Republished February 17, 2025 - 8:04 PM
Original Publication Date February 16, 2025 - 9:11 PM
Delta jet flips upside down on a snowy Toronto runway and all 80 aboard survive
TORONTO (AP) — A Delta Air Lines jet flipped on its roof while landing Monday at Toronto’s Pearson Airport, but all 80 people on board survived and those hurt had relatively minor injuries, the airport’s chief executive said.
Snow was being blown by winds gusting to 40 mph (65 kph) when the flight from Minneapolis carrying 76 passengers and four crew attempted to land at around 2:15 p.m. Communications between the tower and pilot were normal on approach and it's not clear what went so drastically wrong when the plane touched down.
Canadian authorities held two brief news conferences but provided no details on the crash. Video posted to social media only showed the aftermath with the Mitsubishi CRJ-900LR overturned, the fuselage seemingly intact and firefighters dousing what was left of the fire as passengers climbed out and walked across the tarmac.
“We are very grateful there was no loss of life and relatively minor injuries,” Deborah Flint, CEO of Greater Toronto Airports Authority, told reporters.
Toronto Pearson Fire Chief Todd Aitken said 18 passengers were taken to the hospital. Earlier in the day, Ornge air ambulance said it was transporting one pediatric patient to Toronto’s SickKids hospital and two injured adults to other hospitals in the city.
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Elon Musk's DOGE seeks access to taxpayer data at IRS: AP sources
WASHINGTON (AP) — Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency is seeking access to troves of sensitive taxpayer data at the IRS, two people familiar with the inner workings of the plan who were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly told The Associated Press on Monday.
If successful, Musk and his group would have access to millions of tightly controlled files that include taxpayer information, bank records and other sensitive records. The people who spoke to the AP and requested anonymity said DOGE is specifically seeking to access the IRS’ Integrated Data Retrieval System, which enables employees “to have instantaneous visual access to certain taxpayer accounts,” according to the IRS website.
Advocates fear that the potential unlawful release of taxpayer records could be used to maliciously target Americans, violate their privacy and create other ramifications.
Harrison Fields, a White House spokesman, said in an emailed statement that “waste, fraud, and abuse have been deeply entrenched in our broken system for far too long. It takes direct access to the system to identify and fix it.”
“DOGE will continue to shine a light on the fraud they uncover as the American people deserve to know what their government has been spending their hard earned tax dollars on,” he said.
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Top Russian and American officials will hold talks on ending the Ukraine war without Kyiv
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Senior American and Russian officials, including the countries’ top diplomats, will hold talks on improving their ties and negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine, officials said Monday, in what would be the most significant meeting between the sides since Moscow's full-scale invasion of its neighbor nearly three years ago.
The talks scheduled for Tuesday in Saudi Arabia mark another pivotal step by the Trump administration to reverse U.S. policy on isolating Russia, and are meant to pave the way for a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The recent U.S. diplomatic blitz on the war has sent Kyiv and key allies scrambling to ensure a seat at the table amid concerns that Washington and Moscow could press ahead with a deal that won't be favorable to them. France called an emergency meeting of European Union countries and the U.K. on Monday to decide how to respond.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin's foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov arrived in the Saudi capital on Monday, according to Russian state TV. Ushakov said the talks would be “purely bilateral” and would not include Ukrainian officials.
The U.S. delegation, he said, is made up of “serious people” but said Russia “came with a serious approach too.” It is important, Ushakov said, “to start the real normalization of relations” between Russia and the U.S.
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Many weary Ukrainians long for an end to the war but now fear it will come on unfavorable terms
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — After nearly three years of living under constant threat of Russian airstrikes while their troops fight a grinding campaign against Russia's invasion, many Ukrainians long for an end to the war — but now fear it could come on unfavorable terms.
Top U.S. and Russian officials plan to meet Tuesday in Saudi Arabia to discuss an end to the war — without Kyiv's participation — rankling some Ukrainians who worry they will be sidelined.
“We are being destroyed, Ukraine is suffering, Ukraine is fighting. And our president does not participate?" Lidiia Odyntsova, 71, said with disbelief of the upcoming talks. "We are the victims. We should play first fiddle in these talks.”
Standing with tears in her eyes beside a snow-covered memorial to fallen Ukrainian soldiers in central Kyiv, she said: “I will not forgive them! I will never forgive!“
While Ukraine will not take part in Tuesday's talks, U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said any actual peace negotiations would only take place with Ukraine’s involvement.
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Israel's ceasefires with Hezbollah and Hamas are both in doubt again
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's military says its forces will remain in five strategic locations in southern Lebanon after Tuesday's deadline for their withdrawal under a ceasefire with the Hezbollah militant group, as Lebanon’s government expressed frustration over another delay.
A separate ceasefire in Gaza was also in doubt as the region marked 500 days of Israel's war with Hamas, while Israel and the United States sent conflicting signals over whether they want the truce to continue. Talks on the ceasefire's second phase are yet to start.
Military spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said the five locations in Lebanon provide vantage points or are located across from communities in northern Israel, where about 60,000 Israelis are still displaced. He said the “temporary measure” was approved by the U.S.-led body monitoring the truce, which earlier was extended by three weeks.
Under the agreement, Israeli forces should withdraw from a buffer zone in southern Lebanon to be patrolled by the Lebanese army and U.N. peacekeepers. The ceasefire has held since taking effect in November.
Israel is committed to a withdrawal in “the right way, in a gradual way, and in a way that the security of our civilians is kept,” Shoshani told reporters.
