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Journalist says claims that he is a Russian agent are ‘fabricated’

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OTTAWA – A veteran Ottawa journalist is firing back against what he says are “entirely false” claims by a former Conservative cabinet minister that he acted as a Russian agent.

David Pugliese, a reporter with the Ottawa Citizen, said in a statement posted to X Friday that the claims Chris Alexander made at a House of Commons committee are ridiculous and put his family in danger.

“His statements are entirely false and merely highlight another tactic in the ongoing attacks on Canadian journalism,” Pugliese wrote.

At a public safety and national security committee meeting Thursday, Alexander claimed Pugliese was recruited by Russia because of his role as a journalist. He provided documents to the committee about the claims.

Alexander was an immigration minister in Stephen Harper’s Conservative government and a former Canadian ambassador to Afghanistan.

He also mentioned several subjects Pugliese has recently written about, including alleged Nazi war criminals in Canada and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s grandfather’s Nazi ties.

“These are themes that Moscow would be delighted to promote,” he told MPs.

Postmedia, which owns the Ottawa Citizen, rejected Alexander’s claims in a statement Friday and said it stands firmly behind Pugliese.

“Yesterday, a witness before Parliamentary committee made ridiculous and baseless accusations against David, and suggested his work was compromised by a foreign entity,” the company said.

“At no point have we ever doubted David’s work or integrity, nor have we ever been approached by any intelligence entity concerning David or his work.”

Reached by phone on Friday, Alexander said he stands by the comments he made at the committee and the documents presented to them.

The documents, obtained by The Canadian Press, are described on the cover page as being from the Archives of the State Security Committee in Kyiv, Ukraine, and are dated 1984 through 1990. The translated versions of the documents name Pugliese but largely refer to him as “Stuart,” saying the KGB saw him as a potential asset and sought for one of their agents, “Ivan,” to build a relationship with him.

Alexander told the committee the documents are “evidence of a serious effort to undermine Canada’s national security and collective self-defence,” adding they were authenticated by several experts, and he believes they were shared with the Department of National Defence and Canadian Security Intelligence Service. He said he has been aware of the documents “for many months.”

In an interview, Pugliese said the documents given to the committee are the same ones involved in an ongoing civil lawsuit over reporting he did about allegedly faulty equipment sent to Ukraine.

He said he has no way of knowing whether the documents are real, but that “the claims that I am some kind of Russian agent … that’s fabricated, that’s false.”

He said some specific details in the documents are incorrect. For example, one document dated 1984 describes Pugliese as a journalist in Ottawa, but Pugliese said he did not live in Ottawa that year.

Pugliese said he received no notice from committee that these documents were going to be brought up at Thursday’s meeting nor that Alexander would be speaking about them. He said he has asked the committee to allow him to appear to defend himself but had not received a response as of late Friday afternoon.

The Canadian Association of Journalists denounced the accusations in a statement, saying the claims are dangerous and designed to undermine journalists’ credibility.

“It’s a sad irony these comments were made in a meeting examining disinformation campaigns,” the organization said.

Pugliese said in his statement that Alexander’s claims would be considered libel if they hadn’t been said at a parliamentary committee. Testimony at committees is protected by parliamentary privilege.

“I understand the articles I have written … are upsetting to those in and outside government,” he said.

“However, these articles are accurate. I am proud of my 40 years of journalism. This is what journalism is supposed to be about; publishing things the powerful do not want to see in public.”

Pugliese also said he was disappointed that NDP MP Peter Julian and Conservative MP James Bezan did not push back at Alexander’s claims.

In the meeting, Bezan questioned Alexander on his allegations about Pugliese, calling the documents “disturbing.”

Julian called Alexander’s testimony “stunning” and “explosive.” He asked whether other journalists in Canada could be similarly compromised, and Alexander said yes.

Julian did not respond to a request for comment.

