NO MAGIC FIX: 'Harry Potter' stars banned from driving
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Watson, 35, who played Hermione Granger, the friend of boy wizard Potter in the hugely popular movie franchise, was banned for driving at 38 miles (61 km) an hour in a 30-mile zone in southeastern Banbury last July.
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Zoe Wanamaker, 76, who played Quidditch teacher Madame Hooch in 'Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone', was banned for six months for her offence.
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The cases were dealt with separately by a lower magistrates' court in the town of High Wycombe.
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Neither of the stars attended the hearings, at which they were each fined £1,044 ($1,400).
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Watson, who was stopped while driving her blue Audi, has been studying at Oxford University. Her lawyer told the court that although she was a student, 'she is in a position to pay the fine'.
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2 hours ago
Is that QR code actually a scam? Here's what to know about 'quishing' before you scan
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Enlarge image (new window) A label with a QR code is tied to an olive tree in Oliete, northeastern Spain, in December 2018. The label reads, 'Adopt an olive tree.' QR codes, which are everywhere these days, can be found in restaurants in place of paper menus, on product packaging, on signposts and on parking meters. Photo: AFP/Getty Images / Jose Jordan As cases of QR code fraud (new window) are starting to pop up, and with some officials warning consumers (new window) to take pause, you may be wondering if it's ever safe to scan those familiar little black and white squares and follow the link. With that in mind, here's what you need to know about QR code scams and how to avoid them. What are QR codes? QR codes, or quick response codes, are a type of bar code that's scannable by digital devices like smartphones through their camera lens. They typically contain information, such as a link to a website. 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Last year, the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (new window) , part of Communications Security Establishment Canada, issued a similar warning in a publication on security considerations for QR codes, saying there's a potential for threat actors to leverage QR codes to infect devices with malware, steal personal information, or conduct phishing scams. The Canadian Banking Association (new window) also warns about potential QR code scams. That said, there haven't been a lot of cases in Canada, although experts say that could change. The CAFC said it's had just 10 reports related to QR code phishing since 2024. CBC News has previously reported on two recent incidents: the parking meters with fraudulent QR codes in Montreal and Ottawa. And last August, the RCMP in Red Deer, Alta., warned residents (new window) of QR code scams, saying in a news release it discovered some recent cases of QR codes that, when scanned, bring the user to a website that contains malware. This malware can obtain your banking information and other sensitive information. In one case, someone had received a package of luxury goods that they had not ordered, the RCMP said, and when they opened the package, there was an attached note directing them to scan the QR code. Enlarge image (new window) The QR code on a package of baby food is shown in this illustration photo taken in California on April 1. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission warned consumers in 2023 that scammers are hiding harmful links in QR codes to steal personal information. Photo: Reuters / Mike Blake Could it get worse? Kwasi Boakye-Boateng, deputy director of research and training with the Cyber Attribution Data Centre, located at the University of New Brunswick's Canadian Institute for Cybersecurity, said he thinks QR code scams are poised to become a major problem. I wouldn't be surprised if it's something that's catching on now. It's because no one is paying attention to it. 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Toronto Sun
4 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
Ex-Liverpool and Manchester United star Ince banned for drink-driving
Former England captain Paul Ince. Photo by PAUL ELLIS / AFP Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page. London (AFP) — Former Liverpool and Manchester United star Paul Ince has been banned from driving for 12 months and ordered to pay £7,085 ($9,524) after a drink-driving offence. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Ince admitted driving his black Range Rover while over the limit on June 28 in Cheshire. The ex-England captain had a reading of 49 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath when he was stopped by police, Chester Magistrates court heard on Friday. Nigel Jones, prosecuting, said: 'On the day in question, the defendant was witnessed by an off-duty police officer driving a vehicle perceived to be swerving across the road.' He said the 57-year-old's car swerved across the central reservation, hitting bollards and causing two tyres to burst. Frank Rogers, defending Ince, said: 'My client finds himself today facing the huge impact of a ban, but he accepts he only has himself to blame for that. 'He misjudged the fact he believed at the time he would be under the limit.' Rogers said Ince had been at Heswall Golf Club and had not eaten before having two drinks in the clubhouse. 'He felt fine to drive, of course we now know that he shouldn't have done,' Rogers said. District Judge Jack McGarva told Ince: 'The message has got to be if you're going to drive you don't drink at all.' Ince, who also played for Inter Milan and West Ham, earned 53 caps for England, winning two Premier League titles among a host of trophies during his six years as a United midfielder. He moved into management after retiring, with his most recent spell in charge at Reading ending in 2023. Toronto & GTA Tennis Toronto & GTA MMA Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto Sun
