An Afghan migrant who raped two 14-year-old girls after grooming them over Snapchat and plying them with vodka has been jailed for 14 years.
Sultani Bakatash, 29, targeted one of the girls on the social media app before inviting her and a friend to his flat in Bolton, Greater Manchester on December 6 last year.
He plied them with vodka until they were unconscious, and raped both of them.
There are, as Lenin apparently did not say, decades when nothing happens, and weeks when decades happen. This was one of those weeks: a remarkable series of policy and diplomatic moves that give unmistakable form to what until lately had been mostly rhetorical flourish. The Carney doctrine remains only partly visible, and may only be partly developed, but there’s no denying any more that there is a doctrine.
Eww … this is like reading one of Coyne’s wet dreams.
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, delivered her ‘State of the European Union’ speech in the European Parliament on Wednesday. The now annual tradition is the EU’s attempt to channel the grand spectacle of the US president’s far more consequential State of the Union address.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Mark Carney stood before the European Parliament and said that he welcomed the “ambition” to bring Canada in as an “associate member.” He framed it as a sovereignty-reinforcing move, but seeing how many strings and risks come with EU membership — and how little he’s told the public about his plan — it sounds like a slim prospect.
A publicly owned hospital in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia has fired a pediatric surgeon without notice after she ran unsuccessfully for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in a neighboring state’s local elections.
Dr. Svetlana Spirina, a senior physician in pediatric surgery at Klinikum Lippe in Detmold, appeared on the AfD ticket for Osnabrück’s city council in Lower Saxony’s Sept. 13 vote. While she did not win a seat, the hospital, owned solely by the Lippe district, then dismissed her immediately, the clinic confirmed.
Toronto Const. Timothy Barnhardt was unaware a recording device had been hidden inside his police cruiser as he invited an alleged drug dealer into the passenger seat.
Barnhardt showed the man the computer screen attached to the centre console, where the veteran officer could search confidential databases containing people’s home addresses. Police allege that Barnhardt had been feeding the information gleaned from the searches to criminals, who used it to conduct shootings, robberies and other violent acts.
A couple was flogged 100 times each for adultery under an Indonesian province’s strict Sharia laws.
The caning in Banda Aceh on Thursday was so severe that the woman was seen begging for mercy before collapsing from the pain.
The couple was convicted of adultery and were sentenced to 100 lashes each by the Banda Aceh Sharia Court last month.
As Canada inches closer to becoming an associate member of the European Union, as some of those countries have experienced, this country’s biggest city has its own areas that are unsafe to travel through.
While noticeable in downtown areas near Union Station, they are also found in some neighbourhoods like Danforth Village. A section of the north sidewalk on Danforth Ave., between Main St. and Dawes Rd., has become a “don’t you dare” walk-through area with fencing and security.
A walk through Toronto’s “No Go’ Zone along sidewalk in Danforth Village. This not the pride of Toronto. It’s the shame of Toronto. And the disgrace of Canada. pic.twitter.com/la2bi1vqns
— Joe Warmington (@joe_warmington) September 17, 2026
Thank you Mayor Chow.
Rumours that Xi Jinping fell ill at a major summit and had to be rushed home have circulated widely before his meeting with Donald Trump next week.
The unsubstantiated claims, which appear to have come from critics of the communist regime, follow a purge of military officials in China.
Xi, 73, is often the subject of speculation about his health owing to China’s censorship and lack of independent media, but the latest rumours seem to have taken hold.
Mark Carney received a rapturous reception in the European parliament when he gave his speech on Thursday welcoming a proposal for Canada to become the EU’s first-ever associate member.
Politicians queued to shake his hand and take selfies. One described the speech as a historic moment. “Europe has extended a hand, and Canada has taken it,” said the German Green MEP Terry Reintke, who borrowed a Canadian ice hockey shirt for the occasion.
Mark Carney – Is This A Meme? 🤣🤪🤣 pic.twitter.com/XKr0IyvAon
— Keith Sharp 🇺🇸 (@KMSharp72) September 16, 2026
TORONTO — European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen offered Canada a brand-new title — the EU’s first “associate member” — without first running it past the 27 capitals that would have to approve any real deal, and Brussels is now walking the phrase back while U.S. President Donald Trump treats it as another front in the trade war.
The best video on the internet today pic.twitter.com/34fUU0XJBz
— Kat (@Katmaryb) September 16, 2026
public interest law firm filed a lawsuit today against the city of Dearborn, Michigan, for allegedly establishing Islam as a religion in violation of the U.S. Constitution and civil rights laws. The American Freedom Law Center is pursuing the suit on behalf of Dearborn resident and Federalist Senior Legal Correspondent Margot Cleveland.
