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Poland’s conservative ruling party leader Kaczynski joins the government as deputy premier

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:33:51 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s powerful conservative ruling party leader, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, rejoined the government on Wednesday as the only deputy prime minister in the Cabinet, a move that gives him an enhanced position as the country heads toward a general election this fall.To make way for Kaczynski, four other deputy prime ministers resigned from their positions.Kaczynski’s party, the right-wing populist Law and Justice, appears to be losing some of its momentum with elections four months away. Though it remains the country’s most popular party, opinion polls suggest some of its campaign pledges are failing to gain traction with voters. Meanwhile the main opposition party has been energized after organizing a massive anti-government protest earlier this month.President Andrzej Duda appointed Kaczynski to the post of deputy prime minister in a ceremony at the presidential palace in Warsaw. Duda, an ally of Law and Justice, thanked Kaczynski for his return to ...

Summer arrives today. Environment Canada reveals weather outlook through August

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:33:51 GMT

Summer officially arrives on Wednesday and it appears Ontarians should be ready for a sweltering few months.The new season will officially begin at 10:57 a.m. — and it will feel like summer in Toronto as humidex values hit 31 this afternoon.“It’s another very warm, humid day,” says CityNews 680 meteorologist Jill Taylor. “It’s not an oppressive humidity, but you may feel it. The wind will be brisk again out of the east.”Sunny start to summer! If officially arrives 10:57am! pic.twitter.com/fEnGmCTRh5— Jill Taylor (@JillTaylorCity) June 21, 2023The CityNews guaranteed high for Wednesday is 26 C. Taylor says we will see increasing clouds starting Thursday and some unsettled weather for the first weekend of summer, with some sunny breaks.Rain could move in on Friday ahead of the weekend. Saturday and Sunday are expected to be warm with a highs in the upper 20s, but there could be some thunderstorms.“One of those weekends where you ju...

German woman convicted of keeping Yazidi woman as a slave in Iraq

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:33:51 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — A German woman was convicted Wednesday of keeping a Yazidi woman as a slave during her time with the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, and sentenced to nine years and three months in prison.The state court in the western city of Koblenz convicted the 37-year-old of crimes against humanity, membership in a foreign terrorist organization and being an accessory to genocide, German news agency dpa reported. Authorities have identified her only as Nadine K. in line with German privacy rules.The court found that the defendant for three years abused a young Yazidi woman “in her own interests as a household slave.” It said that her husband brought the woman to their home and regularly raped her, and that the defendant enabled those assaults and should have intervened.Prosecutors have said that the defendant traveled to Syria with her husband in 2014 and joined IS. In 2015, the couple moved to the Iraqi town of Mosul, where they allegedly kept the Yazidi woman.The defendan...

Pentagon documents leak suspect Guardsman Jack Teixeira is due back in court on federal charges

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:33:51 GMT

The Massachusetts Air National Guard member accused of leaking highly classified military documents is due back in court on Wednesday after being indicted on federal felony charges. Jack Teixeira is scheduled to be arraigned in the Worcester federal court on six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information. Teixeira, of North Dighton, has been behind bars since his April arrest on charges stemming from the most consequential intelligence leak in years. He was indicted by a grand jury last week.Teixeira is accused of sharing classified military documents about Russia’s war in Ukraine and other national security issues on Discord, a social media platform popular with people playing online games. The stunning breach exposing closely held intelligence has sparked international concern and raised fresh questions about America’s ability to safeguard its secrets.The Pentagon has called the security breach a “very serious risk to national security.”A magistra...

Eastern Caribbean islands prepare for heavy flooding as Tropical Storm Bret grows stronger

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:33:51 GMT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Tropical Storm Bret grew stronger on Wednesday as it moved toward islands in the eastern Caribbean that braced for torrential rainfall, landslides and flooding.Bret had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph (95 kph) early Wednesday morning and was moving westward across the Atlantic Ocean at 16 mph (26 kph), according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.The storm was located some 645 miles (1,040 kilometers) east of the Windward Islands and is expected to grow stronger before lashing several eastern Caribbean islands on Thursday at near hurricane strength. A tropical storm watch was in effect for Barbados, St. Lucia, Martinique and Dominica, as officials in the region urged people to prepare for Bret.“We all know the uncertainty with forecasting intensity, movement and impact of weather systems,” Fitzroy Pascal at Dominica’s office of disaster management said.The hurricane center said it was too soon to know where Bret’s center would pass through...

