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Israeli government agrees temporary cease-fire and hostage-release deal with Hamas: reports

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 08:40:23 GMT

The Israeli Cabinet voted overnight to accept a temporary cease-fire and prisoner-exchange deal with Hamas, according to local media reports.Haaretz reports that under the deal, Hamas is expected to release 30 Israeli children and 20 women, of the around 240 hostages its militants kidnapped during their October 7 mass attack on Israel. In exchange, Israel would release 150 Palestinian prisoners being held in Israeli jails. An official told Haaretz that Hamas may also release foreign national hostages under deals reached with their countries.Under the deal, which was brokered with officials from Qatar acting as intermediaries, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said hostages who are not released will receive medicine and be visited by the Red Cross.According to Haaretz, the cease-fire is expected to last for five days, but Netanyahu dismissed the idea the fighting could halt for a longer term. “There is nonsense out there suggesting that we will halt the war after the ce...

Quentyn Dulin’s late-game heroics lift Brighton past Tech Boston at Fenway

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 08:40:23 GMT

For most high school football players, this week could be the last time they ever put on the pads, the final time they stroll out onto the field.As Brighton’s Quentyn Dulin strapped up Tuesday evening, he realized he had a unique opportunity, playing his last game with the Bengals at America’s most historic ballpark.The senior quarterback (three rushing touchdowns) closed his high school career with a bang, sprinting five yards for the winning score with 18 seconds remaining as Brighton rallied for an epic 20-14 comeback victory over City League rival TechBoston at the annual Fenway Thanksgiving series.“It’s awesome,” Dulin said. “It’s like a dream come true. I don’t know how to put it into words. The ending … I dreamed of this, honestly. I hope to play in the future.”Dulin finished his evening 6-for-9 passing with 133 yards to go with 88 yards rushing, as Brighton (5-4) captured the Boston City League (South) crown. For the majority of the opening quarter, however, the local rivals...

House Republicans issue a subpoena to federal prosecutor in Hunter Biden’s case

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 08:40:23 GMT

By FARNOUSH AMIRI (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans issued a subpoena Tuesday to a federal prosecutor involved in the criminal investigation into Hunter Biden, demanding answers for what they allege is Justice Department interference in the yearslong case into the president’s son. Rep. Jim Jordan, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, called on Lesley Wolf, the assistant U.S. attorney for Delaware, to appear before the committee by Dec. 7, according to a copy of the congressional subpoena obtained by The Associated Press. “Based on the Committee’s investigation to date, it is clear that you possess specialized and unique information that is unavailable to the Committee through other sources and without which the Committee’s inquiry would be incomplete,” Jordan wrote in an accompanying letter to Wolf. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The subpoena to Wolf is the latest in a series of ...

Police: Kentucky bank shooter wrote in journal about ease of buying assault weapon before killings

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 08:40:23 GMT

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The man who fatally shot five coworkers at a Louisville bank in April wrote in his journal that he wasn’t sure if his mental health struggles would preclude him from purchasing a gun and then later, after acquiring one just days before carrying out the mass shooting, remarked on how easy the transaction turned out to be.The journal writings by Connor Sturgeon were contained in a 64-page report released Tuesday by Louisville police, where authorities say they have now closed the investigation into the actions of the 25-year-old who also died that day in an exchange of gunfire with authorities. Sturgeon wrote that it “was so easy” to purchase the assault rifle, a Radical Firearms RF-15, from a Louisville gun store, according to the police file. He bought the rifle, 120 rounds and four magazine cartridges for $700 six days before the shooting, and the process took about 45 minutes, he said.“Seriously, I knew it would be doable but this is ridiculous,” he wrote. H...

Accuser sues Bill Cosby for alleged abuse dating to 1980s under expiring New York survivors law

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 08:40:23 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A woman who worked as a stand-in at “The Cosby Show” in the 1980s said in a lawsuit Tuesday that Bill Cosby drugged and sexually abused her after offering to mentor her in her acting career. It is the latest in a string of lawsuits filed against Cosby under New York’s expiring Adult Survivors Act, which has given victims of sexual abuse a one-year window for claims that would otherwise be barred by time limits. That window closes on Thanksgiving.The anonymous accuser said that soon after meeting Cosby while working on his show, he started offering style tips and performing acting exercises with her in his dressing room. When he invited her to his home, she accepted, she said, in part because of “Cosby’s wholesome image as `America’s Dad,'” according to the lawsuit.Once there, she said she blacked out during an acting exercise after drinking wine apparently laced with an intoxicant. She awoke “partially undressed and vomiting into a toilet,” according to the law...

