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Smoky week ahead from wildfires in Canada is expected to lead to more alert warnings for the Northeast

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:26 GMT

(CNN) — After weeks of reporting about the wildfires in Alberta, British Columbia, and Nova Scotia, Quebec is now the latest hotspot for fires in Canada.More than 8 million acres have burned this year across Canada, with nearly half a million acres in Quebec alone, which is sending thick smoke south and east into the US, affecting air quality for millions.Air quality alerts are in effect Monday for portions of Wisconsin, Minnesota and northern Illinois, including places like Milwaukee, Green Bay and Chicago.“Weather conditions are such that widespread ozone and or particulate levels are expected to be at or above the unhealthy for sensitive groups category of the air quality index,” the National Weather Service in Chicago said. “Active children and adults especially people with pulmonary or respiratory disease such as asthma should limit prolonged outdoor activity.”In the Northeast, the smoke is at higher altitudes, which is creating hazy skies and keeping temperatures slightly cool...

America’s beloved road trip snack unveils epic Cheez-It stop in Joshua Tree Desert

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:26 GMT

JOSHUA TREE DESERT, Calif. (WSVN) — Calling all road-trippers and adventure-seeking Cheez-It superfans! Prepare to embark on a mouthwatering journey as the iconic road trip snack launches an extraordinary desert destination to kick off the summer season. Introducing the Cheez-It Stop – a larger-than-life roadside attraction nestled in the heart of California’s picturesque desert landscape open until Sunday.Concealed within the depths of the California desert, this 100% real destination invites road trippers to refuel with their all-time favorite 100% real cheese snack at a groundbreaking roadside fill station. But here’s where the magic happens – brace yourself for the World’s First and Only Cheez-It Pump. The Cheez-It Pump spouts a stream of Cheez-It bags directly through your car window. As an added bonus, this absurdly delicious invention comes at no cost to visitors.Erin Storm, the brand senior director for Cheez-It, expressed the rationale behind this br...

Collapse of major dam in southern Ukraine triggers emergency as Moscow and Kyiv blame each other

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:26 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The wall of a major dam in a part of southern Ukraine that Moscow controls collapsed Tuesday, triggering floods, endangering Europe’s largest nuclear power plant and threatening drinking water supplies as both sides in the war rushed to evacuate residents and blamed each other for the emergency.Ukraine accused Russian forces of blowing up the Kakhovka dam and hydroelectric power station on the Dnieper River, while Russian officials blamed Ukrainian military strikes in the contested area. It was not possible to verify the claims.The potentially far-reaching environmental and social consequences of the disaster quickly became clear as homes, streets and businesses flooded downstream and emergency crews began evacuations; officials raced to check cooling systems at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant; and authorities expressed concern about supplies of drinking water to the south in Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014.The dam break added a stunning new ...

Police raid EU Parliament offices of 2 Qatargate suspects

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:26 GMT

BRUSSELS — Belgian police on Tuesday conducted searches at the European Parliament offices of two MEPs charged with corruption in the cash-for-influence scandal dubbed Qatargate. According to two witnesses, several police officers conducted searches at the offices of Italian MEP Andrea Cozzolino and Belgian MEP Marc Tarabella around midday on the 15th floor of the Parliament’s Altiero Spinelli building. Eric Van Duyse, spokesperson for Belgium’s federal prosecutor, confirmed the fresh raids had taken place Tuesday in the Parliament. Authorities have accused both MEPs of being linked to an alleged bribery ring involving countries such as Qatar and Morocco.Tarabella recently resumed his work as an MEP after spending months in jail and under house arrest between February and May this year. His office, which was sealed off by police along with Cozzolino’s in February, is now reopened to allow him to carry out his parliamentary work.Cozzolino, however, is still app...

‘I’m not an arsonist’: UK’s Kemi Badenoch hits back at Brexiteers over EU ‘bonfire’ delay

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:26 GMT

LONDON — Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch has been drawn into a heated public row with Tory Eurosceptics over the U.K.’s efforts to scrap EU laws carried over post-Brexit.Senior Conservative MP David Jones accused the Tory rising star on Tuesday morning of lacking “courtesy” and being “disrespectful” toward the House of Commons by slowing government efforts to scrap EU laws after MPs had already passed a key bill.But, speaking at a session of the Commons European scrutiny committee, Badenoch hit back. She accused Jones, deputy chairman of the European Research Group of Tory MPs, of leaking details of private meetings to British newspapers. And she rejected the characterization of the bill as a “bonfire” of EU laws.“It’s public knowledge that we had private meetings, because when I thought we were having private and confidential meetings I was reading the content in the Daily Telegraph,” Badenoch told Jones.The...

