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Israel strikes and seals off Gaza after incursion by Hamas, which vows to execute hostages

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:28 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s military ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip on Monday, halting deliveries of food, water, fuel and supplies to its 2.3 million people as it pounded the Hamas-ruled territory with waves of airstrikes in retaliation for the militants’ bloody weekend incursion.Around 1,400 Israelis and Palestinians are dead two days after Hamas launched an attack that caught Israel’s vaunted military and intelligence apparatus completely off guard and led to fierce battles in its streets for the first time in decades.The Israeli military said it had largely gained control in its southern towns where it had been battling Hamas gunmen. But Hamas and other militants in Gaza say they are holding more than 130 soldiers and civilians snatched from inside Israel.Israeli tanks and drones were deployed to guard breaches in the Gaza border fence to prevent new incursions. Thousands of Israelis were evacuated from more than a dozen towns near Gaza, and the military summoned...

EU faces internal showdown over stance on Israel war with Hamas

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:28 GMT

The EU’s united front on Israel’s war with Hamas is already showing its first cracks.The European Commission on Monday publicly disagreed over whether to freeze aid to the Palestinian Authority. Meanwhile, Tuesday’s EU foreign affairs ministers meeting risks leading to an internal showdown, EU diplomats and officials warned, given the disagreements between EU countries on the conflict. “Israel-Palestine is one of the most divisive issues in the EU,” said one EU official, who was granted anonymity to speak publicly. “The intra-European divisions on this conflict are almost as old as the conflict itself.”The most immediate row is over the EU’s financial aid flows to the region. As EU foreign ministers prepared to meet Tuesday, a growing row brewed over the Commission’s announcement to cut Palestinian aid. EU Enlargement Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi on Monday announced the Commission would put €691 million in aid to the Palestinian Authority under review, with al...

Scotland’s Humza Yousaf’s in-laws trapped in Gaza

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:28 GMT

Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf said his parents-in-law are “trapped” in Gaza and “nobody can guarantee them safe passage anywhere.”Yousaf, the leader of the Scottish National Party, said the parents of his wife, Nadia El Nakla, traveled from Dundee to Gaza to see a relative when Hamas launched its deadly attacks.“I’m in a situation where, frankly, night by night, day by day, we don’t know whether or not my mother-in-law and father-in-law — who have nothing to do, as most Gazans don’t, with Hamas or with any terror attack — whether they will make it through the night or not,” Yousaf told reporters on Monday, Sky News reported. Yousaf’s family have been told by Israeli authorities to leave because “Gaza will effectively be obliterated,” the first minister said. However, “despite the best efforts of the British Foreign Office, nobody, nobody can guarantee them safe passage anywhere.” “We ca...

‘The Crown’ final season gets release date

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:28 GMT

(CNN) — Queen Elizabeth’s reign on Netflix is coming to an end.The dates for the sixth and final season of “The Crown” were announced Monday, along with the release of a new trailer.Imelda Staunton stars as Queen Elizabeth in her later years. In the new preview she is seen walking past images of herself as a younger woman, played by Clair Foy and Olivia Colman.“The Crown is a symbol of permanence. It’s something you are, not what you do,” the character can be heard saying. “Some portion of our natural selves is always lost. We have all made sacrifices. It is not a choice. It is a duty.”The older Elizabeth is then heard asking, “But what about the life I put aside? The woman I put aside.”Season 6 will be streamed in two parts. The first part is scheduled to debut on Nov. 16, while the second will begin streaming December 14.According to Netflix, the fictional dramatization will also feature the love story of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

Multiple airlines cancel flights across Israel after government declares war

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:28 GMT

(CNN) — Multiple airlines have canceled flights in and out of Tel Aviv, home to Israel’s largest international airport, after Israel formally declared war on Hamas.In a statement to CNN, American Airlines said it was suspending flights until Friday as it closely monitors the situation on the ground.The cancellations follow on the heels of a “do not fly” order from the president of the Allied Pilots Association, the union representing 15,000 American Airlines pilots.In a note on Sunday, Ed Sicher said that because Israel has declared that it is now at war, “it is not prudent or appropriate to knowingly put our flight crews and passengers in harm’s way by maintaining flights into a war zone.”He cautioned pilots to refuse any assignment into Israel and added that the Federal Aviation Administration has issued a notice to air personnel urging “extreme caution.”The US Embassy in Israel said in a security update Monday that it is continuing “to closely monitor the dynamic s...

