BEIRUT — The Islamic State group’s spokesman and chief strategist, who laid out the blueprint for the extremist group’s attacks against the West, has been killed while overseeing operations in northern Syria, the group announced Tuesday.
The IS-run Aamaq news agency said Abu Muhammed al-Adnani was “martyred while surveying the operations to repel the military campaigns in Aleppo,” and vowed to avenge his death. It did not provide any further details on when or how he died.
If confirmed, it would be a major blow to the extremist group, which has been on the retreat in Syria and Iraq, where the borders of its self-declared Islamic caliphate have been steadily eroded in recent months.
Al-Adnani, whose real name is Taha Sobhi Falaha, persistently called for attacks against the West, which paid off in bloody notoriety with the Nov. 13 co-ordinated attacks in Paris that hit a concert hall, a stadium and restaurants and bars, leaving 130 people dead and hundreds wounded.
Al-Adnani is a Syrian who was born in the northern province of Idlib and is believed to be in his late 30s. He crossed the border and joined al-Qaida in Iraq, a precursor to IS, after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
In late June 2014, he formally declared the establishment of a caliphate, or Islamic state, stretching across parts of Syria and Iraq, under the leadership of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and demanded allegiance from Muslims worldwide.
A powerful orator, he went on to become the voice of IS. He released numerous, lengthy audio files online in which he delivered fiery sermons urging followers to kill civilians in nations that supported the U.S.-led coalition against the group.
“If you can kill a disbelieving American or European — especially the spiteful and filthy French — or an Australian, or a Canadian, or any other disbeliever from the disbelievers waging war, including the citizens of the countries that joined a coalition against the Islamic State, then rely upon Allah, and kill him in any manner or way however it may be,” al-Adnani said in 2014.
In other speeches he referred to U.S. President Barack Obama as “an idiot” and Secretary of State John Kerry as an “uncircumcised old geezer.”
Earlier this year, he called for massive attacks during Ramadan — a call that translated into the bloodiest Muslim holy month in recent memory. Followers of IS carried out attacks on several continents, including the Orlando shooting, the Nice truck attack in France and a massive suicide bombing in downtown Baghdad.
Adnani also disparaged Saudi Arabia and its influential clerics for failing to rally behind the rebels that the monarchy supports in Syria like they did decades ago in Afghanistan.
There was no immediate comment or confirmation of his death from Washington.
Aleppo, where Aamaq said al-Adnani was killed, is a current focal point of the civil war in Syria, where IS, Syrian Kurdish forces, Turkey-backed rebels and President Bashar Assad’s forces are vying for control. The province is frequently struck by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes as well as Russian air raids.
Aamaq vowed revenge against the “filthy cowards in the sect of disbelief.” It said a generation raised in IS-held territory would avenge al-Adnani’s death.
The Islamic State group has suffered a string of defeats in recent weeks, including in Aleppo province, where Turkish troops and allied Syrian rebels drove IS out of the border town of Jarablus last week.
In Iraq, the group has lost its strongholds in Fallujah and Ramadi, in the western Anbar province. It still controls Mosul, but Iraqi forces are gearing up for a long-awaited operation to retake the country’s second largest city.
It has also lost some of its most senior commanders and founding members over the past year, including its “minister of war” Omar al-Shishani, feared Iraqi militant Shaker Wuhayeb, also known as Abu Wahib, as well as a top finance official known by several names, including Abu Ali Al-Anbari.

Islamic State group says chief strategist killed in Syria


BEIRUT — The Islamic State group’s spokesman and chief strategist, who laid out the blueprint for the extremist group’s attacks against the West, has been killed while overseeing operations in northern Syria, the group announced Tuesday.


In their hysterical reaction to the “burkini ban” in France, bleeding-heart liberals in the West demonstrated again how gullible they are and how easy it is for the worldwide Islamist movement to manipulate them.
In carefully staged theatre, the Islamists pulled off a stunt by making Muslim women out to be victims of white, male, armed police.
They tugged at our outrage whenever we see the state trampling on individual liberty, especially if the victim is a female.
Thus a video of a woman being beaten by a gang of Muslim men, somewhere in Europe or North Africa, barely raised an eyebrow, and didn't make it to the front pages of any newspaper or TV network.
However, the sight of a middle-aged Muslim woman napping in full body attire in 35 Celsius heat, with cameramen, being asked to leave the beach, or take off one layer of her burkini wrap, was enough to raise cries of racism, misogyny, bigotry and every possible human rights violation in the UN Charter.
One image, circulated on the micro blogging and social networking website Tumblr, best captured the logic of the left.
It showed two women in almost identical full-body swimsuits, with the title:
“French Muslim in Burkini French Catholic in Wetsuit.”
Below the picture, the caption read:
“Only one will be asked to remove her swimming gear at gunpoint.”
To the defenders of the burkini, the picture illustrated Western racism and double standards.
To me, the picture raised a question:
“If both swimsuits provide head-to-toe cover, why don’t these Muslim women wear the wetsuit? Why do they insist on the burkini?”
After all, the wetsuit would meet all the silly requirements imposed by man-made sharia laws that have forced the Muslim world to be permanently anchored in medieval times.
That is when I had a eureka moment in understanding why the burkini is being pushed upon Muslim women, when for a good 1,400 years, we Muslims had no use for it.
The burkini is supposed to be many things, but above all it is a tool to “slut shame” western women, and Muslim women, who wear traditional beach wear, be it bikinis or a single piece swimsuit.
The objective is to project devout Muslim women as pious and pure females who are the guardians of the family’s honour, and to contrast them to non-Muslim or non-observant Muslim women who are of “loose character”.
As this twisted logic goes, the latter are sexually bound to a culture of immorality, cursed by Allah to, as infidels, burn in hellfire, for exposing their skin to entice men and trigger their sexual arousal.
American Muslim reformist Shirin Qudosi made a scathing attack on the burkini in a Fox News column.
She wrote, the burkini is an extension of the burka, which was “a totem of feminist oppression”.
The burkini, she said, was the result of “an abusive cultural conditioning” of Muslim women.
As for those who believe in the notion of “choice”, well, I’m sorry, but nudists should not have the choice to roam naked on Toronto’s lakefront or Vancouver’s shores; white supremacists should not have the choice to wear KKK bath wear while sun tanning, and neo-Nazis should not have the choice to have swastikas stitched on to their briefs or bikini tops.


In their hysterical reaction to the “burkini ban” in France, bleeding-heart liberals in the West demonstrated again how gullible they are and how easy it is for the worldwide Islamist movement to manipulate them.


SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium — Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg has clinched pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix ahead of 18-year-old Dutchman Max Verstappen, while championship leader Lewis Hamilton will start Sunday’s race from the back of the grid.
Cheered on by a large contingent of Dutch fans, Verstappen beat Sebastian Vettel’s leading time to move into contention, only for Rosberg to beat Verstappen’s mark and clinch his 28th career pole.
Kimi Raikkonen placed third, ahead of Vettel.
Rosberg, who trails Hamilton by 19 points in the title race, has a great chance to close the gap.
Hamilton’s grid penalties increased to 55 places after Mercedes had further engine changes, following those made during Friday’s practice.
With nothing to gain, Hamilton did only four laps early in qualifying before rolling into the team garage.

Lewis Hamilton to start Belgian Grand Prix 55 places back after grid penalties


Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg has clinched pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix ahead of 18-year-old Dutchman Max Verstappen, while championship leader Lewis Hamilton will start Sunday’s race from the back of the grid.


A popular bakery in Northern California is caught at the centre of a heated debate on social media over a transgender "Ken Doll Cake" that it said it made for a customer.
Freeport Bakery, a well-known business in Sacramento, posted a picture online nearly two weeks ago showing a special-ordered cake that depicted Ken wearing a puffy pink dress, flowery sash and a tiara.
The cake triggered controversy on Facebook, with people calling it "truly disgusting" and claiming that the owners were putting their "morals n standards for sale."
"Naively, I guess I just thought this is a really cool cake, and look at how great they did with the butter cream," Marlene Goetzeler, co-owner of the bakery, told Fox affiliate KTXL. "What's wrong with a Ken cake?"
In 1987, Walter and Marlene Goetzeler bought Freeport Bakery and grew it into a booming business, according to their website. Over the years, it has been named best bakery by Sacramento Magazine readers.
After Freeport Bakery posted the picture on Aug. 13, Marlene Goetzeler said, she started seeing negative comments and soon noticed that she was losing Facebook fans.
The owners admitted on social media that they first deleted the "ugly" comments from the Facebook page because they "didn't want drama." Only a handful of negative comments remain with the photo.
The bakery also said that, after a flood of support for the owners, some of the negative commenters took down their posts.
"I was shocked that somebody would be offended," Marlene Goetzeler told KTXL.
"A customer requested a Ken doll cake and we were happy to make it; she loved the cake when she picked it up," Walter and Marlene Goetzeler said in a statement. "We were especially proud of its buttercream detail so we decided to post a photo of it on our Facebook page, as we do with many of the cakes we design and adore. We got some lovely responses along with some negative feedback."
"We reposted the picture asking for support from our Facebook friends," the owners said. "Luckily, we have received that support and so much more from our fans, devoted customers and staff."
Amid an intense debate the past several years over LGBT rights, including same-sex marriage, businesses across the country have made news for refusing to serve same-sex couples.
Last year, Azucar Bakery in Colorado was accused of violating a customer's civil rights for declining to decorate a cake with anti-gay messages, including, "God hates gays." The Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies later ruled that the bakery had the right to do it.
The past week, supporters have been urging Freeport Bakery's owners to "ignore the haters."
"Amazing!" one wrote. "Love this bakery and love that you are inclusive and welcome ALL."
Another added: "With a lot news reports saying in other states refusing to make wedding cakes for same-sex marriages, you make me proud to live in a diverse and accepting community! You have my support!"
One person said such a controversy over a cake was "silly."
"By society's definition I'm transgender and that fact is I am also human," the commenter wrote. "We as a educated society should stop acting so ignorant. We should be more civilized than this. Don't hate the creator of the cake because for those who are religious and take offense would you hate our creator God? Remember God makes no mistakes. As true as that is I say he has quite the sense of humor when he created me."
Some customers outside the bakery seemed to take a more neutral stance.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion," Karen Dixson told NBC affiliate KCRA.
"There's always going to be two sides," Ashley Nelson told the station. "People support it or they don't."
Chad Graham, who told the station that he attended the birthday party for which the Ken Doll Cake was created, said the recipient is neither transgender, nor attempting to make some sort of statement.
"I thought it was a little ridiculous," Graham said about the issue. "It was just cake."

