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A German who served time for a high-profile kidnapping is convicted over armed robberies

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:52 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — A German man who served prison time for a high-profile 1996 kidnapping was convicted of robbery and attempted murder on Thursday for his alleged role in a string of armed robberies in Germany in 2018 and 2019.The Cologne state court sentenced Thomas Drach to 15 years in prison, German news agency dpa reported. It also ruled that he should be kept in preventive detention after serving the sentence.The court found that Drach participated in three robberies of cash transporters in Cologne and Frankfurt and in two of those cases fired at the cash carriers, wounding them. His participation in another robbery, in Limburg, couldn’t be proved. Drach rejected the accusations during the trial, which opened nearly two years ago. The 63-year-old told the court before the verdict that he expected a “crystal-clear acquittal.”Drach was convicted and sentenced to 14 1/2 years for extortionate kidnapping in 2001 for the abduction of cigarette heir Jan Philipp Reemtsma, who was he...

Drugstore chain Walgreens cuts quarterly dividend to get more cash to grow its business

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:52 GMT

Walgreens is chopping its dividend nearly in half as the drugstore chain looks to strengthen its balance sheet.The health care giant said Thursday that reducing its quarterly payout to shareholders to 25 cents per share will help free up capital to spend growing its pharmacy and health care businesses.New CEO Tim Wentworth said in a statement that company leaders believe such growth “will ultimately improve shareholder value.”Company shares jumped in early-morning trading after Walgreens also announced a better-than-expected fiscal first quarter.Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. runs a network of around 13,000 drugstores globally. Most of its locations are in the United States, where its locations are becoming growing sources for care.The company is working with VillageMD to open primary care practices next to some locations with the idea that drugstores and doctor offices work together to help keep patients healthy. But drugstores remain Walgreens’ main business.Tom Murphy, The Associa...

Striking doctors in England at loggerheads with hospitals over calls to return to work

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:52 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The longest planned strike in the history of Britain’s state-funded National Health Service entered its second day of six on Thursday with doctors in England at loggerheads with hospitals over requests for some to leave the picket line to cover urgent needs during one of busiest times of year.The strike is the ninth organized by doctors in the early stages of their careers in just over a year amid their increasingly bitter pay dispute with the government. Ahead of the strike, plans were laid out for junior doctors, who form the backbone of hospital and clinic care, to return to work if hospitals got overwhelmed. The British Medical Association, the union that represents the bulk of the 75,000 or so striking doctors, had agreed with NHS managers on a system for so-called derogations, in which junior doctors return to work in the event of safety concerns about emergency care, with hospitals expected to show they have “exhausted” all other sources of staffing before...

Why is everyone so sick this winter?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:52 GMT

In today’s Big Story Podcast, it certainly seems like this season has been worse for illness than most previous years. But has it? If it has, is it the pandemic? Is it the “triple-demic”? Or is it a normal pre-pandemic cold and flu season that we use to just live through?Whatever the reasons, hospitals are crammed, and polls say nurses and doctors are fleeing their professions in droves.Dr. Raywat Deonandan is an epidemiologist, a science communicator specializing in global health and an Associate Professor at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Health Sciences. He says data indicates that the perceived increase in illness is likely real, and that it’s being exacerbated by systemic issues like staffing shortages.“Bottom line is yes, it looks like there’s more respiratory illness, and it looks like it’s having a bigger impact on us because of these other structural issues,” says Dr. Deonandan.  So will winters just be like this now? And if they are, is there any alte...

Enghouse Systems buying Mediasite business from Sonic Foundry for US$15.5M in cash

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:52 GMT

MARKHAM, Ont. — Business software company Enghouse Systems Ltd. says it has signed a deal with Sonic Foundry Inc. to buy its Mediasite business for US$15.5 million in cash.Mediasite is a video service that helps organizations with recording, live streaming and video management.The deal is subject to approval by Sonic Foundry shareholders and customary closing conditions. The companies say the Sonic Foundry board of directors, executive officers and a major shareholder have agreed to back the deal. Collectively they hold 48 per cent of Sonic Foundry’s outstanding shares.The acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2024.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 4, 2024.Companies in this story: (TSX:ENGH)The Canadian Press

