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Baltimore police commissioner departing after 4 years; led department through court-ordered reforms

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:53 GMT

BALTIMORE (AP) — Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael S. Harrison is stepping down after four years in the role.Harrison’s departure was announced Thursday morning at a news conference held on short notice at City Hall.Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said Deputy Commissioner Richard Worley, a longtime veteran of the force, will be acting commissioner.During a police department budget hearing earlier this week, Harrison denied to Baltimore City Council members that he was seeking a position in Washington, D.C. But he hedged when asked whether he would stay in Baltimore through the end of his contract.Harrison was appointed commissioner in 2019 and granted a five-year contract, which would have ended in March 2024. He moved to Baltimore from New Orleans, where he led that city’s police department through a reform process similar to the court-ordered changes being implemented in Baltimore.The Baltimore Police Department was placed under a federal consent decree in 2017 after Department ...

Stock market today: Wall Street drifts as a trading lull continues

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:53 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are drifting in early trading on Wall Street, continuing this week’s lull as markets wait for several big events next week. The S&P 500 was up less than 0.1% early Thursday, and it hasn’t moved by more than 0.4% any day this week. The Dow was up 34 points, or 0.1%, while the Nasdaq composite was up 0.2%. GameStop sank 20% after ousting the CEO who was brought in to try and turn around the struggling video game retailer. The market has been mostly calm after charging higher last week on data suggesting a long-feared recession may not be imminent. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.Wall Street stabilized before Thursday’s opening bell after a heavy sell-off a day earlier in the tech sector dragged some benchmarks lower.Futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell less than 0.1% in premarket. Global shares were mixed and oil prices rebounded after losing ground early.Government data on jobless claim...

Deluge from ruptured Ukrainian dam is latest tragedy for Kherson residents since Russian invasion

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:53 GMT

KHERSON, Ukraine (AP) — Yurii, a former Ukrainian soldier, knows all too well about living in his rickety attic: It was here, during Russia’s eight-month occupation of the southern city of Kherson, that he hid to avoid capture by the invaders.Now, the 51-year-old in fatigues is taking refuge again, after the latest big development in Russia’s war in Ukraine: A breach of the Kakhovka dam upstream on the Dnieper River that sent floodwaters gushing through his home and rising to the low edge of his corrugated metal roof.Authorities on both sides of the river – Russians control the east bank near the delta, the Ukrainians the west — say thousands of people have lost their homes in the torrential flood, where waters were still rising on Wednesday. Like many other determined and defiant Ukrainians, Yurii has faced disaster after disaster since Russian forces swept into Ukraine over 15 months ago. Like many, his anger has grown over their perceived disregard for peaceful Ukrainians.“They d...

Russia shells Ukrainian city inundated by dam collapse after Zelenskyy visits area

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:53 GMT

KHERSON, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces on Thursday shelled a southern Ukrainian city that was inundated in a catastrophic dam collapse, Ukrainian officials said, forcing a suspension of some rescue work hours after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to the area to assess the damage. At least five people have died, many are homeless, and tens of thousands are without drinking water after the Kakhovka dam’s destruction. Ukraine accused Russia of blowing of the facility, which Moscow’s forces controlled, while Russia said Ukraine bombarded it.The ensuing flooding has ruined crops, displaced land mines, wrought widespread environmental damage, and set the stage for long-term electricity shortages. Exclusive drone footage captured by The Associated Press showed the ruined dam falling into the flooded river and hundreds of submerged homes, greenhouses and even a church.In Kherson city, the largest municipality affected, repeated Russian shelling echoed overhead in the earl...

Alcaraz and Djokovic demand attention at French Open; Ruud and Zverev are in the semis, too

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:53 GMT

PARIS (AP) — As intriguing as Carlos Alcaraz vs. Novak Djokovic is — and it’s plenty intriguing — there are storylines worth following in the other French Open men’s semifinal, too.No, frankly, Casper Ruud vs. Alexander Zverev, which will be played second on Friday, does not deserve the same billing. It’s missing the cache and the resumes that the other two guys remaining in the field at Roland Garros will carry into Court Philippe Chatrier.Still, even without Djokovic’s 22 Grand Slam titles — with a chance to break a tie with Rafael Nadal for the most earned by a man in tennis history — or even Alcaraz’s lone such trophy, and even without Alcaraz’s current No. 1 ranking or Djokovic’s current No. 3 with a shot at moving back up (along with the career record for most weeks atop the ATP), No. 4 Ruud and No. 22 Zverev bring terrific games and past close-and-yet-so-far history at major tournaments.Let’s examine Ruud first.He is a 24-year-old from Norway who is coached by his father, a f...

