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Palestinians scramble for safety as Israel pounds sealed-off Gaza Strip to punish Hamas

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:41 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli warplanes hammered the Gaza Strip neighborhood by neighborhood on Tuesday, reducing buildings to rubble and sending people scrambling to find safety in the tiny, sealed-off territory now suffering severe retaliation for the deadly weekend attack by Hamas militants.Humanitarian groups pleaded for the creation of corridors to get aid into Gaza, warning that hospitals overwhelmed with wounded people were running out of supplies. Israel has stopped entry of food, fuel and medicines into Gaza, and the sole remaining access from Egypt shut down Tuesday after airstrikes hit near the border crossing.The war, which has claimed at least 1,900 lives on both sides, is expected to escalate. The weekend attack that Hamas said was retribution for worsening conditions for Palestinians under Israeli occupation has fired Israel’s determination to crush the group’s hold in Gaza — raising the risk of an expanded regional conflict.Hamas militants stormed into Israel ...

Florida’s Republican attorney general will oppose abortion rights amendment if it makes ballot

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:41 GMT

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida’s Republican attorney general will oppose a proposed amendment protecting the right to an abortion if it makes next year’s ballot, she told the state Supreme Court when she advised justices Monday that a petition has reached enough signatures to trigger a language review.A group called Floridians Protecting Freedom has gathered just more than 400,000 of the nearly 900,000 voter signatures it needs to make the ballot, which requires the Supreme Court to make sure the ballot language isn’t misleading and applies to a single subject.Attorney General Ashley Moody notified the court of its responsibility and said she will eventually argue the language isn’t valid, though she didn’t explain why.Republicans have dominated state politics and controlled the governor’s office and both branches of the Legislature since 1999. In that time, the state has consistently chipped away at abortion rights, including creating a waiting...

Israel is acting against international law, says Borrell

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:41 GMT

BRUSSELS — The EU’s top diplomat said Israel’s actions in Gaza already may have breached international law, as he underlined the need for the EU to continue funding the Palestinian Authority in the wake of a Hamas attack on Israel Saturday. “The right for self defense has to be done within international law,” the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell, said Tuesday following a specially convened virtual meeting of EU foreign ministers. “Some of the actions [by Israel] — and the United Nations has already said it — cutting water, cutting electricity, cutting food to a mass of civilian people is against international law so yes, there are some actions that are not in accordance with international law,” he said. His comments put the EU at odds with messaging coming from Washington where the Biden Administration has, so far, refrained from criticizing Israel’s actions in Gaza. Israel has put Gaza under “complete siege” in retaliation for Hamas...

Europe struggles to present consistent messaging on Palestinian aid

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:41 GMT

European Commission Ursula von der Leyen is set to be in the hot seat at Wednesday’s meeting of European commissioners over the communications mess over Palestinian aid. The EU undermined its own credibility toward its partners in the Middle East on Monday when Hungarian Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi announced a cut to all Palestinian aid, only for the Commission to later confirm that was not the case. Instead, Brussels will continue payments while also launching a review of the EU’s assistance for the Palestinian Authority. European Commission spokesperson Eric Mamer on Tuesday tried to place blame on the Hungarian commissioner, saying Várhelyi’s announcement was not preceded by any consultation with any member of the College.” However, Mamer said the previous day in a message to reporters he could “confirm the substance” of Várhelyi’s tweets.Várhelyi’s communication immediately created an intra-European backlash, both in the meeting of heads of Cabinets of the College of Comm...

Biden condemns Hamas for ‘sheer evil’ in attack on Israel and vows US resolve in backing Israel

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:41 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Tuesday condemned the militant group Hamas for “sheer evil” for its shocking multipronged attack on Israel launched from the Gaza Strip that has killed hundreds of civilians, including at least 14 American citizens.Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke by phone earlier on Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the situation on the ground. Biden spoke out of the actions he and other allies have taken to support Israel in the aftermath of the attack and expressed his horror about “sickening” reports of torture inflicted by militants on innocent civilians.“Our hearts may be broken but our resolve is clear,” Biden said. He added, “Let there be no doubt. The United States has Israel’s back. We’ll make sure the Jewish and democratic state of Israel can defend itself today, tomorrow as we always have.”Biden, in his public remarks and statements since Hamas launched its attacks, ha...

