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The Supreme Court weighs whether South Carolina targeted Black voters in redistricting

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:50:23 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is taking up a new congressional redistricting case, this time from South Carolina, that could shape the fight for partisan control of the House of Representatives.Arguments taking place at the high court on Wednesday will focus on a coastal district that is held by Republican Rep. Nancy Mace. In January, a lower court ordered the district redrawn after finding that Republicans who control the state Legislature improperly moved Democratic-leaning Black voters into another district to make the seat safer for Mace in 2022. When Mace first won election in 2020, she edged Democratic incumbent Rep. Joe Cunningham by 1%, under 5,400 votes. In 2022, following redistricting driven by the 2020 census results, Mace won reelection by 14%. She is one of eight right-flank Republicans who voted to oust Kevin McCarthy as speaker.Democrats could have a shot at picking up the seat in 2024 if the district is redrawn. With Republicans holding a thin margin in the U....

In the news today: Health ministers in Charlottetown and Joly talks Israel airlifts

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:50:23 GMT

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed on what you need to know today…Joly to provide update on Canada’s Israel airlift plansForeign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly will hold a news conference to explain how the federal government will help get Canadians out of harm’s way as a war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza rages on for a fifth day.Joly announced Tuesday that Ottawa is planning to airlift Canadians out of Tel Aviv in “the coming days” using military aircraft.She also urged all Canadians in Israel to register with Global Affairs.Israel has vowed unprecedented retaliation against the Hamas militant group ruling the Gaza Strip after its fighters stormed through a border fence Saturday and gunned down hundreds of Israelis.Palestinians in the sealed-off Gaza Strip are struggling to find any safe area, as Israeli strikes demolish entire neighbourhoods, hospitals run low on supplies and a power blackout is ex...

Ontario NDP leader calls on MPP to retract Israel-Hamas statement

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:50:23 GMT

Ontario’s NDP leader is calling for one of her MPP’s to retract a controversial social media post made about the Israel-Hamas war.Hamilton Centre MPP Sarah Jama posted a two-paragraph statement under Ontario NDP letterhead that made no mention of the past weekend’s surprise attack by Hamas. The Tuesday afternoon post instead chose to focus on the decades-long struggle of Palestinians under Israeli occupation, which she referred to as “apartheid.”“I call for immediate ceasefire and de-escalation,” Jama wrote. “We must look to the solution to this endless cycle of death and destruction: end all occupation of Palestinian land and end apartheid.”The social media post included the hashtag “FreePalestine.”NDP Leader Marit Stiles released her own statement in response to Jama’s comments, saying the MPP’s message was not approved by her caucus and asked her to retract the statement. Stiles called on Jama to instea...

Exxon Mobil buys Pioneer Natural in $59.5 billion deal with energy prices surging

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:50:23 GMT

Exxon Mobil is buying Pioneer Natural Resources in an all-stock deal valued at $59.5 billion, its largest buyout since acquiring Mobil two decades ago, and creating a colossal fracking operator in West Texas. Including debt, Exxon is committing about $64.5 billion to the acquisition, leaving no doubt of the Texas energy company’s commitment to fossil fuels as energy prices surge. Pioneer shareholders will receive 2.32 shares of Exxon for each Pioneer share they own.Exxon purchased XTO Energy in 2009 for approximately $36 billion. In the late 1990s, the merger between Exxon and Mobil was valued around $80 billion.The deal with Pioneer Natural expands Exxon’s presence in the Permian basin, a massive oilfield that straddles the border between Texas and New Mexico. Drilling the Permian accounted for 18% of all U.S. natural gas production last year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.Pioneer’s more than 850,000 net acres in the Midland Basin will be...

MTY Food Group reports third-quarter profit and revenue up from year ago

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:50:23 GMT

MONTREAL — MTY Food Group Inc. reported its third-quarter profit rose compared with a year ago as its revenue gained 74 per cent.The restaurant company says its net income attributable to owners totalled $38.9 million or $1.59 per diluted share for the quarter ended Aug. 31.The result compared with a profit of $22.4 million or 92 cents per diluted share in the same quarter last year.Revenue totalled $298.1 million, up from $171.5 million a year earlier.Same-store sales rose three per cent compared with the same quarter last year.MTY franchises and operates quick-service, fast casual and casual dining restaurants under more than 90 different banners in Canada, the United States and internationally.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:MTY)The Canadian Press

