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Gaza cease-fire demands grow amid ‘reprehensible’ attacks near hospital

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:48 GMT

As Israel pummels the area around Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza, global organizations are rallying behind calls for an immediate cease-fire in the war against Hamas.The World Health Organization said in the early hours of Sunday morning that it had lost contact with the 700-bed Al-Shifa health care facility, one of the largest in Gaza, pointing to reports of those leaving the scene being shot.“As horrifying reports of the hospital facing repeated attacks continue to emerge, we assume our contacts joined tens of thousands of displaced people and are fleeing the area,” the WHO posted on X.Israel claims Hamas has installed armed command centers inside hospitals and other civilian facilities, but Doctors Without Borders said that Al-Shifa, which includes maternity and outpatient areas providing emergency and surgical care, had been targeted with power cuts while access for ambulances or evacuation had been cut too.“This is unconscionable, reprehensible and must stop,” said Ma...

Cold to chilly Sunday

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:48 GMT

Brrr it’s cold outside! Temperatures fell below freezing for the majority of us this morning. This is the first morning Boston has been at or below freezing this season. That average date is November 9th.It stays cooler today with highs in the low/mid 40s. There will be less wind than yesterday, so it might feel a bit better for you this afternoon. We’ll see mostly sunshine today. The exception will be across Cape Cod and Cape Ann where ocean-effect clouds will hang out the rest of the day.Tonight, temperatures will be cold again as we fall into the low/mid 20s. We’ll see mostly sunshine tomorrow before we get increasing clouds in the afternoon. Highs will be in the 40s. There’s a chance for flurries overnight Monday into early Tuesday. Other than that rain stays away until late Friday/Saturday. Temperatures rebound near 60 by the end of the week.-Meteorologist Melanie Black

Patriots rookie WR Kayshon Boutte breaks inactive streak, defensive leader out

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:48 GMT

FRANKFURT, Germany — Patriots rookie wide receiver Kayshon Boutte is active for the first time since Week 1.Boutte has been a healthy scratch since replacing wide receiver DeVante Parker in the starting lineup in the Patriots’ season opener. He’ll dress for Sunday’s game against the Colts at Frankfurt Stadium.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Four Patriots players who could play key roles vs. Colts in Germany New England Patriots | Callahan: Bill Belichick, Patriots finding joy in Germany amid lost season New England Patriots | NFL notes: How many Patriots are guaranteed to return in 2024? Well, not many New England Patriots | Patriots-Colts preview: How Mac Jones and Bill Belichick can win in Germany New England Patriots | Patriots QB Mac Jones seems to want to throw deep more often Defensive captain Ja’Whaun Bentley will not play, however. The veteran linebacker was q...

Whitby workers reach tentative agreement to end garbage strike

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:48 GMT

The town of Whitby and CUPE Local 53 have reached a tentative agreement to end a weeks-long labour disruption that has halted garbage pickup and affected other city services.The three-year agreement “is fair and balances the needs of CUPE Local 53 workers and Whitby residents,” said a statement on the Town of Whitby’s website.The labour disruption halted curbside garbage and green bin collection, but curbside yard waste collection was still in place, although possibly delayed, and in response Whitby opened temporary waste drop-off locations. All municipal facilities and in-person customer service desks were also closed, except for the Central and Rossland branch locations of the Whitby Public Library.????Attn Whitby: The Town and CUPE 53 FT have reached a tentative agreement. Parties will ratify the tentative agreement this week, at which point regular service and program delivery will begin. Learn more: https://t.co/cchKmgn5J4— Town of Whitby, ON (@TownofWhi...

Thousands march through Amsterdam calling for climate action ahead of Dutch general election

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:48 GMT

AMSTERDAM (AP) — Tens of thousands of people marched through the streets of Amsterdam on Sunday calling for more action to tackle climate change, in a mass protest just 10 days before a national election.Organizers claimed that 70,000 people took part in the march and called it the biggest climate protest ever in the Netherlands.Activist Greta Thunberg was among those walking through the historic heart of the Dutch capital. She and former European Union climate chief Frans Timmermans, who now leads a center-left, two-party bloc in the election campaign, were among speakers due to address a crowd that gathered on a square behind the landmark Rijksmuseum.“We live in a time of crises, all of which are the result of the political choices that have been made. It has to be done and it can be done differently,” organizer the Climate Crisis Coalition said in a statement.While the coalition included the Fridays for Future youth movement, protesters were all ages and included a large co...

