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Pakistan army fires 3 officers for failing to stop Khan supporters from attacking installations

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:42:16 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s military said Monday that it has fired three senior army officers over their failure to prevent violent attacks on public property and military installations by supporters of the country’s former prime minister. The attacks last month came after former premier Imran Khan was arrested in a graft case. Maj. Gen. Ahmad Sharif said a top general was among those fired, and action had been taken against another 15 army officers over their “unintentional negligence” in the matter. The military did not disclose the names of the officers who were fired or disciplined, but it said some family members of retired army officers were also facing investigation.At a televised news conference, Sharif said the military was also trying 102 civilians over their involvement in the May 9 attacks, during which the residence of a top regional commander was destroyed in Lahore. The latest development comes weeks after thousands of demonstrations from Khan’s Pakistan T...

Swedish government investigators launch probe of deadly roller coaster accident

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:42:16 GMT

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Swedish government investigators on Monday launched a probe into a roller coaster accident that killed one person and injured nine at the country’s oldest amusement park.The Gröna Lund park has been closed, and will remain closed for at least one week after the accident Sunday, when a roller coaster train partially derailed, sending some passengers plunging to the ground.One passenger died and nine were taken to Stockholm area hospitals. Most of the injured, including three children, were released by Monday. Four adults remained hospitalized, two of them in serious but not life-threatening condition, the regional government said.Park officials said the front of the train derailed for unknown reasons and came to a halt between 6 and 8 meters (between 20 and 25) feet above ground. Witnesses said two or three people fell out, one of whom managed to cling to the track.Experts from the Swedish Accident Investigation Authority arrived Monday at Gröna Lund to investigate t...

Book Review: A severed arm found in a lake leads to a twist-filled murder case by Paul Doiron

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:42:16 GMT

“Dead Man’s Wake,” by Paul Doiron (Minotaur)Maine Game Warden Mike Bowditch’s on-again, off-again romance with Stacey Stevens is definitely on again, the pair celebrating their engagement at a relative’s lake house when the night is interrupted by the roar of watercraft racing at illegally high speeds.“Let it go, Mike,” Stacey says. “For me.”“OK,” he replies.But then both hear a disturbing sound — not the screech of two boats colliding but rather the thump of a craft hitting something submerged in the water. Together, they borrow their host’s party boat and venture out to investigate. Not long after, as they near acre-size Mouse Island, Stacy spots something skidding along in the current.It’s a severed human arm.So begins “Dead Man’s Wake,” the 13th novel in Paul Doiron’s fine series of mysteries featuring Bowditch.By morning, as the local lake constable, state police detectives, and more game wardens descend on the scene, the submerged body of a middle-age man with a missing arm is...

Stock market today: Wall Street drifts to start what could be a quiet wek

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:42:16 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are drifting Monday in their first trading since a big rally for Wall Street hit its first roadblock in six weeks.The S&P 500 was 0.2% higher in morning trading. It’s still close to its highest level in a year, reached a couple weeks ago. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 11 points, or less than 0.1%, at 33,716, as of 10:20 a.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was 0.4% higher.Electric vehicle maker Lucid Group jumped 12.4% after announcing a deal where it would provide powertrain and battery systems to Aston Martin. PacWest Bancorp, one of the banks Wall Street has punished in its hunt for the system’s next potential weak link, rose 6.4% after it sold a portfolio of loans to strengthen its cash position. Carnival, meanwhile, fell 8.5% despite reporting stronger results and revenue for its latest quarter than expected. Its forecasted ranges for earnings per share, occupancy levels and other measures in the current quarter may have dis...

Spanish Royal Academy rejects suggestion to change language’s name to ‘Ñamericano’

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:42:16 GMT

MADRID (AP) — The director of the Spanish-speaking world’s top linguistic institution on Monday rejected an Argentinian author’s suggestion to rename the Spanish language to “Ñamericano” to reflect the continent where the majority of its speakers now live.The Spanish Royal Academy, founded in 1713, is best known for compiling the authoritative Spanish language dictionary. It also acts as a gatekeeper for correct usage and linguistic changes. It has issued past edicts against employing feminine or neutral terms for words that are traditionally gendered as male. The Academy also frequently acts as a bulwark against the entry of “unnecessary” Anglicisms into the Spanish language.At a conference on the Spanish language held in March, Buenos Aires-born journalist Martín Caparrós proposed renaming the language “Ñamericano” to remove its colonial origins. Caparrós’ 2021 book about Spanish speakers in the Americas was titled “Ñamérica.” “The letter ñ is an ‘archetype...