4 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
U.K. 'princes in the tower' murder probe clears Richard III
Published Jul 18, 2025 • 3 minute read Richard III's body was unearthed in a car park in central England in 2012 Photo by - / University of Leicester/AFP London (AFP) — It is one of history's most intriguing 'murders' — the mysterious disappearance over five centuries ago of two young princes from the Tower of London. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Nearly 200 years after they disappeared, two small skeletons were found in a wooden box at the historic tower and reburied at Westminster Abbey. The remains were believed, but never proved, to be those of the two brothers — heir to the throne Edward, 12, and Richard, nine, the sons of King Edward IV of England, who were reputedly murdered at the behest of their uncle, Richard Duke of Gloucester. William Shakespeare later immortalized him in Richard III as a scheming hunchback who did away with his royal nephews so he could take the crown himself, sealing his reputation as a child killer. Now British author Philippa Langley, who helped unearth Richard's body from a central England carpark in 2012, has claimed that the princes — far from being killed — actually survived. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The elder prince, Edward, was heir to the throne at the time of his disappearance and would have ruled as King Edward V of England. Langley decided to delve into the mystery after coming to believe that the conventional narrative in which Richard had the young princes killed smacked of 'history being written by the victors'. She was finally spurred into action after reading an article about Richard's reburial at Leicester Cathedral in 2015 which questioned whether the nation should honour a 'child killer'. 'I think I'd always realised that the story sort of developed during the reign of the Tudors,' she said, adding that it was then 'repeated and repeated over time' until it became 'truth and fact'. Tudor mud The last English king to die in battle, Richard ruled from 1483 until his brutal death at the Battle of Bosworth near Leicester in 1485, aged 32. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Bosworth was the last major conflict in the Wars of the Roses and changed the course of English history because the Tudor dynasty of Henry VII captured the crown from Richard's Plantagenets. Langley attributes the accepted story that Richard had the boys murdered to King Henry VII, a 'very, very intelligent individual, but suspicious and highly paranoid'. Yeoman Warder Ravenmaster Chris Skaife at the Tower of London, where the young princes were imprisoned. (TOLGA AKMEN/AFP) Photo by TOLGA AKMEN / AFP 'He had a massive spy network working for him. And he was able to completely control the narrative,' she said, adding that Richard ended up 'covered in Tudor mud'. Taking a cold case review approach to the historical 'whodunnit', Langley says she assembled a group of investigative specialists, including police and lawyers, to advise her. 'They said: 'Look, if you haven't got any confirmed, identified bodies, then it has to be a missing persons investigation and you have to follow that methodology'. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'They said: 'You have to actively look for evidence'. That's when it really started to get interesting.' Langley put out an appeal for volunteers to scour archives, only to be inundated with offers of help from people ranging from ordinary citizens to medieval historians. The result was the decade-long Missing Princes Project which she says unearthed a significant amount of information pointing to the survival of both young princes. Survival theory Langley now believes that it is up to Richard's detractors to disprove the survival thesis, which she outlines in the new book 'The Princes in the Tower: Solving History's Greatest Cold Case'. 'The onus is now on them to find the evidence that the boys died. 'They cannot say Richard III murdered the princes in the tower anymore because we found numerous proofs of life everywhere,' she said. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Key to Langley's conviction that both boys survived are documents discovered supporting a rebellion by 'Edward IV's son'. During the rebellion in 1487, Lambert Simnel, a pretender to the throne who came forward after Richard's death, was crowned in Dublin. Langley says there is evidence the princes were not murdered by their uncle, Richard III. (JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP) Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP According to fresh references found by the project, the boy was 'called' or said to be 'a son of King Edward', which she believes points to Simnel being the elder prince, son of Edward IV. The reaction to Langley's research has been mixed. Michael Dobson, director and a professor of Shakespeare studies at the University of Birmingham's Shakespeare Institute, expressed skepticism. 'Given the ways of dynastic monarchy, I think Richard would have been taking a very big risk in leaving those princes alive,' he said. 'The chances of their having accidentally gone missing while incarcerated on his orders in the Tower of London seem pretty remote.' Toronto & GTA Tennis Toronto & GTA MMA Toronto Maple Leafs
