The city's first mayoral debate got off to a rocky start after a controversial candidate stormed the stage and demanded to be included.

The federal government backed off on Friday from its widely panned last-minute plan to force a judge to delay his decision on the '60s Scoop class-action lawsuit.

An extraordinary 11th-hour government attempt to stop a judge from ruling on a bitter eight-year legal fight over the so-called '60s Scoop is under fire from the plaintiffs and observers, who denounced it Wednesday as galling and unprecedented political interference in judicial proceedings.