In the news today, June 11

Almost 20,000 rapturous Raptors fans cramming a downtown arena and tens of thousands more across Canada watched in disbelief Monday as the home team lost by a single point to the Golden State Warriors in Game 5 of their first NBA Finals. The roars that had echoed through cities and towns across the country dissipated as the Raptors failed to become the first team outside of the United States to win the championship. Outside the arena, thousands wearing ponchos and huddled under umbrellas jammed the Jurassic Park fan zone, bursting throughout the evening into chants of “Let’s Go, Raptors!” But they all went quiet as one final buzzer-beating attempt to steal the game went wide.

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SOCIAL MEDIA FUELLING ONLINE DISTRUST: SURVEY

A new global survey suggests distrust of the internet is being fuelled by growing skepticism of social-media services such as Facebook and Twitter. One in four people who took part in the survey said they didn’t trust the internet, a view increasingly being driven by lack of confidence in social media, governments and search engines. The opinion research involved more than 25,000 internet users in 25 countries in North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region. It was conducted by pollster Ipsos on behalf of the Centre for International Governance Innovation in Waterloo, Ont., in partnership with the Internet Society and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

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INDIGENOUS WOMEN NOT GENOCIDE VICTIMS: SCHEER

“Genocide” isn’t the right word to describe what’s been done to generations of Indigenous women and girls in Canada, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer said Monday. Last week, the federal inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls released its final report, arguing for why Canada’s “series of actions and omissions” allowed Indigenous women to be targeted in ways that add up to an ongoing genocide. Scheer called every death “a tragedy” that has a “huge impact on families and loved ones.” Speaking on Parliament Hill, Scheer said there are concrete actions governments can take to protect vulnerable populations, specifically Indigenous women and girls. After a speech on Monday in Vancouver, the inquiry’s chief commissioner Marion Buller said it’s unfortunate when a political leader rejects a finding of a 30-month national inquiry.

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B.C. DRIVER GETS HEFTY FINE FOR TOSSING LIT CIGARETTE

It’s a hefty fine for a litterbug caught flicking a cigarette butt out his car window. Victoria police Chief Del Manak was driving in his unmarked car Saturday evening when he noticed the driver of a Ford Mustang flick a burning cigarette butt out of his car window. He says the driver had been putting the ashes out of the window before taking one last drag and tossing the butt. Manak says he stopped the 21-year-old driver and handed him a $575 ticket. Human activities such as dropping cigarettes, open burning and the use of engines or vehicles are responsible for about 40 per cent of wildfires in the province, the BC Wildfire Service’s website says. Manak says told the driver that many forest fires are preventable and he needs to be “far more careful.”

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

In the news today, June 11

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