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Baby boomers buoy Transat sales, with no sign of slowdown on the horizon: CEO

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:58:36 GMT

MONTREAL — Baby boomers have shed their pandemic reticence around travel as they increasingly fly abroad again — a boon for Transat AT Inc., its CEO says.“People from 55-plus — the baby boomers — have resumed their pre-COVID travel pattern, which was not the case in 2022,” Annick Guérard said Thursday.“It represents a good proportion of our clientele. And they have significant disposable wealth and the time to travel and spend,” she told analysts on a conference call, noting older Canadians spend 15 to 20 per cent more than the average Transat customer.“This is really important for us. And they are expected to be much more resilient than younger consumers in the face of higher prices and high inflation, which we know will continue in the upcoming year.”Despite those economic clouds, Guérard said that “we don’t see signs of a slowdown” in bookings on the horizon — for summer or winter. “Demand is holding despite higher fares...

23 freight cars, new vehicles heavily damaged in train derailment in northern Arizona

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:58:36 GMT

WILLIAMS, Ariz. (AP) — Authorities are trying to determine the cause of a freight train derailment in northern Arizona that heavily damaged 23 cars and a load of new vehicles.Coconino County Emergency Management officials said the derailment occurred around 11:20 p.m. Wednesday east of Williams, which is 33 miles (53 kilometers) west of Flagstaff.They said the BNSF train cars were carrying a variety of new cars, vans and truck. Photos from the derailment scene showed heavy damage to many vehicles and freight cars, white vans poking out of other damaged rail cars and an upside-down vehicle crushed under another freight car.County Emergency Management officials said cleanup was already underway Thursday morning. There was no immediate word from Texas-based BNSF Railway about the derailment.There have been a rash of train derailments across the country in recent months, deepening concerns about rail safety in the U.S.The Associated Press

Russia shells Ukrainian city inundated by dam collapse after Zelenskyy visit

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:58:36 GMT

KHERSON, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces Thursday shelled a southern Ukrainian city inundated by flooding in a catastrophic dam collapse, Ukrainian officials said, forcing a suspension of some rescue efforts hours after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy went to the area to assess the damage.The fresh fighting returned security issues to the region, two days after the collapse of the Kakhovka dam on the Dnieper River set off a scramble to evacuate residents in dozens of flooded areas and get aid to those still there.Officials on both sides said least 14 people were killed in the flooding, thousands are homeless and tens of thousands are without drinking water after the collapse. Kyiv accused Moscow of blowing up the dam and its associated hydropower plant, which the Kremlin’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 shortag...

Under house arrest, fake heiress Anna ‘Delvey’ Sorokin launches podcast to rehab public image

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:58:36 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — It’s a weekday morning and Anna Sorokin is on house arrest in a New York apartment building that has been condemned as imminently perilous to life. So she’s attempting to capture outside attention and relieving her boredom in the most quotidian way: starting a podcast.“So many people became famous for bad things and were able to kind of segue it into something different,” she recently told The Associated Press in her East Village apartment.“The main theme of my podcast is productive rule-breaking,” she said of “The Anna Delvey Show.”For now, she wants to reimagine her public image to shake her reputation of being a con artist and a scammer.“I’m on 24/7 house arrest. I’m only allowed to leave for my parole check-ins, my ICE check-ins and for medical emergencies,” she said. Behind her is a life-size cutout of her likeness — created by artist Kenny Schachter — which, like Sorokin herself, is wearing an ankle monitoring device.Going by the name Anna Delvey, she pos...

Federal Liberals want to make hybrid work permanent for members of Parliament

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:58:36 GMT

OTTAWA — The federal Liberals want to make virtual participation in the House of Commons a permanent option for members of Parliament.All parties agreed to create a hybrid workplace amid lockdowns at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and the system has been used ever since.Government House leader Mark Holland says this has meant MPs can continue their work while also attending important events in their ridings or dealing with personal and family matters. He says making it permanent could help encourage new people to run for public office, such as parents of young children. Holland is expected to put a motion forward in the House of Commons today, and he says it will be debated and voted on before June 23, the last day of sitting before a summer break is scheduled to begin. The order that currently allows for a hybrid Parliament expires at the end of June. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 8, 2023.The Canadian Press

