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Cruising to Nome 

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:26 GMT

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The cruise ship with about 1,000 passengers anchored off Nome is too big to squeeze into into the tundra city’s tiny port. Its well-heeled tourists had to shimmy into small boats for another ride to shore.It was 2016, and at the time, the cruise ship Serenity was the largest vessel ever to sail through the Northwest Passage.But as the Arctic sea ice relents under the pressures of global warming and opens shipping lanes across the top of the world, more tourists are venturing to Nome — a northwest Alaska destination known better for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and its 1898 gold rush than luxury travel.The problem remains: There’s no place to park the big boats. While smaller cruise ships are able to dock, officials say that of the dozen arriving this year, half will anchor offshore.That’s expected to change as a $600 million-plus expansion makes Nome, population 3,500, the nation’s first deep-water Arctic port. The expansion, expected ...

Strike ends in South Bay: MTS bus drivers to return to work

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:26 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- An ongoing bus drivers strike that has disrupted service for several weeks in South Bay has come to an end.The Board of Directors for the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) held a special meeting Thursday after weeks of negotiations. The board voted 8-6 to set a deadline for MTS contractor Transdev to end the labor dispute by June 23. They even offered an extra $1 million for the current contract in an effort to get services restored.Bus drivers met Transdev at the negotiating table on Friday to discuss their requests. Some of the things they are demanding include access to cleaner restrooms and an end to forced overtime work, among other things. MTS strike continues into 15th day, impacting South Bay routes On Sunday, Lee Fletcher from Teamster Local 683 confirmed to FOX 5 that 143 drivers voted to pass and 121 voted to reject the proposal. Based on the majority, South Bay MTS bus drivers will return to work on Monday, according to Fletcher.As for East Count...

Two survivors of a deadly shipwreck describe their ordeal to Greek authorities

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:26 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A Greek news website has published excerpts from the depositions of two survivors of Wednesday’s deadly shipwreck off southwestern Greece, in which more than 500 people are feared drowned after an overcrowded boat carrying as many as 750 migrants went down in international waters.Passengers on the ill-fated trawler had to subsist on meager supplies of food and water which ran out several hours before the disaster, two survivors have reportedly testified.News website kathimerini.gr, which is run by Greek newspaper Kathimerini, has published excerpts from the depositions of two survivors, 23-year-old Hassan, from Syria, and 24-year-old Rana, from Pakistan. The two men are referred to only by their first names.Hassan, who was traveling alone, recounted that, during the four-day voyage from Libya, they were given “minimal food and dirty water” which had run out by Tuesday morning, when the hungry and thirsty passengers started complaining.According to Hassan, among...

Sudan’s warring sides begin cease-fire ahead of conference to raise funds for humanitarian aid

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:26 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — Sudan’s warring parties began another attempt at a cease-fire Sunday after more than two months of brutal fighting and ahead of an international conference to raise funds for humanitarian assistance.Residents in the capital, Khartoum, and its neighboring city of Omdurman reported “relative calm” in the first hours of the cease-fire Sunday morning, after fierce clashes were reported the previous day.Sudan descended into chaos after fighting erupted in mid-April between the military, led by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo.The three-day truce that began Sunday came ahead of a pledging conference the U.N. and other nations will hold Monday to raise funds to cover Sudan’s humanitarian needs.The U.N. says it received less than 16% of the $2.57 billion required to help those in need in Sudan in 2023. Another $470 million is needed to support refugees in the Horn of Africa region, it said.The Un...

Shawn Mendes makes surprise appearance at Toronto Ed Sheeran concert after year off

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:26 GMT

TORONTO — British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran gave his Canadian fans a homegrown surprise on Saturday when Shawn Mendes joined him on stage in Toronto.Nearly a year after Mendes cancelled a 70-plus date world tour to take care of his mental health, the Pickering, Ont.-raised performer jumped on stage at the Rogers Centre to accompany Sheeran on two songs.The pair performed Sheeran’s 2011 single “Lego House” before Mendes played an acoustic rendition of his own 2017 hit “There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back.”It was Mendes’ first live public performance since July 2022 when he scrapped his major tour.It had dates set to run into the middle of this year covering North America, the United Kingdom and Europe, including two Toronto shows. At the time, Mendes said he felt he had to “take the time I’ve never taken personally to grow myself and come back stronger.”Mendes has been dropping hints of his planned return in recent weeks. Earlier this mo...

