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Boris Johnson sacks lawyers after police referral over COVID rule-breaking claims

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:58:43 GMT

LONDON — Boris Johnson severed ties with the government-appointed lawyers who were set to represent him in the U.K.’s coronavirus inquiry, in the wake of a row over alleged breaches of lockdown rules.In a letter to the official probe into the U.K.’s handling of the pandemic, the ex-British prime minister wrote that he is “currently instructing new solicitors to represent me in the inquiry” and that he is now “unrepresented” as he seeks public funding for his legal bills.It comes after Johnson was referred to police for a second time when his own legal team raised concerns with the U.K. government’s Cabinet Office that he may have breached COVID lockdown rules.The former Conservative leader faces an investigation by the Metropolitan and Thames Valley Police following suggestions, first reported by the Times, that fresh potential incidents of rule-breaking were unearthed by his lawyers during preparations for the official inquiry.The news...

Emergency crews respond to Lynn Classical High School after victim stabbed

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:58:43 GMT

Authorities in Lynn are responding to a local high school after a person was reportedly stabbed.The Lynn Fire Department told 7NEWS its crews were sent to Lynn Classical High School around 10 a.m. as part of the response.Officials said there was one victim, but that details on the extent of their injuries were not yet known or whether the stabbing occurred inside or outside of the school.It has not yet been confirmed whether the victim was a student, staff member, or someone unrelated to the school. This is a developing story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest updates.

Freetown police make arrest, continue to investigate after thousands of screws left on roadway

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:58:43 GMT

Freetown police are asking residents to report if they’ve gotten flat tires after driving in town as they investigate screws that were intentionally scattered on a busy roadway.For weeks, officials continuously found dozens of screws strewn about South Main Street multiple times, flattening the tires of passersby in the process.Police made an arrest in the case on Tuesday, taking 56-year-old Peter Vasconcellos into custody as their investigation continues, according to WPRI, “For someone to do this, it’s vindictive – they’re not thinking right,” said one local who ended up with a screw in their tire.The Freetown Highway Department said the road hazard was first brought to their attention when a local repair shop alerted them.“He said ‘maybe you want to go check out South Main Street because I’ve had like eight flats in the last hour,'” said highway surveyor Charles Macomber. “Came in, checked it out – found mayb...

Woman killed in hit-and-run collision

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:58:43 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A woman was killed in a hit-and-run collision in Lemon Grove on Wednesday, authorities said.According to the San Diego Sheriff's Department, deputies were called out to a traffic crash at Broadway and Harris Street around 12:30 p.m. Authorities say upon arrival they found a 40-year-old woman who had been hit by a truck in the street. Bike rider struck by motorcyclist in crosswalk: police The woman, whose identity has not been released, died from her injuries. A witness told deputies at the scene that they saw a driver in a white truck, possibly a Ford F-150, hit her before fleeing the scene, said the sheriff's department. There is no further driver or additional suspect vehicle information at this time. Lemon Grove traffic deputies are handling the investigation.  Anyone with information related to this fatal hit-and-run crash incident is encouraged to call Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.

Program allows incarcerated women to raise their children inside Canadian prisons

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:58:43 GMT

It may look like a typical university dorm room with a shared kitchen space and an entire hallway filled with private bedrooms but it’s actually the minimum-security unit at the Grand Valley Institute for Women, one of a handful of prisons for women in Canada.However, the prison, which is located in Kitchener, ON, is not only intended to house inmates, but the children of incarcerated women as well.The mother-child program was implemented in 2001 and allows eligible inmates to raise their infants and toddlers inside the prison as long as they can afford the costs of feeding and caring for their children.“These moms and children are living in the minimum unit,” explains Patrice Butts, the Mother-Child program coordinator at Grand Valley. “It looks like a really lovely dorm, and mom has an adjoining nursery with her baby. She walks outside. It’s not the image of what perhaps people are conjuring up.”Across Canada, over 150 women have participated since the program launched...

