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Why you should start your holiday shopping early

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:09 GMT

Ted Rossman | Bankrate.com (TNS)With only a few months until the holiday season officially begins, you may be wondering if now is the right time to start checking off your holiday shopping list. If you feel like you’re ready to dive in, you’re certainly not alone. In fact, a September 2023 survey from Bankrate showed that 50% of holiday shoppers have already started buying their holiday gifts (or plan to do so by Halloween on Oct. 31).Breaking down this data further, 12% of shoppers began working on their holiday lists back in August, while another 12% started in September and 26% began or plan to in October. The remaining 50% plan to begin in November (37% ) or December (13%).While the 50% who get in the holiday shopping spirit before Halloween may appear comically ahead of the rush, there are a number of benefits that come with shopping for seasonal gifts and supplies with a few months to spare. Here’s a rundown of the early shopping perks to consider, as well as the ways holiday ...

Are Patriots coaches worried about defense pointing fingers?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:09 GMT

The New England Patriots defense is in a tough spot. The unit is already playing without two of its best players in pass rusher Matthew Judon and rookie cornerback Christian Gonzalez, and with the offense managing only three points over the last two games it has to feel at times like even a perfect game might not be enough.That type of situation could naturally breed resentment within the locker room, but members of the coaching staff said Tuesday they aren’t worried about the defense pointing fingers, even while acknowledging that it can happen in the NFL.“No, not really. I was kind of brought by my dad and my grandpa like, ‘Get your get your (expletive) together yourself.’ Like, don’t be worried about the rest of the people in the room,” said linebackers coach Steve Belichick. “If you just worry about yourself and do what you need to do, and lead people in the way of doing what you need to do better — there’s always corrections that ...

Do the Patriots expect QB Mac Jones to start Sunday? Bill O’Brien answers

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:09 GMT

FOXBORO — Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien expects quarterback Mac Jones to start Sunday at Las Vegas despite being benched in each of the team’s last two games.“I do. I do,” O’Brien said Tuesday when asked if he anticipates Jones starting.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Could Patriots CB J.C. Jackson start Sunday against the Raiders? New England Patriots | Patriots return speedy WR to practice Tuesday, lose 2 others New England Patriots | Patriots-Saints film review: Mac Jones looks as broken as his offense New England Patriots | Could Bill Belichick change course and bench Mac Jones ahead of Week 6? New England Patriots | Bill Belichick hints at potential Patriots personnel changes after consecutive embarrassing losses Jones committed three turnovers in last Sunday’s 34-0 shutout loss to the Saints and the Patriots’ 38-3 defeat at Dallas...

9 charged, other man wanted in kidnapping of woman from Mississauga nightclub

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:09 GMT

Peel Regional Police have charged nine people, and another man is wanted, following an alleged kidnapping that saw a woman abducted from outside a Mississauga nightclub.Authorities said at around 8:45 p.m. on August 24, a Toronto woman was attending a nightclub in the area of Britannia Road East and Dixie Road when she was kidnapped and forced into a stolen vehicle and held for 48 hours.The female victim was taken to several locations in Owen Sound, Ont. before being released in the Toronto area. She was not physically injured, police noted.Investigators arrested multiple people in connection to the alleged kidnapping.8 charged include the following:Mohammed Habibnia, a 28-year-old man from Newmarket, is charged with kidnapping and two counts of possession of property obtained by crime.Mohamed Khairy, a 20-year-old man from Mississauga, is charged with kidnapping.Daniel Gonthcharov, a 22-year-old man from Concord, Ont., is charged with kidnapping, possession of a weapon for a danger...

Star witness Caroline Ellison starts testimony at FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s trial

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:09 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The trial of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried took a star turn Tuesday as his former fellow top executive, Caroline Ellison, began testifying against him, immediately blaming her former boyfriend for directing her to commit crimes before his cryptocurrency empire collapsed last November.Ellison’s highly anticipated turn on the witness stand in Manhattan federal court took place just moments before the trial broke for lunch.When she was asked to identify Bankman-Fried in the courtroom, Ellison stood at the witness stand as she scanned the courtroom for a long minute, at first unable to find him, before gesturing his way with a flip of her hand and saying he was “over there wearing a suit.”Bankman-Fried’s appearance has changed dramatically in recent months as he has lost weight and trimmed his well-known wild coif into a tightly cropped look more traditional in the world of finance.In the trial’s second week, Ellison said she committed fraud, conspiracy to co...

