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America’s top diplomat calls for protecting civilians as Israel readies an expected assault on Gaza

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:29 GMT

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Saturday for protecting civilians in the Gaza Strip and Israel as he intensified his diplomatic outreach across the Middle East and beyond to rally an international response to prevent the Israel-Hamas war from expanding.Blinken met with Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan in Riyadh before stopping in the United Arab Emirates as he sought ways to help civilians trapped in between the fighting and to address the growing humanitarian crisis. He also called his Chinese counterpart as Palestinians struggled to flee from areas of Gaza targeted by the Israeli military before an expected land offensive.His efforts reflect the international concern about the number of civilians at risk and the potential ramifications of a prolonged war as Israel told Gaza residents to move south and Hamas urged people to remain in their homes. The Biden administration — from President Joe Biden to his Pentagon chie...

Palestinians in Gaza struggle to follow Israeli evacuation order and face dire water shortage

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:29 GMT

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinians struggled Saturday to flee from areas of Gaza targeted by the Israeli military while grappling with a growing water and medical supply shortage ahead of an expected land offensive a week after Hamas’ bloody, wide-ranging attack into Israel.Israel renewed calls on social media and in leaflets dropped from the air for Gaza residents to move south, while Hamas urged people to stay in their homes. The U.N. and aid groups have said such a rapid exodus would cause untold human suffering, especially for hospitalized patients, older adults and others unable to relocate.The evacuation directive covers an area of 1.1 million residents, or about half the territory’s population. The Israeli military said “hundreds of thousands” of Palestinians had already heeded the warning and headed south. It said Palestinians could travel within Gaza without being harmed along two main routes from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. local time.A week after Hamas’ attack, Isr...

Man charged with sexual assault on 9-year-old boy in Mississauga

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:29 GMT

Investigators from Peel police’s Special Victims Unit have charged a 30-year-old man after a sexual offence was committed on a nine-year-old boy at a shopping mall in Mississauga.In July of 2023, a nine-year-old boy was using a public washroom at the Square One shopping mall when the suspect allegedly engaged in a conversation with him that was sexual in nature. The victim and suspect did not know each other. Investigators identified the suspect, and on Friday, Travis Alexander was charged with invitation to sexual touching and sexual assault.He was held for a bail hearing and attended the Ontario Court of Justice in Brampton. Anyone with any information is asked to contact the Special Victims Unit.

While the world is watching Gaza, violence fuels growing tensions in the occupied West Bank

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:29 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — While the world is focused on the war in Gaza, tensions have risen in the occupied West Bank, where 54 Palestinians were killed over the past week in clashes with Israeli troops, arrest raids and attacks by Jewish settlers. U.N. monitors said it was the deadliest week for Palestinians in the territory since at least 2005.Since Hamas’ deadly mass incursion into southern Israel, in which militants killed over 1,300 people and captured around 150, Israeli forces have held the West Bank under a tight grip, closing crossings into the territory and checkpoints between cities, measures they say are aimed at preventing attacks.Friday was a particularly deadly day, with 16 Palestinians killed in different incidents in the West Bank.The military says it has arrested 220 people in raids across the West Bank, including 130 Hamas operatives, since last weekend’s attack. Hamas militants are present in the West Bank, but largely operate underground because of Israel’s tight ...

LIV Golf Jeddah Sunday start time moved up to 11am local

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:29 GMT

KING ABDULLAH ECONOMIC CITY, Saudi Arabia (LIV Golf) – The start time for Sunday’s final round of LIV Golf Jeddah presented by ROSHN has been moved up one hour to 11:00 a.m., with the shotgun start taking place at 11:05 a.m. and the leading group teeing off at 11:16 a.m. (times local).Fan entrances at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club will now open at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday.Live coverage of the final round will air at 11:00 a.m. local (4:00 a.m. ET) on LIV Golf Plus, The CW App and the league’s network of global broadcast partners. Coverage will also air from 1:00 – 6:00 p.m. ET in the U.S. on The CW.Globally, LIV Golf tournaments are carried on LIV Golf Plus, the LIV Golf YouTube channel and on more than a dozen international broadcast networks, delivering league coverage in over 180 territories to more than 380 million homes worldwide. For more information on how to watch the 2023 LIV Golf League, visit LIV Golf’s Where To Watch page.

