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Iraq announces plans for $17 billion transportation project linking Asia to Europe

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:20 GMT

IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — Iraq’s prime minister on Saturday announced plans for a $17 billion regional transportation project intended to facilitate the flow of goods from Asia to Europe.The announcement was made at a one-day conference in Baghdad that convened transport ministers and representatives from Iraq, the Gulf countries, Turkey, Iran, Syria, and Jordan.Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said the planned Development Road project would facilitate the movement of goods from the Gulf to Europe by way of the Grand Faw Port in Basra, in southern Iraq, which would be connected to Turkey, then to Europe, through a network of railways and highways.A centerpiece of the project will be the development of the Grand Faw Port and a “smart industrial city” adjacent to it, al-Sudani said.The planned project, which would involve the construction of about 1,200 km (about 745 miles) of railways and highways, will be “an economic lifeline and a promising opportunity for the convergence of ...

‘Anatomy of a Fall’ wins top prize at Cannes Film Festival

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:20 GMT

Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall” won the Palme d’Or at the 76th Cannes Film Festival in a ceremony Saturday that bestowed the festival’s prestigious top prize on an engrossing, rigorously plotted French courtroom drama that puts a marriage on trial. “Anatomy of a Fall,” which stars Sandra Hüller as a writer trying to prove her innocence in her husband’s death, is only the third film directed by a woman to win the Palme d’Or. One of the two previous winners, Julia Ducournau, was on this year’s jury. Cannes’ Grand Prix, its second prize, went to Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest,” a chilling Martin Amis adaptation about a German family living next door to Auschwitz. Hüller also stars in that film. The awards were decided by a jury presided over by two-time Palme winner Ruben Östlund, the Swedish director who won the prize last year for “Triangle of Sadness.” The ceremony preceded the festival’s closing night film, the Pixar animation ...

Accusations of violence, discrimination surface at another Mississauga school

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:20 GMT

In the wake of an anonymous letter alleging out-of-control violence and “disorderly conduct” at a Mississauga school, a second letter has been posted that claims a culture of violence and discrimination exists at another public school in Peel Region. The letter, posted to Twitter by lawyer Michael Teper, contains a bullet point list of incidents over the last three years at Homelands Senior Public School, located near Dundas Street West and Erin Mills Parkway in Mississauga. Among the allegations presented are racial slurs being used by students, discriminatory language used against 2SLGBTQ+ students, vandalism throughout the school, student swarmings and violent fights, and teachers being threatened with violence. https://twitter.com/MichaelTeper1/status/1662437043077611520/photo/1The letter also singles out administrators for a lack of discipline, discouraging teachers from filing violent incident reports and “consistently blaming teachers for not being ‘engaging’...

VP Harris praises cadets’ sacrifice in West Point’s 1st commencement speech by a woman

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:20 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris, the first woman to deliver a commencement speech at West Point, lauded graduating cadets Saturday for their noble sacrifice in serving their country, but noted they were entering an “unsettled world” because of Russian aggression and the rising threats from China.“The world has drastically changed,” Harris told the roughly 950 graduating cadets. She referred to the global pandemic that took millions of lives, as well as the fraught shifts in global politics in Europe and in Asia.“It is clear you graduate into an increasingly unsettled world where longstanding principles are at risk,” she said.As the U.S. ended two decades of war in Afghanistan, the longest in the country’s history, the vice president said, Russia soon launched the first major ground war in Europe since World War II when it invaded Ukraine.“At the same time, autocrats have become bolder, the threat of terrorism persists, and an accelerating climate crisis cont...

3 men hospitalized after drive-by shooting in Auburn Gresham

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:20 GMT

CHICAGO — Three men are in the hospital after a vehicle approached them and opened fire in Auburn Gresham shortly before noon Saturday, according to the Chicago Police Department.Police said officers were called to the 7900 block of South Ashland Avenue around 11:58 a.m. and when they arrived, they found three victims with gunshot wounds.A 26-year-old man was shot in the shoulder, while a 34-year-old man was shot in the left arm and a 55-year-old man was shot in the back. The 26-year-old self-transported to Stroger Hospital, while the 34-year-old and the 55-year-old were taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center.All three men are listed as being in good condition. 12 shot, 3 dead in overnight shootings in Chicago ahead of weekend According to police, initial investigations showed an unidentified vehicle approached the group in the 7900 block of South Ashland Avenue and opened fire in their direction before fleeing the scene. Police have no one in custody.If you or someone ...

