Canada

A Texas teacher’s aide has been fired after he allegedly faked having cancer to cover for an appointment in court.

Kevin MaBone surrendered to U.S. marshals on Wednesday, according to WFAA.

The 56-year-old was canned from Wilkinson Middle School after district officials say he lied about being ill so he could drive to a sentencing hearing in West Virginia.

He could also face theft charges for accepting more than US$10,000 in donations and a car from the school community, according to CBS 11 Dallas.

Students and staff raised more than US$11,000 on GoFundMe after MaBone told the principal in December he had prostate cancer, according to WFAA. A local paint and body shop even donated a 2005 Mercury Grand Marquis that he received on Friday.

A magic moment in Mesquite ISD ... Cancer-stricken staffer Kevin MaBone receives his donated 2005 Grand Marquis. pic.twitter.com/CBrUcIlFQP
— RayDMN (@RayLeszcynski) January 20, 2017

He had said that he planned to take a few days off for surgery this week, but then he called Principal Leslie Feinglas on Monday and said the cancer was gone, she told WFAA.

"That was a major red flag," she said.

She told the Dallas Morning News that he still asked for the time off, saying he needed a growth removed. But a Google search turned up his conviction.

He pleaded guilty back in October 2016 to misappropriating nearly US$6,700 in government funds when he worked at Job Corps Centers in Charleston, W.Va and Miami, Fla.

Kevin MaBone on Friday, the day Wilkinson Middle School presented him with a car. (Photo: CBS 11 Dallas/Screenshot)

He was free on bond until his scheduled sentencing on Tuesday, but that date has been moved to Feb. 13, according to the Dallas Morning News.

"He had us all duped," district communications director Laura Jobe told the newspaper.

MaBone had started working at the school last August, but his record was clean.

The GoFundMe money will be returned to donors, according to the Morning News.

But students who chipped in feel betrayed.

"He had us all duped."

“It just broke my heart. I didn’t know he was going to do us like that,” Korienna Hilary told CBS 11 Dallas.

Assistant Principal Jessica Eaton said that MaBone worked 15 to 16 hour days without being asked, and everyone loved him.

“I don’t think you can fake loving kids. And he loved our kids,” fellow Assistant Principal Molly Purl said.

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OTTAWA — A public library has told a Conservative leadership candidate he can't use their facility to host a meet-and-greet with pro-life supporters because the event's "controversial nature" will lead to protests they can't manage.

But the candidate, Saskatoon MP Brad Trost, says he believes the decision is more about the topic itself than any threat of protest.

"If this was an environmental group with a bunch of unemployed oilpatch workers protesting, I don't think they would be getting the boot," Trost said Thursday from the sidelines of the Conservative caucus meeting in Quebec City.

"But that's just my opinion and I can't really prove that one way or the other."

Conservative leadership candidate Brad Trost speaks during the Conservative leadership debate in Saskatoon on Nov. 9, 2016. (Photo: Liam Richards/The Canadian Press)

Trost was supposed to hold meetings at a branch of the Saskatoon public library Saturday afternoon on a variety of topics; one of the advertised sessions was to discuss "respect for life."

Two anti-abortion organizations were encouraging their members to attend, and in response, a protest page cropped up on Facebook calling for those who support abortion rights to make their voices heard as well.

"I can't believe this conversation is even still happening in 2017. So we're going to protest!" read the Facebook invitation.

At the time the booking was made, the library was told the space was needed for a "day of reflection" by an unnamed group, but last week they were alerted to the anticipated subject matter by a protest organizer.

"I can't believe this conversation is even still happening in 2017. So we're going to protest!"

"We're just not equipped with staff, security, space to manage to a protest against Mr. Trost," said Carol Cooley, the chief executive officer for Saskatoon's libraries.

"It has nothing to do with his views, we definitely back intellectual freedom and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It's just a matter of, 'Can we operationally handle the event and the resulting protest?' And we really can't."

Cooley said had they been made aware of the nature of the event at the time of the booking, they may have rejected the request, given the likelihood of protest.

Trost's campaign said they weren't trying to hide anything.

Originally, the plan had been for Trost to attend the event as a guest of pro-life organizers, but then it later morphed into a campaign event being organized by his team. The library wasn't notified about the change.

