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Calls grow to evacuate Gaza’s largest hospital as Israel and Hamas battle just outside

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:11 GMT

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinian authorities on Tuesday called for a cease-fire to evacuate three dozen newborns and other patients trapped inside Gaza’s biggest hospital as Israeli forces battled Hamas in the streets just outside and seized more ground across northern Gaza.For days, the Israeli army has encircled Shifa Hospital, the facility it says Hamas hides in, and beneath, to use civilians as shields for its main command base.Hospital staff and Hamas deny the claim. Meanwhile, hundreds of patients, staff and displaced people were trapped inside, with supplies dwindling and no electricity to run incubators and other life-saving equipment. With refrigeration out for days, morgue staff on Tuesday dug a mass grave in the yard for more than 120 bodies, officials said.The standoff at Shifa and other hospitals comes as Israeli forces control larger swaths of Gaza City and the surrounding northern part of the Gaza Strip, saying they are driving out and killing Hamas fig...

The man accused of attacking Nancy Pelosi’s husband says he wanted to end corruption

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:11 GMT

By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ (Associated Press)SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The man accused of attacking former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband with a hammer last year told jurors at his federal trial Tuesday how he went to the Pelosis’ San Francisco home as part of a bigger plan to end corruption in the United States.David DePape spoke for more than an hour, often getting emotional and crying about how his political leanings went from leftist to right-wing after reading a comment on a YouTube video about former President Donald Trump. He said he went to the Pelosis’ home to talk to Pelosi about Russian involvement in the 2016 election, and that he planned to wear an inflatable unicorn costume and upload his interrogation of her online.Prosecutors say DePape bludgeoned Paul Pelosi in the early hours of Oct. 28, 2022, just days before the midterm elections, and that he had rope and zip ties with him. DePape has pleaded not guilty to attempted kidnapping of a federal...

After Nevada crash, federal accident investigators want cars to warn drivers if they’re speeding

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:11 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — Federal accident investigators want automakers to install systems on all new vehicles that warn drivers when they go over the speed limit, and it is asking safety regulators to figure out how states can electronically limit speeds on vehicles driven by repeat traffic offenders.The National Transportation Safety Board’s recommendations to combat excessive speeding came after a hearing Tuesday on a January 2022 crash in North Las Vegas, Nevada. In that crash, the driver of a Dodge Challenger with a long record of speeding ran a red light at 103 miles per hour (166 kilometers per hour) and slammed into a minivan, killing himself and eight others.The board, which can only make recommendations and has no regulatory authority, determined that the Challenger driver’s excessive speed and failure to obey a stop sign and red light caused the crash. His impairment from cocaine and PCP contributed. But it also found that the state of Nevada failed to seriously punish ...

After fire kills 3, NYC officials say retailers, delivery apps must to more to ensure e-bike safety

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:11 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City officials say retailers and food delivery companies must do more to halt the proliferation of unsafe e-bike and e-scooter batteries, after a fire blamed on an electric scooter’s lithium ion battery killed three people over the weekend.“There is blood on the hands of this private industry,” Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said at a news conference Monday in front of the charred remains of the Brooklyn row house where the early Sunday blaze killed Albertha West, 81, her son Michael West, 58, and her grandson Jamiyl West, 33.Fire officials said the fire broke out on the ground floor of the building. “It’s extensively damaged,” Kavanagh said, adding that the battery that sparked the fire was for a “scooter of some kind.”The city has seen hundreds of fires linked to the lithium ion batteries that power electric bikes and scooters in the last few years. City officials have blamed off-market batteries and chargers that don’t meet safety standards ...

The Bird flu outbreak isn’t over, but it’s less severe, helping egg and poultry prices recover

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:11 GMT

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nearly 5 million chickens, turkeys and other birds have been slaughtered this year because of a persistent bird flu outbreak that began in 2022, but as big as that number may sound, it’s far less than the number of birds killed last year which means consumers aren’t seeing as much impact on poultry and egg prices.The 4.6 million birds killed this year compares to the nearly 58 million birds the U.S. Department of Agriculture said were slaughtered last year in the first year of the outbreak. While that decline is welcome news, the fact that infections continue is a worrisome indication that unlike earlier outbreaks, the current virus has found a way to survive through the summers, and poultry will likely always be at risk of the disease.The key problem with bird flu is that the highly contagious virus is spread easily by wild birds through droppings and nasal discharges, and it mutates over time. Despite the best efforts of farmers, it is hard to keep the vir...

