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Van collides with school bus on Route 20 in Auburn

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:34 GMT

A van collided with a school bus on Route 20 in Auburn Wednesday morning, according to police. The incident happened just after 9 a.m. near Millbury Street. Police say the school bus was empty other than the driver at the time of the crash. It is unclear if anyone was injured. No additional information has been released.https://twitter.com/AuburnMAPolice/status/1653749784065261569

New Hampshire man faces more charges over explosive devices

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:34 GMT

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A man accused of lighting two suspected pipe bombs and leaving them to explode in a New Hampshire town, injuring one person, is facing related charges in federal court.Dale Stewart Jr., 54, of Webster, was scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Concord on Wednesday on two firearms possession charges regarding a “destructive device” found in his pickup truck, investigators said. An attorney was not listed for him.Last week, two explosive devices went off along roads in the town of Weare. The first one was near a home and caused a small fire. A passer-by was injured when he went to take a closer look at the second one, police said.Stewart pleaded not guilty last week to state charges of throwing or placing explosives and possession of an infernal machine, among others. A judge ordered that Stewart remain in jail and receive a mental health evaluation.The federal charges allege that the device found in Stewart’s truck last week was consistent...

Experimental Alzheimer’s drug slows cognitive declines in large trial, drugmaker Eli Lilly says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:34 GMT

(CNN) — An experimental Alzheimer’s medication slowed declines in patients’ ability to think clearly and perform daily tasks by more than a third in a large clinical trial, drugmaker Eli Lilly said Wednesday.Based on the results, in people with early symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease, Lilly said it plans to file for approval from the US Food and Drug Administration by the end of June.The medicine, donanemab, works by removing plaque buildups in the brain known as amyloid that are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. However, there were some side effects reported; there were three deaths in the trial among people taking the drug, two of which were attributed to adverse events such as brain swelling or microhemorrhages, known as amyloid-related imaging abnormalities or ARIA. The trial was run in more than 1,700 patients for 18 months.“For every medicine, for every disease, there are potential risks and potential benefits,” said Lilly’s chief...

Russia says it foiled an alleged attack on Kremlin, Putin

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:34 GMT

MOSCOW — Russian authorities accused Ukraine on Wednesday of attempting to attack the Kremlin with two drones overnight in an effort to assassinate President Vladimir Putin.The Kremlin decried the alleged attack attempt as a “terrorist act” and said Russian military and security forces “disabled” the drones before they could strike. It did not elaborate.A statement on the Kremlin’s website said debris from the unmanned aerial vehicles fell on the grounds of the seat of Russia’s government but did not cause any damage. The statement, which did not explain what caused the drones to break up, said no casualties were reported.A video published overnight on a local Moscow news Telegram channel, which appeared to have been shot across the river from the Kremlin, showed what looked like smoke rising over the Kremlin.According to the text accompanying the video, residents of a nearby apartment building reported hearing bangs and seeing smoke at around 2:30 a.m. local time (7:30 p.m. Eastern...

Fed expected to raise key interest rate amid banking turmoil

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:34 GMT

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER (AP Economics Writer)WASHINGTON (AP) — Poised to raise interest rates Wednesday for a 10th time, Federal Reserve officials are facing two competing economic trends that could make their future rate decisions more difficult and treacherous.On the one hand, turmoil in the banking sector and political battles over the government’s borrowing limit could weaken the economy if banks restrict lending and financial markets tumble on fears of a default on the nation’s debt. Such anxieties would argue against further rate hikes, at least for now.On the other hand, inflation, while slowing, is persisting at a level far above the central bank’s 2% target rate, raising concerns that the Fed might have to further tighten credit to slow price increases. Additional rate hikes would follow — a trend that would lead to ever-higher borrowing rates and heighten the risk of a recession.The wide range of potential outcomes could provoke divisions among Fed officials, even as they’r...

