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Waiting for news, families of Israeli hostages share their loved ones’ lives and dreams

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:12:48 GMT

They range from babies to the elderly. Most are civilians. Israel says at least 199 people taken during the Hamas attack are being held captive in Gaza. Some of their families received frantic phone calls or texts during the attack. Others heard nothing and later saw video evidence their loved ones were taken. For now, they wait, desperate to find out whether the hostages are even alive. And they tell their stories. Here are some of them.__Judith and Natalie RaananJudith Raanan and her teenage daughter, Natalie Raanan, were excited to travel to Israel to celebrate a relative’s 85th birthday and the Jewish holiday season, according to their rabbi.The pair had been sending updates as the trip progressed and were enjoying “this really special mom and daughter time together,” Meir Hecht said. The family hasn’t heard from either mother or daughter since a week ago, after Hamas launched an unprecedented surprise attack. The community in their suburb north of Chicago fears they are among r...

Live updates | Jim Jordan scrambling to shore up the votes ahead of election for House speaker

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:12:48 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House of Representatives is set to vote on Jim Jordan’s nomination for speaker on Tuesday afternoon, two weeks after the chamber ousted Kevin McCarthy from the top spot.Jordan was scrambling to shore up the votes needed to clinch the speakership in the closely divided chamber. He can likely only lose a few GOP votes to win the nod.What to knowJim Jordan’s rapid rise has been cheered by Trump and the far rightHow the vote for a new speaker worksScalise ends bid to become speaker as holdouts refuse to back himMcCarthy was an early architect of the GOP majority that became his downfallSpeaker McCarthy ousted in historic House voteTrump says Jordan will be ‘GREAT Speaker’Donald Trump is reupping his support of his top ally in the House ahead of the vote for speaker.“Jim Jordan will be a GREAT Speaker of the House,” the former president said on social media.Trump also reiterated his backing of Jordan while appearing Tuesday morning at his civil fraud trial in ...

CP NewsAlert: Winnipeg judge finds killer not criminally responsible for attacks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:12:48 GMT

WINNIPEG — A Winnipeg judge has ruled Trevor Farley killed his parents and attacked a hospital nursing supervisor but is not criminally responsible of first-degree murder, second-degree murder and attempted murder. Court heard Farley had been in psychosis at the time of the attacks in October 2021. More coming. The Canadian Press

Juventus midfielder Nicolò Fagioli gets seven-month ban from soccer for betting violations

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:12:48 GMT

ROME (AP) — Juventus midfielder Nicolò Fagioli was banned for seven months by the Italian soccer federation on Tuesday for betting violations.Fagioli agreed to a plea bargain with the FIGC that included therapy for a gambling addiction.The 22-year-old Fagioli, who has already been seeing a therapist for his problem, alerted the Italian soccer federation’s prosecutor about the case and has been co-operating with authorities to mitigate his punishment.That allowed the minimum ban of three years for players betting on soccer matches to be greatly reduced. Fagioli has reportedly never bet on matches involving Juventus.___AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/SoccerThe Associated Press

Missing Israeli with ties to Canada dead, Joly calls for Canadians to leave Lebanon

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:12:48 GMT

OTTAWA — Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says an Israeli with ties to Canada who had been missing is now confirmed dead, amid the continued fallout from Hamas’s recent surprise attacks on Israel. Joly is offering condolences to the family of Tiferet Lapidot, who she said was one of three Canadians reported missing after Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing more than 1,400 people and setting off a war that has left more than 4,000 dead on both sides. The minister says that during her recent trip to Israel, she met with Lapidot’s Canadian father in Tel Aviv, as well as Lapidot’s uncle, who described her as a “brilliant, beautiful young woman.”The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs described Lapidot as an Israeli woman with Canadian parents, saying in a statement that her family asked that news of her death be shared with media. Joly says two Canadians remain missing, and two more flights arranged by Canada’s military are leaving...

