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Nebraska lawmakers reconvene for new session that could shape up to be as contentious as the last

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:00:05 GMT

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Legislature returned to the Capitol in Lincoln on Wednesday for the start of the short 2024 session that could end up as contentious as last year’s historically combative session, with a key lawmaker reviving her efforts to target LGBTQ+ youth.As one of her first acts in the new 60-day session that ends in April, conservative Omaha state Sen. Kathleen Kauth followed through on her promise to prioritize a bill that would restrict transgender student participation in high school sports and limit trans students’ access to bathrooms and locker rooms. On the other end of the political spectrum, progressive Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh, of Omaha, introduced a bill to repeal a hybrid measure passed last year that included Kauth’s restriction on gender-confirming care for transgender minors as well as a 12-week abortion ban.It was conservatives’ push for those measures that led Cavanaugh and a handful of other progressive lawmakers to filibuster near...

The Supreme Court is expected to determine whether Trump can keep running for president. Here’s why

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:00:05 GMT

DENVER (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to determine whether former President Donald Trump can keep running for the White House.Trump on Wednesday appealed a ruling from the Colorado Supreme Court that he’s ineligible for the presidency because he violated a rarely used constitutional prohibition on those who hold office having “engaged in insurrection.” On Tuesday, he appealed a similar ruling from Maine’s Democratic secretary of state, but it’s the Colorado appeal that’s most significant.That’s because the nation’s highest court has never before ruled on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, adopted in 1868 to prevent Confederates from regaining their former government posts. Whatever the Supreme Court decides applies to Colorado will apply to all other 49 states, including Maine.Trump remains on the ballot in both states until the appeals are done.WHAT IS SECTION 3?The provision is only two sentences and seems relatively straightforward.Sec...

Teck closes sale of minority stakes in coal business to Nippon, Posco

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:00:05 GMT

VANCOUVER — Teck Resources Ltd. says it has closed its previously announced deal to sell minority interests in its steelmaking coal business to Japan’s Nippon Steel Corp. and South Korean steelmaker Posco.The deal sees Nippon Steel acquire a 20 per cent stake in Teck’s coal business, known as Elk Valley Resources, in exchange for its prior 2.5 per cent interest in one of Teck’s coal operations and US$1.7 billion in cash.Posco swapped its interest in a pair of Teck’s coal operations for a three per cent stake in the overall steelmaking coal operation.The transactions are part of a broader deal announced by the Vancouver-based miner in November that will also see international giant Glencore pay US$6.9 billion for a 77 per cent stake in the company’s coal business.Teck says the Glencore transaction remains subject to regulatory review and is expected to occur in the third quarter of 2024.Following the closure of that deal, Teck will no longer have any exp...

Montreal soup kitchen to stay open after securing emergency funding from province

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:00:05 GMT

MONTREAL — An Old Montreal soup kitchen operating since 1877 says it has secured funding from the Quebec government to keep offering hundreds of daily hot meals through at least March.Fiona Crossling, general director of Accueil Bonneau, says her group was promised emergency funding during a meeting today with Quebec’s minister responsible for social services, Lionel Carmant.Accueil Bonneau had said financial pressures would force it to stop serving meals on weekends and that it would have to shut down its soup kitchen — which feeds about 400 people every day — next month.Carmant says the government recognizes Accueil Bonneau’s food services as “essential” and that he will help the regional health authority find long-term solutions to the non-profit’s financial challenges.He says he wants Accueil Bonneau to develop services that are open 24 hours a day.Accueil Bonneau says it likely won’t serve meals this weekend because of staffing issues but wil...

Alimentation Couche-Tard completes acquisition of European assets from TotalEnergies

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:00:05 GMT

LAVAL, Que. — Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. says it has completed its acquisition of certain European retail assets from French oil giant TotalEnergies SE. The deal announced in March 2023 includes all of the company’s retail assets in Germany and the Netherlands, plus a 60 per cent controlling interest in its Belgium and Luxembourg entities.The acquisition by the Laval-based convenience store and gas station operator was valued at 3.1 billion euros.It involves more than 2,000 service stations, with just over half of them in Germany. Couche-Tard president and CEO Brian Hannasch says the deal brings his company into four new countries.He says it significantly expands Couche-Tard’s reach in Europe. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 3, 2024.Companies in this story: (TSX:ATD)The Canadian Press

