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Hamas frees 2 Israeli women as US advises delaying ground war to allow talks on captives

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:15:22 GMT

RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Hamas released two elderly Israeli women held hostage in Gaza on Monday, as the United States expressed increasing concern that the escalating Israel-Hamas war will spark a wider conflict in the region, including attacks on American troops.The death toll in Gaza rose rapidly as Israel ramped up airstrikes, flattening residential buildings in what it says was preparation for an eventual ground assault. The United States advised Israel to delay an expected ground invasion to allow time to negotiate the release of more hostages taken by Hamas during its brutal incursion two weeks ago.A third small aid convoy from Egypt entered Gaza, where the population of 2.3 million has been running out of food, water and medicine under Israel’s two-week seal. With Israel still barring entry of fuel, the U.N. said its distribution of aid would grind to a halt within days when it can no longer fuel its trucks. Gaza hospitals flooded by a constant stream of wounded are struggling to...

Legendary gymnast Mary Lou Retton recovering at home after being hospitalized with pneumonia, daughter says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:15:22 GMT

(CNN) — Olympic gymnastics legend Mary Lou Retton is out of the hospital following a weekslong serious health scare, according to her daughter.The 55-year-old legend, who captured American hearts in 1984 when she was the first US gymnast to win the Olympic gymanastics all-around competition, is recovering at home, her daughter McKenna Kelley said Monday in an Instagram post.Twelve days ago, Retton’s family announced she had a rare form of pneumonia that made her unable to breathe on her own and left her fighting for her life. Kelley started an online fundraiser on behalf of Retton’s four daughters to help support the medical costs, noting that Retton is uninsured.Retton made “remarkable” progress in the hospital, according to her family, which didn’t specify Monday when she was released. Retton, who in 2018 was on the ABC hit show “Dancing with the Stars,” still has a long recovery road, Kelley said.Pneumonia is a respiratory infection that can cau...

Mary Lou Retton in ‘recovery mode’ at home after hospital stay for pneumonia, daughter says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:15:22 GMT

By The Associated PressAmerican gymnastics icon Mary Lou Retton has returned home following a lengthy hospital stay because of pneumonia, her daughter said Monday.Shaley Kelley Schrepfer, the oldest of Retton’s four daughters, posted an update on Retton’s condition on Instagram nearly two weeks after the family disclosed that the former Olympic all-around champion was in intensive care.The 55-year-old Retton is now in “recovery mode,” according to Schrepfer.“We still have a long road of recovery ahead of us,” Schrepfer wrote. “But baby steps.”The family disclosed earlier this month that Retton — who became the first American female gymnast to win the Olympic all-around title at the 1984 Los Angeles Games — was “fighting for her life” and unable to breathe on her own.Donations have poured into a fundraiser the family set up to help offset Retton’s medical expenses after the family said she didn’t have...

Patriots QB Mac Jones opens up on playing for Bill Belichick

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:15:22 GMT

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick joined elite company with his 300th regular season win in Sunday’s comeback over the Bills.Belichick, Don Shula and George Halas are the only coaches to hold that honor.Patriots QB Mac Jones said Monday afternoon on WEEI’s “Jones & Mego with Arcand” program that he congratulated Belichick for the accomplishment.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Why Patriots first-round flier ate into DeVante Parker’s snaps in win over Bills New England Patriots | Bill Belichick gives more context to key Patriots personnel switch in win over Bills New England Patriots | Callahan: Patriots scored a throwback win in home upset of Bills New England Patriots | Demario Douglas sparks Patriots’ offensive rejuvenation in win over Bills New England Patriots | Patriots made key personnel changes in comeback win over Bills “Yeah, I think that’s really cool that that happened and I k...

ETFO’s education workers vote in favour of new four-year deal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:15:22 GMT

Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) education workers have voted 80 per cent in favour of a new four-year contract with the Council of Trustees’ Associations and the Ontario government.The deal with ETFO’s 3,500 education workers is valid from September 1, 2022, to August 31, 2026.In a release, ETFO President Karen Brown said members showed “their support for a four-year central agreement that addresses many of their key bargaining goals, including salary increases, maintaining funding for current benefit levels, paid professional learning, job security, and a Supports for Students Fund that protects special education roles in our schools.”A tentative deal with ETFO’s education workers was first struck in September, leading to the vote.“While these negotiations were prolonged and difficult, ETFO stood firm refusing to accept contract strips, and will continue to do the same as we negotiate a central agreement for ETFO’s 80,000 teacher and occasi...

