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Harvard has ‘never been weaker,’ ex-Facebook exec warns

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 18:15:29 GMT

New York (CNN) — The Harvard brand, one of the most prestigious among all universities, took nearly 400 years to build. But it’s taken just three months to call that brand very much into question.The university’s initial response to the October 7 terror attack on Israel was criticized, even by its own top board. Harvard President Claudine Gay’s testimony before Congress was an unmitigated disaster. And now Gay is mired in a plagiarism scandal.All of this has opened up Harvard to fierce criticism from politicians and alumni, some of whom have vowed to close their checkbooks.One such Harvard graduate, venture capitalist and former Facebook executive Sam Lessin, told CNN he believes the university has “never been weaker” — and he’s pointing the finger at the very top.“The Harvard brand is deeply embattled,” Lessin said in a phone interview. “Gay has demonstrated extreme weakness as an administrator and as a leader. The Harvard Corporation has not communicated well with the ou...

Three dead in Dover in likely ‘deadly domestic violence,’ Norfolk DA says

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 18:15:29 GMT

Authorities are continuing to investigate the deaths of three people at a Dover home in what the Norfolk District Attorney says appears to be a “deadly incident of domestic violence.”An adult male and female and a teenage girl were found dead inside the home on Wilson’s Way Thursday evening, according to a Friday morning release from the DA’s Office.A family member who stopped by to check on the family called Dover Police and requested a response to the home at around 7:24 p.m., authorities said.Dover police guard a large house where an adult male, female and a teenage girl were found dead inside the home on Wilson\xe2\x80\x99s Way Thursday evening. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald)After arriving at the residence, police discovered the adult male, adult female and their teenage daughter dead. Officers secured the scene, and the State Police Detective Unit assigned to the Norfolk DA’s Office joined the investigation.The names of the victims have not been released.“Although the investigatio...

Clocked-out trade talks will curdle supply of British cheese on Canadian shelves

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 18:15:29 GMT

OTTAWA — Canadian supermarkets will soon see their supply of British cheese crumble, as both countries seek fair trade terms following the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union.Dec. 31 will mark the end of a temporary arrangement in which Ottawa offered London a special quota of cheese that could be imported under low tariffs.Canada made that offer in the hopes it would have signed a deal with Britain by now to replace an interim deal that has kept in place some of the terms that governed commerce between the two countries before Brexit.But those negotiations haven’t finished, with the U.K. pushing back on Ottawa’s demands to allow Canada to export hormone-raised meat, and London demanding more access to Canada’s protected dairy market.Peter Holmes, a fellow with the U.K. Trade Policy Observatory, says Canada has the upper hand, since the British government wants new trade deals to convince voters it has managed Brexit well.Holmes says disagreements o...

Ohio’s GOP governor vetoes ban on gender-affirming care, transgender athletes in girls sports

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 18:15:29 GMT

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Republican Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed a measure Friday that would have banned gender-affirming care for minors and transgender athletes’ participation in girls and women’s sports, in a break from members of his party who championed the legislation.GOP lawmakers hold enough seats to override DeWine’s veto, but if or when they would do so was not immediately clear. Both within and between chambers, Republican legislators have not been in lockstep this year.Hundreds of opponents testified against Ohio’s multifaceted measure when it was moving through the Legislature, including medical and mental health providers, education professionals, faith leaders, parents of transgender children and transgender individuals themselves.They decried the legislation as cruel, life threatening to transgender youth and based on fearmongering rather than science.The measure, which passed the Legislature earlier this month with only Republican support, would have prohibited Ohio minors ...

Once Canada’s most popular premier, Quebec’s Legault trails in polls after bad year

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 18:15:29 GMT

QUEBEC — For more than four years, Quebec’s governing Coalition Avenir Québec enjoyed a political honeymoon that lasted through the COVID-19 pandemic and helped the party get re-elected in 2022 with 90 of the province’s 125 ridings.But after a year marked by a series of self-inflicted wounds, the CAQ, which came to power for the first time in 2018, is sinking in the polls. “This was a horrible year for the CAQ and, especially, for (Premier) François Legault,” said Daniel Béland, director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada.The most recent Léger poll, in early December, indicates that support for the party dropped 16 percentage points since December 2022, with the Parti Québécois — with four members in the legislature — now in first place. “That’s a dramatic drop in terms of public support,” Béland said in an interview Thursday, adding that the personal popularity of Legault, whose image is deeply intertwined with the party he fou...

