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UN envoy reportedly meeting Russian official accused of war crimes for deporting Ukrainian children

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:52 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. envoy charged with trying to protect children caught in conflicts is in Moscow, where she is reported to be meeting Russia’s children’s rights commissioner, who is charged with war crimes for deporting children from Ukraine. Human Rights Watch strongly criticized Virginia Gamba’s reported meeting with Maria Lvova-Belova, saying the Russian commissioner should be behind bars and not meeting with senior U.N. representatives.“It’s hard to imagine any circumstance that would justify Gamba meeting with a suspected war criminal, when there are clearly other officials she could meet with instead,” Balkees Jarrah, associate director of the group’s International Justice Program, said. U.N. associate spokesperson Stephanie Tremblay did not confirm that Gamba was meeting with Lvova-Belova while in Moscow. Pressed on whether there was anyone else Gamba could meet with, Tremblay replied: “Her role is really to do everything she can to improve the protection of chil...

Prominent NYC-based pastor and best-selling author Timothy Keller dies at 72

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:52 GMT

Timothy Keller, a pastor and best-selling author who founded the influential Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, died this morning at home after three-year bout with pancreatic cancer. He was 72.His family announced that he had been in hospice care, and that he died with his wife of 48 years, Kathy, by his side.Keller and his family launched Redeemer in 1989, and the congregation went on to welcome more than 5,000 attendees across its multiple locations each week.A new evangelical church in Manhattan filled with young adults was unique in a city known more for its secularism and the Gothic spires of its older sanctuaries. But Keller was passionate about evangelizing to people in cities, and his ministry would go on to help start 1,000 churches in 150 other cities around the world.Keller became an evangelical Christian in college, and he was ordained in the Presbyterian Church in America in 1975. Active in the so-called New Calvinist movement, Keller brought a gentleness t...

Oregon police investigate multi-vehicle crash that killed 7 on Interstate 5

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:52 GMT

ALBANY, Ore. (AP) — Authorities were investigating one of Oregon’s deadliest crashes in recent years on Friday, a day after seven adults were killed and multiple people were seriously hurt in the multi-vehicle collision on Interstate 5 in the western part of the state.Two semitrucks and a passenger vehicle were involved in the Thursday afternoon crash near Albany in an agricultural area in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, state police said.The names of the dead, the number of people injured and the cause of the collision have not yet been released.The northbound lanes of I-5 were closed for hours as experts investigated but were reopened Thursday night, state transportation officials said.Bodies were covered in plastic in a nearby field, the Albany Democrat-Herald reported. Police and fire officials put a blue tarp on the wrecked van and placed a barrier near one of the trucks to block the view of the scene, according to the news outlet.The passenger vehicle appeared to be a ...

DeSantis meets New Hampshire lawmakers, greets voters ahead of expected 2024 announcement

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:52 GMT

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Chatting with a mom in a New Hampshire diner on Friday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis paid no attention to the Mickey Mouse shirt worn by her young son. But the woman said she has been paying attention to him.“If DeSantis announced a campaign to run for president I would probably vote for him over anybody else,” Jillian Sybert, of Deerfield, said later.DeSantis made the swing to the early voting state as he prepares to launch a 2024 Republican presidential campaign. He spent the morning meeting with state GOP lawmakers still licking their wounds a day after the New Hampshire House rejected a bill that would have required school officials to inform inquiring parents if their child was using a different name or being referred to as a different gender.Republicans hold a razor-thin majority in the 400-member House, but Democrats had a one-vote edge in attendance for Thursday’s session.In contrast, GOP supermajorities in the Florida Statehouse have helped DeSantis push t...

14-year-old boy arrested after armed robbery in Brampton

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:52 GMT

A 14-year-old boy has been charged, and another suspect is wanted following an armed robbery at a retail marketplace in Brampton.Peel Regional Police said two suspects, one armed with a handgun, entered a store near Bramalea Road and Clark Boulevard. It’s alleged that they made a demand for cash.Police said the pair fled the scene on foot with stolen cash. The store employees did not sustain any physical injuries.Several hours later, investigators located one suspect in the area of Kings Cross Road in Brampton. After a brief foot pursuit, police said the suspect was taken into custody. A replica firearm was located, along with stolen property from the store.A 14-year-old boy was arrested and held for a bail hearing. He’s facing three charges, including robbery, using an imitation firearm and disguise with intent.He was not identified through the province’s Youth Criminal Justice Act.Investigators said the second suspect remains wanted and that further charges could...

