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Israel and US are at odds over conflicting visions for postwar Gaza

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:29 GMT

By JOSEF FEDERMAN and SAMY MAGDY (Associated Press)JERUSALEM (AP) — The United States has offered strong support to Israel in its war against Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip. But the allies are increasingly at odds over what will happen to Gaza once the war winds down.Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, this week announced that Israel would retain an open-ended security presence in Gaza. Israeli officials talk of imposing a buffer zone to keep Palestinians away from the Israeli border. They rule out any role for the Palestinian Authority, which was ousted from Gaza by Hamas in 2007 but governs semi-autonomous areas of the occupied West Bank. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.The United States has laid out a much different vision. Top officials have said they will not allow Israel to reoccupy Gaza or further shrink its already small territory. They have repeatedly called for a return of the internation...

The next Garrett Whitlock? Red Sox have high hopes for new Rule 5 acquisition

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:29 GMT

NASHVILLE — Wednesday must have been an exciting, exhausting day for Justin Slaten.In the span of a few minutes the 26-year-old right-hander changed teams twice, but in the process he also learned he would be getting his first real shot at making a big league roster.Selected by the New York Mets in the Rule 5 Draft and subsequently traded to Boston, the Red Sox now hope he can make the team and become an overpowering late-inning weapon.“We’re really excited about bringing him on board,” said chief baseball officer Craig Breslow. “A guy with huge swing and miss stuff, profiles as a back of the bullpen type arm, so we’re really excited to get him and see what he can do.”Red Sox acquire RHP Justin Slaten from MetsOriginally a third-round pick out of the University of New Mexico by the Texas Rangers in 2019, Slaten is coming off a strong season in which he posted a 2.87 ERA with 86 strikeouts over 59.2 innings split between Double-A and Triple-A. He w...

House votes to censure Democratic Rep. Bowman for pulling a fire alarm in a Capitol office building

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:29 GMT

By FARNOUSH AMIRI (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — House members voted again Thursday to punish one of their own, targeting Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman for triggering a fire alarm in one of the U.S. Capitol office buildings in September when the chamber was in session. The Republican censure resolution passed with some Democratic votes, but most Democrats stood by Bowman in opposition of an effort they said lacked credibility and integrity. The prominent progressive now becomes the third Democratic House member to be admonished this year through the censure process, which is a punishment one step below expulsion from the House.“It’s painfully obvious to myself, my colleagues and the American people that the Republican Party is deeply unserious and unable to legislate,” Bowman said Wednesday as he defended himself during floor debate. “Their censure resolution against me today continues to demonstrate their inability to govern and serve the American...

Def Leppard, Journey, and Steve Miller Band coming to Petco Park

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:29 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- The timeless classics and chart-topping hits of rock music groups Def Leppard and Journey will electrify downtown San Diego in summer 2024.The pair are co-headlining a stadium tour across North America, hitting cities across the nation. This includes a stop at Petco Park on Friday, Aug. 30.This legendary collaboration, according to a spokesperson announcing the tour, promises a "musical journey like no other." Fans can expect a night of unforgettable rock anthems.When it comes to accolades, Journey has earned 19 top 40 singles, 25 gold and platinum albums, and has sold over 100 million albums globally. Their song "Don't Stop Believin'" has been streamed over one billion times alone.Journey is coming to San Diego summer 2024. (Credit: Ross Halfin)As far as Def Leppard, the group has sold more than 110 million albums worldwide after producing a series of ground-breaking albums. This includes two of the best-selling albums of all time: "Pyromania" and "Hysteria."...

Joly condemns Hamas rapes of Israeli women after weeks of pressure

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:29 GMT

OTTAWA — Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly is condemning sexual violence committed by Hamas during its attack on Israel, after weeks of pressure to speak out.On the platform X, formerly known as Twitter, Joly says Canada strongly condemns gender-based violence, “including rape, perpetrated by Hamas against women in Israel.”The Conservatives have been asking the government to condemn sexual violence by Hamas for weeks, with MP Michelle Rempel Garner saying that condemning violence in general isn’t enough.In Edmonton, the University of Alberta replaced the head of its sexual assault centre for endorsing an open letter that questioned the validity of sexual assault claims against Hamas.In Israel, women’s organizations have been calling on the international community to speak out, and the government has recently criticized foreign governments for not doing so.Yet police in Israel are still investigating what happened two months ago, after officials prioritize...

