■CANADA
Web legislation unveiled
The government on Thursday unveiled new legislation to allow police to intercept data sent over the Internet and access Web subscriber information in order to fight cyber crimes. “High tech criminals will be met by high tech police,” Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan said. The proposed Technical Assistance for Law Enforcement in the 21st Century Act would require Internet service providers to add interception capabilities in their networks. Providers would also be required to provide basic subscriber information to law enforcement agencies and to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service upon request. However, authorities would still have to obtain a warrant to intercept communications or to access subscriber information.
■MEXICO
First depression forms
The first tropical depression of the Pacific hurricane season has formed off the coast of Mexico. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said the depression was centered about 495km south-southwest of the coastal city of Mazatlan on Thursday night. Maximum sustained winds are near 55kph. Forecasters say the depression could strengthen to a tropical storm before it nears the Mexican coast by today. The depression was moving toward the north-northeast at about 13kph and was expected to turn gradually north-northeast late yesterday. Mexican authorities issued a tropical storm warning for the Islas Marias, a group of islands housing a prison facility about 140km off the Pacific coast, as well as a tropical storm watch for the Pacific coast from Topolobampo south to El Roblito.
■UNITED STATES
Dogs to be put down
Officials at a New Mexico animal shelter say they will put down more than 50 dogs and puppies this week to make room for 12 pit bulls from a dog fighting case. Dona Ana County animal control supervisor Curtis Childress says the pit bulls must be transferred today to the Animal Services Center of the Mesilla Valley because a grant covering their expenses at another site is expiring. The pit bulls were confiscated in August 2007 in southern New Mexico from brothers Daron and Duryea Scott. Allegations of dog fighting and animal abuse against them are pending before the state’s appeals court.
■UNITED STATES
Alcoholic dads affect teens
Teenagers who live with alcoholic fathers, or even dads who drink in moderation, are more likely to have used drugs or had alcoholic drinks themselves in the past year, a study showed on Thursday. Around one in five children aged 12 to 17 whose fathers were teetotalers in the past year had alcoholic beverages themselves, compared with a third of youngsters whose dads drank in moderation, said the study by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Among adolescents whose fathers abused alcohol, nearly four in 10 had drinks in the past year, the study showed.
■UNITED STATES
Woman fined US$1.9m
A court laid down a US$1.9 million fine against a Minnesota woman who illegally downloaded 24 songs from the Internet, CNN reported. The trial against Jammie Thomas-Rasset was the first case in the US for such copyright infringement, CNN quoted her lawyer as saying. The 32-year-old mother of four was shocked by the fine as the price tag for legally downloading the songs would have cost US$0.99 each, and she planned to appeal, her lawyer said.
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