'I was shocked that somebody would be offended'; Bakery's transgender Ken doll c


A popular bakery in Northern California
is caught at the centre of a heated
debate on social media over a
transgender


NASHVILLE -- A Nashville judge dismissed pop star Taylor Swift as a potential juror in an aggravated rape and kidnapping case on Monday, Davidson County District Attorney General's Office spokesman Ken Whitehouse said.
"She asked to be left off out of concern for an upcoming trial in Denver where she was -- she used the term 'groped' -- by a fan at a meet-and-greet," Whitehouse said.
Swift told the judge she would be more than willing to serve on a jury in any other type of case, he said.
In the Denver case, Swift filed a counterclaim last year after a former radio host sued her.
David Mueller claimed he lost his job after a member of Swift's security team falsely accused him of grabbing the singer's buttocks backstage during a 2013 photo session. Muller claimed the person who assaulted Swift was actually one of his superiors.
Swift's counterclaim states, "Ms. Swift knows exactly who committed the assault."
Before Swift was dismissed from the jury pool on Monday, she took time to chat and take selfies with other potential jurors.
Bryan Merville, who owns a technology infrastructure company, said he took a photo with Swift for his daughters, who are huge fans. He said he was one of about 140 people waiting in a holding area Monday morning before they were called to separate courtrooms. About 15-20 asked Swift for a photo or autograph.
"She's about as famous as they come, but she couldn't have been nicer," Merville said. "She took the time to talk to every person who asked her for a picture."

Taylor Swift reports to jury duty in Nashville, gets dismissed


A Nashville judge dismissed pop star Taylor Swift as a potential juror in an aggravated rape and kidnapping case on Monday, Davidson County District Attorney General's Office spokesman Ken Whitehouse said.


Kylie Jenner’s bigger bust is down to hormones, not surgery.
The 19-year-old Keeping Up with the Kardashians star has set the record straight after photos emerged showing her with a seemingly inflated chest. Wearing a skimpy white top with high waisted jeans, Kylie’s ample cleavage spills over the top of her shirt in the Instagram shots, with many people speculating she’d gone under the knife. However, Kylie put an end to rumours on Friday as she answered fans’ boob-related questions.
“Um never,” she told a fan on Twitter who asked if she had surgery on her cleavage, adding to another: “TMI (too much information) but it's that time of the month lol (laugh out loud).”
She also got flirty with one fan, inviting @kyliejenlove to feel her chest to validate it's all real, before admitting her breasts are likely to return to their normal size after she’d finished her period.
“They will deflate soon. And it will be a sad sad day,” she joked.
Do u want to feel them to validate https://t.co/hf10kqit0x — Kylie Jenner (@KylieJenner) August 26, 2016
And fans who want to emulate her look are out of luck, as Kylie revealed her favourite Victoria’s Secret bra is no longer available.
Bomb shell or this one BOMB bra from Victoria secret that I've had for 4/5 years that they don't make anymore https://t.co/rLh0nsCYk6 — Kylie Jenner (@KylieJenner) August 26, 2016
He chest wasn’t the only thing on Kylie's mind though; the TV star also shared her excitement over her new lip kits.
"Okay enough boob talk lmao (laugh my a** off)," she posted. "Can't wait for my new lip kits tomorrow !!!!!!!”
As well as her famous family, Kylie has also become known for her huge pout, which she initially put down to clever make-up before finally admitting she had them surgically enhanced. Making the most out of her fuller lips, Kylie launched her first lip kit in 2015, which was an instant hit.
Okay enough boob talk lmao. — Kylie Jenner (@KylieJenner) August 26, 2016
Can't wait for my new lip kits tomorrow !!!!!!! — Kylie Jenner (@KylieJenner) August 26, 2016

Kylie Jenner denies breast implants, invites fan to 'feel them to validate'


Kylie Jenner’s bigger bust is down to hormones, not surgery.