Pakistani Taliban target police in northwestern province, kill 2 officers and guard at a local bank

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:53 GMT

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — The Pakistani Taliban targeted security forces in a northwestern province in Pakistan on Thursday, killing two officers and a guard at a nearby bank, authorities said. The attack took place near a fruit market in the town of Mingora, located in the district of Swat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to senior local police officer Shafiullah Khan. Police cordoned off the area and were searching for the three attackers who had fled the scene. The Pakistani Taliban — also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP — claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement to the media.Thursday’s attack followed as shootout on Sunday between Pakistani troops and militants in North Waziristan, also a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The region is a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban. Although the Pakistani military claims it has cleared the region of militants, occasional attacks and shootouts continue, raising concerns that the Pakistani Taliban...

Man City, Inter Milan meet in Champions League final of contrasting club history

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:53 GMT

Manchester City will enter the Champions League final on Saturday as a modern soccer and financial heavyweight compared to Inter Milan.That is a new twist in the European history of two clubs who have rarely operated at the same level and whose respective status, on and off the field, flipped about 12 years ago.Inter had the aristocratic, storied tradition and trophies while City was an English third-tier team when crosstown rival Manchester United lifted the iconic European Cup trophy in 1999.“One is a kind of old nobility,” European soccer consultant Olivier Jarosz told The Associated Press about Inter, “and one comes from a working-class family that has made a nice marriage with money.”Yet both City and Inter were teammates on the failed Super League project in 2021, albeit for different reasons. Loss-making Inter was seeking to avoid being left behind by English Premier League dominance; financial juggernaut City, backed by Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth, didn’t want to be lef...

Man, 54, dead after gas station shooting in Alsip

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:53 GMT

ALSIP, Ill. — A 54-year-old man is dead after a shooting near a gas station in Alsip Thursday morning. According to reports, there was a verbal altercation near the 700 block of South Cicero Avenue around 4:19 a.m. between two men when one man produced a firearm and shot the victim. Police say he sustained a gunshot wound to the head and was transported to Mount Sinai Hospital where he was pronounced dead. CPD: Man charged in connection to death of missing Logan Square woman The offender got into a red sedan and fled southbound on Cicero Avenue. There were no other injuries reported and there is no one in custody at this time. Police are actively investigating the incident.

Blackhawks are bringing back Darren Pang as TV broadcaster

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:53 GMT

CHICAGO - The Blackhawks are turning a former player and commentator to fill a prominent role on their broadcasts.The Blackhawks have made official the hiring of Darren Pang as their new color analyst for television broadcasts with play-by-play announcer Chris Vosters..Pang began his career working for radio broadcasts for the Blackhawks in the early 1990s..@WGNNews pic.twitter.com/dabFmjTZHb— Larry Hawley (@HawleySports) June 8, 2023Darren Pang, a longtime television analyst in the NHL and former goalie for the team, will become the Blackhawks television color commentator alongside play-by-play announcer Chris Vosters. This comes after spending the last 14 years as the color analyst for the St. Louis Blues broadcasts on Bally Sports Midwest. Pang is continuing his duties as an on-ice reporter and lead analyst for TNT's national NHL coverage and is currently working the Stanley Cup Final between the Golden Knights and Panthers. It's a full circle moment for Pang, who started h...

Dean's A-List Interview: Co-star Toby Nwigwe Dominique and Fishback in 'Transformers: Rise of the Beasts'

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:53 GMT

Rapper turned actor,Toby Nwigwe sits down with WGN Entertainment reporter Dean Richards to talk about his special big break in the Transformers franchise. Richards also talks to co-star Dominique Fishback in the new 'Transformers: Rise of the Beasts' and remembers her time in Chicago when filming 'Judas and the Black Messiah.'Get Dean's reviews and A-List interviews delivered right to your inbox. Sign up for Dean's Downloads weekly newsletter. You'll also get his Dean Cooks recipes too!