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Iranians mark Jerusalem Day to support Palestinians

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:11 GMT

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Tens of Thousands of Iranians, some chanting “death to America” and “death to Israel,” marched in the capital of Tehran on Friday to mark Jerusalem Day, an annual show of support for the Palestinians.Senior Iranian officials attended the rally, including President Ebrahim Raisi. Since Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979, the rallies marking what is also known as al-Quds Day have typically been held typically held on the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.Al-Quds is the Arabic name for the contested city at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel captured east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it to its capital. The Palestinians seek the eastern part of Jerusalem as a future capital. Jerusalem is the home of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest shrine in Islam. The compound, revered by Jews as the Temple Mount, is also the most sacred site in Judaism.Parliament Speaker Mohammad Qalibaf told demonstrators that Israel is t...

Toronto has more cranes in use than most U.S. cities combined

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:11 GMT

New numbers from the construction industry reveal what many GTA drivers probably already know — Toronto is in a construction boom.There are nearly 250 cranes in use in the city right now, according to the latest Crane Index from Rider Levett Bucknall (RLB). That’s more cranes than New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco, and Washington. D.C., combined.In fact, the 12 U.S. cities measured in the index had a combined 259 cranes in use compared to 238 in Toronto. Ontario’s capital has nearly 200 more cranes than second-place Seattle (51). The only other Canadian city on the index, Calgary, currently has 20 cranes in use.Toronto is experiencing a construction boom right now. Stats show there are almost 250 cranes in operation-more than in New York,Boston,Chicago,LA,Seattle, Washington DC & San Francisco COMBINED. For drivers it means construction chaos. pic.twitter.com/sRfMQYoW6X— carl hanstke (@carlCityNews) April 14, 2023RLB’s biannua...

Canadian Pacific and KCS officially combine under Canadian Pacific Kansas City banner

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:11 GMT

CALGARY — Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. and Kansas City Southern have officially combined to create Canadian Pacific Kansas City.CP completed its US$31-billion acquisition of KCS in December 2021, but placed the KCS shares into a voting trust, which ensured the U.S. railway operated independently during a regulatory review.The U.S. Surface Transportation Board gave its final approval of the deal last month, clearing the way for the combination.The company says it will mark the occasion by driving of a ceremonial final spike in Kansas City, Mo., where the two railways meet.CPKC will also break ground today on a new yard office, that will be the future location of its U.S. operations centre.It says shares in the railway will remain listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol CP and are expected to begin trading under the new name on April 18. This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 14, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:...

Hungary’s Orban calls US a ‘friend’ despite sanction on bank

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:11 GMT

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary’s prime minister sought to bring down the temperature on spiraling tensions between his government and the United States, declaring Friday that the U.S. is Hungary’s “friend” despite sanctions Washington imposed on a Budapest-based Russian bank. In an interview on state radio, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that the International Investment Bank, a Russian-controlled financial institution which U.S. officials have argued could serve as a conduit for Russian espionage, “could have played a serious role in developing Central European economies.” While the war in Ukraine had limited the bank’s effectiveness, Orban said, the U.S. sanctions against IIB and three of its top officials had “ruined it.” The Hungarian government withdrew its membership in the bank Thursday, the day after the sanctions were issued. “(The bank’s) operations have been rendered impossible. It can’t serve its function,” Orban said. “We decided that u...

7.0 magnitude earthquake shakes Indonesia’s main island

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:11 GMT

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A strong earthquake shook parts of Indonesia’s main island of Java and tourist island of Bali on Friday, causing panic but there were no immediate reports of serious damage or casualties.The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude 7.0 quake was centered 96.5 kilometers (59.8 miles) north of Tuban, a coastal city in East Java province, at a depth of 594 kilometers (369 miles).Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysical Agency said there was no danger of a tsunami but warned of possible aftershocks. The agency put a preliminary magnitude at 6.6. Variations in early measurements are common.Videos circulating on social media showed local residents and tourists in the neighboring provinces of Central Java, Yogyakarta and Bali panicking as houses and buildings swayed for several seconds. Some places ordered evacuations, sending streams of people into the streets.The country of more than 270 million people is frequently struck by earthquakes, volcanic e...