A look at Russian missile attacks on Ukrainian targets since the war began in February 2022

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 18:15:29 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Russian military has repeatedly used missiles to blast civilian targets across the country, with devastating consequences.One of the biggest attacks occurred on Friday when Russia launched more than 100 missiles and dozens of drones. The attack killed at least 24 civilians, injured another 130 and left an unknown number buried under rubble. Western officials and analysts recently warned that Russia had limited its cruise missile strikes in recent months in an apparent effort to build up stockpiles for massive attacks during the winter, hoping to break Ukrainians’ spirit.___MARCH 9, 2022 — An apartment building in Izium in eastern Ukraine was hit in an attack that Human Rights Watch later said killed at least 44 people. Russian forces took control of the city and surrounding area beginning in late March and occupied it for six months. At the time of the strike, HRW said the area was under...

Students launch 24-hour traffic blockade in Serbia’s capital ahead of weekend election protest

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 18:15:29 GMT

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — A group of university students on Friday launched a 24-hour blockade of a main street in Serbia’s capital during New Year’s holiday rush as protests continued in the troubled Balkan country after reports of irregularities that marred a recent election.The students set up small tents, tables and chairs, brought food and blankets and played loud music at their makeshift camp near the government headquarters in Belgrade, saying they will stay put until the start of another opposition gathering planned for Saturday. The student actions triggered a huge traffic gridlock in the capital on Friday. The rally on Saturday is expected to draw thousands of people as political tensions are running high over the Dec. 17 ballot and subsequent incidents and arrests of opposition supporters at a protest last weekend. Populist President Aleksandar Vucic has accused the opposition of inciting violence with an aim to overthrow the government under instructions from a...

25 stolen vehicles valued at $2.2M recovered by York police, CBSA

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 18:15:29 GMT

Authorities managed to put another dent in the burgeoning auto theft industry, with York Regional Police announcing on Friday the seizure of 25 stolen vehicles valued at more than $2.2 million.The vehicles had all been reported stolen from across the Greater Toronto Area.The probe began in November 2023, when members of the York police’s Auto Cargo Theft Unit became aware of a parking lot in Mississauga in which several stolen vehicles were parked.An investigation was launched and police say they were able to identify several suspects and discover other locations where stolen vehicles were being stored.On December 14, officers executed a search warrant at a warehouse in Mississauga where police say stolen vehicles were found inside shipping containers.Police say they recovered 25 stolen vehicles, as well as a number of stolen licence plates, master car keys and a key re-programming device. The total estimated value of vehicles exceeds $2.2 million, a release states.Five suspec...

Canadian men’s basketball squad wins CP team of the year after historic 2023

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 18:15:29 GMT

The Canadian men’s basketball team took its place on the international stage in 2023.Led by NBA star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Canadians won their first-ever FIBA World Cup medal, defeating the United States for bronze in September, and qualified for next year’s Summer Olympics in the process.The squad, which has climbed to No. 6 in the FIBA world rankings from 15th, capped the season by being voted The Canadian Press team of the year.“I think that it speaks to the commitment of our players and the excellence of our players,” general manager Rowan Barrett said. “We’re a player-centric program, ? everything starts with them and I think you don’t achieve something like this without players that are brought in that love their country and that are going to lay it all on the line for their country.“I think what it ultimately says is that there’s a system in place with everybody doing their jobs to help these players to go out and be brilliant on the court...

South Carolina nuclear plant’s cracked pipes get downgraded warning from nuclear officials

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 18:15:29 GMT

JENKINSVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Federal regulators have lessened the severity of their warning about cracks discovered in a backup emergency fuel line at a South Carolina nuclear plant northwest of the state capital.The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission downgraded its preliminary “yellow” warning for V.C. Summer Nuclear Station issued this October to a final “white” one after owner and operator Dominion Energy showed its generator could still run for six hours in an emergency, the agency announced Thursday.That demonstration calmed officials’ concerns that Dominion Energy’s failure to maintain cracks and leaks — discovered at least five times over two decades — had neutralized the plant’s ability to cool down its reactors if electricity failed.The new rating means that the generator is underperforming but still meeting its key targets.“While not indicative of immediate risk, this finding underscores the need for continuous vigilance and improvement in the plant’s ...