Chicago White Sox prospect Anderson Comás on his decision to come out: ‘Now is when I feel good with myself. Now I accept myself.’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:26 GMT

Anderson Comás thought of those who feel like they don’t have support and wanted to do his part to help when he decided to come out as gay in February.“I wanted to open that door for those people that are fighting for their dreams,” Comás said during a videoconference call Friday. “I feel like they cannot do it because of people’s opinions, so I wanted to share a little bit to help, to open that door and to inspire all of them to keep fighting.”The Chicago White Sox minor-league pitcher made an impact with his Feb. 19 Instagram post.“At first I didn’t think it was going to be that big, going viral in so many countries,” he said. “I was in every news (outlet), every social media. A lot of people talking about me.“It made me happy because if they get to more people, I can help more people to see the message I wanted to send so they can feel like they have someone to support them and know how they feel. It made...

Column: After youth on special teams proved costly last year, the Chicago Bears hope that experience turns into a plus

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:26 GMT

After upgrading the roster on both sides of the ball, the Chicago Bears hope to be in more close games in 2023, the kind in which a key play here or there on special teams can make the difference.The Bears lost by nine or more points seven times during last year’s 3-14 season. In four of the losses by eight or fewer points, a key special teams breakdown was part of the problem.The Bears had far bigger issues in 2022. The passing offense was abysmal, with blame to go all around, and was particularly ineffective in late-game situations. The Bears have added wide receivers DJ Moore and Tyler Scott and veteran tight end Robert Tonyan, overhauled the running back room and project to have two new starters on the offensive line.The run defense was miserable and the pass rush nonexistent. The Bears spent big on linebackers Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards, and general manager Ryan Poles drafted three defensive tackles and two cornerbacks. Perhaps he will sign an edge rusher in the we...

Chicago Cubs get shut out again by the San Diego Padres, but Kyle Hendricks shows ‘vintage’ stuff in his 3rd start back

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:26 GMT

A long layoff and serious shoulder injury can create uncertainty in which version of a pitcher comes back, even with Kyle Hendricks’ pedigree.The Chicago Cubs’ inconsistencies over the last five weeks continued in a four-game series split against the San Diego Padres, getting shut out twice, including Monday’s 5-0 loss. Hendricks, though, pitched well in his third start back. He went six innings and allowed four runs with most of the damage coming in a three-run second when he lost his rhythm.“It looked like vintage Kyle to me,” manager David Ross said.Ross was forced to watch most of the game from the clubhouse after getting tossed one out into the second inning. He stormed out of the visitors dugout at Petco Park moments after his ejection when Hendricks fell behind 2-0 to Padres catcher Gary Sánchez.A fuming Ross directed his frustration about an inconsistent strike zone to plate umpire Phil Cuzzi, who handed him his second ejection of the seaso...

At least $900,000 stolen by employees of US-based aid group operating in Congo

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:26 GMT

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — An American-based aid group said that at least $900,000 was stolen from it’s Congo programs by members of the organization who conspired with outsiders. GiveDirectly said that it learned that people on its Congo team worked with people outside the organization to defraud the cash transfer program, diverting aid from more than 1,700 impoverished families over six months, starting in August 2022.“This fraud was only possible because of a specific change we made in our payment process in order to work in this remote, insecure region of (Congo),” according to the statement from Monday. “We feel deep regret for not catching this sooner and take seriously the vulnerabilities it exposed,” it said.GiveDirectly said that an investigation is ongoing and that it was able to recover “a very small portion of the lost funds,” but the majority of the $900,000 will likely be “uncoverable.” But the group is working to ensure that families impacted by the fraud get their m...

Bernardo’s transfer to prison that treats sex offenders not unusual, professor says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:26 GMT

Notorious serial killer Paul Bernardo’s transfer to a medium-security prison that specializes in treating violent rapists almost three decades after his conviction is not unusual says a Quebec criminology professor who studies sexual murderers.Bernardo, who has been serving a life sentence for kidnapping, torturing and killing 15-year-old Kristen French and 14-year-old Leslie Mahaffy in the early 1990s near St. Catharines, Ont., was quietly transferred to La Macaza Institution, a medium-security prison about 190 kilometres northwest of Montreal, last week.Bernardo was initially incarcerated at the Kingston Penitentiary in Ontario and later spent about a decade at the Millhaven Institution, a maximum-security prison just outside Kingston.Family members of Bernardo’s victims and Canadian politicians have expressed outrage at the transfer, with Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino calling it “incomprehensible.”In a statement on Monday, the Correctional Service...