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Ukrainian official offers plan for a Crimea without Russia

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:50 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A top Ukrainian official on Sunday outlined a series of steps the government in Kyiv would take after the country reclaims control of Crimea, including dismantling the strategic bridge that links the seized Black Sea peninsula to Russia.Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, published the plan as Ukraine’s military prepares for a spring counteroffensive in hopes of making new, decisive gains after more than 13 months of war to end Russia’s full-scale invasion.Moscow annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, but most of the world does not recognize it as Russian territory. The peninsula’s future status will be a key feature in any negotiations on ending the current fighting. The Kremlin has demanded that Ukraine recognize Russia’s sovereignty over Crimea and acknowledge other land gains made by Moscow as a condition for peace. Kyiv has ruled out any peace talks with Moscow until Russian troops leave all occ...

New York, city of Trump’s dreams, delivers his comeuppance

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:50 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — His name has been plastered on this city’s tabloids, bolted to its buildings and cemented to a special breed of brash New York confidence. Now, with Donald Trump due to return to the place that put him on the map, the city he loved is poised to deliver his comeuppance.Rejected by its voters, ostracized by its protesters and now rebuked by its jurors, the people of New York have one more thing to splash Trump’s name on: Indictment No. 71543-23.“He wanted to be in Manhattan. He loved Manhattan. He had a connection to Manhattan,” says Barbara Res, a longtime employee of the former president who was a vice president at the Trump Organization. “I don’t know that he has accepted it and I don’t know that he believes it, but New York turned on him.”None of Trump’s romances have lasted longer than his courtship of New York. No place else could match his blend of ostentatious and outlandish. His love of the city going unrequited is Shakespearean enough,...

Trans people face rhetoric, disinformation after shooting

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:50 GMT

Anti-transgender rhetoric and disinformation in the days following the shooting at a Nashville Christian school that killed six people have heightened the fears of a community already on edge amid a historic push for more restrictions on trans people’s rights this year.Authorities haven’t shared any evidence linking Audrey Hale’s gender identity to the motive for the attack, which killed three children and three adults at The Covenant School last week. Yet right-wing commentators, politicians and other figures have cited the shooting as they’ve shared false claims of a rise in transgender mass shooters and suggested that the fight for trans rights is radicalizing people. Advocates worry the comments are further jeopardizing transgender people by turning them into scapegoats, at a time when they’re speaking out against a wave of bills focused on trans people in statehouses across the country. “We’ve certainly seen the uptick in transphobic rhetoric in th...

Going back to the moon: ‘This is Canada on the world stage, doing big things’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:50 GMT

WASHINGTON — Ask Marc Garneau if he’d go back to space and the first Canadian to ever make the trip doesn’t hesitate: “In a wink.”It’s another matter entirely, of course, whether the now-retired former astronaut and Quebec MP —  at 74, he finally gave up his seat in the House of Commons just three weeks ago — still has the right stuff.“You always wonder, when you reach a certain age, whether you would still have that capability that you had when you were younger,” said Garneau, who flew three Space Shuttle missions between 1984 and 2001.“Having flown three times, I consider myself blessed beyond any reasonable expectation in life.” Now the country’s pre-eminent “elder statesman” of space, Garneau has long waited for the day when he’ll be joined in the pantheon of pioneering explorers by the next astronaut to earn the “first Canadian” honorific. Who will it be? The world finds out Monday. That&#...

12 tornadoes touchdown in Chicago area, NWS confirms

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:50 GMT

CHICAGO — NWS Chicago has confirmed 12 total tornadoes in Northern Illinois including one in Belvidere where a roof collapse at the Apollo Theater left one person dead. According to the NWS, one was reported west/southwest of Baileyville and one was reported near Caledonia.On Saturday afternoon, the National Weather Service confirmed a third tornado, an EF-1, impacted Machesney Park. The fourth tornado was an EF-1 tornado that went across portions of Ogle, Winnebago and Boone counties. The NWS said wind speeds peaked in Belvidere and caused the roof to collapse.Other tornadoes included: EF -1 Machesney Park, ILEF - 1 near Wellington, ILEF - 1 near Stockland, IL EF - Lombard to Addison, IL EF -2 near Oxford, IN EF - 2 near Fowler, IN EF -1 Near RemingtonNWS Chicago stated that these numbers are subject to change. 1 dead, 28 injured after roof collapses at Belvidere theater amid strong storms 57 tornadoes and even more funnel clouds reported across 7 states in the Midwest and ...

