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Harvard faculty rallies to the aid of university president criticized for remarks on antisemitism

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:46:12 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hundreds of Harvard faculty members are urging the Ivy League university to keep its president, Claudine Gay, in command as she faces calls from some lawmakers and donors to step down over comments at a congressional hearing on antisemitism.A petition signed by more than 600 faculty members asks the school’s governing body to resist political pressures “that are at odds with Harvard’s commitment to academic freedom.”Only months into her leadership, Gay came under intense scrutiny following the hearing in which she and two of her peers struggled to answer questions about campus antisemitism. Their academic responses provoked a backlash from Republican opponents, along with alumni and donors who say the university leaders are failing to stand up for Jewish students on their campuses.Liz Magill resigned as president of the University of Pennsylvania on Saturday amid criticism of her handling of the hearing. Rep. Elise Stefanik, a New York Republican whose questions sp...

‘Oh God no’: Neighbours, building staff react with horror after death of young brothers in Scarborough

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:46:12 GMT

Residents and staff at a Scarborough apartment building reacted with shock on Monday after learning that two young brothers who filled their hallways with laughter had died in an incident now being probed as a possible double homicide.The boys’ mother remains in hospital with serious injuries after falling from her apartment balcony on Sunday night. The two boys, aged four and five, were found unconscious and confirmed dead on Monday.The assistant superintendent at the building told CityNews the woman was grieving the recent death of her husband.“Every day I see them,” he said of the young brothers.“The kids are just amazingly adorable.”“I’m really somewhat confused about what happened here,” he added. “I always stop and wave at them, you can’t ignore these kids they are adorable. It really breaks my heart.”While he said he didn’t know the mother personally, he said she was polite and quiet.“She’s ve...

Mexico’s president vows to eliminate regulatory, oversight agencies, claiming they are ‘useless’

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:46:12 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s president vowed Monday to try to eliminate almost all remaining government oversight and regulatory agencies before he leaves office on Sept. 30, claiming they are “useless” and cost too much.“There are a lot of wasteful agencies that do not serve any purpose,” President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said. “All of these supposedly autonomous agencies have to disappear.”He vowed to send a bill to Congress to eliminate the federal anti-monopoly commission and agencies regulating telecommunications, the energy market and access to government information.The president has accused the anti-monopoly commission of trying to block his efforts to increase the power of government-owned oil and energy companies. He has claimed the information access agency processes too many freedom of information requests from the public.It is unclear whether López Obrador has the votes in Congress to make the changes. Most of the agencies are enshrined in the Constitution, and...

New N.W.T. premier to focus on emergency readiness, working with Indigenous leaders

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:46:12 GMT

YELLOWKNIFE — Few understand better the need for communities to be prepared for weather emergencies and disasters than the new premier of the Northwest Territories.R.J. Simpson, elected premier by fellow MLAs on Friday under the territory’s consensus government, barely made it out of his community of Hay River this summer ahead of a wildfire that evacuated the town and kept him out of his home for two months.He says one of the top priorities of his government will be improving the territory’s emergency response and finding ways to minimize the threats.Simpson, a member of the Northwest Territory Métis Nation, says he’ll also work with Indigenous governments to present a united front in Ottawa to lobby for more money for housing and transportation networks.He says the territory is moving toward a mixed form of governance where the MLAs in Yellowknife work with Indigenous governments to share responsibility.Simpson says all 19 MLAs elected in this fall’s ballot...

Book Review: ‘Soldier of Destiny’ traces Ulysses S. Grant’s complicated route before the White House

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:46:12 GMT

Ulysses S. Grant’s standing among the presidents has improved in recent years, with critically acclaimed biographies by Ron Chernow and others offering a new perspective on his time in the White House.But the 18th president who led the Union armies to victory in the Civil War still leaves a complicated legacy, especially when it comes to his relationship to slavery. That relationship is the centerpiece of John Reeves’ enlightening “Soldier of Destiny: Slavery, Secession and the Redemption of Ulysses S. Grant.” Reeves’ book isn’t a comprehensive biography, and it doesn’t cover Grant’s time in the White House. But it gives readers an enlightening look at how he benefited from slavery years before he helped end the institution.Reeves traces the evolution of Grant from someone who “actively participated in the slave culture of St. Louis” before the Civil War. Reeves is fair and blunt in depicting the role slavery played in Grant’s life as he tri...

