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Fire at New Zealand hostel kills at least 6 people, prime minister says

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:58 GMT

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — An overnight fire at a four-story hostel in New Zealand’s capital has killed at least six people, the prime minister said Tuesday. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins told the AM morning news program that he understands that six people have been confirmed dead in the fire in Wellington, and that there are likely to be more. Police said they don’t yet have an exact count of the number dead, although they believe it’s fewer than 10 people. Emergency services were called to the Loafers Lodge hostel about 12:30 a.m.Wellington Fire and Emergency District Manager Nick Pyatt said 52 people have been accounted for, but that a number still remained unaccounted for.“I can sadly report that this will be a multi-fatality incident. Our thoughts at this time are with the families of those who have perished and with our crews who valiantly rescued those (they could) and attempted to rescue those that they couldn’t,” Pyatt told reporters.“This is our worst nightmare,&#...

Woman sues Rudy Giuliani, saying he coerced her into sex, owes her $2 million in unpaid wages

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:58 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A woman who says she worked as an off-the-books employee for Rudy Giuliani during his stint as Donald Trump’s personal lawyer alleges in court papers that the former New York City mayor coerced her into sex and owes her nearly $2 million in unpaid wages.Noelle Dunphy said in the lawsuit that she was Giuliani’s business development director and public relations consultant from 2019 to 2021. She initially made her allegations public in January, but she detailed her claims further in a 70-page legal complaint filed Monday in New York.Messages seeking comment were left with Giuliani and a lawyer representing his companies.Giuliani’s attorney, Robert Costello, told The Daily Beast when Dunphy first filed her legal claim that she never worked for “any Giuliani entity” and that the allegations were “nonsense.” The new court filing portrays Giuliani, 78, as a hard-drinking, Viagra-popping womanizer who made satisfying his sexual demands “an absolute require...

1 lawsuit over appointment of Mississippi judges dismissed, another case still alive

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:58 GMT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi judge has dismissed one lawsuit that challenges a new law dealing with appointment of judges in the majority-Black capital city of Jackson and the surrounding county, but a separate lawsuit remains alive in federal court.In the ruling Monday, Hinds County Chancery Judge Dewayne Thomas wrote that appointing judges does not violate the Mississippi Constitution.Three Jackson residents testified to Thomas last week that the new law tramples their rights because most Mississippi judges are elected.Thomas wrote that a 1989 state law allows appointment of judges in some circumstances and that “disappointment and frustration with the legislative process does not create a judicial right to relief.”“While the Court is sympathetic to the Plaintiffs’ feelings, it cannot find that the same constitutes irreparable harm,” Thomas wrote.Attorneys for the plaintiffs said they will appeal Thomas’ dismissal of the case and his decision last week to remove Missi...

Overhaul permitting process in Canada to keep up with U.S., TC Energy CEO urges

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:58 GMT

WASHINGTON — Canada might be outmatched by the U.S. on raw spending power, but retooling the way Ottawa signs off on infrastructure projects could help it gain ground in the race to build North America’s green economy, industry leaders say.But the federal government had better hurry: lawmakers on Capitol Hill already have the same idea. Resource companies are less attracted to monetary incentives than they are to the decidedly less sexy idea of regulatory consistency and predictability, TC Energy president and CEO François Poirier said Monday.Given the choice of whether to deploy resources in Canada, the U.S. or Mexico, “the size of the incentives is not the determining factor in my decisions,” Poirier told a gathering of business executives in Washington, D.C.Factors like consistent timelines and permitting criteria for any given project are decidedly more attractive to stability-craving companies than the multibillion-dollar subsidies on offer in the U.S., he sai...

Suspected impaired driver crashes through Markham school playground, striking child

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:58 GMT

York regional police say a nine-year-old child was struck by an alleged impaired driver after he crashed through a schoolyard playground in Markham on Sunday.Police say it happened at around 8:35 p.m. at a playground on Becket Avenue.Investigators say a black Mitsubishi SUV crashed through a gate and drove onto the playground at a high speed, striking the child.“The suspect left the scene, driving around the property at a high rate of speed without making any attempt to stop, exchange information or help,” police said in a release.The child was taken to hospital, but luckily their injuries were not serious.About half an hour later, police were called after the same vehicle struck a tree on a residential lawn on Winston Castle Drive in Markham.“First responders found a male driver unconscious behind the wheel of the suspect vehicle with the engine revving,” police explained.“The vehicle had extensive damage and the suspect was extracted, taken into custo...