Bezan said in an emailed statement that his knowledge of the allegations is limited to Alexander’s testimony and the documents he provided. He said he questioned the witness but did not make any allegations himself.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 25, 2024.



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Voters back Nebraska’s ban on abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy and reject a competing measure

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OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska voters supported a measure Tuesday that enshrines the state’s current ban on abortions after the 12th week of pregnancy in the state constitution, and they rejected a competing measure that sought to expand abortion rights. Nebraska was the first state to have competing abortion amendments on the same ballot since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, ending the nationwide right to abortion and allowing states to decide for themselves. The dueling measures were among a record number of petition-initiated measures on Nebraska’s ballot Tuesday.

What were the competing abortion measures?

A majority of voters supported a measure enshrining the state’s current ban on abortion after the first 12 weeks of pregnancy in the state constitution. The measure will also allow for further restrictions. Last year, the Legislature passed the 12-week ban, which includes exceptions for cases of rape and incest and to protect the life of the pregnant woman.

Voters rejected the other abortion measure. If they had passed it by a larger number of “for” votes than the 12-week measure, it would have amended the constitution to guarantee the right to have an abortion until viability — the standard under Roe that is the point at which a fetus might survive outside the womb. Some babies can survive with medical help after 21 weeks of gestation.

Abortion was on the ballot in several other states, as well. Coming into the election, voters in all seven states that had decided on abortion-related ballot measures since the reversal of Roe had favored abortion rights, including in some conservative states.

Who is behind the Nebraska abortion measures?

The 12-week ban measure was bankrolled by some of Nebraska’s wealthiest people, including Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts, who previously served as governor and donated more than $1.1 million. His mother, Marlene Ricketts, gave $4 million to the cause. Members of the Peed family, which owns publishing company Sandhills Global, also gave $1 million.

The effort was organized under the name Protect Women and Children and was heavily backed by religious organizations, including the Nebraska Catholic Conference, a lobbying group that has organized rallies, phone banks and community townhalls to drum up support for the measure.

The effort to enshrine viability as the standard was called Protect Our Rights Nebraska and had the backing of several medical, advocacy and social justice groups. Planned Parenthood donated nearly $1 million to the cause, with the American Civil Liberties Union, I Be Black Girl, Nebraska Appleseed and the Women’s Fund of Omaha also contributing significantly to the roughly $3.7 million raised by Protect Our Rights.

What other initiatives were on Nebraska’s ballot?

Nebraska voters approved two measures Tuesday that will create a system for the use and manufacture of medical marijuana, if the measures survive an ongoing legal challenge.

The measures legalize the possession and use of medical marijuana, and allow for the manufacture, distribution and delivery of the drug. One would let patients and caregivers possess up to 5 ounces (142 grams) of marijuana if recommended by a doctor. The other would create the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission, which would oversee the private groups that would manufacture and dispense the drug.

Those initiatives were challenged over allegations that the petition campaign that put them on the ballot broke election rules. Nebraska’s attorney general said supporters of the measures may have submitted several thousand invalid signatures, and one man has been charged in connection with 164 allegedly fraudulent signatures. That means a judge could still invalidate the measures.

Voters also opted Tuesday to repeal a new conservative-backed law that allocates millions of dollars in taxpayer money to fund private school tuition.

Finally, they approved a measure that will require all Nebraska employers to provide at least 40 hours of paid sick leave to their employees.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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Abortion rights advocates win in 7 states and clear way to overturn Missouri ban but lose in 3

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Voters in Missouri cleared the way to undo one of the nation’s most restrictive abortion bans in one of seven victories for abortion rights advocates, while Florida, Nebraska and South Dakota defeated similar constitutional amendments, leaving bans in place.

Abortion rights amendments also passed in Arizona, Colorado, Maryland and Montana. Nevada voters also approved an amendment, but they’ll need to pass it again it 2026 for it to take effect. Another that bans discrimination on the basis of “pregnancy outcomes” prevailed in New York.

