Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
WARNING: This story contains explicit content and may not be suitable for all readers.US-R-Kelly, 1st Writethru
A prosecutor in closing arguments at the sex-trafficking trial of R. Kelly urged jurors on Thursday to make the R&B superstar "pay" for his alleged crimes, while a defense lawyer told them they've been misled by opportunistic accusers about consensual relationships.
"It is now time to hold the defendant responsible for the pain he inflicted on each of his victims," Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Geddes said in concluding her closing in federal court in Brooklyn that spanned two days. "It is now time for the defendant, Robert Kelly, to pay for his crimes. Convict him."
Defense attorney Deveraux Cannick countered by telling the jury that testimony by several accusers was full of lies, and that "the government let them lie."
He added: "Where the fairness to Robert? Where's the integrity of the system?"
The exchange came with trial nearing jury deliberations after testimony from dozens of witnesses since the beginning of the proceedings on Aug. 18. Jurors could get the case as soon as Friday afternoon.
The 54-year-old Kelly, perhaps best known for the 1996 smash hit "I Believe I Can Fly, " has pleaded not guilty to racketeering charges accusing him of abusing women, girls and boys for more than two decades. He's also charged with multiple violations of the Mann Act, which makes it illegal to transport anyone across state lines "for any immoral purpose."
Geddes gave an exhaustive recitation of evidence the government says proves how Kelly, with the help of some loyal members of his entourage, used tactics from "the predator playbook" to sexually exploit his victims.
The tactics included isolating them in hotel rooms or his recording studio, subjecting them to degrading rules like making them call him "Daddy" and shooting video recordings of them having sex with him and others as a means to control them, prosecutors said.
Geddes described one of several graphic homemade videos in evidence -- seen by the jury during testimony, but not by the public. She said it showed Kelly grabbing one of his victims by the hair and forcing her to give another man oral sex. The woman submitted "because her will had been broken," the prosecutor said.
The defense argued that it would make no sense for a celebrity like Kelly to set up a criminal enterprise to entrap victims.
Someone like Kelly "didn't have to recruit women," Cannick said.
He also argued the accusers were never forced to do anything against their will. Instead, his girlfriends stuck around because Kelly spoiled them with free air travel, shopping sprees and fancy dinners -- treatment that belied the predator label, he said.
"He gave them a lavish lifestyle," he said. "That's not what a predator is supposed to do."
Cannick even went as far as comparing Kelly's case to the struggle led by civil rights legend Martin Luther King Jr. for equal protections under the U.S. Constitution.
"And that's all that Robert wants -- to make (the government) true to what it says on paper," he said.
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Three people have been arrested and charged in the killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar – as authorities continue investigating potential connections to the Indian government.
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.
A Quebec man who pleaded guilty to threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault has been sentenced to 20 months in jail.
RCMP say human remains found in a rural area in central Saskatchewan may have been there for a decade or more.
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
As Wegovy becomes available to Canadians starting Monday, a medical expert is cautioning patients wanting to use the drug to lose weight that no medication is a ''magic bullet,' and the new medication is meant particularly for people who meet certain criteria related to obesity and weight.
Drew Carey took over as host of 'The Price Is Right' and hopes he’s there for life. 'I'm not going anywhere,' he told 'Entertainment Tonight' of the job he took over from longtime host Bob Barker in 2007.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.