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Egypt is developing a plan to rebuild Gaza, countering Trump's call to depopulate the territory
CAIRO (AP) — Egypt is developing a plan to rebuild Gaza without forcing Palestinians out of the strip in a counter to President Donald Trump’s proposal to depopulate the territory so the U.S. can take it over.
Egypt’s state-run Al-Ahram newspaper said the proposal calls for establishing “secure areas” within Gaza where Palestinians can live initially while Egyptian and international construction firms remove and rehabilitate the strip’s infrastructure.
Egyptian officials have been discussing the plan with European diplomats as well as with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, according to two Egyptian officials and Arab and Western diplomats. They are also discussing ways to fund the reconstruction, including an international conference on Gaza reconstruction, said one of the Egyptian officials and an Arab diplomat.
The officials and diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity because the proposal is still being negotiated.
The proposal comes after an international uproar over Trump’s call for the removal of Gaza’s population of some 2 million Palestinians. Trump said the United States would take over the Gaza Strip and rebuild it into a “Riviera of the Middle East,” though Palestinians would not be allowed back.
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'Life-threatening cold' hits parts of US following deadly weekend flooding
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Harsh cold descended on the nation's midsection Monday as a polar vortex gripped the Rockies and Northern Plains on the heels of weekend storms that pummeled the Eastern U.S. with floods, killing at least 13 people.
The National Weather Service warned of “life-threatening cold” as wind chills dropped to minus 60 Fahrenheit (minus 51 Celsius) in parts of North Dakota on Monday and minus 50 F (minus 46 C) in parts of Montana. Tuesday morning was forecast to be even colder.
Extreme cold warnings were issued for an 11-state swath of the U.S. stretching from the Canadian border to Oklahoma and central Texas, where the Arctic front was expected to bring near-record cold temperatures and wind chills in the single digits by midweek.
Meteorologists had predicted that parts of the U.S. would experience the 10th and coldest polar vortex event this season. Weather forces in the Arctic are pushing chilly air that usually stays near the North Pole into the U.S. and Europe.
The death toll in flood-battered Kentucky rose to 11, Gov. Andy Beshear said Monday. Nine of the deaths were flood-related. Two fatal vehicle crashes were connected to the severe weather, he said, and at least 1,000 people stranded by floods had to be rescued.
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Governor weighs removing NYC Mayor Adams after his top deputies quit amid criminal case turmoil
NEW YORK (AP) — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Monday she is weighing removing New York City Mayor Eric Adams from office after four of his top deputies announced their resignations in the latest fallout from the Justice Department's push to end his corruption case.
Hochul, a Democrat, said she will convene a meeting of key leaders Tuesday in Manhattan “for a conversation about the path forward." She said the departures of First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer and other top officials raise “serious questions about the long-term future" of Adams’ administration.
Adams, also a Democrat, has been under increasing scrutiny since the Justice Department’s second-in-command ordered federal prosecutors in Manhattan last week to drop his corruption case to ensure his cooperation in Republican President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown — raising questions about the mayor’s political independence and ability to lead the city.
Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove wrote that the case had “unduly restricted Mayor Adams’ ability to devote full attention and resources to the illegal immigration and violent crime.”
“I recognize the immense responsibility I hold as governor and the constitutional powers granted to this office," Hochul said in a statement. “In the 235 years of New York State history, these powers have never been utilized to remove a duly-elected mayor; overturning the will of the voters is a serious step that should not be taken lightly. That said, the alleged conduct at City Hall that has been reported over the past two weeks is troubling and cannot be ignored.”
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Police arrest apparent leader of cultlike 'Zizian' group linked to multiple killings in the US
BOSTON (AP) — The apparent leader of a cultlike group known as the Zizians has been arrested in Maryland along with another member of the group, Maryland State Police said Monday.
Jack Lasota, 34, was arrested Sunday along with Michelle Zajko, 33, of Media, Pennsylvania. They face multiple charges including trespassing, obstructing and hindering and possession of a handgun in the vehicle.
A bail hearing for the the two is scheduled for 11 a.m. Tuesday at Allegany District Court.
The Zizians have been tied to the killing of U.S. Border Patrol Agent David Maland near the Canadian border in January and five other homicides in Vermont, Pennsylvania and California.
Maland, 44, was killed in a Jan. 20 shootout following a traffic stop in Coventry, Vermont, a small town about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the Canadian border.
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Vatican says the pope has a 'polymicrobial respiratory tract infection.' What is that?
LONDON (AP) — Vatican authorities said Monday that Pope Francis has a complex infection in his respiratory system and will require more targeted drug treatment. Officials said the 88-year-old pope is suffering from a “polymicrobial respiratory tract infection,” but gave no further details on the severity of his illness or what would change in his treatment.
Here’s a look at the Pope’s latest diagnosis and what his treatment could involve.
Essentially, it means there’s a mix of bacteria, viruses, fungi or parasites growing in someone’s lungs.
“Often times, people will get a bronchitis or an airway infection and that can often start a cascade of multiple problems, including infections in the lungs,” said Dr. Maor Sauler, who specializes in adult pulmonary and critical care medicine at Yale University's School of Medicine. He said such issues were common in older people whose immune systems might be weaker or had complex health issues.
“It likely means he has more than one organism in his lungs,” Sauler said, explaining that the pope’s doctors might have to adjust his treatment to make sure the antibiotics attack all the various organisms.
News from © The Associated Press, 2025