The results include firsts for the abortion landscape, which underwent a seismic shift in 2022 when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a ruling that ended a nationwide right to abortion and cleared the way for bans to take effect in most Republican-controlled states.

They also came in the same election that Republican Donald Trump won the presidency. Among his inconsistent positions on abortion has been an insistence that it’s an issue best left to the states. Still, the president can have a major impact on abortion policy through executive action.

In the meantime, Missouri is positioned to be the first state where a vote will undo a ban on abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with an amendment that would allow lawmakers to restrict abortions only past the point of a fetus’ viability — usually considered after 21 weeks, although there’s no exact defined time frame.

But the ban, and other restrictive laws, are not automatically repealed. Advocates now have to ask courts to overturn laws to square with the new amendment.

“Today, Missourians made history and sent a clear message: decisions around pregnancy, including abortion, birth control, and miscarriage care are personal and private and should be left up to patients and their families, not politicians,” Rachel Sweet, campaign manager of Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, said in a statement.

Roughly half of Missouri’s voters said abortion should be legal in all or most cases, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 2,200 of the state’s voters. But only about 1 in 10 said abortion should be illegal in all cases; nearly 4 in 10 said abortion should be illegal in most cases.

Bans remain in place in three states after votes

Florida, Nebraska and South Dakota became the first states since Roe was overturned where abortion opponents prevailed on a ballot measure. Most voters supported the Florida measure, but it fell short of the required 60% to pass constitutional amendments in the state. Most states require a simple majority.

The result was a political win for Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican with a national profile, who had steered state GOP funds to the cause. His administration has weighed in, too, with a campaign against the measure, investigators questioning people who signed petitions to add it to the ballot and threats to TV stations that aired one commercial supporting it.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the national anti-abortion group SBA Pro-Life America, said in a statement that the result is “a momentous victory for life in Florida and for our entire country,” praising DeSantis for leading the charge against the measure.

The defeat makes permanent a shift in the Southern abortion landscape that began when the state’s six-week ban took effect in May. That removed Florida as a destination for abortion for many women from nearby states with deeper bans and also led to far more women from the state traveling to obtain abortion. The nearest states with looser restrictions are North Carolina and Virginia — hundreds of miles away.

“The reality is because of Florida’s constitution a minority of Florida voters have decided Amendment 4 will not be adopted,” said Lauren Brenzel, campaign director for the Yes on 4 Campaign said while wiping away tears. “The reality is a majority of Floridians just voted to end Florida’s abortion ban.”

In South Dakota, another state with a ban on abortion throughout pregnancy with some exceptions, the defeat of an abortion measure was more decisive. It would have allowed some regulations related to the health of the woman after 12 weeks. Because of that wrinkle, most national abortion-rights groups did not support it.

Voters in Nebraska adopted a measure that allows more abortion restrictions and enshrines the state’s current 12-week ban and rejected a competing measure that would have ensured abortion rights.

Other states guaranteed abortion rights

Arizona’s amendment will mean replacing the current law that bans abortion after the first 15 weeks of pregnancy. The new measure ensures abortion access until viability. A ballot measure there gained momentum after a state Supreme Court ruling in April found that the state could enforce a strict abortion ban adopted in 1864. Some GOP lawmakers joined with Democrats to repeal the law before it could be enforced.

In Maryland, the abortion rights amendment is a legal change that won’t make an immediate difference to abortion access in a state that already allows it.

It’s a similar situation in Montana, where abortion is already legal until viability.

The Colorado measure exceeded the 55% of support required to pass. Besides enshrining access, it also undoes an earlier amendment that barred using state and local government funding for abortion, opening the possibility of state Medicaid and government employee insurance plans covering care.

A New York equal rights law that abortion rights group say will bolster abortion rights also passed. It doesn’t contain the word “abortion” but rather bans discrimination on the basis of “pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy.” Sasha Ahuja, campaign director of New Yorkers for Equal Rights, called the result “a monumental victory for all New Yorkers” and a vote against opponents who she says used misleading parental rights and anti-trans messages to thwart the measure.

