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Russia’s assault on a key eastern Ukraine city reported to be weakening as the war marks 600 days

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:48:52 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A dayslong attempt by Russian forces to storm a strategically important city in eastern Ukraine appears to be running out of steam, Kyiv officials said Monday, as the Kremlin’s war entered its 600th day.Ukrainian forces repelled 15 Russian attacks from four directions on Avdiivka over the previous 24 hours, the Ukrainian General Staff said.That compared with up to 60 attacks a day in the middle of last week, according to Vitalii Barabash, head of the city administration. The slackening suggests the Russian effort to capture Avdiivka has “deflated,” Barabash said.A Washington-based think tank broadly concurred with that assessment. “Russian forces continued offensive operations aimed at encircling Avdiivka … but have yet to make further gains amid a likely decreasing tempo of Russian operations in the area,” the Institute for the Study of War said in analysis published late Sunday.Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Vassily Nebenzia, told a U.N. Security C...

Zexi Li, ‘Freedom Convoy’ lawyers spar at organizers’ criminal trial

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:48:52 GMT

OTTAWA — The woman who went to court to get an injunction against the “Freedom Convoy” last year faced the protest organizers in criminal court Monday in some of the most combative lines of questioning the trial has seen so far. Zexi Li took the stand against Tamara Lich and Chris Barber, who are accused mischief and counselling others to commit mischief for their role in leading the protest, among other charges.The courtroom was unusually crowded Monday as Li took the stand. She kept her composure in the witness box during the cross-examination. Early in her evidence, defence lawyers challenged Li’s use of the word “occupation” to describe the protest, in which big-rigs, trucks and large crowds of people blocked streets in downtown Ottawa for weeks.“I object by the continuous use of the word ‘occupation,'” Chris Barber’s lawyer Diane Magas said. “It’s very irritating to my ears.”Magas said the word was inflammatory, especially b...

Complainant in Nygard trial says mogul said he wanted to help with fashion career

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:48:52 GMT

TORONTO — Note: This story contains graphic content.A woman who has accused Peter Nygard of sexual assault told his trial Monday that the former fashion mogul flew her to Toronto under the guise of helping with her designer aspirations, but what she thought would be a business meeting turned into an attack. Nygard, the founder of a now-defunct international women’s clothing company, is accused of using his position in the fashion industry to lure women and girls.The 82-year-old has pleaded not guilty to five counts of sexual assault and one count of forcible confinement in alleged incidents ranging from the 1980s to mid-2000s.The case’s fifth and final complainant – whose identity is protected by a publication ban – said she first met Nygard in the late 1980s at a popular nightclub in Gatineau, Que. The woman, in her late teens or early 20s at the time, was living with her family in nearby Ottawa, where she worked in television and sold hand-painted clothing on weekends....

Georgia agency investigating fatal shoot by a deputy during a traffic stop

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:48:52 GMT

KINGSLAND, Ga. (AP) — Georgia authorities are investigating after a sheriff’s deputy fatally shot a 53-year-old motorist during a traffic stop on Monday.The Camden County deputy pulled over a driver along Interstate 95 near the Georgia-Florida line. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said the driver got out of the car at the deputy’s request and cooperated at first, but became violent after he was told he was being arrested.A GBI news release said preliminary information shows the deputy shocked the driver with a stun gun when he failed to obey commands, and the driver then began assaulting the deputy. The GBI said the deputy again tried using the stun gun and a baton to subdue him, then drew his gun and shot the driver when he continued to resist.The agency identified the motorist killed as Leonard Allen Cure. It did not say what prompted the traffic stop.It is customary for Georgia law enforcement agencies to ask the GBI to investigate shootings involving officers. Th...

Ex-FTX exec was ‘horrified’ last year when he learned of $13 billion shortfall

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:48:52 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A former FTX executive and onetime billionaire testified against the cryptocurrency exchange’s founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, on Monday at his fraud trial, saying his admiration for him faded as he watched excessive spending on investments, property and celebrities precede a $13 billion shortfall that left him feeling “blindsided and horrified.”Nishad Singh, the former head of engineering at FTX, was part of Bankman-Fried’s trusted inner circle before the cryptocurrency empire collapsed last November. Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas a month later. Singh pleaded guilty to fraud charges and agreed to testify against the man he’d known since high school.Singh told a Manhattan federal court jury that he “felt really betrayed” when he learned in a private conversation with Bankman-Fried on the balcony of their penthouse apartment in September 2022 that there was not sufficient assets to cover $13 billion that had been spent largely on investments,...