A baby born on a plane operated by Philippines' Cebu Pacific airline in August 2016 is destined to become a global explorer after winning one million air points. The infant girl, dubbed Haven, was delivered by cabin crew on Cebu Pacific and two nurses on board the plane as it was en route from Dubai to Manila. To celebrate, the airline awarded the baby a million of its in-house loyalty points, which can be used for free travel on its flights and can be shared with Haven's family. (Getty Images)
Passengers aboard an Air Transat flight coming from the Dominican Republic to Montreal were shocked to discover two tarantulas aboard the plane. According to CBC, flight attendants advised passengers to put on shoes and cover their legs after the loose tarantulas were spotted on the April 2016 flight. One of the spiders was captured by a passenger in-flight, while the other was recovered after the plane landed in Montreal. (Getty Images)
Air Malta shared a little love in the skies in April 2015. Flightradar24.com, a live air traffic tracking website, caught an Air Malta plane drawing two hearts in the sky via its flight path over the Mediterranean, before it returned to the island. The website posted updates on the 'love flight' to its Twitter account, which drew the attention of users from around the world. Air Malta later confirmed to the U.K.'s Sky News that a pilot and flight attendant had been married at the airport earlier in the day and were enjoying a post-nuptial flight. Read the full story here. (Flightradar24.com screenshot)
Four koalas took to the skies in Qantas Airways' business class for a posh trip from Australia to Singapore. The koalas - named Paddle, Pellita, Chan and Idalia - were sent by Australia to Singapore to mark that country's 50th independence anniversary. The airline photographed the cute foursome being served eucalyptus and other refreshments by flight attendants before they were safely returned to their specially built climate-controlled containers for the actual flight. Read the full story here. (Twitter/Qantas Airways)
A Penn State-Abington professor was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct in Miami after smoking a cigarette and going on a rant about U.S.-Venezuelan relations on a flight from Nicaragua to Miami. In videos posted to YouTube by a fellow plane passenger, Karen Halnon can be seen smoking a cigarette and also rants about President Obama and oil. Halnon told New York's Daily News that the cigarette was a symbol for a smoking gun and her show of support to cigarette-smoking revolutionaries like Fidel Castro. "I know that might sound somewhat esoteric to other people, but I’m an intellectual, so that’s what I intended," she told the Daily News. (Courtesy Miami-Dade County Corrections)
A flight attendant provided passengers with a little in-flight entertainment in March 2015 when she started dancing to Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars' hit song Uptown Funk. According to the YouTube user who posted the video, the flight attendant is his sister and former break dancer. (YouTube)
Delta Airlines was forced to apologize after their Facebook page was apparently hacked. An article linking to a joke about oral sex, featuring a photo of Urechis unicinctus - a Chinese marine spoon worm - was posted to the airlines' Facebook page for about an hour before it was pulled down. Delta posted an apology for the hack to their Twitter account shortly after. (Delta Airlines Facebook)
A 29-year-old man faces charges for allegedly stealing a megaphone on a Saskatoon-bound WestJet plane Monday night. Saskatoon police say they were called by staff at Saskatoon's John G. Diefenbaker International Airport about a passenger who stole the device from the galley of the plane. Police boarded the plane after it arrived from Toronto at about 9 p.m. and arrested the suspect. Read the full story here. (Al Charest/Postmedia Network)
Photos of Mexican singer Esmeralda Ugalde sitting behind the controls of a Magnicharters plane mid-flight have gone viral -- and have cost the pilot his job. The U.K.'s Daily Mail reports the singer and a friend were let into the cockpit during a flight from Cancun to Mexico City by the unnamed pilot. Ugalde posted photos of herself holding the plane's controller and wearing the pilot's hat to Twitter, but has since deleted the images. Read the full story here. (Twitter.com/EsmeOficial)
A flight attendant who showed off her curvy body in modelling shoots has been fired by Turkish Airlines. Airline brass decided that Zuhal Sengul, 31, went a little too far in wearing far too little in a photo shoot with an Italian magazine. The head of the airline's union says Turkish Airlines is trying to "shape the company to fit its own political and ideological stance," and the full-figured Sengul, a vegan who has a black belt in karate, isn't portraying a proper image. Read the full story here. (Facebook)
On the day before American Thanksgiving, U.S. airline JetBlue made a game of picking up bags at New York's JFK Airport and adding prize panels to the luggage belt. Suitcases that landed on winning panels from the chute won their owners everything from gloves to a free round-trip flight. Read the full story here. (YouTube)
Siberian air passengers had to get out and push their plane after its chassis froze on Nov. 25, 2014. Passengers pushed the plane until it was able to turn and then a tow truck took over. The flight then took off and went smoothly. Social media was buzzing about the feat, especially after video emerged of the passengers pushing the plane. See the video here. (YouTube)
Dutch airline KLM brought some flyers to tears recently by enlisting their loved ones to write personal messages that were then left on the headrests. After scouring the departures terminal for teary goodbyes, KLM staff took friends and relatives aside and invited them to write a final surprise message that would be attached to flyers' seatbacks. Read the full story here. (YouTube)
Hey Twitter, do you know Katie? Katie from Nova Scotia, Canada? That was pretty much how a global search for an Irishman's crush started. And in a true testament to the power of the Internet, Jamie Kelly has found his airplane seatmate in a love story that's gone viral. They met on a Ryanair flight from Barcelona to Dublin last month. They hit it off and chatted the entire flight. Sparks flew. But the two became separated at the customs line, with the Irishman queuing in the EU-only lane, and Katie Moreau, of Riverport, Nova Scotia, taking the non-EU line. Read the full story here. (Twitter)
US Airways was -- eventually -- embarrassed and apologetic after tweeting a pornographic photo of a woman lying on a bed with a plane inserted into her vagina. The image link was sent to a Twitter user with the message: "We welcome feedback, Elle. If your travel is complete, you can detail it here for review and follow-up." Read the story here. (Twitter)
A U.S. airplane almost collided with an unmanned drone in March 2014 when flying in Florida, according to reports. "The pilot said that the UAS was so close to his jet that he was sure he had collided with it," an FAA official said, according to CNN. "Thankfully, inspection to the airliner after landing found no damage. But this may not always be the case." See the full video here. (Screenshot)
Two violinists broke our their instruments on the tarmac after they were asked to leave a U.S. Airways flight over a dispute on where to store the violins. Zach De Pue and Nicolas Kendall say they haven't had any issues flying with their instruments before and when they refused to store them in the cargo area, they were asked to leave the plane. Waiting for a reslution on the tarmac, the pair took out their instruments and started playing. See the video here. (YouTube)
U.S. customs inspectors at Los Angeles International Airport seized a shipment of several dozen live giant African snails, considered a delicacy in Nigeria but also voracious pests that can eat paint and stucco off houses, officials said. Read the full story here. (U.S. Border Patrol/Handout)
A Chinese traveller was detained in South Korea this weekend after trying to board a plane with a passport that had been seriously defaced by his creative four-year-old son. The child had entertained himself over the family holiday by drawing in his dad's passport with a black pen. Read the full story here. (Courtesy Weibo)
Canada Boarder Services Agency detector dog Max helped find three Mediterranean spur-thighed tortoises in a traveller's suitcase in Edmonton in May 2010. The luggage came on a flight from London, England's Heathrow Airport to Edmonton. Read the story here. (Shutterstock)
In late summer 2014, legroom wars broke out on three flights over a two week period. First, United Airlines said flight 1462 from Newark to Denver diverted to Chicago and two were passengers ejected owing to a disturbance after one of the passengers used a $22 gadget dubbed the "Knee Defender" which blocks the seat in front from reclining. Then, a Frenchman was arraigned in Boston after becoming disruptive when the passenger in front of him reclined their seat on American Airlines flight 62 from Miami to Paris. Finally, a 32-year-old woman trying to snooze on a tray table on a flight from New York to West Palm Beach, Florida became the latest offender Monday when the woman in front slammed her seat back, bashing her alleged victim's head at the end of the Labour Day holiday weekend. Read the full story here. (Shutterstock)
Resourceful drug dealers tried to smuggle 11 kg of heroin through Montreal's Trudeau Airport by sewing the drugs into imported rugs. Canada Border Services agents discovered $4 million worth of heroin after they examined a shipment of rugs from Pakistan. The drugs had been hidden inside the hand-knotted woollen fibres of the rugs. Read the story here. (Shutterstock)
It was a shock for everyone when one traveller's bag ripped open on a luggage conveyor belt at Kuala Lumpur International Airport and 95 live boa constrictors spilled out into the airport. Read the story here. (Shutterstock)
A pillow fight broke out on this August 2010 flight. The flight attendant was just as involved as the passengers! Watch the video here. (Screenshot)
Rapper Kanye West took over a Delta Airlines PA system on a November 2010 flight and performed part of his hit song "Gold Digger" for a surprised, but very receptive, audience of his fellow passengers. Watch the video here. (YouTube)
The funny in-flight safety instruction speech of a Houston-based Southwest Airlines flight attendant named Martha "Marty" Cobb went viral. "If we could pretend to have your attention for just a few moments, my ex-husband, my new boyfriend and their divorce attorney are going to show you the safety features," Cobb says during the pre-departure safety demonstration. See the video here. (YouTube)
A budget Vietnamese airline says photos of flight attendants in lingerie were leaked from a test shooting and spread online, but are not official promotional photos. VietJet Air was slammed on social media for the photos of the scantily clad ladies. Read the full story here. (Facebook)
A Transport Canada intelligence alert from November 2010 said a passenger thought to be an elderly white man who “appeared to have young looking hands” boarded a flight from Hong Kong to Vancouver, and later emerged from the washroom as an Asian man in his early 20s. After landing in Vancouver, the man claimed refugee status. Read the story here. (Canada Border Services/Handout)
A Sunwing flight bound for Cuba was turned back to Toronto Wednesday due to "two unruly female passengers," the airline says. The Varadero-bound plane, which departed Toronto at 4:30 p.m., was escorted back to Canada by CF-18s. Sunwing said in a statement that the two women drank "a significant quantity of their duty free alcohol purchase in the lavatory and lit a cigarette, triggering the smoke detector alarm. Read the full story here. (Postmedia Network)
An editor for the television show Modern Family live-tweeted her experience with "the worst person in the world" on an American Airlines flight from New York to L.A. Sunday night. The woman, identified as Nadia, was apparently quite drunk. At one point, when her seatmate asked her to turn down the volume on her movie because he could hear it through her earphones, she yelled at him, "Sorry, it's my first time not in first class." Read the full story here. (Twitter)
Authorities investigated how gun parts and bullets ended up stashed inside a four-year-old boy's Mickey Mouse doll and stuffed animals he was carrying aboard a plane in Rhode Island. The father, whose name was not released, told authorities he didn't know the weapons parts were in his son's bag. They were allowed to fly after the items were confiscated. "It appears to be the result of a domestic dispute," Airport Police Chief Leo Messier said in a statement. Read the story here. (TSA/Handout)
An Australian pilot had to make an unplanned landing only 20 minutes after takeoff after a snake slithered out of the dashboard into the cockpit. Pilot Braden Blennerhassett spotted the snake about 20 minutes after takeoff from the Darwin Airport on an Air Frontier cargo flight in April 2012. Read the full story here. (Shutterstock)
A 49-year-old Oregon man became so fed up with airport screening that he stripped naked at Portland International Airport security checkpoint, police said. Some passengers covered their own eyes, as well as their children’s, during the April 2012 incident, while others “stepped out of the screening lanes to look, laugh and take photos.” Read the full story here. (Multnomah County Sheriff's Office/Handout)
A 10-hour United Airlines flight from San Francisco to London took off without restocking one important passenger item — toilet paper. ABC News reported staff improvised and provided cocktail napkins for passengers to use in stalls when the toilet paper ran out and labelled a dispenser so passengers knew why the napkins were in the bathroom. Read the full story here. (Postmedia Network files)
A porn company has offered Air Canada pilots free porn for however long they're employed by the airline. Recently, the CBC reported Air Canada pilots have been told to stop taking porn with them into the cockpits. A memo was sent to staff last year warning of possible criminal charges or being fired for bringing inappropriate material to work. In a letter from the website Brazzers, the company offers pilots free porn. Read the full story here. (Postmedia Network)
Passengers got quite a scare Wednesday when a man on their flight sneezed and declared "I have Ebola" - as a joke. Health officials in haz-mat suits escorted the man from US Airways flight 845 Wednesday when it arrived in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, from Philadelphia. Read the full story here. (Handout)
A fight broke out at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport last week after a man began hurling homophobic slurs at another passenger in the airport's terminal. The incident was caught on video and posted to YouTube by Andrew Kennedy, who wrote in the video's description that it shows "an extremely troubled unnamed man gets upset, starts a fight and then gets taken down hard." Read the full story here. (YouTube)
If you're worried about the flight you're about to board with your charming but lung-tastic baby, take cues from the parents of Madeline and consider launching a preemptive charm offense with a goodie bag and an advance apology. The strategy did more than mollify Reddit user Ninjashares, who posted a photo of the bag on the online forum: "A baby just handed me this on my flight. I ain't mad." Read the full story here. (Imgur)
A Delta Airlines passenger caused a stir on social media when he decided to live-tweet a flight that had only one other passenger on it. The flight to New York took off with just two passengers after other flyers were re-booked on other flights due to weather related delays. See the full video here. (Twitter)
A video posted by a British TV host has gone viral for capturing the "disgusting" conditions of his pricey first class seat on British Airways. Owen Thomas said he just wanted to show others "...what first class in BA is really like." See the full video here. (YouTube)
'Hangin' With Mr. Cooper' actor Mark Curry was left fuming at an airport in Dallas, Texas in May 2015 after an airline employee randomly confronted him about carrying a loaded weapon. The actor tells TMZ.com, "(I) just walked to (the) first class Delta counter in Dallas. The first thing the lady said to me (was), 'Do you have a loaded weapon?' What? Delta, all black people don't have loaded weapons! That's the first thing she said to me at (the) first class (desk). She didn't say hello, she said, 'Do you have a weapon?' She was black...!" Read the full story here. (WENN.com)
This photo of a lizard on a tray of airplane food, reportedly taken on an Air India flight from Delhi to London, went viral and had the airline issuing a statement that it was nothing more than a hoax. Air India said it had received no complaints about a lizard surprising passengers in-flight, though one source told the Times of India that "a flight attendant got the said meal from the galley and soon after it was placed on to the tray, the passenger was heard screaming." Watch the full video here. (Twitter)
A United Airlines captain threw bullets in a trash bin accessible to passengers and later flushed them down a toilet on board a flight that he was piloting to Germany. A United spokeswoman said that the pilot should not have thrown the bullets in the toilet. She said the pilot hasn't been fired but that the incident is still under investigation. Airline spokeswoman Karen May said the pilot is allowed to carry a gun on domestic flights under a post-9-11 federal program. Read the full story here. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
A WestJet flight attendant's funny in-flight safety demonstration has made him a viral sensation. In video posted to Facebook by a Saskatchewan veterinary clinic, flight attendant Michael McAdam can be seen acting out the safety demonstration. Click here to watch the video. (Facebook)
Malaysia Airlines barred passengers from checking in baggage on flights to Paris and Amsterdam in early January 2016 due to "unseasonably strong headwinds" on a longer flight path it is taking. Malaysia Airlines said the longer flight path consumes more fuel and this, combined with "temporary unseasonably strong headwinds, is limiting the airlines' ability to carry baggage in cargo." The airline later changed the policy after social media backlash. Read the full story here. (AP Photo)
Delta Air Lines had to apologize to passengers after a confrontation between two flight attendants in January 2016 led pilots to make an unscheduled landing halfway through the trip. The Aviation Herald, a website that tracks accidents and other incidents involving planes, said Delta flight 2598 was headed from Los Angeles to Minneapolis on Jan. 22 when two flight attendants got into a fist fight and the captain decided to land in Salt Lake City. The Herald said the plane stayed on the ground for more than an hour before resuming the flight to Minneapolis. Read the full story here. (Associated Press files)
A large bulge in a man's pants turned out to be nearly 1 lb. of cocaine, according to reports. Authorities at the Madrid airport in Spain noticed a passenger on a flight arriving from Costa Rica who had "a suspicious package between his legs," according to the official Twitter account of the national police. The man had tucked the drugs between boxers and another pair of underwear. He remains in custody for drug smuggling. (Twitter)
A Endeavor Air flight attendant allegedly stole 1,500 mini bottles of alcohol from flights she worked on and has since been charged with theft, unlawful sale of alcohol and unauthorized transportation of alcohol, according to the Associated Press. Endeavor Air is an affiliate of Delta. Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission investigators say Rachel Trevor sold the bottles for $1 each on Craigslist. (Getty Images)

