What to know about the Stanley cup craze

Everyone has seen the videos of people — presumably normal, functional members of society — inciting desperate mosh pits in Target or acting up in Starbucks over limited edition Stanley 1913 cups. On social media, Stanley collectors show off shelves of their rainbow-hued, stainless steel treasures or gush over stickers and silicone doohickies … Read more

Ice dancer Sorensen exits Canadian championship

Canadian ice dancing champion Nikolaj Sorensen, who is under investigation for alleged sexual assault, and his skating partner Laurence Fournier Beaudry have withdrawn from this week’s Canadian figure skating championships in Calgary, Alberta. USA Today reported last week that Canada’s Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner is investigating Sorensen over an alleged 2012 … Read more

German software giant SAP fined to resolve U.S. bribery allegations

German software giant SAP will pay more than US$220 million in fines to resolve U.S. bribery allegations involving payments to foreign government officials, the Justice Department said Wednesday. According to court documents cited by the Justice Department, SAP and unnamed co-conspirators provided bribes and other valuable enticements to South African and Indonesian foreign … Read more

Ecuador ‘at war’ with drug gangs

Ecuador President Daniel Noboa said on Wednesday that his country was “at war” with drug gangs who are holding more than 130 prison guards and other staff hostage, amid a dramatic surge in violence that saw gunmen briefly take over a TV live broadcast and explosions in multiple cities. Noboa on Tuesday named 22 gangs … Read more

Nik Nanos: Tracking Canadians’ mood, views on Justin Trudeau’s gov’t

Heading into a new year, Canadians aren’t feeling overly optimistic about the direction the country is heading, with the number of voters indicating negative views about the federal government’s performance at the highest in a decade, national tracking from Nanos Research shows. “Very few Canadians would give the federal government a very good score at … Read more

Twitch layoffs: gaming company to cut 500 jobs

NEW YORK – Video game streaming company Twitch said Wednesday it is laying off 500 workers as part of ongoing cost-cutting efforts. Twitch CEO Dan Clancy confirmed the layoffs in messages to the company’s users and staff, calling it an “incredibly difficult” decision. Wednesday’s announcement comes after Twitch laid off 400 workers in … Read more