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No script at Tony Awards, but plenty of song, dance, high spirits and history-making wins

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:12:19 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — No script? No problem!There was plenty of uncertainty in the run-up to this year’s Tony Awards, which at one point seemed unlikely to happen at all due to the ongoing Hollywood writer’s strike.But the ceremony went off without a hitch on Sunday night. The event was scriptless, to honor a compromise with striking writers, but chock full of high-spirited Broadway performances drawing raucous cheers from an audience clearly thrilled to be there at all. It was a night of triumph for the small-scale but huge-hearted musical “Kimberly Akimbo,” about a teenager with a rare aging disease, but also a night notable for inclusion: Two non-binary performers made history by winning their acting categories. The ceremony also touched on the specter of anti-Semitism in very different places: World War II Europe, with best play winner “Leopoldstadt,” and early 20th-century America, with “Parade,” winner for best musical revival.In the end, the lack of scripted banter didn’...

Glencore makes offer for the steelmaking coal business of Teck Resources

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:12:19 GMT

VANCOUVER — Swiss company Glencore it has made an offer to buy the steelmaking coal business of Teck Resources Ltd.The company said in a statement Monday it would pay cash for the assets, but did not say how much publicly.Glencore said it remains willing to pursue its offer for all of Teck, but that it has made an alternative offer for the coal operations that it would combine with its own thermal coal assets.The company said it is “fully committed” to ensuring an acquisition of the coal business would benefit Canada and that it is open to working with Teck “to identify a comprehensive suite of commitments for the benefit of all relevant stakeholders.” Teck, which rejected Glencore’s earlier offer for the entire company, said it’s reviewing the latest proposal along with a number of other potential transactions involving its steelmaking coal business.“The high degree of interest expressed by a wide range of parties underscores the value of T...

UK parliamentary committee to conclude Boris Johnson ‘partygate’ inquiry

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:12:19 GMT

LONDON (AP) — A U.K. parliamentary committee is meeting Monday to conclude its inquiry into whether former Prime Minister Boris Johnson misled lawmakers over parties at his Downing Street office that breached COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. Members of Parliament’s Privileges Committee have pledged to continue with the investigation into Johnson’s conduct after he unexpectedly quit as a lawmaker on Friday and angrily accused political opponents of driving him out in a “witch hunt.”The committee is expected to finalize its highly-anticipated report Monday. British media report that the findings could be published in the coming days.Johnson, 58, said the Privileges Committee told him he will be sanctioned for misleading Parliament over “partygate,” a series of boozy parties and gatherings in his office that broke strict pandemic restrictions that his government had imposed on the country. He accused the committee, which has members from both government and opposition parties, of ...

Polish authorities rule rights of pregnant woman who died were violated amid abortion law debate

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:12:19 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish health authorities said Monday that there was a violation of patient rights in the case of a woman who died of sepsis in the fifth month of pregnancy last month, a case that has gained scrutiny after a tightening of Poland’s already restrictive abortion law.Poland’s health minister, Adam Niedzielski, also stressed that every woman whose life or health is threatened by her pregnancy has the right to an abortion.He announced that he was appointing a team to examine the country’s guidelines on the termination of pregnancy, saying its members would include women.“In Poland, every woman in the event of threat to health or life threat has the right to terminate a pregnancy,” Niedzielski said.Dorota Lalik, 33, died on May 24 in the John Paul II hospital in Nowy Targ, a town in the conservative region of southern Poland. She arrived at the hospital after her waters broke and was told to lie with her legs up. She died of sepsis there three days ...

2 killed, 2 wounded in Sweden shooting believed to be gang-related

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:12:19 GMT

STOCKHOLM (AP) — A shooting outside Stockholm left two people dead and two others wounded, police said Monday, in what appears to be a feud between criminal gangs.An unidentified foreign man and a teenager were killed in the shooting in Farsta, a suburb south of Sweden’s capital. Two men in their 20s were later arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.A man with an automatic weapon opened fire at around 6 p.m. (1600 GMT) Saturday outside the entrance to a subway station and struck four people. A 15-year-old boy died shortly after of his wounds, with the second victim, a 43-year-old man, dying later. Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer said Sunday that police believe that a total of 21 shots had been fired and described the shooting as “domestic terrorism.”One of those wounded was a woman in her 60s who was unlocking her bicycle. She told Swedish public radio that she heard about five shots. “Oh, I’ve been shot in the knee,” she told SR and added that she was bleeding,...