Baby born on Cebu Pacific flight given one million air points


A baby born on a Philippines aircraft earlier this month is destined to become a global explorer after winning one million air points.


Mariah Carey's estranged sister has been arrested and charged with solicitation in New York.
Alison Carey, a former prostitute who is HIV positive, reportedly returned to her old ways on Friday, when she was busted in Saugerties as part of an undercover operation.
According to The Daily Freeman paper, Alison had been using a local hotel for the past week while working as a prostitute, allegedly posting her information online.
Authorities received a tip off about the sex ads, which referenced her superstar sister's hit song Fantasy, and launched an investigation, which resulted in the sting.
A Friday night ad reportedly posted by Alison read: "Im (sic) a pretty lady looking for guys who are looking to have some fun and get into a world of pleasure that other woman just cant provide two (sic) you, woman with the ability to make the earth move for you and to get you to see stars."
"Oh yea with me its (sic), 'ITS SUCH A SWEET, SWEET FANTASY BABY, WHEN I CLOSE MY EYES I COME AND TAKE YOU ON AND ON,'" she added.
lison Carey. (Handout: Saugerties Police Department)
The 55-year-old was busted after approaching an undercover police officer, who had posed as a customer, and offering up sexual favours in exchange for cash.
She was arraigned in Saugerties Town Court and is currently being held on $1,000 bail at Ulster County Jail, ahead of a court hearing on Tuesday.
Alison reportedly told arresting officers she was Mariah's sibling as she was being taken into custody, and her identity was confirmed with an Internet search by Saugerties police chief Joseph Sinagra.
Cops have appealed to anyone who may have had sexual contact with Alison to seek medical testing.
Mariah has yet to comment on her sibling's arrest. She has been estranged from Alison and their brother Morgan for some time, and didn't respond earlier this year when they launched a desperate appeal for the singer to reach out, amid claims Alison was dying. She was reportedly in need of brain and spinal surgery, while she was diagnosed with liver cancer in 2012.

Mariah Carey's sister arrested for prostitution


Mariah Carey's estranged sister has been arrested and charged with solicitation in New York.


NEW YORK — What will be the spectacle at the MTV Video Music Awards this year? A long rant from Kanye West? A surprise appearance from Beyonce? It’s all possible, and likely.
The show is returning to New York City on Sunday, where Beyonce is the leading nominee with 11, though it’s not confirmed if she will or won’t attend the show. She outshone her peers at the 2014 VMAs, closing the show with a 16-minute medley of songs from her self-titled surprise album that dominated that night.
West has had even more history with the awards show: He famously jumped onstage and stole Taylor Swift’s microphone at the 2009 show and last year gave an 11-minute speech onstage — after being introduced by Swift — and announced he was going to run for president in 2020.
He’ll have another chance to own the night since his controversial Famous music video — featuring what appears to be naked images of West, Swift, Kim Kardashian and Donald Trump — is nominated for best male video and video of the year.
Beyonce’s Formation, Justin Bieber’s Sorry, Drake’s Hotline Bling and Adele’s Hello are also up for the top prize. Adele, though, won’t attend the show at Madison Square Garden, her representative said. Reps for Drake and Bieber didn’t return emails asking if they would or would not attend the show.
Rihanna will receive the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard award and kick off the show with a performance. The VMAs will air live on MTV at 9 p.m.
Other performers include Britney Spears, Ariana Grande with Nicki Minaj, Future, Nick Jonas and The Chainsmokers.
Presenters include Jimmy Fallon, Alicia Keys, Puff Daddy and the recent Olympian gold medallists Michael Phelps and the Final Five gymnasts — Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas, Laurie Hernandez, Madison Kocian and Aly Raisman.
Nominees for best female video include Beyonce, Adele, Rihanna, Sia and Grande. The best male video nominees are West, Drake, the Weeknd, Bryson Tiller and Calvin Harris, whose nomination is for This is What You Came For, which he co-wrote with former girlfriend Swift.
Coldplay, Desiigner, Fergie and Alessia Cara earned multiple nominations, while David Bowie — who died from cancer earlier this year — is nominated for best direction, cinematography, art direction and editing for Lazarus. The music video, which shows him looking frail in bed with bandaged eyes, was released just days before the icon’s Jan. 10 death.

MTV Video Music Awards to feature Kanye West, Rihanna, Britney Spears


What will be the spectacle at the MTV Video Music Awards this year? A long rant from Kanye West? A surprise appearance from Beyonce? It’s all possible, and likely.


More NFL players and head coaches are weighing in on Colin Kaepernick’s controversial decision to continue not standing at attention during the pregame playing of the U.S. national anthem.
Most say they support Kap’s right to do it but either don’t agree, or don’t necessarily agree, with his decision to do it.
Rookie New York Giants head coach Ben McAdoo, for instance, said, “I’d be disappointed if one of our guys chose not to stand. It’s their choice, it’s not mandatory, but we feel it’s important.”
For a short time on Monday afternoon, Kap’s former head coach on the San Francisco 49ers -- Jim Harbaugh, now the University of Michigan’s head coach -- became the first to criticize Kaepernick’s motivation for the boycott. Which is to protest how minorities are treated in the U.S.
“I acknowledge his right to do that,” Harbaugh said at his team’s Week 1 news conference, “but I don’t respect the motivation or the action.”
Many construed that as, at best, racially insensitive. Twitter exploded. Within an hour, however, Harbaugh walked it all the way back, tweeting:
“I apologize for misspeaking my true sentiments. To clarify, I support Colin’s motivation. It’s his method of action that I take exception to.”
I apologize for misspeaking my true sentiments. To clarify, I support Colin's motivation. It's his method of action that I take exception to — Coach Harbaugh (@CoachJim4UM) August 29, 2016
One of the NFL’s most thoughtful, intelligent and also outspoken players, Seattle CB Richard Sherman, on Monday offered this insightful take, after summarizing the history of oppression of African-Americans:
“There is some depth and some truth into what he was doing. I think he could have picked a better platform and a better way to do it, but every day they say athletes are so robotic and do everything by the book. Then when somebody takes a stand like that he gets his head chopped off.”

More coaches, players weigh in on Kaepernick's anthem protest


More NFL players and head coaches are weighing in on Colin Kaepernick’s controversial decision to continue not standing at attention during the pregame playing of the U.S. national anthem.


STOCKHOLM -- More than 300 wild reindeer have been killed by lightning in central Norway.
The Norwegian Environment Agency has released eerie images showing a jumble of reindeer carcasses scattered across a small area on the Hardangervidda mountain plateau. The agency says 323 animals were killed, including 70 calves, in the lightning storm Friday.
Agency spokesman Kjartan Knutsen told The Associated Press it's not uncommon for reindeer or other wildlife to be killed by lightning strikes but this was an unusually deadly event.
"We have not heard about such numbers before," he said Monday.
He said reindeer tend to stay very close to each other in bad weather, which could explain how so many were killed at once.
"I don't know if there were several lighting strikes," he said. "But it happened in one moment."
Knutsen said the agency is now discussing what to do with the dead animals. Normally, they are just left where they are to let nature take its course, he said.
Thousands of reindeer migrate across the barren Hardanangervidda plateau as the seasons change.

Lightning strike kills more than 300 reindeer in Norway


More than 300 wild reindeer have been killed by lightning in central Norway.


