Kent City Schools Special Olympians celebrate end of season with picnic

Associated Press
Middle East latest: Hostages and prisoners set to be released as ceasefire holds
Hamas is set to free three more Israeli hostages as well as five Thai captives on Thursday, and Israel is to release another 110 Palestinian prisoners, in the third such exchange since a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip took hold earlier this month. The tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is aimed at ending the war in Gaza and securing the release of dozens of hostages held by the militant group, as well as hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned or detained by Israel. Under the ceasefire, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have jubilantly returned to northern Gaza over the past three days.
AFP
Plane carrying more than 60 collides with helicopter, crashes in Washington
A US passenger plane carrying 64 people crashed into Washington DC's chilly Potomac River after colliding mid-air with a military helicopter on a nighttime training exercise Wednesday, prompting a major emergency response and the grounding of all flights.The same airport was the scene of a deadly crash in January 1982 when Air Florida flight 90, a Boeing 737, took off but quickly plummeted, hitting the 14th Street bridge and crashing through the ice into the Potomac River. 78 people died.
TODAY
Ciara reacts to surprise message from husband Russell Wilson: ‘I am a better woman because of him’
Ciara's husband, Russell Wilson, surprised her with a sweet video message in honor of her guest co-hosting an episode of TODAY With Jenna & Friends.
TODAY
Exclusive: New healthy drink guidelines for kids say no caffeine before age 19
Beverages take up multiple aisles in the supermarket, making them a substantial part of most people’s diets.
Associated Press
AP PHOTOS: Meat and greet: Historic London market counting down the years
Norman Gregory is an institution within an institution. As a young lad of just 16, Gregory started work at Smithfield, and bar one year when he decided to try something else, he’s been there as a seller ever since. The carcasses roll in to the market in vans starting around 10 p.m. The butchers and traders then do their thing, selling mainly to shops and restaurants, before finishing up at about 6 a.m.
AFP
Unfazed devotees shrug off stampede at India mega-festival
Swarming throngs of devotees bathed in rivers at the world's biggest religious gathering in India on Thursday, undeterred by a stampede a day earlier that killed at least 30 people.The six-week Kumbh Mela is the single biggest milestone on the Hindu religious calendar, and Wednesday marked one of the holiest days in the festival, coinciding with an alignment of the Solar System's planets.
NBC News
Musk affiliate in FBI director's office sparks fear of partisan interference
A person who has been affiliated with Elon Musk’s SpaceX and a former aide to one of the FBI’s toughest Congressional critics are working as advisers to the bureau’s director, current and former FBI officials say.
Reuters
Qatar's Emir to visit Damascus on Thursday, Al Jazeera says
Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani will visit Damascus on Thursday, Qatar's Al Jazeera reported, as Syria's new interim government begins a political transition after Islamist rebels ousted the Assad regime last year. Qatar's foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
CBS News
Plane crashes into Potomac River after midair collision with Black Hawk helicopter
A PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet carrying several dozen people collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter. Reagan National Airport has grounded all flights.
Associated Press
Georgia Republicans push to limit lawsuits. But would that keep insurance rates from rising?
The pitch from Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is simple: Putting limits on lawsuits will halt rising insurance costs. Changes could reduce liability insurance costs for businesses and commercial property owners. The evidence is mixed on whether it would drive large premium reductions for car and other types of insurance.
Associated Press
A food bank netted a huge haul of 13,000 fresh salmon. The catch? The fish were still alive
A New York food bank was offered a huge donation of fresh fish this month — but it came with a catch. LocalCoho, a soon-to-close salmon farm in the small upstate city of Auburn, wanted to give 40,000 pounds (18,100 kilograms) of coho salmon to the Food Bank of Central New York, a mother lode of high-quality protein that could feed thousands of families. The organizations would need to figure out how to get some 13,000 salmon from the water and then have them processed into frozen fillets for distribution to regional food pantries.
