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Global Affairs confirms death of fifth Canadian in Israel after Hamas attacks

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:56 GMT

OTTAWA — Global Affairs Canada has confirmed the death of a fifth Canadian in Israel after a series of attacks by Hamas militants near the border with the Gaza Strip.Three other Canadians who were in Israel when the attacks happened last Saturday are still missing, officials said Sunday. Global Affairs did not provide details of the fifth person who died or those who are missing, citing privacy reasons. “We are very focused on addressing the cases of the three missing persons, who we continue to try to locate and bring back to safety in Canada,” Julie Sunday, an assistant deputy minister with Global Affairs Canada, said at a media briefing in Ottawa. Canada considers Hamas a terrorist group, and Canadian leaders have decried the violence it waged last week near the Palestinian territory.The government is still working to get up to 300 Canadians and their relatives out of the 365-square-kilometre coastal stretch, Sunday said, as Israel gears up for an expected ground inva...

Israeli rabbis work around the clock — even on the Sabbath — to count the dead from Hamas attack

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:56 GMT

SITRIYA, Israel (AP) — Rarely do rabbis spend the Sabbath counting bodies. But on Saturday, a week after Hamas militants blew easily past Israel’s fortified security fence and gunned down hundreds of Israelis — at music festivals, in their homes, in cars while trying to flee — Israel’s military rabbinate made an exception.At Shura military base in central Israel, bodies have been coming in faster than the rabbis can identify them. Hundreds of soldiers, women, and children in body bags line shelves of refrigerated trucks, awaiting examination. Identification teams gather on plastic stools opposite the trucks to take smoke breaks between shifts. They wear heavy gas masks — the smell of death is overwhelming.“Generally, Jewish law says that you cannot break the Sabbath for a dead person,” said Rabbi Israel Weiss, who is helping lead the operation. “The exception is when a family is in doubt, and the death is so crippling that it may risk the family’s lives. Then, you must work on the S...

Egypt’s leader criticizes Israel’s Gaza operation as the top US diplomat extends his Mideast mission

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:56 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s president criticized Israel’s military operation in Gaza in a stern pushback Sunday to the United States as America’s top diplomat extended his frenetic travels across the Mideast trying to prevent the war with Hamas from igniting a broader regional conflict.With an Israeli ground offensive looming, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reaffirmed in some of his strongest language to date that Washington would stand with Israel “today, tomorrow and every day” in a partnership of shared democratic values, but that Israel must take “every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians.” He leveled no direct public criticism of Israel or its bombing campaign that has killed civilians in Gaza.From Cairo, where President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi conveyed his criticism, Blinken went to Jordan and planned to return to Israel on Monday, carrying to Israeli leaders the feedback he received in a rush of meetings with leaders throughout the Arab world.His second ...

Gaza hospitals are overwhelmed with patients and desperately low on supplies as invasion looms

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:56 GMT

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Medics in Gaza warned Sunday that thousands could die as hospitals packed with wounded people ran desperately low on fuel and basic supplies. Palestinians in the besieged coastal enclave struggled to find food, water and safety ahead of an expected Israeli ground offensive in the war sparked by Hamas’ deadly attack.Israeli forces, supported by a growing deployment of U.S. warships in the region, positioned themselves along Gaza’s border and drilled for what Israel said would be a broad campaign to dismantle the militant group. A week of blistering airstrikes have demolished entire neighborhoods but failed to stem militant rocket fire into Israel.The Gaza Health Ministry said 2,670 Palestinians have been killed and 9,600 wounded since the fighting erupted, more than in the 2014 Gaza war, which lasted over six weeks. That makes this the deadliest of the five Gaza wars for both sides.More than 1,400 Israelis were killed, the vast majority of them ci...

Chicago police investigating 11 armed robberies at North Side liquor stores

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:56 GMT

CHICAGO — Chicago police are investigating several armed robberies this month on the city's North Side.According to police, in each of the incidents, two to three people went inside the liquor stores, pointed handguns with extended magazines at people, demanded they get to the ground and then took their belongings. 8-year-old boy killed, woman injured after stabbing in Plainfield Township In some of the cases, Chicago police said the men hit people with the handguns.The men also took money from cash registers and safes and then left in a waiting Black Alpha Romeo.More than 10 robberies were reported between Oct. 6-14. Click on the pins on the map below for more details.Chicago police are reminding people and businesses to be aware of recent alerts, not to attempt to reason with or stall any demands, make sure security cameras are functional and pay special attention to suspicious people in the area.Anyone with information on any of these robberies is asked to call Area 5 detective...