New Bedford police seek suspect after officer dragged during traffic stop

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:41 GMT

Police in New Bedford are asking for the public’s help as they continue to search for a suspect who allegedly dragged an officer during a traffic stop on Route 18.The New Bedford Police Department said it has been looking to locate Todd Blackler, 50, since Friday, Oct. 6, when an officer initially pulled over a vehicle he was riding in around 1:30 p.m.According to the department, Officer James Marinelli initiated the traffic stop after he noticed a reported stolen vehicle travelling on Route 18 southbound.Police said the stop was conducted at the Conway Street intersection, where Marinelli approached the driver, later identified as Blackler’s wife, Kendra, 38.During the stop, authorities said Kendra exited the vehicle to speak with the officer. It was as she went to spoke with him on the sidewalk that Marinelli noticed Todd Blackler shift into the driver’s seat.“Ofc. Marinelli quickly returned to the driver’s side door to secure him,” the department sai...

Rhode Island man dies in car crash in Plainville despite ‘valiant’ rescue effort from State Police

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:41 GMT

A Rhode Island man has died after he crashed into a median on Interstate 495 in Plainville early Tuesday, authorities say.Sage A. Woodward, 23, of Pawtucket, was driving a 2008 BMW 3 Series when he struck a guardrail on the right side of the road, causing the car to veer left across all three lanes and into the median, according to a preliminary investigation.The impact with the median caused the vehicle to go up in flames and into an embankment. Massachusetts State Police responded around 3:45 a.m. to multiple calls of a vehicle fire and a brush fire on I-495 south at mile marker 35.2 in Plainville.Massachusetts State Police called the rescue mission a “valiant effort,” with a pair of troopers jumping into the embankment, finding Woodward in the passenger side of the BMW, face down in water. Another trooper began suppressing the flames with a fire extinguisher.Troopers Bianca Vargas and Matthew Higgins, both out of the State Police-Foxboro Barracks, received assistance from two Goo...

Global airlines are aiming higher with ultra-long flights

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:41 GMT

Mary Ann Anderson | Tribune News ServiceScoot over, Singapore Airlines, there will soon be a new sheriff in town, er, in the sky, as competition for the world’s longest nonstop flight is winging its way forward. The world is about to become smaller, its farthest-flung corners closer than ever before, and it happens all in one long, long, long flight.Although ultra-long flights are nothing new, every few years or so, an airline embarks on a journey to stretch the limits of imagination and set a new record that makes traveling the globe nonstop easier. This time around, it’s Qantas, the national airline of Australia. Qantas is taking off in 2025 with a Sydney to London Heathrow route that will cover 9,190 nautical miles and take almost 20 hours to complete.Before that flight takes off and you want to sample the current world’s longest nonstop flight, look to Singapore Airlines. According to OAG Aviation, the company that officially keeps track of aviation fun facts, the recordholder s...

Top 10 U.S. destinations for fall getaways

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:41 GMT

Falling leaves, pumpkin patches, cider doughnuts — it’s fall all right. If you’re craving an autumn getaway, PureWow, the New York City-based lifestyle site, is offering up plenty of inspiration, including a list of 31 vacation destinations for fall. We don’t know why they chose 31 — perhaps a penchant for prime numbers? —  but it includes hot spots that will appeal to leaf peepers, romance lovers and nature enthusiasts alike.California scored four shout-outs in all, including Yosemite National Park at No. 6 and Napa Valley at No. 8. Humboldt County’s Redwood National and State Parks landed at No. 11, thanks to its towering redwoods and serene trails. And anyone heading to San Francisco (No. 19), the site says, can “enjoy days filled with farmers markets, street fairs and football games.” (They were so perky about it, we don’t have the heart to tell them the stadium is in Santa Clara, an entirely different city an hour’s drive south.)Here’s just a peek at the list. Find all 31, alon...

Charlie McAvoy ready to hit his stride for Bruins

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:41 GMT

A new era of Bruins hockey begins Wednesday, and no one’s more acutely aware of that than Charlie McAvoy.There is still one link left to the 2011 Stanley Cup team. And form a stature point, it’s a big one – captain Brad Marchand. But it’s the group of young veterans who’ll be in charge of this club’s destiny over the next decade.At the top of that list is McAvoy, the B’s do-it-all defenseman who’ll munch the most minutes of anyone and should challenge for a Norris Trophy for years to come.“This next chapter in Bruins history is going to be written by us, obviously, with Marchy being the lone guy left (from the Cup team),” said McAvoy. “We all have something to prove. That’s me. That’s (David Pastrnak). That’s (Brandon Carlo). That’s (Hampus Lindholm). None of us have won. We’ve been right there and gone as far as you can go and we have some experience. But what is our legacy going to be? I think that’s som...