Constellation Software sees revenues rise in Q1, earns US$94 million

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:58 GMT

TORONTO — Constellation Software Inc. says its net income attributable to shareholders was US$94 million, down four per centfrom US$98 million a year earlier. The Toronto-based company says earnings per diluted share were US$4.44, down from US$4.63 a year earlier. Constellation, which reports in U.S. dollars, says revenue for the quarter ended March 31 was US$1.9 billion.That’s up 34 per cent from US$1.4 billion the same quarter a year ago. The company says the higher revenue was primarily attributable to growth from acquisitions.After adjusting for changes in foreign exchange rates, the company says its organic revenue growth was five per cent.This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 15, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:CSU)The Canadian Press

Cook Medical to cut 500 jobs globally under plan to refocus efforts

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:58 GMT

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Cook Medical will cut 500 jobs under a plan to refocus efforts on product innovation, the Indiana-based maker of medical devices said Monday.The cuts affecting about 4% of its global workforce will include about 223 workers in the U.S., including about 123 in Indiana. Cook Medical said the layoffs will affect sales representatives and other workers dealing with customers. No hourly workers in manufacturing or distribution will be laid off, the Bloomington-based company said.Cook announced the layoffs to all of its more 10,000 employees in an email from company president Pete Yonkman on Monday afternoon. Employees who are laid off will receive severance packages ranging from 10 weeks to nine months, depending on their positions and length of service, the Indianapolis Business Journal reported.The Associated Press

Skilling: Partly sunny, warmer before cool dip in Chicagoland tomorrow

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:58 GMT

Chicagoans come off a cool Mother's Day weekend. High temps averaged 3.5-deg below normal Sat & Sun—but when low temps are included, the weekend was actually finished close to normal. What made it feel so much cooler was the fact the weekend average more than 10-deg cooler than the weekend which preceded it.Tuesday is to throw some thermal curves at Chicago—warming into the low 80s in the afternoon. But a windshifting pneumonia front—so labeled because of the jarring temp changes it produces—will sweep through the city from the north passing in the evening hours Tuesday.Within a matter of hours, temps will crash up to 30 degrees—falling from the low 80s into the low to mid 50s. Current indications are the front will pass the city 6 to 7 p.m.—earlier North Shore areas and that NNE winds will sweep in gusting 25 to 30 mph along the lake.This will introduce building waves and the onset of possible rip currents Tuesday night—something swimmers and area mariners should be aware of.La...

13 new Chicago City Council members sworn into office

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:58 GMT

CHICAGO -- More than a fourth of the Chicago City Council are new members after being sworn in Monday morning.They range from alderpeople who have no city government experience at all to those who’ve worked within city hall for years. As all 50 alderpeople swore an oath on Monday, 13 are doing it for the very first time. WATCH: Brandon Johnson sworn in as Chicago’s 57th mayor 46th Ward Alderperson Anglea Clay, 31, is now the youngest member of council. She’s also one of six new women of color and one of at least seven Democratic Socialists on what will be the most progressive city council in Chicago history."We’ll see what kind of influence they exert as we look at programs and spending and that sort of thing," WGN Political Analyst Paul Lisnek said.Lisnek said it may play well with Mayor Brandon Johnson’s progressive agenda. The key will be to get to 26 votes, including some of the moderates. New Chicago mayor pledges commitment to progressive strategy, asks for unity Like new ...

Newly released court doc provides details on Jackson Mahomes case

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:58 GMT

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (WDAF) - A newly released court document shows police responded to a restaurant in Overland Park, Kansas after a report of a battery involving Jackson Mahomes, but it turned into much more serious allegations.According to the case affidavit released Monday, police responded to Aspens Restaurant on Feb. 25, 2023, after a man said Jackson Mahomes shoved his son, who works at the restaurant.The employee had just entered the key code to unlock the restaurant office to retrieve his water bottle when Jackson Mahomes shoved him, according to the document.Investigators reviewed surveillance video of the incident and said it shows Jackson Mahomes pushing the employee. Jackson Mahomes arrested, charged with sexual battery According to the affidavit, Jackson Mahomes tried to apologize to the employee later but the star quarterback's brother added that if he is in a room at the restaurant it is off-limits.The allegations against Mahomes became more serious when police inte...