Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Elon Musk drew backlash on Monday from Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, for his unsolicited advice on how to bring about "peace" amid Russia's ongoing invasion of the country.
In a Twitter poll, Musk suggested a path to "Ukraine-Russia Peace" that included re-doing elections "under UN supervision" in the regions of the country recently annexed illegally by Russia. The land grab, covering nearly a fifth of Ukraine, followed referendums that have been widely dismissed as "shams" by much of the world.
The billionaire Tesla CEO also suggested making Crimea, a region Russia invaded and annexed from Ukraine in 2014, "formally part of Russia." He added in bullet points: "Water supply to Crimea assured" and "Ukraine remains neutral."
Ukraine and most of the world reject any implication of Russian sovereignty over the regions it has invaded, and Ukraine has vowed to take back its land.
"It started in Crimea, and it will end in Crimea, and this will be an effective revival of the international legal order," Zelenskyy told the Crimea Platform summit in August. Zelenskyy has consistently maintained that Ukraine will not cede any of its territory to Russia.
A majority of respondents on Twitter voted "No" in response to Musk's poll. In a follow-up tweet, Musk appeared to blame these results on a "bot attack."
Musk himself and one of his companies, SpaceX, became involved early on in the war in Ukraine, after SpaceX sent Starlink internet terminals, which can be operated from anywhere with power and a clear view of the sky, to the war-torn country.
But his latest musings were not well-received by Ukrainian officials, after a months-long war that has left a trail of untold devastation in the region.
"F--- off is my very diplomatic reply to you," Ukraine's Ambassador to Germany Andrij Melnyk wrote in response to Musk's Twitter thread.
Zelenskyy started a Twitter poll of his own, asking his followers, "Which @elonmusk do you like more?" The options: "One who supports Ukraine" and "One who supports Russia" (The former had garnered more than 80 per cent of the vote by Monday afternoon.)
Kyiv Post, a Ukrainian news outlet, also responded to Musk's poll, referencing his South African birthplace. "Elon, you're a cool guy and thanks for the Starlink but it'd be so very wonderful if you were to carry out votes on things that you know about. We don't carry out votes on apartheid and Nelson Mandela," the publication wrote.
Russian officials, on the other hand, welcomed Musk's tweets. Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia and a former Russian president and prime minister, tweeted Musk "kudos" and predicted Musk's next tweet would say that "Ukraine is an artificial state."
Musk continued to tweet out defences for his initial Twitter thread, seeming to suggest that there was little chance of victory for Ukraine, which recently began swiftly reclaiming territory in its northeast, including the strategically important transport hub of Lyman.
Musk's foreign policy commentary came one day after Tesla announced lower-than-expected delivery and production numbers for the third quarter and days after the car company unveiled an underwhelming humanoid robot. It also comes as his legal battle with Twitter heats up over his attempt to back out of his proposed US$44 billion deal to buy the company.
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.
B.C. conservation officers recently seized a nine-foot-long Burmese python from a home in Chilliwack.
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
The Ontario government is introducing changes to auto-insurance, but some experts say the move is ill-advised.
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
Newfoundland’s unique version of the Pine Marten has grown out of its threatened designation.
A Toronto man is out $12,000 after falling victim to a deepfake cryptocurrency scam that appeared to involve Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
It started small with a little pop tab collection to simply raise some money for charity and help someone — but it didn’t take long for word to get out that 10-year-old Jace Weber from Mildmay, Ont. was quickly building up a large supply of aluminum pop tabs.
There’s a group of people in Saskatoon that proudly call themselves dumpster divers, and they’re turning the city’s trash into treasure.
Ontario is facing a larger than anticipated deficit but the Doug Ford government still plans to balance its books before the next provincial election.