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Mass shootings and violence leave dead and injured across the US this weekend

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 06:25:49 GMT

By MATTHEW BROWN (Associated Press)Mass shootings and violence killed and wounded people across the United States this weekend, including four people found dead of gunshots in a small Idaho town, a Pennsylvania state trooper killed in an ambush, multiple people firing guns into an Illinois holiday crowd and bullets flying among teenagers partying in Missouri. The shootings happened in cities and rural areas alike, following a surge in homicides and other violence over the past several years that accelerated during the coronavirus pandemic. This weekend also brought mass shootings in Washington state, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Southern California and Baltimore.“There’s no question there’s been a spike in violence,” said Daniel Nagin, a professor of public policy and statistics at Carnegie Mellon University. “Some of these cases seem to be just disputes, often among adolescents, and those disputes are played out with firearms, not with fists.”Res...

UN calls on Mideast and European nations to raise money for humanitarian crisis in Sudan

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 06:25:49 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — The United Nations called on countries in the Middle East and Europe on Monday to ramp up aid efforts in Sudan to address the deepening humanitarian crisis.Sudan has been rocked by fighting for over two months as the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces battle for control of the country. Sudan’s Health Ministry said Saturday that more than 3,000 have been killed in the conflict, which has decimated the country’s fragile infrastructure and sparked ethnic violence in the western Darfur region.“The scale and speed of Sudan’s descent into death and destruction is unprecedented,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at the opening of a U.N.-sponsored meeting in Geneva.Representatives from Egypt, Germany, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the African Union and the European Union met to discuss how to help the northeastern African nation. The U.N. says its emergency aid program launched after the war broke out on April 15 has received less than 16% of the requir...

American woman who was pushed and fell 165 feet near German castle is released from hospital

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 06:25:49 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Police in southern Germany said Monday that an American tourist who was pushed into a ravine during an attack near Neuschwanstein castle in which her 21-year-old friend was killed has been released from the hospital.The 22-year-old woman had tried to stop a 30-year-old Michigan man from allegedly assaulting her friend after luring them onto a trail leading to a viewpoint overlooking the famous castle, which draws more than a million tourists every year. The older woman fell nearly 50 meters (165 feet) down a steep slope but was able to leave the hospital Friday, police spokesperson Holger Stabik said.Both women were recovered by mountain rescuers shortly after the attack Wednesday, but the younger victim later died of her injuries in the hospital.The suspect, whose name like those of the victims wasn’t released due to German privacy rules, was arrested shortly after the incident. He is being held on suspicion of murder, attempted murder and attempted sexual assau...

Woman wanted in suspected hate crime at Lawrence Station

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 06:25:49 GMT

Toronto police are investigating a suspected hate crime assault involving a woman at Lawrence Station last month.Authorities were called to the TTC subway station around 2:30 a.m. on May 16 for reports of an assault.It’s alleged a woman was repeatedly asked to leave the property but refused. TTC staff were then called and attended the station.The woman allegedly yelled racial slurs at a victim and assaulted them.Toronto police said the assault was deemed a suspected hate-motivated offence following consultation with its hate crime unit.The female suspect is described as approximately 30 years old with brown hair and a medium build. She was last seen wearing a black coat, red shirt, light-coloured pants and dark shoes.Suspect images have been released.Photo: Toronto police.

Spain registers record asylum claims, approves far fewer than European average

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 06:25:49 GMT

MADRID (AP) — Spain received a record number of claims for refugee status and international protection last year, but the government rejects far more applications than the European average, a nongovernmental organization said Monday.The Spanish Commission for Refugees, also known by its Spanish acronym CEAR, released its annual report analyzing Spain’s response to increased demand for sanctuary in 2022 because of the forced displacement of millions by Russia’s war in Ukraine, multiple conflicts in Africa and political crises in Latin America.Spain received 118,842 asylum requests last year, its highest ever and the third-highest number in the European Union. However, only 16.5% of applicants whose cases were decided were awarded protection, compared with an EU average of 38.5%. Separately, 161,037 Ukrainians were awarded temporary protection under an EU-wide program.“Once again we demand the law be respected to offer protection,” said Elena Muñoz, legal coordinator...

