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Maltese lawmakers vote to legalize abortion, but only where the mother is at risk of death

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:58:07 GMT

VALLETTA, Malta (AP) — Maltese lawmakers on Wednesday unanimously approved legislation to ease the strictest abortion laws in the European Union, but pro-choice campaigners had withdrawn their support, saying last-minute changes make the legislation “vague, unworkable and even dangerous.”The original bill allowing women access to abortion if a pregnant woman’s life or health is in danger was hailed as a step in the right direction for Malta, an overwhelmingly Roman Catholic nation. It was introduced last fall after an American tourist who miscarried had to be airlifted off the Mediterranean island nation to be treated. Under the amendments, however, a risk to health is not enough. A woman must be at risk of death to access an abortion, and then only after three specialists consent. The legislation approved Wednesday allows a doctor to terminate a pregnancy without further consultation only if the mother’s life is at immediate risk.Thousands of Maltese protested against t...

Former Connecticut Gov. Lowell P. Weicker Jr., maverick senator during Watergate, dies at 92

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:58:07 GMT

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Lowell P. Weicker Jr., a Republican U.S. senator who tussled with his own party during the Watergate hearings, championed legislation to protect people with disabilities and later was elected Connecticut governor as an independent, died Wednesday. He was 92.Weicker’s death at a hospital in Middletown, Conn., after a short illness, was confirmed by his family in a statement released by a spokesperson.With a 6-foot-6-inch frame and a shoot-from-the-hip style, Weicker was a leading figure in Connecticut politics from his first election to the General Assembly in 1962 until he decided against running for a second term as governor in 1994.He inspired strong feelings among many people he met. In one poll, opinion was split over whether Weicker was “decisive and courageous,” or “inflexible and arrogant.”“I think he was just incredibly genuine, a little unfiltered,” Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, a Democrat who considered Weicker a friend, told the Associated Pres...

Mississauga driving instructor facing sexual assault charges

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:58:07 GMT

A 55-year-old driving instructor is facing charges following a sexual assault investigation.Peel police say a young female was taking a driving lesson in the area of Tomken Road and Bloor Street on June 25 when she was allegedly sexually assaulted by the instructor. Muhammad Irfan of Mississauga has been charged with sexual assault and sexual exploitation. He has been released on a promise to appear and is scheduled to be back in court again in August. Investigators have appealed for anyone with information or anyone else who may have been a victim to contact them or Peel Crime Stoppers.

Federal minister LeBlanc calls changes to N.B.’s LGBTQ school policy a ‘mistake’

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:58:07 GMT

FREDERICTON — A federal cabinet minister says it was a mistake for New Brunswick to change the province’s policy on sexual orientation in schools.Infrastructure Minister Dominic LeBlanc told reporters today in Fredericton that the changes to Policy 713 complicate things for young people and their families.LeBlanc says he doesn’t think the prolonged and divisive debate in the legislature has been a success for Premier Blaine Higgs.Two members of Higgs’ cabinet resigned this month after the government made it no longer mandatory for teachers to use preferred names or pronouns for transgender and nonbinary students under 16, among other changes to Policy 713.As well, six members of his government voted with the Opposition earlier in June to force a motion through the legislature asking the province’s child and youth advocate to review the changes made to the policy.After the two resignations, Higgs shuffled his cabinet Tuesday, bouncing out two more ministers wh...

What you need to know about the potential Postmedia-Nordstar merger

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:58:07 GMT

TORONTO — What’s happening with Postmedia and Nordstar? Postmedia Network Canada Corp. and Nordstar Capital LP are in talks about a potential merger. They said in a press release that they’re trying to create greater scale in order to respond to the “existential threat” facing the media industry.Postmedia owns newspapers across the country including the National Post, the Edmonton Journal and the Calgary Herald, as well as the Sun in Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary and Edmonton.Nordstar owns Metroland Media Group and the Toronto Star, and is a relatively new company, having been created to acquire Torstar Corp. in 2020. Is this a done deal? No, this is not final yet. The companies are in ongoing talks about the merger, which they said is currently in the form of a non-binding letter of intent. Does the government need to weigh in? The Competition Bureau will likely have to sign off on this deal amid an industry that’s been shrinking and consolidating for years. Industry Minister François-P...

