Quick Fix: Sunny Chicken Pasta Salad

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By Linda Gassenheimer, Tribune News Service

Looking for a refreshing and satisfying summer salad? This light and flavorful chicken salad is perfect for warm-weather meals and can be prepared in advance and served at room temperature.

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Tender sautéed chicken breast is paired with the crisp crunch of sliced celery and the juicy sweetness of ripe summer tomatoes. Creamy mayonnaise, accented with chopped scallions, and fresh basil, ties it all together. It creates a quick, easy and delicious dish that’s ideal for picnics or light dinners.

HELPFUL HINTS:

Water can be used instead of chicken broth.

Any type of short cut pasta such as fusilli, farfalle or rigatoni can be used.

COUNTDOWN:

Place water on to boil.

Boil penne pasta, drain and set aside.

Saute chicken and make salad.

SHOPPING LIST:

To buy:1 package penne pasta (4 ounces needed), 3/4 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, 1 bunch celery, 1 large tomato, 1 bag washed, ready-to-eat lettuce leaves, 1 bunch scallions, 1 bunch fresh basil, 1 container no-salt-added chicken broth, 1 jar reduced-fat mayonnaise,

Staples: olive oil, salt and black peppercorns.

Sunny Chicken Pasta Salad

Recipe by Linda Gassenheimer

4 ounces penne pasta (about 1 1/2-cups)
2 teaspoons olive oil
3/4 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1/2-inch slices
1/2 cup sliced celery
1 cup tomato cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup no-salt-added chicken broth
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons reduced-fat mayonnaise
2 cups washed, ready-to-eat lettuce leaves
2 scallions measure (about 1/2 cup sliced)
1/4 cup sliced basil

Place a large saucepan 3/4 full of water on to boil. When boiling add penne and cook 8 minutes. Drain and set aside. Meanwhile heat olive oil in skillet add chicken cook 5 minutes until golden brown. Remove to a plate. Add celery and tomatoes to the skillet and cook 2 to 3 minutes. Add broth and bring it to simmer. Return chicken to the skillet. Add drained penne. Toss well. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from the heat and add the mayonnaise. Mix well. Place one cup of lettuce leaves each on the center of 2 dinner plates. Divide the chicken salad in half and place on top of the lettuce. Sprinkle scallions and basil on top.

Yield 2 servings.

Per serving: 565 calories (28 percent from fat), 17.5 g fat (2.8 g saturated, 5.2 g monounsaturated), 126 mg cholesterol, 48.3 g protein, 51.1 g carbohydrates, 4.7 g fiber, 282 mg sodium.

©2025 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

Amazon expands its perishable delivery service, putting pressure on traditional grocers

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By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO, Associated Press Retail Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon is now rolling out a service where its Prime members can order their blueberries and milk at the same time as their batteries, T-shirts and other basic items.

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The online juggernaut said Wednesday that customers in more than 1,000 cities and towns now have access to fresh groceries with its free same-day delivery service on orders over $25 for Prime members, with plans to reach over 2,300 by the end of the year.

The move marks one of the most significant grocery expansions for the online retailer as Amazon introduces thousands of perishable food items into its existing logistics network. The expansion is expected to put more pressure on grocery delivery services offered by such rivals as Walmart, Kroger and Target, which all saw their shares take a hit in early trading Wednesday.

Amazon’s shares rose 1%.

Amazon said that if an order doesn’t meet the minimum, members can still choose same-day delivery for a $2.99 fee. For customers without a Prime membership, the service is available with a $12.99 fee, regardless of order size.

In the past, Prime subscribers’ grocery orders were fulfilled through Amazon Fresh or Whole Foods.

Prime members pay $14.99 monthly or $149 annually.

“We’re continuously innovating to make grocery shopping simpler, faster, and more affordable for our customers, especially Prime members,” said Doug Herrington, CEO of Worldwide Amazon Stores, in a statement. “By introducing fresh groceries into our Same-Day Delivery service, we’re creating a quick and easy experience for customers. ”

Herrington noted that customers can order milk alongside electronics; oranges, apples, and potatoes with a mystery novel; and frozen pizza at the same time as tools for their next home improvement project—and check out with one cart and have everything delivered to their doorstep within hours.

