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Former top prosecutor for Baltimore declines to testify at her perjury trial

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:44:45 GMT

GREENBELT, Md. (AP) — A federal jury is expected to hear attorneys’ closing arguments on Wednesday in the perjury trial of a former top prosecutor for the city of Baltimore.Marilyn Mosby, who served two terms as state’s attorney for Baltimore, declined to testify before her attorneys rested their case on the third day of her trial.Prosecutors said Mosby lied about the finances of a side business to improperly access retirement funds during the COVID-19 pandemic, using the money to buy two Florida homes. Mosby’s attorneys said she legally obtained and spent the money.Mosby gained a national profile for prosecuting Baltimore police officers after Freddie Gray, a Black man, died in police custody in 2015, which was Mosby’s first year in office. His death led to riots and protests in the city. None of the officers were convicted.A grand jury indicted Mosby on two counts of perjury before a Democratic primary challenger defeated her last year.Mosby’s 2022 indictment acc...

Hydro One reports $357M Q3 profit, up from $307M a year earlier

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:44:45 GMT

TORONTO — Hydro One Ltd. reported a third-quarter profit of $357 million, up from $307 million a year ago.The power utility says the profit amounted to 59 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, up from 51 cents per diluted share a year earlier.Revenue totalled $1.93 billion, down from $2.03 billion in the same quarter last year, while revenue, net of purchased power, totalled $1.08 billion, up from $1.07 billion a year earlier.Hydro One says the increase in revenue, net of purchased power, was helped by a hike in transmission rates and higher average monthly peak demand.Since the end of the quarter, the company says it was awarded the right to develop and construct three new transmission lines to meet growing demand in Northeastern and Eastern Ontario. It says it has been collaborating with First Nations on early planning and that First Nations will have the opportunity to invest in a 50 per cent equity stake in the transmission line component of the projects.This r...

Handful of Virginia races that will determine Democratic edge in both chambers remain uncalled

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:44:45 GMT

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Only a handful of ultra-competitive Virginia legislative races remained undecided late Wednesday morning, after Democrats won enough contests to take control of both the House and Senate in a blow for Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin. After Republican Tara Durant prevailed over Democrat Joel Griffin and independent Monica Gary in a northern Virginia Senate race, only one seat in that chamber was too early to call, along with two in the House of Delegates. Those contests will determine the final margins in each chamber. Democrats, who centered their message to voters around protecting abortion rights, won at least 21 seats in the 40-seat Senate and at least 51 in the 100-member House of Delegates. “Governor Youngkin and Virginia Republicans did everything they could to take total control of state government, but the people of the Commonwealth rejected them,” Susan Swecker, chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Virginia, said in a statement. Senate Republicans conce...

‘Goin’ Down the Road’ director Donald Shebib, who paved way for Canada’s road movie, dies

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:44:45 GMT

TORONTO — Donald Shebib, whose seminal 1970 drama “Goin’ Down the Road” became a cultural touchstone for its gritty realism, has died at age 85.The director’s family says he died Sunday at St. Joseph’s Health Centre in Toronto. A cause of death was not immediately available.The Toronto-born Shebib is widely considered one of Canada’s most influential filmmakers with critics positioning “Goin’ Down the Road” as among the country’s greatest films. It tells the story of two young Maritimer men who depart Cape Breton for Toronto in search of better lives. The film featured the music of Bruce Cockburn and starred Doug McGrath, Paul Bradley and Jayne Eastwood.Shebib financed the project on a government grant and money he pocketed from selling his beloved black and white Morgan sports car.“Goin’ Down the Road” won the feature film prize at the Canadian Film Awards the year it was released, and spawned a sequel in...

Mexican president wants to force private freight rail companies to schedule passenger service

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:44:45 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s president announced Wednesday that he will require private rail companies that mostly carry freight to offer passenger service or else have the government schedule its own trains on their tracks.President Andrés Manuel López Obrador denied any notion that his decree to be issued later this month amounted to expropriation of private property. He said existing law guarantees passenger trains priority. “This is not an expropriation, it is in the Constitution and the law,” he said. ”According to the law, passenger trains have priority.” Still, almost no regular passenger service remains in Mexico following a 1995 reform that gave concessions to two private railway companies: Mexico’s Ferromex and a subsidiary of U.S. railway Kansas City Southern. A few tourist trains run on relatively short, unconnected routes to tourist attractions like northern Mexico’s Copper Canyon and the western tequila-producing region around Jalisco.López Obrador is ...

