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Secret Chinese police outpost revealed in NY; 2 men arrested

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:37:22 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Two men have been arrested on charges that they helped establish a secret police outpost in New York City on behalf of the Chinese government, and more than three dozen officers with China’s national police force have been charged with using social media to harass dissidents inside the United States, the Justice Department said Monday.The cases, taken together, are part of a series of Justice Department prosecutions in recent years aimed at disrupting Chinese government efforts to locate in America pro-democracy activists and others who are openly critical of Beijing’s policies.One of the cases concerns a local branch of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, which operated inside an office building in Manhattan’s Chinatown neighborhood before closing last fall amid an FBI investigation. The two men charged with establishing the outpost were acting under the direction and control of a Chinese government official, and deleted communication with tha...

Macron addresses France amid anger over pension reform

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:37:22 GMT

PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday that he heard people’s anger over raising the retirement age from 62 to 64, but insisted that it was needed.In an televised address to the nation, Macron said “this changes were needed to guarantee everyone’s pension,” after he enacted the pension law on Saturday.“Gradually working more is also producing more wealth for our whole country,” he added.Macron acknowledged anger over increasing prices and jobs that don’t “allow too many French people to live well.”The evening address kicks off a likely arduous battle for the French president, who is trying to repair the damage done to his public image and politics by forcing the pension plan through parliament last month.Before Macron’s speech, opponents to the reform called for people to bang pots and pans across France during his address.Macron, who just enacted the protest-igniting pension changes, was expected to provide details about his domestic policies in the c...

CBC should exit Twitter over ‘government-funded media’ label: public policy expert

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:37:22 GMT

TORONTO — CBC should leave Twitter after its main account was labelled “government-funded media” by the social media platform, at least one public policy expert says.Unless the label issued Sunday changes as quickly as it was applied, Vass Bednar said the public broadcaster should find other ways to stay connected with Canadians because the tag erroneously positions CBC as an extension of the government that is not intellectually independent.“In the immediate moment, it feels like an opportunity to refresh the public’s understanding of how they’re funded and how they maintain their editorial independence,” said Bednar, the executive director of McMaster University’s master of public policy in digital society.Her remarks come less than a day after Twitter added the label to the @CBC account — a move federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre had been pushing for.Twitter’s website defines “government-funded media” as “...

Review: ‘Beau Is Afraid’ is stuck in a one-note nightmare

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:37:22 GMT

Beau may be afraid but Ari Aster certainly isn’t.Of the many words used to describe the writer-director’s previous two films — “Hereditary” and “Midsommar” — timidity was never of them. This is a filmmaker who has sent Toni Collette skittering across the ceiling and intricately arranged mutilated bodies the way some people make bouquets.But if any doubts remained about just how far Aster is willing to go, “Beau Is Afraid” should pacify them. Not because of the degree of terror within it; by Aster’s high standards, “Beau Is Afraid” is notably less ghastly than his first two outings. But it’s even more audaciously grotesque, more self-evidently pulled from its director’s psyche, more a work of a filmmaker’s unfiltered, runaway imagination.Rather than slotting in as a “horror” film, it can be categorized a little less neatly as a surreal three-hour Homeric odyssey about Jewish guilt, Oedipal angst and somebody named “Birthday Boy Stab Man.” And...

Dog attacks CPD officer on South Side, officer fires shots

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:37:22 GMT

CHICAGO — A Chicago police officer was attacked by a dog in South Chicago Monday afternoon. Police said that two on-duty officers were at the location of 3800 South Luella Avenue when a dog exited a side door of the residence and lunged at one of the officers. Lightfoot: Weekend violence downtown was not ‘mayhem’ According to police reports an officer then discharged their weapon, striking the dog. The officer sustained a laceration to the head and the dog is listed in good condition. There is no other information at this time.

