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Three dead in overnight airstrikes and shelling across Ukraine

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:44:50 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Three people have died during a night of air strikes and intense shelling across Ukraine, officials said Sunday, as Kyiv’s military exchanged fire with Russian occupation forces.Two people were killed and four more were injured following a Russian air strike in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, said the head of the local regional military administration, Oleh Syniehubov.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that a guided bomb had hit a blood transfusion center in the area’s Kupyan district late on August 5.“This war crime alone says everything about Russian aggression,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media. “Defeating terrorists is a matter of honor for everyone who values life.”A woman in her eighties was also killed by Ukrainian shelling in the Russian-held Donetsk, the city’s Moscow-appointed mayor Alexei Kulemzin said Sunday.The attack also set alight the main building of the M. Tugan-Baranovsky University of Economics and Trade, said the Moscow-installed he...

Pope wraps up World Youth Day with 1.5 million attendees and urges: ‘Do not be afraid of failing’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:44:50 GMT

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Pope Francis told young people on Sunday the Catholic Church needs them and urged them to follow their dreams as he wrapped up World Youth Day in Portugal on Sunday with a massive open-air Mass for an estimated 1.5 million people.“Do not be afraid!” Francis told the vast crowd of pilgrims, many of whom camped out overnight on the Lisbon field so they could be in place for the grand finale of the Catholic festival.Francis largely stuck to script but again skipped much of his prepared homily, continuing the improvisation that has characterized his five-day trip to Portugal. Early on in his 10-year papacy, Francis would frequently go rogue and ignore his pre-planned speeches, seemingly moved by the moment to engage directly with even huge crowds of people. In more recent years, he largely stuck to script especially when visiting places where Christians are a minority or where his audiences might not appreciate his informal style.But in Lisbon, he’s been back on ...

Israeli troops prep West Bank home of Palestinian gunman for demolition following attack in Tel Aviv

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:44:50 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military on Sunday prepped the family home of a Palestinian gunman for demolition, a day after he killed an Israeli security guard in an attack.On Saturday a Palestinian gunman shot and killed 42-year-old security guard Chen Amir in central Tel Aviv. The attacker, identified by police as 27-year-old Kamel Abu Bakr, was shot at the scene and died later in hospital.Amir’s funeral was expected to take place Sunday. Saturday’s shooting came a day after two Israeli settlers were arrested on suspicion of killing a Palestinian man in the West Bank on Friday night. Palestinian officials said armed settlers entered the West Bank village of Burqa and shot 19-year-old Qusai Matan. The army said the Israeli settlers arrived in the area to herd sheep, leading to clashes between Israelis and Palestinians from the village. Israeli media reported that one of the suspects in the incident, Elisha Yered, was a former aide to an ultranationalist lawmaker in the “Jewish Powe...

At Cafesjian Art Trust’s ‘Highlights,’ a masterful curator showcases a prolific collection — but tickets are hard to come by

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:44:50 GMT

Most of the 3,500 or so artworks in the Cafesjian Art Trust’s collection spend their days in the museum’s attached warehouse, waiting for their turn in the gallery under curator Andy Schlauch’s carefully angled spotlights.Whereas other museums have vast permanent collections that are always on display, the CAT, which opened last year in Shoreview, works almost entirely in rotating exhibitions.The museum’s current show, “Highlights of the Collection,” opened in June and runs through Oct. 14. It’s the closest thing the museum may get to a permanent collection, Schlauch said.Figuring out how to distill local philanthropist Gerard Cafesjian’s collection into a coherent and digestible show was an exciting curatorial puzzle, which Schlauch pulled off very well. The gallery isn’t terribly large — ultimately, the show contains somewhere around 2 percent, tops, of the museum’s total collection — but the show is balanced and has an approachable flow.“There were a lot of things I wish I ...

Literary calendar for week of Aug. 6

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:44:50 GMT

LAURA CHILDS: Minnesotan Gerry Schmitt, writing as Childs, signs copies of her 26th Tea Shop Mystery, “Honey Drop Dead,” in which Charleston, S.C., tea shop owner Theodosia Browning hosts an elegant tea celebrating a new park with a community beekeeping project. When a phony beekeeper shows up and sprays toxic smoke at the guests, the party ends in chaos. Then a shot rings out and a candidate for the state legislature falls to the ground. Of course he’s dead and Theo has to figure out why. Noon-2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 12, Once Upon a Crime, 604 W. 26th St., Mpls.“None of This is True” by Lisa Jewell. (Courtesy photo)LISA JEWELL: Author of 19 critically-acclaimed novels discusses “None of This is True,” named one of the best books of summer by more than four national publications. This psychological thriller is about a woman who is the subject of her own popular true-crime podcast. In conversation with Minnesota mystery writer Allen Eskens. Pre...

