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Ontario Science Centre employees ‘angry and confused’ by plan to move: union

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:51:08 GMT

The union representing about 400 employees at the Ontario Science Centre says the workers are “angry and confused” by the government’s plans to move the attraction to downtown Ontario Place.Premier Doug Ford said Tuesday that the employees are “excited” by the prospect, but the union says that’s not the case.The Ontario Public Service Employees’ Union says in a statement that moving the science centre from the current east Toronto site on a ravine to a pavilion on the Ontario Place grounds could mean a smaller, more crowded space, reducing exhibit capacity and leading to possible layoffs.They say most staff have worked at the science centre for more than 10 years and have built their lives in nearby neighbourhoods.RELATED:Reasons for Ontario Science Centre relocation versus renovation still not fully clearCommunity backlash to proposed Science Centre relocationThe union says where Ontario Place is located is a congested section of downtown, ...

Toronto man charged for confining woman, sexually assaulting her over year and a half

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:51:08 GMT

A Toronto man is facing over 40 charges after he allegedly forcibly confined a woman and sexually assaulted her multiple times over a year-and-a-half.Investigators said 29-year-old Dhrubo Hasan of Toronto was arrested last week on Friday, April 21.Hasan faces an abundance of charges, including six counts of assault and assault by choking, three counts of sexual assault, three counts of mischief under $5,000, nine counts of failing to comply, assault with a weapon, aggravated assault and three counts of forcible confinement, among others.The accused was slated to appear in court today.Police did not release any information about the woman involved.Investigators are concerned there may be more victims and are urging them to come forward.

First Republic shares sink again, down nearly 60% in week

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:51:08 GMT

First Republic Bank’s stock continued to slide Wednesday, an ongoing rout that has erased 60% of its value just this week on concerns about the bank’s financial health in the wake of two other bank collapses.Shares slumped almost 30%, following an even more severe tumble Tuesday, after the bank revealed that depositors withdrew more than $100 billion last month following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.Trading in the bank’s shares was halted several times for volatility. The bank said late Monday that it was only able to stop the bleeding after a group of large banks stepped in to save it by depositing $30 billion in uninsured deposits. The San Francisco bank plans to sell off unprofitable assets, including low interest mortgages it provided to wealthy clients. It also has plans to lay off up to a quarter of its workforce, which totaled about 7,200 employees at the end of last year. With deposits fleeing, First Republic was forced to borrow f...

Haiti police condemn vigilante killings amid gang violence

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:51:08 GMT

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Police pledged Wednesday to crack down on unrelenting gang violence that has paralyzed swaths of Haiti’s capital, and pleaded with Haitians to end a string of grisly vigilante killings.The appeal came after an angry crowd on Monday killed at least 13 suspected gang members who police had arrested, with video and pictures shared on social media suggesting that an even greater number since then have died after being stoned and set on fire.“If anyone hears anything, please advise the police,” Garry Desrosiers, spokesman for Haiti’s National Police, said at a news conference. “Do not take justice into your own hands.”Desrosiers said police are mobilized and that anti-gang operations will continue as he urged people to contact police if they see unusual activity or people they don’t recognize in their neighborhoods.He told The Associated Press that “a lot” of victims were killed this week but declined to provide specifics.The vigilante violence Monday t...

Canadian Pacific Kansas City first-quarter earnings up more than 35%

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:51:08 GMT

CALGARY — Canadian Pacific Kansas City says its net income for the first quarter of 2023 was $800 million, up more than 35 per cent from $590 million a year earlier. The Calgary-based railway company says diluted earnings per share were 86 cents, up more than 36 per cent from 63 cents the same quarter last year. Revenues for the quarter ended March 31 were $2.27 billion, up more than 23 per centfrom $1.84 billion a year earlier. This is the first earnings report since Canadian Pacific Railway officially combined with Kansas City Southern Railway on April 14 after the U.S. rail regulator approved the US$31 billion deal in March. CPKC says core adjusted earnings per share, which exclude significant items and accounting related to its purchase of Kansas City Southern, were 90 cents, up from 67 cents a year earlier.Volumes, as measured in revenue ton-miles, were up 11 per cent compared with a year earlier.This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 26, 2023.Companies in ...

