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Former Chicago Bears player Israel Idonije lists South Loop condo for $675,000

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:59:10 GMT

Former Chicago Bears defensive end Israel Idonije placed his three-bedroom, 2,300-square-foot condominium on the seventh floor of a 14-story loft building in the South Loop on the market on March 29 for $675,000.Born in Nigeria and raised in Manitoba, Idonije, 42, played for the Bears from 2003 until 2012. After his playing career ended, he settled in Chicago, working as an entrepreneur and running a foundation. One of his current projects is Athlitacomics, which delivers unique comic content, comic properties and related merchandise in the merged markets of comics and sports. He also is a part-owner of the Chicago Red Stars women’s soccer club, and he is the CEO and founder of Blessed Communion, a Chicago-based firm that produces communion cups.Idonije paid $705,000 in mid-2017 for the condo, which is in a building that was constructed in 2008. The 40-foot-wide unit, which consists of two combined units, has two bathrooms, a den, city and lake views, an open-concept living ar...

Jets expected to sign WR Randall Cobb to add another former Aaron Rodgers teammate to roster: report

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:59:10 GMT

Gang Green is set to make another move to bring in one of Aaron Rodgers’ old buddies.The Jets are expected to sign veteran wide receive Randall Cobb to a one-year contract, according to ESPN. The deal is not complete, but it is expected to be finalized soon.Once the Cobb signing is complete, he will be the fourth former Packers player to sign with the Jets this offseason, joining wide receiver Allen Lazard, quarterback Tim Boyle and tackle Billy Turner. Gang Green also added offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, the Packers offensive coordinator from 2019 to 2021.Adding Cobb isn’t a surprise as the Jets were looking to add another wide receiver. Also, Cobb and Rodgers have a close relationship. He was one of the names the 39-year-old superstar quarterback recommended to the Jets when he met with them in California in March before he was traded to the team last week. Odell Beckham Jr. was also on the list, but he signed a one-year deal with the Ravens as he will receiv...

PHOTOS: 'Sea of Sunflowers' bloom in North County

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:59:10 GMT

CARLSBAD, Calif. -- As the saying goes, April showers bring May flowers and that appears to be especially true at The Flower Fields in Carlsbad.The 50-acre ranch has rows and rows of ranunculus that are still in peak bloom. Plus, the Carlsbad Ranch announced Tuesday that their 5-acre "Sea of Sunflowers" has now blossomed and is open for viewing. Peer into the San Diego Zoo at home with these live cams Visitors of the ranch can stroll along paths across the field, taking time to snap those picture perfect moments amongst the flowers. For those who prefer to catch a ride, you can pay to hop on a tractor for a wagon ride that will take you right to the base of the sunflower sanctuary.According to a spokesperson from The Flower Fields, "some sunflowers are as big as small moons and others over 12 feet high." Here's a sneak peak of what to expect.(Photo released by The Flower Fields)(Photo released by The Flower Fields)Guests to the ranch can also explore a 1,500-square foot greenhouse...

Israeli airstrikes on Gaza kill Palestinian as violence ebbs

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:59:10 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip killed a 58-year-old man and wounded five others on Wednesday, Palestinian health officials said, even as the latest spasm of violence between Israel and Palestinian militants in the enclave appeared to ebb.Israeli fighter jets struck targets in Gaza in response to salvos of rockets launched by Palestinian militants at Israeli territory on Tuesday. But after sunrise, the violence seemed to subside as both sides signaled they wanted to avoid a wider conflict.The exchange erupted when a prominent Palestinian detainee died in Israeli custody after an 87-day hunger strike. The death of Khader Adnan, 45, a leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group credited with popularizing hunger strikes as an effective form of activism, reverberated across the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, where he is revered as a national hero. Protests erupted at Israeli military checkpoints and a general strike shuttered stores across the territ...

Stock market today: Stocks drift, banks steady ahead of Fed

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:59:10 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are drifting Wednesday ahead of what Wall Street hopes will be the last hike to interest rates for a long time.The S&P 500 was up 0.1% in morning trading after slumping the prior day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 3 points, or less than 0.1%, at 33,687, as of 10:30 a.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was 0.3% higher. Eli Lilly rose 4.3% after reporting encouraging results from a study of a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, and bank stocks were recovering some of their steep slide from a day before, while oil prices continued to fall. But the market’s spotlight is squarely on the Federal Reserve, which later in the afternoon will announce its latest move to combat high inflation. The wide assumption is that the Fed will lift its key overnight interest rate again to its highest level since 2007. More important is what clues the Fed gives about upcoming moves. The hope across Wall Street is that this will mark the end of the Fed’s fastest...

