Mission impossible? + Bug catcher + Joining in on the fun
Mission impossible? + Bug catcher + Joining in on the fun
We take a look at the lighter side of the news and what's trending online and on air.
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CTV News
2 hours ago
- CTV News
Video shows ‘brave little dog' chasing bear out of B.C. backyard
A tiny pup named Lincoln came out unscathed after facing off with a bear, in a caught-on-camera encounter that's racking up views online.
Globe and Mail
3 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
Among the greats: Candace Parker has her L.A. Sparks jersey retired
If Candace Parker could put music to her jersey retirement ceremony, it would be I Did It My Way, the Jay-Z remix of Frank Sinatra's hit. Parker's No. 3 Los Angeles Sparks jersey was raised to the rafters of Arena before Sunday's game against the Chicago Sky. After being the No. 1 pick in the 2008 WNBA draft out of Tennessee, Parker spent 13 of her 16 seasons with LA and won a championship with the Sparks in 2016, when she was MVP of the WNBA Finals. She added titles with her hometown Sky in 2021 and the Las Vegas Aces in 2023, her final season. The 39-year-old Parker is the third Sparks player to have her jersey retired, joining Hall of Famer Lisa Leslie (No. 9) and Penny Toler (No. 11). The five-time All-Star has always had big dreams. 'I represent coming from a family that told me I could do and be anything. I'm really proud of that kid,' Parker said. 'I think I'd do things exactly the same way because it's why I'm sitting here. I made mistakes and took two steps forward and one back, but I was always moving forward.' Parker, who wore an orange outfit as an ode to her college days, walked on to the court during the first timeout and got a standing ovation. Fans were given yellow jerseys that read 'That's our Ace' with the No. 3 incorporated into the design. This was the first of two jersey retirement ceremonies for Parker. Chicago will retire her jersey later this summer. 'When I got drafted out here, it's become home,' Parker said. 'I've lived here longer than anywhere else. It's super important to see this jersey in the rafters before any others because my 13 years here were super special. It was ups, downs, wins, losses, heartaches and rewards but it's super special to share that with my teammates and coaches with an organization that bet on me with the first pick in the 2008 WNBA draft. That was a long time ago.' Parker and fans watched tribute videos from luminaries including former Lakers player and Sparks coach Michael Cooper and Sparks owner Magic Johnson. Leslie, who played with Parker at the end of her career, introduced Parker during a halftime ceremony and was emotional as Parker spoke. 'No. 3 will hang in the rafters because nobody else can do what Candace Parker has done for the LA Sparks,' Leslie told the crowd. In Johnson's tribute video, he said the jersey retirement is the ultimate honour. 'That means you're a super, super, superstar in the game of basketball to be right up there next to me, Kareem, Kobe and so many greats,' Johnson said. 'That will be a special moment and a great way to say to herself, 'Look at me, I really have arrived.'' Parker, who was flanked by her family for the ceremony, was a two-time WNBA MVP with the Sparks, in 2008 and 2013. She's the franchise's career assists leader with 1,331 and is second in rebounds and points. She averaged 16.9 points, 8.6 rebounds and 3.9 assists along with 1.6 blocks and 1.3 steals. During her second season, Parker gave birth to a daughter. She returned to practice weeks later, and Lailaa Williams, now 16, was a welcome addition at practices and games throughout Parker's years in LA. 'Candace Parker's impact on the WNBA is immeasurable. From the moment she stepped onto the court as a rookie, winning both MVP and Rookie of the Year in the same season, she has continually redefined greatness,' WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelberg said. 'Beyond her accolades, Candace has been a leader, a mentor, and a trailblazer — inspiring the next generation of athletes with her skill, resilience, and passion for the game. She has used her platform to elevate women's sports, leaving a lasting legacy that transcends the court.' Parker, who also has two young sons, has worked as a broadcaster and author since her playing career ended. Her book, The Can-Do Mindset: How to Cultivate Resilience, Follow Your Heart, and Fight for Your Passions, was published this month.