From Kanye West's rant, to Britney's return and Beyonce's epic entrance and performance, here are photos from the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards.
Lance Bass, left, and Robert Sepulveda Jr. arrive at the MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP) Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
Nicki Minaj, left, and Meek Mill arrive at the MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP) Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
Amber Rose arrives at the MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP) Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
DJ Khaled, left, and Nicole Tuck arrive at the MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP) Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
Desiigner arrives at the MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP) Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
Beyonce, left, and her daughter Blue Ivy arrive at the MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP) Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
Farrah Abraham arrives at the MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP) Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
Contestants from "RuPaul's Drag Race" TV show arrive at the MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP) Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
Lance Bass wears a jacket with the slogan "Love Trumps Hate" as he arrives at the MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP) Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
Hailey Baldwin arrives at the MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP) Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
Nev Schulman, right, and Laura Perlongo arrive at the MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP) Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
Jeremy Scott, left, and Stella Maxwell arrive at the MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP) Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 28: Alicia Keys attends the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images) Getty Images
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 28: Kanye West and Kim Kardashian West attend the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images) Getty Images
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 28: Beyonce (C) attends the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images for MTV) Getty Images for MTV
Ariana Grande performs at the MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP) Charles Sykes/Invision/AP
Rihanna, center, performs at the MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP) Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
Ariana Grande, left, and Nicki Minaj perform at the MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP) Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 28: Britney Spears performs onstage during the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images) Getty Images
Michael Phelps, left, and Nicole Johnson arrive at the MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP) Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 28: Madison Kocian, Aly Raisman, Simone Biles and Laurie Hernandez present Best Female Video onstage during the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images) Getty Images
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 28: Britney Spears and G Eazy perform onstage during the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images) Getty Images
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 28: Kanye West performs onstage during the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images) Getty Images
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 28: Beyonce accepts the Best Female Video award presented by Madison Kocian, Aly Raisman, and Simone Biles onstage during the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images) Getty Images
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 28: Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele perform onstage during the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images) Getty Images
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 28: Michael Phelps presents onstage during the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images) Getty Images
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 28: Rihanna performs onstage during the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images) Getty Images
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 28: Beyonce and mothers of gun violence attend the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images for MTV) Getty Images for MTV
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 28: Britney Spears performs onstage during the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images) Getty Images
G-Eazy, and Britney Spears perform at the MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP) Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 28: Jimmy Fallon presents the Video of the Year award during the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images) Getty Images
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 28: Rihanna performs onstage during the 2016 MTV Music Video Awards at Madison Square Gareden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images) Getty Images
Fifth Harmony and Ty Dolla $ign (C) accept the award for Best Collaboration during the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards August 28, 2016 at Madison Square Garden in New York. / AFP PHOTO / Jewel SAMADJEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 28: Drake presents Rihanna with the The Video Vanguard Award during the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images) Getty Images
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 28: Andrew Taggart of The Chainsmokers and Halsey perform onstage during the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images) Getty Images
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 28: Drake presents Rihanna with the The Video Vanguard Award during the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images) Getty Images
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 28: Jimmy Fallon presents Beyonce with "Video of the Year" for "Formation" onstage during the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images) Getty Images

Drake: I’ve been in love with Rihanna since I was 22


Drake professed his love for rumoured
girlfriend Rihanna at the MTV Video
Music Awards on Sunday night.


When it came time to write and record their third record, Florida Georgia Line’s Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley wanted to collaborate with some of the country duo’s biggest influences.
“The record is called Dig Your Roots and we’re honestly digging our roots with how we approached our collaborations,” Hubbard tells Postmedia Network during a mid-afternoon chat in Toronto’s entertainment district.
The new LP features a reggae-tinged track with Ziggy Marley on Life Is a Honeymoon, the ballad God, Your Mama, and Me with Backstreet Boys and May We All, a collab with Tim McGraw that will follow the album’s first chart-topping single, H.O.L.Y.
“All these artists were huge influences in our life and huge influences in our music and they’re people that we look up to and respect,” Hubbard adds. “It was a dream come true for BK and I to work with all of them.”
The party vibe FGL kicked off with their 2012 hit Cruise continues on Dig Your Roots, but the duo wanted to take their brand of country music in different directions.
“We wanted to show the fans a different side of who we are,” Hubbard says.
Hubbard and Kelley told us why FGL plans to stay in their own lane, how playing with Backstreet was a bucket list moment and revealed who they want to collaborate with next. Hint: he’s the king of the 6ix.
Love, faith and family are big themes on Dig Your Roots. How did you guys want to shake things up for the new record?
Hubbard: Just like our other albums, we wanted to be real with where we’re at. We’ve grown up a lot over the last few years and we’ve evolved and our music is doing the same as well. It’s FGL, they’re still some good party songs on there and really something for everybody — just like the rest of our records — but we feel like this is the strongest record we’ve done.
What sets FGL apart from the rest of the country music scene these days?
Kelley: For those that aren’t familiar with Florida Georgia Line, I think we do offer something for everybody, particularly because of our influences. We like to do our own thing. We’re in our own lane and we don’t like to mess with anybody else. We like to keep it fresh and just focus on FGL.
What was your first big break?
Kelley: I think we’re getting big breaks every day. God is so good to us and our fans are amazing. We’re living out our dreams constantly.
You guys are big fans of Backstreet Boys, what was it like to collaborate with them on God, Your Mama, and Me?
Kelley: It’s crazy, to be honest with you. I was in sixth grade and I went to see them with a friend at the House of Blues. But we’re big believers in the motto ‘You have to dream big and put that energy out there.’ I don’t know how Nick (Carter) came across us, but we connected and we started passing songs back and forth and he ended up on our bus in Nashville during CMA week and we played him the song and he loved it. There’s a lot of respect there and there’s a friendship.
You’re playing across Canada throughout the fall. What are you looking forward to seeing the most?
Kelley: One of our favourite things about being in Canada and touring is it’ll give us time to get out in nature and do some hiking. Canada has some amazing landscapes and the weather is probably going to be great... Hopefully we get to hike a little bit, get outdoors.
Hubbard: If we pass through Banff I know we might try and stop there. We’ve heard amazing things about that area, so we might try and check that out.
When you play in Toronto’s Molson Canadian Amphitheatre this week, the CNE will be happening across the way. Got any favourite rides or fair food you hope to try?
Hubbard: I like roller-coasters. If I get a chance to ride a roller-coaster, I’m always jumping at the opportunity. Fair food? I really like funnel cakes.
Kelley: I’m pretty simple. I don’t like anything too crazy like a fried donut or whatever they do — they do some crazy stuff at some fairs — but I like to keep it simple. A good hot dog would be nice. I don’t have many hot dogs, so if they have a nice hot dog, I gotta have it.
Who do you want to collaborate with next?
Kelley: I’d say Rihanna. Justin Timberlake would be cool. Wiz Khalifa, Lil Wayne. Drake, obviously. Drake’s amazing. Is he in town?
Twitter: @markhdaniell
MDaniell@postmedia.com

After Backstreet Boys, Florida Georgia Line want to work with Drake


When it came time to write and record their third record, Florida Georgia Line’s Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley wanted to collaborate with some of the country duo’s biggest influences.


As I sailed aboard the aircraft carrier USS John Stennis from Honolulu to San Diego with my Navy pilot son, I could not help but be haunted by the concern that America’s foreign policy has lost its mooring and will require all hands on deck to bring it back to its rightful berth.
On the first evening of my journey, we were treated to a beautiful sunset from the vantage point of “vulture’s row”, atop the aircraft carrier’s tower.
The sun going down caused me to wonder whether its passage was emblematic of the sun setting on the era of American leadership in the world.
The week at sea, without communication with the outside world, provided relief from the fractious presidential campaigns, filled with equal amounts of scorn for both past American attempts to promote security and our more recent negligence to do so.
Since the campaign season seemed to reflect a race over who would detach the United States most from the world on immigration, trade, and global leadership, I wondered whether our ability and willingness to lead would survive.
Then the winds came up, and the waves along with them.
I have never felt more wind in my face than I did while observing the F/A-18 Hornet combat jets neatly arranged in a V-shape on the bow of the ship.
Even though the ship was big enough to hold over 5,000 sailors and aviators, along with lethal weapons of war, it still nodded to the impact of tropical storm Ivette.
As we awoke at “zero dark thirty”, in the middle of the night, to the excessively cheery voice of the executive officer, it was clear that the mighty craft had taken little notice of the storm’s gales and proceeded apace to its destination.
My question came back into my mind, mingled with the hope that just as the Stennis sailed through the tempest to reach San Diego, so too would America’s ability and will to lead cruise through today’s caustic, isolationist, protectionist windstorms.
The first task for a carrier preparing to launch aircraft off its catapult is a Foreign Object Debris walkdown, during which the ship’s crew walks the entire deck, shoulder to shoulder, searching for any loose bolts or screws that could get sucked into a turbine and cause significant damage.
One errant fragment could render a mighty jet inoperable.
For the United States to regain its mojo, it must pick up and discard a few foreign objects that, if allowed to entrench themselves in our political discourse, could disable our ability to deliver peace and prosperity for Americans and our friends.
We passed the USS Theodore Roosevelt as we arrived in San Diego.
The ship’s namesake pulled the United States out of its isolationist past and onto the world stage by launching the Great White Fleet, counseling that the path to peace was to “speak softly and carry a big stick”.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump appears to have missed the part about speaking softly.
Today’s global unrest suggests Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton lost the stick during her time as Secretary of State.
Both of them represent “foreign objects” to America’s leadership tradition.
With the emergence of the Islamic State, tensions in the South China Sea on the rise after China’s rejection of an international tribunal’s ruling, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin as Russia continues to occupy Crimea, risks to global harmony are on the rise.
World events are likely to force the United States to remove its foreign objects in order to attract better allies and find its “big stick” again.
Those leaders for whom the Navy has named aircraft carriers serve as examples.
Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. Bush are all guides to whom Republicans should look for instruction on how to lead in a way that attracts others to America’s side.
Harry Truman, John Stennis, and Carl Vinson serve as guides to Democrats looking to rebuild America’s stick.
No matter who prevails in November, pushing America out of its inward tailspin will require a lot of tugging.
We must all stand shoulder to shoulder to throw foreign objects overboard and get America’s ship of state back on course.
The Washington Post News Service & Syndicate

American leadership can survive today’s storms


As I sailed aboard the aircraft carrier USS John Stennis from Honolulu to San Diego with my Navy pilot son, I could not help but be haunted by the concern that America’s foreign policy has lost its mooring and will require all hands on deck to bring it back to its rightful berth.


