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Krystal Joy Brown shines on Broadway in Stephen Sondheim revival of ‘Merrily We Roll Along’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:06 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Krystal Joy Brown has planted her flag on Broadway — first professionally and now personally. The singer and actor just bought an apartment a few blocks from where she’s earning a living at the Hudson Theatre, making one of the biggest commitments of her life. “This is where I’m supposed to be,” she says. “This is the place, I think, where dreams happen.”How perfectly appropriate that Brown is co-starring in a musical love letter to Broadway — a critically acclaimed revival of Stephen Sondheim’s “Merrily We Roll Along.”“This is my first ever Sondheim show, so that feels like a very big milestone in my career. It’s like Shakespeare and Sondheim and August Wilson. Those are the things you want to hit and it’s such an honor.”This new “Merrily We Roll Along” is a redemption of sorts for a musical that was considered a flop when it arrived in 1981, a show whose story by George Furth goes backward in time from 1976 to 1957 as it examines the friendship of...

Ontario asks for finance ministers’ meeting on Alberta’s proposal to exit CPP

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:06 GMT

Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy is asking federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland to convene a meeting to discuss Alberta’s proposal to withdraw from the Canada Pension Plan, saying the move could cause “serious harm.”Bethlenfalvy has written to Freeland to ask for a federal-provincial-territorial meeting of finance ministers and is calling for a “rigorous analysis” of the assumptions Alberta is using to justify its plan.He says that when people across the country are facing increasing pressures on household budgets, they shouldn’t have to worry about the security of their retirement savings.The Alberta government commissioned a report that said the province would be entitled to leave CPP with $334 billion, more than half of the fund’s assets.That reported cited Alberta’s relatively younger working population, higher incomes, fewer seniors drawing CPP and years of high contributions from people in the province.The Canada...

S&P/TSX composite rises higher in mid-morning trading, U.S. markets mixed

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:06 GMT

TORONTO — Gains in industrials and battery metals helped lift Canada’s main stock index higher in mid-morning trading, while U.S. markets were mixed.The S&P/TSX composite index was up 73.41 points at 19,059.90.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 68.19 points at 33,211.16. The S&P 500 index was down 31.79 points at 4,215.89, while the Nasdaq composite was down 195.41 points at 12,944.47.The Canadian dollar traded for 72.59 cents UScompared with 72.83 cents US on Tuesday.The December crude oil contract was down 13 cents at US$83.61 per barrel and the December natural gas contract was up four cents at US$3.86 per mmBTU.The December gold contract was down 50 cents at US$1985.60 an ounce and the December copper contract was down almost two cents at US$3.61 a pound.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 25, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)The Canadian Press

Man trapped in jewelry vault overnight is freed when timer opens the chamber as scheduled

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:06 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A man was trapped inside a steel-reinforced concrete jewelry vault in New York City overnight after firefighters had to abandon an attempt to rescue him for safety reasons. Fortunately, the vault was on a timer and opened on its own Wednesday morning, officials said.The fire department was called to the midtown Manhattan building on Tuesday evening after the man became trapped while trying to access his safe deposit box, Assistant Fire Chief John Sarrocco said. The building at 580 Fifth Avenue is known as the World Diamond Tower and houses several jewelry businesses. Sarrocco did not explain how the man became trapped.Fire and police department personnel were in communication with the man inside the vault and could watch him on a security camera.Sarrocco said the fire department’s rescue units have tools that would be able to break through the vault’s 30-inch (76-centimeter) steel-reinforced concrete walls.“The process was started to breach the wall at th...

‘Humanitarian pauses’ in Israel-Hamas war don’t prevent advocacy on hostages: Gould

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:06 GMT

OTTAWA — Government House leader Karina Gould says there doesn’t need to be a choice between calling for the release of hostages held by Hamas and advocating for “humanitarian pauses” in its war with Israel.Gould said on Parliament Hill this morning that freeing the hostages, among whom may be two people with links to Canada, remains one of the government’s “top priorities.” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau joined other international leaders on Tuesday in saying he supports the idea of “pauses” in the Israel-Hamas conflict to allow humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip and give civilians and foreign nationals a way out. The Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry says more than 5,700 people in the Palestinian territory have been killed since the war began.Israel retaliated with aggressive airstrikes on the densely populated territory after militants from Hamas, which Canada deems a terrorist group, stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, killing some...