Library cites 'safe use bylaw'

In cancelling the booking, the library cited its "safe use bylaw,'' which forbids behaving "in a disorderly manner" or engaging "in any act having the effect of disturbing other patrons or library staff or preventing or hindering their use and enjoyment of library facilities."

"Given the controversial nature of the event," the library explained in a letter, they lacked the physical space, the staff and the security personnel to properly manage it.

Trost said that in Saskatoon, a city he's represented as a member of Parliament for 12 years, pro-life views are hardly controversial and any protest surely wouldn't need such a major response.

About 50 people indicated on Facebook that they would be attending the protest — billed online as, "Protest Brad Trost and his anti-choice politics" when it was set up earlier this month.

"There are people in the country who don't want room for social conservatives to even talk about their issues."

Trost decided to enter the Conservative leadership race last spring after the party voted in favour of dropping language from its official policy handbook that was against same sex-marriage.

He said while there is still space within the party to discuss socially conservative views, the incident with the library suggests the public space for those kind of discussions is dwindling.

"This basically explains why I'm running," he said. "There are people in the country who don't want room for social conservatives to even talk about their issues."

Event moved to hotel

The event has now been moved to a local hotel, but it appears protesters are hoping to be there too.

On the Facebook event page, organizers said that since the hotel is private property, they'll have to set up across the street but are encouraging people to find another way in.

"Instead we're encouraging people to register using fake names (and from a phone number that they can't harass you on later) and raise poignant talking points during the so-called discussion," wrote one organizer calling herself Mercedes Jayne..

Jayne declined a request for an interview, while another did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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It looks like President Donald Trump's promised border wall between the U.S. and Mexico might actually be happening.

On Wednesday, the Republican leader signed an executive order to begin construction. But what Trump might not realize is just how huge that wall is going to be.

The Mexico-U.S. border is 3,200-kilometres long.

In October 2016, documentary filmmaker Josh Begley released a short film showing just how massive a wall would be.

"Best Of Luck With The Wall" is stitched together using more than 200,000 satellite images downloaded from Google Maps.

The video zips along the border, showcasing rocky streams, desert, mountains, forests and cities spanning the region from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico.

"For all the talk of 'securing the border' and 'building a wall,' there is surprisingly little visual material that conveys just how vast this stretch of space is," Begley wrote for Intercept.

While some parts of the border are fenced, in other parts the border follows natural terrain like the Rio Grande river — where some U.S. residents technically live just south of the border.

Begley says that making the film only gives a small insight into the lives of millions who live on either side of the border.

"This film frames the entire southern border in six minutes. You can never see the entire southern border in six minutes," the director told Field of Vision, the documentary group that produced the short film.

"But even in that small [timeframe], perhaps it’s more than what one sees when reading a headline about building a wall."

If the wall is built, it could be an expensive endeavour. Researchers at MIT estimated it could cost between US$27 and $40 billion — far from Trump's estimate of US$8 billion.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has asserted that his country will not pay for the wall. On Thursday, the White House proposed implementing a 20 per cent import tax to fund the construction, according to The New York Times.

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Canada is one of the freest democracies in the world, while U.S. democracy is getting more flawed, according to a new study.

The Economist Intelligence Unit's 2016 Democracy Index looked at the state of democracy in 165 nations and two territories around the world.

The index ranks countries based on five categories — "electoral process and pluralism; civil liberties; the functioning of government; political participation; and political culture."

The countries are then classified into one of four types of governments: "full democracy," "flawed democracy," "hybrid regime," and "authoritarian regime."

Canada ranked as the sixth freest "full democracy" in the world, receiving a 9.15 score out of 10. It's Canada's highest ranking in the study so far; the country previously sat at 9.08 for several years.

The score was calculated from its high ranks on electoral process, government function and civil liberties. Canada only fared somewhat poorly in the category of political participation.

The U.S. did not fare as well.

Canada's neighbour fell for the first time this year to a "flawed democracy" instead of a "full" one.

U.S. ranking not Trump's fault

But, the report argues, it wasn't the election of President Donald Trump that allowed the country to drop in the rankings, but a lack of confidence in political institutions.

"Rather, it was caused by the same factors that led Mr Trump to the White House: a continued erosion of trust in government and elected officials, which the index measures using data from global surveys," The Economist wrote.

The report was titled "Revenge of the 'deplorables,'" referring to the "popular revolt in 2016 against political elites," the study explained.