Dieters shed 60 pounds on average with diabetes treatment drug: study

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:56 GMT

(AP) -- The medicine in the diabetes drug Mounjaro helped people with obesity or who are overweight lose at least a quarter of their body weight, or about 60 pounds on average when combined with intensive diet and exercise, a new study shows.By comparison, a group of people who also dieted and exercised, but then received dummy shots, lost weight initially but then regained some, researchers reported Sunday in the journal Nature Medicine.“This study says that if you lose weight before you start the drug, you can then add a lot more weight loss after,” said Dr. Thomas Wadden, a University of Pennsylvania obesity researcher and psychology professor who led the study. Ozempic, Mounjaro manufacturers sued over risk of stomach paralysis The results, which were also presented Sunday at a medical conference, confirm that the drug made by Eli Lilly & Co. has the potential to be one of the most powerful medical treatments for obesity to date, outside experts said.“Any way you slice it,...

Business People: Former N.Y. sports exec Patrick Rees takes role with Timberwolves, Lynx

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:56 GMT

OF NOTEPatrick ReesThe Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx professional basketball franchises announced the hire of Patrick Rees as chief communications officer. Rees most recently served in a similar role for Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. for the New York Knicks and New York Rangers sports teams.ADVERTISING/PUBLIC RELATIONSSkully Rebels, a Minneapolis ad agency, announced that Thako Harris has joined as vice president of operations; he previously worked at Yamamoto, where he was director of operations and resources.FINANCIAL SERVICESPiper Sandler Cos., a Minneapolis-based national investment bank, announced that Tim Carter, chief financial officer, will retire in the first quarter of 2024. Kate Clune has been selected to succeed him. Clune joins the firm from Evercore Inc., where she was treasurer and head of planning and strategy.GOVERNMENTThe Minnesota Department of Education announced the appointments of Patrick Wolfgram as the agency’s first inspector general and Julie Novak a...

15,000 people walk for the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk of Albany

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:56 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) - On Sunday, 15,000 people came out to Washington Park in Albany for the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk and organizers say this event is crucial to help patients who have been diagnosed. Lizzie Hunter, Director of the Capital Region American Cancer Society, said the event is not just about spreading awareness, but the funds raised do get reinvested back into the Capital Region. Get the latest news, weather, sports and entertainment delivered right to your inbox! “The funds that we are raising today, and all year round, really are so essential to the services that we’re able to provide and research that we’re able to fund,” Hunter said.The event was also filled with inspiring stories from survivors and caretakers like Sharon Fagan. She has a family history of breast cancer, and even though she was never, diagnosed-she does make sure to get tested whenever she can. Right now, she is a caretaker for her wife. Her wife does not have breast cancer, but ...

Counties with the highest unemployment in New York

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:56 GMT

(Stacker) -- While today's unemployment rates are significantly lower than the COVID-19 pandemic peak of 14.7% experienced in April 2020, the fear of job losses remains as workers stare down an uncertain economic future. Get the latest news, weather, sports and entertainment delivered right to your inbox! Experts are mixed in their views of a potential recession. The return of student loan payments, continually high gas prices, persistent inflation, and insurance price escalations are just a few of the factors that could limit consumer spending and potentially prompt another recession. The last economic recession before the pandemic—the Great Recession of 2007-09—sent unemployment rates up to 10% as of October 2009, and a full recovery took years.But as of August 2023, the national unemployment rate remains relatively low at 3.8%—nearly the same as the same month last year, and up about 0.3 percentage points from July. Regional and state employment varies widely dep...

Shooting at Denver Pavilions early Sunday morning leaves three injured

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:56 GMT

Police are investigating a shooting in downtown Denver that injured three people outside the Denver Pavilions early Sunday morning.Around 1:50 a.m. Sunday, as bars in Denver were closing for the night, officers responded to reports of a shooting at 16th Street Mall and Glenarm Place, near the Denver Pavilions.When officers arrived on scene, they located three men suffering from gunshot wounds, according to a statement from the Denver Police Department on X, the social media platform previously known as Twitter.ALERT: 1/2 Around 1:50am this morning, officers responded to 16th and Glenarm Pl to reports of a shooting. The located 3 male victims suffering from gunshot wounds. All are expected to survive. Preliminary information indicates that there was an altercation with a group of people pic.twitter.com/770kUR7pGa— Denver Police Dept. (@DenverPolice) October 15, 2023Paramedics transported the three men to the hospital, and all are expected to survive, police said.Related Article...