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Officials in Liberia formally declare Boakai the president-elect days after incumbent Weah conceded

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:47 GMT

MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) — Election officials in Liberia on Monday formally declared Joseph Boakai the president-elect, three days after incumbent George Weah conceded defeat based on the runoff vote’s provisional results.According to the National Elections Commission, Boakai won with 50.64% of the second round balloting while Weah took 49.36%.“We are at the point where we will prepare for transition, begin the plan for inauguration, as we jump-start the activities of governance,” Boakai, 78, a former vice president, said moments after he was officially pronounced the winner.Weah, a former international soccer star, has earned praise in the West African country and abroad for his decision to concede defeat rather than challenge the outcome in court.“This is a time for graciousness in defeat, a time to place our country above party, and patriotism above personal interest,” Weah said in his concession speech late Friday. He has said his political career is not yet over. In 2...

Massachusetts to let homeless families stay overnight in state’s transportation building

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:47 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts announced plans Monday to let homeless families stay overnight in the state transportation building in Boston as officials scramble to find shelter for newly arriving families after hitting a state-imposed limit of 7,500 families in the state’s emergency homeless shelter system.The space located in the office building is large enough to provide overnight shelter for up to 25 families with cots and limited amenities and will only be used in the evening and overnight hours, officials said.“To ensure that families eligible for Emergency Assistance shelter have a safe and warm place to sleep at night when there is not a shelter unit immediately available, the administration is utilizing space at 10 Park Plaza as a temporary, overnight facility,” the state’s Emergency Assistance Director General Scott Rice said in a statement.As of Friday, there were 92 families on the state’s waiting list for emergency shelter.The transportation building inc...

Colman Domingo’s time is now

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:47 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Colman Domingo has a commanding physical presence, an expressive face and soulful eyes. But his most limber and powerful tool is his voice.It can go low in a bone-rattling baritone, like in his Nigerian-accented pimp in Janicza Bravo’s “Zola.” Or it can rise to the warm, erudite rhythm of civil rights leader Bayard Rustin, in “Rustin.” In Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln,” Domingo’s voice, as a union soldier, is the first thing you hear.Domingo, himself, isn’t sure when his voice became so resonate. Tracing it sends him back to his childhood, growing up a self-described outsider — gay, awkward, unsure of himself — in west Philadelphia. That voice, he says, wasn’t there 20 years ago.“At some point, as I grew into this person, comfortable in my own skin, sexuality, my mind, my intentions, who I am in the world, I think my voice developed more,” Domingo says. “I don’t know that I had this voice before. All the resonance in my voice, I can hear it. There’s confidence. There’s...

A French bishop is accused of attempted rape in latest scandal to hit Catholic Church in France

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:47 GMT

PARIS (AP) — A French bishop has been given a preliminary charge of attempting to rape an adult man a decade ago, the Paris prosecutor’s office said Monday. It is the latest of a growing number of accusations of sexual abuse by clergy in France.The Bishops’ Conference of France said the accused bishop, Georges Colomb, contests the charge and deserves the presumption of innocence. He has asked the Vatican to step aside from his duties as bishop of La Rochelle and Saintes in western France to prepare his defense.French investigative website Mediapart reported that senior figures in the Catholic Church were aware of the accusations for years.The allegations didn’t reach prosecutors until May of this year. That’s when lawyers for the Archdiocese of Paris and a Catholic group called the Foreign Missions of Paris, shortened to MEP in French, submitted a report of a rape attempt by Colomb in 2013, according to the prosecutor’s office.Colomb headed the MEP from 2010 to 201...