The U.S. wasn't the only nation to backslide. Nineteen eastern European countries dropped in the rankings last year, thanks to what the report cited as a "weakening of electoral processes."

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Arlene Dickinson says Kevin O'Leary's latest "misogynistic" jab at her proves exactly why Conservatives are better off without him as leader.

On Global TV's morning show on Thursday, the businessman responded to Dickinson's harsh evaluation of his Conservative leadership bid by dismissing her as an "emotional" woman.

Kevin O’Leary fires back at his former Dragon’s Den co-host Arlene Dickinson. pic.twitter.com/CI4a7COALN
— The Morning Show (@MorningShowCA) January 26, 2017

"Arlene is a very passionate woman, very emotional. She was never able to separate her emotions from her investment decisions, which is why she did so poorly on that show," he said of the businesswoman and former "Dragon's Den" judge.

Dickinson, who has been named one of Canada's most powerful women, said her former co-host's remarks should raise alarm bells for Conservatives.

“There is absolutely nothing about his statement that surprises me," she told The Huffington Post Canada in an email Thursday.

"It’s the same dismissive, misogynistic rhetoric I heard on Dragon’s Den for seven years. Here's the blaring alert for Conservatives across the country.”

arlene dickinson kevin oleary

Arlene Dickinson and Kevin O'Leary starred together on CBC's "Dragon's Den." (Photo: Getty)

Dickinson also wrote a fiery opinion piece for Maclean's magazine in response to his comments.

The businesswoman, who previously called O'Leary "opportunistic," said the Tory hopeful changes positions based on whatever is convenient.

"When he’s in the United States filming Shark Tank, he calls Boston home. Now that he’s in Canada running for office, he calls Toronto home," she wrote. "It’s no wonder he doesn’t know the difference between Capitol Hill and Parliament Hill."

She also denied O'Leary's claim that she plans to run for the Liberal party.

"I’ve publicly declared several times that I’m not running for any political party."

"It’s the same dismissive, misogynistic rhetoric I heard on Dragon’s Den for seven years."

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne also denounced O'Leary's leadership bid in an open letter earlier this week, saying he would only serve "society's most well-off."

O'Leary responded shortly after by writing his own open letter to Wynne.

"Your policies have all but bankrupted a province that was once an economic powerhouse," he wrote Monday.

Despite the criticism, O'Leary's leadership bid is gaining momentum.

On Tuesday, a Forum Research poll found O'Leary leads the Tory leadership race with 27 per cent support of the 1,332 Canadians surveyed. Quebec MP Maxime Bernier was in second place with 11 per cent support.

There are 14 candidates vying to be Conservative leader.

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OAKVILLE, Ont. — The Tim Hortons brand is expanding into Mexico, which will be its first Latin American market.

Restaurant Brands International Inc., which owns the coffee, bakery and sandwich chain, says it has teamed up with a group of investors in Mexico to form a joint venture.

It says the new joint venture will be the master franchisee responsible for growing the Tim Hortons brand in Mexico.

(Photo: Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Restaurant Brands International has previously announced similar agreements in the Philippines and United Kingdom.

Tim Hortons began with a single location in 1964 in Canada and entered the U.S. market 20 years later in 1984.

As of September, Tim Hortons had more than 4,400 restaurants in its system. Including Burger King, RBI has more than 19,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries.

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WOODSTOCK, Ont. — An Ontario long-term care home where a former nurse is accused of killing seven seniors has been ordered by the province to temporarily stop admitting new patients.

Caressant Care spokesman Lee Griffi says the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care has ordered its Woodstock location to improve "certain practices.''

Elizabeth Wettlaufer, 49, has been charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of eight seniors, seven of which allegedly occurred at Caressant Care between 2007 and 2014.

She also faces four charges of attempted murder, two of which allegedly took place at Caressant Care along with two charges of aggravated assault against patients at the facility.

A photo of Elizabeth Tracey Mae Wettlaufer from her Facebook page. (Photo: CP/Facebook)

Griffi says the nursing home has been under intense inspections by the ministry over the past 90 days, but didn't provide details of the orders.

He says staff are making immediate steps and have an external consultant to help with the changes.

"We are confident that these actions enable us to better provide for the physical, social and spiritual needs of our residents,'' Griffi said in a statement.