Texas businessman at center of Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment facing new charges

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:44:45 GMT

DALLAS (AP) — A Texas businessman at the center of the scandal that led to the historic impeachment of state Attorney General Ken Paxton has been charged with additional federal crimes.The new indictment of Nate Paul alleges that he defrauded business partners, adding to earlier charges that the Austin-based real estate developer made false statements to mortgage lenders to obtain $172 million in loans.Paul, 36, pleaded not guilty in June to the eight counts of making false statements while seeking loans from mortgage lenders in the U.S. and Ireland. His attorneys did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment on the superseding indictment issued Tuesday on four new counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The charges against Paul are the result of a yearslong FBI investigation that Paxton involved his office in, setting off a chain of events that led to a separate federal probe of the Republican attorney general and his May impeachment by the GOP-controlled ...

Trudeau to travel to San Francisco Nov. 15-17 to attend meeting of APEC leaders

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:44:45 GMT

WASHINGTON — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to travel to San Francisco next week for the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly and International Trade Minister Mary Ng are also to take part in the visit Nov. 15-17.A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office suggests Trudeau will be focused on ways to fuel climate-friendly economic growth with Canada’s allies and partners. The Canadian delegation will be focused on facilitating trade, identifying opportunities in the digital space and economic empowerment for women. Trudeau is also vowing to foster open economic co-operation and the removal of trade barriers to benefit people on both sides of the Pacific Ocean. Like previous APEC meetings, this year’s summit — which runs Nov. 11-17 — is expected to generate large public protests around themes like climate change and income inequality.“When we open up new markets for Canadian goods and innovation, and ...

After Ohio vote, advocates in a dozen states are trying to put abortion on 2024 ballots

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:44:45 GMT

After Ohio voters on Tuesday approved a constitutional amendment protecting the right to abortion and other forms of reproductive healthcare, advocates on both sides of the issue are looking at how they can get support on 2024 ballots in at least a dozen states.Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that had protected abortion rights nationally, voters in all seven states that held a statewide vote have backed access. That includes Ohio, where voters Tuesday enshrined abortion access in the state constitution.Constitutional amendments to protect access are already on the ballots for 2024 in Maryland and New York.Questions are being considered for several other states — some to protect access and some to limit or ban it.Here’s what’s happening in the states.___ARIZONAAbortion access advocates want to amend the state constitution to protect access to abortion until the fetus is viable, generally considered to be around 24 weeks gestational a...

Next Met Gala theme unveiled: the ‘sleeping beauties’ of fashion

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:44:45 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — It may be time to get out those fairytale ballgowns. The theme of the next Met Gala has been unveiled: “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.”The Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art revealed the theme of its spring 2024 exhibit, which is launched by the huge party known as the Met Gala, on Wednesday. Yet to be announced: the celebrity hosts of the May 6 affair.The “sleeping beauties” referred to in the title of the show are actually treasured garments in the museum’s collection that are so fragile, they need to be housed in special glass “coffins,” curators said. Garments will be displayed in a series of galleries organized by themes of nature.“Using the natural world as a uniting visual metaphor for the transience of fashion, the show will explore cyclical themes of rebirth and renewal, breathing new life into these storied objects through creative and immersive activations designed to convey the scents, sounds, textures, and motions of garments th...

Ed Burke jury selection continues

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:44:45 GMT

CHICAGO — It’s day three of jury selection in the Ed Burke trial.The powerful former Chicago alderman is on trial for public corruption.For a third straight day potential jurors are facing questions in the 25th floor court room of Judge Virginia Kendall.Burke arrived at the courthouse Wednesday morning, ready for another day of listening to people from all walks of life in Northern Illinois be questioned by the judge, the prosecutors and his own attorneys.The group is trying to whittle a pool of more than 50 potential jurors down to 12 and four alternates. Related: The career of Ed Burke: Power personified So far less than 30 have made it through the questioning. About 45 jurors are needed to pass that initial hurdle before each team of attorneys can begin striking potential jurors.Burke is on trial with two co-defendants: his longtime aide Peter Andrews and developer Charles Cui.Burke himself faces 14 counts of racketeering, bribery  and extortion.  Prosecutors say he ...