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Hundreds of mourners lay flowers at late Premier’s Li Keqiang’s childhood residence in eastern China

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 03:00:54 GMT

HONG KONG (AP) — Hundreds of mourners lined the streets and laid flowers near former Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s childhood residence on Saturday, a day after he died of a heart attack. Li was born in Hefei in the eastern Chinese province of Anhui, where he spent most of his childhood and youth. People came overnight to Li’s former residence at Hongxing Road No. 80 with bouquets of chrysanthemums and other flowers. Some bowed in respect, while others cried.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠”Everyone is in sorrow,” said Fei Wenzhao, who visited the site on Friday night. She said that the flowers laid out stretched 100 meters (yards). The road leading to the residence was closed to traffic Saturday afternoon to allow people to pay their respects. The line stretched hundreds of meters.Li, 68, was China’s top economic official for a decade, helping navigate the world’s second-largest economy through challenges such as rising political, economic and military tensions with the United States and the COVID...

2 men stabbed near King and Spadina

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 03:00:54 GMT

Two men are in hospital after an early morning stabbing near King Street and Spadina Avenue.Toronto police were called to the intersection just before 3:30 a.m. to reports of an altercation in a laneway. Two people were reportedly stabbed in the incident.Two men in their 30s were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.The suspect or suspects fled the area shortly after. Police continue to investigate the incident.

Jewish and Muslim chaplains navigate US campus tensions and help students roiled by Israel-Hamas war

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 03:00:54 GMT

For many of the university chaplains and faith leaders caring for students angered and shaken by the Israel-Hamas war, the needs are acute, the days intense. The bloodshed has roiled campuses in the United States, at times sparking rival rallies and competing demands.Kaiser Aslam, Muslim chaplain at the Center for Islamic Life at Rutgers University, has been helping students wrestling with complex questions and anxieties — from why there is suffering to whether public advocacy for Palestinians or criticism of Israel could jeopardize future career opportunities or spark other repercussions. Some, he said, are grieving family members killed during Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip.Meanwhile, Rabbi Esther Reed, with Rutgers Hillel, recalled trying to comfort a student who was sobbing uncontrollably on learning a friend was killed in Israel in the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas militants that triggered the latest fighting. Another student, she said, asked if police could escort her from cl...

At least 32 people were killed in a multi-vehicle pileup on a highway in Egypt, authorities say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 03:00:54 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — A passenger bus slammed into a parked vehicle on a foggy Saturday morning on a highway linking the Egyptian capital, Cairo, and the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, killing at least 32 people, authorities said.The multi-car pileup, which set some vehicles ablaze, left at least 63 others injured, said the Health Ministry. Ambulances rushed to the scene of the crash on the Cairo-Alexandria desert road to transport the injured to nearby hospitals, it said.Local media reported that the bus was on its way to Cairo when it hit the parked vehicle. Other cars slammed into the bus with some catching fire.Footage circulating online showed many burned vehicles on the side of the road with firefighters extinguishing the fire. In one footage many vehicles were seen on fire with thick plumes of smoke billowing from them. The state-run daily al-Ahram reported that 29 vehicles were part of the crash which took place at the town of Nubariya, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) north of Ca...

Live updates | Palestinian officials say death toll rises from expanded Israel military operation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 03:00:54 GMT

Israel launched an expanded ground operation on Saturday after knocking out communications and creating a near-blackout of information in the Gaza Strip with increased bombardment and artillery fire overnight.Israel said infantry and armored vehicles were backed by “massive” strikes from the air and sea, including the bombing of Hamas tunnels, which are a key target in its campaign to crush the territory’s ruling group.Explosions from continuous airstrikes lit up the sky over Gaza City for hours after nightfall Friday as the Israeli military said it was expanding ground operations in the territory, signaling a move closer to an all-out invasion of Gaza after the bloody rampage by Hamas in southern Israel on Oct. 7.The Palestinian telecom provider, Paltel, said the bombardment caused “complete disruption” of internet, cellular and landline services as the besieged enclave’s 2.3 million people were largely cut off from contact with the outside world. Some satellite phones continued to...