Caressant Care owns 15 long-term care homes in Ontario, but the Woodstock facility is the only one affected by the orders, Griffi said.

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OTTAWA — The federal Liberals plan to lift the veil of secrecy around so-called "cash-for-access" political fundraisers, but don't appear ready to outright ban the controversial practice.

A federal source says the government is planning on introducing legislation to force cabinet ministers, party leaders and leadership candidates to publicly advertise the fundraisers in advance, and release a report "in a timely manner" after the fact about details of the event — although it's not clear how much detail the reports will provide.

The legislation would also require the events to take place in "publicly available spaces," the source said, a move that would address concerns about well-heeled donors bending the ear of cabinet ministers in private homes.

The government source also said the Liberals plan to reach across party lines in writing the legislation.

"Other measures may follow after discussion with the other political parties," he added.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had previously defended the controversial practice. (Photo: Chris Wattie/Reuters)

The source didn't say when the legislation would be introduced.

A controversy about the practice has dogged the Liberals and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in particular for months.

Trudeau had previously defended the practice, arguing that federal political financing rules, including disclosure requirements and strict caps on donations, prevent any appearance of conflict of interest.

Cash-for-access fundraisers see donors pay as much as $1,500 to rub shoulders with Trudeau or one of his cabinet ministers away from the public spotlight.

Critics say the practice undermines government transparency and accountability. But it doesn't necessarily violate political fundraising or ethics rules as they are currently written.

The federal ethics commissioner has repeatedly said fundraising provisions in the ethics law need to be more stringent when it comes to cabinet ministers and parliamentary secretaries.

The fundraisers also appeared to contradict Trudeau's own guidelines for ethical government conduct, which stipulate that "there should be no preferential access or appearance of preferential access" in exchange for political donations.

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Gender stereotypes emerge early, and by age six, girls are less likely to believe females are "brilliant" and more likely to believe boys are, according to a study released Thursday.

The report in the journal Science was based on 400 youths aged between five and seven, who were given a series of tasks.

In one, the kids were told a short story about a person who was "really, really smart," but were given no hints about whether the person was male or female.

girl in classroom

At age five, both boys and girls were equally likely to choose their own gender as "really, really smart."

But by age six and seven, "girls were significantly less likely than boys to associate brilliance with their own gender," said the study.

In another part of the study, children had to guess which of four children, two boys and two girls, got the best grades in school.

In this case, both younger and older girls were just as likely to select girls as having top grades, suggesting that the "girls' perceptions of school achievement were separate from their perceptions of brilliance," said the report.

Finally, when the kids were asked about their interest in two new games, one for "children who are really, really smart" and the other for "children who try really, really hard," researchers found that girls aged six and seven were less interested than boys in the game for smart children.

girl boy in classroom

At age five, girls were just as likely to pick the whiz kids' game as the game for kids who try hard.

The findings may have important implications for the career paths that women choose, perhaps steering them away from fields typically associated with brilliance, like physics and philosophy, said lead author Lin Bian, a researcher at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champlain.

"It is likely to affect women's career aspirations," she said.

"We believe it is important to explore whether and how early young kids start learning these stereotypes associating brilliance with males."

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Fashion designer Marc Jacobs is "very rebellious within the fashion world, and he's been like that his entire career," says Frances Bean Cobain, who wouldn't have modelled for "anyone but Marc."

Daughter of Hole bassist Courtney Love and Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, Frances Bean Cobain has been unveiled as the face of Marc Jacobs' spring/summer 2017 campaign.

"I first met Frances Bean when she was 2 years old at a dinner with her mom (Courtney) and [fashion designer] Anna Sui in 1994 at Bar Six in NYC," wrote Jacobs, captioning an Instagram post which has Cobain, now 24, wearing a dress from the designer's new collection.

@marcjacobs Spring Campaign 2017 #marcjacobs

A photo posted by Frances Bean Cobain (@space_witch666) on Jan 25, 2017 at 4:06pm PST

"I have always wanted to work with Frances. Her beauty, uniqueness, and strength is something I have long admired and respected."

Cobain spoke to Vogue about the decision, saying, "I don't think I'll be modelling for anybody else for a very long time... I wouldn't have done it with anyone other than Marc."

"I don't model unless I think the project is cool, and I don't put my name behind something that I don't genuinely believe in," she explained.

