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Israel approves deal to release at least 50 hostages held by Hamas

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:39 GMT

(CNN) — Israel’s cabinet has approved a breakthrough deal that would see the release of at least 50 hostages – women and children – from Gaza, according to an Israeli government statement, in what is expected to result in the first sustained pause in fighting and major de-escalatory step since Israel’s war with Hamas began.The freeing of the hostages will come in exchange for a four-day truce in Israel’s air and ground campaign in Gaza, the statement said. It made no mention of the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, though it is understood this is also a key part of the deal. Earlier reports suggested about 150 Palestinian prisoners, also predominantly women and children, would be released.The deal was approved by the Israeli cabinet by a significant majority, a government source told CNN.The statement held out the potential for the truce to extend beyond the original four-day period, saying that an extra day would be added to the truce for each t...

Former Patriots captain Devin McCourty focused on championing fight against injustice after retirement

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:39 GMT

Devin McCourty is best known for being a champion on the field. Now retired from the Patriots he is focused on championing the fight against injustice. McCourty retired earlier this year. Speaking to 7’s Amaka Ubaka, he detailed efforts to make an impact off the field and more.“Being a part of this, that was everything that we kind of worked hard and built up, it was the top of the mountain,” he said.McCourty was recently honored for his work in the case of William Allen, who had been in prison for 27 years serving a life sentence for murder and armed robbery. While Allen was involved in the crime, he was not the man who fatally stabbed the victim. McCourty learned about Allen’s case and knew he had to help. “I was blown away from there and told everybody, ‘I’m in, let me know how I can help, what we need to do, but I’m all in on this,” he said. McCourty moved fast, signing a letter to then-Gov. Charlie Baker pleading for Allen’s release. McCourty also appeared a...

Substitute teacher arrested after suspected 'inappropriate activity' with teen: police

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:39 GMT

OCEANSIDE, Calif. -- A 27-year-old Vista Unified School District substitute teacher suspected of inappropriate activity with a 13-year-old girl was arrested over the weekend, authorities said.Conner Chanove, who is also a coach for the all-girls Seaside Water Polo Club in Carlsbad, was arrested Monday after the teen's mother allegedly found him with her daughter in a vehicle at Guajome Lake Park in Oceanside, Sgt. Josh Morris with the Oceanside Police Department said in a news release Tuesday."The mother noticed inappropriate activity was taking place and removed her daughter from the vehicle and confronted the suspect," Morris said. Encinitas removes benches at Swami’s beach, frustrating locals Authorities were unable to find the suspect when they received the report Saturday, but two days later found and arrested him. Police also conducted a search of Chanove's home in Carlsbad.Chanove was booked into the Vista Detention Facility on multiple charges, according to police. His bai...

Man killed by police after reaching for gun in pants identified

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:39 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Authorities released bodycam video and identified a man who was killed by police after reaching for a weapon in his waistband last week in City Heights. Imanol Aparicio, 22, of San Diego, was identified as the suspect allegedly in possession of a loaded unregistered polymer 80 firearm and a backpack containing a loaded 30-round magazine with 13 rounds, Lt. Joseph Jarjura with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department (SDSO) said in a news release Tuesday.On the evening of Monday, Nov. 13, San Diego police received a report of a man shooting a female victim in the 4500 block of Polk Avenue in the Teralta East neighborhood, according to authorities. The caller told police the suspect was standing outside the home with a firearm.When officers arrived on scene, the suspect had already left, but was later located in the 4000 block of Wightman Street in the Cherokee Point neighborhood.Officers shouted multiple times at the suspect to take his hands out of his pockets, but he ...

US court denies woman’s appeal of Cristiano Ronaldo’s 2010 hush-money settlement in Vegas rape case

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:39 GMT

RENO, Nev. (AP) — A U.S. appeals court sided Tuesday with Cristiano Ronaldo, rejecting an appeal by the lawyer for a woman trying to force the international soccer star to pay millions more than the $375,000 in hush money he paid her after she accused him of raping her in 2009.Kathryn Mayorga’s lawyer had asked the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a federal judge’s dismissal of the case in Las Vegas in June 2022 and reopen the civil lawsuit she filed in 2018.They argued U.S. District Judge Jennifer Dorsey should not have rejected Mayorga’s attempts to unseal and make public the confidentiality agreement she signed in 2010 in accepting payments from Ronaldo.A three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based appellate court disagreed. It also rejected their argument that the judge abused her discretion by dismissing the case with prejudice, which prevented Mayorga from refiling the case, and took the unusual step of levying a $335,000 fine against her lawyer, Les...