Man’s death awaiting trial on charges he killed his mother at sea was not suspicious, autopsy says

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:58:07 GMT

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — An autopsy has determined that the death of a man awaiting trial on charges of killing his mother off the coast of New England in a scheme to inherit millions of dollars was not suspicious, the New Hampshire attorney general’s office said Wednesday.Nathan Carman, 29, of Vernon, Vermont, was found dead in his cell in a county jail in New Hampshire on June 15. The attorney general’s office does not release the cause and manner in deaths that are not suspicious, according to spokesperson Michael Garrity. The U.S. Marshals Service in Vermont said it will not be releasing the cause of Carman’s death at the request of family. The attorney general’s office confirmed that authorities consider a death to be not suspicious when they’ve determined no one else was involved, or if no crime was committed.Carman pleaded not guilty last year to fraud and first-degree murder in the death of his mother, Linda Carman, in 2016, and was scheduled to go on trial in ...

Muti ends 13 seasons with Chicago Symphony Orchestra with praise and honors – and Beethoven

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:58:07 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — Riccardo Muti was in total control to the very end.He had signaled the last note of his final Orchestra Hall concert as Chicago Symphony Orchestra music director on Sunday when several people started to applaud. His back to the audience, the 81-year-old conductor snapped out his right arm and baton, demanding silence to frame Beethoven’s “Missa Solemnis.”Moments later, he relaxed his shoulders, setting off seven minutes of sustained applause.“It needs a moment of tranquility to think about,” he said the next day.Muti’s 13 seasons as music director were celebrated with Sunday’s subscription finale, and he ended his tenure on Tuesday night the way it began: with a free concert in Millennium Park, although the denouement of Florence Price’s Andante moderato and Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony was played in a smoky haze caused by Canadian wild fires.His 540th performance with the orchestra and 508th as music director wasn’t a final goodbye. While the search for a...

Biden delivers 'Bidenomics' remarks in Chicago

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:58:07 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is in Chicago Wednesday to deliver a speech on what the White House has called "Bidenomics."Biden delivered his address at The Old Post Office in downtown. The speech is to begin a new effort to actively convince a worried public that the U.S. economy is not heading for recession but actually thriving because of his leadership. For him, there's a happy confluence of the coming 2024 reelection campaign and a favorable turn in recent economic data, leading the White House to believe that public messaging about “Bidenomics” will help to rally Democratic voters going into next year.But polling has consistently shown the economy to be a weak spot for Biden's reelection hopes. Just 33% approve of his leadership on the issue, according to a May survey by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs.Biden is eager to take full political ownership of the U.S. economy — a reflection of the White House belief that infla...

Biden nominates April Perry for Chicago's top federal prosecutor

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:58:07 GMT

CHICAGO — While in town for a speech Wednesday, President Biden announced that he's nominating April Perry as the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. If confirmed, she would be the district's first woman in the position.Perry is currently senior counsel with global investigations and fraud and abuse prevention at GE HealthCare. Prior to serving as general counsel for Ubiety Technologies from 2019 to 2022, Perry was the Cook County State's Attorney's Office's first ever Chief Ethics Officer under Kim Foxx.In April 2019 during the Jussie Smollett scandal, Perry left the office for her role at Ubiety Technologies.Prior to Dan Webb being appointed as the special prosecutor in the case that summer, which led to criminal charges against Smollett, the Chicago Tribune reported that Perry advised Foxx's assistant who headed up the case, Joseph Magats, to seek a special prosecutor.The outlet reported he told Perry that Foxx had decided that a special prosecutor should not be ...

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals rejects Rodney Reed's innocence claims and new trial

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:58:07 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – Texas' highest criminal appeals court on Wednesday rejected death-row inmate Rodney Reed’s most recent applications claiming his innocence and seeking a new trial.The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals rejections – years in the making – are the culmination of a massive effort by Reed’s defense team that included a two-week evidentiary hearing in Bastrop in July 2021. Dozens of witnesses testified, including the victim Stacey Stites’ mother and her former fiancé Jimmy Fennell. EXPLORE: Full coverage of the Rodney Reed case Reed, now 55, was convicted and sentenced to death in Bastrop County for the murder of 19-year-old Stites in 1996. Reed has maintained his innocence and has fought for years with the legal assistance of the New York-based Innocence Project.Over the years, Reed’s legal team has filed 10 applications for relief with the CCA, and all have failed. On Wednesday the CCA rejected his ninth and tenth applications.Jane Pucher, a staff attorney with the Innoce...