Canada sanctions judges of Iran’s Revolutionary Courts over human-rights violations

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 06:25:49 GMT

OTTAWA — Canada has levied sanctions against seven Iranian officials, citing their role in gross and systematic human-rights violations in the country’s criminal justice system.Global Affairs Canada says Iran’s Revolutionary Courts are notorious for issuing death sentences and harsh prison terms following sham trials relying on evidence gathered under torture.It is the twelfth package of sanctions imposed by Canada against the Iranian regime since October, following widespread protests calling on Tehran to respect human rights and freedom.The measures prohibit dealings with the listed individuals, effectively freezing any assets they might have in Canada.Individuals listed in response to gross and systematic violations of human rights are also inadmissible to Canada under federal immigration law.Canada has sanctioned a total of 163 Iranian individuals and 192 entities.This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 19, 2023.The Canadian Press

S&P/TSX composite down in late-morning trading, industrials and financials lower

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 06:25:49 GMT

TORONTO — Losses in the industrial and financial sectors helped lead Canada’s main stock index lower in late morning trading, while energy stocks were also down as the price of oil moved lower. The S&P/TSX composite index was down 48.22 points at 19,927.15.U.S. stock markets are closed for the Juneteenth federal holiday in the United States.The Canadian dollar traded for 75.73 cents US compared with 75.77 cents US on Friday.The August crude contract was down 47 cents at US$71.46 per barrel and the July natural gas contract was up four cents at US$2.68 per mmBTU.The August gold contract was down US$6.30 at US$1,964.90 an ounce and the July copper contract was down three cents at US$3.86 a pound.This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 19, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD=X)The Canadian Press

Changing amortization, cap on insured mortgages not the answer to affordability: CMHC

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 06:25:49 GMT

TORONTO — The head of Canada’s housing agency says measures such as extending mortgage amortizations and changing the threshold to qualify for an insured mortgage are not the answer to the country’s housing affordability challenges.Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. president and chief executive Romy Bowers says people have seen a rapid increase in what they are paying to cover mortgages as interest rates have risen.She’s not in favour of expanding the amortization period because she thinks the move would just make credit more available.She says a longer amortization would lower a borrower’s monthly payments but increase their costs over time.Bowers adds that changing the $1 million cap on insured mortgages is also not a magic solution to housing affordability. Rather than stoke demand with such measures, she’d like to see the country focus on boosting supply, which Canada has been short of for years.This report by The Canadian Press was first published ...

Intel and Germany sign agreement for $32.8 billion chip plant investment

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 06:25:49 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Intel and the German government on Monday signed a deal that would see the U.S. company investing more than 30 billion euros ($32.8 billion) in a chip manufacturing site in the German city of Magdeburg, with financial support from Berlin.Word of the agreement came as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz met Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger in the German capital. Intel acquired the land for two semiconductor facilities in Magdeburg in eastern Germany in November, and the company says the first of them is expected to start production in four or five years.“The investment in Germany means a significant expansion of Intel’s production capacity in Europe and is the biggest investment ever made by a foreign company in Germany,” Economy Minister Robert Habeck, who is also the country’s vice chancellor, said in a statement. Plans, before the revised letter of intent was signed Monday, had foreseen a total investment of at least 17 billion euros.Habeck’s ministry said t...

Former student opens fire in Brazilian school, killing teen and wounding another, official says

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 06:25:49 GMT

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A former student entered a school and then began shooting in Brazil’s southern Parana state Monday, killing a 15-year-old girl and severely wounding another teen, a spokesperson for the city of Cambé told The Associated Press by phone.The gunman, aged 20 or 21, entered the Professora Helena Kolody state school purportedly to retrieve some documents, spokesperson Thiago Mossini said. Once inside the building, the man fired at least a dozen shots before being restrained by a school employee, Mossini said. The alleged shooter was later arrested by police, Mossini said.The wounded student, a 14-year-old, was reported in critical condition at a hospital.Images circulating on TV and social media showed dozens of students gathered outside the school, some crying, as an ambulance approached the gate.Brazil has seen almost two dozen attacks or violent episodes in schools since 2000, half of them in the last 14 months. On April 5, an attack at a daycare center kill...