Vancouver man, Ben Mizrachi, killed by Hamas in Israel: school head

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:09 GMT

VANCOUVER — A 22-year-old Vancouver man has been killed in southern Israel after Hamas militants launched a series of deadly attacks on Saturday. The head of the King David High School in Vancouver confirmed in a Facebook post that former student Ben Mizrachi was gunned down while attending a music festival in southern Israel. The statement from Russ Klein says Mizrachi was larger than life with a big personality. It says a funeral will take place Wednesday in Israel. Vancouver member of Parliament Taleeb Noormohamed says in a statement on social media that Mizrachi, a wonderful young man from his riding, was “found amongst those murdered by Hamas terrorists.”The music festival was attended by thousands of people in the desert near Gaza and was one of many areas that gunmen focused on during their initial attack. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 10, 2023.The Canadian Press

Canadian Press NewsAlert: Unifor reaches deal with General Motors

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:09 GMT

TORONTO — Unifor says it has reached a tentative agreement with General Motors that follows the pattern agreement it reached with Ford Motor Company last month. More coming.The Canadian Press

Mateo Askaripour’s ‘The Great Hemisphere’ is a novel about power set 500 years from now

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:09 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Mateo Askaripour’s follow-up to his acclaimed debut novel “Black Buck” is a look into the distant future. Dutton, a Penguin Random House imprint, announced Tuesday that Askaripour’s “This Great Hemisphere” is scheduled for release next summer. The novel is set 500 years from now and tells of a society in which some people are born invisible and consigned to second-class citizenship. One invisible person, Sweetmint, embarks on a quest to find her missing brother. ”’This Great Hemisphere’ is a novel about the nature of power, the lengths people will go to in order to gain and maintain it, as well as the almost biological compulsion we all possess to protect those we love,” Askaripour said in a statement. “It is a call to arms for the unseen, a rallying cry for those who are tired of being ignored and forgotten. And, of course, it’s a hell of an adventure.” Askaripour’s “Black Buck,” released in 2021, was a widely pr...

Canada limited in preventing wider Mideast crisis, amid humanitarian plight: experts

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:09 GMT

Experts say Canada has limited options as it works diplomatic channels to try preventing clashes in Israel and Palestinian territories from escalating into a wider, regional war.Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says she’s in touch with counterparts in the region, as the fallout from Hamas’s brazen surprise attacks on Israel Saturday threatens to engulf multiple countries.University of Ottawa professor Costanza Musu says that while some countries in the region are offering to mediate talks between Israeli and Palestinian actors, they are likely more concerned with their own geopolitical interests rather than ending the bloodshed, which already has killed at least 1,800 people.She notes that Canada has been a staunch supporter of Israel in recent decades, including when Israeli officials diverge from Ottawa’s official policy of advocating for a two-state solution to the protracted conflict.Musu says Israel’s restrictions on essential services in Hamas-cont...

Four Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies hospitalized, officials say

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:09 GMT

CASTAIC, Calif. (AP) — Four Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies were taken to the hospital Tuesday morning after a fire during a “training incident” north of Los Angeles, authorities said.Few details were immediately available, including the extent of the deputies’ injuries, according to Deputy David Yoo, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s department.A KTLA helicopter over the scene showed firefighters spraying water into the smoking rear of a parked semi trailer.Firefighters were dispatched to the law enforcement training facility, near a county jail, at 9:41 a.m., said Fred Fielding, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Fire Department. They arrived 11 minutes later to find a blaze but the deputies had already been taken to the hospital.Castaic is roughly 35 miles (55 kilometers) northwest of downtown Los Angeles.The Associated Press