Bill Harris' TV must-sees for the week of Aug. 28:
1. Motive
Series finale
The only motive that remains is to wrap it all up for this steady performer that lasted four seasons. Several years after a killer got away, the team – including Angie (Kristin Lehman), Oscar (Louis Ferreira), Paula (Karen LeBlanc), Brian (Brendan Penny) and Betty (Lauren Holly) – reunites to close the case.
When: Tuesday, Aug. 30 on CTV
2. Narcos
Season-2 debut
This series continues to chronicle the real-life stories of the infamous drug kingpins of the late 1980s, when cocaine was as common as "new Coke." Or at least that's how we remember it now, anyway. Having lived through the '80s myself, apparently I wasn't nearly as high as I could have been.
When: Friday, Sept. 2 on Netflix
3. The Strain
Season-3 debut
The Strigoi – a.k.a. Vampires – are evolving, and the bio-weapon designed by Eph (Corey Stoll) is failing. That cannot be a good combination. Meanwhile, Fet (Kevin Durand) helps a Navy SEAL team on a deadly mission in New York, even though the rest of the world has written off the Big Apple.
When: Sunday, Aug. 28 on FX
4. MTV Video Music Awards
Live
This year's festivities are taking place at Madison Square Garden in New York for the first time in the show’s 33-year history. Canadian nominees include Drake, Justin Bieber, Alessia Cara and The Weeknd. There will be performances by Britney Spears and Nick Jonas, and Rihanna will receive the Video Vanguard Award.
When: Sunday, Aug. 28 on MTV
5. Ice Road Truckers
Season-10 debut
This show has been around for a decade? Really? That's a lot of trucks and a lot of ice. But I guess just like everywhere, there's not as much ice as there used to be. As the new campaign commences, experts predict one of the shortest and warmest winters on record. As a result, companies risk financial ruin.
When: Wednesday, Aug. 31 on History
6. Pretty Little Liars
Season-7 finale
The girls face off with their enemies – there's a seemingly endless supply of foes – in a chaotic fight that ends fatally. Eep. Simultaneously, someone learns a secret about their past that changes everything, while someone else gets a life-altering glimpse into the future. Crave serenity and stability? Find another show.
When: Tuesday, Aug. 30 on Bravo (Freeform in the U.S.)
7. You're the Worst
Season-3 debut
Jimmy (Chris Geere) and Gretchen (Aya Cash) adjust to life after “I love you,” which you'd think should make things easier, at least theoretically, but frequently does not. Also, Lindsey (Kether Donohue) discovers a new hobby, and Edgar (Desmin Borges) experiences some delicate sexual problems.
When: Wednesday, Aug. 31 on FXX
8. Milwaukee Blacksmith
Canadian debut
Beginning with back-to-back episodes, this reality series focuses on a man named Kent Knapp who is trying to forge a living as a blacksmith in modern times. Kent has made it his mission to pass the trade down to his children, but as often is the case, the younger members of the family have their own wills of steel.
When: Tuesday, Aug. 30 on History
9. Almost President: The Agony of Defeat
Debut
This doc features several people who lost presidential elections – including Mitt Romney, John McCain and Michael Dukakis – talking about their journeys, analyzing their own mistakes and detailing the impact on their families. It's basically a primer on the sad fate that awaits either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton.
When: Wednesday, Aug. 31 on CNN
10. Daily Planet
Boldly Go Week
The 22nd season kicks off with a celebration of the 50th anniversary of Star Trek. There will be segments exploring the visions of the future that germinated from the franchise. Sounds like a great week for co-hosts Ziya Tong and Dan Riskin, as well as Ensign Smith. Uh-oh ... I worry about Ensign Smith.
When: Monday, Aug. 29 to Friday, Sept. 2 on Discovery
Twitter: @billharris_tv
bharris@postmedia.com

'Motive,' 'Narcos,' 'The Strain' and the MTV VMAs top this week's TV must-sees


Bill Harris' TV must-sees for the week of Aug. 28:


There are two things Millennials love the most; a quick and easy dating app and getting immediate access to information.
That is why it is no surprise that a new political app called Voter is making headlines.
Voter-Matchmaking for Politics is an app that combines the user interface of dating apps such as Tinder, Grindr and Bumble, by replacing the picture of potential matches with questions on political and social issues.
After swiping left or right on some of the most contested debates in the U.S election, users are then immediately matched with a party, candidate and political influencer who best aligns with their views.
Automatically generated, with detailed imaged-based results, all calculated within minutes.
Genius, right? Such technology could be the solution to low voter turnout rates and apathetic attitudes that have plagued Canadian politics.
There’s just two problems.
One, the app is not yet available in Canada.
Two, our political landscape seems to be allergic to technology.
When it comes to political technology and innovation Canadians are severely lagging behind.
Living in close proximity to the U.S, we can’t help but be reminded that our political environment is less of a celebrity showdown and more like a straw-blowing competition at your local fair -- long, tedious and unnecessary.
Our political system is slowing dying, with no one showing interest in delivering a cure.
That cure is technological innovation.
It’s the wave of the future and the future is now.
Technology allows for greater efficiency, wider reach, and serves as the gateway to a generation that has not lived without it.
No longer can we afford to have a political system detached from technological innovation that has the power to connect with young voters.
However, little effort is being made to ensure this is fulfilled. Instead, we rely on the same old methods to increase voter engagement.
If Canadian politics is to survive beyond the fanfare of Justin Trudeau mania, it will need the integration of political technology, engaging a new demographic of voters who are fluent in emojis, communicate through gifs and prefer to have information delivered through a device of their choosing.
When it comes to getting these voters to the polls, the process needs to be easier and more accessible.
Most recently, a representative from Hillary Clinton’s team spilled the secrets behind the technology of her campaign.
Her team created an online app that allowed users to display their support for her on social media platforms and receive polling information directly to their phones.
Such information on the fingertips of the soon to be largest voting demographic, will remove the archaic ambience that plagues Canadian politics.
However, instead of being proactive in Canada, we idly wait and hope innovators and companies will expand their services here.
Relying on the U.S to fill in our technological gaps is not sustainable.
Their will or desire to expand into the Canadian market is not a lucrative one.
We have a completely different political system, with a different set of needs and relationship to our constituents.
That is why we need to invest in developing our own technological solutions that prioritize the realities of our political environment.
My question is, how long do we keep on waiting?
-- Andrew-Amofah is is a radio host on CJRU 1280AM, where she discusses Canadian social justice and political issues. She is a Master’s in Political Management Candidate at Carleton University.


There are two things Millennials love the most; a quick
and easy dating app and getting immediate access to
information.


OTTAWA — The Canadian economy shrivelled in the second quarter to its worst performance in seven years, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
The federal agency said real gross domestic product fell at an annualized rate of 1.6 per cent in the three-month period, due in large part to the wildfires that destroyed parts of Fort McMurray, Alta. That’s the biggest quarterly decline since the second quarter of 2009 when Canada was in the midst of the global financial crisis.
The contraction reported Wednesday compared with growth at an annual pace of 2.5 per cent in the first quarter, which was revised from an initial reading of 2.4 per cent.
Economists had expected a drop of 1.5 per cent in the second quarter, according to Thomson Reuters.
“It wasn’t pretty, but it wasn’t expected to be,” Avery Shenfeld of CIBC Capital Markets said in a research note.
The drop in GDP came as exports of goods and services fell 4.5 per cent in the quarter following a 1.9 per cent increase in the first three months of the year. Exports of goods were down 5.5 per cent, while exports of services grew 0.6 per cent.
Already hurting from the drop in energy prices, the Alberta wildfires dealt a blow to the energy sector, forcing the evacuation of Fort McMurray and shutdown of several oilsands operations in the region.
Energy product exports fell 7.5 per cent, with crude and bitumen exports declining 9.6 per cent and refined petroleum products down a whopping 19.6 per cent. Motor vehicles and parts also dropped 5.8 per cent due to lower exports of passenger cars and light trucks.
Exports of aircraft and other transportation equipment and parts were up 5.6 per cent.
However, despite the pullback for the quarter as a whole, the economy ended the quarter with growth in June.
Statistics Canada said real GDP rose 0.6 per cent that month, boosted in part to non-conventional oil extraction as production in the Alberta oilsands region started to resume. Economists had expected a gain of 0.4 per cent for the month, according to Thomson Reuters.
Mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction climbed 3.6 per cent in June, boosted by 12 per cent gain in non-conventional oil extraction.
“The best news was that June GDP rebounded with a brighter than expected 0.6 per cent gain, and less than half of that came from the rebound in mining/oil/gas, as manufacturing also had a healthy gain,” Shenfeld said.
“All told, a quarter we will like to forget, and for the next few months, a more supportive Q3 will help us do just that.”
The second-quarter result reported Wednesday was worse than forecast by the Bank of Canada in its July monetary policy report. The central bank had predicted that the economy would contract at an annual rate of 1.0 per cent during the second quarter due to the damage caused by the wildfires.
But the Bank of Canada has also predicted that growth will pick up in the third quarter to an annual pace of 3.5 per cent as oil production ramps up and rebuilding efforts begin in Fort McMurray. It also expects the federal government’s new Canada child benefit and a boost to infrastructure spending to lend a hand to the economy.