Pilot killed as small plane crashes and burns on doorstep of shopping center in Plano, Texas

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:39 GMT

PLANO, Texas (AP) — A small plane crashed and burned Tuesday on the doorstep of a strip mall in Texas, killing the pilot and causing a nearby car to catch fire, but nobody on the ground was injured, authorities said.The single-engine Mooney M20, with just the pilot aboard, went down at about 6 p.m. north of Air Park-Dallas Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said.Photos from the scene showed the wreckage in a parking space next to a nail salon and diner just outside of the shopping center in the Dallas suburb of Plano.The crash caused a parked car to catch fire, but nobody was inside the vehicle, authorities said.Police confirmed the pilot died at the scene.The cause of the crash was under investigation. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the plane was taking off or trying to land at the small suburban airport, which has a single runway.The Associated Press

Fund to compensate developing nations for climate change is unfinished business at COP28

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:39 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — Sunil Kumar watched helplessly in July as his home and 14 others were washed away by intense monsoon rains lashing the Indian Himalayas.“All my life’s work vanished in an instant. Starting over feels impossible, especially with my three children relying on me,” said Kumar, a waste collector in the village of Bhiuli, in the mountainous state of Himachal Pradesh.This year’s monsoon season in India was devastating, with local governments estimating 428 deaths and more than $1.42 billion in property damage in the region. But India was just one of many developing nations to suffer from extreme weather made worse or more likely by climate change, caused largely by greenhouse gas emissions that result from the burning of fossil fuels. Tropical storm Daniel hammered Libya with massive flooding in September, and Cyclone Freddy battered several African nations early in the year. Activists say all three disasters show how poorer nations, which historically have contribut...

Israel approves temporary cease-fire deal, in exchange for hostage release

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:39 GMT

Israeli Cabinet says it has approved a temporary cease-fire deal in a war that has been going on for more than a month.It says in exchange for a four-day truce, Hamas is to release at least 50 of the roughly 240 hostages that are being held in the Gaza Strip.The government said it would extend the lull by an additional day for every 10 hostages released.Ahead of today’s cabinet vote, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would resume its offensive against Hamas after the cease-fire expires.It’s not clear at this point when the truce will go into effect.-With files from The Canadian Press and Associated Press

Kai Thomas on the ‘surreality’ of winning the Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize for debut

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:39 GMT

TORONTO — Debut novelist Kai Thomas said he was struck by “surreality” when Margaret Atwood announced he had won the top fiction prize at the Writers’ Trust Awards on Tuesday evening.Thomas, who is from Ottawa, won the $60,000 Atwood Gibson Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize for “In the Upper Country,” published by Penguin Canada, at a ceremony in Toronto.The book tells the story of two Black women at the northern end of the Underground Railroad.“It’s all new to me,” Thomas said after the ceremony. “To be able to step into this career and have the work be recognized on this stage is wild. I just feel very, very honoured.”In his acceptance speech, Thomas thanked his family, his editors and his publisher.“I’ve obviously never done this before and having guides like you all is fantastic,” he said. Thomas’s wife and their two young children were in the audience, along with his parents and their partners,...

Influential Iowa evangelical leader Bob Vander Plaats endorses Ron DeSantis

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:39 GMT

Bob Vander Plaats, an influential Iowa evangelical leader, endorsed Ron DeSantis for president Tuesday, boosting the Florida governor as he goes all in on the leadoff caucus state in an effort to trip up Republican front-runner Donald Trump.Vander Plaats is the second major backer DeSantis has picked up in Iowa this month, joining popular Gov. Kim Reynolds. Evangelicals are a crucial voting bloc in Iowa’s Republican caucuses. Vander Plaats, president of the Family Leader, has endorsed the eventual winner in every GOP caucus since 2008 and is potentially jeopardizing his streak by picking DeSantis, who trails far behind Trump in polls. His decision will test his sway among Iowa evangelicals, many of whom continue to support Trump.If Trump wins Iowa, he’ll probably go on to be the nominee, “but I don’t think America is going to elect him president again,” Vander Plaats told Fox News host Bret Baier. “I think America would be well served to have a choice, and I ...