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OPP says it’s ‘referred’ Greenbelt matter to RCMP

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:39 GMT

The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it will be up to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to decide if their will be a police investigation into Ford government’s plans to open up parts of the Greenbelt for housing development.“The OPP has received a number of inquiries regarding an investigation into the Greenbelt,” the OPP said in a release.“To avoid any potential perceived conflict of interest, the OPP referred this matter to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).”It comes a day after the resignation of Ryan Amato, the Chief of Staff to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, following a scathing report from Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk that found developers who had access to Amato wound up with 92 per cent of the land that was removed from the protected Greenbelt.“The Premier’s Office has accepted Ryan Amato’s resignation as Chief of Staff to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, effective immediately,” ...

Kosovo inaugurates ‘Wall of Honor’ statue for 23 Albanians who rescued Jews during the Holocaust

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:39 GMT

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — A statue bearing the names of 23 Kosovo Albanians who rescued Jews from the Holocaust during World War II was inaugurated Wednesday in the capital, Pristina.The “Wall of Honor” statue was placed in a park in Pristina in the presence of some of the rescuers’ descendants, political leaders, and the U.S. and German ambassadors. Some 500 Jews lived in Kosovo, then part of former Yugoslavia, at the beginning of the war. Many were arrested, deported to nearby prisons or Nazi-managed camps and almost half of them died.Local Albanians helped scores of Jews to escape, usually taking them to neighboring Albania.Leke Rezniqi’s great-grandfather Arslan rescued Jewish physician Chaim Abrabanel, who was working in Skopje, now in North Macedonia. Arslan Rezniqi sheltered him and worked with another Albanian, Arif Alickaj, to prepare false documents and take Abrabanel safely to Albania. “That shows only the example of the uniqueness of Albanian rescue,” Leke Rezn...

A shooting outside a residence hall at Alabama A&M campus leaves 2 people injured

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:39 GMT

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) — A shooting outside a residence hall at an Alabama college campus that stemmed from a fight has left two people injured, police said.Tuesday’s shooting occurred at Alabama A&M University, Huntsville Police Department spokesperson Sydney Martin wrote in an email. Investigators said the shooting was an isolated occurrence, Martin said.Both people had minor injuries, police said. Police do not think anyone else was involved. “This was not an active shooter incident,” Martin wrote in the emailed statement.Martin said that investigators were obtaining arrest warrants on assault charges for both people involved. Both will be booked into the county jail when they are released from the hospital, Martin said. The north Alabama campus was briefly placed on a lockdown, according to local news outlets. WAFF reported that students were sent an alert warning that there was a report of an armed person on campus and to go inside and lock their doors. The university ...

Rescuers evacuate over 100,000 people from flood-hit areas of Pakistan’s Punjab province in 3 weeks

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:39 GMT

MULTAN, Pakistan (AP) — Rescuers have evacuated more than 100,000 people from flood-hit areas of Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province in the past three weeks, officials said Wednesday.The rescue operations were expanded last week when the Sutlej River started overflowing, inundating several districts. Most of the evacuations were reported in the districts of Bahawalpur and Kasur in Punjab province.Small-scale evacuations began in July after neighboring India diverted water from dams into the Ravi River, which flows from India into Pakistan. Later rains also flooded the Sutlej River, prompting authorities to evacuate people living nearby.The national disaster management agency said water levels in the Ravi River are currently normal but will rise further in the Sutlej River this week. Pakistani authorities are still struggling to overcome the damage caused by massive floods last summer that affected 33 million people and killed 1,739. They caused $30 billion in damage to the coun...

The Fukushima nuclear plant will start releasing treated wastewater. Here’s what you need to know.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:39 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese officials plan to start discharging treated radioactive wastewater from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean on Thursday, a contentious step more than 12 years after a massive earthquake and tsunami set off a battle against ever-increasing amounts of radioactive water at the plant.The government and plant operator say the release is an unavoidable part of its decommissioning and will be safely carried out, but the plan faces opposition in and outside Japan. Here is a look at the controversy. WHY IS THERE SO MUCH WASTEWATER?The March 2011 earthquake and tsunami destroyed the plant’s cooling systems, causing three reactors to melt. Highly contaminated cooling water applied to the damaged reactors has leaked continuously to building basements and mixed with groundwater.The plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO), has taken steps to limit the amount of groundwater and rainwater entering the reactor area, and...

