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Local family trapped in Gaza pleads for help while war continues

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:42 GMT

A local couple’s trip to see family recently took a terrifying turn, leaving the pair trapped in Gaza with their baby while the current war between Israel and Hamas continues. As millions of people are told to evacuate Gaza, hundreds of Americans are among those trapped. Wafaa Abuzayda is from Medway and is now begging for help. “Please save us,” she told NPR. “We have been trying to call the embassy since Saturday. Nobody is helping. Nobody is getting back to us.” Abuzayda was in Gaza visiting family with her husband and one-year-old child when the war broke out over the weekend.With supplies cut to and from the region, the family has been running out of diapers and formula. “It’s not safe,” Abuzayda  said. “Yesterday, it was like a horrible night. We couldn’t sleep at all.” US officials estimate Abuzayda’s family is among upwards of 600 Americans stuck in Gaza. Back in Massachusetts, family friend Sammy Nabulsi is one of many working to get Abuzayda a...

Failed Massachusetts congressional candidate convicted for using campaign funds to pay off personal, business debts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:42 GMT

A 2018 Democratic Massachusetts congressional candidate has been convicted of charges related to misusing campaign finances to pay personal debts.Abhijit “Beej” Das, 50, of North Andover, was convicted by a federal jury in Boston Friday of one count of accepting excessive campaign contributions, one count of conduit contributions, one count of conversion of campaign funds and two counts of making false statement.Each charge carries a possible maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns scheduled sentencing for Jan. 17.Das finished seventh in the 10-candidate Democratic primary in 2018 for the 3rd Congressional District seat, winning less than 2% of the votes cast . The seat would eventually be won by current Rep. Lori Trahan, who defeated Republican Rick Green in the general election that November.The 3rd Congressional District consists of a large swath of Middlesex County and portions of Essex and Worcester counties....

17-year-old arrested, warrant issued for a second teen in shooting at Baltimore’s Morgan State University

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:42 GMT

Darcy Costello, Alex Mann | (TNS) Baltimore SunBaltimore Police on Friday announced the arrest of one teen and an arrest warrant for a second teen in connection with the Oct. 3 shooting on Morgan State University’s campus that wounded five young people.A 17-year-old was arrested Thursday in Washington, D.C., “without incident” and will be charged with multiple counts of attempted murder, according to a police news release.The second teen, Jovan Williams, who is 18, is wanted on a warrant accusing him of multiple counts of attempted murder in connection with the shooting. Police say he is considered “armed and dangerous,” and ask anyone who comes in contact with him to call 911.Williams has been wanted by local and federal authorities in D.C., where he lives, since July. At that time, he was federally indicted in connection to what the Washington Metropolitan Police Department described as a “violent drug trafficking organization.”In addition to drug dealing, the federal indictment a...

Man killed in afternoon fatal shooting in Dorchester

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:42 GMT

A man is dead in another “broad daylight” shooting in Dorchester.Boston Police responded a little after 2 p.m. to the area of 46 Corona St. in Dorchester upon a ShotSpotter alert and calls of a person shot, authorities said from the scene later in the afternoon.In front of that address, police found a man suffering from gunshot wounds, BPD Superintendent Felipe Colon said. The man was pronounced dead at the scene by Boston EMS.Colon and Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden stressed the importance of the community’s help in solving this crime.“As always, in every single one of these circumstances, we need our community’s help and support in this situation. Our office and law enforcement will do everything we can to bring the perpetrator of this incident to justice,” Hayden said. “We need the community’s help.”Colon said officers were, as he was speaking, canvassing the area for any video footage or witnesses who could aid in the investigation. He said anyone with any information sh...

Former Mountie acknowledges tension between intelligence units within RCMP

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:42 GMT

OTTAWA — A former senior Mountie acknowledges there were tensions from time to time between an intelligence unit he led and one run by Cameron Jay Ortis, who is charged with breaching Canada’s secrets law.Warren Coons, now a retired chief superintendent, was responsible for the National Intelligence Co-ordination Centre, an RCMP unit that aimed to track emerging trends of interest to the force.At the time, Ortis was director of the RCMP’s Operations Research group, which had access to highly classified intelligence.Coons told the jury in Ortis’s Ontario Superior Court trial on Friday he wouldn’t necessarily describe the relationship between the two units as adversarial, but it was not a strong one.“In a high-stress working environment, that’s not uncommon,” Coons said under cross-examination by defence lawyer Mark Ertel.The Crown alleges that Ortis anonymously sent secret information in 2015 to people who were of investigative interest to th...