Virginia State University officer critically wounded in shooting near campus, officials say

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:48 GMT

PETERSBURG, Va. (AP) — A Virginia State University police officer was critically wounded early Sunday in a shooting that happened near the VSU campus, the university said.The officer was taken to VCU Medical Center with life-threatening injuries, according to a news release.The shooting happened at about 1:34 a.m. when an on-duty VSU police officer responded to a disturbance at the campus in Petersburg, Virginia, according to Chesterfield County police. The suspect ran off campus before shots were fired, injuring the VSU officer. The suspect remains at large.VSU Police Chief David Bragg said the campus remains on lockdown as a precaution, the university said, and police continue to investigate.The Associated Press

Floods kill at least 31 in Somalia. UN warns of a flood event likely to happen once in 100 years

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:48 GMT

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Floods caused by torrential rainfall have killed at least 31 people in various parts of Somalia, authorities said Sunday.Since October, floods have displaced nearly half a million people and disrupted the lives of over 1.2 million people, Minister of Information Daud Aweis told reporters in the capital Mogadishu. They have also caused extensive damage to civilian infrastructure notably in the Gedo region of southern Somalia, he said. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, which has given $25 million to help mitigate the impact of flooding, warned in a statement Thursday of “a flood event of a magnitude statistically likely only once in 100 years, with significant anticipated humanitarian impacts.”“While all possible preparatory measures are being pursued, a flood of this magnitude can only be mitigated and not prevented,” OCHA said, recommending “early warning and early action” to save lives as “large-scale displa...

Bestselling spiritual author Marianne Williamson presses on with against-the-odds presidential run

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:48 GMT

Marianne Williamson has kept barnstorming for months across America — to audiences large and small, from churches and colleges to spiritual centers and soup kitchens — in a demanding schedule of appearances in her second tenacious, against-the-odds run for the presidency.The bestselling spiritual author and one-time advisor to Oprah Winfrey didn’t make it to the 2020 primaries in a wide-open Democratic field. Now she is running against a sitting president from her own party, and the Democratic establishment has closed ranks behind Joe Biden. Even some of her most devoted followers doubt she can be elected. So why is Williamson even running? She says it’s the faith she has in herself and the American people. “The most important things you do in life, not because there’s guaranteed success on some external level, but because you feel in your heart it’s the right thing to do,” Williamson, 71, said during an interview in New York City.She admits it has been grueling at times — not just ...

GOP election losses in Virginia are likely to quiet the presidential speculation about Gov. Youngkin

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:48 GMT

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Gov. Glenn Youngkin cast Virginia’s legislative races in monumental terms when he campaigned with a Republican candidate in one of the most competitive districts a few days before the election.The first-term governor with growing national recognition told a cheering crowd at a historic waterside venue that voters could help build on the “movement” he started with his own victory in 2021 by handing the party full control of the statehouse and keeping the “spirit of Virginia” alive.After Tuesday’s voting didn’t go as he had hoped, the rhetoric was less soaring.“I’m here,” he said at a postmortem news conference. “I’m not going anywhere.”The retired sheriff with whom Youngkin campaigned did win election to the statehouse, but Democrats retained their Senate majority and flipped the House of Delegates, wins that they said were powered by their promises to protect abortion rights. Youngkin, who is barred by the state constitution from ru...

Once a darling of Ottawa, Shopify increasingly distancing itself from city

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:48 GMT

For its 19 yearsin existence, Shopify Inc. has been synonymous with Ottawa. Founder and chief executive Tobi Lütke, who emigrated from Germany, built and grew the e-commerce software brand in this country’s capital and politicians just down the street on Parliament Hill never hesitated to sing its praises, often thanking Shopify for putting Ottawa on the map for tech innovation again.But these days, Ottawa is seemingly no longer the centre of Shopify’s universe. Many of its top-ranking executives, Lütke included, recently departed the city and several others never bothered to move there in the first place. They instead sprinkled themselves across Canada and the U.S. — the product of a pandemic-inspired permanent remote work evolution Shopify felt so strongly about that it dumped Ottawa as the headquarters on its press releases and replaced it with “Internet, Everywhere.” Shopify watchers say the decentralization away from Ottawa signals the company is turning...