Man, 37, fatally stabbed in neck on West Side

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:50 GMT

CHICAGO — A man was fatally stabbed in the neck and chest on the city's West Side late Saturday night. According to police, a 37-year-old man was sitting in the driver's seat of a car near the 3300 block of West Roosevelt Road around 11:30 p.m. Saturday night when he was approached by another man and an altercation ensued. CPD: 15-year-old girl missing from Belmont Cragin The man was stabbed in the neck and three more times in the chest. Police say he self-transported to Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition and was pronounced dead a short time after. There is currently no one in custody and police are investigating the incident.

ATCEMS: 1 dead in overnight auto-pedestrian crash in south Austin

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:50 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — One person is dead after an auto-pedestrian crash in south Austin overnight, according to Austin-Travis County EMS. The crash happened around 1 a.m. at the intersection of South Congress Avenue and East Ben White Boulevard. MAP: Where have Austin’s fatal crashes occurred in 2023? An adult was declared dead at the scene, ATCEMS said. No other information was available at the time, but this article will be updated if more details are received.

Apple Valley High School choir students’ next stop? Carnegie Hall on Easter Sunday

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:50 GMT

Joel Beyer, center, directs a group of Apple Valley High School choir students as they rehearse for a concert on Oct. 14, 2022. Students in the choir programs will perform April 9, 2023, at Carnegie Hall in New York City. (Paul Allen / Allen Photo Works)High school choir students are traveling from Apple Valley to the Big Apple — to sing at Carnegie Hall.A group of 37 Apple Valley High School choir students, led by director Joel Beyer, will join several other high school- and university-level choirs from around the country for an afternoon performance Sunday, April 9, at New York City’s famous concert hall. They’ll be performing at Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, the hall’s flagship venue.Alongside the New England Symphonic Ensemble orchestra, the chorales will perform “The Cry of Jeremiah,” a 2012 work by the acclaimed composer Rosephanye Powell. D’Walla Simmons-Burke, the director of choral and vocal studies at Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina, will co...

The Go St. Louis Marathon runs through St. Louis Sunday

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:50 GMT

ST. LOUIS -- The Go St. Louis Marathon and Half-Marathon is happening today. It starts at Forest Park and ends the Gateway Arch. The weekend event started Saturday with a 5-K run, and several family-fun activities.This event focuses on the importance of getting in shape at an early age. Here's what makes this year special: the race will feature a beautiful route that winds through historic neighborhoods and business districts, and passes many famous St. Louis sights - the Delmar Loop, Central West End, the historic Union Station, and the St. Louis City Stadium. Trending: Battlehawks tease relocation to LA in viral April Fools’ Day joke All of today's events will run on the grounds of the Gateway Arch National Park this year.GO! St. Louis introduced a 10-week series, Training for Life, to explore the links between mental health and running, and how it can help runners train.Awards this year are $500 for 1st Place, 2nd Place - $300, 3rd Place - $150.

Warm Sunday with scattered showers possible tonight

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:50 GMT

ST. LOUIS -- A cold start, but today will be a big improvement from yesterday. Sunshine and breezy but highs climb up into the mid to upper 60s. A cold front dips into northern Missouri and stalls tonight into tomorrow. A few showers and storms will develop overnight and continue into early Monday. These could impact the morning commute, but hopefully they'll be east of the St. Louis area by then. These showers exit to the east, and then we'll see a mix of clouds and sun for Monday afternoon. Still breezy, but temperatures even warmer, up into the lower half of the 70s. For Tuesday, questions still remain on the severe threat. Tuesday will be warm, with highs around 80. The extent of severe weather will depend on the timing of the cold front. If the cold front comes through overnight, when instability is much lower, the threat will be lowered. If it were to come through earlier, then they'll be a higher threat. It does look like our atmosphere is capped through Tuesday afternoon whe...