Loved ones of Hamas hostages still holding onto hope as some are released

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:15:22 GMT

As war between Israel and Hamas intensifies in the Middle East, hundreds of families are still waiting for word on their loved ones believed to be kidnapped by Hamas. One mother shared with CityNews the final phone call with her 23-year-old daughter amid a barrage of gunfire. “The last time she called me she said she was crying, and she said, ‘Mommy I was shot, they shot as us.'”In the chilling recording, Meirav Leshem Gonen tries to console her daughter Romi after she and her friends came under attack during the music festival massacre on October 7.Gonen told CityNews she was on the phone with her daughter for about four and half hours before losing contact.“Hearing her moving from place-to-place to hide first from the rockets and then from the gunfire of the terrorists … we heard the shooting coming closer to the car and then a lot of voices men voices in Arabic shouting at each other,” explained Gonen. “And the last words she said is R...

Toronto Board of Health asking for $5.1 million to fight upcoming virus season

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:15:22 GMT

Toronto’s Board of Health is asking the province for an additional $5.1 million to add to their budget in order to prepare for the fall and winter virus season as COVID-19, RSV and flu cases are already popping up.Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Eileen de Villa, said the extra annual funding would be used for Infection Prevention and Control hubs that help prevent and mitigate the impacts of outbreaks, particularly in long-term care and retirement homes, shelters and group homes.“[The hubs] are absolutely crucial to the response particularly within congregate settings congregate living settings like long-term care homes, where people live together and where you have people who are at higher risk and how those hubs work,” said Dr. de Villa. She said they are expecting the extraordinary COVID-19 funding provided by the province for the last few years to wrap up despite the city still facing challenges.“This is the kind of thing that we anticipate is going to be ...

Fire: One shot on North Michigan Avenue in Chicago

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:15:22 GMT

CHICAGO — A person was shot Monday afternoon near a hotel in Chicago, according to the fire department.The person was found with a gunshot wound in the hotel's lobby in the 500 block of North Michigan Avenue. Read more: Latest Chicago news headlines The person, a male, was shot in the abdomen and taken to Northwestern University Medical Center in critical condition.Additional details haven't been released.This is a breaking news story and will be updated as more information becomes available.

‘People are sad, & people are angry:’ Police, community searching for answers after 12-year-old killed in Englewood

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:15:22 GMT

CHICAGO — Police and community members are searching for answers after a young boy was killed in a shooting on the city's South Side on Sunday night.Chicago police are now offering a $15,000 reward for information that could lead to an arrest in connection with the shooting that left 12-year-old Damien Green dead.A peace walk was held on Monday afternoon near the site where the shooting took place, as community members and police demanded answers and a stop to the violence.“People are sad, and people are angry,” President of the Englewood Political Task Force, Darryl Smith, said. Tensions rise amid clashing rallies in Skokie According to Chicago Police, officers responded to the deadly shooting around 6:30 p.m. in the 600 block of West Marquette. After officers arrived on the scene, they found the young boy, who had suffered a gunshot wound to the head, unresponsive in the street.“If this murder goes unsolved, then this family is going to live this over and over again, and that’s ...

Off-duty pilot accused of trying to shut down engines of Alaska Airlines plane midflight

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:15:22 GMT

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – An Alaska Airlines plane made an emergency landing at Portland International Airport on Sunday after a "credible threat to an authorized occupant" on board — and now the suspect, identified as an off-duty pilot, is facing 167 charges.Officials with the Port of Portland identified the suspect as 44-year-old Joseph D. Emerson, who was taken into custody after Flight 2059 was diverted to PDX. The airline said in a statement that no weapons were involved.Emerson faces 83 counts of first-degree attempted murder, 83 counts of reckless endangerment and one count of endangering an aircraft.According to Alaska Airlines, the flight — on a Horizon Air passenger jet — was headed from Everett, Washington, to San Francisco. Alaska Airlines owns Horizon, a regional carrier. Alaska Airlines said an off-duty pilot, later identified as Emerson, who was sitting in the jump seat, caused a disturbance in the cockpit of the plane and “attempted to disrupt the operation of the eng...