Zimbabwe votes as the president known as ‘the crocodile’ seeks a second and final term

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:39 GMT

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Delays marked voting in Zimbabwe on Wednesday as President Emmerson Mnangagwa seeks a second and final term in a country with a history of violent and disputed elections.This is the second general election since the ouster of longtime repressive ruler Robert Mugabe in a coup in 2017.Twelve presidential candidates are on the ballot, but the main contest is expected to be between 80-year-old Mnangagwa, known as the “the crocodile,” and 45-year-old opposition leader Nelson Chamisa. Mnangagwa narrowly beat Chamisa in a disputed election in 2018.Chamisa hopes to break the ruling ZANU-PF party’s 43-year hold on power. Zimbabwe has had only two leaders since gaining independence from white minority rule in 1980.A runoff election will be held Oct. 2 if no candidate wins a clear majority in the first round. The election will also determine the makeup of the 350-seat parliament and nearly 2,000 local council positions.“It’s becoming tougher to survive in this country,&...

Pakistani children rescued from a broken cable car say they repeatedly feared they would die

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:39 GMT

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Schoolchildren who were rescued from a broken cable car dangling high above a valley in Pakistan said Wednesday that they repeatedly feared death was imminent during the 16-hour ordeal even as their parents tried to console them over the phone.Six children and two adults were pulled from the cable car in a daring rescue Tuesday. One of the youngest was grabbed by a commando attached to a helicopter by rope, while others were lowered to the ground in a makeshift chairlift constructed from a wooden bed frame and ropes.“I had heard stories about miracles, but I saw a miraculous rescue happening with my own eyes,” said 15-year-old Osama Sharif, one of those rescued.Osama was headed to school on Tuesday to receive the results of his final exam, when the cable snapped.“We suddenly felt a jolt, and it all happened so suddenly that we thought all of us are going to die,” he said in a telephone interview.Some of those aboard had cellphones and started making calls. ...

I was surprised when some of my student loans were canceled. Yours might be, too

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:39 GMT

In 2022, I left the teaching profession, convinced that the public service loan forgiveness (PSLF) I had been pursuing for the past 14 years was no longer a possibility. When I changed careers, I had nearly $50,000 in student loan debt.But in 2023, my loan servicer informed me that almost $40,000 of that balance had been forgiven.This surprising reversal happened because a limited PSLF waiver temporarily gave borrowers credit for payments toward loan forgiveness that normally wouldn’t count toward PSLF — and waived the requirement that borrowers must work in public service at the time of application and forgiveness.The bad news: The waiver that helped me get loan forgiveness expired Oct. 31, 2022.The good news, according to Abby Shafroth, director of the Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project at the National Consumer Law Center: “If you didn’t already take advantage of the limited waiver … there’s still time to receive almost the same benefits,” which may lead to loan cancellation...

Wednesday Forecast: Excessive Heat Warning, isolated storm

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:39 GMT

Wednesday: Mostly sunny, isolated storm, Excessive Heat Warning, WSW 10-15 G25. High: 99NWS Chicago said peak heat will be close to 105 to 115 degrees between Wednesday and Thursday. Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, WSW 10-15 G25. High: 81. Overnight lows dip into upper 70sChicago Weather | Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center's Forecast (wgntv.com)Thursday: Mostly sunny, isolated storm, Excessive Heat, WSW 10-15 G25. 99Chicago Area Radar | WGN TV

Extreme heat hits Chicagoland area, warnings in effect

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:39 GMT

CHICAGO -- The extreme heat is expected to hit later this morning and temperatures can reach up to 115 degrees today. The National Weather Service has already issued an Excessive Heat Warning for the next two days. It is said to stay away from alcohol, caffeine and sodas. Limit time outside and if air conditioning is not accessible, keep shades drawn, blinds closed with windows slightly open. Chicago Public Schools prepare for dangerously hot temperatures Also be aware of signs of heat related illnesses like extreme sweating, intense thirst, nausea, fatigue, dizziness or confusion. The OEMC says those are signs of heat exhaustion or heat stroke. “Try to stay away from being outside. Keep yourself very hydrated,” Cook County Health Emergency Physician Mike Schindlbeck said.There are also opportunities to stay cool at Chicago Public Libraries as well as citywide park district facilities while they are open.