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T. rex bones get more than $5M at auction

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 15:44:59 GMT

BERN, Switzerland — Nearly 300 Tyrannosaurus rex bones that were dug up from three sites in the United States and assembled into a single skeleton sold at an auction in Switzerland for  $5.3 million, coming in below the expected price.Crafted into an open-mouth pose, the T. rex skeleton measuring 38 feet long and 12.8 feet high came in under the anticipated range of $5.5 million to $8.8 million when it went under the hammer at the Koller auction house in Zurich.Koller had said Tuesday’s sale would be the first time such a T. rex skeleton would go up for auction in Europe.The composite skeleton, featuring 293 bones, was a showpiece of an auction that featured some 70 lots. The skull was set up next to the auctioneer’s podium throughout.“It could be that it was a composite — that could be why the purists didn’t go for it,” Karl Green, the auction house’s marketing director, said by phone. “It’s a fair price for the dino. I hope it’...

1 person killed, 6 others injured in Manhattan parking garage collapse, officials say

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 15:44:59 GMT

By Rocco Parascandola and Janon Fisher | New York Daily NewsOne person was killed and six others were injured in a partial building collapse Tuesday in lower Manhattan, according to emergency officials.The top floors of the four-story structure, a parking garage at Ann and Williams streets, “pancaked” just after 4 p.m., city officials said.Members of the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) arrive at the scene of a parking garage that collapsed in lower Manhattan, New York City, on April 18, 2023. (Photo by PETER GERBER/AFP via Getty Images)The upper floors, which were packed with cars, crumbled, sending the vehicles into the void below, photos taken from adjacent buildings show.The façade of the building also buckled around 5 p.m. and was in danger of falling into the street.Details of the fatality were not immediately clear.Emergency workers blocked off the street as firefighters strived to extract people that could be trapped inside.Fire engines of the Fire Department of New York (...

Column: Made up rape story or not, David Choe’s remarks were public long before ‘Beef.’ Our silence on them is deafening.

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 15:44:59 GMT

Nina Metz | Chicago TribuneThe Netflix TV series “Beef” stars Ali Wong and Steven Yeun as strangers who become locked in an unwinnable battle to destroy one another’s lives after a road rage encounter. I admire the show more than I like it — it pinged all my anxiety receptors — but I liked it enough to give the show three stars.I might have written something different had I known what I know now.David Choe has a supporting role in “Beef,” playing the cousin to Yeun’s character — he’s a bad influence recently out of prison and looking to set up his next scam.On Twitter, a few days after the show premiered, investigative journalist Aura Bogado resurfaced a podcast clip from 2014 featuring Choe gleefully boasting to his co-hosts about committing rape while getting a professional massage. The story is graphic and disturbing, and involves Choe committing a sex act in front of a masseuse and then forcing her into a sex act.I was unaware of this until last week. But there was reporting abo...

Fox, Dominion reach $787M settlement over election claims

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 15:44:59 GMT

By DAVID BAUDER, RANDALL CHASE and GEOFF MULVIHILL (Associated Press)WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Fox and Dominion Voting Systems reached a $787 million settlement Tuesday in the voting machine company’s defamation lawsuit, averting a trial in a case that exposed how the top-rated network chased viewers by promoting lies about the 2020 presidential election.“The truth matters. Lies have consequences,” Dominion lawyer Justin Nelson said in a news conference outside the courthouse after a judge announced the deal.Dominion had asked for $1.6 billion in arguing that Fox had damaged its reputation by helping peddle phony conspiracy theories about its equipment switching votes from former President Donald Trump to Democrat Joe Biden. Fox said the amount greatly overstated the value of the Colorado-based company.The resolution in Delaware Superior Court follows a recent ruling by Judge Eric Davis in which he allowed the case to go to trial while emphasizing it was “...

Man charged in 6-month online dating scam after victim duped of $60,000

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 15:44:59 GMT

A Mississauga man is facing charges in an alleged online romance scam that lasted several months and cost a victim about $60,000.Peel Regional Police said its officers concluded a lengthy, six-month investigation on Monday into an online dating hoax.It’s alleged that the male suspect met the victim through an online dating website and communicated with them frequently via text and phone.Peel police said the suspect told the victim that he was a contractor working in South Africa and was in urgent need of money that he would repay.It’s alleged the victim was deceived into sending wire transfers to a Canadian bank account and several Bitcoin transfers of over $35,000 to an account in South Africa.On Tuesday, police arrested 38-year-old Lincoln Marquis of Mississauga. He’s facing multiple charges, including fraud of over $5,000 and possession of property obtained by crime.The accused was released on an undertaking and will appear in court on June 6, 2023.

