CANADA

These pictures show the inside of a taxi after a would-be suicide bomber detonated an explosive device, injuring himself and the driver before police shot him.

Aaron Driver, 24, a Canadian man previously banned from associating with ISIS extremists, had prepared a martyrdom video and was on the verge of committing a terror attack in a major city, authorities said.

But a tip from the FBI triggered a 'race against time' as police scrambled to identify and locate the balaclava-wearing man in the video and stop the atrocity.

Driver was killed in southern Ontario after he detonated his device inside a taxi and was shot at by officers, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said.

Police said they were tipped off by the American authorities at 8.30am on Wednesday.

The FBI provided a screen shot and later a video of the masked suspect threatening a terror attack.

After being tipped off by the FBI, Canadian police furiously worked to find out who it was.

http://goo.gl/6S8ndU

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BRADFORD

A WIDOW was raped by a Facebook friend who brought her flowers, a jury heard.

Taxi driver Mohammad Ranjah, 45, messaged the woman asking how big her breasts were before attacking her at her flat in Bradford, the prosecution has alleged.

Ranjah pleads not guilty to rape on September 30, 2014.

The woman told Bradford Crown Court today he forced himself on her, although she repeatedly said ‘no’ and pushed him away.

She said she was shaking and crying afterwards.

Ranjah told the court he was looking for a new girlfriend on Facebook and the woman invited him round to her home.

She made sexual advances to him, he claimed.

Ranjah, of Thrum Hall Drive, Halifax, said he gave her £30 before they had consensual sex and she asked to borrow £100 afterwards, but he refused.

She was happy and laughing and kissing and cuddling him, he told the jury.

The trial continues.

http://goo.gl/Z1rEEZ

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RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Taxi drivers in Rio de Janeiro are planning a demonstration on Friday morning in the immediate vicinity of the Olympic Park to protest the use of ride-sharing program Uber.

The U.S. Consulate General's office sent a message to U.S. citizens in Brazil on Thursday, based on information they received from organizers of the planned strike. Those organizers say they're planning to close avenues around the Olympic Park, and doing so at rush hour could snarl traffic.

The message says "such an event would affect transport for visitors to venues in the Olympic Park."

There was no immediate comment from local organizers about whether they were concerned about the planned strike.

Uber has been the target of scorn from taxi drivers around the world, including demonstrations in Paris, New York, Chicago and Mexico City.

http://goo.gl/L0qqTE

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USA

A legal battle to rid Freedom Taxi of one of its owners is hitting the cab company and its drivers hard, as "New York Taxi King" Evegeny "Gene" Freidman allegedly diverted more than $1.6 million meant for the Philly-based company's coffers and its employees' paychecks into his own accounts, according to a lawsuit filed in Philadelphia.

Everett Abitbol splits ownership of Freedom Taxi – distinguished by its maroon and light blue colored vehicles – with Freidman, who is accused of misappropriating the funds from the shared company as his cab operations faced financial trouble in New York.

In a civil lawsuit filed in the Philadelphia Court of Common Please, an attorney for Abitbol says Freidman created "ghost driver" accounts with the credit card processing company that provides payroll cards, essentially prepaid debit cards, to those drivers who opt to receive their paychecks this way.

Freidman allegedly created the "ghost driver" accounts in his own name, and the names of his mother, father, son and girlfriend, as well as other key employees. Abitbol even discovered a fake debit card account had been created in his own name which he cancelled before it was put to use, the lawsuit said.

Funds collected by actual drivers throughout their shift was then "siphoned away from Freedom Taxi and into debit cards used for unrelated purposes," court records show.

If true, the allegations not only mean Freidman pilfered his own company, he also took money out of the hands of drivers.

"He's a spoiled, arrogant soul," said Ronald Blount, the president of the Taxi Workers Alliance of Pennsylvania.

While drivers are able to keep whatever cash fares collected, minus the lease fee owed to Freedom, payments made with credit cards are reconciled at the end of their shift.

Blount said around 100 drivers have reported issues receiving full pay for their work.

Abitbol put the figure at 90, saying at least that many of Freedom's 200 cabs had their credit card machines' accounts switched so the funds didn't end up on the actual drivers' payroll card, but in Freidman's "ghost" accounts.

"The fact that there are drivers out there missing money, that's what bothers me," said Abitbol, who said he had to take the 90 cabs out of service but expects to have the full fleet operational within the next few months.

"I'm the son of a taxi driver," Abitbol continued. "My main objective is getting these drivers their money."

He filed the lawsuit in April to rid the company of co-owner Freidman, and turn ownership completely over to an entity solely connected to Abibtol.

The lawsuit also accuses Freidman of moving funds out of Freedom's bank accounts and into the accounts of the New York businessman's other entities, causing the local taxi company to bounce checks and forcing Abitbol to cover payroll with his personal money. Further claims include the misappropriation of at least $500,000 in advertising sales and forging Abitbol's name on official documents related to Freidman's other cab businesses, which exposes Freedom to those companies' financial risks.

Attempts were made to reach Freidman by phone and email, and none were returned. An attorney representing Freidman withdrew from the case Monday; he did not return phone calls requesting comment. No other lawyer for the defendant was listed in court documents.

An independent monitor is already watching the New York business dealings of Freidman, who owns more than 800 medallions for cabs in the Big Apple.

The New York Attorney General ordered the monitor after the taxi mogul failed to make good on a 2013 lawsuit involving money owed to drivers in that state.

No decision has been made on the Philadelphia case, which is currently deferred.

"I think everyone is awaiting the day of justice," Abibtol said.

http://goo.gl/VUOEvX

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