UN humanitarian chief in Sudan, seeking guarantees on aid

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:34 GMT

PORT SUDAN, Sudan (AP) — The U.N.’s humanitarian chief arrived in Sudan’s main seaport on Wednesday, as thousands of Sudanese and foreign nationals gathered there in hopes of fleeing the conflict-torn east African country. Martin Griffiths, the under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator at the United Nations, tweeted that he came to the city of Port Sudan to affirm the U.N.’s commitment to the Sudanese people. His arrival in the Red Sea port came on the last day of a shaky truce, meant to expire at midnight, that has done little to quell the fighting. It also comes amid increasing concern about the humanitarian situation for those trapped and displaced by the fighting, which is the result of a power struggle between the country’s two top generals. But questions remain over how U.N. agencies can operate with limited staff and supplies amid the chaos. More than a week after the brutal fighting erupted in the country’s capi...

Russia says Putin ‘assassination’ attempt by Ukraine foiled

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:34 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia claimed Wednesday it foiled a Ukrainian assassination attempt using drones against President Vladimir Putin, denouncing the alleged attack as a ‘’terrorist’’ act and promising retaliation.Putin wasn’t in the Kremlin at the time of the nighttime attack and was working from the Novo-Ogaryovo residence, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti.There were no immediate details and no independent verification of the reported attack on the Kremlin, which Russia authorities said occurred overnight but presented no evidence in support of the claim. Nor did officials say why it took more than 12 hours to report the incident.Ukraine presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak denied any involvement. “Ukraine has nothing to do with drone attacks on the Kremlin,” he said. He said the claims would provide a pretext for Russia “to justify massive strikes on Ukrainian cities, on the civilian population, on infrastructure facilities” in comin...

Fossils or not? Nations split on how to meet climate goals

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:34 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Senior officials from dozens of nations meeting in Berlin remained divided Wednesday on how to meet international climate goals, with some pushing for a phase-out of fossil fuels and others insisting that oil and gas can continue to play a role in the future — provided their emissions are somehow contained.The two-day Petersberg Climate Dialogue hosted by Germany heard calls for a new target on ramping up renewable energy to be negotiated and agreed at this year’s U.N. climate summit in December.But German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock made clear that this proposal should not detract from the need to drastically cut fossil fuel use, a position shared by other European nations and vulnerable island states present at the Berlin talks.The United Arab Emirates, which will host the U.N. talks in Dubai, backed the idea of significantly boosting wind and solar power, but made clear it wants to keep fossil fuels as an option for the foreseeable future.Sultan al-Jabe...

Bell to offer free messaging for Aeroplan members on Air Canada flights

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:34 GMT

MONTREAL — Bell is teaming up with Air Canada to offer free messaging for all Aeroplan members worldwide on Wi-Fi-equipped airplanes across the airline’s fleet.The telecommunications giant will be Air Canada’s sponsor of inflight Wi-Fi services starting May 15.The partnership will allow passengers to send and receive messages on apps such as Apple’s iMessage, Meta’s WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, Rakuten’s Viber and Messages by Google.Those services operate over Wi-Fi, enabling travellers with any capable device to connect regardless of their mobile carrier.Bell says it’s also offering international travellers arriving in Canada complimentary mobile SIM cards on select flights, allowing them to walk off the plane and be connected.The companies say the deal will also benefit Aeroplan customers through the offering of new promotional rewards and expand Air Canada’s Live TV service on flights to the U.S., starting later this summer.This repor...

Canfor reports $142M Q1 loss compared with a profit a year ago

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:34 GMT

VANCOUVER — Canfor Corp. reported a loss in its first-quarter compared with a profit a year ago as its lumber operations in Western Canada faced lower prices.Canfor chief executive Don Kayne says it was another challenging quarter for the company’s lumber business. The Vancouver-based forestry company says strong earnings from its European operations and more modest results from its operations in the U.S. South were outweighed by continued pricing pressure on its western Canadian operations.Canfor says it lost $142.0 million or $1.17 per diluted share for the quarter ended March 31 compared with a profit of $534.0 million or $4.29 per diluted share a year earlier.Sales totalled nearly $1.39 billion, down from $2.21 billion in the first three months of 2022.On an adjusted basis, Canfor says it lost $1.20 per diluted share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $4.25 per diluted share a year earlier.This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 3, ...