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Israel vows complete siege on Gaza as it strikes the Palestinian territory after incursion by Hamas

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:23:54 GMT

By JOSEF FEDERMAN and ISSAM ADWAN (Associated Press)JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s military ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip on Monday, halting deliveries of food, 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.More than two days after Hamas launched its surprise attack, the Israeli military said it had largely gained control in its southern towns where it had been battling Hamas gunmen. Israel’s vaunted military and intelligence apparatus was caught completely off guard by Hamas, resulting in heavy battles in its streets for the first time in decades.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 300,000 reservists — a massive mobilization in a short time.The mo...

Days of heat set to give way to autumn-like temperatures in San Diego County

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:23:54 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- After a few days of near three-digit heat, it will start to feel a little more like autumn in San Diego County this week.The National Weather Service forecasts that a slow cooldown will start to set in across the region starting Monday, bringing temperatures down to about two to seven degrees below seasonal averages by Wednesday.Temperatures on Monday are expected to dip slightly from the weekend's highs as a ridge continues to weaken and shift eastward, NWS says, giving way to a large, dynamic low pressure system moving in from the northwest.According to the agency, coastal regions will see high temperatures around 70 to 75 degrees, while the inland valley and mountain communities will see temperatures anywhere from 75 to 85 degrees. Desert areas are still anticipated to see highs around 99 to 101 degrees on Monday. How much rainfall has San Diego County had this water year? The cooling trend will continue into the week as the low pressure system moves, bringing the ...

Californian claims one of nations $1 million Powerball tickets

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:23:54 GMT

(FOX40.COM) -- Although there were no grand prize winners during Saturday night's Powerball drawing, over 600,000 winning tickets were drawn in California, according to the California Lottery. The lucky numbers for the Oct. 7 drawing were, 47, 54, 57, 60, 65, and the Powerball was 19. Highway 50 construction: How much longer until it’s finally finished? According to the California Lottery, there were 603,340 winning tickets across the Golden State amounting to a total winning amount of around $4.7 million in prizes. California's big winner of the night came from a ticket sold at Town & Country Market at 600 Post Street, San Francisco that matched all five numbers but missed the Powerball. Annual Black Film Festival returns to St. Hope’s Guild Theater That winner is able to claim their prize of $1.3 million. Only nine other people in the country matched five numbers. The bulk of the state's winners, 397,712 tickets, guessed only the Powerball number and won their prize of $4...

European Union ‘immediately’ suspends hundreds of millions in aid for Palestinian authorities

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:23:54 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union announced Monday that it was “immediately” suspending hundreds of millions of euros in aid for Palestinian authorities because of what an EU commissioner called the “scale of terror and brutality” during the attacks on Israel by Hamas.Germany and Austria also announced similar measures. “We need action and we need it now,” EU Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi tweeted. It also underscored strong words of EU support for Israel since the Hamas attacks started on Saturday, including that Israel had now every right to defend itself within the bounds of international law. The surprise announcement by Varhelyi on development aid came just hours after EU officials stressed that no EU money whatsoever was going to Hamas in the first place and that contacts had been frozen for 16 years. The EU considers Hamas a terror group.Queries about what the move entailed and how extensive its impact on Palestinian aid would be weren’t immediately answered. Varhelyi sa...

Flag football set to be included at Los Angeles Olympics in 2028

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:23:54 GMT

Flag football took a key step toward becoming an Olympic sport in 2028, a victory for the NFL and organizers in Los Angeles who will bring a distinctly American sport to the Summer Games as they return to the United States for the first time in 32 years.Two people familiar with a proposal from the Los Angeles organizing committee told The Associated Press on Monday that the committee had delivered its proposal to the International Olympic Committee, setting it up for a vote later this month at the IOC’s meeting in Mumbai, India. The people did not want to be named because the LA committee was expected to release the information later Monday.Other sports on the list included baseball and softball — which were in the Tokyo Games in 2021 but will not be played next year in Paris — lacrosse, squash and cricket, a sport with a much wider global reach that will go over well in Brisbane, Australia, which is hosting in 2032, and in India, where the vote will take place.Out is breakdan...

