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Israel launches 400 strikes across Gaza, where health officials say hundreds of Palestinians killed

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:53:25 GMT

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — A barrage of Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday crushed multiple residential buildings and buried families under rubble, as health officials in the besieged territory reported hundreds killed in the past day and the closure of medical facilities because of bomb damage and a lack of power.The soaring death toll from Israel’s escalating bombardment is unprecedented in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It augurs an even greater loss of life in Gaza once Israeli forces backed by tanks and artillery launch an expected ground offensive aimed at crushing Hamas militants.Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been running out of food, water and medicine since Israel sealed off the territory following the devastating Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on towns in southern Israel.The Gaza Health Ministry run by Hamas said the attacks killed at least 704 people over the past day, including 305 children and 173 women; the ministry said it tallies daily figures...

‘I took pictures and I told my friends about it’: 911 call released after 13-year-old kills his mom in Hialeah apartment

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:53:25 GMT

A 13-year-old boy confessed to killing his own mother on Oct. 12 and now police have released the 911 call he made to admit to this heinous crime. Derek Rosa called 911 from Apartment 201 along the 200 block of West 79th Place to say he had stabbed his mother to death while his baby sister slept in a crib nearby. The crime shocked the community. Here is some of the transcribed audio from that call: Derek: [Indiscernible] police over here where I live.Dispatcher: What is you address? I need to know if your mom is breathing. Derek: She’s [dead].Dispatcher: OK, why did you do to her? Derek: There’s blood all over the floor.Dispatcher: Why did you kill your mom?Derek: Right now, I have the gun with me. I was going to shoot myself, but I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to. Dispatcher: I need to know that you don’t have any guns or any knives with you.Derek: I-I-there’s a knife on my room and there’s a gun in the living room.Dispatcher: OK, I need y...

Republicans pick Tom Emmer as their nominee for House speaker as they try for a third time

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:53:25 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans have picked Rep. Tom Emmer as their nominee for House speaker. The nominee now goes to the full House for a vote. House Republicans were meeting privately to try nominating a new House speaker.It’s three weeks since Republicans ousted Kevin McCarthy. The House speaker will need to accomplish the seemingly impossible job of uniting the GOP majority. Emmer of Minnesota jumped ahead as the top vote-getter on early round ballots and was battling Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana on a fifth ballot.Others are dropping out including Florida newcomer Byron Donalds, who’s aligned with Donald Trump, and Kevin Hern of Oklahoma. The nominee will also need to win a majority in a House floor vote.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.WASHINGTON (AP) — Three weeks now since the ouster of Kevin McCarthy, House Republicans are meeting privately Tuesday to try nominating a new House speaker to accomplish the seemingly impossible job of unitin...

State police: Drunk man filed missing child report, but just left the child at home

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:53:25 GMT

 MANSFIELD, Connecticut (WFSB) — A man who filed a missing child report with state police was arrested after troopers determined that he was drunk and actually just left the child at home.Colby Parker, 30, was charged with driving under the influence, second-degree reckless endangerment, risk of injury to a child, and second-degree breach of peace.Troopers said they responded to a Price Chopper store on Storrs Road around 8:15 p.m. on Monday for the missing child report.Parker told state police that he went into the store and left the child in his vehicle. He claimed that when he returned to his vehicle, the child wasn’t there.That led to a search by Price Chopper employees, troopers, and members of the University of Connecticut and Coventry police departments. A reverse 911 call was also sent out to residents in the area.Over the course of the investigation, personnel at Price Chopper reviewed the store’s surveillance footage.They determined that Parker made two separate...

Can’t tell Sweden and Switzerland apart? Sweden has a plan for that (or is it Switzerland?)

