NEW What Canada is doing about the toxic forever chemicals in drinking water
As the United States sets its first national limits on toxic forever chemicals in drinking water, researchers say Canada is lagging when it comes to regulations.
Prince Andrew can request the unsealing of a 2009 settlement agreement that his lawyer claims protects him from a lawsuit alleging he sexually assaulted a girl two decades ago, a U.S. judge said Thursday.
Judge Loretta A. Preska in Manhattan said in a written order that the prince can seek the information to support arguments that the agreement between Virginia Giuffre and the late financier Jeffrey Epstein disallow her lawsuit against the prince.
Epstein, 66, was found dead in his cell at a Manhattan federal jail in August 2019 while he awaited a sex trafficking trial. The death was ruled a suicide.
On Monday, attorney Andrew Brettler, representing the prince, told a Manhattan federal judge that he believes the settlement agreement "absolves our client from any and all liability."
Brettler spoke at the first court hearing to result from the August lawsuit, in which Giuffre alleged that Andrew abused her on multiple occasions in 2001 when she was under 18. Andrew has said the abuse never happened.
Brettler had no immediate comment in response to an email Thursday.
Brettler's comment Monday was referenced in court papers submitted Thursday by lawyers for Giuffre as they asked a judge to rule that the prince was properly notified of Giuffre's lawsuit. They said the prince was "actively evading" formal efforts to serve him with Giuffre's lawsuit.
The lawyers noted that Brettler planned to raise a defense based on the 2009 settlement between Giuffre and Epstein of a Florida state case to which Andrew was not a party.
Preska has presided over requests to unseal large portions of court filings related to a lawsuit Giuffre brought against Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell in 2015. The defamation lawsuit, which alleged Maxwell subjected Giuffre to "public ridicule, contempt and disgrace" by calling her a liar, was settled and the case dismissed in May 2017.
The judge referenced the prince in an order rejecting attorney Alan Dershowitz's attempt to unseal "a settlement agreement" that was designated confidential and sealed as part of records in the lawsuit Giuffre brought against Maxwell.
The judge said Dershowitz, who claimed he was seeking the unsealing "as a matter of professional ethics" because he believes Giuffre's claims in the lawsuit against the prince are barred by the settlement, cannot seek the records because he is not a party to the lawsuit against Andrew.
"To the Court's knowledge, Mr. Dershowitz has not been commissioned as a roving ethics monitor," Preska wrote.
"The Court notes, however, that parties who have standing ... and perhaps Prince Andrew, who has not been heard from ... may seek to lift the protective order for valid reasons," she added.
A lawyer for Dershowitz did not immediately return a message seeking comment Thursday.
Giuffre's lawyers said the prince was "working with" Dershowitz to get a copy of the settlement papers unsealed "so he can share it with Prince Andrew."
Maxwell, 59, is awaiting a November trial on sex trafficking charges that allege she procured girls for Epstein to sexually abuse for at least a decade beginning in 1994. She has pleaded not guilty.
The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they choose to come forward publicly, as Giuffre has.
As the United States sets its first national limits on toxic forever chemicals in drinking water, researchers say Canada is lagging when it comes to regulations.
Calgary police have arrested a man and a charge is pending in connection with the death of a toddler in 2022.
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Scientists say it's highly unlikely cloud seeding is responsible for the heavy rains that have caused flooding in the United Arab Emirates this month, and that climate change is the more likely culprit.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
When Les Robertson was walking home from the gym in North Vancouver's Lower Lonsdale neighbourhood three weeks ago, he did a double take. Standing near a burrow it had dug in a vacant lot near East 1st Street and St. Georges Avenue was a yellow-bellied marmot.
A moulting seal who was relocated after drawing daily crowds of onlookers in Greater Victoria has made a surprise return, after what officials described as an 'astonishing' six-day journey.
Just steps from Parliament Hill is a barber shop that for the last 100 years has catered to everyone from prime ministers to tourists.
A high score on a Foo Fighters pinball machine has Edmonton player Dave Formenti on a high.
A compound used to treat sour gas that's been linked to fertility issues in cattle has been found throughout groundwater in the Prairies, according to a new study.
While many people choose to keep their medical appointments private, four longtime friends decided to undergo vasectomies as a group in B.C.'s Lower Mainland.
A popular highway in Alberta's Banff National Park now has a 'no stopping zone' to help protect two bears.
B.C. resident Robert Conrad spent thousands of hours on Crown land developing an unusual bond with deer.
A Sudbury woman said her husband was bringing the recycling out to the curb Wednesday night when he had to make a 'mad dash' inside after seeing a bear.