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Israel rules out Gaza cease-fire until hostages released, as US presses for aid, civilian protection

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:07:54 GMT

By NAJIB JOBAIN, BASSEM MROUE and DAVID RISING (Associated Press)KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — The United States urged Israel on Friday to ensure more humanitarian aid gets into Gaza and to do more to protect Palestinian civilians, as Israel’s prime minister said there would be no cease-fire in the nearly month-old war until Hamas releases hostages. The leader of the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group stoked fears that the conflict could widen by promising more attacks along the Lebanon border.Israeli troops tightened their encirclement of Gaza City, the focus of their campaign to crush the enclave’s ruling Hamas terrorists, who launched a brutal attack on Israeli communities that started the war. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.But ever since that Oct. 7 assault, there have been concerns the conflict could ignite fighting on other fronts, and Israel and the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah have repe...

Texas Rangers and their fans celebrate World Series title with parade in Arlington

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:07:54 GMT

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Thousands of Texas Rangers fans were already lined up along a 2-mile stretch near the team’s ballpark hours before a parade Friday to celebrate the franchise’s first World Series championship.The parade comes two days after the Rangers wrapped up the World Series with a 5-0 win on the road in Game 5 against the Arizona Diamondbacks. It came a week after Texas won the series opener on an 11th-inning homer by Adolis García after Corey Seager hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning to tie the game.World Series MVP Seager, AL Championship Series MVP García and all of the Rangers players were expected to participate in the parade in the entertainment district of Arlington, the city where they play along Interstate 30 halfway between downtown Fort Worth and downtown Dallas. The Rangers arrived home in North Texas on Thursday. All-Star second baseman Marcus Semien exited first, hoisting the World Series trophy into the air as he stepped out of the plane....

Blinken warns Israel that humanitarian conditions in Gaza must improve to have ‘partners for peace’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:07:54 GMT

TEL AVIV (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Israel on Friday that it risks destroying an eventual possibility for peace unless it acts swiftly to improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza for Palestinian civilians as it intensifies its war against Hamas. In a blunt call for Israel to pause military operations in the territory to allow for the immediate and increased delivery of assistance, Blinken said the current situation would drive Palestinians toward further radicalism and effectively end prospects for any eventual resumption of peace talks to end the conflict.“There will be no partners for peace if they’re consumed by humanitarian catastrophe and alienated by any perceived indifference to their plight,” Blinken said.The comments to reporters in Tel Aviv, following meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials, amounted to some of the Biden administration’s strongest warnings since the brutal Oct. 7 rampage by Ham...

2 killed in shooting at graveyard during Mexico’s Day of the Dead holiday

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:07:54 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Two men were shot to death while visiting a graveyard during Mexico’s Day of the Dead holiday, prosecutors said Friday.The two men were killed, and a third person wounded, in a shooting Thursday at a cemetery in the Mexico City suburb of Naucalpan. Mexicans traditionally visit the tombs of their deceased relatives during the Nov. 1 – 2 holiday. The killers apparently used that tradition to wait for the victims. There was no immediate official information on a motive in the attack or the identity of the victims. But local media reported that the victims were a businessman who provided bullet-proofing for cars, and his bodyguard.On the Day of the Dead, families clean the tombs of their loved ones, decorate them with flowers, and sometimes eat, sing or sit quietly beside the graves.This peaceful tradition also was marred by violence in northern Mexico on Wednesday.Police in the northern border state of Sonora were attacked while driving between the towns of San...

A gas explosion at a building north of New York City injures 15, including 5 responders

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:07:54 GMT

WAPPINGERS FALLS, N.Y. (AP) — A gas explosion collapsed part of a brick multifamily building north of New York City, trapping victims in the rubble and injuring 15 people, including five first responders, according to officials. There were no fatalities in the Thursday afternoon explosion and fire, which sent thick smoke billowing in the air about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of the city. Rescuers scrambled to pull people from the wreckage.“I’ve never seen anything like this. I’ve got 27 years as a volunteer fireman and chief. So I think they did a remarkable job,” Wappingers Falls Fire Chief Jason Enson told reporters at a briefing late Thursday.Eight adults and two children suffered blast or burn injuries. One child and two adults were flown by helicopter to Westchester Medical Center. Three patients remain hospitalized in critical condition and five more in serious condition as of Friday. Another victim was listed in good condition at a separate area hospital, according t...

