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New Mexico lawmakers ask questions about spending by university president and his wife

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 09:25:10 GMT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Western New Mexico University President Joseph Shepard was peppered with questions about spending on overseas trips and his wife’s use of a university credit card during a hearing Wednesday before a group of powerful lawmakers.The Legislative Finance Committee — the state’s lead budget-writing panel — was hearing presentations from higher education officials on budget priorities when the focus shifted to Shepard and recent reports detailing tens of thousands of dollars in spending on international travel and high-end furniture.The questions come as higher education leaders press lawmakers to funnel more money to state-run colleges and universities, citing inflation and the need to boost faculty compensation to meet growing demands. Nationally, some universities are considering cutting programs as budget shortfalls grow and calls for greater accountability mount.Shepard told lawmakers during the hearing in Santa Fe that regents vet his spending requests...

Congressional group demands probe into Beijing’s role in violence against protesters on US soil

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 09:25:10 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A congressional commission is asking the Justice Department to investigate the role of Beijing after protesters claimed they were beaten and harassed by Chinese government agents in November in San Francisco during an official visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping.The protesters, who were defending the rights of Hong Kong, Tibet and ethnic Uyghurs, said their attackers’ attire, coordination and strong reaction to anti-Communist Party rhetoric indicated official Chinese involvement. They provided no definitive evidence, but U.S. officials have previously accused Chinese operatives of targeting people in the United States.Rep. Chris Smith, a New Jersey Republican who chairs the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, said Tuesday it was demanding a thorough investigation to “find out why all of these wonderful people who were peacefully protesting were hit with poles, have scars that now you know will not go away.”The Chinese Embassy denied any involvement and i...

Tropical Cyclone Jasper weakens while still lashing northeastern Australia with flooding rain

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 09:25:10 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The first tropical cyclone to hit Australia in the current season weakened to a low pressure system but continued to lash the northeast coast Thursday with flooding rain and left almost 40,000 homes and businesses without power.Cyclone Jasper crossed the Queensland state coast late Wednesday as a category 2 storm on a five-tier scale that whipped the sparsely populated region with winds of up to 140 kph (87 mph).The cyclone crossed near the Aboriginal community of Wujal Wujal, 110 kilometers (68 miles) north of the city of Cairns, though many of its 300 residents evacuated before Jasper struck.Katrina Hewitt, who operates tourist accommodation at Wujal Wujal and did not evacuate, said the community was largely unscathed except for damaged trees.“It looks amazing. No flooding, no breakages of buildings,” Hewitt told Nine Network television.“It was a big waiting game. We just didn’t know what was going to happen,” she said.Hewitt expected Wujal Wujal would b...

How Canada’s UN vote breaks with long-standing policy — and what Israel says about it

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 09:25:10 GMT

OTTAWA — Canada shifted its long-standing stance at the United Nationsto join international calls for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on Tuesday.It marked a departure from years of Canadabacking Israel at the international body, a policythat had come under renewed scrutiny during the latest Israel-Hamas war. The conflict was sparked when Hamas militants killed an estimated 1,200 people and took 240 more hostage in an Oct. 7 attack on Israel. More than 18,000 Palestinians have been killed since then amid Israel’s retaliation campaign in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.Here’s a look at how Canada has approached its UN votes over time, and what Israel is saying about the policy shift. A LONG-STANDING POLICYIsrael is regularly subject to motions at the United Nations condemning its treatment of Palestinians. Many Arab countries argue that Israeli officials are violating international law. Israel rebuffs those claims, arguing it receives disproportionate scrut...

OPP report multiple collisions, roll-overs due to wintry weather

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 09:25:10 GMT

Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) said officers were busy on Wednesday as wintry weather in southern Ontario created hazardous road conditions, with multiple collisions and injuries reported.Officers responded to several incidents on Hwy. 115 and Hwy. 35, with as many as 12 vehicles involved, including nine in the ditch and multiple cars rolled over.An OPP spokesperson said two people were taken to a hospital with injuries and that one involved a person being struck by a vehicle while they were outside of their car.Winter driving conditions today on #Hwy115/35 – 12 vehicles, 9 in the ditch, several rolled over. 2 people to hospital with injuries. One of the injured was outside of their vehicle when they got hit. #DriveSafe. #TorontoOPP ^ks pic.twitter.com/Kl7cJuWvUk— OPP Highway Safety Division (@OPP_HSD) December 13, 2023Environment Canada issued snow squall warnings in various regions on Wednesday, including areas in northern York and Durham, including Newmarket, Barrie,...

