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Families of Montreal fire victims could face long wait for answers, police say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:30 GMT

MONTREAL — Police say the families of the presumed victims of a deadly fire in Old Montreal could be facing a long wait for answers, as investigators are working to enter a building described as a “scene of destruction.” Insp. David Shane told reporters today that the unstable structure of the building and the difficulty of recovering bodies could mean an agonizing delay for the loved ones of the people missing.One woman has been found dead and six people remain missing after a fire swept through the historic building in Old Montreal last Thursday.Shane says several floors of the building collapsed on each other, and because of the risk of further collapse, recovery teams will have to be lifted by crane into the building.Fire and police investigators explored the scene Monday with the help of cameras and visual inspections from the outside but did not recover any more victims. A spokeswoman for the city’s forensics lab says the process to identify victims could als...

US probes reports of steering glitch on newer Honda Civics

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:30 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — U.S. auto safety regulators are investigating complaints from Honda Civic drivers that their steering can stick, causing a momentary increase in effort and increasing the risk of a crash.The probe by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration covers an estimated 238,000 Civics from the 2022 and 2023 model years.The agency says it has 145 complaints about the problem, which happens mostly at highway speeds. The complaints came over the past 11 months and occurred mostly on vehicles with low miles.An increase in steering effort can cause an overreaction or inability to avoid a road hazard, the agency said in documents posted Tuesday on its website.NHTSA has no reports of crashes or injuries from the problem. The agency will determine how many vehicles are affected and how severe the problem is. A recall is possible. Honda said that it will cooperate with the investigation, which is in its early stages and may not lead to a recall. The company also is doing an in...

Protests in Lebanon as pound hits new low against dollar

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:30 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Protesters closed down major roads in parts of Lebanon on Tuesday after the Lebanese pound briefly hit a new low amid a historic economic crisis that seemingly has no end in sight.The Lebanese pound lost more than 15% of its value on Tuesday alone, tanking to more than 140,000 pounds to the dollar. A week ago, the dollar was worth 100,000 pounds.The small nation is in the grips of the worst economic and financial crisis in its modern history rooted in decades of corruption and mismanagement by a political class that has ruled the country since the end of the 1975-90 civil war.The political class has been resisting the implementation of reforms as demanded by the international community. Since the economic meltdown began in October 2019, three-quarters of Lebanon’s population of over 6 million, including a million Syrian refugees, now live in poverty and inflation is soaring.The official exchange rate is set by the central bank at 15,000 pounds for the U.S. dollar but t...

Missouri Senate endorses transgender health restrictions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:30 GMT

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri Senate gave initial approval Tuesday to a pair of bills that would temporarily prohibit gender transitioning health care treatments for minors and restrict them from competing in sports. The Senate votes came after an all-night session and only after Republican supporters agreed to several provisions they described as compromises with Democrats, including the addition of an automatic expiration for the restrictive provisions in 2027. The GOP also agreed to allow minors already receiving hormone treatments or puberty-blocking drugs to continue to do so, applying that ban only to those who had not yet started them. Health care providers who perform a gender-transition surgery or prescribe “cross-sex hormones or puberty-blocking drugs” to minors could have their medical licenses revoked.Republican state Sen. Mike Moon, a lead sponsor of one of the bills, said the expiration date was necessary to win approval in the Senate, where Democrats had hel...

BlackBerry strikes new deal to sell portfolio of non-core patents

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:30 GMT

TORONTO — BlackBerry Ltd. has signed a deal to sell a portfolio of what it says are non-core patents related to mobile devices, messaging and wireless networking in an agreement that could be worth up to US$900 million.The company says Malikie Innovations Ltd., a newly formed subsidiary of Key Patent Innovations Ltd., will pay US$170 million in cash up front and an additional US$30 million in cash by no later than the third anniversary of closing the deal. BlackBerry will also receive annual cash royalties from the profits generated from the patents that will initially be capped at US$700 million. The cap is subject to an annual increase of an amount equal to four per cent of the remaining portion of the US$700 million that has not been paid to BlackBerry as of the date of the increase. BlackBerry has transformed itself from a smartphone company to one focused on security software and services.The portfolio being sold includes about 32,000 patents and applications relating primarily...

