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Quebec police arrest 13 over alleged grandparent scams linked to organized crime

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:53 GMT

MONTREAL — Thirteen people were arrested Wednesday in connection with an alleged grandparent fraud scheme linked to organized crime, Quebec provincial police said.Police say the alleged frauds, which targeted people in the United States, took place between May 2019 and March 2021.The 12 men and one woman, aged between 26 and 43, were scheduled to appear in a Montreal court Wednesday afternoon, Quebec prosecutors said.All 13 face charges of fraud over $5,000, according to charging documents. Others face a variety of additional charges, including identity theft, conspiracy and attempted fraud. Four are charged with committing an offence for a criminal organization.Provincial police spokeswoman Sgt. Catherine Bernard said Quebec police worked with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other American agencies as part of the probe. Shelley Orman, with the FBI’s Baltimore field office, said U.S. authorities believe the scam stole more than US$2.5 million from 85 elderly victims.Fi...

Health care workers picket outside US hospitals in multiple states, kicking off 3-day strike

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:53 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tens of thousands of Kaiser Permanente workers took to picket lines in multiple states on Wednesday, starting a massive strike that the company warned could cause delays at its hospitals and clinics that serve nearly 13 million Americans.The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, representing about 85,000 of the health system’s employees nationally, approved a strike for three days in California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington, and for one day in Virginia and Washington, D.C. Some 75,000 people were expected to participate in the pickets.“They’re not listening to the frontline health care workers,” said Mikki Fletchall, a licensed vocational nurse based in a Kaiser medical office in Camarillo, California. “We’re striking because of our patients.”The nonprofit company said its 39 hospitals, including emergency rooms, will remain open. Doctors are not participating, and Oakland, California-based Kaiser said it was bringing in thousands of temporary workers to...

Stock market today: Wall Street ends higher as the bond market loosens its vise and oil falls

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:53 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street closed higher as the bond market loosened its vise on the stock market. The S&P 500 rose 0.8% Wednesday, coming off a 1.4% tumble that sent it to its lowest level in four months. The Dow rose 127 points, a day after wiping out its gains for the year. The Nasdaq composite added 1.4%. Treasury yields eased to give the stock market some more oxygen after reports suggested the U.S. economy may be cooling. Oil prices also tumbled by $5 per barrel to take some pressure off inflation and the threat of rates staying very high. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is steadying itself Wednesday as the bond market loosens its vise on the stock market following signals of a cooling U.S. economy.The S&P 500 was 0.4% higher in late trading, coming off a 1.4% tumble that had sent it to its lowest level in four months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 5 points, or less than 0.1%, a day after wiping ou...

Southern California county files lawsuits alleging power company’s equipment sparked wildfires

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:53 GMT

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A Southern California county has filed lawsuits alleging a major power company’s negligence caused two wildfires that collectively burned thousands of acres and prompted the evacuation of tens of thousands of people.Orange County, which is home to more than 3 million people between Los Angeles and San Diego, filed a pair of lawsuits against Southern California Edison in which it alleges the company’s equipment played a role in wildfires in 2020 and 2022.The county said in the lawsuit that it believes that the Coastal Fire — which burned 200 acres (80 hectares), destroyed 20 homes and prompted more than 900 people to evacuate in May 2022 — was caused by an electrical failure on a utility pole that supported a distribution line. The county alleged the incident occurred because Southern California Edison, known as SCE, failed to maintain its facilities in a safe manner in an area of significant risk of wildfire.“We demand that the utilities responsi...

Prosecutors focus on video evidence in trial of Washington officers charged in Manny Ellis’ death

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:53 GMT

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — A cellphone video of the 2020 fatal arrest of Manny Ellis shows the Black man on the ground with his hands in the air in surrender as police officers held his neck and shot him with a Taser, according to the testimony Wednesday of a forensic video analyst in the trial of three Washington officers accused in his death.Prosecutors are also expected to call Ellis’ sister and mother to the stand. Tacoma Officers Matthew Collins and Christopher Burbank, both white, are charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter. Officer Timothy Rankine, who is Asian American, is charged with manslaughter. All three have pleaded not guilty.Video evidence will be key in the case against the officers. The officers have claimed that the 33-year-old Ellis aggressively fought back, but the videos show he was in a surrender position during the attack.Grant Fredericks, owner of a forensic video analysis company, walked the jury, slide by slide, through one of the cellphone vide...