‘No place’ for championing violence: Canada’s justice and public safety ministers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:42 GMT

OTTAWA — The RCMP says it’s aware of social media posts threatening the Jewish community in Canada, calling it a time for “increased vigilance,” while public safety and justice ministers from across the country said no one should be pushing for violence or supporting terrorism.“Canadians have the right to feel safe to practise their faith and express their beliefs,” said a joint statement issued Thursday by federal, provincial and territorial ministers responsible for justice and public safety, who were gathered for a meeting in Bromont, Que.“There is no place for supporting terrorism or advocating for violence in Canada.”The statement was framed as a response to “calls for global protest and unrest” from Hamas, which Canada lists as a terrorist organization. Hamas militants launched a deadly attack last weekend that killed hundreds of people in Israel, including at an outdoor music festival. Israel has retaliated with airstrikes...

Rare eclipse due Saturday over western B.C., but clouds could block the show

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:42 GMT

VANCOUVER — Western British Columbia will be the best place in Canada to view a rare annular solar eclipse on Saturday, but cloudy skies could obscure the phenomenon for many viewers.Gurveen Kaur, co-president of the University of B.C. Astronomy Club, said she was saddened, but not defeated, by the forecast. “I think everyone’s still hoping that they’ll still get at least a glimpse of the eclipse throughout that hour-and-a-half window,” she said in an interview Friday.An annular solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Earth and sun, and because it happens when the sun is at its farthest point from Earth, viewers are treated to a bright halo surrounding the black blot of the moon.Areas of North America that will see the total eclipse and fiery ring include a path from Oregon to Texas, but a statement from the University of B.C. said Metro Vancouver residents will be able to see nearly 75 per cent of the eclipse beginning at 8:08 a.m. Pacific time...

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s UCP to debate motion on gender pronouns in schools

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:42 GMT

EDMONTON — Members of Alberta’s governing United Conservative Party are set to debate a resolution surrounding gender pronouns in schools, but Premier Danielle Smith says her government won’t automatically follow what is decided.The resolution comes three weeks from now, at the UCP’s annual general meeting Nov. 3-4 in Calgary.It is the first get-together since Smith’s party won re-election in May.Resolution delegates will debate and vote on schools requiring written consent from parents or guardians for a child under 16 to use a different name or pronoun at school.The resolution, put forward by representatives for Edmonton’s West-Henday constituency, notes Saskatchewan and New Brunswick are implementing similar rules, and stated if parental consent is needed for field trips, it should be required for name changes.“Parents, not schools, are the legal guardians of their children,” states West-Henday in the motion as its rationale for introducing it.“Schools should not be in the busine...

New review of Riverdale consumption site begins after supervisor appointed

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:42 GMT

Ontario’s Ministry of Health is appointing a supervisor for a Toronto consumption and treatment services site that has been the focus of increased scrutiny after a bystander was shot and killed nearby.The province says Jill Campbell, a former executive at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, will have full decision-making authority on any improvements to the operations and safety at the site that are recommended after a review is completed.Karolina Huebner-Makurat, a 44-year-old mother of two, was killed by a stray bullet in the summer near a consumption site at the South Riverdale Community Health Centre in Toronto’s east end following a physical altercation between three men.Some residents raised safety concerns around the site and Health Minister Sylvia Jones launched a “critical incident review,” which a spokesperson says involves consulting with public health, reviewing complaints against the site and developing a new incident reporting template.T...

Friends and families mourn the loss of Canadians killed by Hamas in Israel

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:42 GMT

OTTAWA — Friends and family have confirmed that at least three Canadians were killed last weekend when Hamas militants conducted a series of brutal attacks in Israel.Two Canadian men were killed by Hamas gunmen who ambushed a music festival in southern Israel, according to their loved ones in Canada. And an Israeli Canadian mother of two was killed in her kibbutz, a communal farming settlement, an Ottawa Jewish group said.At least 2,800 people have been killed so far in the conflict sparked by the Hamas attacks, which has escalated throughout the week as Israel conducts retaliatory strikes on the Gaza Strip.Canada considers Hamas a terrorist group, and Canadian leaders have decried the violence it waged on the weekend. The federal government is organizing flights for Canadian citizens and permanent residents out of Tel Aviv, but it can do little to help some 100 Canadians trapped in Gaza amid Israel’s siege on the territory.  Here’s what we know about the three people th...