New Pew survey shows how many men and women change their names when they get married

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:28 GMT

(CNN) — Now engaged to be married, Michelle Jin has been thinking a lot about last names.She hears about the unity and simplicity that comes with changing hers to her future husband’s, but she doesn’t want to erase her identity, family heritage and experience from her name, said Jin, 28, who lives in New York City.“My last name was called out at my middle, high school and college graduations and is on every single one of my diplomas,” she said. She is now in a doctoral program. “I do dream that my name will one day follow the address of ‘Doctor.’”Younger women such as Jin are more likely to keep their last name after marriage, according to new data.A new survey from the Pew Research Center published Thursday asked more than 2,400 married people and 955 people who have never been married about their stance on changing their names after marriage.This data was a small part of a larger survey into modern views of marriage and family, said Kim Parker, Pew’s director of social t...

4,000 more UAW workers on strike after rejecting deal with Mack Trucks

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:28 GMT

New York (CNN) — The United Auto Workers union says nearly 4,000 members are on strike at heavy truck manufacturer Mack Trucks after voting down a tentative agreement reached a week ago.The union said 73% of its workers had voted against the proposed deal.“I’m inspired to see UAW members at Mack holding out for a better deal, and ready to stand up and walk off the job to win it,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement issued Sunday on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.The union said the rejected contract included an immediate 10% pay raise, and 9 percentage points of additional pay increases over the five-year life of the contract, a $3,500 signing bonus, improved vacation and holidays and no increase in insurance premiums paid by members.Stephen Roy, president of Mack Trucks, said in a statement that he was “surprised and disappointed” that the union had chosen to strike.“The UAW called our tentative agreement ‘a record contract for th...

Report: Red Sox fire pitching coach Dave Bush, third base coach Carlos Febles

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:28 GMT

Coming off a second straight last place finish, the Boston Red Sox are reportedly making a series of changes to their on-field coaching staff.According to Alex Speier of the Boston Globe, the Red Sox have fired pitching coach Dave Bush and third base coach/infield instructor Carlos Febles. Both coaches have been staples of the Red Sox staff through the majority of manager Alex Cora’s tenure but oversaw aspects of the club that fell short of expectations this past season.Bush took over as Red Sox pitching coach in October of 2019 and served in the role for the last four seasons. This year Boston’s pitching collectively underperformed, ranking below league average in team ERA (4.52, 21st in MLB), home runs allowed (208, 24th) and hits allowed per nine innings (8.9, tied 25th).Prior to taking over as pitching coach, the 43-year-old Bush pitched nine seasons in the big leagues for Toronto, Milwaukee and Texas. He started coaching following his retirement and joined the Red S...

Mayo Clinic expert: Joint replacement surgery, arthritis are not inevitable

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:28 GMT

Rhoda Madson | (TNS) Mayo Clinic News NetworkROCHESTER, Minn. — Don’t worry about your hips or knees as you age. Arthritis in those joints isn’t inevitable. Keep doing the activities you enjoy. Those hopeful words come from Rafael Sierra, M.D., an orthopedic surgeon at Mayo Clinic specializing in hip and knee reconstruction. Dr. Sierra says there is no need to curtail your activities out of fear that you’ll wear out those joints as you age and need joint replacement.However, certain conditions, such as birth defects and anatomical issues, may predispose a person to have hip or knee problems. Untreated, hip dysplasia and hip impingement are leading causes of hip replacement in people under 50. Having bowlegs, knock knees — or other structural issues­ — can hasten the need for knee replacement.“But it’s not like the rest of us have to be worried and say, ‘OK, at age 50, maybe I should have my hips or knees examined by a doctor,'” Dr. Sierra sa...

Israel’s Netanyahu says Gaza offensive has ‘only started,’ attacks will reverberate for years

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:28 GMT

By JOSEF FEDERMAN and ISSAM ADWAN (Associated Press)JERUSALEM (AP) — BodyIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that Israel has “only started” a fierce offensive in the Gaza Strip in response to an unprecedented Hamas attack.Netanyahu delivered the pronouncement in a nationally televised address as Israel pressed ahead with a third day of heavy airstrikes in Gaza.“We have only started striking Hamas,” he said. “What we will do to our enemies in the coming days will reverberate with them for generations.”THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel increased airstrikes on the Gaza Strip and sealed off the Palestinian territory from food, fuel, and other supplies in retaliation for a deadly incursion by Hamas militants, as the toll rose to nearly 1,600 dead on both sides. Hamas mounted its own escalation on Monday, pledging to kill captured Israelis if its attacks targete...