Rapidly spreading fungus already in 28 states, including Illinois, presents 'urgent' threat, CDC warns

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:30 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – A fungus that poses "an urgent antimicrobial resistance threat," according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has already been detected in more than half of U.S. states. Candida auris, or C. auris, is so concerning because it is often resistant to anti-fungal drugs, making it hard to treat infections. It can also be hard to identify with standard lab tests, making it even more difficult to treat properly and early. The fungus was first detected in the United States in 2016. The fungus "spread at an alarming rate" between 2020 and 2021 in health care facilities, the CDC wrote in a memo released Monday, and has continued to spread in 2022. CDC study warns of ‘dramatic increase’ in deadly fungus across US By the end of 2022, there were more than 8,000 instances of Candida auris identified across 28 states and Washington, D.C. The map below shows confirmed cases of the fungus, with states shaded in red having the most infections. While it usually isn't a s...

Stove left on determined cause of deadly fire in Ottawa

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:30 GMT

OTTAWA, Ill. — The cause of a deadly fire last week in Ottawa has been determined to be from a stove that was left on.On Wednesday, March 15, authorities responded to the 100 block of West Campbell Street on the report of a fire.Crews entered and found a heavy fire in the kitchen, which extended to the bedroom and living room. A victim, whose name or age was not given, was found unresponsive in the living room.They were later pronounced dead at St. Elizabeth's Hospital. Firefighters rescued after ceiling collapses during house fire on Far Southeast Side Further investigation revealed that the fire was started from an open flame on the stove. Multiple pots were melted and smoke detectors were melted as well, authorities said.It was classified as accidental.

Gwyneth Paltrow's trial begins for Deer Valley ski crash

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:30 GMT

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — Gwyneth Paltrow's trial is set to begin on Tuesday in a lawsuit filed by a retired optometrist who said that the actor-turned-lifestyle influencer violently crashed into him in 2016 while skiing in Utah at one of the most upscale ski resorts in the United States.Terry Sanderson, 76, said Paltrow was cruising down the slopes so recklessly that they collided, leaving him on the ground as she and her entourage continued their descent down Deer Valley Resort, a skiers-only mountain known for its groomed runs, après-ski champagne yurts and posh clientele."Gwyneth Paltrow skied out of control," Sanderson's attorneys claim in the lawsuit, “knocking him down hard, knocking him out, and causing a brain injury, four broken ribs and other serious injuries. Paltrow got up, turned and skied away, leaving Sanderson stunned, lying in the snow, seriously injured.”In a case that has lasted years since the 2016 incident, Sanderson is suing Paltrow for $300,000 — claiming that t...

'No need to worry': Shaq offers update after surgery

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:30 GMT

(WJW) — Basketball legend Shaquille O'Neal on Sunday posted a photo of himself in a hospital bed on social media, worrying some fans. "I'm always watching," he posted on Twitter, telling his "NBA on TNT" cohosts Candace Parker and Ernie Johnson that he missed them. Shaquille O’Neal pays off engagement ring for stranger at jewelry store At the time, O'Neal did not make clear what he was in the hospital for, but TMZ Sports reported that he underwent hip surgery and was recovering.On Monday evening, Shaq cleared the air, telling fans to rest assured he was doing well.FILE - This June 24, 2019, file photo shows Shaquille O'Neal at the NBA Awards in Santa Monica, Calif. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)"To all the people who are worried and concerned, first off, let me say thank you. And lastly no need to worry, just had to get some BBL WORK AKA #hipreplacement," he wrote in another tweet. "Thanks and love you all, but no need to worry and, yes, I’m fine."ET reported that ...

LA schools strike begins; more than half a million students affected

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:30 GMT

(KTLA) – Despite last-minute negotiations that went into the evening Monday, the Los Angeles Unified School District was unable to come to an agreement with the union representing thousands of its employees to avert a work stoppage.On Tuesday morning, the LAUSD strike began, shutting down hundreds of schools and creating hardships for hundreds of thousands of parents.Demonstrators could be seen picketing under the rain as early as 5:30 a.m. in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Van Nuys, video showed.The strike had been in the works for several weeks, and union representatives identified Tuesday as the first day of what is tentatively planned to be a three-day stoppage.The strike includes the support of as many as 60,000 employees of the school district who are members of both the Local 99 of Service Employees International Union and United Teachers Los Angeles.The unions represent both educators and school district employees, including bus drivers, custodians, cafeteria workers and te...