Sheriff: 22 injured,1 dead in shooting at Juneteenth celebration in Willowbrook Township

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:26 GMT

DUPAGE COUNTY, Ill. — At least 20 people were shot, one fatally, early Sunday morning during a celebration for Juneteenth in unincorporated Willowbrook Township, according to the DuPage County Sheriff's Office.A group of people were peacefully gathering around 12:30 a.m. near Route 83 and Honeysuckle Rose Lane when shots were fired. An unknown number of individuals fired shots from multiple weapons in the crowd, the sheriff's office said.According to Battalion Chief Joe Ostrander with the Tri-State Fire Protection District, 12 ambulances were brought to the scene. In total, 10 people were transported from the scene to area hospitals, with injuries ranging from graze wounds to more serious gunshot wounds.Some people self-transported to local hospitals. On Sunday afternoon, the sheriff's office said at least 22 people were injured and another was fatally wounded in the shooting. The identities and conditions of the victims have not been released yet.Investigators look over the scene o...

Divers recover person last seen going under water at lake in Northwest Indiana

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:26 GMT

HOBART, Ind. — Divers have recovered the body of a person who was last seen going under the water Sunday afternoon in Hobart.In a video posted to social media, Assistant Chief John Robinson said divers said they recovered the body around 2:49 p.m. Chicago boy, 7, dies after drowning in Lake Michigan The Hobart Police Department said a female was seen going under the water and witnesses haven't been able to find her.Robinson said several agencies responded to the scene to assist them. A helicopter from the Lake County Sheriff's Office was also called to help.The incident is under investigation by Indiana Conservation Officers with the Department of Natural Resources.

2 killed in shooting near Washington state music festival; suspect among wounded

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:26 GMT

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- Two people are dead after shots rang out near the Gorge Amphitheater in George, Washington while an electronic dance music festival was in progress, the Grant County Sheriff's Office has confirmed.Three people were also wounded in the shooting at a nearby campground, not the concert venue, Grant County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Kyle Forman said during a Saturday night press conference. One of those wounded was the suspected shooter, he said.Forman said the suspected shooter opened fire at the campground shortly before 8:30 p.m. before walking away toward the crowd of festival-goers "several hundred yards away." When deputies arrived, the suspect continued to “fire randomly into the crowd” before being apprehended. The suspect was shot in the confrontation with police, Foreman said. The suspect was hospitalized for his injuries, but no further details were immediately released. 1 dead, 22 injured in shooting at Illinois Juneteenth celebration It's not k...

Woman run over by ambulance, killed in Ohio

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:26 GMT

PARMA HEIGHTS, Ohio (WJW) – The Parma Heights Police Department is investigating the death of a 68-year-old woman who was run over by an ambulance.According to a press release from police, officers and paramedics responded to an apartment in the Cleveland suburb Saturday at around 9 p.m.Police say a neighbor called to request someone check on the 68-year-old woman.Though authorities spoke to the woman, police say she refused treatment. Your gun or your ganja: It’s illegal for marijuana users to own a gun However, witnesses say after the paramedics left the woman's apartment, she went down the elevator and to the passenger’s side of the ambulance, where she fell.The woman was crushed by the ambulance as it was pulling away, police say.Paramedics said they didn’t know the woman had come outside, according to the press release from the police department.The woman died at the scene. She has not been identified.“At this time there is no indication any members of the Parma Heights Fire ...

Texas legalizes statewide trap-neuter-return programs for cats

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:26 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Among a slew of new legislation signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott this month comes enhanced legal protections for trap-neuter-return programs, or tactics for treating unhoused cats statewide.Previously, people who participated in TNR programs in areas without legal protections could be held liable for the misdemeanor offense of animal abandonment. The newly signed law, House Bill 3660, offers legal protections for people who capture, sterilize cats and return them to the wild.Here in Austin, TNR programs have been used as a strategy for addressing overpopulation concerns and preventing excessive cat births. But some organizations have criticized the newly minted legal protections, calling them an ineffective form of population control that can have negative consequences."Purposely maintaining stray and feral cats roaming the environment is a significant threat to Texas wildlife," said Grant Sizemore, director of invasive species programs at the American Bird Conse...