@marcjacobs a view behind the curtain

A photo posted by Frances Bean Cobain (@space_witch666) on Jan 25, 2017 at 11:28pm PST

"I thought this collection was great, and I was flattered that Marc thought of me for this. What I said to Marc when I was saying yes was that he's an underdog for the masses. He's still very rebellious within the fashion world, and he's been like that his entire career."

Cobain had previously modelled for French designer and photographic artist Hedi Slimane in 2011.

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Oh, it doesn't get any better than this.

An old pregnancy test ad by Dutch company Predictor is going viral after six long years (thanks, Internet!).

The 2011 ad, which features a couple looking up at a pregnancy test, is followed by the caption: "When you want to be sure."

predictor pregnancy test ad

But do you see what's hilariously wrong?

As several Twitter users pointed out, the woman in the photo is clearly pregnant already.

"Shes [sic] shocked about being pregnant? LMAO," one user wrote.

shes shocked about being pregnant? LMAO pic.twitter.com/9N5gmYWnSY
— alex romero (@whosalexander) January 24, 2017

Others couldn't stop laughing either and came up with all kinds of alternative theories.

@whosalexander @petercoffin maybe it says "negative"
— Who am I (@the_who_am_I) January 24, 2017

@whosalexander @VanCommander Maybe theres a second on the way she didnt know about.
— Henry Brubaker (@Inst_4_Studies) January 24, 2017

@whosalexander pffft!
They already knew she was pregnant. They were testing to see if he was pregnant too!
— Charon (@codeofthedamned) January 24, 2017

@whosalexander @Pikmingirl joke is on you
It was him who peed on the strip
— I identify as Yangus (@Aurailen) January 24, 2017

Other Twitter users are certain the test isn't actually a pregnancy test, but a sex reveal test instead. The company says this is not true.

Speaking to Adweek six years after this so-called blunder, former campaign art director Chris Sant said the agency did try "advertising exaggeration."

"Since Predictor is 99.9 per cent accurate, you'd rather depend on the test than your belly," Sant said.

So Predictor was trolling us all along. Now that's good advertising.

See more hilarious tweets here.

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LONDON, Ont. — Union officials say General Motors is cutting up to 600 jobs at its assembly plant near London, Ont.

Mike Van Boekel, spokesman for Unifor Local 88, says the layoffs will take effect in July at the CAMI Assembly plant in Ingersoll, Ont., which currently employs 2,800 Unifor workers.

Unifor's national president says the slashed jobs are being transferred to Mexico, where labour is cheaper.

Jerry Dias says the decision "reeks of corporate greed'' and is a clear sign that NAFTA must be renegotiated.

Jerry Dias, national president of Unifor. (Photo: David Cooper/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

GM Canada says it gave Unifor advance notification of how product changeovers would affect workers at three Ontario plants, adding it will continue to work with the union to help manage the adjustment.

When asked whether layoffs were in the works at other Ontario facilities, a spokeswoman said that Friday's announcement related only to "an employment impact at CAMI due to the changeover of older model Equinoxes to the next-generation Equinox.''

The Ingersoll facility builds the Chevrolet Equinox and the GMC Terrain.

The company recently announced it was shifting production of the GMC Terrain to Mexico.

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As if the fear of balding wasn't bad enough, Canadian researchers say a man with a hairless head is more likely to get prostate cancer.

Scientists from the University of Toronto have found men who start going bald early, and lose a lot of hair quickly, are at higher risk for the disease.

Dr. Neil Fleshner, head of urology at Toronto’s Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and co-author of the study, says it's not baldness itself that causes cancer, but rather high levels of hormones like testosterone, which have been linked to both male pattern baldness and prostate malignancy.

bald man

Fleshner says the study's findings are strong enough that doctors should take men's hair loss into consideration when deciding whether or not to recommend a biopsy.

Nearly 50 per cent of the 400 men surveyed and screened for prostate cancer were diagnosed with the disease and men who indicated they experienced moderate vertex balding were three times more likely to have a malignant tumour. Men who said they experienced severe vertex balding were three times more likely to be diagnosed with a more aggressive form of cancer.

For men over the age of 30 just beginning to lose their hair, there's no need to panic just yet. Hair loss and male pattern baldness are quite common in aging men.

