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The Very Best Banana Pudding — EVER? ‘Yes!’ say my colleagues

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:38 GMT

Amy Drew Thompson | Orlando SentinelIt wasn’t long after I dropped it off that my phone pinged with an incoming text.“My God, Woman. This banana pudding.”I was driving, so I couldn’t answer right away, but the reaction was natural. I smiled and thought, I know — right?Back in December, I blew out the end of the year with an insanely decadent and equally easy recipe for peanut butter marshmallow squares.“See you in 2023, sensible diet!” I wrote.This no-cook recipe is created almost entirely in your mixer using easily acquired ingredients. (Amy Drew Thompson/Orlando Sentinel/TNS)We’re well into April now. And following last week’s foray into barbecue, a medium where the phrase “sensible diet” registers as gibberish, I’d say it’s time to stick a fork in the last shred of our New Year’s resolutions. Or in this week’s case: a spoon. Because I am about to drop what has to be the world’s best banana pudding recipe — for which you need no cooking skills whatsoever — into your lap ahead of b...

Worcester man arrested after machete road rage assault: Police

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:38 GMT

A 40-year-old Worcester man has been charged for a machete road rage incident, allegedly striking a driver in the head with a machete, according to police.Ezekial Santiago, of Charlton Street, has been charged with armed assault to murder and three counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.Worcester Police officers on Sunday afternoon were dispatched to the area of Millbury and Providence streets for a report of a road rage incident involving a machete.Upon arrival, officers spoke with witnesses who reported that a white Toyota was following a blue Honda. The driver of the Honda got out of his vehicle to ask why he was being followed, and the driver of the Toyota — later identified as Santiago — struck the victim in the head and back with the machete.Officers called for an ambulance for the injured victim.Police put out an alert to track down Santiago’s Toyota, which they found at a red light on McKeon Road. After a brief investigation, officers arreste...

Pedestrian stuck by vehicle in Gerrard Street East and Jones Avenue area

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:38 GMT

One woman has been transported to hospital after being struck by a vehicle in the Gerrard Street East and Jones Avenue area on Monday.COLLISION:Jones Av + Gerrard St East4:50 p.m.– Reports a pedestrian was struck by a vehicle– Unknown injuries– Police are on scene with MedicsROAD CLOSURE: E/B Gerrard @TTCnotices#GO851315^lb— Toronto Police Operations (@TPSOperations) April 17, 2023Police responded to a call just before 5:00 p.m. of a collision where one adult female was struck by a vehicle.Paramedics transported the woman to hospital but injuries to the pedestrian are unknown.Eastbound Gerrard Street has been closed for an investigation.

Twenty-year-old arrested following stabbing death of teen on Surrey, B.C., bus

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:38 GMT

SURREY, B.C. — Police say they have arrested a 20-year-old man from Burnaby, B.C., in connection with the stabbing of a teenager on a Metro Vancouver transit bus last week.Seventeen-year-old Ethan Bespflug was killed on a bus in Surrey, B.C., last Tuesday. Police say they don’t believe the attack was random and they hope to have an update on possible charges soon.The family has said the teen’s mother realized something was wrong when she tracked her son’s phone to a hospital in New Westminster. When she arrived she was told he had died. Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth says he has spoken to his federal counterpart, Marco Mendicino, about the issue of violence on public transit, which is occurring across Canada. Farnworth says he expects to see an increased law enforcement presence on transit systems in B.C. after ministry officials met with policing agencies about transit safety. Bespflug’s aunt, Andrea Van Der Gracht, said in an earlier interview that E...

Fugees rapper in political conspiracy trial launches defense

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:38 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Fugees rapper on trial in a multimillion-dollar campaign finance and foreign influence case was trying to reinvent himself as he entered the political arena, not break any laws, defense attorneys said Monday.Prakazrel “Pras” Michel became a best-selling, Grammy-winning artist with the 1990s hip-hop group the Fugees, but in the years after its breakup was looking for his next chapter, attorney David Kenner said as he began making the defense case. Michel surrounded himself with people to help with his transition to politics and eventually entered the orbit of a wealthy Malaysian “playboy” but didn’t engage in “James Bond … cloak and dagger stuff,” he said. “There was no agreement to do anything in an unlawful way,” Kenner said. Michel is charged in political conspiracies under two different U.S. presidents. Federal prosecutors say he funneled money from the fugitive Malaysian financer through straw donors to Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign. He’s also accus...

