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Greece to offer exclusive Acropolis visits outside of regular hours — for a steep price

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:23:22 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Fancy seeing the ancient Acropolis uncluttered by thousands of selfie-snappers? A solution is in the works, but it will set you back up to 5,000 euros ($5,500).Starting April 1 2024, Greece plans to offer exclusive guided tours of its most powerful tourist magnet to handfuls of well-heeled visitors outside normal opening hours.The measure is part of an overhaul of ticketing policy for Greece’s archaeological sites and museums, which will see across-the-board increases as of April 2025.An official at Greece’s Culture Ministry said Friday that the new Acropolis service will apply to a maximum four groups of up to five people each. It will cost 5,000 euros ($5,500) per group, although individuals prepared to cover the full group fee are welcome to visit on their own. Nikoletta Divari-Valakou, head of the ministry’s cultural resources development, said the proceeds will be plowed back into cultural projects.“We decided to implement (the measure) &...

New Junction studio aims to improve local access to DJ arts

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:23:22 GMT

DJ equipment costs a pretty penny and this financial barrier blocks many Torontonians from learning the artform.The Junction’s DJing community has seen ups and downs since the COVID-19 pandemic flatlined work opportunities. Rebuilding now means bringing in new talent to the neighbourhood in Toronto’s west end.Offshore Studio set up shop in The Junction in October to teach locals who want DJing skills without the financial stress of purchasing expensive equipment.Students can book low-cost sessions or free introductory sessions. Offshore co-founders Tevis Spence, Miles Freedom and Joseph Clarke aim to create an accessible space that helps experienced DJs and beginners connect through music.“We’re trying to address the accessibility issue for DJing. It’s pretty expensive to get DJ jobs, especially just for a young person or even if you’ve been working forever and you kind of just want to get started or kind of get back into deejaying,” Spence ...

Lone gunman in Czech mass shooting had no record and slipped through cracks despite owning 8 guns

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:23:22 GMT

PRAGUE (AP) — Czech politicians tend to boast that their country is one of the safest in the world from gun violence. But the worst mass killing in the nation’s history this week — along with other shootings over the last decade — suggest that might not be true.At the Faculty of Arts department at Charles University, where 14 people were killed and dozens wounded Thursday, the shooter was an excellent student, police said. But the 24-year-old also had a proclivity for firearms, with a license to own eight guns, including two long guns, police said.Authorities said the lone assailant had no criminal record and therefore did not attract the attention of authorities. “This kind of attack is really hard to prevent,” Interior Minister Vit Rakusan said Friday.The shooter, who killed himself as police closed in, is believed to have been Czech. Police chief Tomas Vondrasek said officers found an arsenal of weapons with a lot of ammunition that the suspect had to carry unnoticed to the unive...

Toronto police expecting several major protests leading up to Christmas

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:23:22 GMT

Toronto police are anticipating another round of demonstrations in the downtown core this weekend and are reminding people to remain respectful on the heels of recent protests in the city that became heated.Deputy Police Chief Lauren Pogue, in an update from Toronto police headquarters on Friday, says all residents have a right to protest but there are certain actions that officers will not be tolerating.“We respect people’s charter rights and we are always present to facilitate demonstrations that are lawful,” says Pogue. “Lawful demonstrations do not include protesting in privately owned spaces, blocking critical infrastructure, or causing disturbances at the expense of other residents.”“It certainly does not include intimidation, harassment, or hateful behaviour.”Pogue says police are aware of several major demonstrations planned for this weekend and if protesters refuse to leave private property when asked, they could be arrested.“Please...

Group pushes for change in how police use body camera footage in officer shooting probes

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:23:22 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — An influential policing think tank is pushing law enforcement agencies to change how they handle body camera footage after police shootings, saying officers should not be able to review video before making their first statements to investigators.The Police Executive Research Forum changed its position in a report released Friday, nearly 10 years after the group was first tapped by the Justice Department to write guidelines for agencies adopting body cameras. The technology has swept the country’s police since. Now 79% of the country’s local police work in departments that use them. They’re in use in all cities of more than 1 million people, and Portland, Oregon, became the latest major city to adopt them in November. “Having a body camera in your department is now expected,” said Chuck Wexler, the group’s executive director.The technology has been key in cases like the death of Tyre Nichols, where body camera footage showed how he was brutally bea...

