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US lawmakers want to help Israel, but political chaos spells delays

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:49 GMT

Within hours of the stunning attack by Hamas militants in Israel, U.S. lawmakers were quick to promise more aid to America’s closest ally in the Middle East.Yet those pledges come at a time of deep political dysfunction in Washington, raising questions over how quickly the money can start flowing.Despite pronouncements of support on both sides of the aisle, there will likely be no fast or easy response until the chaos surrounding the House’s empty speakership is settled. Both candidates for the gavel backed more support for Israel on Saturday, yet the House is still several days away from electing a leader, and the lower chamber remains far from unified on most issues.At the same time, Congress also has to grapple with a looming government shutdown when a funding patch expires Nov. 17.“There is nothing the House can do until they elect a speaker, and I don’t know if that happens quickly,” former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told Fox News on Saturday.A Defense Departme...

No jackpot winner in Saturday’s Powerball drawing, historic prize has now grown to an estimated $1.55 billion

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:49 GMT

(CNN) — The already historic Powerball jackpot climbed to an estimated $1.55 billion after there was no big winner in Saturday night’s drawing, leaving the third largest prize in the game’s history still up for grabs.If the jackpot is won in the next drawing on Monday, a lucky player would have the option to claim a $679.8 million cash prize before tax, according to Powerball’s website.The jackpot rolled for a 34th time Saturday, with no winners for the $1.4 billion jackpot. The prize would have been the fifth largest US lottery jackpot.There have been no grand prize winners since July 19, when a single ticket sold in California nabbed a jackpot worth $1.08 billion.While no ticket matched all six numbers to claim the big prize Saturday, there were still some big winners.Multiple tickets matched five numbers to win $1 million prizes in California, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio, Texas and Wisconsin. Another two tickets, sold in Iowa and Maine, nabbed $2 mi...

Cooler and breezy Sunday

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:49 GMT

Good morning! it’s dry, cooler and breezy today. We get the sunshine back, so it’ll be a great day to get outside for any fall activities. We hold on to temperatures starting off in the 40s and ending in the 60s this week. Tuesday and the end of the week brings the chance of rain.There’s a chill to the air this morning, but it’s refreshing. Hello, new air mass! You’ll want the jacket this morning with temperatures in the upper 40s/low 50s. We’ll see mostly sunshine through the day as temperatures rebound to the low 60s.Tonight, temperatures fall into the 40s. Tomorrow will be similar to today – breezy, some sun and clouds with cool highs in the low 60s.I want to give a weekend weather shout-out to the first and third graders at Snug Harbor in Quincy! I visited their school this week. We created fog (always a favorite!), made it rain and shared our forecasts in front of the green screen.-Meteorologist Melanie Black

A policeman in Egypt killed 2 Israelis and 1 Egyptian at a tourist site in Alexandria

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:49 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — An Egyptian policeman opened fire Sunday on Israeli tourists in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, killing at least two Israelis and one Egyptian, Israeli and Egyptian authorities said.A statement from Egypt’s Interior Ministry said that another person was wounded in the attack at the Pompey’s Pillar site in Alexandria. It provided no further details.The Israeli Foreign Ministry identified the wounded as an Israeli who suffered moderate injuries. The ministry said in a statement that Israeli authorities were working with the Egyptian government to bring the Israelis home.Extra News television channel, which has close ties to Egyptian security agencies, reported that the suspected assailant was detained.Security forces quickly cordoned off the site of the attack. Graphic footage posted on social media showed two people lying motionless on the ground. Another was seen being helped by a group of men. One woman was heard shouting for an ambulance.Sunday’s attack ca...

A Baltic Sea gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia is shut down over a suspected leak

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:49 GMT

HELSINKI (AP) — Finland and Estonia said Sunday that the undersea Balticconnector gas pipeline running between the two countries across the Baltic Sea has been temporarily taken out of service due to a suspected leak.Gasgrid Finland and Elering, the Finnish and Estonian gas system operators, said they noted an unusual drop in pressure in the pipeline shortly before 2 a.m. Sunday, after which they shut down the gas flow.“Based on observations, it was suspected that the offshore pipeline between Finland and Estonia was leaking,” Gasgrid Finland said in a statement. “The valves in the offshore pipeline are now closed and the leak is thus stopped.”The Finnish operator gave no reason for the suspected leak and said it was investigating together with Elering.Gasgrid Finland said the Finnish gas system is stable and the supply of gas has been secured through the Inkoo floating LNG terminal, referring to the offshore support vessel Exemplar — a floating liquefied natural gas terminal at the...