Clerk charged with murder in another fatal shooting at a Detroit gas station

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:58:36 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — A clerk was charged with murder Thursday in a second recent middle-of-the-night fatal shooting at Detroit gas stations related to disputes with customers.“This simply cannot continue to happen,” Wayne County prosecutor Kym Worthy said.Anthony McNary, 25, was shot through the door after the clerk had kicked him out of the gas station and locked the door Monday, Worthy said.Moments earlier, clerk Moad Al-Gaham had removed a beef stick from McNary’s pocket and then refused to let him pay for it, the prosecutor said.Al-Gaham was in a “place of safety on the other side of a locked glass door and pulled the trigger,” Worthy said, adding that the clerk was in no “immediate danger.”Al-Gaham, 40, was ordered to jail without bond. A message seeking comment was left for his attorney.On May 6, at a different Detroit gas station, a customer fatally shot another customer. A clerk, who was behind security glass, had remotely locked the door during an argument over a fail...

A Tony Awards like no other, really. Strike leaves Broadway stars to rely on their ‘live’ muscles

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:58:36 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — There are a lot of questions surrounding this year’s Tony Awards — and not just about who might win.The Hollywood writers’ strike has left much of Sunday’s telecast with unknowns. There will be performances from the nominated musicals, pre-recorded montages of the plays and acceptance speeches. Everything else seems up in the air.Striking members of the Writers Guild of America have agreed not to picket but won’t allow its writers to work on the Tonys, leaving Broadway’s biggest night without an established script. Any banter will have to be impromptu.But if any group of people are best equipped to handle the stress from a live event, it’s the Broadway community. Going on without a net just doesn’t scare them. “I think the theatrical community is the one artistic community that is absolutely capable of pulling off a show like this and not having it feel like, ‘Oh, I’m so scared and nervous!’” says Wayne Brady, who has b...

12 weeks of paid leave for Chicago Public Schools employees starting with the new school year

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:58:36 GMT

CHICAGO — Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has announced a plan to update Chicago Public Schools (CPS) parental leave policy.Under Johnson's proposal, beginning with the 2023-2024 school year all CPS employees will receive 12 weeks of paid parental leave. This would apply to both birthing parents and non-birthing parents, and include parents who expand their family through other means such as adoption. ‘We will destroy you’: Northwest Indiana man accused of showing up to Taylor Swift’s residence, stalking Johnson made the announcement alongside CPS CEO Pedro Martinez and Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) president Stacy Davis Gates. Martinez noted the exact details of how the proposed policy would be implemented are still being worked out. The Chicago Board of Education would ultimately have to approve the policy.According to Johnson, the proposed policy would align CPS employee parental leave benefits with those of other city employees.Additional details will be added to this story as th...

CPD: Missing 15-year-old girl last seen leaving home in Humboldt Park

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:58:36 GMT

CHICAGO — Chicago police seek the public’s help locating a missing 15-year-old girl last seen in Humboldt Park early Wednesday morning.According to Chicago police, Heather Scott was last seen in the 1700 block of N. Francisco Ave., near West Town about 4:50 a.m. She stands 5-foot-2-inches, weighs 150 pounds and has brown eyes and black hair. SEE ALSO: Missing 12-year-old girl last seen in Oakland, Chicago police sayAnyone with information may leave an anonymous tip at cpdtip.com.Tipsters may also call police at (312) 746-6554.

Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick will step down - and his replacement is in place

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:58:36 GMT

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The leader of Notre Dame athletics will be leaving his position in the near future, and his replacement has already been selected.Jack Swarbrick announced that he'll step down as the school's athletic director sometime in the first quarter of 2024. When he does, NBC Sports chairman Peter Bevacqua, an alumnus of the school, will take over that role and become the 13th person to hold the position in Notre Dame history. He will officially join the athletic department on July 1 as the special assistant to the president for athletics before succeding Swarbrick next year.“It speaks volumes about Notre Dame and (University President) Father (John) Jenkins' leadership that we can implement such a well-conceived succession plan and attract someone of Pete’s talent and experience,” said Swarbrick in a statement from the university. “I have worked closely with Pete throughout his time at NBC and based on that experience, I believe he has the perfect skill set to help Notre D...