Iran’s top leader rules out referendums on divisive issues

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 15:44:59 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s supreme leader on Tuesday ruled out the holding of popular referendums on state policies.Iran faced calls for a referendum on the Islamic Republic itself during anti-government protests last year, and a moderate former president recently suggested such votes should be held to decide major policies as a way of reducing divisions.Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say over such policies, rejected the idea when asked about it during a meeting with university students.“Where in the world is this done? Is it possible to hold a referendum for various issues of the country?” he asked. “For any single issue, the country would be engaged in debate and arguments and polarization for six months, so that a referendum can be held on that issue.”He appeared to be referring to recent remarks by former President Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate, who had suggested holding referendums on domestic and foreign policies.Iran holds regula...

Auditor general ‘assessing’ mandate in terms of Trudeau Foundation ask to investigate

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 15:44:59 GMT

OTTAWA — The federal auditor general’s officesaid Tuesday it is still “assessing” its mandate as it relates to a request from the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation to investigate its handling of two donations with possible links to the Chinese government. The foundation’s interim board chair wrote to the office last week, saying it would welcome an investigation by auditor Karen Hogan into donations made in 2016 and 2017 that totalled $140,000. The foundation calls itself an independent, non-partisan scholarship organization, but its CEO and most members of its board of directors recently resigned due to what it described as the politicization of a donation from Chinese billionaire Zhang Bin and another Chinese businessman, Niu Gensheng.“In these circumstances, the foundation would welcome an investigation by the auditor general of Canada of all aspects concerning the receipt and handling of these donations by the foundation,” interim board chair ...

Can a doorbell ring justify a ‘stand your ground’ shooting?

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 15:44:59 GMT

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Andrew Lester had already gone to bed when the doorbell rang a little before 10 p.m. He got up, grabbed a gun and went to check it out. Seeing a Black male appearing to pull the handle of the front door, police say the 84-year-old white man opened fire. No questions asked. Lester told police he believed someone was attempting to break into his house. That belief — though wrong — could become a defense as Lester faces charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action for shooting 16-year-old Ralph Yarl, an honor student who went to the wrong Kansas City address while attempting to pick up his younger siblings. The case, which has stirred outrage across the country, could shine a light on one of the most common self-defense policies in the U.S — the right to protect yourself in your home. Most states have some version of a “castle doctrine,” either by law or court precedent, that says residents don’t have to retreat when threatened in the...

2 injured after driving into QEW construction zone pit

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 15:44:59 GMT

Two people were taken to hospital with minor injuries after inexplicably driving into a construction zone on the QEW in Mississauga on Tuesday afternoon and plummeting into a steep pit.The vehicle had to be towed out of the gaping hole on the QEW at Mississauga Road on Tuesday afternoon.An investigation is underway, but at this point, police aren’t certain how or why the car ended up in the construction zone.VISUAL DISTRACTION: WB QEW at MISSISSAUGA RD there is a large pit that has formed in the construction zone – delays are backed up due to a the visual distraction #QEW pic.twitter.com/2TqLKG2bIO— CityNews Toronto Traffic & Weather (@citynews680) April 18, 2023“Everything is clear, and the investigation is still ongoing as to how they got there,” OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt told CityNews.The section of the highway has been under construction since July 2021 for expansion work, including the building of a twin bridge over the Credit River.

Indiana nurse in mask case avoids jail time with plea deal

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 15:44:59 GMT

JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. (AP) — A southern Indiana nurse facing a criminal charge for allegedly removing a nursing home resident’s oxygen mask hours before his death from COVID-19 will avoid jail time under a plea bargain.Connie Sneed, 54, of New Albany, pleaded guilty Thursday in Clark Circuit Court to a felony charge of knowingly or intentionally acting as a physician’s assistant without a license. She received a suspended sentence of 540 days.The charge can be reduced to a misdemeanor if Sneed completes her probation successfully, court records show.Sneed originally was charged in 2021 with practicing medicine without a license, which carried a potential penalty of one to six years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.Authorities began investigating the man’s April 2020 death at Wedgewood Healthcare Center in Clarksville after learning that Sneed wrote in a social media post that she had asked the man if he wanted her to remove his oxygen mask so he could “fly with the angels.”In th...