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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited to address Congress

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:15:24 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. congressional leaders have invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address a joint meeting of Congress during a visit to Washington later this month as the U.S. looks to deepen its bonds with India, the world’s most populous democracy, to counter China’s growing influence even as Modi has faced criticism for eroding India’s democratic traditions and human rights.House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and other leaders announced Friday that Modi has been invited to make the address on June 22, stating in a letter that the “partnership between our two countries continues to grow” and calling the address an “opportunity to share your vision for India’s future and speak to the global challenges our countries both face.”The U.S. is seeking to forge stronger ties overseas — especially in Asia — to counter China’s aggression in the region. Modi’s congressional address would come amid a state visit with ...

Cynthia Weil, Grammy winning lyricist who had hits with husband Barry Mann, dead at 82

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:15:24 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Cynthia Weil, a Grammy-winning lyricist of notable range and endurance who enjoyed a decades-long partnership with husband Barry Mann and helped write “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling,” “On Broadway,” “Walking in the Rain” and dozens of other hits, has died at age 82.Her death was confirmed Friday by Interdependence Public Relations, which represents Mann’s daughter, Dr. Jenn Mann. A spokesperson did not immediately have further details.Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann, married in 1961, were one of popular music’s most successful teams, part of a remarkable ensemble recruited by impresarios Don Kirshner and Al Nevins and based in Manhattan’s Brill Building neighborhood, a few blocks from Times Square. With such hit-making combinations as Carole King and Gerry Goffin and Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich, the Brill Building song factory turned out many of the biggest singles of the ’60s and beyond.Weil an...

Poilievre links Pride with freedom but stays mum on parades, condemns Uganda bill

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:15:24 GMT

OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is wishing LGBTQ people a happy Pride Month, saying it marks a symbol for freedom, but he has not specified whether he’ll be seen at any Pride events.Poilievre says he sees Pride month as celebrating “freedom from bigotry” and the right to be viewed as an individual instead of being lumped together in a group identity.The Conservative leader says he sees Canadians’ ability to form families however they choose to is part of his broader focus on freedom, and he also says Canada should continue to resettle LGBTQ refugees from abroad.LGBTQ groups across North America celebrate June as Pride month, although festivals and parades happen throughout the summer in different Canadian cities.His comments in Winnipeg today come as conservative groups in the U.S. take aim at LGBTQ people, such as by blocking access to gender-affirming care for transgender people or protesting drag queen performances.Poilievre also says he cond...

US sanctions Iranian firm for helping government censor internet

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:15:24 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. imposed sanctions on an Iran-based technology firm on Friday for its role in facilitating the Iranian government’s censorship of the internet as anti-government protests have swept the country since September. A firm known as Arvan Cloud, its co-founders Pouya Pirhosseinloo and Farhad Fatemi, and a United Arab Emirates-based firm were all sanctioned for helping to facilitate the Iranian government’s attempts to control and censor internet traffic. Internet disruptions were instituted after homegrown anger over the September death of Masha Amini, an Iranian-Kurdish woman detained by the country’s morality police, escalated into large-scale protests. U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control says Arvan Cloud provided interception services for the government, allowing Iranian authorities to control and censor incoming and outgoing traffic and surveil data on the servers. The firm also blocked websites at the request of Iran’s Committe...

Long stretch of New Jersey’s Garden State Parkway reopens as firefighters battle 5,000-acre blaze

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:15:24 GMT

BASS RIVER, N.J. (AP) — A long stretch of New Jersey’s Garden State Parkway reopened Friday morning as firefighters worked to contain a 5,000-acre forest fire spewing thick plumes of smoke.About 25 miles of the heavily traveled toll road, the state’s major north-south highway, was reopened shortly before 11 a.m.The fire broke out Wednesday night in the Bass River State Forest, along the border of Burlington and Ocean counties in southern New Jersey. It remained at 50% containment, and no longer threatened any structures or residential areas as of Friday morning, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said.About 40 people were evacuated Thursday from a camping area as a precaution, and that site remained shuttered Friday.Authorities were still working to determine the cause of the wildfire. Another 158-acre blaze burned from Monday night into Tuesday in the White Oaks Wildlife Management Area in Monroe and Franklin townships in Gloucester County, causing no reported injuries or pro...

Air Canada says to expect further travel disruptions following Thursday’s IT issues

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:15:24 GMT

Air Canada says travellers should be prepared for further flight disruptions as it works to return service to normal following a technical malfunction Thursday.In its daily travel outlook, the carrier said that while its IT system is now stable, flights may be affected at nine of Canada’s busiest airports, including Toronto’s Pearson, Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary.Thursday’s outage led to more than 500 flights — over three quarters of its trips — to be delayed or cancelled on the day, creating what the airline says are “rollover effects” that may lead to further delays Friday.The source of the disruption was in the system used by the airline to communicate with aircraft and monitor their performance, which Air Canada has been in the process of upgrading.On May 25, it grounded its planes for about an hour when the system experienced a separate issue, causing delays for nearly half of Air Canada’s flights that day.A total of 81 Air Canada flights,...

Chase online banking bug causing double transactions, fees

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:15:24 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Customers of Chase’s online banking services were seeing double transactions, fees and/or payments in their accounts, with the situation not immediately being resolved as of late morning on Friday. Numerous Chase customers were posting on social media that their rent or bill payments were taken out of their accounts twice and reporting hold times with customer service approaching more than an hour.Chase released the following statement Friday in response to the issue:“We’re sorry that some customers are seeing duplicate transactions and fees on their checking account. We’re working to automatically reverse any duplicates and adjust any related fees.”Chase spokesperson

17-year-old found dead in parking lot of suburban school

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:15:24 GMT

HANOVER PARK, Ill. — A 17-year-old boy was found dead Thursday night in a suburban parking lot of a school.Just before 9:30 p.m., authorities responded to the parking lot of the Al-huda Academy, located in the 7400 block of Jensen Boulevard, on the report of a person down.At the scene, officers discovered an unresponsive 17-year-old boy suffering from multiple injuries.The boy died as a result and it's being investigated as a homicide.Police did not tell WGN News the circumstances behind the incident, but said it was not a shooting. Police: Crown Point man followed home from casino, robbed at gunpoint The Cook County Major Case Assistance Team (MCAT) is investigating. No suspects are in custody.Anyone with information is encouraged to call police at 630-823-5516.

Piece of tire breaks off roller coaster at Ohio's Cedar Point amusement park

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:15:24 GMT

SANDUSKY, Ohio (WJW) – Officials at Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio, have confirmed that debris from one of their coasters broke off on Memorial Day.The debris consisted of part of a urethane tire tread that separated from a wheel on the Corkscrew roller coaster, officials said. The piece fell onto the midway.The wheel has since been replaced and the ride is back in operation.There were no reported injuries as a result of the incident. Escaped inmate caught after attempting to order $1 burger from McDonald’s A representative from the Ohio Department of Agriculture told Nexstar's WJW that they are aware of the situation. ODA officials say they inspected and permitted all of the roller coasters before the park opened for the season. "At the time of inspection, all roller coasters passed inspection. It is the responsibility of Cedar Point to conduct maintenance and perform daily inspections of the ride prior to opening the ride each day," an ODA official said in a state...

Dean's Weekender: Taylor Swift, 'West Side Story' and more

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:15:24 GMT

Check out Dean's Weekender for the top events coming to the Chicagoland area this weekend. Get Dean's reviews and A-List interviews delivered right to your inbox. Sign up for Dean's Downloads weekly newsletter. You'll also get his Dean Cooks recipes too!