Amazon said it generated over $100 billion in gross sales of groceries and household essentials last year not including sales from Whole Foods Market and Amazon Fresh.

In June, Amazon said it was investing more than $4 billion to triple the size of its delivery network by 2026, with a focus on small towns and rural communities across the country.

It also noted that it’s using artificial intelligence to help it predict local customer preferences so it can stock popular items alongside items targeted for specific communities.

Britain, France and Germany threaten to reimpose sanctions on Iran as nuclear program deadline nears

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By STEFANIE DAZIO and KAREEM CHEHAYEB, Associated Press

BERLIN (AP) — The top diplomats of Britain, France, and Germany threatened to reimpose sanctions on Iran as an end-of-the-month deadline nears for the country to resume negotiations with the West over its nuclear program and cooperation with the United Nations nuclear watchdog.

The three countries, known as the E3, wrote in a letter to the United Nations dated Friday that they were willing to trigger a process known as the “snapback” mechanism, which allows one of the Western parties to reimpose U.N. sanctions, if Tehran doesn’t comply with its requirements.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Nöel Barrot posted the letter Wednesday to X. He co-signed it along with top diplomats from Germany and the United Kingdom.

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“E3 have always committed to use all diplomatic tools at our disposal to ensure Iran does not develop a nuclear weapon,” the letter said. “We have made clear that if Iran is not willing to reach a diplomatic solution before the end of August 2025, or does not seize the opportunity of an extension, E3 are prepared to trigger the snapback mechanism.”

The letter comes following a period of apparent diplomatic deadlock after a 12-day war between Iran and Israel in June, where Israeli and American jets struck some key nuclear-related facilities in the Islamic Republic.

The countries met with Iranian officials last month in Turkey at Iran’s consulate building in Istanbul on the possibility of reimposing international sanctions, lifted in 2015 in exchange for Tehran accepting restrictions and monitoring of its nuclear program.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, said at the time that he hoped that the meeting would see the E3 nations reassess their “previous unconstructive attitude.”

The Iranian government didn’t immediately comment Wednesday on the development.

Since the war, talks with Washington for a new nuclear deal haven’t resumed, and Iran has since suspended ties with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, following the attacks. The IAEA’s first visit to Iran since the war didn’t entail any visits to nuclear facilities Monday, and cooperation wasn’t officially restored.

One of the three countries opting to trigger the snapback mechanism would renew sanctions on Iran, but Tehran renewing cooperation with the Vienna-based IAEA and addressing concerns about its highly-enriched uranium stockpile would delay it, according to a diplomat who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity following July’s meeting in Istanbul.

Iran has had limited IAEA inspections in the past as a pressure tactic in negotiating with the West and it is unclear how soon talks between Tehran and Washington for a deal over its nuclear program will resume.

German Foreign Ministry spokesperson Josef Hinterseher on Wednesday said that the letter “once again underlines that the legal preconditions for snapback have long existed.”

“Our position and our appeal is, very clearly, that Iran still has the choice of deciding to return to diplomacy … and full cooperation with the IAEA,” he told reporters at a regular news conference in Berlin.

U.S. intelligence agencies and the IAEA had assessed Iran last had an organized nuclear weapons program in 2003, though Tehran had been enriching uranium up to 60% — a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.

The IAEA didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

Kareem Chehayeb reported from Beirut. Geir Moulson contributed to this report from Berlin.

Israeli gunfire kills at least 25 in Gaza as Netanyahu says he will allow Palestinians to leave

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By MELANIE LIDMAN and SAMY MAGDY, Associated Press

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli gunfire killed at least 25 people seeking aid in Gaza on Wednesday, health officials and witnesses said, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will “allow” Palestinians to leave during an upcoming military offensive in some of the territory’s most populated areas.

Netanyahu wants to realize U.S. President Donald Trump’s vision of relocating much of Gaza’s population of over 2 million people through what he refers to as “voluntary migration” — and what critics have warned could be ethnic cleansing.

