Quebec business leaders say a new law requiring many businesses to use the French language will increase costs and could make it harder to serve customers. Bill 96 obliges companies with more than 25 employees to conduct their business mainly in French and to ensure that other languages are spoken as little as possible in the workplace. The law also requires contracts to be in French, even if both parties would prefer another language. Companies should justify to regulators if they recruit employees who speak a language other than French. Companies that break the law face fines of up to $30,000 (US$22,500).
Hays, Kansas, Police Chief Don Scheibler claims his officers did not ‘raid’ the hospital room of 69-year-old Greg Bretz, who has inoperable cancer, as reported the media in December. Instead, he said, they responded after a hospital worker reported Bretz for vaping marijuana for pain relief. Scheibler wants you to know the cops didn’t arrest Bretz for possession: they just issued a citation. He further wants you to know that the officer then felt bad about the citation and asked that it be revoked. The citation, however, was only revoked after local media reported on the incident.
Shots were fired at Michael Gill’s Milwaukee home in two separate incidents in 2022. Both times he reported the shooting to police. They have not solved these crimes. But Gill received a letter from the Milwaukee County Attorney’s Office saying that if it happens again, the house could be declared a nuisance and Gill fined. After a local television station contacted the district attorney on Gill’s behalf, the station was informed that the letter had been sent in error.
Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, director of March for Life UK, was charged with four counts of breaching a ‘protective public space order’ when she was found praying silently outside an abortion clinic in Birmingham. The city has banned any form of demonstration in front of abortion clinics. Vaughan-Spruce carried no signs or photos.
Agriculture accounts for about half of New Zealand’s exports. The nation is the largest exporter of dairy products in the world. But farmers warn that could change if the government passes a planned tax on their livestock’s “emissions”: burps, farts and dung. Government officials said the tax is part of their plan to cut methane emissions by 10% by 2030 and become carbon neutral by 2050.
Makayla Crandall, a school health technician at Destin Middle School in Florida, was charged with three counts of grand larceny of a controlled substance, five counts of neglect of a child and one count of non – maintenance of narcotics records. Crandall allegedly stole prescription drugs she was supposed to hold and administer to students. In some cases, she replaced the drugs with over-the-counter painkillers.
The French government will ban flights between cities connected by trains if the train journey takes less than two and a half hours. Officials said the move was aimed at increasing train ridership and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The ban is set for three years, but could be extended.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said his government will introduce legislation that will allow the Office of Communications to regulate streaming services such as Netflix and fine them up to £250,000 ($308,000) for breaching a code of conduct. Sunak’s announcement follows the Netflix airing of a documentary about Meghan Markle and Prince Harry that was criticized for its inaccuracies and allegedly misleading editing.