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Comedian Tom Smothers, one-half of the Smothers Brothers, dies at 86

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:19:27 GMT

Tom Smothers, half of the Smothers Brothers and the co-host of one of the most socially conscious and groundbreaking television shows in the history of the medium, has died at 86.The National Comedy Center, on behalf of his family, said in a statement Wednesday that Smothers died Tuesday at home in Santa Rosa, California, following a cancer battle.“Tom was not only the loving older brother that everyone would want in their life, he was a one-of-a-kind creative partner. I am forever grateful to have spent a lifetime together with him, on and off stage, for over 60 years,” his brother and the duo’s other half, Dick Smothers, said in the statement. “Our relationship was like a good marriage — the longer we were together, the more we loved and respected one another. We were truly blessed.”When “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” debuted on CBS in the fall of 1967 it was an immediate hit, to the surprise of many who had assumed the network’s expectations were so low it positioned their s...

Thousands flee widening Israeli assault in central Gaza as military launches new strikes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:19:27 GMT

By WAFAA SHURAFA, SAMY MAGDY and LEE KEATH (Associated Press)DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Thousands of Palestinian families fled Wednesday from the brunt of Israel’s expanding ground offensive into Gaza’s few remaining, overcrowded refuges, as the military launched heavy strikes across the center and south of the territory, killing dozens, Palestinian health officials said.On foot or riding donkey carts loaded with belongings, a stream of people flowed into Deir al-Balah — a town that normally has a population of around 75,000. It has been overwhelmed by several hundred thousand people driven from northern Gaza as the region was pounded to rubble.Because U.N. shelters are packed many times over capacity, the new arrivals set up tents on sidewalks for the cold winter night. Most crowded onto streets around the town’s main hospital, Al-Aqsa Martyrs, hoping it would be safer from Israeli strikes.Still, no place is safe in Gaza. Israeli offensives are crowding most of the population...

A lifestyle and enduring relationship with horses lends to the popularity of rodeo in Indian Country

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:19:27 GMT

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Kicking up a cloud of dust, the men riding bareback were in a rowdy scramble to be the first to lean down from atop their horses and grab hold of the chicken that was buried up to its neck in the ground.The competition is rarely on display these days and most definitely not with a live chicken. And yet, it was this Navajo tradition and other horse-based contests in tribal communities that evolved into a modern-day sport that now fills arenas far and wide: rodeo.With each competition, Native Americans have made them decidedly theirs — a shift from the Wild West shows and Fourth of July celebrations of centuries past that reinforced stereotypes. Rodeo has provided a stage for Native Americans, many of whom had nomadic lifestyles before the U.S. established reservations, to hone their skills and deepen their relationship with horses.“It was really a way to bring something good out of a really tough situation and become successful economically and, of course, hav...

4 arrested after violent assault in St. Catharines bar

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:19:27 GMT

Niagara police have arrested four people following an investigation into an assault incident in St. Catharines from October.Officers met with a male victim in his 40’s regarding the assault, and initial investigation determined that on Oct. 11, at approximately 2:15 a.m. the victim had been in Canucks Ale House located on Carlton Street in St. Catharines.The victim was standing at the bar and began a conversation with a man and a woman standing near him. Within a minute, the man allegedly punched the victim in the face, and two other men joined in punching the victim.As the victim fell to the floor, he was repeatedly kicked, stomped, punched, and had a bar stool thrown at him. The victim was knocked unconscious but the assault continued. The suspects eventually fled from the bar.An unknown female bar patron approached the unconscious victim, took his wallet and stole approximately $300 in cash.Niagara emergency services were not called at the time of the incident, the victim s...

Man arrested in stabbing at New York’s Grand Central Terminal charged with hate crimes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:19:27 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City man has been charged with hate crimes following the Christmas Day stabbing of two teenage tourists from Paraguay at a restaurant inside Grand Central Terminal, authorities said. Esteban Esono-Asue, 36, also known as Steven Hutcherson, made derogatory comments about white people shortly before the unprovoked attack on the 14- and 16-year-old girls Monday morning, according to a criminal complaint. He was being held without bail Wednesday after pleading not guilty Tuesday to attempted murder and assault as hate crimes, and child endangerment.According to the complaint, Esono-Asue initially was asked to leave the Tartinery dining area by an employee, who said Esono-Asue responded by saying: “I’ll leave, I don’t want the white man to get at you,” or something similar. A second employee said he made another anti-white comment after he approached her and asked for a table to place an order. “I don’t want to sit with Black people. I want to...

