Felony charges dropped against 2 Ohio journalists arrested during immigration protest
The District Court judge agreed to dismiss with prejudice the felony rioting charges against reporter Madeline Fening and photography intern Lucas Griffith of Citybeat Cincinnati.
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Toronto Sun
4 days ago
- Toronto Sun
Tupac Shakur slaying suspect files appeal with Nevada Supreme Court to dismiss charges
Published Jul 29, 2025 • 2 minute read Duane "Keffe D" Davis appears in Clark County District Court for a trial readiness status check at the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas, June 17, 2025. Photo by Steve Marcus / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account LOS ANGELES — The man charged with ordering the 1996 killing of rap icon Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas is asking the Nevada Supreme Court to dismiss his murder charges. Duane 'Keffe D' Davis filed an appeal with the court Tuesday after a lower court judge upheld his charges. Davis, the only man ever to be charged in Shakur's killing, was arrested in September 2023. Other conspirators in the drive-by shooting have since died. The 62-year-old has admitted in interviews and in his 2019 tell-all memoir, 'Compton Street Legend,' that he provided the gun used in the shooting. His attorney, Carl Arnold, said Davis' constitutional rights were being violated. 'Mr. Davis cooperated with law enforcement over the course of more than a decade, relying on repeated assurances that his statements would not be used against him — yet those very statements now form the core of the State's case,' Arnold said in a statement. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Arnold first filed a motion to dismiss the case in January of this year, alleging constitutional violations because of a 27-year delay in prosecution. He also said Davis had immunity agreements granted to him by federal and local authorities. A district court judge upheld his charges, saying he was not protected from prosecution because he had not provided proof of those immunity deals and that the decades-long delay was not intentional. According to the appeal, Davis was interviewed in 1998 and 1999 by federal prosecutors under the agreement that his statements would not be used to prosecute him. At the time, he denied knowing who was involved in Shakur's killing. He was interviewed again in 2008 and 2009 under the same conditions that he would not be prosecuted with his statements, according to the appeal. It was then that he described his 'alleged involvement in the murder and identified the alleged shooter,' the appeal said. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Arnold said prosecutors had not presented any evidence connecting Davis to the slaying other than his own statements, which is not enough for a trial. He asked the Nevada Supreme Court to grant their motion to dismiss the case, or recognize that he was granted immunity from prosecution for the statements he made during law enforcement interviews. Davis remains in custody at the Clark County Detention Center. His trial is scheduled to begin in early February 2026. Shakur's death at 25 came as his fourth solo album, 'All Eyez on Me,' remained on the charts, with about 5 million copies sold. Nominated six times for a Grammy Award, Shakur is still largely considered one of the most influential and versatile rappers of all time. Love concerts, but can't make it to the venue? Stream live shows and events from your couch with VEEPS, a music-first streaming service now operating in Canada. Click here for an introductory offer of 30% off. Explore upcoming concerts and the extensive archive of past performances. MLB Columnists Toronto & GTA Toronto Blue Jays Canada
Winnipeg Free Press
5 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
As Dubai cracks down on crowded jerry-rigged apartments, migrant workers have nowhere else to go
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Lights flicker, doors hang off their hinges and holes in the walls expose pipes in the apartment building where Hesham, an Egyptian migrant worker, lives in Dubai, an emirate better known for its flashy skyscrapers and penthouses. His two-bedroom rental unit is carved up to house nine other men, and what he calls home is a modified closet just big enough for a mattress. But now the government has ordered the 44-year-old salesman out of even that cramped space, which costs him $270 a month. He's one of the many low-paid foreign laborers caught up in a widespread crackdown by authorities in Dubai over illegal subletting. That includes rooms lined with bunk beds that offer no privacy but are as cheap as a few dollars a night, as well as partitioned apartments like Hesham's, where plywood boards, drywall and plastic shower curtains can turn a flat into a makeshift dormitory for 10 or 20 people. After a blaze at a high-rise in June, Dubai officials launched the campaign over concerns that partitioned apartments represent a major fire risk. Some of those evicted have been left scrambling to stay off the streets, where begging is illegal. Others fear they could be next, uncertain when or where inspectors might show up. 