Movie review: ‘The Holdovers’ an instant addition to holiday movie canon

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 03:00:54 GMT

There’s a double-layered sense of self-reflective nostalgia baked into Alexander Payne’s misfit holiday movie “The Holdovers.” Set in 1970, there’s nostalgia for the time period, which is textured and rendered with care and conviction on-screen. But the film itself, a warm, spicy brew of humor, poignancy and irascible charm, also inspires the odd desire to be rewatching it while you’re watching it, a kind of nostalgia for the present moment. That funny feeling is reflected in the plot too, in which a trio of near strangers form an unlikely but indelible bond over Christmas break at a Massachusetts boarding school.“The Holdovers” crackles and pops with film grain, like a roaring fire might. Right away, Payne places us in a vintage setting, with 1970s-style production logos aiding his time travel mission, allowing us to settle into the era, like sinking into a brocade sofa with a few fingers of Canadian Club in a coffee cup.There is a certain warmth to “The Holdovers,” though the envi...

White Earth Nation says water ordinance is allowed under 20th-century treaties

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 03:00:54 GMT

WHITE EARTH, Minn. — While farmers on and near the White Earth Band of Chippewa Reservation — or White Earth Nation — believe state, rather than tribal, officials control the issue of irrigation permits, the band itself believes it retained the right to control natural resources like water through its treaties with the U.S. government.On May 5, 2023, the White Earth Reservation Business Committee — the governing body for the White Earth Band of Chippewa’s reservation — passed a new water resolution and ordinance that required farmers who wish to irrigate on the reservation or within a five-mile zone around it to apply for a tribal permit, in addition to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources permit.Vehicles from the White Earth Division of Natural Resources in Mahnomen, Minn., on Aug. 30, 2023. Under an ordinance enacted May 5, 2023, by the White Earth Reservation Business Committee, farmers wanting to irrigate within White Earth Nation or in a 5-mile perimeter outside the re...

Rainy and frigid weekend forecast, but relief on the horizon

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 03:00:54 GMT

ST. LOUIS -- It was much cooler this morning than previous mornings. The cold front responsible for the drop in temperatures and rainfall has wiggled its way just to the south of the viewing area, where it will eventually stall out later this morning. This stalled front will be responsible for more rain this weekend. Scattered development behind the front this morning will continue through late morning, with more widespread rain and a few thunderstorms likely this evening or overnight. Second Missouri teacher suspended for OnlyFans account The greatest rainfall will occur south of I-70. There will be no severe weather with these storms. Just expect a wet, gloomy, cold Saturday continuing into Sunday. Afternoon highs both today and tomorrow won’t make it out of the 40s, with overnight lows falling from the low 40s (Saturday night) to the lower 30s (Sunday night).Fortunately, the rain will make its final exit out of the area Sunday night before temperatures drop below freezing thro...

Silicon Valley ditches news, shaking an unstable industry

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 03:00:54 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO — Campbell Brown, Facebook’s top news executive, said this month that she was leaving the company. Twitter, now known as X, removed headlines from the platform days later. The head of Instagram’s Threads app, an X competitor, reiterated that his social network would not amplify news.Even Google — the strongest partner to news organizations over the past 10 years — has become less dependable, making publishers more wary of their reliance on the search giant. The company has laid off news employees in two recent team reorganizations, and some publishers say traffic from Google has tapered off.If it wasn’t clear before, it’s clear now: The major online platforms are breaking up with news.Some executives of the largest tech companies, like Adam Mosseri at Instagram, have said in no uncertain terms that hosting news on their sites can often be more trouble than it is worth because it generates polarized debates. Others, like Elon Musk, the owner of X, have expre...

Rockies Journal: Numbers paint ugly picture of state of franchise

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 03:00:54 GMT

Painting by the numbers not only produces a portrait of the Rockies’ failures in 2023 but also a picture of what they need to fix for 2024.Let’s get started:5.67: The club’s ERA was the highest in the majors and the second-highest in franchise history, behind only the 1999 team (6.01). Ravaged by injuries — a franchise record 17 different pitchers made a start — and hurt by a lack of quality depth, the starting rotation posted a 5.91 ERA, the worst in the majors and the second-highest in franchise history, also behind the ’99 club.Colorado had a National League-low 39 quality starts, the second-fewest for a full season in franchise history, ahead of only the 2012 “piggy-back” rotation’s 27 quality starts.There is no mystery here; the Rockies desperately need to find and develop starting pitching. Can Rockies general manager Bill Schmidt pull off a trade like the one Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen made when he swapped infielder/outfielder Jazz Ch...