Associated Press
Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's pick to oversee US spy agencies, will face grilling at confirmation hearing
Tulsi Gabbard, President Donald Trump's pick to be director of national intelligence, is expected to face tough questions from lawmakers Thursday over past comments about Russia and a 2017 visit with Syria's now-deposed leader. The back-and-forth during Gabbard's confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee could reveal whether she has successfully assuaged concerns from lawmakers of both parties — or whether worries about her experience and background will sink her nomination to oversee 18 U.S. intelligence agencies. Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii, is a lieutenant colonel in the National Guard who deployed twice to the Middle East and ran for president in 2020.
Associated Press
Trump's FBI director pick, Kash Patel, to face skeptical Democrats at Senate confirmation hearing
Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, will encounter deeply skeptical questioning from Democratic senators Thursday about his loyalty to the president and stated desire to overhaul the bureau as he faces a high-stakes hearing that will help determine his path toward confirmation. Patel, a Trump loyalist who has railed against the FBI over its investigations into the president and claimed that Jan. 6 rioters were mistreated by the Justice Department, was picked in November to replace Christopher Wray, who led the nation's premier federal law enforcement agency for more than seven years. A former aide to the House Intelligence Committee and an ex-federal prosecutor who served in Trump's first administration, Patel has alarmed critics with rhetoric — in dozens of podcasts and books he has authored — in which he has demonstrated fealty to Trump, lambasted the decision-making of the agency he's now been asked to lead and identified by name officials he believes should be investigated.
Associated Press
Russia comes in from the cold, with flowers blooming around Moscow in January
January in Russia conjures up images of Muscovites crunching through the snow in bulky coats -- not bunches of delicate snowdrops blooming in grassy areas around still-standing Christmas trees. Instead of ice choking the Moscow River and the biting cold of the “moroz” – the hard freeze that stings the face -- the capital’s sidewalks are bare, and temperatures are well above freezing in what is usually one of the coldest months of the year. Johan Rockström, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that extreme weather events worldwide, from the fires in Los Angeles to heat waves in Saudi Arabia and the current mild temperatures in Russia are “with a very high degree of scientific certainty” connected to human-caused global warming.
TODAY
What is the healthiest fruit? The No. 1 pick, according to a dietitian
What is the healthiest fruit? Blueberries top the list of healthiest fruits for weight loss, heart and gut health, followed by berries, avocado, dates and more.
Associated Press
Japanese automaker Nissan says it plans job and production cuts in the U.S.
Nissan is slashing production at its U.S. plants and offering buyouts to factory workers there as part of the Japanese automaker’s urgent efforts to return to profitability. The move is part of Nissan Motor Corp.’s plans, announced two months ago, to slash 9,000 jobs globally, including in China, after it racked up a quarterly loss due to sinking sales and ballooning inventory. At Nissan's plant in Smyrna, Tennessee, one production line will maintain two shifts, while the other line will consolidate to one shift, the company said.
Reuters
Factbox-Deadly US airline crashes since 2001
Senator Ted Cruz of Texas said on social media that "we know there are fatalities," though he did not say how many. A Comair regional jet overran the runway when taking off from Lexington, Kentucky, and crashed, killing 49 of the 50 people on board.
AFP
Israel cuts ties with UN aid agency supporting Palestinians
Israel will cut ties with the UN agency for Palestinian refugees on Thursday following accusations it provided cover for Hamas militants, a move likely to hamper delivery of its vital services after 15 months of war in Gaza.The agency says it has brought in 60 percent of the food aid that has reached Gaza since the war started with Hamas's 2023 attack on Israel.
Associated Press
Hamas is set to free 8 more hostages and Israel will release 110 prisoners as Gaza ceasefire holds
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hamas is set to free three more Israeli hostages as well as five Thai captives on Thursday, and Israel is to release another 110 Palestinian prisoners, in the third such exchange since a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip took hold earlier this month. The truce is aimed at winding down the deadliest and most destructive war ever fought between Israel and Hamas, whose Oct. 7, 2023, attack into Israel sparked the fighting. It has held despite a dispute earlier this week over the sequence in which the hostages were released.
NBC News
Trump signs sweeping executive order to expand school choice
President Donald Trump signed a sweeping executive order Wednesday that would prioritize and free up federal funding to expand school choice programs.

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