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Pakistani court grants former Prime Minister Imran Khan bail, reprieve from arrests in graft cases

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:30:42 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A high court in Islamabad on Friday granted former Prime Minister Imran Khan protection from arrest in a graft case and ordered him freed on bail. The ruling came as the government and legions of Khan’s supporters were on edge after days of violent confrontations sparked by the arrest of the former prime minister earlier this week. The government has vowed it will find a way to take Khan back into custody, a move that would likely cause a resurgence of riots and mob attacks.Friday’s ruling by the Islamabad High Court gave Khan protection from arrest on one of several corruption cases against him for a period of two weeks, a form of interim bail that usually is renewed in the Pakistan judicial system. Khan, however, remained in the court after the decision as his lawyers petitioned the judges for similar protection in a number of other corruption charges, trying to close off a legal avenue for the government to arrest him again. Khan’s chief lawyer, Babar...

Onex reports US$232M first-quarter loss compared with US$164M profit a year ago

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:30:42 GMT

TORONTO — Onex Corp. reported a first-quarter loss as the company worked to wind down its Gluskin Sheff wealth management business and move the adviser teams to RBC Wealth Management Canada.The private equity investment firm, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says it lost US$232 million or US$2.87 per diluted share for the quarter ended March 31, compared with a profit of US$164 million or US$1.89 per diluted share a year ago.Onex announced a deal in March that will see RBC Wealth Management Canada offer employment to all of the adviser teams of Gluskin Sheff, Onex’s private wealth business, and expand distribution of Onex investment products through its network.In connection with the plan, Onex recorded a non-cash impairment charge of US$171 million related to a writedown of property and equipment, goodwill and intangible assets.A restructuring provision of US$20 million was taken in the quarter in connection with the planned transition.The quarterly results came a day a...

‘No evidence’ of forcible confinement of young Black student: Toronto police

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:30:42 GMT

Police say they have found no evidence of racism following an investigation into allegations that a young student was forcibly detained by staff at a midtown Toronto school.Officers have closed the investigation into John Fisher Junior Public School, saying they found no evidence that staff engaged in hate-motivated, forcible confinement of a six-year-old Black student earlier this year.The boy’s mother alleged her son was the victim of anti-Black racism and was involved in dozens of incidents at the school, claiming he had been put inside a closet-sized room alone with a desk that had hateful messages written on it.“Although we understand these allegations are upsetting, the thorough and consultative investigation undertaken found no evidence to support the laying of charges,” reads a statement from Toronto Police Service.Investigators say they interviewed dozens of people including the alleged victim, the victim’s family, school staff, students and parents....

United pilots to picket; airline unions press for higher pay

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:30:42 GMT

DALLAS (AP) — Just ahead of what could be a record-breaking summer travel season, pilots from one of the nation’s biggest airlines are preparing to march in picket lines at major airports on Friday as they push for higher pay.The United Airlines pilots have been working without a raise for more than four years while negotiating with airline management over a new contract.The coast-to-coast protests come on the heels of overwhelming strike-authorization votes by pilots at American Airlines and Southwest Airlines. United pilots could be the next to vote.Pilots at all three carriers are looking to match or beat the deal that Delta Air Lines reached with its pilots earlier this year, which raised pay rates by 34% over four years. United has proposed to match the Delta increase, but that might not be enough for a deal. “We still have a long ways to go to resolve some of the issues at the table,” said Garth Thompson, chair of the United wing of the Air Line Pilots Association. Thompson sa...

Stragglers pack up as Swiss village is evacuated under rockslide threat

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:30:42 GMT

BRIENZ, Switzerland (AP) — Stragglers packed up belongings in cars, trucks and a least one pickup truck before a looming deadline on Friday to evacuate a village in eastern Switzerland that is facing an urgent rockslide threat.About 2 million cubic meters of rock on an Alpine mountainside overhead could soon come crashing down.As geologists and other experts in fluorescent vests took measurements on Friday, villagers and vacationers bared their emotion that the centuries-old Alpine village of Brienz — home to under 100 residents — could be soon be subsumed under spilling rock. The rumble of shifting ground and the sporadic crackle of a few rocks colliding and sliding down underscored the rising urgency for locals to get out of town by a 6 p.m. deadline set by Swiss authorities.One woman loaded up a pickup truck with a caged turtle and other belongings as neighbors packed up cars and trucks too. A Zurich woman who has for years vacationed in bucolic, calm Brienz, stood back about 30 ...

