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Special counsel Jack Smith asks the Supreme Court to rule quickly on whether Trump can be prosecuted

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:15:58 GMT

By MARK SHERMAN and ERIC TUCKER (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — Special counsel Jack Smith on Monday asked the Supreme Court to take up and rule quickly on whether former President Donald Trump can be prosecuted on charges he plotted to overturn the 2020 election results.Smith made his request for the court to act with unusual speed to prevent any delays that could push back the trial of the 2024 Republican presidential primary front-runner, currently set to begin on March 4, until after next year’s presidential election.A federal judge ruled the case could go forward, but Trump signaled he would ask the federal appeals court in Washington to reverse that outcome. Smith is attempting to bypass the appeals court, the usual next step in the process, and have the Supreme Court take up the matter directly.“This case presents a fundamental question at the heart of our democracy: whether a former President is absolutely immune from federal prosecution for crimes comm...

What did you Google in 2023? 'Barbie,' Israel-Hamas war are among the year's top internet searches

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:15:58 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Your Google search history for 2023 has arrived.Well, actually, the world's. On Monday, the California-based tech giant released its “Year in Search,” a roundup of 2023’s top global queries, ranging from unforgettable pop culture moments (hello, Barbenheimer), to the loss of beloved figures and tragic news carrying worldwide repercussions.The ongoing Israel-Hamas war topped news trends in 2023, per Google's global data, followed by queries related to the Titanic-bound submersible that imploded in June, as well as February's devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.Damar Hamlin was Google's top trending person on search this year. A safety with the NFL's Buffalo Bills, Hamlin experienced a near-death cardiac arrest on the field during a January game, but has since completed a celebrated comeback. Actor Jeremy Renner, who survived a serious snowplow accident at the start of 2023, followed. Meanwhile, the late Matthew Perry and Tina Turner led search trends among not...

Harvard faculty rallies to the aid of university president criticized for remarks on antisemitism

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:15:58 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hundreds of Harvard faculty members are urging the Ivy League university to keep its president, Claudine Gay, in command as she faces calls from some lawmakers and donors to step down over comments at a congressional hearing on antisemitism.A petition signed by more than 600 faculty members asks the school’s governing body to resist political pressures “that are at odds with Harvard’s commitment to academic freedom.”Only months into her leadership, Gay came under intense scrutiny following the hearing in which she and two of her peers struggled to answer questions about campus antisemitism. Their academic responses provoked a backlash from Republican opponents, along with alumni and donors who say the university leaders are failing to stand up for Jewish students on their campuses.Liz Magill resigned as president of the University of Pennsylvania on Saturday amid criticism of her handling of the hearing. Rep. Elise Stefanik, a New York Republican whose questions sp...

‘Oh God no’: Neighbours, building staff react with horror after death of young brothers in Scarborough

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:15:58 GMT

Residents and staff at a Scarborough apartment building reacted with shock on Monday after learning that two young brothers who filled their hallways with laughter had died in an incident now being probed as a possible double homicide.The boys’ mother remains in hospital with serious injuries after falling from her apartment balcony on Sunday night. The two boys, aged four and five, were found unconscious and confirmed dead on Monday.The assistant superintendent at the building told CityNews the woman was grieving the recent death of her husband.“Every day I see them,” he said of the young brothers.“The kids are just amazingly adorable.”“I’m really somewhat confused about what happened here,” he added. “I always stop and wave at them, you can’t ignore these kids they are adorable. It really breaks my heart.”While he said he didn’t know the mother personally, he said she was polite and quiet.“She’s ve...

Mexico’s president vows to eliminate regulatory, oversight agencies, claiming they are ‘useless’

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:15:58 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s president vowed Monday to try to eliminate almost all remaining government oversight and regulatory agencies before he leaves office on Sept. 30, claiming they are “useless” and cost too much.“There are a lot of wasteful agencies that do not serve any purpose,” President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said. “All of these supposedly autonomous agencies have to disappear.”He vowed to send a bill to Congress to eliminate the federal anti-monopoly commission and agencies regulating telecommunications, the energy market and access to government information.The president has accused the anti-monopoly commission of trying to block his efforts to increase the power of government-owned oil and energy companies. He has claimed the information access agency processes too many freedom of information requests from the public.It is unclear whether López Obrador has the votes in Congress to make the changes. Most of the agencies are enshrined in the Constitution, and...