Warning of storms, intense rainfall and possible tornadoes in Germany

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:33:51 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Authorities in Germany warned Wednesday that the country could experience severe storms with significant amounts of rainfall in the coming days after a suspected tornado struck the western town of Ruesselsheim overnight.Germany’s national weather service, DWD, said strong winds and hail are expected in the southwest, slowly moving eastward throughout the day.Further storms are forecast to sweep in from neighboring France going into Thursday, with “intense or extremely intense rainfall” in some areas, it said.The weather agency warned that locally confined tornadoes are possible.Police said a suspected twister uprooted numerous trees in Ruesselsheim, west of Frankfurt, late Tuesday. The Associated Press

From zero to NIL: How student-athletes can manage name, image, likeness income

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:33:51 GMT

When University of Notre Dame sophomore Calyn “KK” Bransford takes the court this upcoming basketball season, she’ll do so with a touch of glam thanks to her false lashes. She wants to look good while hooping, but wearing the lashes is also her job.Bransford is under contract as a brand ambassador for Opulence Lashes and earns money by promoting the company’s products. That’s possible thanks to a sea change in NCAA rules governing college athletes, who can now make money from their “ NIL ” — name, image and likeness.Prompted by a Supreme Court decision that invalidated restrictions on certain payments to student-athletes, the NCAA changed its rules on NIL income in 2021. While student-athletes still can’t be paid to play their sport or attend a specific school, they can receive money for things like ad deals, endorsements and appearances. Student-athletes’ NIL earning opportunities are governed by a patchwork of state laws and school and conference rules.Before Bransford went to col...

Allied Properties selling Toronto data centre portfolio for $1.35 billion

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:33:51 GMT

TORONTO — Allied Properties Real Estate Investment Trust says it has signed a deal to sell its urban data centre portfolio in downtown Toronto to Japanese telecommunications company KDDI Corp. for $1.35 billion.The portfolio includes freehold interests in 151 Front St. West and 905 King St. West and a leasehold interest in 250 Front St. West.KDDI owns and operates data centres in Asia, Europe and the United States through its subsidiary, Telehouse. The sale is expected to close before the end of the third quarter this year.It is subject to Competition Act approval and customary closing conditions. Allied says it will use about $1 billion of the sale proceeds to retire debt and the rest to pay for upgrade and development activity over the rest of 2023 and into 2024.This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 21, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:AP.UN)The Canadian Press

4 pedestrians in hospital after hit-and-run near Guaranteed Rate Field; man in custody

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:33:51 GMT

CHICAGO — Four people are in the hospital after being struck in a hit-and-run crash near Guaranteed Rate Field Tuesday evening.According to the Chicago Police Department, two men and two women were walking to Guaranteed Rate Field just outside the stadium near West 35th Street and South Shields Avenue around 6:22 p.m. when they were hit by a silver sedan travelling at a high rate of speed.As the incident unfolded near 35th Street, one of the victims hit by the vehicle flipped on top of the car and fell through the sun roof. The sedan fled the scene, with the one victim now in the car.Police officers responding to 35th Street administered first aid to the three victims remaining on scene. One of the victims, a 51-year-old woman, was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in critical condition. Another victim, a 25 year-old man, was taken to Stroger Hospital also in critical condition. The third victim, a 24-year-old man, was also taken to Stroger Hospital in fair condition...

Wednesday Forecast: First day of summer kicks off with temps in mid 80s, cooler lakeside

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:33:51 GMT

CHICAGO — It officially becomes summer at 9:58 a.m. Wednesday in Chicago.Most sunny and clear conditions with temperatures in the mid 80s, cooler lakeside. High: 86. Lakeside: 70. Interactive Radar: Track showers and storm here Mostly clear tonight. Low: 66.Thursday Forecast: Increasing clouds with temperatures in the mid 80s. High: 85. Lakeside: 70.Full forecast details and more at the WGN Weather Center blog