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14 Americans killed in Israel, Americans held hostage by Hamas terrorists: ‘We stand with Israel,’ Biden says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:40 GMT

At least 14 American citizens have been killed in Israel from Hamas’ “abhorrent” and “stomach-turning” terrorist attacks, while other Americans are still being held hostage by the terrorist group, President Biden has confirmed.The Israeli military on Tuesday continued to retaliate for the Hamas terrorist attacks from over the weekend, as Israel airstrikes destroyed buildings across Gaza. Also, Israel Defense Forces reported that the military was fighting off rocket attacks from militants in Lebanon and Syria.More than 1,900 people — at least 1,000 people in Israel and 900 people in Gaza — have died since Saturday when Hamas terrorists attacked Israel.“This was an act of sheer evil,” Biden said from the White House on Tuesday. “More than 1,000 civilians slaughtered — not just killed, slaughtered — in Israel.  Among them, at least 14 American citizens killed.“Parents butchered using their bodies to try to protect their ...

Olympic gold medalist Mary Lou Retton ‘fighting for her life’ with rare form of pneumonia

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:40 GMT

Brian Niemietz | New York Daily NewsGold medal-winning gymnast Mary Lou Retton is in the ICU, where she’s fighting for her life, her daughter McKenna Kelley said on Tuesday.On a fundraising page asking for prayers and donations, Kelley revealed that the 55-year-old tumbler has been in the hospital for over a week with a “very rare form of pneumonia.”“She is not able to breathe on her own,” Kelley shared on Spotfund. “Out of respect for her and her privacy, I will not disclose all details. However, I will disclose that she not insured. … ANYTHING, absolutely anything, would be so helpful for my family and my mom. Thank y’all so very much!”Retton earned five medals and superstar status in 1984 with an unforgettable performance at the Olympic Summer Games in Los Angeles. Her fame resulted in multiple endorsement deals including one from Wheaties, which made her the first female athlete to appear on the cover of the cereal’s famous orange box. She can currently be seen in commercials fo...

Best and bravest

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:40 GMT

The 40th Annual Trooper George L. Hanna Memorial Awards for Bravery were handed out to the men and women who walk the thin blue line.Since 1983, 154 individuals have received the Hanna Award Medal of Honor, the highest honor the state bestows on a law enforcement officer.This year’s prestigious award ceremony honored nine recipients, hailing from the Worcester, Revere, and Boston Police Departments.Those brave officers were: Worcester Officer Paul Cyr, Boston Officers Brendan Bosse, William Flaherty, Jamie Pietroski, William Parlon, and Kyle Moran; Revere Officers Brendon Leslie and Christopher Panzini along with Sgt. Jackie Dean.Gov. Maura Healey addresses the Hanna award winners. (Chris Christo/Boston Herald)Worcester, MA - October 10, 2023: State TrooperMichael Capotosto on Mount-Scout greet people attending the 40th Annual George L. Hanna Memorial Awards For Bravery held at Mechanics Hall. (Chris Christo/Boston Herald)Worcester, MA - October 10, 2023: Citizens William and Amy Mc...

Boston police arrest suspect in late-night Mass and Cass stabbing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:40 GMT

A stabbing went down in the heart of Mass and Cass, and Boston police say they quickly arrested a suspect.Police were walking in the area of Southampton and Atkinson streets at around 3:30 a.m. Tuesday when, according to a police statement, they saw a bunch of people running from the area. At least one of the runners said someone had been stabbed and gave police a description of the suspect.Police found Uwadiae Ukponmwan, 30, of Boston, in front of the Boston Fire Department headquarters and allegedly found a knife hidden in his right shoe. Ukponmwan was arrested and charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and is expected to be arraigned in Roxbury District Court.The stabbing victim was taken to a local hospital to be treated for injuries, which police say were not life threatening.There have been 138 non-domestic aggravated assaults in this police district, C-06, from the beginning of this year through Sunday, according to the most recent data available from the Bo...

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle say social media is harming kids’ and teens’ mental health

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:40 GMT

By HALELUYA HADERO (AP Business Writer)NEW YORK (AP) — Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on Tuesday called for social media platforms to adopt better content-moderation policies and other fixes, saying modifications need to be made to addictive apps that can harm young people’s mental health. The couple spoke at a panel discussion coordinated by their Archewell Foundation in New York City as part of a second annual mental health awareness festival hosted by a nonprofit called Project Healthy Minds.Harry and Meghan’s comments came after hearing from panels featuring a handful of parents who lost children due to mental health challenges tied to social media use. The parents spoke about their loss and how a community that the foundation has created to talk about these issues is helping them find support.Harry said the foundation has been bringing parents together through Zoom during the past year because many of them didn’t have the opportunity to connect with o...