Are we ready? Should we do this? The debate on expanding medical assistance in dying

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:19:27 GMT

OTTAWA — The federal Liberals face a choice early in 2024. They can allow a sunset clause to take effect so that eligibility for medical assistance in dying expands to adults whose only reason for seeking it is a mental disorder. Or they can do what they did in 2023 and postpone it further, even indefinitely.Justice Minister Arif Virani says the government is weighing its options as the March deadline looms. The first step, he says, will be to see what members of Parliament and senators recommend after committee hearings that probed the issue this past fall. To find answers, The Canadian Press spoke with many of the medical and legal experts who participated in that process.Here are five questions that strike at the heart of the debate. Is Canada ready?Assessors and providers of medical assistance in dying, as well as medical regulators, say they are ready for eligibility to be widened.“Our hope is that government will not be influenced by the concern that the regulators will ...

Toronto among top Canadians cities in EIU livability index

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:19:27 GMT

Despite the high cost of living and ongoing housing crisis, Toronto is ranked among the top cities in Canada when it comes to the latest global liveability index.The Economic Intelligence Unit put Vancouver at number five globally, ahead of Calgary, which is seventh, and Toronto, which is ninth.At the top of the index sits Vienna.The EIU says its “Liveability Index has risen significantly in the 2023 survey, reaching a 15-year high as the world moves on from the [COVID-19] pandemic,” and as health care and education “improve in many cities in Asia and the Middle East and Africa.”It explains a “shift back towards normality” post-pandemic, as well as ” incremental improvements in livability made by many developing countries” have been the biggest drivers in the past year. However, the EIU notes stability has slipped since 2022, “amid several instances of civil unrest around the world.”But a slip in stability wasn’t the ...

NBA approves sale of Dallas Mavericks to Las Vegas Sands casino company

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:19:27 GMT

DALLAS (AP) — The NBA on Wednesday approved the sale of controlling interest of the Dallas Mavericks from Mark Cuban to the families that run the Las Vegas Sands casino company.The deal was approved just shy of a month since the families of Miriam Adelson and Sivan and Patrick Dumont announced their intention to buy the club. The purchase is in the valuation range of $3.5 billion.Patrick Dumont, Adelson’s son-in-law and president and chief operating officer of the Las Vegas Sands company, will serve as Mavericks governor. Adelson is the widow of casino magnate Sheldon Adelson.Cuban is expected to maintain control of basketball operations, and there’s no indication the club will leave Dallas.Cuban has said he wanted to partner with Las Vegas Sands with a long-range plan of building an arena in downtown Dallas that would also include a hotel and casino.Gambling isn’t legal in Texas, and efforts to legalize it face steep odds. Still, Miriam Adelson has made no secret of her...

Argument over Christmas gifts turns deadly as 14-year-old kills his older sister, deputies say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:19:27 GMT

LARGO, Fla. (AP) — A Florida woman holding her 11-month-old son in a baby carrier was fatally shot by her 14-year-old brother while trying to defuse an argument over Christmas gifts he was having with a 15-year-old brother who also was armed, authorities said.The 15-year-old brother then shot his 14-year-old brother, though not fatally, for killing their sister on Sunday in Largo, Florida, which is located in the Tampa metro area, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.The argument over gifts started while the three siblings were Christmas shopping with their mother and the sister’s two sons, ages 6 and 11 months. It continued when they went to their grandmother’s house where the sister, 23, told the younger brother to stop arguing with his older brother since it was Christmas Eve. The younger brother then told his sister he was going to shoot her and her infant, and then he shot her in the chest, the sheriff’s office said.The older broth...

Man awaiting trial for quadruple homicide in Maine withdraws insanity plea

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:19:27 GMT

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A man charged with killing his parents and two of their friends days after being released from prison in Maine no longer intends to use an insanity defense.Through his lawyer, Joseph Eaton withdrew a plea of “not criminally responsible” because of mental illness but maintained a plea of not guilty in a court filing earlier this month in Sagadahoc County.His attorney didn’t elaborate on the decision in the Dec. 8 document but noted that it means a forensic report on criminal responsibility will remain impounded. The attorney’s office was closed Wednesday and he didn’t return an email.Law enforcement officials say Eaton confessed to the killings at a property in rural Bowdoin and to wounding three people while shooting at vehicles on busy Interstate 295 in Yarmouth. Killed in the shootings were Eaton’s parents, Cynthia Eaton, 62, and David Eaton, 66, along with their longtime friends, Bowdoin homeowners Robert Eger, 72, and Patti Eger, 62, offi...