Kai Thomas wins Atwood Gibson Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize for debut novel

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 08:40:23 GMT

TORONTO — Debut novelist Kai Thomas took home the top fiction prize at the Writers’ Trust Awards on Tuesday evening for his story of two Black women at the northern end of the Underground Railroad.Thomas, who is from Ottawa, won the $60,000 Atwood Gibson Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize for “In the Upper Country,” published by Penguin Canada, at a ceremony in Toronto.“I’ve obviously never done this before and having guides like you all is fantastic,” he said after thanking his editors and publisher.Thomas’s novel was also shortlisted for the Governor General’s Literary Award for fiction and the 2023 Amazon Canada First Novel Award.Writers’ Trust jurors praised the book as a “mesmerizing, lyrical testament to the power of storytelling.”“Thomas deftly and compassionately braids deeply engrossing stories within stories that explore a little-known aspect of Canadian history,” they wrote in their citation.Mea...

Food insecurity continues to get worse in Ontario and across Canada, study shows

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 08:40:23 GMT

As so many Canadians have been battered with inflation and soaring costs on a wide range of goods, a new study out of the University of Toronto is showing food insecurity is getting worse in Ontario and other provinces.Researchers at PROOF, which works to provide policy recommendations to deal with food insecurity, found 18.7 per cent of Ontario households were dealing with food insecurity. That figure is 2.6 per cent higher than 2021. Roughly similar numbers were found in other provinces.“Food insecurity, we’ve known it’s been around for a long time and the fact that it’s getting worse now is something that I think all governments should be paying attention to,” Tim Li, a research program coordinator, told CityNews on Tuesday.“What we saw when we compared the previous year to this year is a majority of the increase of the additional households that were food-insecure were in Ontario.”According to figures provided by PROOF, 2.8 million Ontar...

2 suspects sought after Rexdale stabbing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 08:40:23 GMT

Toronto police say two suspects are being sought after a stabbing in Rexdale on Tuesday night.It happened shortly after 7 p.m. in the Kipling Avenue and Brookmere Road area.Officers located a male with stab wounds at the scene. He’s been taken to hospital with undisclosed injuries.Two male suspects remain at large.Stabbing:Kipling Ave & Brookmere Rd area7:08 pm-reports of a stabbing -police o/s-locate a male w/stab wounds-transported to hospital-2 suspects: #1 male, white, 30's, blonde hair & goatee, #2 male 17/18 yrs, skinny, 5'10, black jacket & black pants#GO2693178^av— Toronto Police Operations (@TPSOperations) November 22, 2023

Physicians, clinic ask judge to block enforcement of part of a North Dakota abortion law

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 08:40:23 GMT

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Physicians and the former, sole abortion provider in North Dakota on Tuesday asked a judge to block enforcement of part of a revised law that bans most abortions, saying a provision that allows the procedure to protect a woman’s health is too vague.North Dakota outlaws all abortions, except in cases where women could face death or a “serious health risk.” People who perform abortions could be charged with a felony under the law, but patients would not.Tuesday’s request for a preliminary injunction asks the state district court judge to bar the state from enforcing the law against physicians who use their “good-faith medical judgment” to perform an abortion to treat pregnancy complications that could “pose a risk of infection, hemorrhage, high blood pressure, or which otherwise makes continuing a pregnancy unsafe.” The doctors and clinic are asking the injunction to remain in place until their suit against the full law goes to trial next year.Physicians have per...

Brawling fans in stands delay start of Argentina-Brazil World Cup qualifying match for 27 minutes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 08:40:23 GMT

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Lionel Messi led his Argentina lineup off the field and into the locker rooms because of a brawl between rival fans in Brazil, delaying the start of their South American World Cup qualifier by 27 minutes Tuesday at the Maracana Stadium.Argentina players asked fans in the stands for calm before heading to the locker rooms. Goalkeeper Dibu Martinez raced to one of the rails in front of the Argentina fans to ask police to stop the violence.Police used batons to break up the fights in the crowd. Parts of seating were being thrown and hit some spectators behind one of the goals. At least one fan left the stadium bleeding from his head.Argentina told Brazil officials they would only return to the pitch after the situation was calm. They returned after 22 minutes in the locker rooms, and warmed up for several minutes before the game was finally started.It was 0-0 at halftime. As the match began, dozens of police surrounded Argentina fans as they cheered, and even more...