Music Review: Holly Humberstone gets candid on atmospheric debut album, ‘Paint My Bedroom Black’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:23:54 GMT

A third of the way through her debut album, “Paint My Bedroom Black,” Gen Z pop singer Holly Humberstone initiates a sort of slow dance, but one set in an anxious daydream.“When you found me I was a train wreck / You gathered my bones in a blanket,” she sings on “Kissing in Swimming Pools,” as if whispering in someone’s ear. “So, can we kiss in your swimming pool? In this bathing suit, I would die for you.”The song’s steady rhythm and candid lyrics are soothing but also worried — a tone that captures the rest of Humberstone’s debut, due out Friday. Across 13 tracks, Humberstone allows herself to wallow in the confusion of maintaining new and old relationships. And she isn’t afraid to own the suffocating nature of that uncertainty. But she’s also building a new world, ushering in a reset. As she sings on album’s title track, “Here’s to new horizons.”Humberstone, 23, first established a fanbase in 2020 with the release of her EP “Falling Asleep at the Wheel.” In 2022, she was aw...

Live updates | Israel vows to punish Gaza as region and world feel ripples from Hamas attack

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:23:54 GMT

Israel’s defense minister has ordered a “complete siege” on the Gaza Strip following an unprecedented incursion into Israel by Hamas fighters.Israel formally declared war on Sunday and gave the green light for “significant military steps” to retaliate against Hamas for Saturday’s surprise attack. More than 1,100 people have been killed and thousands wounded on both sides.The defense minister’s announcement on Monday came as Israel’s military scoured the country’s south for Hamas fighters and guarded breaches in its border fence with tanks while pounding Gaza from the air. A spokesperson said the Israeli military regained control of border communities taken by Hamas fighters during the attack. But Palestinian militants continued firing barrages of rockets, setting off air raid sirens in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.EGYPTIAN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS RALLY IN SUPPORT OF PALESTINIANSDozens of students held a rally in support of the Palestinian people Monday at the prestigious American ...

Suspects sought in Pennsylvania community center shooting that killed 1, wounded 8

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:23:54 GMT

INDIANA, Pa. (AP) — Authorities are seeking suspects in a shooting that killed one man and wounded eight other people at a private party in a Pennsylvania community center.State police in Indiana County said nine people between the ages of 18 and 23 were shot at about 12:35 a.m. Sunday at the Chevy Chase Community Center in White Township, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of Pittsburgh. Police say they believe there was more than one shooter. They are seeking surveillance video, asking local homes and businesses to check doorbell cameras and requesting that anyone missing items — such as the cellphones and clothing found at the center — to contact them, authorities said. A 22-year-old Pittsburgh man died at the scene and an 18-year-old man from Chicago was critically injured, while another 18-year-old from Florida and six men and women from Pennsylvania were also taken to hospitals. Two were discharged.Lt. Col. George Bivens said dozens of shots were fired and there may have...

An independent inquiry opens into alleged unlawful killings by UK special forces in Afghanistan

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:23:54 GMT

LONDON (AP) — An independent inquiry opened Monday to examine claims that British special forces murdered dozens of Afghan men during counterinsurgency operations in Afghanistan a decade ago, as well as allegations that authorities subsequently covered up the alleged illegal activity or failed to investigate it properly.The inquiry, which opened at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, focuses on alleged unlawful killings that took place during night raids carried out by Britain’s elite military units in the war-torn nation between 2010 and 2013. Families of those killed say they were innocent and unarmed civilians, and called on the inquiry to unearth the truth. In one case, family members allege that nine men were shot in their beds during a raid. The British military has said that soldiers were acting in self-defense. The investigation is expected to hear submissions on behalf of the families of 33 people, including eight children, who were allegedly killed by special forc...

Book Review: Isa Arsén delivers an unconventional love story in debut novel ‘Shoot the Moon’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:23:54 GMT

If you’re going to write a novel, why not do as the title of Isa Arsén’s debut suggests? “Shoot the Moon” refers to the actual act of getting astronauts to the lunar surface, but this work of fiction also attempts to shoot the moon like a fearless player in a Hearts card game — thematically, there’s bisexuality, loss, Daddy issues, and a unique wormhole that allows for some very specific time travel.The bulk of the novel takes place in the late 1960s, as NASA is indeed trying to beat the Soviets to the moon. Annie Fisk is the lead character, a recent physics graduate whose father played a role developing the atomic bomb before dying young. By page five Annie is in love with an Apollo 11 astronaut named Norm she meets at a NASA Christmas party. And by page seven we’ve gone backwards 18 years and 8-year-old Annie is meeting a like-aged stranger named Diana in the back garden of her childhood home in New Mexico.The plot only gets trippier from there. In 1968, Annie really does discover...