Southwest pilot gets locked out of plane, needs to climb through cockpit window

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:20 GMT

SAN DIEGO (KSWB) – A Southwest Airlines pilot had to take an unexpected measure to get onto a Sacramento-bound plane at San Diego International Airport Wednesday: He climbed through the cockpit window.Matt Rexroad, a passenger on Wednesday's 5 p.m. flight, snapped a picture of the pilot squeezing through the window of the front of the plane ahead of the flight's departure, which he then posted to Twitter.The pilot of a Sacramento-bound plane at a gate in San Diego International Airport climbs through a window after getting locked out on May 24, 2023. (Courtesy of Matt Rexroad)The pilot had been locked out of the cockpit after a customer accidentally closed the door during the boarding process, according to a statement from a Southwest spokesperson." … while other customers and flight attendants were onboard, a customer opened the forward lavatory door and inadvertently pushed the flight deck door closed (which locked) while the pilots scheduled to operate the flight were preparing t...

Lynx need consistent aggression out of star forward Napheesa Collier

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:20 GMT

On the opening day of training camp this spring, Lynx star forward Napheesa Collier noted coach Cheryl Reeve had a simple request for her this season: “Attack.”“Just making sure that I’m being really assertive with what I’m doing,” Collier told reporters. “Using the skillset that I have and keep expanding my game.”Collier is the Lynx’s best player, and No. 2 isn’t all that close. So, as the 6-foot-1 forward goes, so too do the Lynx. That was evident in Minnesota’s loss to Atlanta this week, as the 26-year-old out of UConn scored 20 points in 25 minutes, carrying the offense in the process.Collier took six shots in the final quarter of that game before fouling out with 2 minutes, 20 seconds to play. The Lynx didn’t score another point after her exit. That’s how imperative she is to what Minnesota is attempting to accomplish.So things won’t work on nights like Thursday, when Collier scored just eight points on nine shots in the Lynx̵...

Gamers pack Ballpark Village for Gateway Legends tournament

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:20 GMT

ST. LOUIS - One of the largest e-sports competitions in the St. Louis region returns this weekend, expected to bring thousands to Ballpark Village through Sunday. Saturday marks the second day of the Gateway Legends tournament, a three-day e-sports extravaganza sponsored by Fair St. Louis. Winners will have a chance to earn up to $10,000 in prize money. Judge to keep Chesterfield teen in D.C. jail for now Gamers are putting their talents to the test through the Nintendo Switch game Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Organizers say the game is "the perfect balance of cooperative, competitive [and] energetic" to bring the best out of gamers. Some gamers were lucky enough to have their matches played on the large LED screen on Bally Sports Live! Hundreds are facing off on monitors in the Crown Room. High school and middle school teams started Friday and some are still competing into Saturday for the MOSEF State Championship. More than 500 regional, national and international gamers are expe...

Rockies Journal: Making the playoffs in 2025? Here’s what it would take

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:20 GMT

The Rockies don’t like the term “rebuilding.”“I hate that word,” owner Dick Monfort told me in January. “I guess the connotation on rebuilding is you just get rid of everybody. You try to draft low, which we’re not (going to do). We’re not trying to get the first pick. We’re not going to tank. We never have, never will.”OK, so if the Rockies aren’t rebuilding or tanking, what are they doing? Perhaps they’re in the midst of an HGTV-style extreme makeover. Whatever you call it, the renovation is going to take some time. Obviously, the postseason is beyond the Rockies’ reach this year. The playoffs in 2024 look like a pipedream, too.So 2025 looks like their next, best chance of making the playoffs. It would take a best-case scenario for it to happen. Meaning:• Someone, perhaps outfielder Zac Veen, must emerge as a genuine star. Veen, however, is having a tough season at Double-A  Hartford, slashing .230/.331/.345 with just one...

Suspect arrested in deadly shooting in Aurora; police cite road rage

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:20 GMT

A suspect has been arrested in connection to a fatal shooting in Aurora.Arturo Moreno Torres, 28, of Denver, was arrested Friday night on investigation of first-degree murder, according to an Aurora Police Department news release.The shooting happened May 1 in the 13100 block of East 13th Place, the Hoffman Heights area, according to police. The shooting stemmed from a road rage incident, and the suspect and the 28-year-old victim did not know each other prior to the shooting.Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to call Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at at 720-913-7867 (STOP).