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The EU struggles to unify around a Gaza cease-fire call but work on peace moves continues

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:28 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — As the civilian death toll in Gaza continues to mount, a number of European Union leaders sought on Friday to use growing concern about Israel’s military offensive against Hamas to convince their partners to rally around a united call for a ceasefire.“The killing of innocent civilians really needs to stop,” Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said. He said the EU must unite “if we want to play a serious role in that conflict, and I think we have to because we will be wearing the consequences if things go further in a bad direction.”More than 18,700 Palestinians have now been killed, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory, which does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths, since Hamas rampaged through southern Israel on Oct. 7.Hamas killed about 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and took about 240 hostages.The EU is the world’s biggest provider of aid to the Palestinians and has been trying to use its diplomatic levera...

Quebecer finds winning Loto ticket inside Christmas decorations, wins $50,000

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:28 GMT

When you put your Christmas decorations away, did you ever think you might find a winning Loto ticket in 12 months? Well, that’s what happened to Mathieu Labrie, from the Montérégie region.He won a $50,000 Celebration prize just days before the deadline.On Nov. 29, while taking Christmas decorations out of their boxes with his family, he discovered an intact Celebration 2023 ticket. After scratching off the nearly year-old ticket, he verified it on Loto-Québec’s mobile app and “couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw the $50,000 on the screen.When Labrie went to Loto-Québec, he had exactly 39 days left to claim his prize.“A stunned Labrie immediately broke the news to his wife, who shouted with joy. Wanting to be sure of their luck, the couple went to their neighbours to check the ticket again,” wrote Loto-Québec in a press release.Still not convinced, he then asked friends to drive him to a lottery retailer so he could check the ticket a third time...

Ontario awards contract to build elevated stretch of Eglinton Crosstown West Extension

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:28 GMT

Ontario has awarded the contract to design and build the Eglinton Crosstown west extension.The elevated west portion of the line will be constructed by Aecon Infrastructure Management Inc. and will be about 1.5 kilometres in length. It will run along the north side of Eglinton Avenue from west of Scarlett Road to east of Jane Street. The subway will head underground again and connect with the future Mount Dennis station.“Elevating the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension over the Humber River will maximize travel time savings for commuters, while minimizing impacts to surrounding communities,” reads a release from the province.The Ford government says the extension will support as many as 4,600 jobs annually during construction and attract more than 69,000 daily boardings by 2041.The announcement on the development of the line west extension comes before the completion of line itself. Earlier this month, officials provided their first in-station Eglinton Crosstown LRT const...

The title of Bill Maher’s new book promises “What This Comedian Said Will Shock You”

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:28 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Bill Maher has had a few second thoughts, or at least some variations on the first ones.Next June, Simon & Schuster will publish “What This Comedian Said Will Shock You,” in which the outspoken host of HBO’s “Real Time With Bill Maher” revisits some of his on-air commentary. According to the publisher’s announcement Friday, Maher “reviewed more than a decade of his editorials, rewriting, reimagining, and updating them, and adding new material to speak exactly to the moment we’re in.”Subjects range from free speech and drugs to religion and show business. “We’re not investigative journalists — we don’t break stories, we break new ways of looking at stories,” Maher said in a statement.Maher’s previous books include “The New New Rules” and the novel “True Story.”The Associated Press

How a Canadian prepares for a stint on the ISS

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:28 GMT

In 2025, Canadian astronaut Josh Kutryk will take to the stars for a stint on the International Space Station, the latest in a long string of examples of Canada punching above its weight in space exploration. Josh Kutryk is a Canadian astronaut, engineer and pilot. He will be an occupant of the International Space Station in 2025. “It’s a little bit of a mix because on one hand, this is something I’ve been dreaming about for a long, long time. […]  At the same time, though, I’ve been preparing. I’ve been training for years,” said Kutryk. What will he be doing there? How does the ISS manage to stay above the global geopolitical fray? How on Earth (literally) do you prepare for months in space? And just how far beyond the ISS will Canadian astronauts one day travel?You can subscribe to The Big Story podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google and Spotify.You can also find it at thebigstorypodcast.ca.