Second biggest lottery prize ever is up for grabs in Powerball drawing

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:50:23 GMT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — After 35 straight drawings without a big winner, Powerball players will have a shot Wednesday at a near-record jackpot worth an estimated $1.73 billion.It would be the second largest of any lottery prize ever, topped only by the $2.04 billion Powerball won by a player in California last November. The previous No. 2 was a $1.586 billion Powerball with three winners in California, Florida and Tennessee on Jan. 13, 2016.Powerball’s terrible odds of 1 in 292.2 million are designed to generate big jackpots, with prizes becoming ever larger as they repeatedly roll over when no one wins. And wins in recent months have been few and far between.The jackpot has grown so large because there have been 35 consecutive drawings without a big winner. The previous winning Powerball ticket was sold on July 19, and it was worth $1.08 billion after 39 drawings without a jackpot win.In most states, a Powerball ticket costs $2 and players can select their own numbers or leave that task t...

Music Review: Jamila Woods’ ‘Water Made Us’ showcases what we love, and loathe, about romance

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:50:23 GMT

Love can bring great joy and great pain; no wonder it is the source material for great art. For Jamila Woods, the Chicago-based neo-soul musician and poet, romantic love is a featured topic on her third studio album, “Water Made Us.”Her first full-length project since 2019’s “Legacy! Legacy!” explores all the ins and outs of love, such as falling in it (like in the up-tempo funky track “Practice”), being burned by it (the fluid R&B of “Good News”) and healing from love lost (the mid-tempo “Wolfsheep”).Before releasing her debut album, “Heavn” in 2016, Woods was known for her work as a poet.On “Water Made Us,” that talent shines through lyrics that perfectly describe the many nuances of relationships, the bliss and the tragedy. That is abundantly apparent in songs like “Wreckage Room,” where she addresses her lover, “Don’t feel sorry if you leave/Love don’t mean you saving me.”This 17-track collection highlights Woods’ soulful vocal tone, but occasionally veers into rap. It’s a r...

Russian authorities seek to fine a human rights advocate for criticizing the war in Ukraine

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:50:23 GMT

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Russian authorities on Wednesday sought to impose a fine on a prominent human rights advocate on trial for criticizing the war in Ukraine, the latest step in a relentless crackdown on activists, independent journalists and opposition figures.Oleg Orlov, co-chairman of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning human rights group Memorial, has been charged with publicly “discrediting” the Russian military after he wrote a Facebook post denouncing the invasion of Ukraine. Under a law adopted shortly after the Kremlin sent troops across the border, it is a criminal offense if committed repeatedly within a year; Orlov has been fined twice for antiwar protests before facing criminal charges. A Moscow court began hearing the case in March, and Orlov faced up to five years in prison if convicted. In closing arguments Wednesday, however, the prosecution asked the court to impose a fine of 250,000 rubles (about $2,500). “Thank God!” gasped Orlov’s wife when she heard that in...

Scientists winkle a secret from the `Mona Lisa’ about how Leonardo painted the masterpiece

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:50:23 GMT

PARIS (AP) — The “Mona Lisa” has given up another secret.Using X-rays to peer into the chemical structure of a tiny speck of the celebrated work of art, scientists have gained new insight into the techniques that Leonardo da Vinci used to paint his groundbreaking portrait of the woman with the exquisitely enigmatic smile.The research, published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, suggests that the famously curious, learned and inventive Italian Renaissance master may have been in a particularly experimental mood when he set to work on the “Mona Lisa” early in the 16th century. The oil-paint recipe that Leonardo used as his base layer to prepare the panel of poplar wood appears to have been different for the “Mona Lisa,” with its own distinctive chemical signature, the team of scientists and art historians in France and Britain discovered.“He was someone who loved to experiment, and each of his paintings is completely different technically,” said Victor G...

Wednesday Forecast: Temps in low 60s with rain and storms expected this afternoon

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:50:23 GMT

CHICAGO — Frost Advisory until 8 a.m. Wednesday (not for central/north Cook or Lake IL). Increasing clouds, afternoon rain and storms expected. Winds: SW 0-5. High: 63. Interactive Radar: Track showers and storms here Mostly cloudy tonight with showers and storms. Winds: E 5-10. Low: 53.Thursday Forecast: Mostly cloudy, rain and storms, wide temp range, E 10-15 G25. High: 59.Full forecast details and more at the WGN Weather Center blog