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South Korean families call for a special probe on the anniversary of a deadly Halloween crush

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:23 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Bereaved relatives of victims of last year’s devastating Halloween crush in Seoul and their supporters demanded an independent investigation of the disaster as they marked the anniversary Sunday with a massive memorial service.The crush, one of the biggest peacetime disasters in South Korea, killed 159 people, most of them in their 20s and 30s who had gathered in Itaewon, a popular nightlife district in Seoul, for Halloween celebrations.Commemorating the anniversary, the families, activists and others visited the Itaewon area and offered condolences at an alley where the crush happened. They also attended multi-religious prayer services for their loved ones.They chanted slogans asking President Yoon Suk Yeol to offer a more sincere apology and Safety Minister Lee Sang-min to resign over the disaster.“Apologize! Apologize!” they shouted.The group marched through Seoul before arriving at a square for a memorial service, which drew thousands of people.In a spe...

1 person dead in Mississauga shooting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:23 GMT

One person has died after a shooting in Mississauga in the early hours of Sunday morning.Peel police were called to the area of Goreway and Morningstar drives shortly after midnight.One person was pronounced dead at the scene and the homicide bureau have taken over the investigation.Police say there is no further threat to public safety.No suspect information is available at this time.

Trump is returning to Iowa on Sunday for his eighth campaign stop in little more than a month

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:23 GMT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Donald Trump will headline his eighth campaign event in Iowa in a little more than a month on Sunday as part of the former president’s accelerated fall schedule leading up to the first-in-the-nation caucuses in January.Trump’s planned speech at the historic Orpheum Theater in downtown Sioux City, in GOP-heavy western Iowa, follows events Monday in New Hampshire and Saturday in Nevada. The Republican’s campaign has long tried to show its dominance over his rivals with big early-state victories.The stop also comes after he was fined $10,000 by the judge in his New York civil fraud trial for violating an order prohibiting him from verbally attacking court personnel.Son Donald Trump Jr. was in West Des Moines at the campaign’s state headquarters Thursday, where he applauded about 50 volunteers who were attending a caucus training session. The training was part of what Trump’s team has promised will be a more disciplined effort in Iowa than...

The Trump era has changed the politics of local elections in Georgia, a pivotal 2024 battleground

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:23 GMT

JOHNS CREEK, Ga. (AP) — As she accepted an endorsement from a group called Veterans for Trump, Stacy Skinner spoke about how she got into politics because Democrats “were starting to infiltrate on the local level.”Former President Donald Trump and other national Republicans often warn of takeovers by China or people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. Skinner is running for reelection to the City Council of Johns Creek, an Atlanta suburb of about 85,000.Yet the 44-year-old does not openly promote her Trump association, telling inquisitive voters in this Republican-leaning enclave only that she is “conservative.” Skinner’s opponent, Devon Dabney, meanwhile, faces questions about being a Democrat. Going into the 2024 presidential election, the dynamics in Johns Creek and other nearby Atlanta suburbs reflect how partisan and cultural divisions that intensified since Trump’s 2016 run have trickled down to local campaigns. Some activists and voters now view these nominally nonpa...

Shooting kills 2 and injures 18 victims in Florida street with hundreds of people nearby

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:23 GMT

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A fight between two groups turned deadly in Florida when a shooting in a Tampa street during Halloween festivities resulted in two deaths and 18 people hospitalized early Sunday morning, police said.Officers responded to the shooting in Tampa just before 3 a.m. on the 1600 block of East 7th Avenue in the Ybor City area, Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw said during a press conference at the scene.The fight occurred in an area with several bars and clubs, and there were large numbers of late night revelers in the area at the time, Bercaw said. Police were not immediately sure if the people involved in the fight were inside any of the bars before the shooting.Video posted online shows people in Halloween costumes drinking and talking on the street when shots ring out, creating a stampede. Some people topple over metal tables and take cover behind them. Video from the aftermath shows police officers treating several people lying wounded on the ground. A volley of about a...

