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Gazans scramble for safety as Israeli airstrikes pound sealed-off territory to punish Hamas

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:36 GMT

By JOSEF FEDERMAN and ISSAM ADWAN (Associated Press)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 organizations pleaded for the creation of corridors to get aid into Gaza, warning that hospitals overwhelmed with wounded 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 already claimed at least 1,800 lives on both sides, is only expected to escalate. The weekend attack that Hamas said was retribution for worsening Palestinian suffering under Israeli occupation has fired Israel’s determination to crush the group’s hold in Gaza — hiking risks...

Local couple catches one of last flights out of Tel Aviv

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:36 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Saturday morning in Tel Aviv was gorgeous. “We are looking at the beach, the beach is beautiful. People are still running, riding bikes, first thing in the morning, seven in the morning as we're having breakfast," Alan Shafran said to FOX 5 on Monday.Alan and Natalie Shafran of Carlsbad were two days into their nine-day vacation in Israel, staying at a beachfront hotel when they got a call from a family member who lives there alerting them to what was to come and advising them to get to the airport -- fast.“We start hearing the missiles, the bombs. We start hearing what we think was the iron dome," Alan said to FOX 5. "As we're packing, we're hearing the loud speakers, as Israel's set up with security, telling everybody this is serious, get off the beaches immediately, take your kids, everyone get inside." What is Israel’s Iron Dome and how does it work? They believe that was the first barrage of missiles shot by Hamas terrorists out of Gaza, which is about 40 mi...

Prince Harry and Meghan to talk about youth mental health during New York City event

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:36 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle are hosting a conference Tuesday in New York City on how the internet and social media affect youth mental health. The two will discuss the topic at a panel alongside Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and moderated by NBC host Carson Daly, who has talked about his struggles with anxiety in the past. The event — held on World Mental Health Day — is being coordinated by Harry and Meghan’s Archewell Foundation and is part of a second annual mental health awareness festival hosted by a nonprofit called Project Healthy Minds.In the United Kingdom on Tuesday, Harry’s brother, Prince William and his wife Kate also participated in a separate forum to draw awareness to young people’s challenges with mental health. During their last public appearance in New York City, Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, set off alarms when they claimed they had been dangerously pursued by paparazzi in a “near catastrophic car chase” in Manhattan. T...

North Carolina Republicans enact voting, election boards changes over Democratic governor’s vetoes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:36 GMT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Republicans enacted vote-count restrictions and weakened the governor’s ability to oversee elections and other state regulatory bodies on Tuesday by overriding Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s vetoes. Lawsuits attempting to block the new laws are likely as the 2024 elections approach.In a series of votes, the narrow GOP supermajorities in the House and Senate overturned five Cooper vetoes, two of which address elections and voting in the ninth-largest state — a likely presidential battleground where statewide races usually are very close. One law would eliminate the governor’s power to appoint the State Board of Elections and give it to legislative leaders, while the other would end a three-day grace period to receive and count absentee ballots as long as they are postmarked by Election Day. These laws — years in the making after previous Cooper’s vetoes or lawsuits blocked legislation with similar provisions — advanced this ye...

Citing Trump’s online attacks, US prosecutors seek protections for potential jurors in election case

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:36 GMT

Federal prosecutors on Tuesday urged the judge overseeing Donald Trump’s election interference case in Washington to take steps to protect the identity of prospective jurors, citing the former president’s “continued use of social media as a weapon of intimidation in court proceedings.” Special counsel Jack Smith’s team wants U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to issue a written questionnaire to help the two sides choose potential jurors in the case accusing the former Republican president of illegally plotting to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. But it also would give lawyers early access to the identities of possible jurors. Prosecutors said in court papers they are concerned about what Trump might do with research on possible jurors, pointing to his recent disparagement of the clerk of the New York judge overseeing Trump’s civil business fraud trial that caused the judge to issue a limited gag order. Trump in that case posted a photo of...