Wanted Brampton man drove recklessly, accelerated through crowded parking lot: police

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:06 GMT

A Brampton man believed to be evading authorities is wanted for reckless driving and putting pedestrians at risk, police said.On October 21, just after 10:30 p.m., authorities received multiple calls for vehicles driving erratically in the College Plaza parking lot in Brampton.Responding officers said the driver of a Black Jeep Wrangler was performing reckless maneuvers while endangering pedestrians in the area. It’s alleged that after a brief interaction with police, the driver sped away from officers, dangerously accelerating through the crowded parking lot and striking a traffic sign on the way out.No injuries were reported.The male driver was identified as 26-year-old Gurprit Singh of Brampton. The suspect is believed to be evading police and is wanted on several charges, including dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, obstructing a peace officer and flight from a peace officer.

Bulgaria is launching the construction of 2 US-designed nuclear reactors

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:06 GMT

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgaria on Wednesday decided to expand the country’s nuclear power generation as an alternative to fossil fuels by launching the construction of two additional reactors at its only nuclear power plant.The two new reactors, which will provide a total of 2,300 megawatts, will use Westinghouse’s technology, the government said in a statement.Earlier this year, U.S.-based nuclear equipment manufacturer Westinghouse Electric Co. signed an agreement with the Kozloduy plant for a proposed deployment of one or two AP1000 pressurized water reactor units.Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov said Wednesday that the government has allocated an initial amount of 250 million euros ($270 million) for the project, adding that the first reactor is expected to be ready in 2033, and the second one — two to three years later.Bulgaria currently operates two Russian-designed VVER-1000 reactors of 1000 MW each at the nuclear facility in Kozloduy that generate about a third of the country’...

Sam Bankman-Fried plans to testify at his New York fraud trial, his lawyer says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:06 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried plans to testify at his fraud trial, his lawyer told a federal judge on Wednesday, a day before the defense is set to counter testimony from former executives who say the cryptocurrency executive stole billions of dollars from his customers and investors over several years.Attorney Mark Cohen told Judge Lewis A. Kaplan that he planned to call three witnesses “and then our client is also going to be testifying” after prosecutors rest early Thursday.Cohen made the comment during a phone and video conference in Manhattan federal court after the judge told him: “It’s time to tell me what defense case, if any, you’re going to put on.”The judge told him that he didn’t have to say yet whether Bankman-Fried would testify, but Cohen volunteered that he would.Even so, prosecutors and the judge later discussed the possibility that closing arguments could occur early next week if Bankman-Fried changes his mind and doesn’t take the stand....

2 London police officers have been dismissed over a stop and search of a Black athlete couple

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:06 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Two of London’s Metropolitan Police officers were dismissed from the force on Wednesday after a disciplinary panel concluded that they committed gross misconduct over the stop and search of two Black athletes. Bianca Williams and Ricardo Dos Santos, both professional sprinters, complained to the police watchdog that they were racially profiled by a group of police officers on July 4, 2020. The couple were driving home in London with their 3-month-old infant son in the back seat when police followed their car and pulled them over outside their home. The athletes were handcuffed and searched on suspicion of having drugs and weapons, but nothing was found.The disciplinary panel heard the officers said they followed the athletes’ vehicle because of Dos Santos’ “appalling” and “suspicious” driving, and that they were doing their duty when they conducted the stop and search.But the panel concluded that two of the officers, Jonathan Clapham and Sam Franks, lied about sm...

Domino's giving away free pizzas for student loan borrowers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:06 GMT

CHICAGO — Domino's announced Wednesday that they are giving away free pizzas as student loan repayments resume.The company has launched a page on their website where student loan borrowers can apply for a free medium two-topping pizza.If codes are available on that day, Domino’s will send customers an email with the free pizza code — which they can redeem on their next online carryout or delivery order placed within the next 30 days.The promotion will last until $1 million worth of free pizza has been claimed. Culver’s opens up Wrigleyville location Student loan payments restarted this month after the Biden administration paused them during the COVID-19 pandemic.