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Fixing Penn Station means curbing Amtrak more than dealing with MSG’s future

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:32:40 GMT

Three years, four years, five years, 10 years and forever. These time spans aren’t how long New Yorkers will have to wait until the Knicks will win another NBA title after their 50-year drought. What they do represent are varying proposals for how long the Knicks’ home, Madison Square Garden, should be granted a special permit by the City Council to operate a large arena as city zoning rules otherwise only allow a facility of 2,500 seats (MSG can hold close to 20,000 spectators).But however long the sports center stays in place, Penn Station squatting underneath isn’t going to substantially improve until its derelict owner, Amtrak, agrees to optimize its efficiency for all the railroads using it and discard a terrible idea to tear down a huge chunk of Midtown for an unneeded dead-end annex.When the headhouse of the original 1910 Penn Station, the architectural masterpiece by McKim, Mead & White, was demolished starting in 1963 to make way for MSG, the Garden wa...

Chinese Australian writer fears dying in Beijing detention after being diagnosed with a kidney cyst

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:32:40 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Chinese Australian writer and democracy blogger Yang Hengjun has told his family he fears he will die in a Beijing detention center after being diagnosed with a kidney cyst, prompting supporters to demand his release for medical treatment.Yang has been detained in China since Jan. 19, 2019, when he arrived in Guangzhou from New York with his wife and teenage stepdaughter.The Associated Press on Monday saw details of a message from Yang that has circulated among his family and friends since last week in which he said a doctor told him recently that the cause of what felt like muscle strain was a 10-centimeter (4-inch) cyst on a kidney.The doctor said no treatment is required unless the cyst becomes too painful, ruptures or bleeds, Yang said.Yang, 58, shared frustration at the prospect of dying in detention without being able to speak his truth to the outside world. He also proposed writing a will.Yang’s friend, University of Technology Sydney academic Feng ...

Jacksonville killings refocus attention on the city’s racist past and the struggle to move on

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:32:40 GMT

By some measures, the city was making strides to emerge from its racist past. But the killing of three Black people Saturday by a young, white shooter was a painful and startling reminder that the remnants of racism continue to fester in Jacksonville, Florida. What happened in Jacksonville, said longtime resident Rodney Hurst, 79, “could have happened anywhere, except it did happen in Jacksonville.” The shooting occurred as the Jacksonville community prepared for an annual commemoration of what is known as Ax Handle Saturday. In an unforgettable exhibition of brutality 63 years ago, a mob of white people used baseball bats and ax handles to club peaceful Black demonstrators protesting segregation at a downtown lunch counter on Aug. 27, 1960. Police first stood by but joined the white mob when the Black group began fighting back. Instead of collaring any white instigators, police arrested several Black people.Hurst, who was 16 when the historic violence erupted, has been encour...

In the news today: Wildfire damage update today for residents of BC’s Shuswap region

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:32:40 GMT

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed on what you need to know today…Wildfire-affected residents to learn fate of homesResidents of British Columbia’s Shuswap region forced from their homes by a destructive wildfire just over a week ago will soon learn the fate of their properties.Derek Sutherland, director of the emergency operations centre for the Columbia Shuswap Regional District, says staff will start reaching out to residents today.He told a briefing Sunday that the estimated number of properties destroyed by the Bush Creek East wildfire is unchanged at 131, with another 37 sustaining damage.Sutherland says the regional district is planning to open a resiliency centre in Salmon Arm to support displaced residents “now and well into the future.”—NWT premier: PM made ‘commitments’ during meetingAfter saying last week she was angry Northerners don’t receive the same services from the f...

Libya’s foreign minister suspended after meeting with Israel’s chief diplomat

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:32:40 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — One of Libya’s rival prime ministers said Monday he has suspended his foreign minister a day after Israel revealed that its chief diplomat met with her last week — news that prompted scattered street protests in the chaos-stricken North African nation.Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, who heads the government of national unity in the capital, Tripoli, also referred Foreign Minister Najla Mangoush for investigation over the meeting, which was the first ever between top diplomats of Libya and Israel.Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and Mangoush met in Rome last week. It was a small breakthrough for Israel’s government, whose hard-line policies toward the Palestinians have led to a cooling of its burgeoning ties with the Arab world.Cohen said they discussed the importance of preserving the heritage of Libya’s former Jewish community, including renovating synagogues and cemeteries. The talks also touched on possible Israeli assistance for humanitarian issues, agriculture and water man...

