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Officials commemorate 20th anniversary of deadly attack on UN headquarters in Iraq

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:46 GMT

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi and United Nations officials on Saturday marked the 20th anniversary of a deadly attack on the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad. The Aug. 19, 2003, truck bomb attack on the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, which housed the U.N. headquarters in Iraq at the time, killed 22 U.N. staff including the head, Sergio Vieira de Mello, a rising U.N. star. It was the deadliest attack against U.N. staff in its history.The attack came in the wake of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq that toppled the dictator, Saddam Hussein, but unleashed an insurgency and years of brutal civil war in the country.At the commemoration ceremony held Saturday at the site of the attack, which has since been converted into a rehabilitation center for people struggling with addiction, the head of the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, said that the “wounds created by the 2003 attack – and the violence that came after it – run deep” and “may never fully heal.”But Hennis-Plasschaert pointed...

One of the Egyptian activists behind the 2011 uprising freed from prison after presidential pardon

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:46 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — One of the Egyptian activists behind the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak walked free from prion Saturday following a presidential pardon after spending nearly 10 years behind bars.Authorities released prominent activist Ahmed Douma from a prison complex outside Cairo where he was serving a 15-year sentence after being convicted of taking part in clashes between protesters and security forces in the Egyptian capital in December 2011, according to rights lawyer Khaled Ali.“Douma is free,” Ali wrote on Facebook. He posted a photo showing the activist along with former presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahi outside the Badr prison complex.The nearly weeklong clashes that left some 40 people dead erupted after mostly young activists took to the streets to protest the post-Mubarak political transition overseen by the military. The riot involved a fire that gutted parts of a library housing rare manuscripts and books. Other government buildings, inclu...

Heritage Minister urges Meta to end ‘reckless’ news block as thousands flee wildfires

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:46 GMT

OTTAWA — Canada’s Heritage Minister is calling on Meta to allow people to share news articles on Facebook and Instagram as thousands flee wildfires that have devoured homes in British Columbia and the Northwest Territories.Pascale St-Onge says Meta’s decision to continue blocking Canadian news articles on its two massive platforms is “reckless.”In a Friday post to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, she said those threatened by the out-of-control fires need more access to news about what’s happening.St-Onge is calling on Meta to reinstate news sharing immediately, “for the safety of Canadians facing this emergency.”British Columbia and Northwest Territories have declared states of emergencies as raging forest fires encroach on cities including West Kelowna, B.C., and the territorial capital of Yellowknife.Meta blocked Canadian news on its social media sites earlier this month in response to federal legislation requiring s...

Clarification: Russia-Ukraine-War-Blind-Soldiers story

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:46 GMT

RIVNE, Ukraine (AP) — In a story published August 17, 2023, The Associated Press reported about a rehabilitation program for Ukrainian war veterans who lost their vision in combat. The story should have made clear that the project named ‘Life After War’ is being funded mainly by the Oleksandr Tereshchenko Charity Foundation.The Associated Press

Suspected Palestinian shooting attack kills 2 Israelis in West Bank, Israeli military says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:46 GMT

BALATA REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank (AP) — Two Israelis were killed in a suspected Palestinian shooting attack Saturday in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli military said, the latest outburst of violence to rock the region.The military said it was searching for suspects and setting up roadblocks near the town of Hawara, a volatile area in the northern West Bank.Since last spring, the West Bank has seen some of the deadliest fighting between Israel and the Palestinians in nearly two decades.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.BALATA REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank (AP) — A Palestinian who was shot by Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank earlier this week died of his wounds on Saturday, Palestinian official media said. The death was the latest in a wave of violence rocking the region.Also Saturday, the Israeli military said it was looking into reports of a shooting in a volatile area of the West Bank. The country’s rescue service said two men, aged 60 and 3...