Unsold Christmas trees are on the menu for elephants and bison at the Berlin Zoo

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:52 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — There’s a bit of post-Christmas cheer on the menu for elephants and other tenants at the Berlin Zoo: they can chomp on Christmas trees that didn’t find a home. The tree treats were unwrapped Thursday in what has become an annual event. Elephants tore off branches with their trunks and either gobbled them or tossed them around their enclosure. The European bison nestled into the trees before starting to munch on them. And reindeer sniffed and played with the conifers. The zoo takes only fresh, unsold trees from select vendors. It doesn’t accept trees from the public, which could contain chemicals or leftover decorations.The Associated Press

Driver carjacked, battered at gas station on North Side: Police

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:52 GMT

CHICAGO -- A driver was carjacked and battered at a gas station on the city's North Side overnight.According to police, a 28-year-old man was in a gas station near the 6300 block of North Central Avenue around 12:50 a.m. when two armed men forced the man out of his vehicle. Rideshare driver shot, in critical condition after apparent carjacking in Austin neighborhood The individuals struck the driver in the head with a handgun and fled in his Audi SUV.The man was transported to Resurrection Hospital in good condition.There is currently no one in custody and police are investigating the incident.

Watch: Shoppers storm Target for limited-edition Stanley tumblers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:52 GMT

CLEVELAND (WJW) – Shoppers nationwide have been hunting for the Target limited-edition 'Galentine's Day' Stanley tumbler, and it’s taken social media by storm.  Mountain Dew bringing ‘fan-favorite’ drink back to stores nationwide Footage posted to TikTok by Mikayla Dixon in late December shows customers waiting outside a Florida store. Shoppers are seen running into the store once it opened, but Dixon said she was able to get her cup. Photo credit: Mikayla Dixon video via Storyful "Stanley's" were on many Christmas wish lists in 2023, with the cup's popularity still seeming to grow. It’s not your imagination, here’s how cloudy it’s been The pink and red cups were released for $49.95 at Target stores on Dec. 31 nationwide. Now, Fox 8 News is seeing these water bottles listed on eBay for as much as $90-$180.Stanley cups gained popularity throughout 2022 and 2023, mainly for those in their tweens, teens, and 20s as many TikTok and YouTube influencers began using them in ...

Imam killed outside New Jersey mosque, and the shooter remains at large, authorities say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:52 GMT

A New Jersey imam was shot and killed outside his mosque before dawn Wednesday, leaving authorities hunting for a shooter.Imam Hassan Sharif was in his car when he was shot more than once at about 6 a.m. near the Masjid-Muhammad Mosque in Newark, the state’s largest city, Essex County Prosecutor Ted Stephens said at a news conference. He was taken to a nearby hospital but died in the afternoon.“I know that in light of global events and with a rise in bias directed at many communities we’re experiencing across our state — particularly the Muslim community — there are many in New Jersey right now who are feeling a heightened sense of fear or anxiety at the news of this slaying,” Attorney General Matt Platkin said.Despite that, Platkin said law enforcement has stepped up outreach to houses of worship, particularly Muslim ones, explicitly acknowledging the tensions unfolding amid the fighting in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023.Sharif had been a resident imam at the local mosque for five years, ...

New study helps explain 'Darwinian paradox' of same-sex attraction

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:52 GMT

(The Hill) -- Men carrying genetic factors linked to bisexual attraction tend to have more children, a new study has found.The paper published Wednesday in Science Advances found evidence for genetic variations that contribute to both bisexual attraction in men and a heightened appetite for risk.Those findings help resolve a paradox at the heart of evolutionary theory — while also raising difficult new questions about the genetic roots of same-sex attraction.For generations, evolutionary biologists have seen homosexual or same-sex attraction as a hole in evolutionary theory, as it is an at least somewhat inherited trait that also leads those who have it to have fewer children.“So if you put these two things together, it doesn't make sense,” lead author Jianzhi Zhang of the University of Michigan told The Hill. “Those genes lead to fewer children, so that means they are being selected against in the population by natural selection. So gradually...