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Usher to headline the 2024 Super Bowl halftime show in Las Vegas

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:00:56 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Usher has a new confession: The Grammy winner will headline the Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show in Las Vegas.The NFL, Apple Music and Roc Nation announced Sunday that Usher would lead the halftime festivities from Allegiant Stadium on Feb. 11. The music megastar, who has won eight Grammys, said he’s looking forward to performing on the NFL’s biggest stage.“It’s an honor of a lifetime to finally check a Super Bowl performance off my bucket list,” Usher said in a statement. “I can’t wait to bring the world a show unlike anything else they’ve seen from me before.”Usher spring boarded into superstardom with “Confessions,” which sold more than 10 million units in the U.S. and earned him eight nominations at the 2005 Grammys, winning him three. He lost album of the year to Ray Charles’ final album “Genius Loves Company,” released two months after the legend died.“Confessions” ranks among one of the best-selling music projects of all time and lau...

Police investigating four assaults near Berklee College

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:00:56 GMT

Boston police are investigating four assaults near Berklee College of Music in Back Bay Saturday evening.Boston police said they responded to Berklee around 6 p.m., where four people were assaulted on Massachusetts Avenue, Boylston Street and Haviland Street. All attacks happened within the same block from each other.Berklee College police responded to 153 Massachusetts Avenue, and another victim was assaulted near 1130 Boylston Street. Both victims denied medical treatment.Two people were attacked near 1 Haviland Street, and both victims were treated on scene, Boston police said.Police said the investigation is ongoing.

Jailed Kremlin critic transferred to a prison in Siberia, placed in ‘punishment cell,’ lawyer says

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:00:56 GMT

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — An imprisoned Russian opposition figure has been transferred to a maximum security prison in Siberia and placed in a tiny “punishment cell,” his lawyer said Sunday.Vladimir Kara-Murza Jr., 42, earlier this year was convicted of treason for publicly denouncing Russia’s war in Ukraine and sentenced to 25 years in prison as part of the Kremlin’s relentless crackdown on critics. On Thursday, he arrived at IK-6 — a maximum security penal colony in the Siberian city of Omsk, his lawyer Vadim Prokhorov said in a Facebook post Sunday. Prokhorov said the transfer from a detention center in Moscow, where Kara-Murza was being held pending trial and appeals, took less than three weeks. Russian prison transfers, usually done by train, are notorious for taking a long time, sometimes weeks, during which there’s no access to prisoners, and information about their whereabouts is limited. Kara-Murza, a journalist and an opposition activist, was jailed in April 2022...

A coal mine fire in southern China’s Guizhou province kills 16 people

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:00:56 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — A coal mine fire in southern China killed 16 people on Sunday, according to local authorities.The blaze broke out at the Shanjiaoshu coal mine in Panguan, a town in Guizhou province.An initial investigation suggested the people who died were trapped after a conveyor belt caught fire, the Panzhou city government said in a statement posted on social media.China, the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, continues to depend heavily on coal for electricity despite massive expansion of its wind and solar power capacity.The country’s coal mining industry has improved the safety conditions for workers in recent years but deaths still happen.The Associated Press

US will establish diplomatic ties with the Cook Islands and Niue as Biden hosts Pacific leaders

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:00:56 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is set to establish diplomatic relations Monday with two South Pacific nations, the Cook Islands and Niue, as his administration aims to show to Pacific Island leaders that it is committed to increasing American presence in the region.The announcement comes as Biden prepares to welcome leaders to Washington for a two-day U.S.-Pacific Island Forum Summit expected to focus heavily on the impact of climate change.Biden has put a premium on improving ties in the Pacific amid rising U.S. concern about China’s growing military and economic influence. Plans for the diplomatic move were confirmed by two senior administration officials who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity before the formal announcement.White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden would use the summit to strengthen “ties with the Pacific Islands and discuss how we address complex global challenges, like tackling the existential threat of climate change, advanci...

