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Maple Leafs stars fall silent with season on brink: ‘It’s do or die now’

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 20:00:53 GMT

What happens when you label a game a “must win” and don’t?Where does it leave a team that throws around buzzwords like urgency and desperation for two days, yet displays less of it than their opposition?What happens when you allot $40.5 million — nearly half your payroll — to four dynamic offensive stars, and they combine for zero goals in the first three games of a playoff series?Well, you fall behind 0-3 to a harder-working, more inspired hockey team and risk swiftly skating out of a second round that it took you forever to taste.A weekend ago, the Toronto Maple Leafs and their nation celebrated the most joyous victory of a generation. Maybe two.Fans mobbed downtown and chanted “We! Want! Flo-ri-da!” at the top of their lungs, preferring to avoid the top-seed Boston Bruins in the next stop in the bracket.After Sam Reinhart blew through the Maple Leafs’ defence in overtime, gathered a puck and jammed it through backup goalie Joseph Woll’s f...

Stock market today: Wall Street drifts as banks stabilize

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 20:00:53 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is drifting Monday ahead of a week full of reports on some of the market’s biggest worries, including how stubbornly high inflation remains across the economy. The S&P 500 was 0.1% lower in midday trading, coming off its worst week in nearly two months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down by 99 points, or 0.3%, at 33,575, as of 11:30 a.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was 0.3% lower. Besides a strong reading on U.S. jobs, which calmed worries about a possible recession but raised concerns about high inflation, last week was dominated by fears about smaller and mid-sized banks. They were stabilizing Monday. PacWest Bancorp rose 2.9% to recover some of its steep 43% plunge last week. It said on Friday night that it’s cutting its dividend to help it build its financial strength. Several other smaller- and mid-sized banks also rose. Western Alliance Bancorp was 0.1% higher after drifting down from a bigger morning gain.They’ve been ...

Driver in deadly Texas crash charged with manslaughter

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 20:00:53 GMT

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) — Police say the driver in a deadly crash that killed 8 people in Brownsville, Texas, has been charged with manslaughter.The Associated Press

Pearson Airport turns to bolstered staffing, tech improvements to reduce travel chaos

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 20:00:53 GMT

The Greater Toronto Airports Authority says it’s well-prepared for the summer travel season at Toronto Pearson International Airport thanks to bolstered staffing and technological improvements following widespread delays and cancellations that travellers experienced last year.The airport authority says it has hired 130 new staff to help handle critical areas such as busing, baggage handling and terminal operations.It has also streamlined its contactless check-in and boarding processes through a new partnership with the Canada Border Services Agency to deploy biometric e-gates and expedite customs clearance for travellers.Meanwhile, an upgraded baggage system relying on AI technology is designed to anticipate overloading and detect potential breakdowns before they occur.The authority says it will gather data to hold airlines accountable on proper training and staffing availability when handling baggage, with the goal of reducing baggage recirculation, maintaining system capacit...

Former UNDP chief and Turkish minister Dervis dies at 74

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 20:00:53 GMT

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkish economist, politician and former head of the United Nations Development Program Kemal Dervis died Monday at the age of 74, Turkish news outlets reported. He was being treated for an unspecified illness in Washington D.C., state-run Anadolu Agency reported, as did BBC Turkish and t24, which first reported the news. In early 2001, amid the worst economic crisis in Turkey’s modern history, Dervis left his job at the World Bank, where he had worked for more than two decades, and joined the government at the invitation of then-Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit. Inflation was soaring and the stock market had crashed. As minister of economic affairs, Dervis was largely responsible for the successful three-year economic recovery plan launched that year, which included major structural changes and bank reforms. He also negotiated loans from the International Monetary Fund, a highly unpopular move as deep spending cuts were required. However, they would lead to rapid ...