Semitruck driver killed when train derails on Colorado bridge, spilling coal cars onto major highway

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:48:52 GMT

DENVER (AP) — A semi-trailer truck driver was killed when a train derailed and a railroad bridge collapsed onto a major highway near Pueblo, Colorado, spilling coal and mangled rail cars onto the roadway and shutting it down indefinitely, authorities said Monday. The 60-year-old driver was initially said to be trapped in the Sunday afternoon accident on Interstate 25, but authorities said Monday that he had died. It was unknown whether any other vehicles were involved, Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Gayle Perez said.Photos and videos posted by authorities showed the partially collapsed bridge with the semi-truck caught beneath in the right lane. The images also show a pileup of train cars and wheels scattered across the scene and loads of coal covering a portion of the highway.A nine-mile stretch of I-25 — the main north-south road corridor in Colorado, used by 39,000 to 44,000 vehicles daily — was shut down in what the Colorado Department of Transportation said Monday ...

Soccer match between Belgium and Sweden suspended after deadly shooting in Brussels

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:48:52 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — A soccer match between host Belgium and Sweden was suspended at halftime Monday after two Swedes were killed in a shooting in central Brussels before kickoff.Fans remained inside the King Baudouin stadium after the European Championship qualifier was stopped and chanted “All together, All together,” with thousands of supporters from both sides also shouting “Sweden, Sweden!” Read more: Latest Chicago news headlines The match was being played around 3 miles (5 kilometers) away from the shooting, with more than 35,000 fans attending. The teams were tied 1-1 at halftime.“Following a suspected terrorist attack in Brussels this evening, it has been decided after consultation with the two teams and the local police authorities, that the UEFA EURO 2024 qualifying match between Belgium and Sweden is abandoned,” UEFA said. Belgium's crisis center raised the level of threat in Brussels and its region to the highest and asked citizens to avoid unnecessary travel.The Swedish ...

Therapy Players: Chicago's All-Psychotherapist Comedy Improv Troupe

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:48:52 GMT

They say a laughter is the best medicine - well a group of therapists are taking that saying to a whole new and literal level. The Therapy Players are an improv group made up of psychotherapists. They just celebrated their 10th anniversary of performing. Joining Spotlight Chicago to educate us on the benefits of improv on our mental health is founding member and clinical psychologist Dr. David Carbonell. 847-481-5251TherapyPlayers.comFacebook: Therapy PlayersInstagram & Twitter: @TherapyPlayersSpotlight Chicago airs weekdays on WGN from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m

VIDEO: Bear breaks into Connecticut home, raids freezer for lasagna

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:48:52 GMT

BARKHAMSTED, Conn. (WTNH) – Talk about a dine and dash!A bear was caught on security cameras breaking into Helena Houlis' house in Barkhamsted last week, roaming around before zeroing in on her refrigerator.What was it in the mood for? Leftover lasagna from her restaurant, Ana's Kitchen in Simsbury. Surveillance video shows the bear, with brightly-colored tags in both ears and an apparent tracking color around its neck, amble into the kitchen and walk straight to the refrigerator.Standing on its hind legs, the bruin burglar uses its front paws to pull out the freezer section below the refrigerator's doors, accessing the food so effortlessly it looked like a practiced move. Female frogs fake death to evade unwanted male attention, study shows Taking the bag of lasagna in its jaws, the bear steps neatly onto the extended freezer drawer, using it as a stool to hop out of the tight, open window to the deck.Bear sightings aren't rare in Barkhamsted, with 137 reported to the Connecticu...

Terror alert raised to highest level in Brussels after 2 people shot dead

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:48:52 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — Belgian authorities raised the terror alert to its highest level in the capital late Monday after the fatal shooting of two Swedes in Brussels that Prime Minister Alexander De Croo linked to terrorism. The gunman remained at large.The killings happened some 3 miles (5 kilometers) from a stadium where over 35,000 fans were watching a Belgium-Sweden soccer match, Belgium's anti-terror center said. The match was abandoned halfway through.“The population needs to be actively vigilant and avoid any unnecessary travel,” anti-terror center spokeswoman Laura Demullier said, adding that the top priority for authorities was to get the thousands of fans safely out of the King Baudouin Stadium.The center also said that the terror alert for the rest of the country was raised to its second-highest level. Raising the terror level in the capital to the top 4 rating means that a “threat is extremely serious.” It previously stood at 2, which means the threat was average.Supporters lit...