More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Police in Moscow on Wednesday detained three journalists who picketed Russia's Justice Ministry, protesting the authorities' recent crackdown on independent media, Russia's top independent Dozhd TV channel reported.
Irina Dolinina, Alesya Marokhovskaya and Polina Uzhvak of the Vazhniye Istorii news outlet came to the ministry to protest against the recent designation of several independent media outlets, including Dozhd and Vazhniye Istorii, as "foreign agents." The label carries strong pejorative connotations that can discredit the recipient, and implies additional government scrutiny.
The three journalists demanded that authorities abolish the law allowing media and journalists to be labelled "foreign agents." They displayed small banners reading "There are no foreign agents, there are journalists," along with an elaborate disclaimer those designated as "foreign agents" are obliged to add to any content they produce, disclosing their status.
"The fact that we're being labeled `foreign agents' is merely a ban on honest journalist work, nothing else," Dozhd quoted Dolinina as saying. She and Marokhovskaya have been designated as "foreign agents," as well.
Independent media, journalists, opposition supporters and human rights activists in Russia have faced increased pressure ahead of a Sept. 19 parliamentary election, which is widely seen as an important part of President Vladimir Putin's efforts to cement his rule before the next presidential election in 2024.
The 68-year-old Russian leader, who has been in power for more than two decades, pushed through constitutional changes last year that would potentially allow him to hold on to power until 2036.
In recent months, the government has designated a number of independent media outlets and journalists as "foreign agents" and raided the homes of several prominent reporters. The publisher of one outlet that released investigative reports on alleged corruption and abuses by top Russian officials and tycoons close to Putin was outlawed as an "undesirable" organization.
Two other news outlets shut down after authorities accused them of links to "undesirable" organizations.
The Kremlin denies that it is stifling press freedoms and insists that the "foreign agent" designation doesn't bar outlets from operating.
The wave of repression has prompted past protests in Moscow. About two weeks ago, 12 journalists were briefly detained after picketing Russia's Federal Security Service in protest of the "foreign agents" law. Another small rally took place in the Russian capital on Saturday.
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.
As if a 4-0 Edmonton Oilers lead in Game 1 of their playoff series with the Los Angeles Kings wasn't good enough, what was announced at Rogers Place during the next TV timeout nearly blew the roof off the downtown arena.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”