He spoke no English, had no lawyer. An Afghan man’s case offers a glimpse into US immigration court

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:00:56 GMT

The Afghan man speaks only Farsi, but he wasn’t worried about representing himself in U.S. immigration court. He believed the details of his asylum claim spoke for themselves.Mohammad was a university professor, teaching human rights courses in Afghanistan before he fled for the United States. Mohammad is also Hazara, an ethnic minority long persecuted in his country, and he said he was receiving death threats under the Taliban, who reimposed their harsh interpretation of Sunni Islam after taking power in 2021.He crossed the Texas border in April 2022, surrendered to Border Patrol agents and was detained. A year later, a hearing was held via video conference. His words were translated by a court interpreter in another location, and he said he struggled to express himself — including fear for his life since he was injured in a 2016 suicide bombing.At the conclusion of the nearly three-hour hearing, the judge denied him asylum. Mohammad said he was later shocked to learn that he...

One dead, two injured after building collapses in north-end Montreal

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:00:56 GMT

Montreal police say a man has died and two others were injured after the partial collapse of a building on Saturday afternoon.Firefighters discovered the body of the man about 10:15 p.m. in the rubble of the building in the Montréal-Nord borough.Authorities say the concrete slab of the ground floor of the building collapsed just before 4 p.m. in a section where work was possibly underway.Firefighters discovered the victims in the basement of the building and an ambulance crew declared the death at the scene.Marie-Ève Beausoleil, a section chief at the Montreal Fire Department, says the front of the building was uninhabited due to a fire a few years ago, but renovations may have been taking place as building materials were present.The occupants of 10 apartments and two businesses at the rear of the building were temporarily forced from their homes until a structural engineer deems it safe for them to return.As there was a death, Montreal police and the province’s workers health...

Hot rental market makes search ‘stressful’ for many – and it won’t get better soon

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:00:56 GMT

On the hunt for a rental home in Calgary over the last six weeks, Marissa Giesinger and her boyfriend trawled through listings morning, noon and night, only to find most come along with dozens of applications and a steep price tag. As an added difficulty, many landlords are unwelcoming to the couple’s brood — dogs Kado and Rosco and a cat named Jester.“We made the tough decision recently to house our dogs with someone else until we can find a place that’s affordable and we can take both of them,” said Giesinger, a 23-year-old Mount Royal University student.“It’s definitely been stressful.”The competitive rental market Giesinger has encountered in Calgary is being seen across the country as multiple factors combine: high interest rates deter buyers and add to rental demand, still-high inflation is squeezing renter budgets, there’s an undersupply of purpose-built rental units and population growth is fuelling demand.These conditions have...

Police: Group breaks window, steals car parked near Chicago City Hall

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:00:56 GMT

CHICAGO — Chicago police said a group broke a window and stole a car late Saturday night near Chicago City Hall.According to information from Chicago police, the group stole the car around 11:50 p.m. in the 100 block of North LaSalle. Chicago police investigate 8 armed robberies overnight The group, described as five unknown males, stole the car and left in an unknown direction.No injuries were reported.No arrests have been made yet in connection with the incident and Area Three detectives are still investigating.Anyone with information should call police.

2 adults, 9 kids injured in rollover crash in LaSalle County

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:00:56 GMT

LASALLE COUNTY, Ill. — Two adults and nine kids were injured Saturday evening in a single-vehicle crash on Route 39 in LaSalle County, according to Illinois State Police.The crash happened around 6:50 p.m. near Lostant. 15-year-old critical after driver crashes stolen Kia into John Deere tractor in Joliet According to information from ISP, the driver of a van drove off the road for an unknown reason and rolled the van on its side in a ditch.There were three adults and 10 kids, ages 5-12 years old, inside the van at the time of the crash, state police said. Two of the adults and nine of the kids were taken to hospitals with injuries.The extent of their injuries and their conditions weren't released.