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‘Historic’ strikes leave Israel at standstill with crowds in streets to protest judicial reform

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:18 GMT

(CNN) — Israel’s political crisis escalated into uncharted territory Monday as the country’s largest trade union announced a “historic” strike shutting down transportation, universities, restaurants and retailers in protest against Prime Minister’s Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned judicial overhaul.All takeoffs from Israel’s main airport, Ben Gurion Tel Aviv, were halted for several hours because of the strike. Workers at the country’s largest port in Haifa stopped working, some universities were shuttered and some of the country’s best-known retailers, including McDonald’s and the shopping mall chain Azrieli Group, announced closures.The strikes were announced following Netanyahu‘s decision on Sunday to fire his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant who became the first member of the cabinet to call for a pause in the reforms.Massive spontaneous protests took over the Israeli city of Tel Aviv late Sunday night in...

Yankees’ Jimmy Cordero Eager to Contribute Ahead of Big League Comeback

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:18 GMT

TAMPA – Jimmy Cordero hasn’t thrown a major league pitch since Oct. 1, 2020, when the former White Sox reliever tossed a scoreless inning in the Wild Card round of the playoffs.Tommy John surgery derailed the righty’s career the following March and left him unable to pitch in 2021. But the Yankees threw Cordero a lifeline, signing him to a minor league deal that December. Now he and the team may be on the verge of reaping rewards made possible by that flyer.The hard-throwing Cordero cracked the Yankees’ Opening Day roster Sunday after he spent last season entirely at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The 31-year-old shined for the RailRiders, recording a 2.09 ERA over 38.2 innings while striking out 31.8 percent of the hitters he faced.That campaign helped Cordero force his way onto the Yankees’ 40-man roster over the offseason, which in turn helped him land a gig in the Bombers’ bullpen on the heels of a solid spring.Cordero has a 4.00 ERA with nin...

Two killed in early morning Dennis duplex fire

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:18 GMT

A man and woman were killed in a residential fire in Dennis early Sunday morning, the Department of Fire Services released.“It’s too early to say how the fire started, but we know there were no working smoke alarms in the unit where it began,” said Dennis Fire Chief Robert Brown in a release.Firefighters were called to a two-story duplex on 3 Niblick Rd. at 6:52 a.m., the department said. The responders saw smoke coming from the building upon arrival and moved quickly to enter the residence.The fire was contained to the building and extinguished, the department said, and firefighters found two occupants during a search. Both people, an adult man and woman who’s names have not yet been released, were taken to a Cape Cod hospital but did not survive.A dog also died in the home.In light of the tragedy, Chief Brown urged the public to “please check your smoke alarms today to be sure they’re working properly on every level of your home.”A Yarmouth Fire crew ...

Ontario trucker guilty of careless driving causing death of animal rights activist

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:18 GMT

A truck driver has pleaded guilty to careless driving, causing the death of a 65-year-old animal rights activist.Andrew Blake appeared by video today before an Ontario court and pleaded guilty to the provincial offence.Regan Russell was demonstrating outside a pig slaughterhouse west of Toronto on June 19, 2020, when she was run over by a semi-trailer as it pulled into the plant.An agreed statement of facts, read by the Crown prosecutor, said Blake should have been aware Russell was standing near the driveway and eventual path of his truck when he turned into the Fearmans Pork plant.Russell’s elderly parents delivered victim impact statements, their voices breaking as they told the court about the devastating loss of a beloved daughter and caregiver.Fellow animal rights activists with Toronto Pig Save stood outside the courthouse this morning, holding banners and posters with Russell’s face and name.

Tornado recovery tough in Mississippi, one of poorest states

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:18 GMT

ROLLING FORK, Miss. (AP) — A massive tornado obliterated the modest one-story home that Kimberly Berry shared with her two daughters in the Mississippi Delta flatlands, leaving only the foundation and random belongings — a toppled refrigerator, a dresser and matching nightstand, a bag of Christmas decorations, some clothing.During the storm Friday, Berry and her 12-year-old daughter huddled and prayed at a nearby church that was barely damaged, while her 25-year-old daughter survived in the hard-hit town of Rolling Fork, some 15 miles (24 kilometers) away.Berry shook her head as she looked at the remains of their material possessions. She said she’s grateful she and her children are still alive.“I can get all this back. It’s nothing,” said Berry, 46, who works as a supervisor at a catfish growing and processing operation. “I’m not going to get depressed about it.”Like many people in this economically struggling area, she faces an uncertain future. Mississippi is one of the poorest s...