Trans Mountain route change will ‘desecrate’ sacred site: Secwépemc knowledge keeper

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:49 GMT

OTTAWA — A Secwépemc law called X7ensq’t says that if you disrespect the land and don’t take care of it properly, the land and the sky will turn on you.“It’s a serious law,” said Mike McKenzie, a Secwépemc knowledge keeper. He said he wonders “how much farther” people want to go in violating it. McKenzie was speaking about the Trans Mountain Corp., which last week resumed construction close to Pípsell, or Jacko Lake, near Kamloops, B.C., after a federal regulator approved a change to the Trans Mountain pipeline route.McKenzie, who has been a vocal critic of the pipeline expansion, said he believes the destruction of the site is a continuation of cultural genocide.“Without that place, we lose a big part of ourselves,” said McKenzie, who noted the Secwépemc creation story takes place in Pípsell, and their laws and customs are born from that land.“This is our Vatican. This is our Notre Dame. This is a place that gives our peop...

Other voices: Merrick Garland, an impressive bastion of judicial independence

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:49 GMT

In a 1970 issue of the student newspaper at Niles West High School in suburban Chicago, senior Merrick Garland, the class valedictorian, offered the following advice to younger students:“Be sure to be a monitor and get in control of the (mimeograph) room,” he wrote, “because the person who controls the mimeo room controls the school.”Well, not quite. But, considering how Garland has ended up as the nation’s attorney general during some of the biggest legal firestorms since Watergate, it is just as well that he learned a few things at an early age about the power of the press.And the White House.Garland’s Justice Department is prosecuting both former President Donald Trump and the son of President Joe Biden. Four criminal indictments with a total of 91 felony charges have been filed against Trump this year — two on state charges in New York and Georgia and two on federal charges. Separately, Biden is the subject of a special counsel investiga...

Readers and writers: Minnesota author’s new series stars delightfully mismatched sleuths

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:49 GMT

Sometimes, urban legends and nightmares are real.That’s the best description of Minnesotan Jess Lourey’s new dark thriller and first police procedural, “The Taken Ones.” It begins in 1980 when two sisters and their girlfriend go into the frightening woods near their Minnesota homes. Only one returns. Something terrified this girl so much that she could only stand, mute and with no memory, in the middle of the street. What happened? Did the girls encounter the legendary but never-seen Bendy Man? Was the girls’ disappearance related to a woman found 22 yeas later, buried alive, clutching a heart charm necklace?“One critic told me he didn’t know how to write about this book because revealing anything would be a great, big spoiler,” Lourey said happily about this first in a series introducing forensic scientist Harry Steinbeck and Evangeline “Van” Reed, a cold case agent for Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension....

Trudy Rubin: With MAGA-led chaos in Congress, Gen. Milley’s warning rings loud and clear

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:49 GMT

In recent days, the country has been subjected to a chilling preview of what MAGA rule would look like if Donald Trump returns to power, as America’s allies looked on in shock while its enemies had good reason to cheer.Having failed to shut down the government, but succeeded in axing Ukraine aid, a handful of Trump acolytes on Capitol Hill set out to cripple the U.S. government by other means. Led by MAGA Rep. Matt Gaetz, whose narcissism trumps Trump’s, these GOP hard-liners axed their own House speaker — ousting Kevin McCarthy with no sign they can find a successor. This would leave the government in chaos, with no means of passing a budget, which seems to be Gaetz’s intent.Trump, meanwhile, was denouncing the judge who ruled his companies had engaged in big-time fraud. To top that, the former president effectively accused the departing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, America’s top military officer, Gen. Mark Milley, of treason, and posted on T...

Twin Cities Book Festival comes to Fairgrounds on Saturday

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:49 GMT

The Minnesota State Fairgrounds is going to be the happening place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 14, when thousands of readers, publishers, literary organizations, book dealers, authors and illustrators enjoy the 23rd annual Twin Cities Book Festival presented by Minneapolis-based Rain Taxi Review of Books. The festival, the longest-running annual gathering for the Twin Cities book community, is free and there is plenty of free parking around the Fairground’s Progress and Fine Arts centers where the festival will be held.David Corn (Courtesy of Rain Taxi Review of Books)On stages and in event rooms there will be presentations by authors/illustrators of children’s, young adult and adult books, poetry and graphic lit, as well as a Minnesota Author Showcase with 30 writers who have published new books, including Kate DiCamillo introducing  “The Puppets of Spelhorst.” An all-day book fair will feature nearly 140 exhibitors and used books/records will be f...