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Kansas governor vetoes bills on trans youth care, bathrooms

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:56:37 GMT

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas’ Democratic governor on Thursday vetoed Republican legislation aimed at ending gender-affirming care for children and teens, and another, sweeping GOP proposal for preventing transgender people from using bathrooms and other public facilities associated with their gender identities.Gov. Laura Kelly also vetoed a third GOP bill that specifically would have prevented jails from housing transgender prisoners in units consistent with their gender identities and a fourth measure that would have barred schools from allowing transgender girls from rooming with cisgendered girls, and transgender boys with cisgender boys, on overnight trips. Her actions highlighted how her Republican-leaning state has become a fiercely contested battleground as GOP lawmakers across the U.S. target LGBTQ+ rights through several hundred proposals. Kelly narrowly won reelection in November, but the the Legislature has GOP supermajorities and conservative leaders who’ve mad...

Montreal university to keep donation linked to Chinese government influence effort

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:56:37 GMT

MONTREAL — A Montreal university says it will keep a donation that has been linked to an alleged plot by the Chinese government to influence Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but it will now use the money to promote democracy.The Université de Montréal said Thursday that it has not been able to confirm the allegations, made by an unnamed national security source in The Globe and Mail, that the donation was part of a political interference operation.Repaying the money would be difficult and would require the university to convince a Quebec Superior Court judge to void the gift “on the basis of some form of defect of consent or impersonation,” said Daniel Jutras, the university’s rector.“We really don’t have any evidence of that that we could actually bring forward in the court, so I think that avenue is fraught with significant likelihood of failure,” Jutras said in an interview Thursday.In 2016, two Chinese businessmen — Zhang Bin and Niu Gensheng — ...

NATO chief: Ukraine’s ‘rightful place’ is in the alliance

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:56:37 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg defiantly declared Thursday that Ukraine’s “rightful place” is in the military alliance and pledged more support for the country on his first visit to Kyiv since Russia’s invasion just over a year ago.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Stoltenberg, who has been instrumental in marshaling support from NATO members, to push for even more from them, including warplanes, artillery and armored equipment.The Kremlin has given various justifications for going to war, but repeated Thursday that preventing Ukraine from joining NATO is still a key goal of its invasion, arguing that Kyiv’s membership in the alliance would pose an existential threat to Russia.NATO leaders said in 2008 that Ukraine would join the alliance one day, and Stoltenberg has repeated that promise throughout the war, though the organization has established no pathway or timetable for membership.“Let me be clear, Ukraine’s rightful place is in the Euro-Atlantic f...

Peel police to update theft at Toronto Pearson airport following alleged gold heist

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:56:37 GMT

Investigators in Peel Region have enlisted the assistance of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) following an alleged gold heist at Toronto Pearson International Airport.Pearson Airport is often used to transport gold mined in Canada so it can be shipped to customers globally.The Toronto Sun was the first to report on the gold heist at Canada’s largest airport.It’s alleged that 3,600 pounds of gold were stolen from airline cargo earlier in the week. If accurate, that would total $105 million. The Sun reports that investigators are looking at local organized crime gangs as potential suspects.A spokesperson for Ontario’s RCMP confirmed with CityNews its officers are looking into the robbery at Pearson.“We are still trying to get accurate information on the heist,” they said.The Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) tells CityNews that Pearson was briefly locked down for 18 minutes due to a security incident on Thursday.“I cannot discuss det...

Biden 2024 campaign announcement coming as soon as next week

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:56:37 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will formally announce his 2024 reelection campaign as soon as next week, three people briefed on the discussions said Thursday.The people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said they were not aware that a final decision on timing had been made, but that Biden had been eyeing Tuesday, April 25, four years to the day since the Democrat entered the 2020 race. The upcoming announcement is expected to be in the form of a video released to supporters.Biden has repeatedly said he intends to run for a second term but advisers say he has felt little need to jump into campaigning because he faces no significant opposition to his party’s nomination.Biden has summoned top Democratic donors to Washington next week for what was expected to be a dinner with him and a strategy session with his chief political advisers.The Washington Post first reported on the expected timing of the announcement. Zeke Miller, The A...