US, Japan plant White House cherry tree to mark friendship

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:38 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Stepping gingerly over the lawn in their spiky heels, first lady Jill Biden and Yuko Kishida, the wife of Japan’s prime minister, planted a cherry tree at the White House on Monday to honor decades of friendship between their countries.“This is how you always plant a tree,” Biden said, laughing about their shoes as she and Kishida shoveled soil around the base of a Yoshino cherry tree sapling on the south grounds. She welcomed Kishida to the White House and said, “The planting of this tree is a symbol of the friendship between our two nations forever and ever.”Kishida is on a rare solo visit to the United States. It’s the first time the spouse of the prime minister has traveled alone to the United States, and Kishida visited at Biden’s invitation, according to the Japanese embassy in Washington. She is spending part of the week in Washington to promote friendship between the U.S. and Japan, as well as cultural exchanges, the Japanese governm...

NDP, Bloc accuse Poilievre of threatening French, Quebec culture with stance on CBC

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:38 GMT

OTTAWA — Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says Pierre Poilievre’s criticisms of the CBC amount to an attack on Canadian culture by the Conservative leader — and Quebec and francophone culture, in particular. Singh addressed the issue, speaking in French, after Twitter added a label to CBC’s main account on Sunday indicating the broadcaster was “government-funded media.”That move prompted the corporation to announce Monday it was hitting pause on its use of the social-media platform, which described the BBC the same way before changing its own label to “publicly funded media.” CBC receives roughly $1 billion in taxpayer money annually, but it contends the label is inaccurate because it maintains editorial independence and receives its funding through a vote in Parliament. Poilievre regularly promises to slash that funding. And he sent a letter to Twitter last week requesting that the label be applied to accounts associated with CBC News, though the...

First Nations blast Alberta Energy Regulator at hearing; Guibeault promises reform

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:38 GMT

OTTAWA — Chiefs of First Nations affected by releases of wastewater from an oilsands mine excoriated Alberta’s regulatory system at a House of Commons committee hearing, calling it a system that serves theindustry and not the public.“The (Alberta Energy Regulator) has zero credibility outside Calgary’s echo chamber,” Daniel Stuckless of the Fort McKay Métis Nation said in Ottawa on Monday.“They actively dismiss and downplay impacts of oilsands on communities and their aboriginal and treaty rights.”Chief Alan Adam of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation went further outside the committee room.“The Alberta system, when it comes to the Alberta regulator, is completely broken and should be dismantled,” he said. Ottawa, too, shares culpability by failing to enforce environmental laws, he added.“While Alberta bears much of the blame, Canada must also shoulder responsibility for what has happened,” Adam said. The comments came as ...

Maine railway reopens 2 days after derailment and fire

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:38 GMT

SANDWICH ACADEMY GRANT TOWNSHIP, Maine (AP) — A rail line where three locomotive engines and six train cars derailed over the weekend has reopened after track repairs and removal of damaged equipment, the railway owner said Monday.By late Monday morning, two days after the derailment and fire sent three workers to the hospital for evaluation, repairs and safety inspections were completed, Canadian Pacific Kansas City said.The derailment happened about 15 miles (24.14 kilometers) east of Jackman, Maine.Tragedy was averted because two of the derailed cars carrying hazardous liquids did not spill their loads or ignite, even after the locomotives and other rail cars carrying that were lumber caught fire, officials said. Canadian Pacific Kansas City is leading cleanup, salvage and repair, working with state agencies and local fire and rescue. The Associated Press

Toronto police seeks suspects in 2 separate west end sex assault investigations

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:38 GMT

After initially believing one suspect was responsible for two recent sexual assaults in the Dupont Street and Dundas Street West area, Toronto police now believe the alleged crimes were committed by two people.Police were first called to the area on Wednesday, April 12 at around 8:30 p.m.Investigators said a person was walking on the sidewalk when they were approached and sexually assaulted by an unknown man who fled on foot.He’s described as brown, around 25 years old, five foot ten with a slim to medium build and messy black hair.He was wearing a grey cardigan, green t-shirt and dark track pants.Two days later on April 14 at around noon, a second incident occurred in the same area after a female walking her dog was attacked in a similar manner to the previous sex assault.The suspect is described as white, in his 30s, around six foot tall with a medium build and brown hair. He was last seen wearing a burgundy hoodie and khaki paints.Police originally suspected the same man wa...