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La Jolla Children's Pool set to close this week for seal pupping season

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:42:44 GMT

SAN DIEGO — The time has come: La Jolla Children's Pool will be sealed off for the season later this week.Starting on Friday, the popular beach will be closed to the public for the annual harbor seal pupping season, which is the period when the pinnipeds give birth. The shore will be reopened when pupping season ends on May 16.Keeping beachgoers at a distance from the seals during this five month period helps give the seals that live along the beach a safe place to birth and nurse new pups after carrying them for about nine to 11 months.In the 2024 pupping season, advocates expect as many as 50 to 60 harbor seal babies to be born on the shores of Children's Pool beach. Once a pup is born, it will be nursed for about four to six weeks both on land and in the water.Visitors will still be able to walk on the sidewalk and seawall — should conditions allow — near the Children's Pool while the shore is roped off. Divers and swimmers will not be able to access the water from this beach dur...

A Chicago train operator knew snow equipment was on the line but braked immediately, review finds

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:42:44 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — The operator of a Chicago commuter train that collided with snow-removal equipment last month knew the machine would be on the line that day but wasn’t aware of its exact location, according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board released Tuesday. The federal review found the operator immediately braked once the equipment came into view. Investigators said they are focused on the design of the CTA signal system, the braking performance of the railcars involved in the accident, and whether leaf debris or other contaminants on the rails played a role in the accident. The Nov. 16 crash caused the Chicago Transit Authority, or CTA, Yellow Line train to derail. Six CTA employees were on board the rail equipment. Sixteen people were taken to a hospital, treated and released, and three were critically injured. No one died.According to the report, the train was traveling south at about 54 mph (87 kilometers per hour) when the operator rece...

Don’t call it insurance: What dentists want you to know about the federal dental plan

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:42:44 GMT

OTTAWA — The federal government has announced enrolment details for a new federal dental plan that resembles typical insurance coverage, down to the benefits card patients show at the dentists’ office. But dentists say the new government program isn’t the same as the insurance people typically get from employers, and patients should be clear about the differences. British Columbia Dental Association president Dr. Robert Wolanski says the government plan is more of a social program than a typical insurance program.The government’s benefits plan is modelled closely on the federal health benefits program for registered First Nations and Inuit people.Wolanski says that program has some distinct differences from an employer insurance program in terms of the eligibility criterial and the administrative burden for oral health-care providers. The dentist from Nanaimo, B.C., says it’s not clear yet exactly how patients’ experiences will differ when they arrive a...

After record year, unreliable weather pushes maple syrup production to five-year low

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:42:44 GMT

OTTAWA — New figures from Statistics Canada show maple syrup production hit a five-year low in Canada this year, a trend the agency blames on severe storms and changing temperatures.The numbers show Canadian maple producers harvested 47.4 million litres of syrup in 2023, down 40.1 per cent from 79.1 million litres the year before.Production in 2022 was the highest recorded since the agency began tracking maple syrup statistics in 1924.Production from Quebec, the country’s top supplier, was down by 41 per cent to 42.7 million litres, mostly due to an ice storm in late spring that resulted in lower yields.New Brunswick’s maple production dropped by 35 per cent and Ontario by 15 per cent, yielding a combined 4.7 million litres between themStatistics Canada says the drops were partly driven by cold temperatures in Ontario and bad weather in New Brunswick.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 12, 2023.The Canadian Press

Trudeau seeks ‘sustainable ceasefire’ in Gaza alongside Australia, New Zealand PMs

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:42:44 GMT

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Israel and Hamas must work toward “a sustainable ceasefire,” starting with another pause in hostilities.The comment comes in a joint statement with Trudeau’s Australian and New Zealand counterparts, hours ahead of a United Nations vote on whether to call for a ceasefire in the Middle East.The statement calls for Hamas to release the hostages from its “heinous” Oct. 7 attack on Israel, and notes the group is responsible for sexual violence and “using Palestinian civilians as human shields.”The leaders are also calling for “safe and unimpeded humanitarian access” to the Gaza Strip and for Israel to stop its siege of the territory.The statement says Hamas cannot be allowed to govern Gaza, while adding that Israel cannot reoccupy the territory nor displace Palestinians.The leaders also want another multi-day truce like one last month that allowed the flow of humanitarian aid and the release...

Epic wins its antitrust lawsuit against the Play Store. What does this verdict mean for Google?