'Now we don't know what we'll do,' said Hesham, who's staying put until his landlord evicts him. Like others living in Dubai's cheapest and most crowded spaces, he spoke to The Associated Press on condition only his first name be used for fear of coming into the crosshairs of authorities enforcing the ban on illegal housing. 'We don't have any other choice,' he said. Dubai Municipality, which oversees the city-state, declined an AP request for an interview. In a statement, it said authorities have conducted inspections across the emirate to curb fire and safety hazards — an effort it said would 'ensure the highest standards of public safety' and lead to 'enhanced quality of life' for tenants. It didn't address where those unable to afford legal housing would live in a city-state that's synonymous with luxury yet outlaws labor unions and guarantees no minimum wage. Dubai boom boosts rents Dubai has seen a boom since the pandemic that shows no signs of stopping. Its population of 3.9 million is projected to grow to 5.8 million by 2040 as more people move into the commercial hub from abroad. Much of Dubai's real estate market caters to wealthy foreign professionals living there long-term. That leaves few affordable options for the majority of workers — migrants on temporary, low-wage contracts, often earning just several hundred dollars a month. Nearly a fifth of homes in Dubai were worth more than $1 million as of last year, property firm Knight Frank said. Developers are racing to build more high-end housing. That continued growth has meant rising rents across the board. Short-term rentals are expected to cost 18% more by the end of this year compared to 2024, according to online rental company Colife. Most migrant workers the AP spoke to said they make just $300 to $550 a month. In lower-income areas, they said, a partitioned apartment space generally rents for $220 to $270 a month, while a single bunk in an undivided room costs half as much. Both can cost less if shared, or more depending on size and location. At any rate, they are far cheaper than the average one-bedroom rental, which real estate firm Engel & Völkers said runs about $1,400 a month. The United Arab Emirates, like other Gulf Arab nations, relies on low-paid workers from Africa and Asia to build, clean, babysit and drive taxi cabs. Only Emirati nationals, who are outnumbered nearly 9 to 1 by residents from foreign countries, are eligible for an array of government benefits, including financial assistance for housing. Large employers, from construction firms and factories to hotels and resorts, are required by law to house workers if they are paid less than $400 a month, much of which they send home to families overseas. However, many migrants are employed informally, making their living arrangements hard to regulate, said Steffen Hertog, an expert on Gulf labor markets at the London School of Economics and Political Science. The crackdown will push up their housing costs, creating 'a lot of stress for people whose life situation is already precarious,' he said. Hassan, a 24-year-old security guard from Uganda, shares a bed in a partitioned apartment with a friend. So far, the government hasn't discovered it, but he has reason to be nervous, he said. 'They can tell you to leave without an option, without anywhere to go.' Fires remain a threat in Dubai Dubai has targeted overcrowded apartments in the past amid a spate of high-rise fires fueled by flammable siding material. The latest round of inspections came after a blaze in June at a 67-story tower in the Dubai Marina neighborhood, where some apartments had been partitioned. More than 3,800 residents were forced to evacuate from the building, which had 532 occupied apartments, according to a police report. That means seven people on average lived in each of these units in the tower of one-, two- and three-bedroom flats. Dozens of homes were left uninhabitable. Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. There were no major injuries in that fire. However, another in 2023 in Dubai's historic Deira neighborhood killed at least 16 people and injured another nine in a unit believed to have been partitioned. Ebony, a 28-year-old odd-job worker from Ghana, was recently forced to leave a partitioned apartment after the authorities found out about it. She lived in a narrow space with a roommate who slept above her on a jerry-built plywood loft bed. 'Sometimes to even stand up,' she said, 'your head is going to hit the plywood.' She's in a new apartment now, a single room that holds 14 others — and sometimes more than 20 as people come and go, sharing beds. With her income of about $400 a month, she said she didn't have another option, and she's afraid of being forced out again. 'I don't know what they want us to do. Maybe they don't want the majority of people that are here in Dubai,' Ebony said.
