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Netanyahu: Israeli ground invasion ‘the one thing’ that might lead to a hostage deal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:15 GMT

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declined to confirm reports about a possible deal with Hamas to free Israeli hostages trapped in Gaza on Sunday, but attributed any movement toward an agreement to Israel’s deadly ground offensive in the region.“There could be [a deal], but I think the less I said about it, the more I’ll increase the chances that it materializes,” Netanyahu told NBC’s Kristen Welker on Sunday during an interview on “Meet the Press.”“I can say that we weren’t close at all until we started the ground operation,” Netanyahu said, adding that the pressure the Israel Defense Forces has put on Hamas leadership “the one thing that might create a deal.”Israel began its ground invasion into Gaza following the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack, during which around 1,200 Israelis were killed, according to Israeli officials, and an estimated 240 people taken hostage.Thousands more Palestinians have been killed since the war began — more than 11,000, two-thirds ...

The third of four men who escaped a Georgia jail in mid-October has been captured at an Augusta home

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:15 GMT

MACON, Ga. (AP) — The third of four men who escaped from a Georgia jail last month was captured Sunday morning at a home in Augusta, local and federal authorities said. Johnifer Dernard Barnwell, 37, was captured in a home where police also found large quantities of drugs, according to the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI.Barnwell was being held on drug charges when he and three other inmates escaped through a damaged window and a cut fence at the jail early Oct. 16.Authorities continue to search for 52-year-old Joey Fournier. Georgia news outlets reported that Fournier was being held on a murder charge in connection with the 2022 death of his ex-girlfriend when he and the others escaped. Chavis Demaryo Stokes, 29, was caught on Oct. 26; Marc Kerry Anderson, 25, was captured Nov. 3. Video footage from the day of the escape showed that a blue Dodge Challenger had been just outside the jail hours before the escape. Video also appeared to show someone tampering with the f...

Longtime Democrat from New York, Brian Higgins, to leave Congress next year

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:15 GMT

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins, D-N.Y., will leave Congress in February after 19 years, a spokeswoman confirmed Sunday.The Buffalo area Democrat scheduled a news conference for mid-morning.In an interview with The Buffalo News published Sunday, Higgins said he has grown frustrated with the House of Representatives.“Congress is not the institution that I came to 19 years ago,” Higgins told the newspaper. “And, you know, it’s in a very, very bad place right now. I am hopeful, as I always am, that it gets better. But unfortunately, I think we’re at the beginning phases of a deterioration of the prestige of the institution.”He did not immediately say what he would do next.The announcement comes two days after Republican Rep. Brad Wenstrup of Ohio announced he will not seek reelection next year.Higgins is credited with leading the efforts to revitalize Buffalo’s waterfront.The Associated Press

Over 30 workers are trapped after a portion of a tunnel under construction collapses in India

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:15 GMT

LUCKNOW, India (AP) — Part of an under-construction road tunnel in a mountainous north Indian state popular with tourists collapsed after a landslide Sunday, trapping more than 30 workers, officials said.Rescue work is in progress and oxygen is being pumped through a pipe into the collapsed section of the tunnel to help workers breathe, said Manohar Tamta, an Uttarakhand state relief official. “It will take some time to bring them out,” Tamta said.The workers have sent out signals indicating that they are safe,” the Press Trust of India news agency cited a state government official as saying.“I am in touch with the officials on the spot and constantly monitoring the situation,” said the top state elected official, Pushkar Singh Dhami.The collapsed portion of the tunnel is about 200 meters (500 feet) from the entrance, said police officer Arpan Yaduvanshi. Food is also being sent to the trapped workers, PTI quoted him as saying.About 160 rescuers from federal and st...

King Charles III leads a national memorial service honoring those who died serving the UK

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:15 GMT

LONDON (AP) — King Charles III on Sunday led a national memorial service honoring those who died serving the United Kingdom — an event that passed without incident despite fears that tensions surrounding the Israel-Hamas war might disrupt the ceremony.London’s Metropolitan Police Service deployed more than double the usual number of officers to safeguard the event and put a 24-hour guard around the national war memorial, known as the Cenotaph, to ensure it wasn’t defaced.The annual service, during which thousands of veterans paraded past the Cenotaph, came after a week of debate over calls to cancel a massive pro-Palestinian march on Saturday out of respect for the weekend’s memorial events. While the march was largely peaceful, police clashed with far-right counter-protesters who tried to disrupt it. Police on Saturday arrested about 120 people. They described them as mostly soccer “hooligans” from around the U.K. who spent the day confronting officers trying to keep them away from...