Mega Millions mints millionaire in Elgin

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:37:22 GMT

ELGIN, Ill. — Though the $476 million jackpot winning Mega Millions ticket was sold in New York City, one Mega Millions player can claim a cool $1 million from a ticket bought in Elgin.While they were one Mega Ball shy of splitting the jackpot, the Illinois winning ticket matched all five regular numbers: 23 - 27 - 41 - 48 - 51. Winning ticket for $476 million Mega Millions jackpot sold in NYC The ticket was bought in the Circle K at 460 S. McLean Blvd. and makes the third Mega Millions millionaire for the state so far in 2023.One of the other two $1 million winning Mega Millions tickets remains unclaimed. That one was purchased at a 7-Eleven in Evanston in January.

Chicago library awarded $2M grant to digitize Black History archives

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:37:22 GMT

The Chicago Public Library was awarded a new grant Monday that will go toward digitizing thousands of Black History archives and make them available at every branch throughout the city.The library  system will receive a $2 million grant from the Mellon Foundation.The grant will allow the library to digitize documents related to Black History from the 1800s to the present. It is a four year grant that will expanded the access of the collection beyond the walls of libraries in the city and allow students and historians increased understanding of stories that may not be taught in regular curriculum.“In Chicago we celebrate that history and champion our residents’ fundamental right to read and learn about who we are, where we have been and where we are headed,” Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said at an event announcing the grant.

Where Illinois ranks among states that increased taxes the most over the last 4 decades

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:37:22 GMT

(Stacker) - Depending on where you live in the U.S., your state and local taxes may have shifted over the last year.The feared decline in American spending at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic never fully materialized as stimulus and pandemic aid programs kept consumers buying and sending sales taxes into state and local government coffers.But while the stimulus-fueled spending spree alleviated concerns about bringing in tax revenue for critical functions in local government, it also helped spur record inflation. Some states are adjusting taxes in response: Utah, for example, moved to reduce individual and corporate income tax rates for 2022.Stacker examined data from the nonprofit Tax Foundation to see which states have recorded the biggest tax growth in the last four decades. States were ranked by the percentage-point change of each state's effective tax rate from 1980 to 2022. Ties were broken by the growth from 2021. The overall per capita bur...

iPhone survives 33 days underwater off Hawaii beach

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:37:22 GMT

HONOLULU (KHON) - One Hawaii visitor's iPhone lasted 33 days underwater off of Oahu before it was found.The phone still worked and played the video the owner was recording when he dropped it.Zach Siggelkow had kayaked before, but only on Minnesota's lakes. Hawaii's waves - even 200 yards off Waikiki - are something he is not used to."And so I was recording some of the planes coming over, you know, Air Force planes coming over the top, and it was pretty neat just to capture that," Siggelkow said. "You can see a bigger wave come and I'm like in my head like, 'Ohhh! Here we go!' And then you kind of tip over it. At that point, I was like trying to scramble to find my paddle, but I had my phone in my hand, too."That was Siggelkow's last day of vacation and he returned to Minnesota without his phone. Here’s what it takes to be middle class Dr. Karl Brookins, a retired fisheries scientist, found the phone over one month later. Dr. Brookins takes a dive off Waikiki every so often."The b...

A new era for the Bears begins on Monday

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:37:22 GMT

LAKE FOREST — Monday is a rare day at Halas Hall as new leadership arrives at the Bears' headquarters. While he was officially hired for the position back on January 12, Kevin Warren's first day as the team's president and chief executive officer was Monday as the team begins their offseason workout program.Over the last few months, Warren has been finishing up his duties as the commissioner of the Big Ten Conference. According to the Bears, he's been in discussions with general manager Ryan Poles along with outgoing team president and CEO Ted Phillips as he prepares to retire. Warren joins the organization as the team's fifth full time president since its founding in 1920. George Halas, George "Mugs" Halas Jr., Michael McCaskey, and Phillips were the four people to hold the position before 2023. Kevin Warren’s first NFL client, talks about the new Bears’ president, CEO Phillips is retiring after serving as the Bears' president since 1999 when he replaced McCaskey. During his time...