TFI International announces deal to acquire Daseke for $8.30 per share

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:23:22 GMT

MONTREAL — TFI International Inc. says it’s acquiring Daseke Inc. for $8.30 in cash per common share. The Montreal-based transportation and logistics company says the deal is expected to close during the second quarter of 2024. The firm says after the merger, Daseke will continue to operate its brands as part of TFI’s truckload segment. Over the medium term, TFI says it will evaluate the potential benefits of splitting the truckload segment from its other segments into two public companies. TFI says the total enterprise value of the deal is around $1.1 billion. Shares in TFI were up more than six per cent in mid-day trading. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 22, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:TFII)The Canadian Press

Michael Mann still has another gear. At 80, he’s driving ‘Ferrari’

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:23:22 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Michael Mann, who gave Crockett a white Ferrari on “Miami Vice,” pummeled cars with bullets in the shootout in “Heat” and set the thriller “Collateral” in a taxicab, has had an affection for automobiles since growing up in Chicago.“It’s a city in which you drive, you know?” Mann says. “It rains and things get quite beautiful. The streets get black and the cars get reflective. I like motion. I like speed.”Mann has also been a racing hobbyist. Off and on for years, he competed in the Ferrari Challenge — a four-day race, he fondly recalls, during which “the rest of the world just goes away.” So, the driving instructions that Enzo Ferrari (Adam Driver) gives in Mann’s latest film, “Ferrari” — “Break later, hold the line” — are familiar to him.“Let me put it this way,” Mann said, grinning, in a recent interview. “At one point I was practicing on a road in Atlanta and I did 75 laps without stopping.”But what Mann remembers from those laps — or at least the four of five goo...

France grounds flight carrying Indian passengers on suspicion of human trafficking

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:23:22 GMT

PARIS (AP) — French authorities grounded a flight from the United Arab Emirates to Nicaragua carrying 303 Indian passengers after receiving a tip that it could be carrying victims of human trafficking, prosecutors said Friday.Special investigators are questioning all those aboard and two people are in custody pending further examination, the Paris prosecutor’s office said in a statement.It said an anonymous tip signaled that the flight, operated by Romania-based charter company Legend Airlines, was carrying people who could be victims of human trafficking. It was grounded Thursday after it stopped for refueling in the city of Vatry east of Paris.The passengers initially remained in the A340 plane but were then transferred into the main hall of the small Vatry airport, where cots were set up for them to stay overnight, the administration for the Marne region said.Investigators from a specialized French organized crime unit, border police and aviation gendarmes are working on the case...

DOT puts airline loyalty programs under the microscope after lawmakers raise concerns

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:23:22 GMT

The Department of Transportation is investigating possible deceptive practices in airline loyalty programs after federal lawmakers raised concerns about how companies are calculating points and rewards. A DOT spokesperson said in a statement that the agency is planning “to carefully review complaints regarding loyalty programs and exercise our authority to investigate airlines for unfair and deceptive practices that hurt travelers as warranted.”The spokesperson said agency officials are actively meeting with U.S. airlines and gathering more information about the issue.Airlines for America, which represents the largest U.S. carriers, declined to comment. The department is stepping up its scrutiny after two U.S. senators asked the agency and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau about the steps they’re taking to protect consumers from “deceitful marketing tactics” in frequent flyer programs. In a letter sent to Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and CFPB Director Rohit Chop...

‘Disturbing trend’: Peel police launch dedicated task force to probe series of extortion attempts

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:23:22 GMT

A number of extortion attempts under the threat of violence have prompted Peel Regional Police to launch a task force dedicated to investigating the incidents.Investigators say the attempted extortions are primarily targeting members of the South Asian business community, calling it a “disturbing trend.”“Victims are contacted through a variety of social media platforms and demands for money are made under threats of violence, which have occurred in some incidents,” a release Friday states.Nine incidents are currently being investigated.So far a 23-year-old man from British Columbia, Tanmanjot Gill, is facing charges after police allege he fired several gunshots at a business near Rutherford Road South and Clark Boulevard in Brampton on December 9.A second suspect in that incident remains at large. He’s described as a South Asian male with a medium build wearing a grey sweatshirt at the time of the incident. Police believe he later changed into a black s...