Plane crashes and catches fire on North Carolina highway with 2 people escaping serious injuries

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:28 GMT

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — A small plane crashed on a western North Carolina highway and caught fire Thursday night, but the two people on board escaped life-threatening injuries, authorities said.A single-engine Diamond DA-40 crashed on Interstate 26 near Asheville Regional Airport around 8:15 p.m. with two people on board, the Federal Aviation Administration reported. The North Carolina State Highway Patrol said the plane hit power lines that cross I-26 and one wing hit a tractor-trailer, WLOS-TV reported. The plane was engulfed in flames.The truck was damaged, but the driver was not injured, the highway patrol said. Two people who were on the plane were taken to a hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening.The highway was closed in both directions Friday morning as Duke Power workers fixed powerlines that cross the highway, according to the North Carolina Department of Transportation.The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash...

Why have thousands of United Methodist churches in the US quit the denomination?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:28 GMT

The United Methodist Church has been undergoing a major upheaval as more than 7,000 congregations across the country, one quarter of the total, decided whether to leave the denomination or remain United Methodist. This splintering resulted from a long-simmering debate over theological differences and the role of LGBTQ people in the church.WHY IS THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH SPLINTERING?For decades, the denomination has been mired in intractable debates over theology and the role of LGBTQ people in the church. The UMC bans same-sex marriage and openly LGBTQ clergy.But amid increased defiance of those bans in many U.S. churches, several conservatives decided to launch the separate Global Methodist Church. Progressives who remain in the UMC are expected to advocate for removing the bans at the denomination’s next General Conference, in the spring of 2024.WHEN DID CONGREGATIONS START LEAVING? The departures began in 2019 but ramped up during this year’s just-completed round of regular an...

US national security adviser says a negotiated outcome is the best way to end Lebanon-Israel tension

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:28 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Friday that he has discussed with Israeli officials the volatile situation along the Lebanon-Israel border, adding that a “negotiated outcome” is the best way to reassure residents of northern Israel.Speaking to reporters in Jerusalem, Sullivan said that Washington won’t tolerate threats by Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group, which has been attacking Israeli military posts along the border since a day after the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7.Over the past two months, Israel has evacuated more than 20,000 of its citizens from towns and villages along the border with Lebanon, some of whom have expressed concerns that they have no plans to return home as long as Hezbollah fighters are deployed on the Lebanese side of the border.“We need to send a clear message that we will not tolerate the kinds of threats and terrorist activity that we have seen from Hezbollah and from the territory of Lebanon,” Sullivan told repo...

One fourth of United Methodist churches in US have left in schism over LGBTQ ban. What happens now?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:28 GMT

A quarter of U.S. congregations in the United Methodist Church have received permission to leave the denomination during a five-year window, closing this month, that authorized departures for congregations over disputes involving the church’s LGBTQ-related policies.This year alone, 5,641 congregations received permission from their regional conferences to leave the denomination as of Thursday, according to an unofficial tally by United Methodist News. In total, 7,658 have received permission since 2019. Thursday marked the last scheduled regional vote, according to the news service, when the Texas Annual Conference authorized four congregations’ departures.The vast major are conservative-leaning churches responding to what they see as the United Methodists’ failure to enforce bans on same-sex marriage and the ordaining of openly LGBTQ persons.The new year is expected to bring more changes.The first denomination-wide legislative gathering in eight years, slated for spring...

Suriname’s ex-dictator faces final verdict in 1982 killings of political opponents. Some fear unrest

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:28 GMT

PARAMARIBO, Suriname (AP) — Suriname’s former dictator will face a final verdict this month in the years-long judicial process over the 1982 killings of 15 political opponents that deeply scarred the South American country.Desi Bouterse and two dozen others were accused of rounding up well-known people including lawyers, journalists and a university professor and executing them in a colonial fortress in the capital, Paramaribo.Bouterse, who remains chair of the National Democratic Party, is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 20 along with four other suspects. The 78-year-old former leader is the main suspect, having been convicted twice in the killings. He has accepted “political responsibility” for them but insists he was not present for them.The relatives of those killed and Surinamese who remember what are known as the “December murders” say they want those responsible to be held accountable.“It is a wound in the community. You can’t get away from it,” said Sanjai Debipersad, a...