Liz Weston: You’ll probably live longer than you think

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:12:19 GMT

Women often don’t score as well as men in surveys of financial literacy. One area where we seem to do better is “longevity literacy,” or understanding how long we’re likely to live.Longevity literacy is essential to smart retirement planning. Overestimate your longevity, and you could retire too late or scrimp too much. Underestimate it and you could run short of money.In a recent TIAA Institute study, 43% of women correctly estimated the life expectancy of 60-year-old women in the U.S. (The right answer was 85.) Only 32% of men chose the correct answer for the life expectancy for 60-year-old men, which was 82. Men also were far more likely than women to underestimate life expectancy — and that’s a huge potential problem for both sexes.A man who expects to die in his 70s might draw too much from retirement funds or start Social Security too early. That could leave him — and the spouse who may outlive him — with too little income later on.“A lot of people do OK in their first 10 year...

Man charged after double fatal car crash that killed teen couple in Hoffman Estates

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:12:19 GMT

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — An Elgin man was charged Sunday, one day after a car crash in Hoffman Estates that killed a teen couple who had just graduated from Schaumburg High School.Deni Rubi, 32, from Elgin, Ill. (Courtesy: Hoffman Estates PD)Deni Rubio, a 32-year-old Elgin resident, was charged with five felony counts, according to the Cook County State's Attorneys Office. Rubio was charged with two counts of aggravated DUI resulting in the death of another person, two counts of reckless homicide, and one count of trying to disarm a peace officer.On Saturday, the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office identified the teen couple as 18-year-olds Amelia Mazeikis and D’Shaun “DJ” Tudela, who had graduated from Schaumburg High School in May.Amelia Mazeikis and D'Shaun Tudela at their high school graduation in May.According to family, the two had been dating for three years and Amelia was driving D'Shaun to work at the time of the crash. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Cook County ME ID’s teen couple ...

Migrants move to Daley College further delayed

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:12:19 GMT

CHICAGO -- Two delays in two days and migrants are still unsure about what is next for their expected move to Daley College. Mayor Brandon Johnson said the decision was made with careful consideration of the impact the move would have on the families staying at the YMCA in West Ridge. The families have been staying at the location at Touhy Avenue and Western since last fall. Reports say many children have been attending schools and their parents said they have made connections and that moving across the city would be disruptive. Aurora Pride Parade takes place after preliminary injunction in US District Court The city originally planned to move the families to Daley College on the Southwest Side last week. The Johnson administration announced the move would move to Sunday. When announcing the second delay, the Mayor said it would provide more time for planning and to consider possible alternatives to Daley College. This weekend, the city plans to use the college as a shelter unti...

Monday Forecast: Mostly sunny and low 70s

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:12:19 GMT

Monday: Mostly sunny, NNW 10-15 G20, isolated late day shower. High: 71Monday Night: Mostly cloudy, chance for rain & storms, W 10-15 G25. Low: 617-Day Forecast | Chicago, Illinois | WGN TVTuesday: Mostly cloudy, showers and storms, W 10-15 G30. High: 67wgntv.com/weather

Here's how billions in COVID relief funds were stolen or wasted

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:12:19 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Much of the theft was brazen, even simple.Fraudsters used the Social Security numbers of dead people and federal prisoners to get unemployment checks. Cheaters collected those benefits in multiple states. And federal loan applicants weren’t cross-checked against a Treasury Department database that would have raised red flags about sketchy borrowers.Criminals and gangs grabbed the money. But so did a U.S. soldier in Georgia, the pastors of a defunct church in Texas, a former state lawmaker in Missouri and a roofing contractor in Montana.All of it led to the greatest grift in U.S. history, with thieves plundering billions of dollars in federal COVID-19 relief aid intended to combat the worst pandemic in a century and to stabilize an economy in free fall.An Associated Press analysis found that fraudsters potentially stole more than $280 billion in COVID-19 relief funding; another $123 billion was wasted or misspent. Combined, the loss represents 10% of the $...