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AUCKLAND, New Zealand — An American basketball player's eye popped out of its socket after he was poked in the face while going for a rebound during a game in New Zealand.

Akil Mitchell, a 24-year-old former University of Virginia forward, was playing for the New Zealand Breakers in a game against Cairns on Thursday when the accident happened.

The game was stopped for 15 minutes while Mitchell was treated by medical officials, with his teammates left visibly upset by the incident. Cairns won the National Basketball League game 94-81.

Akil Mitchell of the New Zealand Breakers is helped by teammates after an eye injury on Thursday. (Photo: Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty Images)

On Friday, Mitchell said he had no vision impairment, but won't be watching any videos of the incident.

"(Teammate) Paul (Carter) really wanted me to see it and I was like, 'I can't do it,''' Mitchell told the New Zealand Herald on Friday. "It kind of makes my eye throb a little just thinking about it, so I don't know if I'll ever be able to watch it.''

... too soon? Lol thanks for all the love, well wishes, and prayers tonight. I'm home and seeing fine, more tests tomorrow
— akil mitchell (@ajmitchell25) January 26, 2017

Mitchell told the Herald he could still see from the eye after it had popped out of his socket, saying the sensation was akin to "a chameleon, how they can see different directions.''

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President Donald Trump personally called the head of the National Park Service on the day after his inauguration to ask for photographic evidence that would support his claims about the size of the crowd at the event, The Washington Post reported.

A National Park Service official confirmed to The Huffington Post that the call took place on Saturday but would not comment further.

Trump falsely claimed up to 1.5 million people attended his inauguration, boasting that the crowd extended from the Capitol to the Washington Monument and accusing the media of lying about how many attended. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer has pushed similar false claims, which Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway defended as “alternative facts.”

Trump reiterated those boasts in an interview with ABC News that aired Wednesday.

President Donald Trump falsely claimed up to 1.5 million people attended his inauguration. (Photo: Lucas Jackson/Reuters)

"Look how far back it goes,” he said, pointing to a photograph of his inauguration. “This crowd was massive. And I would actually take that camera and take your time if you want to know the truth.”

In reality, photos taken of the National Mall during the ceremony showed wide swaths of open space near the monument, and one crowd estimator has concluded that 300,000 to 600,000 people attended the Jan. 20 ceremony ― roughly a third of the people who attended President Barack Obama’s inauguration in 2009.

According to The Washington Post’s sources, Trump asked Michael T. Reynolds, the National Park Service’s acting director, to turn over more photos of the Mall, suspecting that additional photos would support his crowd size claim. Reynolds reportedly complied with the request, but the photos did not support the numbers the president had touted.

The White House didn’t return HuffPost’s request for comment. However, White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told The Washington Post that Trump’s call to the NPS official displayed his willingness to be “so accessible, and constantly in touch.”

We regret the mistaken RTs from our account yesterday and look forward to continuing to share the beauty and history of our parks with you pic.twitter.com/mctNNvlrmv
— NationalParkService (@NatlParkService) January 21, 2017

Thursday’s report is the latest chapter in the ongoing struggle between the new administration and NPS.

On Friday, the agency retweeted photographs comparing Trump and Obama’s inauguration crowds. Shortly after, the agency was ordered to stop using its Twitter account, later telling CNN its account was frozen in order to determine if it had been hacked.

Then, after staffers at the Environmental Protection Agency said they were told to cease social media use and communication with the media, the official account for Badlands National Park in South Dakota began tweeting facts about climate change. The tweets have since been deleted, and the agency said they were posted by a former employee.

On Wednesday, Death Valley National Park in California began a similar social media campaign, tweeting about the imprisonment of Japanese-Americans during World War II just as Trump signed an executive order restricting the entry of refugees from predominantly Muslim countries.

Twitter users have rallied around NPS staffers, and several “alternative” national park accounts have popped up in recent days. While some claim to be run by NPS staffers, HuffPost has not been able to confirm if that is true.

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OTTAWA — The military says a navy lieutenant stationed in Kingston, Ont., has been charged with sexual assault and criminal harassment.

The Canadian Forces National Investigation Service says Lt. Brendan Ryan has been charged in connection with a reported assault against a civilian victim at Canadian Forces Base Moose Jaw in May 2012.

The harassment charge relates to alleged incidents that reportedly took place between August 2012 and October 2014.

