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Canada's CBC has begun to lay out its version of events leading up to the firing of Jian Ghomeshi last Sunday, which includes evidence of "physical injury to a woman." The embattled radio host first told the pubcaster last spring that the Toronto Star newspaper was investigating allegations by an ex-girlfriend that "he had engaged in non-consensual 'rough sex,'" Heather Conway, head of English services at the CBC, said in an internal memo to employees obtained by The Hollywood Reporter. Ghomeshi advised the CBC he had a letter from the newspaper that made allegations about his private life. "When directly...

Reuters) - The secret marriage this year of a 96-year-old Virginia woman and a 95-year-old man has drawn the scrutiny of a judge, who has ruled the marriage may be illegal, a lawyer said on Tuesday. Judge James Clark of the Alexandria Circuit Court ruled this month that the marriage between Eddie Harrison and Edith Hill may not be legally binding and ordered Hill's attorney, Jessica Niesen, to investigate it. The legality of the marriage surfaced during a custodial dispute over who should care for Hill, who was ruled legally incapacitated in 2011. Hill's granddaughter, Rebecca Wright, and daughter Patricia...

A woman has been arrested and charged with the sexual assault of a man after an alleged break-in of a home in downtown Toronto early Saturday morning. Police say the woman entered a home in the Dundas Street West-McCaul Street area through an unlocked door at about 3 a.m. Saturday morning and then confronted the tenants of the home with pepper spray. The woman then sexually assaulted a man, police said in a brief statement. The woman was arrested later Saturday.

Jeremy McNaughton won’t quickly forget his encounter with a rogue beaver that attacked him off the shores of Nova Scotia. The 23-year-old Halifax man was snorkelling in Spanish Ship Bay, near Sherbrooke, with a couple of friends, when one of them looked down and noticed an animal of generous proportions with reddish-brown fur following them. “I thought it must be a seal,” said Paul Skerry, who was in the water with McNaughton, due to the sheer size of the creature, which he estimates weighed nearly 50 pounds. Never suspecting its true identity, considering beavers live exclusively in freshwater, Skerry couldn’t...

Frosh week is well underway for post-secondary students in Ontario — and things could get expensive for some of the more mischievous young adults. York Regional Police issued a frosh week expense list on Wednesday, naming “a few activities considered to be college rituals” alongside the penalty for being caught partaking in each. “Frosh week is extremely fun. It can also be extremely expensive. And we’re not talking about the cost of your textbooks and varsity sweater,” the expense list states. Activities include starting a bonfire with your dorm room sofa (up to $5,000, jail, or both), forcing a pet...

GATINEAU — A former physical education teacher from Quebec has been sentenced to 20 months in jail for carrying on a two-year sexual relationship with a high school student. Despite her pleas in Gatineau court Friday to serve her sentence in the community, Tania Pontbriand received an 18-month sentence for two counts of sexual exploitation and a 20-month sentence for one count of sexual assault. She will serve the sentences concurrently. She was also sentenced to two years’ probation following her jail term. Pontbriand was convicted of the three offences in January for having a sexual relationship with her student...

A Nova Scotia mainland moose checks out the surroundings. An additional 198 hectares of land is being added to protected holdings in the region connecting New Brunswick to Nova Scotia with the goal of making it easier for the mammals to migrate and find mates. (CONTRIBUTED) AMHERST — The mighty moose. Large, gangly, antlered, awkward-looking twig eater. Amorous and sexy, not so much. But the so-called Moose Sex Project and the land conservancy that makes it possible were at the forefront of a land protection announcement at the YMCA in Amherst on Thursday. “In terms of capturing people’s imaginations...

Confusion about what constitutes halal meat sparked a blunder at a community barbecue in Fairview on Saturday. After failing to provide halal meat, event organizers tried to remedy the oversight by having a local politician bless regular hotdogs. Patricia Arab, Liberal MLA for Fairview-Clayton Park, said a prayer over the hotdogs, mistakenly thinking this would make the meat halal. Meat that is halal, which means “permissible” in Arabic, is prepared following precise instructions detailed in the Qur’an. A halal animal must be healthy and fed a natural diet that does not contain animal byproducts. When it’s slaughtered, it is blessed...

Islamist militants turn to Twitter to debate the merits of late actor's films Several singled out Williams' 1995 fantasy adventure film Jumanji for praise Later condemned him after YouTube clip showed Williams mocking jihadists Debate changed to films in general revealing Western past of ISIS fighters 19-year-old British-born fighter named Lion King as one of his favourite films 'Abdullah', who uses the Twitter handle @Mujahid4Life, went on to praise Star Wars and Schindler's List but attacked Game of Thrones for 'nudity' ISIS militants fighting in Iraq and Syria have greeted the death of Hollywood actor Robin Williams with bizarre Twitter...

Like many couples in their first months of courtship, Véronique Laliberté and Francys-Roch Bisson agreed to take things step by step. For this Gatineau, Que., couple, this also meant line by line — in the form of a relationship contract. The agreement, they say, sets clear expectations around resources and fidelity, guarantees they not take their partnership for granted, and gives them an easy out should they wish to take it. “We renewed after three months, we renewed after six months and now we have a contract for one year,” Ms. Laliberté told the National Post this week. “It’s working...

