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Michigan storms with 75 mph winds down trees and power lines, five people killed

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:05:20 GMT

CANTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Severe storms powered by winds of up to 75 mph (121 kph) in Michigan downed trees, tore roofs off buildings and killed five people while leaving hundreds of thousands of customers without power, officials said. The National Weather Service said Friday some of the damage may have been caused by two tornadoes. In western Michigan, the Kent County Sheriff’s Office said a 21-year-old woman and two girls, ages 1 and 3, died Thursday night after two vehicles collided head-on as it was raining.“There was two vehicles traveling toward each other. One hydroplaned on water and it was occupied by four people,” Sgt. Eric Brunner told WZZM-TV. The sheriff’s office said a 22-year-old Gowen man who was driving the car carrying the Gowen woman and two girls was seriously injured in the crash, which occurred when his car struck an SUV. That vehicle’s driver suffered minor injuries.In Lansing, the state capital, one person died Thursday night after a tr...

S&P/TSX composite down, U.S. stock markets after Powell speech

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:05:20 GMT

TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index was down in late-morning trading, while U.S. stock markets were mixed following a speech by U.S. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell who said upcoming decisions on interest rates will be based on what the incoming data says about inflation and the economy.The S&P/TSX composite index was down 21.18 points at 19,754.65.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 76.18 points at 34,175.60. The S&P 500 index was down 5.80 points at 4,370.51, while the Nasdaq composite was down 58.39 points at 13,405.58.The Canadian dollar traded for 73.34 cents US compared with 73.72 cents US on Thursday.The October crude contract was up 89 cents at US$79.94 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was unchanged at US$2.64 per mmBTU.The December gold contract was down US$12.90 at US$1,934.20 an ounce and the September copper contract was down two cents at US$3.76 a pound.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 25, 2023....

India’s lunar rover keeps walking on the moon, days after spacecraft’s historic touchdown

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:05:20 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s lunar rover continued its walk on the moon Friday after the historic touch-down of India’s spacecraft near the moon’s south pole earlier this week, the country’s space agency said. The rover’s data collection and experiments could help determine if there is oxygen and hydrogen on the moon. The Chandrayan-3 Rover is expected to conduct experiments over 14 days, including an analysis of the mineral composition of the lunar surface, the Indian Space Research Organization has said.“The rover has successfully traversed a distance of about 8 meters (26.2 feet),” ISRO said Friday. “All payloads on the propulsion module, lander module, and rover are performing nominally.” The rover will also study the atmosphere of the moon and seismic activities, ISRO Chairman S. Somnath said.“These experiments would pave the way for new scientific research about the availability of oxygen and hydrogen on the surface of the moon and can give us a...

Estonia’s pro-Ukrainian PM faces pressure to quit over husband’s indirect Russian business links

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:05:20 GMT

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Estonia’s strongly pro-Ukrainian Prime Minister, Kaja Kallas, came under increasing pressure Friday to resign, after Estonian media revealed her husband’s role in a company that indirectly did business in Russia after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year.Kallas, 46, one of Europe’s most outspoken supporters of Ukraine, had urged all EU companies to stop doing business with Russia after the war in Ukraine began in February 2022.Her husband, Arvo Hallik, said Friday he would sell his 25% stake in Stark Logistics, a trucking company that worked with an Estonian company involved in Russia. He also said he would resign as the company’s chief financial officer and step down from the board.The opposition has urged Kallas to resign, while members of the center-right, three-party coalition government have been calling for more answers regarding Hallik’s activities. “We believed that we were doing the right thing, helping the right people and saving a ...

Canadian women taking up golf, challenging corporate stereotypes

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:05:20 GMT

TORONTO — Gina Izumi was in her first corporate job out of university and told a male colleague her boyfriend enjoyed hitting the links. If Izumi stayed with him, her colleague said jokingly, Izumi would become a “golf widow” — spending her weekends alone at home looking after the kids and taking on chores while he played yet another round.Izumi was so determined to buck the stereotype that she and her boyfriend went straight to Golf Town to pick up clubs and shoes, then headed to the driving range.“I didn’t know if I’d like it. I didn’t know if I’d be any good at it, but it didn’t matter … I just wanted to prove that man wrong and never put myself in a position where I let myself be held back unfairly because I was a woman,” she recalled.More than 25 years later, Izumi is far from a “golf widow.” The senior vice-president of customer success and growth markets at software company SAP Canada is now a seasoned go...

