BREAKING Veteran TSN sportscaster Darren Dutchyshen has died
Veteran TSN broadcaster Darren 'Dutch' Dutchyshen, one of Canada’s best-known sports journalists, has died. He was 57.
Italians are using social media to denounce a court verdict clearing a school janitor of a sexual assault charge for groping a 17-year-old student because it only lasted "around five to 10 seconds."
The teenager said the man came up from behind her as she was pulling up her trousers while walking with a friend up the stairs in a Rome high school, and slipped his hand beneath her underpants, according to court documents. Pulling on the undergarments, he then lifted her slightly in the air. He admitted to groping her in the April 2022 incident but claimed it was a joke.
A court in Rome ruled last week that the groping was "just a few seconds" and wasn't sexual, and that it was so brief that his argument that it was a joke was convincing even if "inopportune."
The verdict will be appealed, the teen's lawyer, Andrea Buitoni, told The Associated Press. Italian law allows acquittals to be appealed by both the prosecutor and the defense.
Actor and comedian Paolo Camilli, who appears in The White Lotus, posted a video on TikTok this week fondling his chest in front of the camera as a chronometer counts down 10 seconds. "If this is not molestation, I don't know what is," he said.
The video has spawned copycats, with both men and women fondling their chests to a countdown clock.
Other satirical videos include a woman apologetically excusing a man who has grabbed her rear end after he said he touched her for fewer than 10 seconds, so had committed no crime.
The victim has been following the social media reaction "with mixed feelings," her lawyer said, "even if she is heartened by knowing that the judge's decision is seen by many as an injustice."
The case has been criticized by women's rights organizations.
"This kind of verdict is unacceptable. It makes us go backward, and we cannot allow that," Cristina Ercoli, who heads the anti-violence center at Differenza Donna, told The Associated Press.
She said that the younger generation mobilizing on social media were making clear that "they have no doubt" that decision was wrong. "They don't need us to say that it was a crime," she said of the janitor's action.
In a similar case, Italy's highest court in 2001 upheld an appeals court decision overturning the conviction of a manager of sexual assault for patting a female employee's bottom. While the court acknowledged the pat had occurred, it ruled that there was no evidence it was "an act of libido." He had been found guilty by a lower trial court and sentenced to 18 months in prison.
The same court in 1999 ruled that it was impossible to rape a woman wearing jeans, since tightness makes them impossible to remove without help. The ruling prompted female lawmakers to wear jeans to Parliament in protest.
Veteran TSN broadcaster Darren 'Dutch' Dutchyshen, one of Canada’s best-known sports journalists, has died. He was 57.
A Montreal father who kidnapped his daughter who has autism and lied to police when they asked where she was should serve three years in prison, a Crown prosecutor said.
Many Canadians found a message from the Canada Revenue Agency this week as they received their first direct deposit for the Canada Carbon Rebate.
A medical examiner says a Massachusetts teen who participated in a spicy tortilla chip challenge died from ingesting a substance 'with a high capsaicin concentration.'
Auto technology has evolved and many newer cars use wireless key fobs and push-button starters instead of traditional metal keys. But that technology also makes things easier for thieves.
Scientists from the University of Western Australia and Kelpsie Geociences in the U.K. say they were surprised to discover an underwater camera caught video of a rare deep-sea squid.
Although a global workers' treaty has been in force in Canada since January, an employment lawyer believes it won't do anything more to protect employees from violence and harassment.
The Saskatchewan RCMP wants you to know it’s not targeting drive-thrus to ticket people for using their fast food reward apps.
The Slovak interior minister said Thursday that a 'lone wolf' has been charged in the shooting that seriously wounded Prime Minister Robert Fico.
When Adam Kirschner wrote 'Slap Shot,' he never imagined the song would be embraced by his favourite team.
A team is ready to help an entangled North Atlantic right whale in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
A $200 reward is being offered by a North Vancouver family for the safe return of their beloved chicken, Snowflake.
Two daughters and a mother were reunited online 40 years later thanks to a DNA kit and a Zoom connection despite living on three separate continents and speaking different languages.
Mother's Day can be a difficult occasion for those who have lost or are estranged from their mom.
YES Theatre Young Company opened its acclaimed kids’ show, One Small Step, at Sudbury Theatre Centre on Saturday.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.