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Attack leaves many Israelis feeling abandoned by military

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:37:06 GMT

By Amy Teibel | Associated PressJERUSALEM — It was, they thought, an ironclad social contract. Israeli citizens would serve in the military and live along enemy borders. In exchange, the army would defend them.That contract was shattered Saturday when hundreds of Hamas militants breached Israel’s defenses from the Gaza Strip, pouring in by air, land and sea on a rampage that would leave hundreds dead. The infiltration caught Israel’s storied high-tech army completely unaware and stunned a country that prides itself on military prowess.Further shocking Israelis was how long it took the military to respond. As thousands in southern Israel suddenly found themselves besieged, their cries for help went unanswered for hours. Holed up inside homes and safe rooms as militants sprayed bullets, torched homes and hurled grenades, they turned in desperation to social media, to journalists and to friends, beseeching the army to save them.The weekend attacks and the military’s r...

RFK Jr. exits the Democratic primary, will run as independent

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:37:06 GMT

By Ali Swenson | Associated PressPHILADELPHIA — Longtime environmental lawyer and anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Monday he’ll run for president as an independent and drop his Democratic primary bid, adding a wrinkle to a 2024 race heading toward a likely rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.Speaking Monday from Philadelphia’s Independence Mall, where America’s founding documents were adopted, Kennedy said there is a “rising tide of discontent” in the country and said he wants to make a “new Declaration of Independence” — from corporations, the media and the two major political parties.“I’ve come here today to declare our independence from the tyranny of corruption which robs us of affordable lives, our belief in the future, and our respect for each other,” Kennedy said. “But to do that I must first declare my own independence. Independence from the Democratic Party an...

The largest dam removal in history stirs hopes of restoring California tribes’ way of life

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:37:06 GMT

Ian James | (TNS) Los Angeles TimesWEITCHPEC, Calif. — At first, the dead floated downstream a few at a time. Then they came by the hundreds, and then the thousands.For mile after mile, the Klamath River was filled with tens of thousands of dead salmon. As Annelia Hillman paddled a canoe with a friend one September day 21 years ago, her heart sank when she saw the carcasses floating past. She and other members of the Yurok Tribe say they will never forget the stench of death.“It’s like seeing your family perish in front of you,” Hillman said. “I would compare it to a massacre, really, in terms of the emotions and the trauma that it has caused for us.”The grief drove Hillman, then 27, to begin protesting to demand change. The mass fish kill of 2002, estimated at up to 70,000 salmon, became a defining event for a generation of young Native activists — a moment that showed the river ecosystem was gravely ill, and badly in need of rescuing.Water diversions for agriculture had dramatical...

Health Ministry in Gaza says more than 680 people have been killed in Israeli strikes and more than 3,700 others wounded

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:37:06 GMT

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Health Ministry in Gaza says more than 680 people have been killed in Israeli strikes and more than 3,700 others wounded.Source

La Fiscalía de Ecuador cierra recopilación de pruebas sobre asesinato de Villavicencio y se alista para el juicio

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:37:06 GMT

(CNN Español) — El caso del crimen del candidato presidencial de Ecuador Fernando Villavicencio avanza en medio de señalamientos, el reciente asesinato en prisión de siete presuntos autores materiales del crimen, la consecuente remoción de autoridades del sistema de seguridad del país y la campaña política hacia la segunda vuelta electoral del próximo domingo.La Fiscalía General del Estado informó este domingo que la etapa de instrucción fiscal en el caso de Villavicencio ha concluido tras 90 días de haber recabado elementos probatorios para identificar la autoría del crimen.La institución agregó que durante la mañana y tarde del domingo recibió el testimonio anticipado de un testigo de los hechos que bajo juramento relató los supuestos preparativos y montos ofrecidos por los autores intelectuales. Según la Fiscalía, el testigo reveló quiénes presuntamente dieron la orden de cometer el asesinato.Remueven a funcionarios en Ecuador tras muerte violenta de 7 reos imputados en ase...