Toronto-Calgary flight diverted to Winnipeg, teen arrested after assault: police

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:00:05 GMT

Manitoba RCMP say they responded to the Winnipeg Richardson International Airport after a flight from Toronto to Calgary was diverted due to an alleged assault on the flight Wednesday. Through the initial stages of the investigation, RCMP learned that a 16-year-old passenger from Grande Prairie, Alta., assaulted another passenger, who was later identified as a family member.Mounties say that following the assault, airline employees and other passengers were able to restrain the teen.After the plane landed in Winnipeg, the teen was taken into police custody and taken to a hospital for medical evaluation. The adult was treated on the scene for minor injuries.

Time not right to stage play amid Gaza tensions, says Victoria, B.C., theatre

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:00:05 GMT

VICTORIA — Tensions connected to the war between Israel and Hamas have prompted a British Columbia theatre company to cancel the scheduled run of a play set in the region.Victoria’s Belfry Theatre says in a statement the timing isn’t right to stage The Runner by Canadian writer and actor Christopher Morris and it could “further tensions” in the community.Morris’s one-person play, which had been scheduled as part of a festival in March, explores the reactions to an Israeli rescue volunteer’s decision to save a Palestinian woman accused of violence against a soldier from Israel.The theatre says it booked the play last year to present a contemporary work that could generate dialogue, but after a period of difficult consideration the production has been cancelled. The theatre received duelling petitions in recent weeks, alternately calling for the play’s cancellation and performance at The Belfry, which was spray-painted with “Free Palesti...

Arizona rancher rejects plea deal in fatal shooting of migrant near the US-Mexico border; trial set

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:00:05 GMT

NOGALES, Ariz. (AP) — A March 21 trial date was set Wednesday for an Arizona rancher accused of fatally shooting a migrant on his property near the U.S.-Mexico border last year.George Alan Kelly rejected a plea deal offered by prosecutors Wednesday that would have reduced charges to one count of negligent homicide if he pleaded guilty, the Arizona Republic reported.Kelly’s trial in Santa Cruz County Superior Court is expected to last three weeks, the newspaper said.Kelly, 75, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and aggravated assault in the Jan. 30, 2023, shooting of 48-year-old Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea of Nogales, Mexico.Authorities said Kelly shot at a group of unarmed migrants who were walking through his nearly 170-acre cattle ranch in the Kino Springs area, and Cuen-Buitimea was among them.According to prosecutors, Kelly recklessly fired an AK-47 rifle toward the migrants, who were about 100 yards away from him.But Kelly’s lawyer said her client shot into the air ab...

Osprey ‘black box’ from fatal Japan crash that killed 8 recovered with data intact, Air Force says

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:00:05 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Air Force has recovered the flight data recorder from a CV-22B Osprey that crashed off the coast of Japan in late November with its data intact, which could provide valuable clues for investigators as to what caused the fatal accident. Eight Air Force Special Operations Command service members were killed in the Nov. 29 crash, which occurred off the coast of Yakushima Island in southwestern Japan. The Osprey was on a routine training flight enroute to Okinawa. Finding the voice and data recorder, or “black box,” is a critical part of the accident investigation; some black boxes in previous Osprey accidents have not survived those crashes. The recorder is being sent to a lab for data retrieval and analysis of the data is expected to take several weeks, the Air Force said. In addition, the Navy salvage ship USNS Salvor was able to recover most of the Osprey’s wreckage from the sea floor and transport it to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni for analysis.The A...

2 Chicago area lottery players both win $425K jackpot on New Year's Eve

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:00:05 GMT

CHICAGO — Talk about starting off the new year on the right foot.Two Illinois Lottery players in the Chicago area brought in the new year thousands of dollars richer after purchasing the winning the Lucky Day Lotto jackpot prize on New Year's Eve. SEE ALSO: $777,777 winning scratch-off ticket sold at Chicago gas stationThe winning tickets were sold at a Mr Quik-Ezz in the 900 block of S. Bartlett Rd., in Bartlett and a BP gas station in the 5600 block of Dempster St. in Morton Grove. Each store will receive $4,250 as a selling bonus. According to the Illinois Lottery, the winning numbers were: 5-12-15-22-28. Single $842.4 million Powerball ticket sold in Michigan For more about the Illinois Lottery, click here.