Quebec labour unions in health care, education vote 95 per cent for strike mandate

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:12:48 GMT

MONTREAL — A common front of four major Quebec labour unions has voted 95 per cent for an unlimited general strike mandate.The unions are negotiating as one and represent 420,000 public sector workers in health care, education and social services.Éric Gingras, president of the CSQ union, says the strong mandate announced today shows members are fed up and want better working conditions.François Énault, vice-president of the Confederation of National Trade Unions, says if workers choose to strike, it likely won’t happen before November.The unions are seeking a three-year contract with annual increases tied to the inflation rate — two percentage points above inflation in the first year, three points higher in the second and four points higher in the third.The Quebec government is offering an increase of nine per cent over five years, as well as a lump-sum payment of $1,000 in the first year and other targeted increases that bring the total offer to 13 per cent over five years.Th...

Sweden reports damage to an undersea cable to Estonia, after Finland cites damage to a gas pipeline

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:12:48 GMT

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Sweden on Tuesday reported partial damage to an undersea telecom cable in the Baltic Sea running to Estonia that authorities believe happened at the same time as damage to an undersea gas pipeline and telecom cable from Finland to Estonia.Finland launched an investigation into possible sabotage after reporting the damage to its gas pipeline to Estonia last week. Sweden’s Civil Defense Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin said Tuesday that the damage to the cable between Sweden and Estonia appeared to happen at the same time, but that it’s unclear what caused it.“It is not a total cable break. There is a partial damage on this cable,” Bohlin said. “We cannot assess what caused the damage.”Estonia’s economy ministry said the disruption in the Swedish-owned cable was in Estonian territory, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) off the island of Hiiumaa in northern Estonia, the Baltic News Service said. Service was restored within a few days, the agency sai...

4 Hezbollah fighters have been killed as tensions flared along the Lebanon and Israel border

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:12:48 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Tensions flared Tuesday along the Lebanon-Israel border, leaving four Hezbollah fighters dead, the largest number in a single day since the militant group and Israeli military started clashing last week. Israeli forces and armed groups in Lebanon have engaged in a series of low-level skirmishes since the outbreak of the latest war in Gaza between the Israeli military and the Hamas militant group.The escalation comes amid fears that the war could spread into Lebanon, where Hezbollah has expressed strong support to the militant Palestinian group. Israel considers heavily-armed group in Lebanon as its biggest threat, which has said a ground incursion into the blockaded Gaza Strip would lead to an escalation. So far, artillery exchanges between Hezbollah and Israel have been limited to several towns along the border. Israel has threatened that if Hezbollah opens a new front, all of Lebanon will suffer the consequences. Israel and Hezbollah fought a monthlong war in 2006 th...

Ukraine uses US-provided long-range ATACMS missiles against Russian forces for the first time

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:12:48 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States has quietly delivered the long-range ballistic missiles that Ukraine said it urgently needed and that President Joe Biden promised last month, U.S. officials said Tuesday, and Ukraine has already begun using them on the battlefield against Russia.The missiles arrived in Ukraine within the last few days, one of the officials said. Their delivery to the warfront gives Ukraine a critical ability to strike Russian targets that are farther away, allowing Ukrainian forces to stay safely out of range. The officials were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter before an official announcement and spoke Tuesday on the condition of anonymity.The delivery of the Army Tactical Missile System, known as ATACMS, was shrouded in secrecy, with the expectation that the first public acknowledgement would come when the missiles were used on the battlefield. Because of lingering U.S. concerns about escalating tensions with Russia, the ATACMS version that went to ...

Wisconsin Republicans withhold university pay raises in fight over school diversity funding

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:12:48 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Leaders of the Republican-controlled Wisconsin Legislature withheld pay raises for Universities of Wisconsin employees while approving raises for other state workers on Tuesday in an ongoing fight over the school system’s diversity, equity and inclusion spending.Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, who co-chairs the Legislature’s employment relations committee, has promised to block pay raises for UW employees until the school system cuts its so-called DEI spending by $32 million.“We’re only doing half our job today,” Democratic Senate Minority Leader Melissa Agard said. “We are denying pay increases to half of our state workforce because of one person’s resistance to inclusion on our campuses.”While writing the budget in June, Republicans slashed UW’s funding by $32 million because they estimated that’s what the system’s 13 campuses put towards DEI efforts over two years. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers used his veto power to save 188 DEI p...