PHOTOS: Otter spotted in San Marcos

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:29 GMT

SAN MARCOS, Texas (KXAN) – A dive coordinator for the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment spotted a curious North American River Otter breaching the surface at Spring Lake in San Marcos.   MORE: Otter family spotted along San Marcos River Not just a cute face – the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment posted that when these sleek swimmers are seen thriving in Central Texas waters, it means the rivers are clean. Conversely, when there are pollutants in the water, it is reflected in otters. A dive coordinator for the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment spotted a curious North American River Otter breaching the surface of the San Marcos River. (Photo Courtesy Mike Flores)A dive coordinator for the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment spotted a curious North American River Otter breaching the surface of the San Marcos River. (Photo Courtesy Mike Flores)A dive coordinator for the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment spotted a curious North...

Research ranks states on greenhouse gas emissions put into the U.S. economy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:29 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The University of Massachusetts Amherst Political Economy Research Institute released its first Greenhouse 100 Suppliers State List. The research included state-level rankings for the quantity of greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels introduced into the United States economy. Rankings were based on the most recent data available from the federal Environmental Protection Agency. Meteorologist Rich Segal speaks with Michael Ash, a professor of economics and public policy at UMass Amherst. He says the rankings are able to determine corporate responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions and the potential liability for the damage to Earth's climate.The list shows which companies are introducing fossil fuels into the economy. Fuels burned leaving pollution from the emissions that contribute to greenhouse gas concentrations and climate change. The list did not include oil drilling. Where did Texas rank? According to Ash, Texas ranks first among the 50 states with more ...

Eric Gertler: Universities must stand against extremism

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:29 GMT

Leadership matters. Especially in academia. Our education leaders do not simply educate the next generation of Americans but they also inculcate the values for our future leaders in this country. Now is a moment when their voice is essential – and their silence is destructive.In recent days, the world has witnessed horrific and unimaginable acts of brutality and violence committed by Hamas, a terrorist organization. The killing of countless innocent civilians, including children and the elderly, the beheadings of soldiers and the abduction of many others as hostages can only be condemned.What we have seen extends beyond an issue in Israel to one that the region also faces. We need to recognize that millions of innocent Palestinians have also suffered under brutal Hamas leaders who have had a vested interest in maintaining the squalid conditions of those in Gaza. Instead of investing in the quality of life for those in Gaza, Hamas leaders have instead focused on building rockets and ...

‘The Burial’ review: Courtroom theatrics courtesy of Jamie Foxx and Tommy Lee Jones

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:29 GMT

“Objection, your honor, on the simple fact that she’s just angry!” That’s one of the funnier lines teed up by Jamie Foxx in the courtroom drama “The Burial,” which is based on a real case from the 1990s.Jerry O’Keefe (Tommy Lee Jones) owns a chain of funeral homes in Mississippi and the 75-year-old patriarch — decent and soft-spoken, but with a spine of steel — has one goal: To leave the family business to his 13 children. No mention of whether any of them want to run the business after he’s gone, but no matter.O’Keefe also sells funeral insurance — that’s the real moneymaker — which means he’s supposed to have a certain amount of cash on hand. He doesn’t. And state regulators are looking to shut him down without it. To raise the money, he’s agreed to sell three of his eight funeral homes to the Loewen Group, a large corporation looking to monopolize the industry. Loewen’s yacht-owning CEO (a wonderfully self-satisfied Bill Camp) talks openly about how much he’ll make from the impen...

The real star of the 2006 sci-fi thriller 'The Black Hole' is St. Louis

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:29 GMT

ST. LOUIS – The Black Hole is a movie set in St. Louis that tells the story of a scientific project gone awry, and the havoc wreaked by a mysterious creature. You may have missed this feature starring Kristy Swanson of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Judd Nelson from The Breakfast Club, but you can now watch it on YouTube.The real stars of this campy film may be St. Louis landmarks, including the McDonnell Planetarium, which stands in for the fictional Midwestern Quantum Research Laboratory. It opens with a discussion among a panel of nuclear physicists about the possibility of creating a black hole.In the movie:The movie's opening scenes prominently feature St. Louis landmarks such as the Martin Luther King Bridge, Eads Bridge, and the Congressman William L. Clay Sr. Bridge. As the opening sequence continues, viewers catch glimpses of the Gateway Arch and the old state capital building. The camera then soars over Busch Stadium, newly constructed in 2006.The story unfolds at the Quant...