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Israel, Palestinian militants in Gaza trade fire; Palestinian laborer in Israel killed by rocket

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:29 GMT

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel and Palestinian militants unleashed salvos of fire for a fifth day on Saturday, with the Islamic Jihad militant group launching dozens more rockets and the Israeli military pounding targets inside the Gaza Strip and vowing to step up its campaign.Shrapnel from a Palestinian rocket that slammed into an agricultural community in Israel’s southern Negev desert killed a Palestinian laborer who had been working inside Israel, Israeli defense officials said. A second Palestinian laborer was badly wounded. There were no immediate reports of casualties Saturday from Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, where so far 34 Palestinians have been killed, at least 14 of them civilians, according to Palestinian health officials. Over 147 have been wounded. But residents said homes of people uninvolved in fighting had been struck.In a reminder of the combustible situation in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli military raided the Balata refugee camp near the northern city ...

Slain OPP officer’s funeral set for Thursday at Ottawa hockey arena

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:29 GMT

The funeral for an officer shot and killed in eastern Ontario is set for next week.Ontario Provincial Police say Sgt. Eric Mueller will have a police funeral at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa on Thursday.Mueller died in hospital following the early Thursday shooting at a home in Bourget, Ont.The 42-year-old father of two and two other officers responded to a call for a disturbance at a home around 2 a.m.OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique has said the officers were ambushed and a 39-year-old man faces a first-degree murder charge and two charges of attempted murder.A police procession is set to escort Mueller’s body on Saturday from the Ottawa Hospital to a funeral home in Rockland, Ont.This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 13, 2023.The Canadian Press<!– Photo: 20230513120528-645fbb56a26adf9507b08e9cjpeg.jpg, Caption: Ontario Provincial Police Sgt. Eric Mueller is shown in a handout photo. he funeral for an officer shot and killed in eastern ...

One dead as tornado hits south Texas town near the Gulf coast

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:29 GMT

PORT ISABEL, Texas (AP) — At least one person was killed when a tornado struck a town on the Gulf coast near the southernmost tip of Texas, damaging dozens of homes and knocking down power lines early Saturday, authorities said. At least 10 people were also hospitalized, two in critical condition, said Cameron County Emergency Management Coordinator Tom Hushen. The storm hit the unincorporated community of Laguna Heights near South Padre Island at about 4 a.m. Hushen said there are “multiple minor injuries” such as cuts and bruises. The tornado “caused significant damage to residences … we have 40-60 damaged homes,” some heavily damaged, he said.National Weather Service investigators at the scene have confirmed it was a tornado and are working to determine the wind speed and strength, Hushen said.“We don’t quite have wind speed yet because there’s not a sensor over there, to exactly measure it,” weather service meteorologist Angelica Soria said. “(Investigators) can assess how...

‘All we want is to be safe’: Migrants push north after end of Title 42

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:29 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — For weeks, Solangel Contreras raced.The Venezuelan migrant and her family of 22 trudged through the dense jungles of the Darien Gap and hopped borders across Central America.They joined thousands of other migrants from across the Hemisphere in a scramble to reach the United States-Mexico border and request asylum.They raced, unsure what changing migratory rules and the end of a pandemic-era border restriction, Title 42, would mean for their chances at a new life in the U.S.But after missing that cutoff, robbed in Guatemala and crossing into Mexico shortly after the program ended Thursday night, Contreras, 33, had only one certainty in her mind: “We’re going to keep going.”Confusion has rippled from the U.S.-Mexico border to migrant routes across the Americas, as migrants scramble to understand complex and ever-changing policies. And while Title 42 has come to an end, the flow of migrants headed north has not.From the rolling mountains and jungles in Central Americ...

Procession for fallen OPP officer happening Saturday, funeral next week

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:29 GMT

Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) announced a procession to escort Sgt. Eric Mueller will be held on Saturday.Sgt. Mueller died in hospital following the early Thursday shooting at a home in Bourget, Ont. The 42-year-old and two other officers had been responding to a disturbance call, police have said.Alain Bellefeuille, a 39-year-old Bourget resident, is charged with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder in the case.An OPP spokesperson said the procession would leave the Ottawa Hospital – General Campus at 3:45 p.m. ET and travel along Highway 417 eastbound to Highway 174, which transitions to Highway 17, to Rockland, arriving at 4:30 p.m. ET.A procession for our fallen hero, #OPP Sgt. Eric Mueller, will commence at 3:45PM today at Ottawa Hospital – General Campus, and will travel to Rockland. #HeroesInLife pic.twitter.com/WttvhjUtYZ— OPP East Region (@OPP_ER) May 13, 2023Public members can show their respects from one of the many overpasses...