Quebec girl, 9, dies after snow fort collapses behind residence

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:18 GMT

SAINT-UBALDE, Que. — A nine-year-old girl has died after a snow fort collapsed in a forest behind a rural Quebec home.The young victim was building a fort with another girl, 7, when it collapsed on them in the town of St-Ubalde, about 100 kilometres west of Quebec City.Quebec provincial police were called to the scene at 2:40 p.m. Sunday along with local firefighters and ambulance technicians.First responders tried to resuscitate the nine-year-old before she was transported to hospital, where her death was confirmed, police spokeswoman Béatrice Dorsainville said Sunday evening.The other girl, 7, was injured but authorities don’t fear for her life.An investigator and forensic teams will take a look at the scene, Dorsainville said, adding she couldn’t say if the youngsters were accompanied by an adult when the collapse occurred.This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 27, 2023.The Canadian Press

Supreme Court rejects case of Oklahoma teen killed by police

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:18 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court won’t hear a civil rights case brought by the parents of a teenager who was naked and unarmed when he was fatally shot by an Oklahoma police officer in 2019.The high court on Monday rejected without comment the lawsuit bought by the parents of Isaiah Lewis. Police have said that the 17-year-old was shot after he broke into a home in Edmond and attacked two officers. They have said that a stun gun had no effect on him.Lewis’ lawyers wrote that on the day he was shot he had inadvertently smoked marijuana laced with PCP. His parents argued that he was experiencing a mental health crisis and that police used excessive force. An autopsy report found Lewis suffered a total of four gunshot wounds to his face, thighs and groin.A federal trial court judge had allowed the lawsuit against the officer who shot Lewis to go forward, but a three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver reversed that ruling. The Supreme Court...

Sheriff: Man who fled traffic stop shoots officer in Florida

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:18 GMT

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — A man who sped away from a traffic stop in Florida last week shot and critically wounded a sheriff’s officer before killing himself following a standoff at his home, officials said.The shooting early Sunday morning left Officer Malik Daricaud, 25, in “tenuous condition” and “fighting for his life,” Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters said during a news conference. When no one answered the door at Tyliko Maduro’s home, the officers contacted the 32-year-old man’s mother, Waters said, describing the body cam footage. She agreed to come over, and approached the front door with one officer, while another was stationed around the corner of the house and Daricaud stayed a few feet back. She knocked a couple of times and yelled, “hello,” before unlocking and pushing open the door. A dog came out the door and a volley of shots rang out.Daricaud fell backwards and collapsed onto the ground, Waters said. The other officers and Maduro’s mother wer...

India expels Rahul Gandhi, Modi critic, from Parliament

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:18 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s top opposition leader and fierce critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was expelled from Parliament Friday, a day after a court convicted him of defamation and sentenced him to two years in prison for mocking the surname Modi in an election speech.The actions against Rahul Gandhi, the great-grandson of India’s first prime minister, were widely condemned by opponents of Modi as the latest assaults against democracy and free speech by a ruling government seeking to crush dissent. Removing Gandhi from politics delivered a major blow to the opposition party he led ahead of next year’s national elections.A local court from Modi’s home state of Gujarat convicted Gandhi on Thursday for a 2019 speech in which he asked, “Why do all thieves have Modi as their surname?” Gandhi then referred to three well-known and unrelated Modis in the speech: a fugitive Indian diamond tycoon, a cricket executive banned from the Indian Premier League tournament and the prime mi...

Border crossings returning to pre-pandemic opening hours

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:18 GMT

OTTAWA — Opening hours are being extended at 39 border crossings with the United States and at several airports across the country as the Canada Border Services Agency returns to pre-pandemic hours. The changes will take effect on March 31.The border agency first restricted hours at land border crossings in April 2020, closing many points of entry early and stopping 24-hour service at seven crossings.Six crossing points in Quebec and the Regway crossing in Saskatchewan will again be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.The three airports getting updated hours are Whetstone International Airport in Del Bonita, Alta., Piney Pinecreek Border Airport in Piney, Man., and Scobey Border Station Airport in Coronach, Sask. The news comes days after U.S. President Joe Biden’s visit to Ottawa for meetings with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on cross-border issues.This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 27, 2023.The Canadian Press