US Catholic bishops meet; leaders call for unity and peace amid internal strife and global conflict

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:11 GMT

BALTIMORE (AP) — Catholic leaders called for peace in a war-torn world and unity amid strife within their own clerical ranks on Tuesday, as U.S. bishops gathered in Baltimore for their annual fall meeting.The meeting came soon after two actions by Pope Francis that illustrated the divisive challenges facing the Catholic Church – removing one of his harshest conservative critics from his role as bishop of Tyler, Texas, and releasing a document conveying a more welcoming stance to transgender people than the official positions of the U.S. bishops.In his opening address Tuesday, Archbishop Timothy Broglio, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, expressed empathy for those in conflict zones, from Myanmar to the Middle East. “We recognize and defend the right of Israel to exist and to enjoy a place among the nations,” said Broglio, who heads the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA.” At the same time, we know that the Palestinians … have a right to a ...

Nygard sentence to ‘set the tone’ for similar cases, expert says

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:11 GMT

TORONTO — Peter Nygard, the former Canadian fashion mogul who was found guilty of four counts of sexual assault, could face up to a decade or more behind bars as an Ontario court hands down a sentence expected to “set the tone” for similar cases in the future, an Ontario legal expert said.Nygard, 82, was found guilty of those charges on Sunday, but was acquitted of a fifth count, as well as a charge of forcible confinement. The charges stemmed from allegations dating back from the 1980s until the mid-2000s. His sentencing date is to be set later this month. Nygard’s defence lawyer has said he is considering whether to appeal the verdict. Five women testified during trial that they were invited to Nygard’s headquarters at 1 Niagara St. in Toronto under pretexts ranging from tours to job interviews, with all encounters ending in a top-floor bedroom suite where four of them were sexually assaulted. The women’s identities are protected under a standard publ...

Bloc challenges Liberals to nix 18-month wait from bill banning replacement workers

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:11 GMT

OTTAWA — Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet is challenging the federal Liberals to do away with a clause in their bill banning replacement workers that would cause the law to take effect after an 18-month waiting period.The party says in a statement today that it is calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government to remove that time frame from the bill that Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan tabled last week. The legislation proposes to ban the use of replacement workers during lockouts or strikes in federally regulated workplaces, such as airports, ports and the telecommunications sector.The Liberals initially promised to bar employers from using such workers during lockouts, and they expanded the policy to cover strikes as part of a supply-and-confidence agreement with the NDP.The Bloc, which has the third-highest number of seats in the minority Parliament after the official Opposition Conservatives, say the Liberals should work to pass the legislation befo...

2 deputies are charged with attacking an inmate at a Memphis jail

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:11 GMT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Two Tennessee jail deputies were charged Tuesday with attacking a Memphis inmate who was injured but survived.Shelby County Sheriff’s Office deputies Odell Underwood and Reginald Wilkins have been indicted on charges of official misconduct, official oppression and assault with bodily harm, court records show.Shelby County Jail inmate Damian Florez-Ramirez was injured in the May confrontation with Underwood and Wilkins, county district attorney Steve Mulroy said during a news conference.The deputies attacked the handcuffed inmate as he was being taken to a medical facility in the jail, Mulroy said. Florez-Ramirez had attacked a deputy jailer earlier in the day and had been hit with a “chemical agent,” Mulroy said.Florez-Ramirez suffered injuries that were not life-threatening, but details of his injuries were not immediately disclosed. Details of the attack on the inmate also were not disclosed. Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner said Underwood and Wilkins...

Mexican government sends conflicting messages over death of LGBTQ+ magistrate

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:11 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican authorities on Tuesday sent conflicting messages about the violent death of a leading LGBTQ+ figure after thousands marched Monday night demanding justice.Jesús Ociel Baena was found dead with around 20 wounds next to their partner in their home in the central Mexican city of Aguascalientes on Monday, according to state prosecutors. Baena, the first openly nonbinary person to assume a judicial post in Mexico, was one of the most visible LGBTQ+ figures in a country where sexual minorities are often violently targeted.Baena and their partner had already received death threats and hateful messages and had protection from state security, prompting many across the country Monday to call their death a hate crime.Authorities have provided minimal details about the slaying and local prosecutors hinted it may have been a murder-suicide.The Aguascalientes prosecutor’s office on Tuesday offered new details, saying it appeared that Baena was murdered with razor ...