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Ukrainian president extends tour of war’s front-line areas

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:50:21 GMT

OKHTYRKA, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s president visited the Sumy region in northern Ukraine on Tuesday, continuing his tour over recent days of areas of the country that have felt the brunt of Russia’s full-scale invasion and as the stage increasingly looks set for a Ukrainian counteroffensive.President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with officials and local people in two cities in the region, which borders Russia. It was partially occupied by Russian forces after the war started more than a year ago. The Russians withdrew from the region by early April.The Associated Press was granted exclusive access as Zelenskyy visited the Sumy region cities of Okhtyrka, which saw fierce battles last year but was never occupied, and Trostianets, which was held by the Russians for a month after the invasion but retaken by Ukrainian forces on March 26, 2022.Zelenskyy’s trip followed his visits over the past seven days to the Kherson and Kharkiv regions, parts of which were retaken last year from the Kremlin...

New sports wagering code bans college betting partnerships

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:50:21 GMT

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — The U.S. gambling industry is adopting a new responsible marketing code that will ban sports books from partnering with colleges to promote sports wagering, bar payments to college and amateur athletes for using their name, image or likeness, and end the use of the terms “free” or “risk-free” to describe promotional bets.The American Gaming Association told The Associated Press on Tuesday the changes are necessary to keep up with developments in the fast-growing legal sports betting industry, which currently operates in 33 states plus Washington, D.C. The group is the national trade association for the commercial gambling industry.But they also follow criticism of the gambling industry from regulators and those who treat gambling addiction; several states are outlawing the kind of betting partnerships covered by the code, and others are taking a renewed look at overall sports betting advertising.One New York congressman has introduced legislation that woul...

Uncrewed Russian spacecraft that leaked coolant lands safely

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:50:21 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian space capsule safely returned to Earth without a crew Tuesday, months after it suffered a coolant leak in orbit.The Soyuz MS-22 leaked coolant in December while attached to the International Space Station. Russian space officials blamed the leak on a tiny meteoroid that punctured the craft’s external radiator. They launched an empty replacement capsule last month to serve as a lifeboat for the crew.The damaged capsule safely landed Tuesday under a striped parachute in the steppes of Kazakhstan, touching down as scheduled at 5:45 p.m. (7:45 a.m. EDT) 147 kilometers (91 miles) southeast of Zhezkazgan under clear blue skies.Space officials determined it would be too risky to bring NASA’s Frank Rubio and Russia’s Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin back in the Soyuz in March as originally planned, as cabin temperatures would spike with no coolant, potentially damaging computers and other equipment, and exposing the suited-up crew to excessive heat.The three...

Warehouse fire kills 11 people in northern Chinese province

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:50:21 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese authorities are investigating the cause of a fire that broke out at an abandoned refrigerated warehouse in the northern industrial province of Hebei, killing 11 people, the local government said Tuesday. The Cang County government said the blaze started Monday afternoon when the warehouse was being dismantled. Firefighters extinguished the fire at about 11 p.m. and rescuers recovered 11 people, but none showed signs of life, it said in a statement. A relative of one of the victims learned from others who managed to escape that the 11 people were among 14 workers who were demolishing the warehouse, according to Jimu News, part of the Chinese government-owned Hubei Daily Media Group.The Associated Press

EU defends its Libya migrant record over UN team allegations

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:50:21 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union on Tuesday defended its record on helping relieve the suffering of migrants in Libya after U.N.-backed investigators accused the 27-nation bloc of abetting human rights abuses and other crimes in the largely lawless north African country.Libya is a major departure point for people from northern Africa and elsewhere willing to make the perilous Mediterranean Sea crossing in poorly maintained boats in search of better lives or sanctuary in Europe.At least 529 migrants were reported dead and 848 others missing off Libya last year, according to the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration (IOM). More than 24,680 people were intercepted by the Libyan coastguard as they tried to leave, and brought back.Presenting a report on Monday by a U.N.-commissioned fact-finding mission to Libya, investigator Chaloka Beyani said that EU assistance to the Libyan authorities, migration department and the coastguard “has aided and abetted the comm...

Unprecedented construction needed in B.C. to offset record immigration: Report

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:50:21 GMT

VANCOUVER — A new report says home construction in British Columbia will need to rise to unprecedented levels to offset the impact of record immigration on the housing market. The B.C. Real Estate Association says the province must build 25 per cent more new homes than usual for the next five years to address deteriorating housing affordability. It says construction needs to be ramped up to a record 43,000 housing completions a year for the next five years to counteract rapid population growth.Brendon Ogmundson, chief economist with the association, says lowering price growth so incomes can catch up to prices is integral to improving housing affordability in B.C.He says increasing supply would ease the upward pressure on housing prices from an immigration-driven demand shock and if sustained, help improve overall affordability.The report says B.C. is expected to welcome an estimated 217,500 new permanent residents from 2023 to 2025, nearly double the historical average immigration l...

Woman shot in face while driving in Lawndale

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:50:21 GMT

CHICAGO — A woman was shot in the face while driving late Monday night in Lawndale.At around 11:40 p.m., police responded to the 3900 block of West 16th Street on the report of a shooting.Police said a 28-year-old woman was driving westbound on 16th Street when shots were fired from an unknown suspect. 39-year-old man shot while driving on South Side The woman was shot in the face and transported to Mt. Sinai in critical condition.No one is in custody. Anyone with information can leave an anonymous tip at cpdtip.com.

CTA employee charged after man found dead in Blue Line stairwell

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:50:21 GMT

CHICAGO — A CTA employee has been charged in connection with the death of a man found beaten in a CTA stairwell early Saturday morning.Police have charged 39-year-old Emmett Richardson with aggravated battery. Richardson was arrested Saturday afternoon and identified as the man who beat a 54-year-old man at the CTA LaSalle Blue Line station. Previous Coverage: CPD investigating after man found dead in stairwell at CTA’s Lasalle Blue Line Station, CTA employee in custody The 54-year-old was found unresponsive in a stairwell landing around 4:01 a.m. Saturday in the 100 block of West Congress Parkway.The man was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead.Richardson is due in court Tuesday. No additional information has been released.

$1.1 million jackpot won in northern Illinois

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:50:21 GMT

ILLINOIS — A fourth Lucky Day Lotto jackpot has been won in March after two tickets were sold matching all five winning numbers.The tickets were purchased for Sunday's midday draw and had the numbers 1 - 5 - 21 - 25 - 41. Chicago suburbs’ most expensive home for sale One ticket was bought in Lakemoor at Woodman's Food Market, while the other was bought in Durand at Kinney Pump House.The jackpot prize will be split between the two tickets meaning each is worth $550,000. That also means the retailers which sold the tickets will receive a $5,500 bonus.

Migrants set mattresses afire at Mexico center where 39 died

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:50:21 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Migrants fearing deportation set mattresses ablaze at an immigration detention center in Mexico, starting a fire that left 39 dead, Mexico’s president said Tuesday. It was one of the the deadliest incidents ever at an immigration lockup in the country.Hours after the fire broke out late Monday, rows of bodies were laid out under shimmery silver sheets outside the facility in Ciudad Juarez, which is across from El Paso, Texas, and a major crossing point for migrants. Ambulances, firefighters and vans from the morgue swarmed the scene.Thirty-nine people died and 29 were injured and are in “delicate-serious” condition, according to the National Immigration Institute. There were 68 men from Central and South America held in the facility at the time of the fire, the agency said.President Andrés Manuel López Obrador called the incident unfortunate and said the director of country’s immigration agency was on the scene.“They never imagined that this would cause this terri...