The results end a win streak for abortion-rights advocates

Until Tuesday, abortion rights advocates had prevailed on all seven measures that have appeared on statewide ballots since the fall of Roe.

The abortion rights campaigns have a big fundraising advantage this year. Their opponents’ efforts are focused on portraying the amendments as too extreme rather than abortion as immoral.

Currently, 13 states are enforcing bans at all stages of pregnancy, with some exceptions. Four more bar abortion in most cases after about six weeks of pregnancy — before women often realize they’re pregnant. Despite the bans, the number of monthly abortions in the U.S. has risen slightly, because of the growing use of abortion pills and organized efforts to help women travel for abortion. Still, advocates say the bans have reduced access, especially for lower-income and minority residents of the states with bans.

The issue is resonating with voters. About one-fourth said abortion policy was the single most important factor for their vote, according to AP VoteCast, a sweeping survey of more than 110,000 voters nationwide. Close to half said it was an important factor, but not the most important. Just over 1 in 10 said it was a minor factor.

The outcomes of ballot initiatives that sought to overturn strict abortion bans in Florida and Missouri were very important to a majority of voters in the states. More than half of Florida voters identified the result of the amendment as very important, while roughly 6 in 10 of Missouri’s voters said the same, the survey found.

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Associated Press reporters Hannah Fingerhut and Amanda Seitz contributed to this article.

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This article has been corrected to reflect in the ‘other states’ section that Montana, not Missouri, currently allows abortion until viability.



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South Korea fights deepfake porn with tougher punishment and regulation

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SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea on Wednesday announced a package of steps to curb a surge in deepfake porn, saying it will toughen punishment for offenders, expand the use of undercover officers and impose greater regulations on social media platforms.

Concerns about nonconsensual explicit video contents that were digitally manipulated deepened in South Korea after unconfirmed lists of schools with victims spread online in August. Terrified, many girls and women removed photos and videos from Instagram, Facebook and other social media accounts, while others held rallies calling for stronger steps against deepfake porn.

President Yoon Suk Yeol quickly confirmed the rapid spread of explicit deepfake contents and ordered officials to “root out these digital sexual crimes.” Police are now on a seven-month special crackdown that is to continue until March 2025.

A task force said in a statement that the government has been working with lawmakers on revising laws to increase punishment for perpetrators involved in deepfake porn-related crimes.

It cited a recently amended law that for the first time makes acts of watching or possessing deepfake porn illegal and punishable with up to three years in prison. The maximum punishment for those who produce or distribute deepfake porn contents was increased from five to seven years in prison.

Police have so far detained 506 suspects this year, 411 of them aged between 10 and 19.

The task force said it’ll push for undercover online investigations, even in cases when victims are adults. The law currently authorizes such methods only when victims are minors. The government also plans another revision that would allow authorities to confiscate profits made through deepfake porn businesses.

The task force said it will push to impose a fine on social media platforms more aggressively when they fail to prevent the spread of deepfake and other illegal contents. It said South Korea will plan to increase monitors on social media platforms to 26, from the current 12.

The task force will also expand mandatory educational programs on digital sex crimes at schools, and produce related public awareness videos with celebrities popular with teens and young people in their 20s.

Most suspected perpetrators in deepfake porn cases in South Korea are teenage boys. Observers say the boys target female friends, relatives and acquaintances — also mostly minors — as a prank, out of curiosity or misogyny.

The deepfake porn issue in South Korea has raised serious questions about school programs but also threatened to worsen an already troubled divide between men and women.

The prevalence of deepfake porn in the country has been attributed to a mix of factors, experts say, including heavy use of smartphones, an absence of comprehensive sex and human rights education in schools, inadequate social media regulations for minors, and also misogyny and social norms that sexually objectify women.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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