Progressive Minnesota US Rep. Ilhan Omar draws prominent primary challenger

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:15 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar got a prominent Democratic primary challenger Sunday when former Minneapolis City Council member Don Samuels announced he’ll try once again to unseat her after coming close in 2022.Omar, a charter member of “the squad” of progressive House Democrats, won reelection twice despite making comments in her first term that were widely criticized for invoking antisemitic tropes and suggesting Jewish Americans have divided loyalties. But Omar — a Somali American and Muslim — has come under renewed fire for condemning the Israeli government’s handling of its war against Hamas.“Our congresswoman has a predilection to divisiveness and conflict,” Samuels said in an interview with The Associated Press ahead of his official announcement Sunday morning on WCCO Radio.The Jamaican-born Samuels still maintains that his narrow primary loss in 2022 showed Omar was beatable, and that he could have won if they had competed later in the general ele...

Sunday Forecast: Breezy, decreasing clouds, high near 60

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:15 GMT

Sunday: Decreasing clouds, breezy & milder. S 10-20, G30 mph. Air quality is Good to Moderate today around Chicagoland. High near 60Sunday Night: Mostly clear & a bit breezy. SW/NW 5-15 mph. Low near 40Monday: Mostly sunny & mild. WSW 5-15 mph. High: 61Chicago Weather | Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center's Forecast (wgntv.com)Extended outlook calls for continued dry and unseasonably mild. A chilly start to Tuesday with lows in the mid 30s but highs in the mid to low 60s. We'll stay mild and sunny with highs in the mid to low 60s until Thursday. Then some increasing clouds and chance of showers returns Thursday night. Showers and temps in the mid 50s likely for this coming Friday. 

Sunday Brunch: Beignets with Blue Door Kitchen and Garden

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:15 GMT

Join WGN Weekend Morning News Sunday Brunch with executive chef at Blue Door Kitchen and Garden.Love the WGN Morning News? We love you, too. And you can have all the hijinks delivered to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign up and subscribe to our WGN Morning News newsletter.

State of emergency declared after fire shuts down Los Angeles freeway

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:15 GMT

(KTLA) — Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Saturday night after a massive fire shut down part of the 10 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles.The blaze was first reported early Saturday around 12:30 a.m. at a pallet yard underneath the freeway near East 14th and Alameda streets. The flames quickly spread to neighboring storage yards and engulfed both sides of 14th Street underneath the 10, eventually melting some of the freeway's steel guardrails and damaging firetrucks, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.More than 160 firefighters from 26 companies and a helicopter responded to battle the blaze.Firefighters battle a massive fire near an overpass in downtown Los Angeles on Nov. 11, 2023. (KTLA)Firefighters battle a fire near an overpass in downtown Los Angeles on Nov. 11, 2023. (KTLA)A homeless encampment is seen as firefighters battle a fire near an overpass in downtown Los Angeles on Nov. 11, 2023. (KTLA)Firefighters battle a massive fire near an overpas...

Black Friday shopping could look different this year, experts say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:15 GMT

(NerdWallet) - Black Friday is Nov. 24 this year. Retailers thrive on tantalizing shoppers ahead of the post-Thanksgiving event, keeping them guessing about how exactly the experience will unfold. But economic conditions, past sales and other factors can provide clues about what’s to come.Here’s what marketing, retail and supply chain experts expect for Black Friday 2023.Shoppers and retailers may scale back“A lot of macroeconomic indicators are pointing to a big slowdown in spending,” says Jeff Galak, associate professor of marketing at Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business. Signs include record-high consumer credit card debt — balances reached over $1 trillion in the second quarter of 2023, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York — a reduced personal savings rate and the increased cost of goods due to inflation, Galak says.Consumers are feeling the pinch. Some 2023 shoppers say they plan to purchase gifts for fewer people this holiday season (31%) or spe...