Prosecutors say Elijah McClain was just walking home as jury urged to convict officers in his death

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:40 GMT

DENVER (AP) — Prosecutors seeking a conviction of two Colorado police officers in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain implored a jury during closing arguments Tuesday to remember that 23-year-old Black man was just trying to walk home the night he was put in a neck hold and and pinned down by the officers before paramedics injected him with a powerful sedative.Defense attorneys countered that the two officers from a Denver suburb had no choice but to forcefully subdue McClain after he resisted them.The case now rests in the hands of twelve jurors who will decide whether Aurora officers Randy Roedema and Jason Rosenblatt are guilty of manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and second-degree assault — all felonies. An assault conviction carries the most serious penalty, up to 16 years in prison.“His name was Elijah McClain. He was going home,” prosecutor Duane Lyons told the jury, echoing McClain’s words that were captured on police body camera video. “He was someone who mattered,” ...

Two Canadians killed by Hamas in Israel remembered as proud and loving

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:40 GMT

VANCOUVER — Two Canadians killed by Hamas gunmen while attending a music festival in southern Israel over the weekend are being remembered as generous, kind and those who brought love to the world.Friends and family have confirmed 22-year-old Ben Mizrachi from Vancouver and former Montreal resident Alexandre Look, who recently celebrated his 33rd birthday, were two of the hundreds killed when gunman swarmed the music event on Saturday. Ezra Shanken, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, said Tuesday that he was “emotionally numb” upon hearing about the killing of Mizrachi. “I am absolutely on the brink of if somebody pushes me a little bit, I’ll just start crying,” said Shanken. “And so, it really is a tragic time for our community.”Shanken said he sat with Mizrachi’s family on the weekend as they hoped their son could be found alive after word he was missing. When the family arrived in Israel, they were told Mizrachi was among those killed, he s...

North Carolina Republicans enact voting changes that weaken governor’s ability to oversee elections

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:40 GMT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Republicans enacted vote-count restrictions and weakened the governor’s ability to oversee elections on Tuesday by overriding Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s vetoes — setting in place electoral policies the GOP sought entering the 2024 elections in the likely battleground state. In a series of votes, the narrow Republican supermajorities in the General Assembly overturned five Cooper vetoes, two of which address elections and voting in the ninth-largest state, where statewide races usually are very close. Cooper, fellow Democrats and others immediately filed lawsuits Tuesday challenging some of those laws.The electoral changes are among a wave of GOP election laws and administrative overhauls also occurring elsewhere while former President Donald Trump, who seeks a return to the White House, has repeatedly made false claims that the 2020 election was riddled with fraud. While Trump won North Carolina’s electoral votes in both 2016 and 202...

Black man was not a threat to Tacoma police charged in his restraint death, eyewitness says at trial

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:40 GMT

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — Eyewitness testimony Tuesday in the continuing trial three police officers, who are white and Asian American, charged with the 2020 death of Manuel Ellis, a Black man, starkly contradicted the picture the officers’ lawyers painted.Keyon Lowery, 26, told the jury in Pierce County Superior Court that Ellis didn’t act aggressively toward the Tacoma, Washington, police officers nor did he fight back, and that he was “no threat at all, none.”Lowery said he was in “disbelief” with how the officers acted and said he believed the officers “were in the wrong.”Tacoma Officers Matthew Collins and Christopher Burbank, both white, are charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter in the death of Ellis on March 3, 2020. Officer Timothy Rankine, who is Asian American, is charged with manslaughter. All three have pleaded not guilty. They are free on bail and remain employed by the Tacoma Police Department on paid leave.The Pierce County Medical Examiner ruled t...

Israel-Hamas war will not immediately affect gas prices, analyst says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:40 GMT

While it is very much a secondary consideration given the violence in Israel this past weekend, a gas analyst says the conflict should not immediately affect gas prices.Roger McKnight, Chief Petroleum Analyst with En-Pro International, says no changes in the global market have yet been seen.“Everybody seems to be sitting on the sidelines to see what’s actually going to happen. Israel doesn’t have any gasoline or any crude oil inventories to worry about, but that whole neighbourhood is sort of a powder keg,” he told CityNews.Read More: Gas prices drop below 180.9/c per litre in Metro VancouverMcKnight acknowledges that the Israel-Hamas war is happening near major oil-producing countries, which could impact prices if they too get involved.When looking at the futures market, McKnight says there’s nothing to suggest a spike in pump prices is coming.“As it stands right now, there’s hardly any movement on the gasoline side that would indicate high...