Medal of Honor recipient missing 73 years to be buried Memorial Day

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:52 GMT

ANDERSONVILLE, Ga. (AP) — A Memorial Day burial is planned for a U.S. Army soldier and Medal of Honor recipient whose remains were identified nearly 73 years after he went missing during the Korean War. Cpl. Luther H. Story’s remains will be buried on the May 29 holiday at Andersonville National Cemetery near his hometown of Americus, Georgia, the Army said in a statement Friday. President Joe Biden announced last month that scientists had positively identified Story’s remains. The news coincided with a Washington visit by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.The 19-year-old Story had been missing since Sept. 1, 1950. The wounded corporal was last seen fighting off North Korean attackers so that his fellow soldiers could reach safety. His Medal of Honor citation says Story remained behind knowing his injuries would slow down his fellow soldiers.“When last seen he was firing every weapon available and fighting off another hostile assault,” the citation says.Story wa...

Official: Suspected gang members kill Haitian policeman amid spike in violence

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:52 GMT

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Suspected gang members ambushed a group of policemen, set their armored vehicle on fire and killed one officer in the latest attack against Haiti’s National Police force, authorities said.The attack occurred late Wednesday in the community of Source Matelas, north of the capital of Port-au-Prince, police said.“This criminal act is beyond reprehensible and will not go unpunished,” Haiti’s National Police said in a statement Thursday, adding that officers will not be intimidated.A video circulating on social media showed the policeman’s body while alleged gang members mention the name Izo, leader of the “5 Seconds” gang, as one of them posed with the victim.Also Wednesday, unidentified assailants opened fire on a car carrying anti-corruption judge Jean Wilner Morin, who survived the attack. Haiti’s Communications Ministry said Friday that the attack occurred in the upscale suburb of Petionville. The agency describing it as “heinous and criminal”...

Jim Brown, Pro Football Hall of Famer, dies at 87

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:52 GMT

CLEVELAND — The National Football League and its fans are mourning the death of one of the greatest running backs to ever play the game.Jim Brown, a Pro Football Hall of Famer with the Cleveland Browns, has died at the age of 87, per the Associated Press.Check back with WGNTV.com for more on this story.

Empower Brands recalls nearly half a million waffle makers due to burn hazard

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:52 GMT

(WHTM) -- Empower Brands is recalling around 456,000 waffle makers because users can suffer burns if hot pieces of the waffle or waffle stuffing are expelled, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.The CPSC said the recall includes the 5-inch PowerXL (Model ESWM02) and the 7-inch Stuffed Wafflizer (Model ESWM03) waffle makers. Best places to get eggs benedict in Pennsylvania Empower Brands has received 44 incident reports, including 34 burn injuries, with three needing medical attention, the CPSC said.PowerXL-Model-ESWM02-5-inchPowerXL-Stuffed-Waffilizer-waffle-makersPowerXL-Model-ESWM03-7-inchThe affected products, which were sold in eleven colors, were sold at Walmart, Kohls, Big Lots, BJ’s Wholesale Club, Best Buy, The Home Depot, Target, Sam’s Club, and other home goods stores nationwide from July 2021 through October 2022. They were also sold online from QVC, Walmart, Kohls and other websites during the same timeframe.The selling price was $30 to $60.The CPSC sa...

McCarthy hits pause on debt ceiling talks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:52 GMT

Top GOP lawmakers negotiating a debt ceiling compromise with the White House on Friday cut the talks short, signaling at least a temporary breakdown in the process as the clock ticks toward an imminent default. The Republicans left a meeting with White House officials in the Capitol saying the two sides remained too far apart to continue the in-person discussion and accusing the White House of being “unreasonable.”Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) arrived at the Capitol after talks had broken down and said the White House was simply not willing to accept spending cuts at the levels Republicans are insisting upon."We've got to get movement by the White House, and we don't have any movement yet. So, yeah, we've gotta pause," McCarthy said.  "Yesterday I really felt we were at the location where I could see the path. The White House is just — look, we can't be spending more money next year. We have to spend less than we spent the year before. It's pretty easy."Rep. Garret Gra...