Twitter and Threads

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:10 GMT

By MATT O’BRIEN and WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS (The Associated Press)Just how similar is Instagram’s chatty new app, Threads, to Twitter?In a cease-and-desist letter earlier this week, Twitter threatened legal action against Instagram parent company Meta over the new text-based app Threads, which it called a “copycat.” Threads has drawn tens of millions of users since launching as the latest rival to Elon Musk’s social media platform. Threads creators pushed back on the accusations, and legal experts note that much is still unknown. For now, “it’s sort of a big question mark,” Jacob Noti-Victor, an associate professor at Yeshiva University’s Cardozo Law School who specializes in intellectual property, told The Associated Press.The people starting to explore Threads, however, are already making their own observations.“People are calling it a Twitter clone but I think there are some key product differences,” said Alexandra...

The Real McCoy, popular Scarborough restaurant forced to close, set to reopen at new spot

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:10 GMT

When George Mihail, the owner of The Real McCoy, announced he was being forced to shut his doors in late 2022 due to redevelopment, it sparked an outpouring of love and support at his 53-year-old Scarborough restaurant while also leaving a question about what the future would look like for the beloved business.More than six months after the doors were locked at the former Markham Road establishment for the last time, that lingering question has been answered in resounding form: The Real McCoy is back and seemingly stronger than ever.“It was a short six months and you know what, can’t wait for people to try and come back and support us. Love you Scarborough, love Toronto,” Mihail told CityNews during an interview on Friday inside the new location at Bellamy Road North and Lawrence Avenue East.“This is going to be like a flagship store for The Real McCoy and … we would like to open up more stores in the future.”It was in December when CityNews first...

Trudeau says pressure is on to end B.C. port strike, on day seven of stoppage

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:10 GMT

VANCOUVER — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government will continue putting pressure on both sides to end the British Columbia port strike, as the stoppage drags on for a seventh day.Trudeau, who’s in Calgary, said he’s aware of how “impactful” the strike has been on producers in the Prairies. About 7,400 members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada walked off the job on Saturday at about 30 ports in B.C.There’s been no sign of a break in the deadlock that emerged when talks broke down on Monday. The BC Maritime Employers Association is urging the union to return to bargaining under “a voluntary mediation-arbitration process,” while the union accuses the employers of trying to get the government to do its “dirty work.” Trudeau said the best deals are made at the bargaining table, and he knows that “a solution is out there.”“But I also know that pressure is mounting day by day...

UN to keep pushing for extension of food and fertilizer exports from Russia and Ukraine

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:10 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Top U.N. officials vowed Friday to keep working for an extension of the deal that allows food and fertilizer exports from Russia and Ukraine despite their war, pushing back at Moscow’s pessimism about a renewal before the July 17 expiration.U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged both countries to make global food security a priority and “help ensure that these products can reach global markets smoothly, efficiently and at scale,” U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said. “Together, the agreements are contributing to sustained reductions in global food prices, which are now more than 23% below the record highs reached in March last year.”Turkey and the U.N. brokered a breakthrough accord with the warring sides last July, which has enabled Ukraine to ship over 32 million tons of grain from Black Sea ports to global markets. Moscow, however, complains that the separate U.N.-Russia memorandum on facilitating shipments of Russian food and fertilizer still ...

B.C. RCMP announce corruption, drug trafficking charges against former constable

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:10 GMT

SURREY, B.C. — The B.C. RCMP says a former probationary constable at the force’s Surrey detachment has been charged with multiple offences after a months-long corruption investigation. Mounties say the ex-constable faces 13 charges related to drug trafficking, breach of trust, theft, cannabis distribution and conspiracy to commit robbery.Police say the force started a covert investigation in the summer of 2020 after becoming aware that the former constable was allegedly associating with criminals. They say he was arrested after a six-month investigation in January 2021 for offences allegedly committed both on duty and off the job. The B.C. RCMP says in a release that the officer was suspended from duty after his release and had his security clearance revoked before he resigned in June 2021. Police say the investigation was handled by the B.C. RCMP’s anti-corruption unit, and the former officer is due in Surrey Provincial Court on Aug. 24. This report by The Canadian Pres...