French general overseeing restoration of Notre Dame Cathedral, Jean-Louis Georgelin, dies at 74

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:46 GMT

PARIS (AP) — The decorated French general in charge of the ambitious, big-budget restoration of fire-ravaged Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, Jean-Louis Georgelin, has died. He was 74.President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute Saturday to one of France’s “greatest soldiers, greatest servants,” who “stone by stone, was restoring the wounded beauty” of Notre Dame. Before being pulled from retirement to oversee the cathedral reconstruction, Georgelin previously served as chief of France’s military general staff, overseeing operations in Afghanistan, the Balkans and beyond.Citing the regional prosecutor, local news reports said Georgelin died while hiking in the Pyrenees, likely in an accident. The mountain rescue service in the Ariege region said a body was found Friday near the village of Bordes-Uchentein.Macron said in a statement that Georgelin died in the mountains, reflecting “a life always turned toward the summits.” The statement did not provide details.Born Aug. 30, 1948, Georgelin a...

19 buses lost due to fire at Durham Region Transit facility in Oshawa

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:46 GMT

19 buses were confirmed lost and service updates have been implemented following a fire at Durham Region Transit’s (DRT) facility in Oshawa on Wednesday.Emergency crews were called to the industrial three-alarm fire at a DRT bus facility on Farewell Street, south of Highway 401, in Oshawa around 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday.It took firefighters around five hours to extinguish the blaze at the one-storey facility which sustained significant damage. No injuries were reported.Oshawa Fire Services Chief Stephen Barkwell said the roof of the building had completely collapsed and three bus bays had been damaged.The scheduled service announced on Aug. 16 will remain in place through Aug. 23. DRT hopes to have full service re-instated by Sept. 5, including planned service enhancements scheduled to take effect.A full list of service adjustments can be found here.DRT said in a statement they will inspect remaining buses in the following days to ensure they meet service standards.Workers in the area...

Man shot, killed in car in West Garfield Park Friday night

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:46 GMT

CHICAGO — A man is dead after being shot in his car in West Garfield Park on Friday evening.The 18-year-old victim, according to Chicago Police, was a passenger in a vehicle in the 4300 block of W. Maypole Avenue when shots were fired into the car at 9:56 p.m. He sustained a number of gunshot wounds in the abdomen, cheek, and head and was transported to Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition.A short time later, the victim was pronounced dead. There are no suspects in custody as Area Four detectives begin their investigation.

Lincoln Square Farmers Market connects residents with local vendors

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:46 GMT

CHICAGO — It's an event that starts in May and runs through November, bringing the goods from a number of local vendors to a pair of northside neighborhoods.The Lincoln Square Farmers Market, located at Lincoln and Leland Avenues, serves that community along with Ravenswood as farmers, artisans, and food purveyors sell their goods to local residents. It started on May 2 and will run through November 21 on Tuesdays and Thursdays with the hope that those who go can discover new vendors to frequent in the area. We featured the Lincoln Square Farmers Market on WGN Weekend Morning News on Saturday as Sean Lewis spoke with Jeff Tabels of the Lincoln Square Ravenswood Chamber of Commerce in studio. You can watch the segment from August 19's show in the video above. The Lincoln Square Farmers Market is open Tuesdays from 7 a.m. through 12 p.m. and Thursdays from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. See more information on the market here.

Hurricane Hilary flooding could be 'catastrophic and life-threatening' in Mexico and California, forecast warns

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:46 GMT

CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico (AP) — Hurricane Hilary headed for Mexico's Baja California Saturday as the U.S. National Hurricane Center predicted “catastrophic and life-threatening flooding” for the peninsula and for the southwestern United States, where it is forecast to make land as a tropical storm on Sunday.Officials as far north as Los Angeles scrambled to get the homeless off the streets, set up shelters and prepare for evacuations.Hilary is expected to plow into the Mexican peninsula on Saturday night and then surge northward and enter the history books as the first tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years. Tropical storm warning issued in Southern California for the first time The U.S. National Hurricane Center issued a tropical storm watch for a wide swath of Southern California from the Pacific coast to interior mountains and deserts. Officials talked of evacuation plans for California’s Catalina Island.“I don’t think any of us — I know me particularly — never tho...