“Give them the opportunity to leave! First, from combat zones, and also from the Strip if they want,” Netanyahu said in an interview aired Tuesday with i24, an Israeli TV station, to discuss the planned offensive in areas including Gaza City where hundreds of thousands of displaced people shelter. “We are not pushing them out but allowing them to leave.”

Witnesses and staff at Nasser and Awda hospitals, which received the bodies, said people were shot dead on their way to aid distribution sites and while awaiting convoys entering Gaza. Israel did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ceasefire talks set to resume

Efforts to revive ceasefire talks have resumed after apparently breaking down last month. Hamas and Egyptian officials met Wednesday in Cairo, according to Hamas official Taher al-Nounou.

Israel has no plans to send its negotiating team to talks in Cairo, the prime minister’s office said.

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Israel’s plans to widen its military offensive against Hamas to the areas of Gaza that it does not yet control have sparked condemnation and criticism at home and abroad, and could be intended to raise pressure on Hamas to reach a ceasefire.

Hamas still holds 50 hostages taken in the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack that sparked the war. Israel believes around 20 of them are alive. Families fear a new offensive endangers them.

Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.

Netanyahu was asked by i24 News if the window had closed on a partial ceasefire deal and he responded that he wanted all of the hostages back, alive and dead.

Egyptian Foreign Ministry Badr Abdelatty told reporters that Cairo is still trying to advance an earlier proposal for an initial 60-day ceasefire, the release of some hostages and an influx of humanitarian aid before further talks on a lasting truce.

Hamas says it will only release the remaining hostages in return for the release of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. The militant group has refused to lay down its arms.

South Sudan calls reports of resettlement talks baseless

Israel and South Sudan are in talks about relocating Palestinians to the war-torn East African nation, The Associated Press reported Tuesday.

The office of Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Sharren Haskel, said Wednesday she was arriving in South Sudan for a series of meetings in the first visit by a senior government official to the country, but she did not plan to broach the subject of moving Palestinians.

South Sudan’s ministry of foreign affairs in a statement called reports that it was engaging in discussions with Israel about resettling Palestinians baseless.

The AP previously reported that U.S. and Israel have reached out to officials of three East African governments to discuss using their territories as potential destinations for moving Palestinians uprooted from Gaza.

Killed while seeking aid

Among those killed while seeking aid were 14 Palestinians in the Teina area approximately 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from a food distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, according to staff at Nasser hospital.

Trucks carrying humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza move along the border with Gaza Strip in southern Israel, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Hashim Shamalah said Israeli troops fired toward them as people tried to get through. Many were shot and fell while fleeing, he said.

Israeli gunfire killed five other Palestinians while trying to reach another GHF distribution site in the Netzarim corridor area, according to Awda hospital and witnesses.

GHF said there were no incidents at or near its sites Wednesday.

The U.S. and Israel support GHF, an American contractor, as an alternative to the United Nations, which they claim allows Hamas to siphon off aid. The U.N., which has delivered aid throughout Gaza for decades when conditions allow, denies the allegations.

Aid convoys from other groups travel within 100 meters (328 feet) of GHF sites and draw crowds attempting to loot them. An overwhelming majority of violent incidents over the past few weeks have been related to those convoys, the GHF said.

Israeli fire killed at least six other people waiting for aid trucks close to the Morag corridor, which separates parts of southern Gaza, Nasser hospital said.

UN says starvation at highest levels of the war

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric on Tuesday shared the warning from the World Food Program and said Gaza’s Health Ministry told U.N. staff that five people died over the previous 24 hours from malnutrition and starvation.

The Health Ministry says 106 children have died of malnutrition-related causes during the war and 129 adults have died since late June.

The U.N. and humanitarian partners still face significant delays and impediments from Israeli authorities who prevent the delivery of food and other essentials at the scale needed, Dujarric said.

Hamas abducted 251 people and killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the 2023 attack. Most of the hostages have been released in ceasefires or other deals.

Israel’s air and ground offensive has since displaced most of Gaza’s population, destroyed vast areas and pushed the territory toward famine. The offensive has killed more than 61,700 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were fighters or civilians but says around half were women and children.

The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. The U.N. and independent experts consider it the most reliable source on war casualties. Israel disputes its figures but has not provided its own.