The sexual assault case was first reported to the RCMP in November 2013, then passed to the military police because it was alleged to have occurred on a Forces base.

The charges were laid after Ryan was posted this month to courses at the Royal Military College of Canada.

The investigative service is a military police unit set up to investigate serious cases connected to National Defence property and employees and Forces personnel serving in Canada and aboard.

Lt.-Col. Francis Bolduc, commander of the service, said the unit is determined to investigate all reports of sexual assault in the military and the department.

"Regardless of when a reported assault took place or the complexity of the investigation, our efforts remain focused on supporting the prosecution of those responsible for sexual offences,'' Bolduc said in a statement.

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Chris Salvatore, 31, wants to tell you about his best friend.

She's sweet. She's a great listener. And she's 89-years-old.

I hope this little update will bring some sunshine to your rainy day here in La. We are reaching the 2 month mark since my neighbor Norma has come home from the hospital and I am so happy to share that she is continuing to prove the doctors and nurses wrong by continuing to THRIVE! To prolong the remaining funds to prevent her from having to be moved into a county facility, Norma and I have decided to move her into my apartment across the hall where she now has her own beautiful room and bathroom! She loves it! I do most of my work at home so I am here most of the time to care for her so it only made sense to the both of us. She is my adopted grandmother and I am her grandson she never had. :) We will still have caregivers coming in to care for her as well as her weekly hospice visits from the nurses and doctors. I just wanted to let you all know Norma loves reading your comments and I seriously think all the support and love is keeping her healthy. Now who wants to come to dinner? #myneighbornorma... I mean #myroomatenorma

A photo posted by Chris Salvatore (@chrissalvatore) on Jan 20, 2017 at 4:26pm PST

Salvatore and BFF Norma Cook are the definition of #friendshipgoals and they're proving age is just a silly number.

Somebody's thriving #myneighbornorma

A photo posted by Chris Salvatore (@chrissalvatore) on Jan 12, 2017 at 8:38pm PST

Close friends for the past four years, the pals from West Hollywood, California, have been inseparable ever since the charming young actor introduced himself to Cook, who lived across the hall. After Cook invited him in for a glass of champagne, Salvatore said he knew it was the start of a beautiful friendship.

"We became best friends immediately," Chris told People. "She had a lot of gay friends growing up that unfortunately passed away during the AIDS epidemic and, being gay, that bonded us right away — we talk about fashion and food mostly."

I saw this beautiful lady today in the rehab center! Norma is doing quite well. She wanted me to tell you all thank you so much for the well wishes. She says your thoughts and prayers are keeping her strong! #myneighbornorma

A photo posted by Chris Salvatore (@chrissalvatore) on Nov 5, 2016 at 2:42pm PDT

Salvatore said Cook has helped him through break-ups and has made him feel better during his darkest days. She divorced her husband at the age of 43 and never had children. The actor said Norma considers him the "grandson she never had."

Look! They even have a Christmas card together!

Just in case you weren't in the holiday spirit yet... #myneighbornorma

A photo posted by Chris Salvatore (@chrissalvatore) on Dec 12, 2016 at 11:48am PST

Cook, who has had leukemia for 10 years, has been given only a few more months to live and Salvatore wants to make sure she feels "so loved" every single day. That's when he offered to become her primary caretaker and started a GoFundMe page to help raise funds to help cover the at-home costs Norma's insurance wouldn't cover.

"She has opted out of doing treatment for the cancer," Salvatore revealed. "So now it’s my job to make her feel comfortable and at peace and not lonely."

In this moment, time stands as still as it can be #myneighbornorma please send

A video posted by Chris Salvatore (@chrissalvatore) on Nov 13, 2016 at 7:43pm PST

"I’m so lucky to have her," he continued. "She’s changed my life. She’s made me a kinder more compassionate person. I feel honoured to spend her last moments with her."

Our hearts!

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BOSTON — An Uber-like service connecting female riders and drivers is launching in Boston following a rebranding and leadership change.

Safr says it will start its service next week on an invite-only basis. It plans to open to the wider Boston-area public starting March 1.

The company attracted attention last spring when founder Michael Pelletz announced its launch as Chariot for Women. The former Uber driver has since transferred management of the company to other executives.

safr

A screencap of Safr's homepage.