Canada News.Net
26-07-2025
- Canada News.Net
Netanyahu gets nod from Trump to widen war in Gaza
WASHINGTON DC — Just weeks after expressing optimism that a ceasefire deal in Gaza was within reach, U.S. President Donald Trump has reversed course, withdrawing his negotiators from talks and signaling support for Israel to intensify its military campaign, despite growing global concern over starvation and suffering in the Palestinian enclave. The White House decision to suspend involvement in ceasefire negotiations came amid what it described as frustration with Hamas, which Trump administration officials claimed have been disorganized and unwilling to engage in good faith. Steve Witkoff, Trump's envoy to the Middle East, confirmed this week that he is now exploring "alternative options" to secure the release of remaining hostages. He did not comment on the plight of the more than two million Palestinians who are being constantly bombarded, shot to death, and starved. Rather than press for a return to negotiations, Trump appeared to back Israeli escalation during comments to reporters Friday before departing for a weekend trip to Scotland. "I think they want to die, and it's very, very bad," he said of Hamas. "It got to be to a point where you're gonna have to finish the job." As CNN reported, it remains unclear whether Trump's remarks reflect a genuine collapse in talks or a calculated strategy to pressure Hamas into concessions. Nevertheless, the president's tone marked a shift from earlier this month, when he had suggested a deal was imminent. Despite Trump's public pessimism, Egypt and Qatar—key mediators in the region—described the latest pause in negotiations as routine given the complexities involved. In a joint statement released by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the two countries said they would continue efforts toward a lasting truce. A senior Israeli official, speaking to CNN, also insisted that negotiations had "not at all" collapsed and suggested they could still resume. However, the U.S. withdrawal sent shockwaves through Doha, the Qatari capital hosting the talks. "This is an earthquake," one source familiar with the process told CNN. "We're dealing with the aftershock." The unresolved issues reportedly include the timing and conditions of a permanent ceasefire, the release of Palestinian prisoners, and the Israeli military's future presence in Gaza. Underscoring the indifference of Israel's concern for hostages, Hamas said they were shocked at the U.S. claim, saying the return of the hostages had not yet come up in negotiations, and were scheduled to be discussed next week. Regardless, speaking from the South Lawn of the White House on Friday, before departing for a tour of his golf resort in Scotland, Trump placed blame for the impasse squarely on Hamas. "Now we're down to the final hostages," he said. "And they know what happens after you get the final hostages... they really didn't want to make a deal." The president's comments appeared intended to provoke movement from Hamas, even as some U.S. officials maintained that negotiations could still be salvaged. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce told CNN that both Trump and Witkoff remained committed and were exploring all available tools. "We've tried. The world has watched this," Bruce said. "There are many tools in President Trump's tool chest." Yet no timeline has been provided for when—or if—a deal might come together, even after Trump's earlier assertion in July that an agreement was just days away. "Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff got it right. Hamas is the obstacle to a hostage release deal," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted on X on Friday night. "Together with our U.S. allies, we are now considering alternative options to bring our hostages home, end Hamas's terror rule, and secure lasting peace for Israel and our region." Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate. During a meeting Friday in Tunis, Tunisian President Kais Saied handed Trump's senior Africa adviser Massad Boulos photographs of malnourished children, highlighting the urgency of delivering aid. "It is absolutely unacceptable," Saied said, according to AFP. "It is a crime against all of humanity." At the White House, Trump deflected blame, accusing Hamas of blocking humanitarian supplies and defending U.S. contributions. "We gave $60 million to food and supplies and everything else," he said. "We hope the money gets there… the food gets taken." However, according to CNN, an internal U.S. government review found no evidence that Hamas has systematically stolen American-funded aid in Gaza. International criticism of Israel's military actions is also mounting. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer described Israel's campaign as "indefensible" on Friday. French President Emmanuel Macron said France would recognize a Palestinian state at September's UN General Assembly—an announcement that drew sharp rebuke from Israel and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Trump, for his part, appeared unbothered. Referring to Macron, he said, "He's a very good guy. I like him. But that statement doesn't carry weight." Meantime rallies protesting the plight of the Gazans have erupted around the world. Even in Tel Aviv, tens of thousands of people gathered in Habima Square, not only demanding the return of the hostages, but calling for an end to the so-called war in Gaza.