New minimum pay rates for NYC app-based food delivery workers are delayed

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:10 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A judge Friday ordered New York City to temporarily delay new minimum pay standards for app-based food delivery workers, a day after being sued by Uber Eats, DoorDash and Grubhub.City officials recently announced plans to substantially increase earnings for those workers in the coming years to provide them with more financial stability. The law was set to take effect July 12 with an initial increased pay rate of $17.96 an hour.But food delivery services DoorDash, Grubhub and Uber, along with New York-based Relay Delivery, sued Thursday in state Supreme Court in Manhattan. The companies claimed the city’s rule-making process was flawed and that higher costs would be passed along to consumers. Judge Nicholas Moyne on Friday ordered a temporary delay on enacting the new standard pending a hearing on July 31.The food delivery giants praised the order.“We are pleased with the judge’s decision today to delay implementation of a rule that, if allowed to stand, will ha...

North Dakota election official challenges mail ballot counting law in Trump-aligned group’s lawsuit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:10 GMT

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A North Dakota county election official is suing the state’s election director to block the counting of mail-in ballots received after Election Day in a lawsuit filed by a conservative group that also brought lawsuits amid former President Donald Trump’s false claims of election fraud in 2020.An election law expert says the Public Interest Legal Foundation appeared to be “court-shopping” for a conservative circuit with its case, which seeks an injunction against the election director for enforcing the state’s laws.Burleigh County Auditor Mark Splonskowski, who was elected last fall, alleges he “is harmed by instructions to accept and cast ballots received after Election Day,” and that “because federal and state law conflict on the day the ballots must be turned in, he faces an impossibility in enforcing the law,” according to a complaint filed Wednesday in federal court.“Despite federal law assigning one day as Election Day, North Dakota...

Judge: Lawyers can gather evidence for $40M lawsuit filed by teacher who was shot by 6-year-old

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:10 GMT

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) — Lawyers for a teacher who was shot by her 6-year-old student in Virginia can start the process of interviewing eyewitnesses, reviewing the boy’s disciplinary files and accessing other records for a $40 million lawsuit against the school system, a judge ruled Friday.But the judge is yet to decide whether Abby Zwerner’s case will end up in a civil courtroom or before the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission. The Newport News School Board wants the lawsuit dismissed and argues that Zwerner suffered employment-related injuries. Workers’ compensation provides up to 500 weeks of benefits and lifetime medical care for injuries.Zwerner was a first-grade teacher at Richneck Elementary School when she was shot in the hand and chest while sitting at her classroom reading table. The 25-year-old spent nearly two weeks in the hospital and has had multiple surgeries since the January shooting. Newport News Circuit Court Judge Matthew Hoffman said Friday th...

69-year-old woman killed by an alligator drowned and had blunt force trauma, autopsy finds

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:10 GMT

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C (AP) — A 69-year-old woman killed by an alligator in South Carolina on Tuesday had drowned and experienced blunt force trauma, according to local news reports on the autopsy.Holly Jenkins has been identified by the local coroner as the woman who the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources said was walking her dog near a neighborhood lagoon on Hilton Head Island when a 9.75-foot (3-meter) alligator “engaged,” WTOC-11 reported Friday.The department said a necropsy report showed no evidence that anyone had fed the alligator, which was euthanized and removed from the lagoon. The Beaufort County Coroner’s Office told WTOC-11 that the woman suffered alligator bites, but it is unclear whether they happened before or after her death.The local sheriff’s office said the death marked the second fatal alligator attack in Beaufort County over the past year.The state Department of Natural Resources’ website reminds the public that feeding alligators is i...

Young athletes host signing day on South Side to celebrate success

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:10 GMT

CHICAGO -- A group of young athletes representing teams founded on the city’s south side had an exciting day Friday as they celebrated their success with a college signing day.Students who compete for a South Side traveling baseball program and cheer and dance team have received scholarships from colleges and universities across the country.On Friday, they were surrounded by family and friends, along with Chicago Police Department interim superintendent Fred Waller as the colleges they will attend were announced.20 young men who played for the show baseball team and one young lady who cheered for the Lady Wolves cheer and dance team proudly lined up on the Jackson Park football field for signing day.Out of the 20 students, five students received full rides to the colleges they will be attending and several other students have earned partial baseball and academic scholarships.Some of the schools the young athletes will be going to include the University of Miami Florida, Morehouse Co...