McCarthy’s ouster leaves the House adrift as divided Republicans seek to unite behind a new leader

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:53 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The stunning removal of Kevin McCarthy as speaker has left the House adrift as Republicans struggle to bring order to their fractured majority and begin the difficult and potentially prolonged process of uniting around a new leader. The House convened briefly Wednesday and then went into recess, with North Carolina Rep. Patrick McHenry, the caretaker speaker pro-tempore, serving in the job with very little power for the foreseeable future. Other Republicans left Washington, awaiting the next steps.The House will try to elect a speaker as soon as next week. The timing is nowhere near certain as Republicans line up for their chance at the gavel amid the bitter divisions that sparked the chaos.The House majority leader, Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., is in line for the post, but he faced an immediate challenge from Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, the Judiciary Committee chairman and a favorite of conservatives, who quickly announced his own candidacy. Others are expected to emer...

Nichols College president resigns amid allegations of misconduct at Coast Guard Academy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:53 GMT

DUDLEY, Mass. (AP) — A former Coast Guard Academy professor whose tenure coincided with a sexual harassment scandal has resigned as president of Nichols College in Massachusetts.Glenn Sulmasy stepped down Tuesday amid an investigation initiated by the private, four-year college after accusations from Sulmasy’s time at the academy came to light.“In light of these reports and facts uncovered to date during our ongoing investigation, and their impact on President Sulmasy’s ability to lead Nichols College, the board strongly believes the institution’s best interest is to pursue new leadership,” the college said.Neither Sulmasy nor his attorney immediately returned messages seeking comment Wednesday. The Coast Guard in June apologized for failing to take “appropriate action” years earlier when accusations of sexual assault and harassment surfaced at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. An investigation dubbed “Operation Fouled Anchor” identified 62 substantiated...

Manitoba Tory cabinet minister denounces right-wing pivot in election campaign

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:53 GMT

WINNIPEG — A Manitoba cabinet minister defeated in Tuesday’s provincial election says the Progressive Conservative party she has served for years took a hard-right pivot during the election campaign and now needs to address an identity crisis.Rochelle Squires, who served in a variety of cabinet posts since the Tories took power in 2016, said she was surprised by campaign ads that touted the government’s opposition to a landfill search for the remains of Indigenous women.“It certainly was a surprise and certainly was something that was not reflective of the work that we had been doing in government for the last 7 1/2 years, and it’s deeply regrettable,” Squires said in an interview Wednesday.Squires, who had been front and centre for some of the party’s major campaign announcements, made a decision when she saw the ads.“I made a decision that I didn’t want to lead any news conferences.”She stayed out of the campaign spotlight afte...

Toronto unofficially sees hottest Oct. 4 in 72 years, but cooler temperatures are coming

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:53 GMT

For yet another day this week Toronto saw a temperature record broken as warm air continues to cover the region, but cooler temperatures are on the way.According to data from Environment Canada’s weather station at Toronto Pearson International Airport, there was a high of 27.9 C at 3 p.m. on Wednesday.Wednesday’s daytime high at the airport broke a long-standing record. Historical weather data from the federal department showed the previous high for Oct. 4 was 27.2 C in 1951.The coldest Oct. 4 since records were kept dates back to 1974 when the high was just -3.3 C.RELATED: Heat in Toronto breaks 22-year-old recordDespite the unofficial record-breaking temperatures in Toronto, the city wasn’t the warmest place in Canada on Wednesday. In the Petawawa, Ont., area, the temperature reached 30.7 C Wednesday afternoon. The coldest place was Svartevaeg, Nunavut, where it was -10.7 C.On Tuesday, temperatures at Toronto Pearson International Airport broke a 22-year record....

Simone Biles leads U.S. women to record 7th straight team title at gymnastics world championships

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:53 GMT

ANTWERP, Belgium (AP) — Led by Simone Biles, the U.S. women won a record seventh consecutive team title at the gymnastics world championships on Wednesday night.The American team of Biles, Shilese Jones, Skye Blakely and Leanne Wong combined for a total of 167.729 points to edge Brazil and France. The U.S. team won by a margin of 2.199 points as the final proved to be a closer contest than anticipated after the Americans put up a dominant performance in qualifying. The U.S. women have won gold in the team event at every world championship that included a team competition since 2011. Their victory in Antwerp broke a tie with the Chinese men for the longest streak of consecutive team titles and made Biles the most decorated female gymnast in history.Biles now has 26 world championship medals, 20 of them gold, to go with her seven Olympic medals, including the 2016 Olympic title. Her 33 combined medals at the sport’s two biggest events are one more than what Larisa Latynina of the Sovi...