New N.W.T. premier to focus on emergency readiness, working with Indigenous leaders

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:15:58 GMT

YELLOWKNIFE — Few understand better the need for communities to be prepared for weather emergencies and disasters than the new premier of the Northwest Territories.R.J. Simpson, elected premier by fellow MLAs on Friday under the territory’s consensus government, barely made it out of his community of Hay River this summer ahead of a wildfire that evacuated the town and kept him out of his home for two months.He says one of the top priorities of his government will be improving the territory’s emergency response and finding ways to minimize the threats.Simpson, a member of the Northwest Territory Métis Nation, says he’ll also work with Indigenous governments to present a united front in Ottawa to lobby for more money for housing and transportation networks.He says the territory is moving toward a mixed form of governance where the MLAs in Yellowknife work with Indigenous governments to share responsibility.Simpson says all 19 MLAs elected in this fall’s ballot...

Book Review: ‘Soldier of Destiny’ traces Ulysses S. Grant’s complicated route before the White House

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:15:58 GMT

Ulysses S. Grant’s standing among the presidents has improved in recent years, with critically acclaimed biographies by Ron Chernow and others offering a new perspective on his time in the White House.But the 18th president who led the Union armies to victory in the Civil War still leaves a complicated legacy, especially when it comes to his relationship to slavery. That relationship is the centerpiece of John Reeves’ enlightening “Soldier of Destiny: Slavery, Secession and the Redemption of Ulysses S. Grant.” Reeves’ book isn’t a comprehensive biography, and it doesn’t cover Grant’s time in the White House. But it gives readers an enlightening look at how he benefited from slavery years before he helped end the institution.Reeves traces the evolution of Grant from someone who “actively participated in the slave culture of St. Louis” before the Civil War. Reeves is fair and blunt in depicting the role slavery played in Grant’s life as he tri...

Tories have ‘successfully’ scapegoated carbon price in affordability crisis: Trudeau

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:15:58 GMT

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the Conservative party has been successful at “scapegoating” the carbon price as the reason everything is more expensive.Trudeau says in a year-end interview with The Canadian Press that the carbon price is not to blame for the cost-of-living crisis, and eliminating it will neither lower prices nor make climate action cheaper.He says cancelling it, as the Conservatives are demanding, would also eliminate rebate cheques that are worth between $240 and $386 every three months for a family of four in most provinces.The federal Liberals have struggled to get their message about carbon pricing across to Canadians, and recent polls suggest support for the policy is fading amid a heavy push from the Conservatives that it is the main cause of inflation.The Liberals believe the last two elections were a mini-referendum on carbon pricing, having included it as a main tenet of their platform.Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has said he intends...

AI systems ‘can be weaponized,’ warns top U.S. cyber official in promoting safeguards

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:15:58 GMT

OTTAWA — Top cybersecurity officials are urging technology firms to bake safeguards into the futuristic artificial intelligence systems they’re cooking up, to prevent them from being sabotaged or misused for malicious purposes.Without the right guardrails, it will be easier for rogue nations, terrorists and others to exploit rapidly emerging AI systems to commit cyberattacks and even develop biological or chemical weapons, said Jen Easterly, director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, known as CISA.Companies that design and develop AI software must strive to dramatically reduce the number of flaws people can exploit, Easterly said in an interview. “These capabilities are incredibly powerful and can be weaponized if they are not created securely.”The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security recently joined CISA and Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre, as well as 20 international partner organizations, in announcing guidelines for secu...

Man shot near Near North Side car wash; critical condition

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:15:58 GMT

CHICAGO — A man was shot while driving on the Near North Side on Monday morning and his car was found at a car wash.At around 11:35 a.m., officers responded to the 800 block North Orleans on the report of a shooting. Police believe a 42-year-old man was driving when a gray vehicle, with two males inside, approached. One suspect exited the vehicle and opened fire at the 42-year-old's vehicle.He was transported to Northwestern in critical condition. Man dead after fire in laundry room of Rogers Park apartment building At this time it's unknown if the shooting took place at the car wash or if the man drove there after being shot.No one is in custody.