Missouri man who carried pitchfork at Capitol riot pleads guilty to 3 felonies

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:07:54 GMT

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri man accused of carrying a pitchfork and assaulting police during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol has pleaded guilty to three federal felonies.Christopher Brian Roe, 39, of the Kansas City suburb of Raytown, pleaded guilty Thursday to three counts of assaulting, resisting and impeding certain officers, the Kansas City Star reported. Sentencing is scheduled for March 5.Roe is the 24th Missouri defendant convicted in connection with the riot at the Capitol. Cases of 12 other Missourians are ongoing.A probable cause affidavit in Roe’s case included 48 photos that showed a man it said was Roe breaching the Capitol, repeatedly scuffling with police and using a metal bike rack to try to break open a door.All told, 1,185 people have been arrested in connection with the riot, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.The Associated Press

Publisac flyer service shutting down in Quebec, leaving local newspapers in limbo

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:07:54 GMT

MONTREAL — The owner of Quebec’s main flyer distributor says it is ending a 45-year-old service, forcing more than 50 beleaguered local newspapers to rethink their strategy as well.The Montreal-based packaging and printing company TC Transcontinental says that starting in May it will scrap the flyer bundles — known in Quebec as Publisac — currently distributed to well over two million households outside Montreal as part of a shift to a thin leaflet delivered by Canada Post.Weekly newspapers across the province have depended on the door-to-door Publisac service to bring local news to Quebecers’ doorsteps, packaged in a plastic bag alongside grocery store flyers.Renel Bouchard, president of Icimédias which owns more than 20 print and web-based papers across the province, says it now aims to overhaul its distribution plan by delivering editions to select drop-off points — such as local businesses and nursing homes — rather than houses.Publisac suffered a major blow in May a...

NASA spacecraft discovers tiny moon around asteroid during close flyby

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:07:54 GMT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The little asteroid visited by NASA’s Lucy spacecraft this week had a big surprise for scientists.It turns out that the asteroid Dinkinesh has a dinky sidekick — a mini moon. The discovery was made during Wednesday’s flyby of Dinkinesh, 300 million miles (480 million kilometers) away in the main asteroid belt beyond Mars. The spacecraft snapped a picture of the pair when it was about 270 miles out (435 kilometers).In data and images beamed back to Earth, the spacecraft confirmed that Dinkinesh is barely a half-mile (790 meters) across. Its closely circling moon is a mere one-tenth-of-a-mile (220 meters) in size. NASA sent Lucy past Dinkinesh as a rehearsal for the bigger, more mysterious asteroids out near Jupiter. Launched in 2021, the spacecraft will reach the first of these so-called Trojan asteroids in 2027 and explore them for at least six years. The original target list of seven asteroids now stands at 11.Dinkinesh means “you are marvelous” in the A...

Canadian business insolvencies rise almost 42% from last year

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:07:54 GMT

Canadian business insolvencies were up 41.8 per cent from a year earlier in the third quarter, surpassing pre-pandemic levels. The Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy says 1,129 businesses filed for a bankruptcy or proposal in the third quarter, up 3.6 per cent from the second quarter.That’s compared with 827 filings in the third quarter of 2019.Consumer insolvency filings were up 17.8 per cent from last year, but down 2.4 per cent from the second quarter. They were still lower than pre-pandemic levels, however. The Canadian Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Professionals says businesses are being hit by the withdrawal of COVID-19 support, higher interest rates and softening consumer spending. 

Comedian, actress Tiffany Haddish joins WGN Morning News in studio!

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:07:54 GMT

Actress Tiffany Haddish stopped by WGN Morning News Friday before her big show at The Venue, inside the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond.Click here for tickets. Love the WGN Morning News? We love you, too. And you can have all the hijinks delivered to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign up and subscribe to our WGN Morning News newsletter. Emmy & Grammy award winner Tiffany Haddish has established herself as one of the most sought-after comedic actresses and performers worldwide. Haddish can next be seen returning as Detective Danner in the second season of AppleTV's critically acclaimed murder mystery series The Afterparty which premieres on July 12. She will also star alongside Owen Wilson, Danny Devito and Jamie Lee Curtis in Disney's highly anticipated Haunted Mansion, which will release in theaters July 28. She also stars in the upcoming film Back on the Strip which will premiere in theaters and MGM's Landscape With Invisible Hand, an adaption o...