Low-income families will benefit the most from DFLers tax changes. Here’s how.

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:44:50 GMT

The tax rebates expected this fall have gotten the most attention, but there is much more in the $3 billion worth of tax changes approved by Minnesota lawmakers in May and much of it is tailored to help low-income families.Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party leaders say roughly $450 million annually of new and expanded tax credits for families with children should cut the state’s child poverty rate by one-third. More than 265,000 filers will benefit from the change.Lawmakers also modified the renters credit by allowing taxpayers to claim it on income tax forms. The change is expect to increase the number of residents who claim it. It will send about $375 million a year to lower-income renters to help them better afford housing.DFLers, who control both chambers of the state Legislature and the governor’s office, say they focused on these types of tax changes to try to address the growing income inequality in Minnesota that was made even more apparent during the coronavirus pand...

Hugo Feed Mill marks 100 years of ‘helping the community, helping farmers and doing service’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:44:50 GMT

Bob Schwarz stopped by the Hugo Feed Mill last week for some grass seed and advice on what to plant to attract deer to his property in Wisconsin. The Mahtomedi resident didn’t realize he also would get a master class in how to use the products from owner and resident expert Steve Marier.“I’ve got a special shady mix of grass seed that is for growing if you get four hours of filtered sun a day,” Marier told Schwarz. “If it’s much less sun than that, you might as well plant hostas because it’s not going to grow. Direct sun is best, but even in four hours of filtered sun, they’re growing grass. I’ve got people growing it under oak trees.”The ideal time to plant grass seed is Aug. 15 to Sept. 20, Marier told Schwarz, “so you’ve got time.”Members of the Marier family have been helping customers at the Hugo Feed Mill since 1923. The business, which has two full-time and six part-time employees, will celebrate its centennial on Friday and Saturday with a series of events, refreshments, spe...

David French: I don’t see a ‘rogue’ Supreme Court

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:44:50 GMT

If you ask folks on the left to describe the contemporary Supreme Court, you may hear one or more common words used to describe it: “rogue” or “extremist” or “illegitimate” or “broken.” But when I look at the court, I see something quite different: the last federal bastion of the pre-Trump right.The court is definitely not liberal. But it’s equally clear that it is not MAGA. Even as it has inevitably rendered decisions that outrage progressives, it has also blocked much of the Trumpian populist project, and it has done important work to preserve the fundamental institutions of American democracy.The Supreme Court is in many ways a throwback to the status quo before Donald Trump descended his escalator. Prior to Trump’s arrival on the political scene, there were of course abundant disagreements, many of them heated, between the American right and left. But there was also broad agreement — imperfect, of course, and subject to critique from both sides — on the importance of facts and l...

Ask Amy: They let their kids roam, and it ruins family gatherings

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:44:50 GMT

Dear Amy: My husband and I have been married for more than 20 years. Whenever we are invited to family gatherings, his siblings do not mind their own children. This can lead to situations, including the youngsters wandering unattended by the lake, riding bikes into busy roads and oncoming traffic, and hitting the family dogs.The family would rather sit around, visit and drink while their children run amok, damaging property and being out of control.For years, I have stepped up to keep an eye on the children as I felt it was irresponsible to leave young ones unattended. As new children are born into the family, it is always the same.I, at 40+ years old, don’t get a chance to visit with adult family, as I am chasing the littles around to *literally* put out fires.My husband and I have brought it to the attention of the in-laws, but they shake it off and say I should just join them and let kids be kids.Am I wrong to think that young children should have an adult (or responsible t...

Umar Khalid Challenged Modi’s Anti-Muslim Agenda. India Accused Him of Terrorism and Locked Him Up.

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:44:50 GMT

This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center.It was still dark outside when Umar Khalid sat down to make the farewell video. He had stayed up all night at a close friend’s apartment, where he had just celebrated his 33rd birthday, blowing out candles and cutting a chocolate cake. Now he sat on the couch stiff with tension, dark circles under his eyes, his face tinged a sickly yellow. He had been smoking nonstop for hours and eaten so little that he was feeling unwell. His friend was seated on the ground nearby, his phone ready to record.“If you’re watching this video,” Khalid said, “it means that I’ve been arrested.”It was September 2020, on a hot, stuffy morning in Delhi. Seven months earlier, in late February, a wave of sectarian violence had ripped through the Indian capital. Amid mass demonstrations against a restrictive citizenship law that targeted Muslims, a mob goaded by a local leader clashed with Muslims in the area. Over the next four days, violence swept through ...