Canadian economy shrinks in second quarter, worst showing since financial crisis


OTTAWA — The Canadian economy
shrivelled
in the second quarter to its worst
performance in seven years, Statistics
Canada said Wednesday.


OTTAWA - With all the redacted names on Justin Trudeau's flight manifest regarding his Christmas holiday to the Caribbean hideaway of Nevis, one would think he had smuggled Omar Khadr aboard for a little fun in the sun that didn't involve the less-luxurious venue of Guantanamo Bay.
But, no, it was just the in-laws and a nanny, although there are families who would put their in-laws in the terrorist category without a moment's hesitation.
This, however, is unlikely to apply when it comes to Jean Gregoire and Estelle Blais, parents of Trudeau's spouse, Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau, and grand-papa and grand-maman to the couple's three young children.
So it was much ado about nothing.
Nothing more to see here, said the Department of National Defence, who manages the mission reports for the government-owned Challenger jet that Trudeau must use due to the prohibition of prime ministers flying commercial.
Our mistake, said the military types. We redacted the names, not the prime minister and then, on cue, everyone fell on their swords like good soldiers do.
This is not to say, however, that it has been a particularly good week for the Liberals. Far from it. In fact, the dew on the honeymoon rose may be starting dry.
As the Sun Ottawa bureau chief David Akin reports, a pair of bureaucrats who scarfed down enough food while Paris climate summit to qualify for that gross skit in Monty Python's The Meaning of Life will now pay back a portion of that tab.
Judging by such recent scenarios, it would appear the Liberals' addiction to entitlements has not skipped a generation.
Health Minister Jane Philpott nicked taxpayers for $1,700 for just one day of being chauffeured around Toronto in a luxury sedan -- all while playing semantics that it wasn't a true "limousine"-- and then spent thousands more in similar rides from the owner of a livery service who volunteered on her election campaign and professed "love" for the Liberals.
And, not being one to sit with the hoi polloi in the waiting area at Pearson International while connecting to Ottawa, Philpott also nicked taxpayers for the $500-plus tab for membership to the exclusive Air Canada lounge.
Imagine questioning that? Obviously we do not understand the importance of her self-importance.
And then there is the photogenic Catherine McKenna, our federal minister of environment, who spent $6,600 for a private photographer to snap pictures at the same climate change summit that the aforementioned bureaucrat with the prodigious appetite for French food was knee deep in fine pate.
But silly us who care.
In an editorial the other day, the Globe & Mail, who this year hired CTV's Bob Fife to head up its Ottawa bureau, castigated its readers for worrying about the "wrong stuff" -- as in Philpott's non-limos or McKenna's photo albums.
This is the same Bob Fife, ironically, who made his mark chasing down cabinet ministers and their $16 orange juices.
"The peasants are revolting," they cried in the Wizard of Id.
"You can say that again," said the king.
- markbonokoski@gmail.com

These Liberals think we should eat cake, too


With all the redacted names on Justin Trudeau's flight manifest regarding his Christmas holiday to the Caribbean hideaway of Nevis, one would think he had smuggled Omar Khadr aboard for a little fun in the sun that didn't involve the less-luxurious venue of Guantanamo Bay.


A helmet-cam video shot last Friday of a confrontation between an Ottawa motorcyclist and a distracted SUV driver has gone viral, with more than 1.1 million views since being posted on Facebook.
Erik Hanna, who was riding his Yamaha R3 near Woodroffe Avenue and Baseline Road on Friday afternoon, shared the video after a woman driving in front of him in an SUV with Newfoundland license plates had failed to advance through a green light, opting instead to attend to matters on her mobile phone. When she became similarly distracted at the next set of lights, Hanna began recording.
In the video, Hanna drives up alongside the woman’s Toyota FJ Cruiser and taps on the car window. The woman can be seen locking the door, but otherwise ignores Hanna as she continues to use her phone. Hanna then pulls ahead of her and passes through the intersection on the green. But moments later, the SUV enters the frame again as the woman accelerates from behind and cuts Hanna off.
Hanna, who has faced criticism in online comments for both approaching the woman and passing her in the lane she occupied, defended his decision.
“I pulled ahead because in my mind it was the safest thing to do,” he said Monday. “I’d rather not be behind her when someone else doesn’t notice that she’s not going through the green.
“But then I guess she decided to use my lane to pass by me, to prove some sort of point. She came within about three inches of hitting my side-view mirror. It was a scary moment, and just gut instinct that kicked in to go follow her.”
Hanna managed to get the woman to pull over and roll down her window. When he informed her that he had recorded the incident on camera and intended to follow up with the police, she replied: “Don’t you have something better to do?”
“No,” he said. “That’s dangerous to my life. It’s dangerous to other people’s lives. This is the best thing I can do right now.”
Hanna asked the woman to accompany him in finding a police officer, but she ignored him and drove onto Highway 417, where Hanna followed her briefly before giving up the chase. “She started weaving in and out of traffic, and I’m not doing that,” said Hanna.
He filed a police report online Friday night. According to Ottawa police, the matter has been sent to traffic investigators.
Hanna notes he regularly motions distracted drivers to put down their phones. In this instance, he’d like to see the woman charged with distracted driving. “I don’t want this woman to come under any harassment. I really don’t want to see anything like that happen, but I do want to see charges laid. What she did endangered my life and the lives of others.
“I’d like to bring awareness to motorcycle safety and why something like that is not OK to do. If I’m stuck behind her and she decides not to go on a green light … and I get rear-ended, that’s my life, gone.”
You can view the video on Facebook here.

Helmet-cam video of distracted driver attracts more than 1M views


A helmet-cam video shot last Friday of
a confrontation between an Ottawa
motorcyclist and a distracted SUV
driver has gone viral, with more than
1.1 million views since being posted
on Facebook.


As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau makes his first official visit to China, reality squares off against his previous notorious comments.
At a Liberal fundraiser before the election, Trudeau stated:
“There’s a level of admiration I actually have for China. Their basic dictatorship is actually allowing them to turn their economy around on a dime.”
A poor choice of words.
“Admiration" for a dictatorship is inappropriate when the Chinese regime is alleged to have harvested organs from its citizens (see reports by former Liberal secretary of state David Kilgour and lawyer David Matas), culturally suppressed minorities, including Tibetans, tossed human rights and democracy activists into jail, bullied its neighbours and disregarded international rulings from UN- sanctioned tribunals.
Of course, China has an economic and military presence which requires our engagement on a series of issues.
It is an important trading partner and Canadians of Chinese origin make a tremendous contribution to our country.
China has also benefited from Canada's openness, most significantly when it acquired Candu nuclear technology in the early 1990s.
It has used it to build a new industrial power supply domestically, and now for the export market.
China remains a core market for Saskatchewan potash, Canadian lumber and other products.
We remain a very accessible market for Chinese goods and investment in oil and gas, mining, telecommunications, infrastructure and other sectors.
Consequently, any new engagement with China under Trudeau should reaffirm Canadian values, national interests and rule of law.
Canada should advise Beijing we will not be bullied into conditions which permit temporary foreign workers from China to fill jobs in businesses which should be available to Canadians.
National security assessments must be taken into consideration when investments impact critical infrastructure such as ports in the Arctic, telecommunications, defence or the power sector.
As chair of the cabinet’s intelligence committee, the prime minister should strongly condemn Chinese espionage and cyber attacks on Canada.
Remaining silent in front of President Xi Jinping on this will send the wrong message.
We should speak in support of our friend, Taiwan, which is finding its new, democratically-elected government subject to renewed harassment and bullying by China.
The prime minister should support conflict prevention measures by urging President Xi to respect the Hague ruling on the South China Sea and accept resolutions in line with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
On agriculture and trade, we must respond strongly and swiftly to the recent regulatory prohibitions on Canadian canola, which place a $2 billion market at risk.
This attempt to drive prices down and hurt Canadian farmers should be met with equal penalties on Chinese imports.
Relations with China, including any potential free trade agreement, must be based on mutual respect, not blind admiration.
Canada should be a partner, not a colony.
Indeed it is hard to see how a free trade deal is possible given the tenuous state of the rule of law in China.
I do wish the prime minister well on his visit, and remind him that Canadians will be watching closely to see how he champions these issues, including the rights of 300,000 dual nationals who reside in Hong Kong, and are seeking greater consular support from their government in Ottawa.
If this is a time for engagement with China, it is most definitely not a time to abandon our principles and national interests.
-- Clement is the MP for Parry Sound and a Conservative leadership candidate


As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau makes his first official visit to China, reality squares off against his previous notorious comments.


Even when you go sightseeing at 'special sites', there's no guarantee any ocean friends will actually show up. But if they do, everyone's hoping for a jaw-dropping friendly seal pup and whale meet-and-greets like these kayakers on Wildcoast Adventures and Kelp Reef Adventures tours in British Columbia.
After brushing by several adorably curious seal pups, they spot a mom humpback whale and her calf way off in the distance. It's a great show until both dramatically disappear under the water. Just seconds later, these folks find themselves with front row seats in the wildest splash zone ever!

WATCH: Sightseers get a whale of a surprise off B.C. coast


After brushing by several adorably curious seal pups, they spot a mom humpback whale and her calf way off in the distance.