Los Angeles deputies were taken to a hospital after fire broke out during training

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:36 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Multiple 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.The extent of the deputies’ injuries weren’t immediately known, said sheriff’s department spokesperson Nicole Nishida. It also was not known yet what caused the fire, which fire fighters were still battling in Castaic, a community roughly 35 miles (55 kilometers) northwest of downtown Los Angeles.“We’re still trying to determine that. We know for sure there was a fire,” Nishida said.The exact number of people injured was also unclear. Fire department officials said four deputies were taken to the hospital before firefighters were on the scene, while Nishida initially said at least two deputies were transported to the hospital. Her department later said in a statement that “several deputies” were injured. The fire happened at about 9:30 a.m. at a training facility located on a sprawlin...

Police search for killer of retired college dean who was shot on trail near university campus

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:36 GMT

CASTLETON, Vt. (AP) — Five days after a retired college dean was shot and killed on a recreation trail near a Vermont University campus, students returned to classes on Tuesday, some on edge, a day after police urged residents to remain vigilant, lock doors and to report any tips that might help them identify and find the killer. Honoree Fleming, a retired dean and professor, was found shot to death on Thursday afternoon on the Delaware & Hudson Rail Trail about a mile (1.61 kilometers) south of the Castleton campus of Vermont State University. The shooting happened during the school’s week-long fall break. The university reopened Monday but students were excused from classes. “I recommend to the public to be vigilant, have some awareness,” Maj. Dan Trudeau, commander of the Vermont State Police’s criminal division, said Monday. “If you’re out be with a friend because we don’t really know yet if the community is in any further danger. We don’t know ...

White House condemns a violent crash at the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:36 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The White House on Tuesday condemned a violent crash at the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco where a man rammed a car into the lobby, creating a chaotic scene that ended with police shooting the driver, who later died at the hospital.“We condemn this incident and all violence perpetrated against foreign diplomatic staff working in the United States,” White House National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said.U.S. government officials have been in contact with Chinese foreign ministry officials in the aftermath of the incident Monday, according to a White House official who was not authorized to comment and spoke on the condition of anonymity. The White House official added that investigators believe the driver was “acting with malign intent.”As of Tuesday morning, police had shared no additional details on the identity of the driver or how the incident unfolded. San Francisco police said Monday they didn’t know why the unidentified driver smashed t...

Ontario securities regulator exploring artificial intelligence use in capital markets

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:36 GMT

TORONTO — Ontario’s securities regulator says it is evaluating the potential role it can play in overseeing and guiding responsible adoption of artificial intelligence to protect investors and the integrity of capital markets.The Ontario Securities Commission’s report released Tuesday says use of AI in capital markets is primarily focused on improving the efficiency and accuracy of operations, trade surveillance and detection of market manipulation, and supporting advisory and customer service.It says AI can improve the ability to gather information and detect patterns, or anomalies from large volumes of data by automating processes normally handled manually — leading to better market forecasting and hedging.Large firms are also currently using AI to provide automated customer support and help for client-facing advisers, but the report says its use for trading, asset allocation and risk management are so far limited.The regular warns of major challenges for AI adoption i...

Oklahoma judge dismisses case of man who spent 30 years in prison for Ada rape

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:36 GMT

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An Oklahoma judge on Tuesday exonerated a man who spent 30 years in prison for a 1987 rape and burglary, after post-conviction DNA testing from a rape kit showed he did not commit the crime.Pontotoc County District Judge Steven Kessinger issued a final order that vacates Perry Lott’s conviction and permanently dismisses the case. “I have never lost hope that this day would come,” Lott, 61, said in a statement. “I had faith that the truth would prevail, even after 35 long years.“I can finally shut this door and move on with my life.”Lott was released from prison in 2018 after the DNA results first came to light, but only after agreeing to a deal with former District Attorney Paul Smith to modify his sentence. The agreement allowed Lott to leave prison and remain free while his motion to vacate was litigated. At the time, Smith said the DNA evidence did not exclude Lott as a suspect.But earlier this year, the Innocence Project, which helped to free Lot...