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:53:25 GMT

Switzerland and Sweden are not the same country!But it’s clear that some people get them confused, as Sweden has released a video addressing the issue.“It’s time we make the distinction between our two nations as clear as day by deciding who talks about what,” VisitSweden — a government-owned company that promotes Sweden as a tourist destination — said in a video campaign released Tuesday.Sweden’s proposal includes a list of reserved topics for each country: Switzerland gets to talk about watches, LSD (the drug was invented by a Swiss chemist) and cows, while Sweden is granted communications privileges on meatballs, moose and ice baths.“As long as both tourism organizations stick to this division in all communication with the outside world, the confusion should come to an end,” Sweden’s proposal reads.There’s no mention of Switzerland’s Ikea or Sweden’s Toblerone. No, wait…Sweden and Switzerland are apparently r...

GLX Fixes Could Occur During Overnight Shutdowns

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:53:25 GMT

MBTA officials are considering a plan that would close the Green Line Extension earlier than normal each night for up to two weeks this fall to repair large stretches of rails that are too narrow.Days after MBTA General Manager Phil Eng revealed that most of the nearly brand-new tracks on the extension need to be widened, he told agency overseers the contractors responsible for the project have proposed tackling the problems in 10 to 14 nights of work starting around Nov. 1.Green Line Extension Constructors, the joint venture that built the 4.4-mile expansion, suggested shutting down service on the rails from 9 p.m. each night until 6 a.m. the following morning during that span, Eng said. Regular service would resume each day following the overnight work.“They would address and regauge all of the track that needs to be done along both branches,” Eng said.Eng said his team is still reviewing the proposal and has not yet committed to it, emphasizing that “itR...

Massachusetts among states suing Meta, claiming its social platforms are addictive and harming children’s mental health

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:53:25 GMT

Dozens of US states, including California and New York, are suing Meta Platforms Inc. for harming young people’s mental health and contributing the youth mental health crisis by knowingly designing features on Instagram and Facebook that addict children to its platforms.The lawsuit filed in federal court in California also claims that Meta routinely collects data on children under 13 without their parents’ consent, in violation of federal law.“Meta has harnessed powerful and unprecedented technologies to entice, engage, and ultimately ensnare youth and teens. Its motive is profit, and in seeking to maximize its financial gains, Meta has repeatedly misled the public about the substantial dangers of its social media platforms,” the complaint says. “It has concealed the ways in which these platforms exploit and manipulate its most vulnerable consumers: teenagers and children.”In addition to the 33 states, nine other attorneys general are filing in their respective states, bringin...

Clemson takes on NC State this Saturday @ 2PM

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:53:25 GMT

State police in Connecticut say drunk man filed missing child report, but just left the child at home

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:53:25 GMT

 MANSFIELD, Connecticut (WFSB) — A man who filed a missing child report with state police was arrested after troopers determined that he was drunk and actually just left the child at home.Colby Parker, 30, was charged with driving under the influence, second-degree reckless endangerment, risk of injury to a child, and second-degree breach of peace.Troopers said they responded to a Price Chopper store on Storrs Road around 8:15 p.m. on Monday for the missing child report.Parker told state police that he went into the store and left the child in his vehicle. He claimed that when he returned to his vehicle, the child wasn’t there.That led to a search by Price Chopper employees, troopers, and members of the University of Connecticut and Coventry police departments. A reverse 911 call was also sent out to residents in the area.Over the course of the investigation, personnel at Price Chopper reviewed the store’s surveillance footage.They determined that Parker made two separate...

Education commissioner names ‘attendance priority schools’ to address ‘staggering’ chronic absenteeism

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:53:25 GMT

Commissioner of Education Jeffrey Riley announced Tuesday he will not name the typical “chronically underperforming schools” this year, shifting focus instead to “attendance priority schools” to address a persistent, chronic absenteeism crisis.“While (underperforming) designations have served us well in the past, in reviewing the data this year, it’s clear that we need a different approach, one based on collaboration and working together as opposed to merely labeling schools,” Riley said at a Board of Elementary and Secondary Education meeting Tuesday morning. “One that is focused laser focus on school attendance.”Though the attendance has begun to recover from the pandemic peak — from 28% absenteeism statewide to 22% this year — the schools across the state are still at “unprecedented” levels of absenteeism. From 2019 to 2023, according to DESE data, chronic absenteeism has grown 72%.Chronic absenteeism i...