Financial intelligence agency levies $1.3 million penalty against CIBC

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:29 GMT

TORONTO — Canada’s financial intelligence agency says it has levied a $1.3-million penalty against CIBC for non-compliance with money laundering and terrorist financing measures.The penalty is the second the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada has announced this week after RBC’s $7.4-million fine was publicized on Tuesday.The agency, known as Fintrac, says it imposed the penalty over CIBC’s failure to submit a suspicious transaction report when there were grounds to suspect it was related to money laundering or terrorist activity, and failures to report information related to large money transfers from outside Canada.Fintrac tries to pinpoint money linked to illicit activities by electronically sifting through millions of pieces of information each year from banks, insurance companies, money services businesses and others.It says it found an instance where CIBC didn’t file a suspicious transaction report even as it knew the client had...

Autism is front and center in the pioneering new musical ‘How to Dance in Ohio’ on Broadway

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:29 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Actor Haven Burton wasn’t worried about what professional critics thought of her new musical “How to Dance in Ohio.” Who she really wanted to hear from was her 11-year-old son, Hudson.The show follows seven autistic characters as they prepare for a spring dance. After co-starring in a performance this fall, Burton asked her son what he thought. His opinion mattered not just because Mom is in it but also because he has autism.“He said, ‘I loved it. It was amazing. I just I can’t believe that there are people who think like me,’” Burton recalled. “I thought, ‘This is why I am doing this. This is why this is so important.’”“How to Dance in Ohio” opens on Broadway on Sunday both celebrating and starring those on the autism spectrum as well as opening a window about autism’s highs and lows for the neurotypical.“When we talk about this piece internally, we really view it as a piece of activism,” said Burton, whose Broadway credits include “Kinky Boots” an...

Mom convicted of killing kids in Idaho pleads not guilty to Arizona murder conspiracy charges

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:29 GMT

A woman sentenced to life in an Idaho prison for murdering her two youngest children and another woman has pleaded not guilty to charges in Arizona of conspiring to kill her estranged husband and her niece’s ex-husband.Lori Vallow Daybell, dressed in an orange jail uniform, stated her name and birthdate when a judge asked her to do so during a five-minute arraignment hearing Thursday in state court in Phoenix. Her trial is scheduled for April 4.Keith Terry, Vallow Daybell’s attorney, did not immediately return a phone call and email Thursday morning after the hearing seeking comment on his client’s behalf.In 2019, Vallow Daybell still lived in a Phoenix suburb with her children, 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and then-16-year-old Tylee Ryan. She was estranged from her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, at the time, and he had written in divorce filings that she claimed to be a goddess sent to usher in the Biblical apocalypse.Charles Vallow was shot and killed by Vallow Daybell’s brother...

Scientists: Climate change intensified the rains devastating East Africa

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:29 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Ongoing catastrophic rains in Eastern Africa have been worsened by human-caused climate change that made them up to two times more intense, an international team of climate scientists said Thursday.The analysis comes from World Weather Attribution, a group of scientists who examine whether and to what extent human-induced climate change has altered the likelihood and magnitude of an extreme-weather event.Hundreds of people have died and millions more have been affected since the rains began in October.October to December is a “short rains” season in Eastern Africa, with the frequency and intensity of the rains influenced by two naturally occurring climate phenomena: El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), which this year have both shaped up to increase the likelihood of heavy rainfall.To assess how climate change may have affected this year’s season, 10 researchers used weather data from the three countries, as well as clima...

Myanmar’ army is facing battlefield challenges and grants amnesty to troops jailed for being AWOL

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:29 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s military government has been freeing soldiers and police who had been jailed for desertion and absence without leave, seeking to get them to return to active duty, a police officer and an army officer said Thursday. The releases follow an an amnesty plan announced earlier this week to get them back into service in order to ease an apparent manpower shortage.The plan was an apparent consequence of the military facing the greatest battlefield pressures since it seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021. It began to encounter severe challenges after fierce fighting erupted in late October when an alliance of three ethnic minority armed groups launched an offensive in the northern part of Shan state, on the northeastern border with China.The offensive sparked renewed fighting nationwide on the part of both the pro-democracy Peoples Defense Force and their allies among other ethnic minority armed groups, spreading the military’...