The concept, which is also being developed by a New York City-based company, has faced questions about whether it runs afoul of anti-discrimination laws.

A Safr spokeswoman tells the Boston Globe the company is "mindful'' of the concerns and is working with its legal advisers to make sure it's in compliance.

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Be still, our game-loving Canadian hearts!

A couple of Winnipeg architects have come up with a genius way to combine two of Canada's favourite pastimes, amalgamating them into a oversized outdoor game that's played on ice. It doesn't get much more Canadian than that, eh?

Crokicurl — a mashup of crokinole and curling — is making its world debut today along Winnipeg's Red River at The Forks plaza.

#crokicurl will be open tomorrow! Get outside and play. https://t.co/DkXb0MXdev pic.twitter.com/9aJsPh28sP
— publiccity (@publiccityarch) January 26, 2017

The one-of-a-kind game is the brainchild of Public City Architecture's Liz Wreford and Leanne Muir, two architects who came up with the idea while playing a game of crokinole in their office last summer.

"We thought, 'For sure someone's done that before,'" Wreford explains of the idea to put crokinole to on ice. "It was way too obvious."

After a lot of research, the pair found their unique — and uniquely Canadian — idea had never been put to the test.

So they got to work.

"We dropped everything and began drawing it up," said Wreford.

crokicurl

The lines are painted on the one-of-a-kind gameboard. (Photo: Public City Architecture)

But it wasn't as simple as simply dropping some crokinole chips on an ice surface. The pair did a "ton of research" to design a brand new set of rules for the game.

"How we could really bring the two together to create something new — not just crokinole, not just round curling?"

The original design was for a much larger board, but they eventually decided that a smaller, octagon-shaped playing surface would be more accessible and easier to play.

Because of the smaller playing surface, junior curling rocks are used. They're made of a dense plastic, as opposed to granite, and weigh about half as much as a normal curling stone.

Free for everyone

As for the rules, two teams faceoff in groups of one or two. The team that is able to accumulate the highest points by sliding the rock into the centre button and having their surrounding rocks in high-scoring positions wins.

The game is free for everyone, and is available on a first-come, first-serve basis. However, players are asked to limit their games to an hour, so everyone can take a turn.

hygge house crokinole

A few Canadians sit down for a game of crokinole inside Public City Architecture's warming hut along the Red River in Winnipeg last winter. (Photo: Dan Harper/Public City Architecture)

"So definitely no bonspiels," laughed Wreford.

If today's launch is a success, Wreford says it's something her team would love to bring to other cities across Canada.

"It's a perfect Canadian activity. It allows people to get outside in the winter, and it's so much fun people don't even think about getting cold."

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OTTAWA — The federal government ran a deficit of $12.7 billion over the first eight months of its 2016-17 fiscal year — compared with a $1-billion surplus during the same period a year earlier.

The shortfall was due to a $14-billion surge in expenses, including a $7.1-billion increase in direct program costs to the treasury, the Finance Department latest monthly fiscal monitor showed Friday.

The double-digit deficit figure wasn't a surprise since the Trudeau government has pledged to run deficits over the coming years as it tries to boost the economy through infrastructure investments and larger child benefits.

trudeau morneau

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Finance Minister Bill Morneau speak to media during a post-budget press conference in Ottawa, Wednesday, March 22, 2016. (Photo: The Canadian Press/Jake Wright)

The fiscal monitor said the April-to-November spike in expenses included multibillion-dollar increases in payments for child and seniors benefits as well as bigger transfers to other levels of government.

Over the same period, the government said its revenues were down $1.1 billion compared with the year before, a decline due to the one-time gain in 2015 from Ottawa's $2.1-billion sale of its holdings in General Motors.

For November alone, the report said Ottawa's books showed a $3.3-billion deficit — down from a $400-million surplus in November 2015. Overall revenues, it added, decreased by $1.7 billion in November 2016, mainly due to declines in personal and corporate tax revenues.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau's fall economic and fiscal statement projected a deficit of $25.1 billion this year, followed by annual shortfalls that are expected to shrink over the coming years to $14.6 billion in 2021-22.

The government has not provided a timeline to balance the books.

The Liberals won the 2015 election on a platform that promised annual deficits of no more than $10 billion over the next couple of years. The Liberals had also pledged to eliminate the deficit by 2019-20.

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