DeSantis signs Florida GOP’s 6-week abortion ban into law

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:11 GMT

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law a bill approved by the Republican-dominated Florida Legislature to ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. The governor’s office said in a statement late Thursday that he had signed the legislation. The ban gives DeSantis a key political victory among Republican primary voters as he prepares to launch an expected presidential candidacy built on his national brand as a conservative standard bearer. The six-week ban will take effect only if the state’s current 15-week ban is upheld in an ongoing legal challenge that is before the state Supreme Court, which is controlled by conservatives. The policy would have wider implications for abortion access throughout the South in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last year overturning Roe v. Wade and leaving decisions about abortion access to states. Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi have banned abortion at all stages of pregnancy, while Georgia forbid...

Moldovan oligarch sentenced to 15 years in $1B bank theft

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:11 GMT

CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — A fugitive Moldovan oligarch and opposition party leader was sentenced in absentia Thursday to 15 years in jail for his role in a one-billion-dollar bank theft case. Ilan Shor, who leads the populist Russia-friendly Shor Party, was convicted of fraud and money laundering in the case of $1 billion that went missing from Moldovan banks in 2014. The Court of Appeal in the capital, Chisinau, also ordered the confiscation of $290 million of his assets.Shor, a businessman, fled Moldova in 2019 to evade corruption charges and has since been living in exile in Israel, where he was born. He was initially sentenced in 2015 to seven and a half years in jail, but his appeal dragged on for years.In recent months, the Shor Party — which holds six seats in Moldova’s 101-seat legislature — organized large protests in Chisinau against the pro-Western government over high energy prices and a cost-of-living crisis. Moldova’s annual inflation rate stood at 21.98% in March...

Funeral services Friday for Chicago firefighter Jermaine Pelt

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:11 GMT

CHICAGO — Chicago firefighter Jermaine Pelt will be laid to rest Friday following funeral services on the city's Far South Side.Pelt's funeral comes nearly 24 hours after the department, along with family and friends, said goodbye to Lieutenant Jan Tchoryk, another firefighter who died in the line-of-duty.Words used to describe Pelt include selflessness, bravery and heroism.Pelt died April 4 while battling a fire in the city's West Pullman neighborhood. He was on a hose line inside a burning home, when he went down. His cause of death was smoke inhalation. Pelt joined the department in 2005 and had just recently walked his daughter down the aisle at her wedding.The 49-year-old also had a 6-year-old son. Funeral services held Thursday for fallen CFD Lt. Jan Tchoryk Pelt's visitation Thursday night at the Blake-Lamb Funeral Home came just hours after the funeral for Lt. Tchoryk, who collapsed and died in a high-rise fire in the city's Gold Coast.Pelt not only fought fires, but taugh...

DeSantis signs Florida GOP's 6-week abortion ban into law

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:11 GMT

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law a bill approved by the Republican-dominated Florida Legislature to ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.The governor’s office said in a statement late Thursday that he had signed the legislation. The ban gives DeSantis a key political victory among Republican primary voters as he prepares to launch an expected presidential candidacy built on his national brand as a conservative standard bearer.The six-week ban will take effect only if the state’s current 15-week ban is upheld in an ongoing legal challenge that is before the state Supreme Court, which is controlled by conservatives.The policy would have wider implications for abortion access throughout the South in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision last year overturning Roe v. Wade and leaving decisions about abortion access to states. Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi have banned abortion at all stages of pregnancy, while Geo...

Friday Forecast: Low 80s and mostly sunny

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:11 GMT

Friday's weather forecast is mostly sunny, cooler lakeside, SSE 5-10 G15. 82/76Friday night is mostly cloudy, with southwest winds of 5-10. The low will be 58Full forecast details at the WGN Weather CenterSaturday: Partly cloudy, 30% rain/storm chance, S 5-15 G15. 81/76