The death toll from wildfires in Greece this week rises to 21 after another victim is found

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:05:20 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Authorities battling a major wildfire in northeastern Greece that has been described as the European Union’s largest single recorded fire recovered another body, the fire department said Friday, bringing the total death toll from wildfires in Greece this week to 21.The fire department said firefighters recovered the body of a man from the Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli Forest National Park, which lies near the border with Turkey, on Thursday.Eighteen bodies were discovered Tuesday near a shack in an area near the northeastern city of Alexandroupolis, and the body of another person was found Monday in a forest. In central Greece, a man was found dead Monday in a sheep pen after reportedly trying to save his livestock from an advancing wildfire.With no reports of missing people in northeastern Greece, authorities suspect the people whose bodies were discovered in the area were migrants who may have crossed into the country recently from the nearby border with Turkey. Greec...

Stock market today: Wall Street wobbles as the Fed is still uncertain about more hikes to rates

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:05:20 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is wobbling Friday after the head of the Federal Reserve said it’s still uncertain where interest rates are heading. The S&P 500 was 0.4% lower in midday trading after flipping between small gains and losses a few times. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 46 points, or 0.1%, at 34,052, as of 11 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.6% lower. In a highly anticipated speech, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said again that it will make upcoming decisions on interest rates based on what incoming data reports say about inflation and the economy, and he made no promises about what’s coming next. Wall Street had the speech circled on calendars because it was hoping Powell would say the Fed was done with its hikes to interest rates, which grind down inflation at the cost of slowing the economy and hurting prices for investments.Powell instead said the Fed may raise interest rates again, if needed. Even though inflation has come down fro...

Trump mug shot makes history after surrender at Fulton County Jail

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:05:20 GMT

Former President Trump became the first U.S. president in history, past or present, known to have his mug shot taken – a stipulation of his surrender at the Fulton County, Ga., Jail on Thursday evening following a fourth criminal indictment this year.The indictments were also a first as Trump became the only American president to face criminal charges, which have now reached 91 counts altogether.Fulton County officials released Trump’s mug shot after he surrendered to the local jail, joining a handful of other defendants also named in the case. Despite it being his fourth indictment, it was the first time Trump had his mug shot taken, which was released publicly. He was not required to take mug shots the three other times he surrendered to authorities in other cases he faces, two of which are federal.The state case in Georgia involves 19 defendants total, who have been charged with a criminal conspiracy to overturn Trump’s 2020 election loss to then-candidate Joe Biden.The mug ...

Suburban man accused of battering pregnant woman

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:05:20 GMT

MOUNT PROSPECT, Ill. — A suburban man was arrested after being accused of battering a pregnant woman.On Sunday at around 3:20 a.m., police responded to a 7-Eleven in the 800 block of West Oakton, located in Des Plaines, on the report of a domestic battery at a nearby Mount Prospect apartment complex.At the scene, officers learned that Antony Hernandez, 33, allegedly battered a pregnant woman multiple times. During the investigation, officers allege that he threatened the woman with a loaded firearm.Police said cocaine was found on Hernandez during a search. He was charged with two counts of aggravated battery, domestic battery, unlawful possession of weapons by a felon and unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver.

Man found shot dead in driver's seat in Back of the Yards

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:05:20 GMT

CHICAGO -- A man was found shot dead the driver's seat of a car in Back of the Yards early Friday morning. Police said the 20-year-old man was found unresponsive in the 4400 block of South Hermitage Avenue around 4:39 a.m. He sustained multiple gunshot wounds to the body and was pronounced dead on the scene. Suburban man accused of battering pregnant woman There were no other injuries reported and the incident remains under investigation.