Nova Scotia’s first gay-friendly mosque is set to open in the next few weeks. The Halifax Unity Mosque is an expansion of the Toronto Unity Mosque, also called el-Tawhid Juma Circle. The mosque is a “gender-equal, LGBTI/queer-affirming” place for Muslims to worship, according to its Facebook page. Syed Adnan Hussein has been building support for the Halifax Unity Mosque for a while. He found a space this week and hopes to start worship by next month. He hopes it will welcome people with a range of sexual identities. Many Muslims live in countries where being gay is a crime. Often,...

Javier Mascherano’s game-saving slide tackle in Wednesday’s World Cup semifinal match came at a heavy price. The Argentine player, who likely suffered a concussion earlier in the game, says he later tore his anus when he stopped Netherlands forward Arjen Robben’s attack late in extra time. He shared the unfortunate news in a post-match press conference. A rough translation of his remarks: “I do not want to be rude … I tore the anus that play. That’s why I felt so much pain”” It’s not clear whether Mascherano can (or should) play in Sunday’s final against Germany, but his stellar...

Kerstyn MacLellan will omit a common introductory phrase from her graduation speech Friday at Advocate District School — fellow graduates. MacLellan, 18, is the lone graduate at the Advocate Harbour school, which has 56 students in grades primary to 12. She’s probably heard all the cliches: a class of her own, one of a kind, the one and only. But it doesn’t seem to bother her. “At graduation, the graduates usually sit on the stage,” MacLellan said. “I’ll be the only one this year, so I’ll be doing the valedictory speech. “I don’t think there is any problem. I feel...

Kerstyn MacLellan will omit a common introductory phrase from her graduation speech Friday at Advocate District School — fellow graduates. MacLellan, 18, is the lone graduate at the Advocate Harbour school, which has 56 students in grades primary to 12. She’s probably heard all the cliches: a class of her own, one of a kind, the one and only. But it doesn’t seem to bother her. “At graduation, the graduates usually sit on the stage,” MacLellan said. “I’ll be the only one this year, so I’ll be doing the valedictory speech. “I don’t think there is any problem. I feel...

Before this gets taken down, take a look.It is practically a parody of the liberal stereotype of the right-wing, anti-government, anti-police gun nut, right down to the picture of Sarah Palin and some anti-Semitic ramblings about the Rothschilds. This is the profile they so desperately wanted Jared Loughner and others to fit, and now they may have the real thing. They will make all the political hay they can with this, never mind that three Mounties died to help them make it.

New Delhi — The family and followers of one of India’s wealthiest Hindu spiritual leaders are fighting a legal battle over whether he is dead or simply in a deep state of meditation. His Holiness Shri Ashutosh Maharaj, the founder of the Divya Jyoti Jagrati Sansthan religious order, with a property estate worth an estimated US$167-million, died in January, according to his wife and son. However, his disciples at his ashram have refused to let the family take his body for cremation because they claim he is still alive. According to his followers, based in the Punjab city of Jalandhar,...

Metro Vancouver transit police are asking an unidentified woman to come forward, after a known sex offender making duck noises allegedly sexually assaulted her on the SkyTrain in April. Police identified the alleged attacker after a fellow passenger called police around 11:00 a.m. PT on April 20 to say she had witnessed a man assaulting a woman after they boarded at Commercial-Broadway station. According to the passenger, the suspect allegedly sat next to the woman and began touching and groping her, despite being asked to stop several times, and made loud quacking sounds at her and other passengers. In a...

Members of First Wesley United Church in Thunder Bay spent most of their Sunday service laughing out loud. The church celebrated 'Holy Humour Sunday', where church members were encouraged to laugh during the service and tell jokes. Some wore wigs, hockey jerseys and clown costumes. Even the sermon was spent practising laughing yoga. Reverend Scott Gale said the day shows members of his congregation that religion is not all serious. "That laughter and humour should be part of worship, and should be part of our faith as well." Colleen Dolce delivered the sermon to parishioners, using the techniques of laughing...

An alleged flasher with the ill-fated name of “Popadick” was arrested Tuesday at a riverside Ottawa park. Since April 14th, Ottawa Police had been receiving reports of a balding white male exposing himself at Mooney’s Bay Park, a Rideau River park just north of the Ottawa International Airport. On Tuesday at around 9 a.m., police were again alerted by reports of the man exposing his genitalia to strangers along a park pathway. Officers in the area were dispatched to the park, where they arrested Donald Popadick, 62. Charged with Indecent Act and Mischief, he is due for a Wednesday court...

Pensioners will be given estimates of how long they have left to live to help them manage their savings, a minister has disclosed. Steve Webb said that the Government wants to provide pensioners with a rough life expectancy when they reach retirement to allow them to make better financial decisions. Experts will take into account factors including gender, where a pensioner lives or whether they smoke, the pensions minister said. Life expectancy should be part of “guidance” given to help people decide how much to save. In last month’s Budget, George Osborne announced the scrapping of rules that force most...