Psychologist says man charged in road rage killing was sane

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:56:37 GMT

DENVER (AP) — When a driver trying to get out of the way of an emergency vehicle almost hit his car, Jeremy Webster got angry, his outrage intensified by his worries about getting into an accident since he was not paying his car insurance bill. Webster followed the SUV Meghan Bigelow was driving with her three sons inside, feeling like he was “out of control” as if being directed by something outside of himself, a court-appointed psychologist testified Thursday at Webster’s murder trial.Webster, now 27, is accused of shooting Bigelow and two of her sons, killing one of them, 13-year-old Vaughn Bigelow Jr., with a point-blank shot to the head after they pulled into the parking lot of a suburban Denver dental office in June 2018. He also is charged with wounding a man who witnessed the shootings while the man was waiting in his truck with his 9-year-old daughter for an appointment.Webster has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, which requires prosecutors to prove tha...

Union, government continue negotiations as both sides face pressure to get to a deal

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:56:37 GMT

OTTAWA — An ongoing strike of thousands of public servants is causing service disruptions across the country as both sides are facing different kinds of pressure to reach a deal.Thursday marked the second day of job action by members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, which comes at the height of tax season and is expected to cause slowdowns at the border and pauses to new employment insurance, immigration and passport applications.In one of the largest strikes in Canada history, government workers walked off the job as of 12:01 a.m. EDT Wednesday, hitting the picket lines at some 250 locations across the country.“When will this prime minister apologize for his incompetence and end this strike?” Conservative MP Stephanie Kusie, the transport critic, said during question period in the House of Commons.Conservatives are holding the federal government responsible for service disruptions caused by the strike.While services deemed essential will continue, some services...

‘This was fear’: Imperial CEO hears of impacts from oilsands leaks, apologizes

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:56:37 GMT

OTTAWA — The head of Imperial Oil has heard how the spill of oilsands wastewater from its Kearl mine north of Fort McMurray, Alta., created fear in downstream communities.Brad Corson is testifying before the House of Commons environment and sustainability committee about why there was a nine-month delay for First Nations and governments to find out about contaminated groundwater that was found seeping from a tailings pond.Laila Goodridge, the Conservative member of Parliament for Fort McMurray, says people were deeply afraid about the releases.She says there were weeks when rumours flew before the six area First Nations were told about what had happened.Corson apologized for the releases, which have exceeded guidelines for some toxic chemicals near the release sites, and says Imperial failed in its duty to the Indigenous communities and promises to work to rebuild trust. The environmental group Greenpeace is calling for Imperial Oil to be charged over releases of the toxic wastewate...

MyPillow founder ordered to pay $5M in election data dispute

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:56:37 GMT

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — An arbitration panel has ordered MyPillow chief executive Mike Lindell to pay $5 million to a software engineer for breach of contract in a dispute over data that Lindell claims proves that China interfered in the U.S. 2020 elections and tipped the outcome to Joe Biden.But Lindell told The Associated Press on Thursday that he has no intention of paying and that he expects the dispute to land in court.Lindell, a prominent promoter of false claims that voting machines were manipulated to steal the 2020 presidential election, launched his “Prove Mike Wrong Challenge,” as part of the “Cyber Symposium” he staged in South Falls, South Dakota, in August 2021, to further his theories. Lindell offered through one of his companies a $5 million reward for anyone who could prove that “packet captures” and other data he released there were not valid data “from the November 2020 election.”Robert Zeidman entered the challenge with a 15-page report that concluded the da...

Suspect killed, 2 Indianapolis officers shot in gun battle

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:56:37 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Two Indianapolis police officers wounded in a Thursday gun battle that left the suspect dead are expected to survive, a deputy chief said.The shooting involved officers who were members of the Indiana Crime Guns Task Force, a joint effort among central Indiana police agencies charged with identifying and removing illegal weapons from the community, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Deputy Chief Christopher Bailey said during a news briefing.Following a brief pursuit around 12:40 p.m., the officers were shot by a 46-year-old suspect armed with an AR-15-style rifle who also “riddled” a police patrol vehicle with bullets, Bailey said. They were among four officers who shot at the suspect, he said.The injured officers were taken to a hospital by other officers, were listed in stable condition and were expected to recover, Bailey said.Their names and that of the suspect were not immediately released.“We are fed up. The community should be fed up with it. We ...