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Biden issues order setting path for sanctions in Sudan

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:22:51 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Thursday setting the path to sanction individuals involved in the recent violence in Sudan that’s left hundreds dead and thrown the African nation into chaos.Biden said in a statement that his order will “hold individuals responsible for threatening the peace, security, and stability of Sudan; undermining Sudan’s democratic transition; using violence against civilians; or committing serious human rights abuses.”The Democratic president said the violence taking place in Sudan is “a tragedy — and it is a betrayal of the Sudanese people’s clear demand for civilian government and a transition to democracy.” “I join the peace-loving people of Sudan and leaders around the world in calling for a durable ceasefire between the belligerent parties,” Biden said. Sudan’s fighting broke out April 15 between two commanders who just 18 months earlier jointly orchestrated a military coup to derail the nation’s transition...

Goddaughter of King Charles shares insider’s experience of the new monarch

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:22:51 GMT

The UK and the Commonwealth are preparing to welcome a new king, Charles III, who its citizens have watched since his birth. The trials and tribulations of his life have played out in the public eye, but still, there’s a side only the family knows.India Hicks has been connected to Charles for her entire life. As a descendant of the Mountbatten family, her grandfather Lord Mountbatten was the uncle of the Prince Phillip, last Viceroy in India, and was involved in the upbringing of King Charles.Earl Louis Mountbatten, great uncle of Prince Charles, who was especially close and confided in him. Here they are in conversation about their common passion for polo. THE CANADIAN PRESS King Charles was also her godfather. The 55-year-old is now an entrepreneur, author and designer. Hicks sat down with Lisa LaFlamme to reflect on what he was truly like behind the spotlight.“He’s always been there. The day I was christened, he was there holding me, through to confirmation...

Fox opposes fellow journalists trying to uncover documents

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:22:51 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Fox News is opposing a renewed effort by three news organizations to unseal documents related to its recently settled defamation lawsuit, saying it would do nothing but “gratify private spite or promote public scandal.”The Associated Press, The New York Times and National Public Radio asked a Delaware judge earlier this week to reveal mostly private text messages and conversations between Fox employees shortly after the 2020 presidential election that were uncovered during the Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit.Fox lawyer Katharine L. Mowery, in a letter sent late Wednesday to Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis, said much of the material its competitors sought wasn’t relevant to the issues of the lawsuit. She said the media has no right to access such records.Many of the already-uncovered conversations have proven newsworthy, showing that Fox hosts and executives didn’t believe the false allegations about Dominion’s voting equipment but still con...

Trump calls accuser a ‘nut job’ in recording played for jury

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:22:51 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Jurors heard former President Donald Trump blast a woman who accused him of rape as a “nut job” and “mentally sick” in a video recording that was shown Thursday during the trial of her federal lawsuit.A transcript of Trump’s remarks about accuser E. Jean Carroll emerged in court filings before the trial. But the deposition played in the courtroom allowed jurors to hear Trump speak about the case in his own voice. Other sections of the recording were shown in court Wednesday.Thursday’s portions also included Trump standing by his repeated prior comment that Carroll was “not my type” and his defense — as “locker room talk” — of his notorious boasts on a 2005 “Access Hollywood” hot-mic recording about grabbing women’s genitals.Carroll, a 79-year-old writer, alleges that Trump raped her in an upscale New York department store dressing room on an unspecified date in spring 1996.According to Carroll, they ran into each other, got into lighthearted banter ...

New York, California probing workplace discrimination at NFL

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:22:51 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The attorneys general of New York and California announced Thursday that they are investigating allegations of workplace discrimination at the NFL, citing lawsuits filed by employees that describe sex, racial and age bias, sexual harassment, and a hostile work environment.Attorneys General Letitia James, of New York, and Rob Bonta, of California, said they have issued subpoenas to NFL executives as part of an examination into the workplace culture at the the league’s corporate offices in both states. The officials, both Democrats, said they are exercising their legal authority to seek information from the NFL regarding allegations of gender pay disparities, harassment, and gender and racial discrimination.The investigation focuses on the league’s corporate offices, not specific teams or players.“No person should ever have to endure harassment, discrimination, or objectification in the workplace,” James said in a statement. Bonta said he and James have “se...

