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Bells toll as the U.S. marks 22 years since 9/11, from ground zero to Alaska

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:39 GMT

By JENNIFER PELTZ and KAREN MATTHEWS (Associated Press)NEW YORK (AP) — Bells tolled at ground zero and solemn tributes unfolded around the country as Americans looked back Monday on the horror and legacy of 9/11. People gathered at memorials, firehouses, city halls, campuses and elsewhere to observe the 22nd anniversary of the deadliest terror attack on U.S. soil. Nearly 3,000 people were killed when hijacked planes crashed at New York’s World Trade Center, the Pentagon and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and the attack reshaped American foreign policy and domestic fears.“For those of us who lost people on that day, that day is still happening. Everybody else moves on. And you find a way to go forward, but that day is always happening for you,” Edward Edelman said as he arrived at ground zero to honor his slain brother-in-law, Daniel McGinley. President Joe Biden is due at a ceremony on a military base in Anchorage. His visit, en route to Washington, D.C., from a ...

Oregon man charged in brutal 1979 deadly hammer slay

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:39 GMT

An Oregon man is being charged with the brutal 1979 cold case killing of a Pennsylvania woman who was found bludgeoned to death at a Beacon Street construction site.John Michael Irmer is expected at Boston Municipal Court today where he’ll be charged with murder in connection with the brutal slay of Susan Marcia Rose, 24, of Pennsylvania.Irmer, now 68, approached the FBI in Portland, Oregon and told agents he met the red-headed  Rose at a skating rink around the time of Halloween in 1979, according to the Suffolk DA’s office. The two made their way to Beacon Street and entered a building under renovation where Irmer grabbed a hammer and repeatedly struck Rose in the head, according to the DA’s office.Irmer fled to New York the next day, he told FBI agents.Investigators with the DA’s office confirmed Rose was found murdered at 285 Beacon Street. The cause of death was determined to be blunt injuries to the head.DNA evidence was preserved from the scene and that matched a sample obtai...

Chicago Cubs salvage series with a win — and they still control their postseason fate

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:39 GMT

Just when the Chicago Cubs have appeared to be on the brink of watching their postseason aspirations spiral away, they come through.That’s how good teams perform, and the Cubs have shown a knack for moving past a tough couple of games, staying locked in and maintaining their hold on a playoff spot. They bounced back following a pair walk-off losses last weekend in Cincinnati to win the series finale, leading into a sweep of the San Francisco Giants, and after dropping three consecutive games to the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Cubs took care of business in Sunday’s 5-2 win.“I feel like we’ve been honestly grinding away at it the last couple days and just nothing really to show for it,” shortstop Dansby Swanson said. “Once again, it’s just one of those things we’ve got to stay the course and continue to prepare and go out there and obviously compete.”Three solo home runs in the third inning — Christopher Morel, and back-to-back...

Bill Belichick provides update on Patriots ‘exempt’ QB Matt Correl

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:39 GMT

Head coach Bill Belichick said Monday that the Patriots have been in contact with quarterback Matt Corral since he was placed on the exempt/left squad list Saturday afternoon.A source told the Herald that Corral left the team without notice. He didn’t practice Friday, and his absence was listed on the injury report as “not injury related.”Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Bill Belichick ‘might’ have fourth-down regret from Patriots’ loss to Eagles New England Patriots | Patriots back Mac Jones while QB blames himself for loss New England Patriots | Patriots CB Christian Gonzalez leaves a mark in memorable NFL debut New England Patriots | Kendrick Bourne feels Patriots can ‘play with any team’ after eventful performance New England Patriots | Callahan: Tom Brady’s return a reminder of Patriots’ fast-fading glory “He’s in exempt status,”...

Bill Belichick ‘might’ have fourth-down regret from Patriots’ loss to Eagles

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:39 GMT

The Patriots attempted four fourth-down conversions in Sunday’s season-opening loss to the Eagles, and in retrospect, head coach Bill Belichick might have wanted one back.But it’s probably not the play you’re thinking of.Belichick said he still would have gone for it on fourth-and-3 from the Eagles’ 17-yard line down eight points with 9:39 left in the game. Quarterback Mac Jones’ pass went incomplete to running back Ezekiel Elliott, and the Patriots turned the ball over on downs.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Bill Belichick provides update on Patriots ‘exempt’ QB Matt Correl New England Patriots | Patriots back Mac Jones while QB blames himself for loss New England Patriots | Patriots CB Christian Gonzalez leaves a mark in memorable NFL debut New England Patriots | Kendrick Bourne feels Patriots can ‘play with any team’ after eventful performance New England Patriots | ...