CSIS must inform MPs about all threats against them, no matter how credible: Trudeau

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:59:10 GMT

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada’s intelligence agencies are being directed to immediately inform MPs if there are any threats against them, regardless of whether the threats are considered credible.Trudeau says the Canadian Security Intelligence Service never told anyone about information it received concerning China threatening family members of Conservative MP Michael Chong who live in Hong Kong.The prime minister says he only learned on Monday, after it was reported in the media, that CSIS had intelligence about such threats two years ago.Trudeau says CSIS was asked to brief Chong at the time after China publicly said it would sanction him for criticizing Beijing’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims in China’s Xinjiang province.But he says CSIS did not consider intelligence that Chong or his family in China were being threatened credible enough to elevate it outside their own organization.He says that when it comes to the safety and security of membe...

Ex-FBI supervisory agent arrested on Capitol riot charges

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:59:10 GMT

A former FBI supervisory agent has been arrested on charges that he joined a mob in storming the U.S. Capitol, where he cheered on rioters attacking police officers during the riot, federal authorities said.The former agent, Jared Wise, repeatedly shouted, “Kill ’em!” as he watched rioters assaulting officers outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, according to an FBI agent’s affidavit.Wise was arrested Monday in Oregon on misdemeanor charges including entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds, court records show.Wise, 50, worked as a special agent or supervisory special agent for the FBI from 2004 through 2017, according to the affidavit. The FBI says security camera video captured Wise inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, when a mob of Donald Trump supporters disrupted the joint session of Congress for certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory. Wise clapped his hands and raised his arms ”in triumph” after he entered the building through ...

Ancient Knights of Malta gets its first nonaristocratic head

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:59:10 GMT

ROME (AP) — A Canadian lawyer who found his vocation caring for AIDS patients in Harlem has been elected the grand master of the Knights of Malta, the first non-European and first nonaristocratic head of the ancient lay Catholic order that provides humanitarian aid around the world.John Dunlap, 66, was elected by an absolute majority of 99 voting members of a Knights body known as “the council complete of state.” He immediately informed Pope Francis of his election and was being sworn in later Wednesday at the Knights’ magnificent villa on Rome’s Aventine hill.The election brings a hoped-for end to a tumultuous few years during which Francis intervened to remove a previous grand master during a governance crisis. Francis then imposed a new set of constitutional reforms on the order in ways that critics said threatened its sovereignty.The Knights of Malta is an ancient chivalric order that runs hospitals and clinics around the world. It counts 13,500 knights, dames and chaplains, 80,...

Syria and Iran sign long-term oil and trade agreements

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:59:10 GMT

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — The presidents of Iran and Syria signed Wednesday a series of long-term cooperation agreements on oil and other sectors to bolster economic ties between the two allies.Iran’s Ebrahim Raisi, leading a large economic and political delegation, met with his Syrian counterpart, Bashar Assad, after landing in the war-torn country for a two-day visit — an Iranian president’s first visit to Damascus since 2010.Tehran has been a main backer of Assad’s government since a 2011 uprising turned into full-blown civil war and has played an instrumental role in turning the tide of the conflict in his favor.Iran has sent scores of military advisers and thousands of Iran-backed fighters from around the Middle East to Syria to fight on Assad’s side. Tehran has also been an economic lifeline for Assad, sending fuel and credit lines worth billions of dollars.Syrian government forces have regained control of large parts of the country in recent years, with t...

GTA housing market showing signs of tightening: Toronto real estate board

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:59:10 GMT

Toronto’s housing market continued to tighten last month as prices edged up four per cent from March and sales moved closer to the level they were at last April, the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board revealed Wednesday.April’s average price tumbled 7.8 per cent to $1,153,269, but was roughly four per cent higher than the $1,108,499 the average buyer paid in March.Sales for the month hit 7,531, down 5.2 per cent from a year ago but up about nine per cent from March.Those sales outpaced new listings, which were down by over a third from a year before, fuelling more competition between buyers who were too hesitant to buy homes earlier this year.Pushing these buyers to the sidelines were eight consecutive interest rate hikes, which took a bite out of their borrowing power, even as prices started to tumble.Their hesitance and those lower prices weighed on sellers too as many held off listing their homes because they won’t fetch the big sums or bidding wars their neighb...