S&P/TSX composite down in late-morning trading even as Shopify shares rise

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:22:51 GMT

TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index edged lower in late-morning trading as losses led by the financial and industrial sectors outweighed strength in shares of Shopify Inc. after the e-commerce company announced it was cutting staff and selling its logistics business.The S&P/TSX composite index was down 2.41 points at 20,352.27.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 306.70 points at 33,107.54. The S&P 500 index was down 25.53 points at 4,065.22, while the Nasdaq composite was down 41.05 points at 11,984.28.The Canadian dollar traded for 73.63 cents US compared with 73.44 cents US on Wednesday.The June crude contract was down 23 cents at US$68.37 per barrel and the June natural gas contract was down seven cents at US$2.10 per mmBTU.The June gold contract was up US$24.50 at US$2,061.50 an ounce and the July copper contract was up less than a penny at US$3.85 a pound.This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 4, 2023.Companies in this story: ...

‘Excruciating delays’ at Ontario’s Landlord and Tenant Board: Ombudsman

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:22:51 GMT

Ontario’s ombudsman says a backlog of cases at the Landlord and Tenant Board has grown to 38,000 and it is taking an average of seven or eight months – sometimes up to two years – for a hearing to be scheduled.The findings are part of a large report Thursday from the ombudsman, who has issued 61 recommendations aimed at improving the functioning of the board and what he calls the excruciating delays.Ombudsman Paul Dube says that when the pandemic hit, the backlog was already at 20,000 applications, and the subsequent move to virtual hearings and a moratorium on evictions impeded the board’s efforts to chip away at the backlog.He says the backlog means tens of thousands of Ontarians are being denied timely access to justice, with some tenants stuck in unsafe living conditions and some small landlords coping with tenant abuse and facing financial ruin.The ombudsman says part of the problem is a shortage of adjudicators compounded by a cumbersome appointment and...

Glenbard West H.S. student charged after bomb threat

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:22:51 GMT

GLEN ELLYN, Ill. — A Glenbard West High School student was taken into custody following a bomb threat made at the school.Police said the Glen Ellyn Police Department received information of the threat at the high school located at 670 Crescent Blvd around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday. The buildings were evacuated and a search was conducted. No threats were found and the campus was reopened around 2 p.m.This was the second bomb threat made at the school in less than two weeks.According to police, a suspect was identified and taken into custody later Wednesday evening. ‘All clear’ given at twice evacuated Glenbard West High School after bomb threat The person, identified as a 17-year-old student at Glenbard West High School, was charged with two counts of felony and disorderly conduct and was transported to the Kane County Juvenile Detention Center. The other bomb threat, made on April 27, 2023, remains under investigation. Anyone with information regarding these two events is asked to cont...

South Shore high-rise apartment building catches fire

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:22:51 GMT

CHICAGO — A high-rise apartment building caught fire in the city's South Shore neighborhood Thursday morning. According to the Chicago Fire Department, the high-rise apartment near the 6700 block of South Shore Drive caught fire on the 10th floor. Girl charged as adult in high-speed police chase with man on hood of car The fire department reported that there were no injuries reported and that the fire is out. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Cause of Pennsylvania chocolate factory explosion revealed in NTSB report

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:22:51 GMT

WEST READING, Pa. (WHTM) – The National Transportation Safety Board has released a preliminary report concerning the deadly chocolate factory explosion that occurred in West Reading, Pennsylvania.The board's preliminary reports indicate that natural gas fueled the March 24 explosion and fire at the R.M. Palmer Co. factory — something investigators suspected from the beginning.The report added, however, that there was no reported spike in gas usage or any work being done on the gas mains prior to the explosion. The "source" of the explosion is still under investigation, the NTSB said.Interviews conducted with employees after the accident revealed that workers in two of the factory's buildings noticed unpleasant odors on the afternoon of the incident, just before the blast. Those working in one building — identified by the NTSB as Building 2 — were sanitizing equipment when they detected an odor of natural gas. Those in Building 1 reported detecting a similar sulfuric smell."The emplo...