Rescuers search for missing migrants off Sicilian beach after a shipwreck kills at least 5

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:23 GMT

ROME (AP) — Sea searches resumed on Sunday in the sea and along the coasts of southwestern Sicily, where a fishing boat carrying dozens of migrants became grounded, killing five people and leaving about 20 missing, rescuers said.The bodies of five men were recovered on Saturday morning on the beach of Marinella di Selinunte, near Trapani, while 35 other men survived the shipwreck and were identified after reaching small towns nearby, the Coast Guard said.“According to survivors’ accounts the boat departed from Tunisia on Thursday night with about 60 people onboard,” said Captain Daniele Governale, of the Palermo Coast Guard team that is coordinating search and rescue activities.“That would leave about 20 people missing. But considering that wide searches at sea, also conducted by divers, for now gave no results, we have good hopes that some of them have survived and landed,” Governale added.The flux of people arriving on Italy’s shores on small unseaworthy boats departing from North...

Montreal restaurants adapt to rising costs, but worry customers might be priced out

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:23 GMT

MONTREAL — As Montreal restaurants adapt to rising costs and impending deadlines to repay loans issued during the pandemic, one well-known chef says she worries about the future of the city’s famed dining scene.Dyan Solomon, who owns three restaurants in the city, said that in the past, Montreal’s famously low rents meant chefs could open their own places, and restaurants were able to thrive in part because customers had the disposable income to eat out.But as rents rise, along with the price of food and labour, she worries the independent restaurants that have become the hallmark of Montreal’s dining scene won’t survive, leaving mostly chains and fast-food eateries, with only the most elite fine dining establishments on the higher end.“That’s really sad and depressing, but it looks a little bit like … that is what will happen,” she said. “I don’t see how it can’t. You’re not going to pay $40 for a sandwich.”Sol...

Thousands break into aid warehouses in Gaza as deaths top 8,000 and Israel widens ground offensive

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:23 GMT

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Thousands of people broke into aid warehouses in Gaza to take flour and basic hygiene products, a U.N. agency said Sunday, in a mark of growing desperation and the breakdown of public order three weeks into the war between Israel and Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers.Tanks and infantry pushed into Gaza over the weekend as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a “second stage” in the war, three weeks after Hamas launched a brutal incursion into Israel. The widening ground offensive came as Israel also pounded the territory from air, land and sea.Gaza’s Health Ministry said the death toll among Palestinians has passed 8,000 — mostly women and minors. It’s a toll without precedent in decades of Israeli-Palestinian violence, and one that is expected to climb even more rapidly as Israel presses its ground offensive.The bombardment over the weekend — described by Gaza residents as the most intense of the war — knocked out most co...

2 airlifted to hospital, woman charged with DUI after multi-vehicle crash on I-80 in NW Indiana

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:23 GMT

HAMMAOND, Ind. -- Two people were airlifted and a woman faces driving while intoxicated charges after a multi-vehicle crash on I-80 in Northwest Indiana early Sunday morning, Indiana State Police said. 33-year-old Rivianna Gilmore from Calumet Park faces multiple felonies of operating while intoxicated causing serious injury, endangering and multiple other misdemeanors. According to Indiana State Police, around 4:14 a.m., a black Nissan struck an arrow board sign on the right shoulder that warned traffic of an approaching lane shift. Th arrow board landed in the travel portion of the roadway which caused two other crashes when drivers were attempting to avoid debris from the initial crash. Troopers said the driver of one of the vehicles was pinned to their van and had to be extracted and airlifted to Chicago for life threatehing injuries. A second driver, that was operating a black GMC pickup, was also later air-lifted to Oak Lawn for tratment of seriosu injuries. The third driver r...

Austin Water leader responds to KXAN Investigation over customers’ smart meter complaints

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:23 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – Following a KXAN investigation in September showing customers’ concerns of suspected overbilling with Austin Water’s new smart meters, the director of Austin Water is defending the digital meters’ accuracy and how the agency collects and responds to complaints. Customers complain of suspected inaccuracies with Austin Water’s new smart meters “It’s a big city and a big job but we have a lot of professionals here who are committed to excellent customer service,” Austin Water Director Shay Ralls Roalson told KXAN Investigator Mike RushEven so, more customers reached out to KXAN after our initial investigation with similar concerns.Kimi, who did not want to disclose her last name, is one of them. The Northwest Hills resident said, ever since her analog water meter was replaced with a digital meter, “This water usage is just way out of whack.”Kimi in Northwest Hills believes her new digital meter is giving false readings, doubling the amount of water she said she normal...