Review: ‘Heavens’ profiles figures in modern space race

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 20:00:53 GMT

“When the Heavens Went on Sale: The Misfits and Geniuses Racing to Put Space Within Reach,” by Ashlee Vance (Ecco)During the space race of the 1960s that was chronicled by Tom Wolfe in “The Right Stuff,” the era was personified by larger-than-life heroes like John Glenn, Gus Grissom and Alan Shepard.In “When the Heavens Went on Sale: The Misfits and Geniuses Racing to Put Space Within Reach,” Ashlee Vance writes about a new kind of space race marked by private companies launching rockets and putting a massive number of satellites into orbit. The characters behind this new fight to dominate the skies are just as interesting as the ones Wolfe wrote about decades ago.Vance, the author of a biography of SpaceX founder Elon Musk and a writer at Bloomberg Businessweek, is well-positioned to tell the story of the modern fight for the skies. He follows four companies — Astra, Firefly, Planet Labs and Rocket Lab — as they’re vying against each other.Vance’s behind-the-scenes acce...

Man wanted in separate, random assaults of women in Toronto

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 20:00:53 GMT

Toronto police have released additional photos of a male suspect wanted in the random attacks of at least two women in the downtown core.Authorities responded to separate assaults on Saturday, May 6, between noon and 1 p.m. in the Spadina Avenue, Cecil Street, and Spadina Avenue and Dundas Street West area.In the first incident, a 75-year-old woman was walking southbound on Spadina Avenue when a man approached the victim from behind and stabbed her on the left side of the neck with a sharp object. He then fled the area on foot.The woman was treated for non-life-threatening injuries in the hospital.In the other alleged assault, police said a woman was walking northbound on Spadina Avenue when the suspect approached the victim, reached over, and stabbed her in the right arm with a sharp object. He then fled the area.The woman was treated at the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.Police believe the same man is responsible for both assaults.The suspect was last seen wearing a b...

Spain women’s race apologizes for food processor gift

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 20:00:53 GMT

MADRID (AP) — The organizers of a women’s running race in Spain apologized on Monday after the winner was offered a food processor to take home, sparking accusations of sexism.The seven-kilometer (more than four-mile) Carrera de la Mujer (Women’s Race) issued a statement on Twitter saying it hadn’t considered the kitchen appliance — donated by a sponsor — would have sexist implications.“We apologize but we consider this a product with no sexist character and ideal for any athlete who wants to improve their nutritional habits,” the statement said. “We regret if any woman felt offended.”The organizers promised to “take measures” to avoid similar incidents in the future.Serb national Ivana Zagorac won the race in 24 minutes, 7 seconds on Sunday, in an amateur event in which 32,000 women participated. The Madrid race coincided with Spain’s Mother’s Day, and supports domestic violence and cancer survivors. It is held in other cities across Spain.The fo...

Multiple in custody after fatal shooting of off-duty CPD officer: Sources

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 20:00:53 GMT

CHICAGO — Sources tell WGN that people were taken into custody in the fatal shooting of the 24-year-old off-duty officer who was shot and killed outside her home in Avalon Park Saturday.Multiple individuals were taken into custody near the corner of 77th Street and Bishop Avenue early Monday morning, a source told WGN. Police reported of a SWAT incident in the 7600 block of South Bishop Avenue around 8:25 p.m. Sunday night. Police cleared the scene early Monday morning near the block of 76th Street and Loomis Avenue. Areanah Preston, 24, had just completed a tour of duty when she was found with a gunshot wound in the 8100 block of South Blackstone Avenue outside her Avalon Park home around 1:42 a.m. Saturday. CPD investigates death of 24-year-old officer fatally shot outside home Police have not identified why the SWAT situation took place. WGN is actively following this incident and will update as more information is recovered.

Police: Man charged after motorcyclist killed in suburban DUI-related crash

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 20:00:53 GMT

BATAVIA, Ill. — A man was arrested after a motorcyclist was killed in a DUI-related crash in Batavia on Sunday evening.Just after 5:10 p.m., officers were dispatched to the 400 block of South River Street on the report of a traffic crash.Police believe a motorcyclist was southbound in the same block when they were struck from behind by a Chevrolet van, driven by Luis Aca-Osorio, 38, of North Aurora, that was also southbound.Police said the motorcyclist was ejected and the motorcycle became pinned underneath the van.The motorcyclist was transported in critical condition and later died at the hospital. Warrants issued for parents after Northwest Indiana infant dies from ‘massive’ brain injury Following an investigation at the scene, Aca-Osorio was accused of being drunk and placed under arrest.He was charged with two counts of aggravated DUI causing another death, reckless homicide and two counts of driving under the influence of alcohol.