Enbridge to sell Alliance, Aux Sable stakes to Pembina Pipeline for $3.1 billion

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 09:25:10 GMT

CALGARY — Enbridge Inc. says it has agreed to sell its stakes in the Alliance pipeline and Aux Sable gas processing facility to Pembina Pipeline Corp. for $3.1 billion.The Alliance pipeline is a 3,848-kilometre pipeline stretching southeast from B.C. that brings gas into Chicago’s Aux Sable, one of the largest natural gas liquids processing facilities in North America.Enbridge currently owns 50 per cent of Alliance and 42.7 per cent of Aux Sable, while Pembina Pipeline owns the remaining 50 per cent of Alliance and 42.7 per cent of Aux Sable.As part of the transaction, Pembina, which is the current operator of Aux Sable, will become the sole operator of Alliance.The $3.1 billion purchase price includes non-recourse debt of approximately $0.3 billion.Enbridge says the proceeds from the sale will fund a portion of its previously announced US$14-billion acquisition of three U.S.-based gas utilities, and will also be used to pay down debt. The deal is expected to close in the firs...

Georgia election worker tearfully describes fleeing her home after Giuliani’s false claims of fraud

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 09:25:10 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A former Georgia election worker suing Rudy Giuliani over false claims he spread about her and her daughter in 2020 cried on the witness stand on Wednesday as she described fleeing her home after she endured racist threats and strangers banging on her door. Ruby Freeman’s online boutique was flooded with threatening messages, including several that mentioned lynching, after Giuliani tweeted a video of her counting votes as a temporary election worker while he pushed Donald Trump’s baseless claims of fraud, Freeman told jurors. Freeman, 64, said she had to leave her home in January 2021, after people came with bullhorns and the FBI told her she wasn’t safe. “I took it as though they were going to hang me with their ropes on my street,” Freeman testified about the threats on the third day of the trial in Washington’s federal courthouse. She added: “I was scared. I didn’t know if they were coming to kill me.”Lawyers for Freeman and her daughter...

New York courthouse hosting Trump civil trial is briefly evacuated hours after testimony wraps

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 09:25:10 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The courthouse in New York City where former President Donald Trump’s civil business fraud trial has been taking place was briefly evacuated Wednesday hours after testimony concluded for the day.About a dozen firefighters ascended the steps of the New York State Supreme Court Building shortly after 4 p.m. There was a visible haze in the stairwell between the third and fourth floor, according to an Associated Press reporter who was asked to leave the building.Among those evacuated was Judge Arthur Engoron, who has presided over Trump’s trial on the building’s fourth floor for the past 10 weeks. The evacuees were permitted to return to the building shortly after firefighters entered.Fire and police officials didn’t immediately have information on what prompted the evacuation.A court spokesperson said they were looking into the incident.The Associated Press

Israel-Hamas war tensions roil campuses; Brown protesters are arrested, Haverford building occupied

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 09:25:10 GMT

Dozens of student protesters at Brown University were arrested, and a weeklong sit-in at Haverford College ended Wednesday under threat of disciplinary action as U.S. college campuses continue to be roiled by tensions over the Israel-Hamas war.Brown’s police department charged 41 students with trespass when they refused to leave the University Hall administrative building after business hours on Monday, according to officials at the Ivy League school in Providence, Rhode Island. Earlier that day, protesters had met with Brown President Christina H. Paxson and demanded that Brown divest “its endowment from Israeli military occupation,” the school said in a statement on the arrests. Students were photographed and fingerprinted at the administration building before their release Monday night. Other students waited outside to cheer them on.It was the second round of arrests at Brown in a little over a month as college administrators around the country try to reconcile the ri...

French actor Gérard Depardieu stripped of Order of Quebec after documentary remarks

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 09:25:10 GMT

QUEBEC — The Quebec government has stripped French actor Gérard Depardieu of his Order of Quebec after “shocking” comments made by the actor came to light in a documentary filmThe release of a documentary in France this month showing him repeatedly making obscene sexual remarks and gestures during a 2018 trip to North Korea has caused the French actor’s behaviour towards women to come under scrutiny once more.The footage, filmed by a professional crew that covered Depardieu’s visit during the 70th anniversary of North Korea’s formation, was included in an investigative documentary that aired last week on French TV, and some of the clips have gone viral on social media.Quebec Premier François Legault today announced the decision to remove Depardieu from the order, acting on a recommendation from the council that oversees the honour.Legault says in a statement that Depardieu’s comments have shocked people around the world and his behaviour has tarni...