Tories have ‘successfully’ scapegoated carbon price in affordability crisis: Trudeau

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:46:12 GMT

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the Conservative party has been successful at “scapegoating” the carbon price as the reason everything is more expensive.Trudeau says in a year-end interview with The Canadian Press that the carbon price is not to blame for the cost-of-living crisis, and eliminating it will neither lower prices nor make climate action cheaper.He says cancelling it, as the Conservatives are demanding, would also eliminate rebate cheques that are worth between $240 and $386 every three months for a family of four in most provinces.The federal Liberals have struggled to get their message about carbon pricing across to Canadians, and recent polls suggest support for the policy is fading amid a heavy push from the Conservatives that it is the main cause of inflation.The Liberals believe the last two elections were a mini-referendum on carbon pricing, having included it as a main tenet of their platform.Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has said he intends...

AI systems ‘can be weaponized,’ warns top U.S. cyber official in promoting safeguards

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:46:12 GMT

OTTAWA — Top cybersecurity officials are urging technology firms to bake safeguards into the futuristic artificial intelligence systems they’re cooking up, to prevent them from being sabotaged or misused for malicious purposes.Without the right guardrails, it will be easier for rogue nations, terrorists and others to exploit rapidly emerging AI systems to commit cyberattacks and even develop biological or chemical weapons, said Jen Easterly, director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, known as CISA.Companies that design and develop AI software must strive to dramatically reduce the number of flaws people can exploit, Easterly said in an interview. “These capabilities are incredibly powerful and can be weaponized if they are not created securely.”The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security recently joined CISA and Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre, as well as 20 international partner organizations, in announcing guidelines for secu...

Man shot near Near North Side car wash; critical condition

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:46:12 GMT

CHICAGO — A man was shot while driving on the Near North Side on Monday morning and his car was found at a car wash.At around 11:35 a.m., officers responded to the 800 block North Orleans on the report of a shooting. Police believe a 42-year-old man was driving when a gray vehicle, with two males inside, approached. One suspect exited the vehicle and opened fire at the 42-year-old's vehicle.He was transported to Northwestern in critical condition. Man dead after fire in laundry room of Rogers Park apartment building At this time it's unknown if the shooting took place at the car wash or if the man drove there after being shot.No one is in custody.

Inmates leaving Cook County Jail will receive free state ID cards

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:46:12 GMT

COOK COUNTY, Ill. – As of Monday, inmates leaving Cook County Jail will receive free state identification cards.On Monday, Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart and Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias announced a partnership to provide state ID cards for inmates being released from Cook County Jail.The idea started as a pilot program about two years, but only on the state level with state prisons. The partnership announced Monday is the first of its kind for a county jail – not just in Illinois, but around the country – and officials say it's a "game-changer" that will help former detainees rebuild their lives.Officials say government-issued IDs are like a "golden key," critical for steps like enrolling in educational programs, onboarding for jobs and obtaining housing and government benefits.But individuals in custody may have lost their ID cards or had them expire, making it difficult to renew them after returning to the community upon release. Dart estimates about half of ...

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe begins Monday

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:46:12 GMT

DES PLAINES, Ill. — Monday is the first day of the annual Catholic feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.Over the next two days, thousands of pilgrams will make the trek to Des Plaines to visit the shrine of the Virgin Mary.Many pray for help, others thank Our Lady of Guadalupe for blessings received.This year's theme is "praying for peace and unity throughout the world."The following statement was released Monday by Cardinal Blase Cupich:As the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe of the Archdiocese of Chicago prepares to welcome thousands of pilgrims on its grounds for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, I extend my deepest gratitude to its Rector, the staff, and volunteers for all their hard work to make this wonderful ministry possible.During this 2-day celebration I invite all people of faith to join together in "Praying for Peace and Unity throughout the world," which is the theme for this year’s celebration. What a fitting theme for prayer and reflection for all of us at this moment in h...