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:42:44 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google lost an antitrust lawsuit over barriers to its Android app store, as a federal court jury has decided that the company’s payments system was anticompetitive and damaged smartphone consumers and software developers.It’s a blow to a major pillar of Google’s technology empire. But it’s a win for Epic Games, the maker of the popular Fortnite video game that brought the lawsuit — and, analysts say, for the broader game developer community.Below are some questions and answers about what the verdict means.DIDN’T APPLE WIN A SIMILAR CASE? Indeed, Apple prevailed in a similar case that Epic brought against the iPhone app store. But that 2021 trial was decided by a federal judge in a ruling that is currently under appeal at the U.S. Supreme Court.The nine-person jury in the Play Store case apparently saw things through a different lens, even though Google technically allows Android apps to be downloaded from different stores — an option that Apple...

Puma says decision to end collaboration with Israel national soccer team was made in 2022

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:42:44 GMT

HERZOGENAURACH, Germany (AP) — German sportswear giant Puma says its decision to end its collaboration with Israel’s national soccer team next year was made in 2022 — before the current Israel-Hamas war started.“The decision is based solely on business reasons,” Puma communications chief Kerstin Neuber said Tuesday.Puma, which has faced calls for consumer boycotts over its contract with the Israeli soccer association, said the decision was made at the end of 2022 when the company decided to implement its “fewer-bigger-better strategy” and apply it to its marketing campaigns.Changes were made after a review of the company’s roster of national teams based on commercial factors and participation in major international tournaments, Neuber said.“While two newly signed national teams — including a new statement team — will be announced later this year and in 2024, the contracts of some federations such as Serbia and Israel will expire in 2024,” Neuber said. “These decisions were tak...

Oscar winner’s latest film draws on real-life experience working in fishing industry

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:42:44 GMT

TORONTO — Brian Helgeland’s latest film isn’t an autobiography, but strip theBoston crime syndicate and drug runners from its gritty portrait of a fishing crew, and it’s pretty close to being one. “Finestkind,” which Helgeland wrote and directed, is set against the backdrop of the commercial fishing industry in Massachusetts, where his own dad and grandfather worked as fishermen.When it came to creating an authentic environment to set the crime thriller in, Helgeland didn’t have too far to go. “I was the technical adviser,” he said duringan interview at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, when the 126-minute feature made its world premiere. “I didn’t have to let someone handle some gear on the boat. I didn’t have to turn to somebody and say, ‘Was that right?’ I just knew myself if it was or wasn’t, and I could then go over to them and say ‘No, not like this — like this.&...

Kenneth Law facing 14 charges of 2nd-degree murder in addition to previous charges

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:42:44 GMT

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. — An Ontario man accused of sending lethal substances to people who later took their own lives has been charged with 14 counts of second-degree murder in addition to his previous 14 charges of counselling and aiding suicide, police said Tuesday.Police said all 28 charges against Kenneth Law relate to the same 14 alleged victims, who were between the ages of 16 and 36 and died in communities across Ontario, as far north as Thunder Bay and as far southwest as London, Ont. More than one victim was under the age of 18, they said.York Region police Insp. Simon James, the case manager for the multi-jurisdictional investigation, said that police had found evidence to support the new charges, but he would not elaborate further.“It’s a very ongoing investigation and it’s a continuous investigation. And I can say that evidence has come in that supports the charge of second degree murder,” he said at a news conference held in Mississauga, Ont.“I ...

Murdered girl’s dad brought gun to court, say Ibrahim Ali’s lawyers

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:42:44 GMT

VANCOUVER — Lawyers for the man convicted of killing a 13-year-old girl in a British Columbia park say it was the victim’s father who allegedly brought a handgun into a Vancouver courtroom on the final day of the trial last week.Ibrahim Ali’s lawyer Ben Lynskey described the incident in a B.C. Supreme Court hearing and co-counsel Kevin McCullough says in an affidavit that Victoria Police told him the man brought the loaded Glock handgun with an “intention to kill” on Friday.An email from Vancouver Police to Ali’s lawyers says a “no contact undertaking” applies to the girl’s father with them as of Monday, and the man “must not enter” the vicinity of the Supreme Court in Vancouver.The email shared with The Canadian Press by the lawyers and described in court says if the father breaches the undertaking they should call 911 immediately.Lynskey told the hearing that the father had dialed into the proceedings, despite the no cont...