Israeli rescue service says more than 100 bodies found in a small farming community that was scene of a hostage standoff

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:37:06 GMT

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli rescue service says more than 100 bodies found in a small farming community that was scene of a hostage standoff.Source

‘All of the victims were so badly burned’: 3 of 4 victims in fatal Prince George’s Co. crash identified

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:37:06 GMT

A makeshift memorial was made with balloons, flowers, and a stuffed animal rest against the tree where the crash happened on Sept. 29. (WTOP/John Domen) A makeshift memorial was made with balloons, flowers, and a stuffed animal rest against the tree where the crash happened on Sept. 29. (WTOP/John Domen) Three of the four people who died in a crash involving a stolen car late last month have been identified as Prince George’s County teens.Police said they are still working to verify the identity of the fourth person.“All of the victims were so badly burned,” a Prince George’s County police spokeswoman said, adding that they do not yet have the name or age of the fourth person. The medical e...

Lawyer says Black man who died after traffic stop beating had stolen items, hallucinogenic in car

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:37:06 GMT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A lawyer for one of five former Memphis officers charged with fatally beating Tyre Nichols after a traffic stop said in court documents that investigators found a hallucinogenic drug and stolen credit cards in the Black man’s car when he was pulled over, but authorities have not confirmed the claims. A lawyer for Justin Smith said the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s inventory of Nichols’ car showed he had psilocybin, a substance found in mushrooms, when police stopped him Jan. 7 for an alleged reckless driving violation before he was beaten during a confrontation caught on police video.The lawyer, Martin Zummach, said the ex-officers’ attorneys learned from a review of the inventory that Nichols had stolen credit cards, debit cards and photo identifications in his car. Zummach made the claims in a court filing joining another officer’s request for prosecutors to give them Nichols’ cell phone records as part of the federal...

Hamas amenaza con ejecutar a un rehén por cada ataque de Israel en Gaza sin previo aviso

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:37:06 GMT

GAZA – El grupo islamista Hamas amenazó este lunes con ejecutar “públicamente” a los rehenes israelíes civiles si Israel continúa los bombardeos sobre la Franja de Gaza sin previo aviso a los residentes.“Cualquier ataque contra casas inocentes en Gaza sin previo aviso y alerta se enfrentará a la ejecución pública de un rehén”, afirmó en un comunicado Abu Obeida, portavoz de las brigadas de Al Qasam, brazo armado de Hamas.“La ejecución será de rehenes civiles, no militares, y se transmitirá en línea”, agregó. Israel ordena “asedio total” de la Franja de Gaza: no electricidad, alimentos ni combustible Departamento de Estado: 9 estadounidenses han muerto tras el ataque de Hamas a Israel Israel ha bombardeando intensamente todo el enclave durante todo el día, incluyendo instalaciones militares de Hamas y la Yihad Islámica, pero también infraestructura civil y edificios residenciales.Los muerto...

2 Federal Reserve officials say spike in bond yields may allow central bank to leave rates alone

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:37:06 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two Federal Reserve officials suggested Monday that the central bank may leave interest rates unchanged at its next meeting in three weeks because a surge in long-term interest rates has made borrowing more expensive and could help cool inflation without further action by the Fed. Since late July, the yield, or rate, on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note has jumped from around 4% to about 4.8%, a 16-year high. The run-up in the yield has inflated other borrowing costs and raised the national average 30-year mortgage rate to 7.5%, according to Freddie Mac, a 23-year high. Business borrowing costs have also risen as corporate bond yields have accelerated. Philip Jefferson, vice chair of the Fed’s board and a close ally of Chair Jerome Powell, said in a speech Monday to the National Association for Business Economics that he would “remain cognizant” of the higher bond rates and “keep that in mind as I assess the future path of policy.” Jefferson’s comments fol...