Pakistan leader says those involved in violence following Khan detention will face terrorism trials

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:29 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s prime minister said Saturday that authorities would go after those involved in violent protests following the detention of his predecessor, Imran Khan, including prosecution in anti-terrorism courts.Shahbaz Sharif’s warnings were a sign of further escalation in the long-running showdown between the government and Khan, who has the backing of large numbers of supporters.Khan returned to his home in the eastern city of Lahore early Saturday, after a court agreed to shield him from renewed arrest for two weeks. The 70-year-old former cricket star, who was toppled by parliament a year ago, planned to deliver a televised speech from his home later Saturday.The recent chain of events began Tuesday when Khan was dragged out of a courtroom and arrested in the capital of Islamabad. His detention was met by violent protests by his supporters, who torched cars and buildings, including military installations. Hundreds were arrested in the aftermath.Khan w...

Liverpool holds Eurovision Song Contest final, with Sweden favored and Ukraine in spotlight

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:29 GMT

LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — What includes a Swedish diva, a Finnish rapper who loves pina coladas, a band of Croatian agit-rockers and an Austrian duo possessed by a long-dead writer? It could only be the Eurovision Song Contest.The grand final of the pan-continental pop music competition takes place Saturday in Liverpool. This year’s theme is “united by music,” and the event fuses the soul of English port city that birthed The Beatles with the spirit of war-battered Ukraine. Britain is hosting the event on behalf of Ukraine, which won last year’s competition.“I’ve never seen a city embrace Eurovision as much as Liverpool,” said Steve Holden, host of the official Eurovision Song Contest podcast. “It runs through the whole of the city. Every pub, every shop, every bar has the Ukrainian flag. … There’s a buzz, there’s a party atmosphere.”Under spring sunshine, fans flocked in their thousands to city’s dockside area — now a vast party zone — near the Liverpool Arena contest venue. ...

Opposition favored to top Sunday’s Thai election, but faces hurdles in taking power

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:29 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Voters in Thailand head to the polls on Sunday touted as a pivotal chance for change, eight years after incumbent Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha first came to power in a 2014 coup and is now running against the daughter of the politician who is the military’s top nemesis.The opposition Pheu Thai Party, headed by Paetongtarn Shinawatra, is widely predicted to win at least a healthy plurality of the seats in the 500-member lower House. But who heads the next government won’t by decided by Sunday’s vote alone. The prime minister will be selected in July in a joint session of the House and the 250-seat Senate. The winner must secure at least 376 votes and no party is likely to do that on its own.Pheu Thai won the most seats in the last election in 2019, but its archrival, the military-backed Palang Pracharath Party, succeeded in cobbling together a coalition with Prayuth as prime minister. It relied on unanimous support from the Senate, whose members s...

Indian cops hunt suspects in illegal crossing deaths of family to U.S. from Akwesasne

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:29 GMT

Police in India say they are looking for three men in connection with the deaths of a family from Gujarat trying to cross into the United States by boat through Akwesasne, Que., in March.Indian police allege the men were involved in running immigration firms that are used by people to enter countries with fake documents.Four Indian nationals whose bodies were among eight pulled from the St. Lawrence River had been travelling in Canada on a tourist visa from their home state of Gujarat. They included the father, Praveen Chaudhari, 50; mother, Daksha, 45; daughter, Vidhi, 23; and son, Meet, 20.Achal Tyagi, superintendent of police for the city of Mehsana, in the western state of Gujarat, says authorities have put out a lookout circular for three men: Nikulsinh Vihol, Sachin Vihol and Arjunsinh Chavda. They face charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, criminal breach of trust, cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property and criminal conspiracy.Tyagi says a poli...

Funerals to be held for firefighters killed during floods in Quebec

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:29 GMT

Funerals for two Quebec volunteer firefighters who died earlier this month during flash floods in the Charlevoix region will be private affairs.The municipality of St-Urbain, northeast of Quebec City says the families of both Régis Lavoie, 55, and Christopher Lavoie, 23, wanted to proceed with simple services in the image of the two fallen men and did not want civic funerals.Régis Lavoie’s funeral will take place later today at the St-Urbain church in the town about 110 kilometres northeast of Quebec City.The municipality says Christopher Lavoie’s funeral is scheduled for May 26.The two men — who are not related — were swept away by floodwaters on May 1 during a rescue mission in St-Urbain, Que., northeast of Quebec City.Quebec Premier Francois Legault has said that one of the firefighters used his own amphibious ATV to try to reach a couple whose home was surrounded by water in the town.Their bodies were discovered two days later about 500 metres apart in the Riviere du...