Daily horoscope for August 28, 2023

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:32:40 GMT

Moon Alert: Avoid shopping or making important decisions from 7:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. EDT today (4:30 a.m. to 8 a.m. PDT). After that, the Moon moves from Capricorn into Aquarius.Happy Birthday for Monday, Aug. 28, 2023:You have excellent communication skills and are very persuasive. You’re organized and often skilled with your hands. This is a year of learning and teaching. Take time for reflection. Explore philosophies that will give you better self-awareness and get you closer to the true meaning of your life.ARIES(March 21-April 19) ★★★★This is a great way to begin your week. You’re pumped with energy and eager to talk to friends as well as members of groups and organizations. You also might be keen to set some goals, especially related to earnings and finances. Be patient with delays and glitches at work. Tonight: Be friendly.TAURUS(April 20-May 20) ★★★★You make a fabulous impression on others, which is why this is a great day to initiate something, apply for a job or ...

Over 80,000 asylum seekers in May 2023

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:32:40 GMT

In May 2023, 80,375 first-time asylum applicants (non-EU citizens) applied for international protection in EU countries. Compared with May 2022 (63 455), this represents a 27% increase. There were also 5,325 subsequent applicants, 16% compared with May 2022 (6 370). This information comes from the monthly asylum data published by Eurostat. The article presents a handful of findings from the more detailed Statistics Explained article on monthly asylum statistics.Source dataset: migr_asyappctzmMost first-time asylum applicants were Syrians and AfghansAs in previous months, in May 2023, Syrians were the largest group of people seeking asylum (12,110 first-time applicants). They were followed by Afghans (7,210), ahead of Venezuelans (7,015) and Colombians (6,745).Following Russia's military aggression against Ukraine, there was a significant increase in Ukrainian first-time asylum applicants (from 2 100 in February 2022 to 12 185 in March 2022), but the numbers have been decreasing mont...

Miss Manners: Will foreigners just assume I’m a nuisance?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:32:40 GMT

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I have long dreamed of taking what used to be called The Grand Tour, and at last I am about to do this. But things seem to have changed to the extent that every place I will be going now hates tourists.Related ArticlesAdvice | Miss Manners: I won’t be going on the cruise. How do I explain my absence? Advice | Miss Manners: Can I poke them if they sleep during my son’s performance? Advice | Miss Manners: He insists on the grandchildren using this ridiculous name Advice | Miss Manners: We cleared dinner, and then this guest walked in Advice | Miss Manners: The neighbors ask if this rich woman left me anything. She did, but I don’t want to tell them. Sure, their official sites are warmly welcoming, stressing how friendly the people there are. But it doesn’t take much surfing to find the people themselves carrying on about what they really think of strangers.In a wa...

Lyles, Richardson and lots of unknowns as track gets ready for Paris Olympics

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:32:40 GMT

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — In some ways, track and field served up a tantalizing preview of what’s to come next year at the Paris Olympics.In others, the sport left the nine-day world championships with as many questions as answers.For every Noah Lyles and Sha’Carri Richardson, athletes who won championships and declared themselves the sprinters to beat, there was a Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone or Elaine Thompson-Herah, defending Olympic champions who either didn’t show up or barely showed up at all.There were a handful of champion track and field athletes who were not heard from, or were far from the top of their form, in Budapest but should be competing for title, starting in 340 days when the Olympic track meet starts in the Stade de France.A quick rundown of some takeaways from Hungary and things to watch in next year in France:NOAH LYLES One of Lyles’ takes in the euphoria of his win in the 200 meters — part of his 3-for-3 performance in the sprints — was how track is on...

ANÁLISIS | El drama se desarrolla en dos frentes mientras los casos de Trump entran en una nueva fase

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:32:40 GMT

(CNN) — Los estadounidenses están a punto de conocer nuevos detalles importantes sobre el momento y el fondo de los juicios de Donald Trump, incluso cuando el expresidente y favorito republicano intensifica sus esfuerzos por alquimizar su peligro legal sin precedentes para impulsar su candidatura a la Casa Blanca.Dos audiencias clave este lunes —una en Georgia y otra en Washington— llevarán el drama sobre las cuádruples acusaciones penales de Trump a una nueva fase, luego de las escenas extraordinarias y las maniobras políticas que culminaron con la publicación de la foto policial de Trump la semana pasada.En Georgia, la fiscal de distrito del condado de Fulton, Fani Willis, esbozará los primeros argumentos probatorios sustanciales en cualquiera de los casos que enfrenta Trump en una audiencia sobre el intento del ex secretario general de la Casa Blanca, Mark Meadows, de trasladar su caso estatal a un tribunal federal. Meadows y Trump han sido acusados junto con otros 17 aseso...