CTV News
6 hours ago
- CTV News
Key moments from the closing arguments at Sean ‘Diddy' Combs' sex trafficking trial
Music mogul and entrepreneur Sean "Diddy" Combs arrives at the Billboard Music Awards, May 15, 2022, in Las Vegas. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP) NEW YORK — A jury will begin deliberations on Monday over the fate of Sean 'Diddy' Combs after hearing wildly differing views from prosecutors and a defense lawyer over whether he engaged in sex trafficking for two decades. Two prosecutors insisted that he had coerced, threatened and sometimes viciously forced two ex-girlfriends to have sex with male sex workers to satisfy his sexual pleasure. They cited multiple acts of violence he carried out against them as proof that they had no say. A defense lawyer then mocked the government's closing argument and warned that prosecutors were employing a novel approach to sex crimes that risked turning the swinger lifestyle that Combs and his girlfriends enjoyed into potential crimes for all Americans. Combs, 55, the founder of Bad Boy Entertainment, has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges in the trial, which continues Monday when the judge will read instructions on the law to jurors before they begin deliberations. Here are key moments from closing argument on Thursday and Friday: Prosecutors showed they weren't withdrawing claims against Combs Prosecutors triggered headlines last week that they had backed off or eliminated claims of arson and kidnapping against Combs when they said they were removing instructions on the law regarding them to be given jurors on Monday in response to the judge's request to streamline the case for the jury. 'The Government is no longer planning to proceed on these theories of liability so instructions are no longer necessary,' prosecutors wrote in a letter to the judge. But when Assistant U.S. Attorney Christy Slavik launched closings on Thursday, she gave the allegations of arson and kidnapping a starring role in her first sentences, naming them before any others. 'Over the last several weeks, you've learned a lot about Sean Combs. He's the leader of a criminal enterprise. He doesn't take no for an answer. And now you know about many crimes the defendant committed with members of his enterprise: Kidnapping of one of the defendant's employees; arson by trying to blow up a car; forced labor, including of an employee the defendant repeatedly sexually assaulted; bribery of a security officer to keep damning evidence against the defendant buried; and of course, the brutal crimes at the heart of this case — sex trafficking,' she said. The arson claim stemmed from evidence that Slavik said showed Combs was behind the firebombing of rapper Kid Cudi's Porsche in 2012. The kidnapping allegation also related to Cudi. Slavik said Combs kidnapped an employee to join him when he broke into Cudi's home after learning the rapper was dating his girlfriend. A defense lawyer strikes back, belittling government's case Attorney Marc Agnifilo in an at-times folksy presentation spared few theatrics in mocking the government's case against Combs as overreach, saying hundreds of agents poured into Combs' residences in Miami and Los Angeles to seize hundreds of bottles of baby oil and Astroglide lubricant. 'I guess it's all worth it because they found the Astroglide. They found it in boxes, boxes of Astroglide taken off the streets. Whew, I feel better already,' he said, before adding: 'The streets of America are safe from the Astroglide!' From the start, Agnifilo tried to portray prosecutors as unjustly targeting Combs after a former girlfriend of nearly 11 years — Casandra 'Cassie' Ventura — sued him in November 2023. She testified for four days in the trial's first week. The lawsuit was settled for $20 million the next day but she touched off a criminal probe with her allegations of being subjected to hundreds of drug-fueled 'freak-offs' in which she alleged she was forced to perform sexually for days with male sex workers while Combs watched, filmed and directed the action. A woman who testified under the pseudonym 'Jane' also testified during the trial that she experienced 'hotel nights' similar to 'freak-off' in a relationship with Combs from 2021 until his arrest. Agnifilo maintained the prosecution was an unjust attack on a prominent and wildly successful Black entrepreneur. 'They took Astroglide and they took baby oil, and that ends up being the evidence in this case, because his businesses are outstanding. There's nothing about the businesses to find. There's nothing about the businesses to make into a criminal case,' he said. Defense personalizes the case for jurors, calling it attack on 'your bedroom' Agnifilo tried to cast the case for the jury as an attack on everyone's bedroom and the secrets of one's sex life. 'They go into the man's bedroom. They go into the man's most private life. Where is the crime scene? The crime scene is your private sex life. That's the crime scene,' he said as he stood before jurors, who were largely expressionless as they took occasional notes and watched the closings. The lawyer said it was not uncommon that Combs liked to film sexual events with his girlfriends, calling it 'sort of typical, you know, homemade porn' and adding that 'I don't think by any stretch of the imagination this is the only man in America making homemade porn.' Still, he said, investigators 'take yellow crime scene tape, figuratively, and they wrap it around his bedroom. Crime scene — your bedroom, your hotel rooms, where you go with your girlfriends. Crime scenes. A lot of yellow tape.' Then, he gave a nod to the 50th anniversary of the movie 'Jaws,' resurrecting a classic line from Hollywood history when he said: 'We need a bigger roll of crime scene tape, because that's just not going to be enough.' Judge agrees defense went too far saying prosecutors targeted Combs Just after Agnifilo told jurors that it 'takes a lot of courage to acquit,' he ripped the government's case a final time in stark terms, saying the trial was 'very different' from any other trial. 'I think that the evidence shows, and you can conclude, that the government targeted Sean Combs,' he said, noting that nobody complained to the government to instigate a probe, but investigators instead began their work a day after Cassie filed her lawsuit. After the jury left the room at the conclusion of Agnifilo's four-hour summation, his statement about targeting drew an outcry from the prosecutor, Slavik. When the jury returned, Judge Judge Arun Subramanian noted the remark Agnifilo had made about targeting Combs and told jurors that 'the decision of the government to investigate an individual or the decision of a grand jury to indict an individual is none of your concern.' In rebuttal, a prosecutor tells jurors that Combs is 'not a god' Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey got the final word with a rebuttal presentation to jurors, telling them: 'The defendant is not a god.' She said that Combs in his mind 'was untouchable.' She noted that one former personal assistant even described him as a 'god among men.' 'For 20 years, the defendant got away with his crimes. That ends in this courtroom,' she said. 'He is a person. And in this courtroom, he stands equal before the law. Overwhelming evidence proves his guilt. It is time to hold him accountable. Find him guilty.' Michael R. Sisak and Larry Neumeister, The Associated Press
