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Crews clear wreckage after ‘superfog’ near New Orleans causes highway crashes that killed at least 7

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:28 GMT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Crews worked into Tuesday morning clearing the wreckage of more than 150 vehicles involved in a series of crashes the day before on Interstate 55 near New Orleans caused by a “superfog” of marsh fire smoke and dense fog that killed at least seven people and injured another 25.Hazardous driving conditions Tuesday morning prompted several schools in the area to close or delay.An estimated 158 vehicles were involved and 25 people injured, according to the Louisiana State Police, who warned Monday night the death toll could climb as first responders looked for victims, the smell of burnt wreckage still heavy in the air.The crashes began before 9 a.m. Monday and there were several crashes along a one-mile span of the highway, Louisiana State Police Sgt. Kate Stegall said in a news briefing. The highway was expected to remain closed at least until the bridge could be inspected for damage in daylight Tuesday, Stegall said.The crashes left a long stretch of mangled and sc...

Michelle Obama to narrate audio edition of ‘Where the Wild Things Are’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:28 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A new digital audio edition of Maurice Sendak’s “Where the Wild Things Are” will have a very well known narrator: former first lady Michelle Obama.HarperCollins Publishers announced Tuesday that the audio download will go on sale Oct. 31, the 60th anniversary of the book’s original release. Michelle Obama has read from “Where the Wild Things Are” before. In 2016, she and President Barack Obama acted out the classic picture book for an Easter event at the South Lawn of the White House. “Maurice Sendak would have been absolutely delighted with Mrs. Obama’s superb rendition of ‘Where the Wild Things Are,’ and her strong commitment to children is much admired by us all in the Sendak household,” Lynn Caponera, president and treasurer of the Maurice Sendak Foundation, said in a statement.Sendak, one of the world’s most famous children’s authors, died in 2012 at age 83. His other books included “In the Night Kitchen,” “Chicken Soup with Rice” and “Ou...

Extremists with ties to the Islamic State group kill at least 26 people in eastern Congo

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:28 GMT

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Extremists with ties to the Islamic State group killed at least 26 people in eastern Congo, authorities said on Tuesday. Attackers with the Allied Democratic Forces killed people in the city of Oicha in North Kivu province on Monday, said Beni Charles Ehuta Omeonga, the military administrator for the area. “Among the victims were seven members from the same family killed by the assailants in their home,” he said.Most of the victims were shot in their homes, said Nicolas Kikuku, a deputy governor in the region, adding that the death toll is likely higher than what’s been reported. Conflict has been simmering in eastern Congo for decades where more than 120 armed groups are fighting in the region, most for land and control of mines with valuable minerals, while some are trying to protect their communities.ADF has been expanding and intensifying operations in recent years, spreading from North Kivu to Ituri province despite military interventions meant to stop th...

Oprah Winfrey selects Jesmyn Ward’s ‘Let Us Descend’ for her book club

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:28 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Oprah Winfrey’s new book club pick highlights an author she has long admired, Jesmyn Ward. On Tuesday, Winfrey announced she had selected Ward’s “Let Us Descend,” which comes out this week. “Let Us Descend” is a slave narrative set in the 19th century and follows a teenage girl’s journey across the American South. Ward, 46, is among the most acclaimed writers of her generation. Her previous works include the novels “Salvage the Bones” and “Sing, Unburied, Sing,” both winners of the National Book Award.In 2022, she became the youngest winner of the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction.“I have read all of Jesmyn Ward’s books and have been a fan of her writing for years,” Winfrey said in a statement. “‘Let Us Descend’ is a vital work for our culture and I’m so excited to have her newest offering as part of our Book Club.” Ward has also written such nonfiction as “Men We Reaped” and “Navigate Your Stars.” In a statement Tuesday, she expressed ...

A brief history of Middle East ceasefires

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:28 GMT

In today’s Big Story Podcast, two weeks after a terror attack by Hamas, and two weeks into a devastating retaliatory bombing campaign by Israel, thousands of lives are gone, and the world wonders how and when the horror might stop. There are calls for a humanitarian pause. A ceasefire. Deescalation. It seems impossible in the moment, but then, it usually does.Dr. Randa Slim, the Director of the Conflict Resolution and Track II Dialogues Program at the Middle East Institute, says that the involvement of third parties, like Iran and it’s regional proxies, is making the situation even more volatile.“Every party in this conflict, Israel, Hamas, allies of Hamas, America, they are all messaging each other, and the purpose of this messaging is to help shape the calculus of their opponent in terms of the next steps,” says Slim.     So today, a brief history of ceasefires, peace deals, and other quests for a pause in a deadly conflict — and an explanation from a long-time observer of how the...