US nuclear weapons modernization plan spurs cost questions

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:51:08 GMT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The U.S. agency that oversees development and maintenance of the nation’s nuclear arsenal is moving ahead with plans to modernize production of key components for the weapons, but some watchdog groups and members of Congress are concerned about persistent delays and cost overruns.The National Nuclear Security Administration released its annual plan on Monday, outlining the multibillion-dollar effort to manufacture plutonium pits, the spherical cores that trigger the explosion in thermonuclear weapons, at national laboratories in New Mexico and South Carolina.The Savannah River Site in South Carolina faces a 2030 deadline to make 50 pits per year. Officials already have acknowledged they won’t meet that timeline, and this year’s report no longer includes a target date for Los Alamos National Laboratory, in New Mexico, to meet its goal of 30 pits per year. Last year’s report had pegged 2026 as the year when manufacturing would be up and running at Los Al...

Man stabbed to death during fight inside Irving Park apartment

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:51:08 GMT

CHICAGO — A man was stabbed to death Wednesday afternoon during a fight inside an apartment in Irving Park, according to Chicago police.Chicago Police Department officers were called to the apartment around 1 p.m. in the 4700 block of North Kilpatrick Avenue. Woman carjacked at gunpoint by 5 men in Lincoln Park: police According to information from police, the man, 56, was stabbed by another man, 23, during a fight.The identities of those involved haven't been released. The incident is still under investigation by Area 5 detectives.

81-year-old woman killed in Antioch crash

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:51:08 GMT

ANTIOCH, Ill. -- An 81-year-old driver was killed Tuesday evening after colliding with a pickup truck in Antioch.According to the Lake County Coroner's Office, authorities responded to Route 59 near Bowles Road in Antioch just after 3:30 p.m. Tuesday on reports of a vehicle crash. Gurnee middle school teacher assaulted while breaking up fight, police say Investigators determined that a Kia Sportage traveling southbound on Route 59 crossed the centerline and collided with a Ford F-250 pickup truck.The driver of the Kia, 81-year-old Gayle Thielke, of Antioch, was flown by a medical helicopter to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville where she later succumbed to her injuries.The crash is under investigation.

Indiana moves closer to state-funded teacher gun training

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:51:08 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana state lawmakers are inching closer to sending the state’s Republican governor a bill that would create a state-funded handgun training program available for teachers, something critics have said could wrongly increase the number of guns in schools.Final approval from the state Senate is expected later in the day. Efforts by Indiana lawmakers to offer additional training failed in recent years amid opposition from both gun-rights advocates, who said training mandates would overstep local control, and gun-control proponents, who argued against steps they see as arming teachers. Machine gun switches will become illegal under Indiana bill Supporters have also said the 40 hours of optional training could help teachers learn how to defend themselves and students if needed, especially in situations with an active shooter.“This is not a solution, and there are no guarantees,” GOP Rep. Jim Lucas, the bill’s author, said before the 72-20 vote. “This is a tool tha...

Fugees rapper Pras found guilty in political conspiracy

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:51:08 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Fugees rapper accused in multimillion-dollar political conspiracies spanning two presidencies was convicted Wednesday after a trial that included testimony ranging from actor Leonardo DiCaprio to former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.Prakazrel “Pras” Michel was accused of funneling money from a now-fugitive Malaysian financer through straw donors to Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign, then trying to squelch a Justice Department investigation and influence an extradition case on behalf of China under the Trump administration.The defense argued the Grammy-winning rapper from the 1990s hip-hop group the Fugees simply wanted to make money and got bad legal advice as he reinvented himself in the world of politics.Michel first met Malaysian financer Low Taek Jho in 2006, when the businessman usually known as Jho Low was dropping huge sums of money and hobnobbing with the likes of Paris Hilton. Low helped finance Hollywood films, including “The Wolf of Wall St...