OTTAWA — Veterans Affairs officials are ready to recommend that the federal government give rental subsidies to veterans who are homeless or nearly so in order to combat what they describe as an unacceptable situation in Canada.
A draft of the new federal strategy to combat homelessness among veterans also recommends the government build new affordable housing units specifically for veterans, suggesting Canada doesn’t have enough units to handle the unique needs of former military members who can have addiction and mental health issues related to their service.
The strategy says that what homeless veterans require is access to immediate housing, peer support and outreach to get them off the street, and months or even years of intensive case management with a broad range of services.
The draft strategy, dated Aug. 4 and obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act, says the government has an obligation to help the potentially thousands of veterans who are homeless in Canada.
A final draft of the strategy isn’t expected to be completed and made public until later this year.
The document doesn’t suggest that a veteran will ever go homeless again, but aims to reduce the numbers to a point where “homelessness is rare, brief and non-recurring, and no veteran is forced to live on the street.”
“As a department, we’ve got a mandate for the care, treatment and re-establishment to civilian life of veterans in general, and clearly somebody who is homeless is not successfully re-established in civilian society,” said Tim Kerr, director of the veterans priority programs secretariat at Veterans Affairs Canada, which is heading up work on the strategy.
“Because of that, our minister, and our deputy minister and I and my team believe that we have an obligation to address this issue of veteran homelessness.”
The recommendations, if implemented, would mark a shift in veterans benefits programs that leave no room to provide things like housing subsidies that have been successful in the United States at keeping veterans off the street.
Benefits only flow to Canadian veterans who show a link between their military service and their injury or disease, a difficult task for a veteran who becomes homeless a decade after his or her service, said Jim Lowther, president of Veterans Emergency Transition Services (VETS) Canada, a volunteer-based group that has helped about 1,200 veterans off the streets in the last six years.
Veterans affairs workers can get emergency funds from charitable trusts to help homeless veterans pay for rent or food, but the process can sometimes be lengthy, the document says. Instead, groups like VETS Canada and the Royal Canadian Legion step in to help pay for housing and supports.
“We need housing in every province designated housing for vets. We need transition homes in every province to help them get back on their feet,” Lowther said.
The strategy calls on the government to expand the eligibility criteria for benefits and services to help homeless veterans, give local offices the flexibility to quickly get emergency cash for a veteran in need, and better connect those local offices with local service providers to reach more homeless veterans.
Kerr, who spent 28 years in the navy, said the recommendations are based on years of research and months of work by the departmental task force. The strategy itself is a high-level document with the details of how to implement it to be worked out at a later date, he said.
It’s difficult to get an exact count on the number of veterans who are homeless in Canada.
A federal shelter study estimated about 2,250 veterans use shelters annually, but cautioned the actual number may be much higher. Point-in-time counts of homeless populations in cities show veteran form between five and seven per cent of the homeless population, which would put their number over 11,000.
Many homeless veterans in Canada avoid shelters, unlike their American counterparts, because the shelters lack the structure they were used to in the military, said Cheryl Forchuk, a professor of nursing at Western University in London, Ont.
The document says the average homeless veteran is over age 50, became homeless about 10 years after being released from service, and abuse alcohol or drugs.
There are cases of veterans two or three years out of the military who are homeless with some even sooner than that as they burn through savings while waiting for their military pensions to kick in, Lowther said.
Forchuk said research suggests post-traumatic stress disorder doesn’t appear to be a central factor in them becoming homeless.
The military could reduce the risk of a veteran becoming homeless by identifying early on whether they need help with things like money management, or substance use that left unchecked could manifest into addiction in a decade and push someone onto the street, Forchuk said.
“It’s just a matter of where your eyes are. The trauma issues and the PTSD are the obvious things at the top and they’re doing a relatively good job of at least paying some attention in addressing that, but substance use takes a long time to get really full-fledged, particularly alcoholism,” she said.
The document doesn’t call for the establishment of harm reduction programs where, for example, participants receive small amounts of alcohol at regular intervals to help them manage their addiction. The practice is politically contentious, but has been shown to have positive results.
Kerr said his group is looking into how to harm reduction programs could work in the overall strategy.
BY-THE-NUMBERS
A by-the-numbers look at the state of homelessness among Canadian military veterans:
2,250: Estimated number of veterans who use shelters annually.
639: Homeless veterans registered in Veteran Affairs Canada’s database as of June 30.
232: Homeless veterans in the database who are between age 50 and 59.
138: Homeless veterans in the database who are over age 65.
235,000: Canadians who experience homelessness annually.
5-7: Range, in percentage points, of the homeless population who are veterans, based on municipal point-in-time homeless counts.
12,000: Estimated number of veterans experiencing homelessness in Canada, based on that spread.
40,000: Approximate number of veterans who experience homelessness in the United States annually.
47: Percent by which the United States has decreased veterans homelessness since 2010 using measures being considered by Veterans Affairs Canada.
(Sources: Employment and Social Development Canada, Veterans Affairs Canada, Canadian Observatory on Homelessness)

Give rental subsidies to homeless vets: Veterans Affairs draft report


Veterans Affairs officials are ready to recommend that the federal government give rental subsidies to veterans who are homeless or nearly so in order to combat what they describe as an unacceptable situation in Canada.


TORONTO -
Even now, Pierre-Luc Dubois still gets goosebumps.
It’s been two months since the 18-year-old leapfrogged into the No. 3 spot at the NHL Entry Draft — a surprise no one, not even Dubois, saw coming — and yet just thinking about that fateful day gives the Columbus Blue Jackets forward prospect the shivers.
A similar effect occurred when Dubois was asked to handicap the upcoming Calder Trophy debate. At first, he sort of blushed. Then he spent a second or two searching for the right answer.
For others, it’s a bit more obvious. Most assume the award will come down to Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine, who were the No. 1 and No. 2 picks in the draft. But as someone who already came out of nowhere, Dubois believes the rookie race could get crowded — that is, if he isn’t back playing in junior next season.
“Well, we’ll see,” said Dubois, a 6-foot-3, 212-pound centre. “I think if I’m in Columbus I might have a shot for that. We’ll see. It’s a different level, so it’s new. But if I’m in there, I’ll have a shot.”
The key word was “if.”
With Matthews and Laine, there are no ifs. While nearly 30 prospects had their photos taken for Upper Deck trading cards at the NHLPA Rookie Showcase on Monday, most will probably have to wait another year or two before they’re actually NHL rookies.
Not so with Matthews and Laine. Both players skipped Monday’s event because they are preparing for the upcoming World Cup of Hockey, with Matthews representing Team North America and Laine playing for Finland. As such, both are not only expected to make their respective NHL teams, but could be counted on for significant contributions right out of the gate.
“They’re special players,” said Ottawa Senators defence prospect Thomas Chabot, the 18th overall pick in 2015. “When I played against them it’s like when I played in the prospects game two years ago against (Connor) McDavid. I don’t think they should have any trouble playing in the NHL next year.”
Unlike most rookies, who sometimes struggle with the jump from junior to the pros, Matthews and Laine have already played professionally against grown men. And not just played against, but dominated.
Matthews, who was raised in Arizona, spent last season in the Swiss league, where he scored 24 goals and 46 points in 36 games. Laine, meanwhile, won a Finnish league championship where he was named playoff MVP with 10 goals in 18 games.
Both played in the world championship, with Matthews leading the U.S. in scoring and Laine claiming tournament MVP honours again. Expecting them to continue that success in the NHL shouldn’t be a stretch.
“Obviously they’re both really good players,” said New York Islanders forward prospect Mathew Barzal, who was the 16th overall pick in 2015. “I’m actually pretty good friends with Auston Matthews. I know him pretty well. He’s pretty unreal. Hopefully, I’m a rookie this year and I can be in that conversation. But both guys are exceptional. It should be fun to watch this season.”
That Barzal and Dubois would put themselves in the rookie discussion with Matthews and Laine is not exactly a case of misplaced confidence. As we saw last season, where an undrafted 24-year-old from Russia won the award, anything can happen.
Tyler Myers, who was the 12th overall pick in 2008, beat out John Tavares and Victor Hedman — the top-two picks in 2009 — to win the Calder Trophy in 2010. A year later, seventh-overall pick Jeff Skinner won the award ahead of top picks Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin.
At this time a year ago, most assumed that the Calder Trophy would come down to McDavid and Jack Eichel, who were the No. 1 and No. 2 picks in the draft. But with McDavid missing half the year with injury, Chicago’s Artemi Panarin ended up winning after he finished in the top-10 in overall scoring with 77 points.
A similar result could happen this year, especially if Dubois and fellow top picks such as Edmonton’s Jesse Puljujarvi (fourth overall), Vancouver’s Olli Juolevi (fifth overall) and Calgary’s Matthew Tkachuk (sixth overall) can crack their NHL rosters.
“That’s going to be a tight race,” said Blue Jackets defence prospect Zach Werenski, the eighth-overall pick in 2015. “Both are fantastic players. Even outside guys like Puljujarvi and Dubois can make cases for it. It will be interesting to see.”
It is not just this year’s draft class that Matthews and Laine have to worry about. Whether it is Toronto’s William Nylander (eighth overall, 2014) and Mitch Marner (fourth overall, 2015), Arizona’s Dylan Strome (third overall, 2015) or Colorado’s Mikko Rantanen (10th overall, 2015), the Calder Trophy could be up for grabs.
“Every year there’s someone who surprises, so maybe next year there’s going to be a surprise,” said Dubois. “Maybe it’s going to be Auston, maybe it’s going to be Patrik or Jesse.
“Or me also.”
mtraikos@postmedia.com
twitter.com/Michael_Traikos

Calder Trophy favourites Matthews, Laine will have lots of competition


Even now, Pierre-Luc Dubois still gets goosebumps. It’s been two months since the 18-year-old leapfrogged into the No. 3 spot at the NHL Entry Draft.