US auto safety regulators reviewing some Hyundai, Kia recalls

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:47 GMT

U.S. regulators are reviewing some Hyundai and Kia recalls related to brake-safety units to determine if they should have been done sooner.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Office of Defects Investigation is reviewing 16 Hyundai and Kia recalls conducted since 2016 that involve more than 6 million vehicles for potential antilock braking system module fires.The recalls all involve the antilock braking system modules or hydraulic electronic control units made by the equipment supplier Mando. The office said that the purpose of the review was “to evaluate the timeliness and scoping of Hyundai and Kia’s defect decision making and adherence with reporting requirements; and understand the varying defect descriptions and remedies between these recalls.”The Associated Press

Attentive Energy investing $10.6M in supply chain, startups to help New Jersey offshore wind

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:47 GMT

MIDDLETOWN, N.J. (AP) — A company proposing an offshore wind farm in New Jersey is investing $10.6 million in projects to help grow the industry’s supply chain and support ocean-based technology startup businesses in the state.Attentive Energy is one of four projects proposed in New Jersey’s most recent round of solicitations for offshore wind projects. It is a collaboration between Houston-based Total Energies, and Corio Generation, with offices in Boston and London.During an event at Brookdale Community College, Damian Bednarz, the company’s president, said Attentive Energy will invest $6.6 million in SeaAhead. That is a company that supports ocean-related technology firms; it will establish a business incubator program in New Jersey.Attentive Energy will invest another $4 million in technical support for small businesses at 11 regional small business development centers across the state.A key goal of the company is to localize and diversify the supply chain for ...

Police investigate after shell casings found at Ossington Station

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:47 GMT

Toronto police are investigating after shell casings were found at Ossington Station.Officers responded to the area at 12:40 p.m. Monday after receiving a call about a person with a gun at the station.Police say they found shell casings on the bus platform outside the station.No injuries have been reported.Police say the suspect fled in a vehicle, possibly an Acura.Subway trains and buses are bypassing Ossington station.Toronto police at the scene after shell casings were found at Ossington Station on Nov. 20, 2023. (Rob Ramlackhan/CityNews)

Michigan continues overhaul of gun laws with extended firearm ban for misdemeanor domestic violence

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:47 GMT

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Democrats who have transformed gun laws in the state in the wake of multiple mass school shootings are now making it more difficult for individuals with convictions for misdemeanor domestic violence from gaining access to guns.Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed legislation Monday that prohibits individuals convicted of a misdemeanor related to domestic violence from possessing firearms for at least an eight-year-period. State law currently includes firearm restrictions for those with felonies related to domestic abuse, but no law had existed for misdemeanor domestic violence.“These bills are based on a simple idea: if you have been found guilty in court for violently assaulting your partner, you should not be able to access a deadly weapon that you could use to further threatened, harm or kill them.” Whitmer said at a bill signing in Kalamazoo. “It’s just common sense.”The eight-year ban for misdemeanor domestic violence convictions is only the latest ...

Toronto releases 5-year mental health and harm reduction treatment strategy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:47 GMT

The City of Toronto has released its five-year mental health and harm reduction strategy with a focus on mental health and treatment.During a press conference on Monday, councillors Chris Moise and Ausma Malik outlined the seven main actions of “Our Health, Our City” aimed at mitigating substance use-related harms and fostering mental health and well-being.“This strategy is a testament to the dedication of a united front in addressing mental health, substance use and related challenges. Our health, our city is not just a document. It is a commitment to the well-being of every Torontonian,” said Moise.The actions include: Promoting mental health and wellbeingPreventing and reducing harms and deaths related to substance useExpanding access to the full continuum of high-quality, evidence-based and client-centred services to address mental health and/or substance use issues, including harm reduction and treatment supportsAdvancing community safety and well-being ...

Loans pave way for Abu Dhabi-backed fund to take over UK’s Telegraph newspaper

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:47 GMT

An Abu Dhabi-backed investment fund said Monday it has paved the way to take ownership of Britain’s Telegraph newspaper and The Spectator magazine after striking a deal with the publications’ previous owners to repay debts owed by them. RedBird IMI — a joint venture between RedBird Capital, led by former CNN chief Jeff Zucker, and Abu Dhabi’s International Media Investments — said it has agreed to provide loans to Britain’s Barclay family and ensure the family’s debts to Lloyds Bank are paid. The Barclay family owned the right-leaning newspaper and magazine nefore they were put into receivership. The family also previously owned London’s luxurious Ritz Hotel before selling it in 2020.Earlier in the year, Lloyds Bank hired a restructuring specialist as receivers to control and help launch a sale process for the media business in order to repay debts worth some 1 billion pounds ($1.25 billion). Various media firms have been reported to be interested...