Celebrity birthdays for the week of July 2-8

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:42:16 GMT

Celebrity birthdays for the week of July 2-8:July 2: Actor Robert Ito (“Quincy”) is 92. Actor Polly Holliday (“Alice”) is 86. Writer-director Larry David (“Curb Your Enthusiasm,” ″Seinfeld”) is 76. Keyboardist Roy Bittan of the E Street Band is 74. Actor Wendy Schaal (“American Dad,” ″It’s a Living”) is 69. Model-actor Jerry Hall is 67. Actor Jimmy McNichol is 62. Bassist Dave Parsons of Bush is 58. Actor Yancy Butler (“Witchblade”) is 53. Violinist Melodee DeVevo of Casting Crowns is 47. Actor Owain Yeoman (“The Mentalist”) is 45. Singer Michelle Branch is 40. Actor Vanessa Lee Chester (“The Lost World: Jurassic Park”) is 39. Actor Nelson Franklin (“The Millers”) is 38. Actor Ashley Tisdale (“Hellcats,” ″High School Musical”) is 38. Actor Lindsay Lohan is 37. Actor Margot Robbie is 33.July 3: Actor Michael Cole (“The Mod Squad”) is 83. Actor Kurtwood Smith (“That 70s Show”) is 80. Country singer Johnny Lee is 77. Writer Dave Barry is 76. Actor Betty Buckley is 76. Actor Jan Smither...

EU urges caution as mercenary revolt raises doubts about Russian president’s grip on power

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:42:16 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union ministers urged caution Monday after a failed revolt by mercenaries in Russia raised questions about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s grip on power and whether the mercenaries might install themselves just over the border in Belarus.At talks in Luxembourg, some EU foreign ministers likened the short-lived uprising led by Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin to Putin unleashing a Frankenstein’s monster or ghost of his own creation. Several also noted that many questions remain, including Prigozhin’s precise whereabouts and whether he’s taking troops with him. Many seemed to agree that a key response to the crisis in Russia was to help Ukraine draw any possible advantage from the situation.“We are analyzing this carefully,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told reporters. “There are also risks involved, which we are still unable to assess at the moment. For us Europeans, the only thing that matters is to support Ukraine.”EU foreign poli...

The Supreme Court won’t let a North Carolina charter school force girls to wear skirts to school

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:42:16 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday left in place an appellate ruling barring a North Carolina public charter school from requiring girls to wear skirts to school.The justices declined without comment to hear an appeal from the Charter Day School in the eastern North Carolina town of Leland. A federal appeals court had ruled that the school’s dress code violated students’ constitutional rights.School founder Baker Mitchell had said the dress code was intended to promote “chivalry” by the male students and respect for the female students, according to court documents.The dress code already has been changed to allow girls to wear pants, in line with the lower court ruling.___Follow the AP’s coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court at https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court.The Associated Press

Book Review: ‘The Art Thief’ is an astonishing story that capitalizes on our love of true crime

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:42:16 GMT

“The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession” by Michael Finkel (Alfred A. Knopf)What is it about stories of transgression that keep us wanting more of them? Tales of heists, con artists and even murders permeate all corners of society, from Dostoevsky to “Tiger King.”It is this insatiable thirst for accounts of crime – and if based on real events, all the better – that journalist Michael Finkel exploits in “The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime and a Dangerous Obsession.”It recounts the astonishing saga of Stéphane Breitwieser, the notorious art thief who stole hundreds of pieces of art between 1994 and 2001, mostly from museums throughout Europe – a collection which was estimated to be worth around $2 billion.The level of detail Finkel is able to provide, thanks to extensive reporting and hours of interviews with Breitwieser himself, is uncomfortably gripping, as if the reader is watching these events unfold and working as an accomplice to the French...

Toronto FC fires head coach Bob Bradley after team’s struggles

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:42:16 GMT

Bob Bradley has been fired as coach of Toronto FC after the club struggled to collect just three wins in 20 league games this season and finds itself just four points from the bottom of the Eastern Conference MLS standings.Assistant coach Mike Sorber was also let go.Bradley, who was hired in November 2021, posted a 14-19-26 (W-D-L) record during his time in charge of the club, which has now gone through three coaches since Greg Vanney left at the end of 2020.The team is winless (two defeats to go with three draws) in its last five games.Terry Dunfield, who was in charge of the club’s U17 academy team, has been appointed interim head coach.Injuries have been a factor this season for the team, but Bradley’s role in its failures was raised by Italian star Federico Bernardeschi after a 1-0 loss to Austin FC on May 20.“We don’t play,” said the Italian star, the fourth-highest paid player in the league at $6.295 million this season, after the 91st-minute loss...