DEA’s failure to punish distributor blamed in opioid crisis raises revolving door questions

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:58:43 GMT

SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) — The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has allowed one of the nation’s largest wholesale drug distributors to keep shipping highly addictive painkillers for nearly four years after a judge recommended it be stripped of its license for its “cavalier disregard” of thousands of suspicious orders fueling the opioid crisis.The DEA did not respond to repeated questions from The Associated Press about its handling of the case against Morris & Dickson Co. or the involvement of a high-profile consultant the company had hired to stave off punishment and who is now DEA Administrator Anne Milgram’s top deputy.But the delay has raised concerns about how the revolving door between government and industry may be impacting the DEA’s mission to police drug companies blamed for tens of thousands of American overdose deaths.“If the DEA had issued its order in a timely manner, one could then credibly believe that its second-in-command was not involved despite an obvious con...

95-year-old Australian woman dies after police shoot her with stun gun; officer faces charges

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:58:43 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A 95-year-old Australian woman died Wednesday, a week after a police officer shot her with a stun gun in a nursing home as she moved toward him using a walker and carrying a steak knife, in a tragedy that has outraged many Australians.Clare Nowland, who had dementia, had been hospitalized in Cooma in New South Wales state since her skull was fractured when she fell on May 17 after Constable Kristian White shocked her with a stun gun.Police announced Nowland’s death hours after reporting that White has been ordered to appear in court on July 5 on charges of recklessly causing grievous bodily harm, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and common assault. The charges are likely to be upgraded following her death. White and another police officer had gone to Yallambee Lodge, a nursing home in Cooma that specializes in residents with higher care needs including dementia, after staff reported that Nowland had taken a serrated steak knife from the kitchen.The ...

Toronto man charged in historical sexual assault at Ontario deaf camp

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:58:43 GMT

A Toronto man is facing charges after an alleged historical sexual assault dating back to 2003 at an Ontario deaf camp near Parry Sound.Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) confirmed that investigators with West Parry Sound OPP began looking into the allegations in February 2023.Authorities noted that the sexual assault occurred in August 2003 at The Bob Rumball Camp of the Deaf in Seguin Township.Police identified 54-year-old Steve Burrows of Toronto as the accused, who would have been 34 years old at the time of the alleged sexual assault at the camp.It’s unclear if the Toronto man was working at the camp.Burrows is facing multiple charges, including sexual assault and sexual exploitation. The accused will appear in an Ontario court at a later date.To assist the ongoing investigation, OPP issued a media release in American Sign Language (ASL).

Prosecutors in Guyana mull charges for teen suspect in deadly blaze at girl’s dorm

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:58:43 GMT

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — Police in Guyana conferred Wednesday with prosecutors on what charges to bring against the main teenage suspect in this week’s fire that destroyed a girl’s dormitory at a school, killing 18 students and a young boy.Investigators believe that a 14-year-old student who was injured in the blaze ignited the fire late Sunday in anger over having her mobile phone confiscated by an administrator at the government boarding school serving Indigenous villages in southwestern Guyana.There were 57 female students in the wooden, concrete and iron-grilled dorm when the fire tore through the building in Mahdia township. The victims were mostly aged 12 to 18. The fire killed 18 female students and the five-year-old son of the administrator — or dorm mother. Twenty-eight injured female students were treated in hospitals, police said.Investigations so far “reveal that a female student is suspected of having set the devastating fire because her cellular phone was taken ...

Stock market today: Wall Street drops as markets tumble worldwide

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:58:43 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A worldwide swoon for financial markets is carrying over to Wall Street, and stocks are falling further on Wednesday.The S&P 500 was 0.8% lower in early trading, a day after dropping 1.1% as the U.S. government creeps closer to a possibly disastrous default on its debt. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 222 points, or 0.7%, at 32,832, as of 10:10 a.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was 0.8% lower.Other markets around the world were hit even harder as discouraging figures piled up on the economy. Stock indexes tumbled 2.2% in London, 2.1% in Frankfurt and 1.6% in Hong Kong.Inflation in the United Kingdom remains worse than expected, raising worries that the Bank of England may keep hiking interest rates and squeezing its economy. In Germany, business confidence fell in Europe’s largest economy. And in China, worries remain about a weaker-than-hoped reopening from COVID restrictions as tensions rise with the United States over technology and secur...