US Postal Service taking new steps to prevent carrier robberies, stolen mail

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:30:42 GMT

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The U.S. Postal Service is replacing tens of thousands of antiquated keys used by postal carriers and installing thousands of high-security collection boxes to stop a surge in robberies and mail thefts, officials said Friday.The Postal Service is replacing 49,000 so-called arrow locks with electronic versions to make them less attractive to criminals who have been targeting them to steal mail from secure receptacles, and it is placing 12,000 hardened blue collection boxes in high-risk areas, according to the Postal Service and Postal Inspection Service.The announcement came days after the National Association of Letter Carriers expressed outrage as The Associated Press reported that nearly 500 postal carriers were robbed last year.“We’re doubling down on our efforts to protect our postal employees and the security of the mail. We are hardening targets — both physical and digital — to make them less desirable to thieves and working with our law enforcement part...

Supreme Court backs California law for more space for pigs; producers predict pricier pork

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:30:42 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday backed a California animal cruelty law that requires more space for breeding pigs, a ruling the pork industry says will lead to higher costs nationwide for pork chops and bacon.“While the Constitution addresses many weighty issues, the type of pork chops California merchants may sell is not on that list,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in an opinion for the court.Industry groups have said the law would mean expensive, industry-wide changes even though a majority of the farms where pigs are raised are not in California, the nation’s most populous state, but instead in the Midwest and North Carolina.A majority of the high court agreed that lower courts had correctly dismissed pork producers’ challenge to the law. Both liberal and conservative justices were a part of the majority, though they were not united in their reasoning.Gorsuch said the pork producers challenging the law were asking the justices to “fashion two new and more aggressive ...

Woman, 26, found shot in head on South Side

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:30:42 GMT

CHICAGO — A 26-year-old woman has died after being shot in the head on the city's South Side.Police said the woman was found unresponsive with a gunshot wound to the head in the 8500 block of South Commercial around 4:50 a.m. Friday.She was transported to the University of Chicago Hospital where she was pronounced dead, according to police. Woman found shot to death in South Side house fire No one is in custody. Area Two detectives are investigating.

Liam and Olivia continue to reign atop Social Security's top baby names in the U.S.

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:30:42 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Dutton and Wrenlee are on the rise but they're no match for champs Liam and Olivia as the top baby names in the U.S. last year.The Social Security Administration released the annual list Friday. The agency tracks baby names in each state based on applications for Social Security cards, with names dating to 1880.It's Liam's sixth straight year as No. 1. Olivia has reigned since the name unseated Emma four years ago. Emma is No. 2.Coming in third for girls' names is Charlotte, followed by Amelia, Sophia, Isabella, Ava, Mia, Evelyn and Luna. For boys' names, Liam is followed by Noah, Oliver, James, Elijah, William, Henry, Lucas, Benjamin and Theodore.Luna is the only newcomer in the Top 10, booting Harper.The agency has been compiling the list since 1997, often revealing the impact pop culture has on baby naming trends. The smash hit “Yellowstone” has clearly influenced new parents. The neo-Western starring Kevin Costner debuted in 2018, with characters surfacing amon...

Flesh-eating 'zombie drug' saturating Los Angeles streets, officials say

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:30:42 GMT

LOS ANGELES (KTLA) - A flesh-eating "zombie drug" called xylazine has been saturating the streets of Los Angeles with severe, deadly effects when mixed with illicit opioids.Los Angeles County Sheriff’s officials launched a new program to track the troubling prevalence of the substance, which is a sedative typically used by veterinarians to anesthetize animals. Tranq: The Zombie Effect Also known as “tranq” or “tranq dope” on the streets, xylazine has become increasingly present in the illicit drug supply. The drug can be cooked down into a powder form and mixed with illicit opioids such as heroin and fentanyl or pressed into counterfeit pills or sedatives.The “zombie drug” nickname stems from the substance's known effect of rotting the skin.Growing concerns over the increasing prevalence of xylazine in L.A. have law enforcement officials and addiction specialists extremely concerned.“I’ve never seen anything like what we’re dealing with right now,” said Cary Quashen, an addiction ...