What to know about a major rescue underway to bring a US researcher out of a deep Turkish cave

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:39 GMT

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A major rescue operation is underway in Turkey’s Taurus Mountains to bring out an American researcher who fell seriously ill nine days ago at a depth of some 1,000 meters (3,000 feet) from the entrance of one of the world’s deepest caves. An experienced cave rescuer himself, Mark Dickey is being assisted by teams of international rescuers who by Monday had brought him to 300 meters (nearly 1,000 feet) from the surface.Here’s what to know about the caver and the rescue operation:WHAT HAPPENED?Dickey, a 40-year-old accomplished cave explorer from Croton-on-Hudson, New York, was 1040 meters (3,412 feet) from the entrance of the Morca Cave on an expedition, when he became stricken with severe stomach bleeding on Sept. 2. There were several other people with him, including three other Americans, on the mission to map the 1,276-meter (4,186-foot) deep cave system for the Anatolian Speleology Group Association.In perilous condition, doctors, paramedics, and experience...

A new campaign ad from Poland’s ruling party features Germany’s chancellor in unfavorable light

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:39 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s conservative ruling party unveiled a new campaign ad Monday that portrays German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in an unfavorable light. The Law and Justice party has governed Poland since 2015 and is seeking to keep power when the country holds an Oct. 15 parliamentary election. In the new campaign spot, party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski pretends to reject a call from Scholz suggesting Poland should raise the retirement age, which is one of the topics of a voter referendum taking place at the same time as the election. The question targets the main opposition party, Civic Platform and its leader, Donald Tusk, a former Polish prime minister and European Union president who was on good terms with Germany. Civic Platform raised the retirement age before Law and Justice came to power. In the spot, Kaczynski speaks into a cellphone and tells a pretend employee of the German Embassy in Warsaw: “Please apologize to the chancellor, but it will be the Poles who wi...

Kim’s trip to Russia could be like his last one and involve a daylong ride on his armored train

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:39 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Kim Jong Un’s confirmed trip to Russia for a meeting with President Vladimir Putin has drawn attention to the traditional method of travel for North Korean leaders: luxury, armored trains that have long been a part of the dynasty’s lore and are symbols of its deep isolation.A brief statement on the Kremlin’s website on Monday said Kim’s visit was taking place at Putin’s invitation “in the coming days.” North Korean state media also reported the meeting but didn’t specify when and where it would happen.The last time the two leaders met, in April 2019, Kim made a rattling, full-day journey along his country’s aging railways to get to far east Russia. South Korean media cited anonymous government sources to report Monday that a train presumably carrying Kim had departed from North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang. Putin and Kim could meet in eastern Russia’s city of Vladivostok, where Kim took his green-and-yellow armored train to their previous su...

Israel’s contentious legal overhaul comes to a head as judges hear cases on their own fate

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:39 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul plan has plunged the country into nine months of unrest and exposed bitter divisions within Israeli society. On Tuesday, the country’s gaze shifts from the streets to the courtroom, where a panel of Supreme Court judges will deliberate over the very laws meant to curtail their power.Israel’s High Court is to hear the first of three flashpoint cases in the coming weeks, all dealing with the legality of the overhaul.Netanyahu unveiled the plan early this year, saying the country’s unelected judges hold too much power over parliament. He is backed by an alliance of ultranationalist and religious parties, each motivated by different grievances against the legal system. Opponents say the plan will push the country toward authoritarian rule by concentrating power in the hands of Netanyahu and his parliamentary allies.The court’s rulings could set the stage for a constitutional crisis, casting ...

Kim Jong Un is heading to Russia. What do Pyongyang and Moscow want from each other?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:39 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is heading to Russia for a meeting with President Vladimir Putin that is likely to focus on Russia’s desire to buy ammunition to refill reserves drained by its war in Ukraine. The meeting will also underscore deepening cooperation as the two isolated leaders are locked in separate confrontations with the U.S. In return for providing ammunition, North Korea will likely want shipments of food and energy and transfers of sophisticated weapons technologies.A meeting with Putin would be Kim’s first with a foreign leader since North Korea closed its borders in January 2020. They met for the first time in April 2019, two months after Kim’s high-stakes nuclear diplomacy with then-U.S. President Donald Trump collapsed.Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu traveled to Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital, in July and asked Kim to send more ammunition to Russia, according to U.S. officials. Shoigu said Moscow and Pyongyang were considering...