Love it or hate it, feelings run high over candy corn come Halloween

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:28 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Cruel joke for trick-or-treaters or coveted seasonal delight? The great Halloween debate over candy corn is on.In the pantheon of high-emotion candy, the classic shiny tricolor kernels in autumn’s white, orange and yellow are way up there. Fans and foes alike point to the same attributes: its plastic or candle-like texture (depending on who you ask) and the mega-sugar hit it packs.“I am vehemently pro candy corn. It’s sugar! What is not to love? It’s amazing. It’s like this waxy texture. You get to eat it once a year. It’s tricolor. That’s always fun,” comedian Shannon Fiedler gushed on TikTok. “Also, I know it’s disgusting. Candy corn is objectively kind of gross, but that’s what makes it good.”Or, as Paul Zarcone of Huntington, New York, put it: “I love candy corn even though it looks like it should taste like a candle. I also like that many people hate it. It makes me like it even more!” Love it or loathe...

Ukraine’s leader says Russian naval assets are no longer safe in the Black Sea near Crimea

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:28 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed on Tuesday that recent Ukrainian attacks have denied the Russian fleet safe bases and secure maritime corridors in the western part of the Black Sea, as Kyiv’s troops look to squeeze the Kremlin’s occupying forces out of the Crimean Peninsula.Crimea provides rear support for Moscow’s battlefield efforts further west and has been a frequent target for Ukrainian forces during the war since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.“The Russian fleet is no longer capable of operating in the western part of the Black Sea and is gradually retreating from Crimea,” Zelenskyy claimed, without providing evidence. “This is a historic achievement.”Ukraine is keen to show that billions of dollars’ worth of weapons supplied by its Western allies have allowed it to make progress in the fighting, as the conflict enters its 21st month amid a broad stalemate.With the war poised to extend into another winter and likely deep into next year, K...

4 shot, 1 fatally, in West Englewood

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:28 GMT

CHICAGO — Police are searching for suspects in a shooting that killed a man and injured three others in the city's West Englewood neighborhood.The fatal shooting happened around 9:11 p.m. Monday in the 6100 block of South Justine. According to police, officers responded to a shots fired call and found four victims in an alley with gunshot wounds.A 35-year-old man sustained two gunshot wounds to the head and was pronounced dead on the scene.A 60-year-old woman was shot in the head and transported to Holy Cross Hospital in critical condition. A 52-year-old woman was shot in the upper right thigh and transported to Stroger Hospital in critical condition. Man shot, critically injured near Chicago’s Magnificent Mile A 64-year-old man was shot in the right forearm and transported to the University of Chicago Medical Center in good condition.Police said witnesses stated they saw a man shooting at the mouth of the alley and then fled the scene.No one is in custody. Area One Detectives are...

Israeli airstrikes in Gaza killed more than 700 people in the past day, Gaza Health Ministry says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:28 GMT

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip had killed more than 700 people in the past day, the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza said Tuesday.That represented a massive increase in the death toll amid widening Israeli bombing attacks in the territory.Israel has been attacking Gaza since Hamas militants attacked southern Israeli towns on Oct. 7. 2 Israeli women held hostage in Gaza released by Hamas THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel escalated its bombardment of targets in the Gaza Strip, the military said Tuesday, ahead of an expected ground invasion against Hamas militants that the U.S. fears could spark a wider conflict in the region, including attacks on American troops.The stepped-up attacks, and the rapidly rising death toll of thousands killed in Gaza, came as Hamas released two elderly Israeli women who were among the hundreds of hostages it captured during its devastating Oct. ...

Bicyclist struck, killed in Ravenswood

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:28 GMT

CHICAGO — A man riding a bicycle was struck and killed Monday night in Ravenswood.At around 7:55 p.m., CPD said the 59-year-old bicyclist was traveling northbound in the 5100 block of North Damen Avenue.A vehicle also traveling northbound accidently struck the bicyclist. He was transported to Illinois Masonic in critical condition and died a short time later.The driver did stop and will be issued traffic citations, CPD said.No further information was provided.