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Israeli strikes demolish entire Gaza neighborhoods as only power plant in territory runs out of fuel

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:33 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Palestinians in the sealed-off Gaza Strip struggled to find any safe area Wednesday, as Israeli strikes demolished entire neighborhoods, hospitals ran low on supplies and the territory’s only power plant ran out of fuel, deepening the misery of a war sparked by a stunning and deadly assault by Hamas militants.Airstrikes smashed entire city blocks to rubble in the tiny coastal enclave and left unknown numbers of bodies beneath mounds of debris. The bombardment raged on even though militants are holding an estimated 150 people snatched from Israel — soldiers, men, women, children and older adults.Israel has vowed unprecedented retaliation against the Hamas militant group ruling the Palestinian territory after its fighters stormed through the border fence Saturday and gunned down hundreds of Israelis in their homes, on the streets and at an outdoor music festival. Since then, militants have continued to fire rockets at Israel, includ...

Maine doctor killed by falling mast on schooner

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:33 GMT

ROCKLAND, Maine — A woman killed when a mast snapped and toppled onto the deck of a historic sailing vessel that carries tourists off the Maine coast was a physician at the hospital where three other victims were taken for treatment, officials said Tuesday.Dr. Emily Mecklenburg, 40, of Rockland, was declared dead Monday after she was evacuated from the stricken vessel Grace Bailey by the Coast Guard, Nicole Jacques, a spokesperson for owners of the schooner, said Tuesday. Three others who were injured were taken to PenBay Medical Center in Rockport where Mecklenburg worked, officials said.The Coast Guard is investigating why the schooner’s main mast snapped in conditions that were not windy. The schooner was about 1 mile east of Rockland harbor, the Coast Guard said.There’s no timeline for the investigation, which could take weeks or months.“We want to make sure the investigation is being done thoroughly and that the necessary boxes are being checked,” Ensign...

Do the Ravens have a hands problem? The dropped passes and fumbles are piling up.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:33 GMT

There’s no other way to put it: The Ravens have a hands problem.In Sunday’s collapse against the Pittsburgh Steelers, they had seven dropped passes, the third-most by a team since 2013 and the most since Week 6 of the 2021 season, according to TruMedia. Usually sure-handed tight end Mark Andrews led the way with three, rookie wide receiver Zay Flowers had two and Rashod Bateman and Nelson Agholor had one apiece.The Ravens had just three total through their first four games, and, according to Pro Football Focus, entered Sunday as one of only two teams whose wide receivers didn’t drop any passes.“I’m not surprised by anything in the NFL, in football,” coach John Harbaugh said when asked if he was surprised by all the drops. “It’s just the way it goes, and we keep working on that. I know we’ll make those plays going forward. Those are balls that our guys are going to catch; they catch them all the time.”Judging by th...

Filing period for New Hampshire presidential primary opens as first candidate pays fee with $2 bills

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:33 GMT

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The New Hampshire presidential primary filing period started Wednesday, with the first candidate to register criticizing President Joe Biden and paying a chunk of his filing fee in $2 bills.The filing is a ritual unruffled by either a changing of the guard or changes to the nominating calendar elsewhere.For the first time in more than four decades, candidates will file paperwork with a new secretary of state thanks to the retirement last year of longtime elections chief Bill Gardner. But his successor, David Scanlan, is carrying on the tradition of ensuring New Hampshire remains first, waiting for the dust to settle in other states before scheduling the 2024 contest.“I’m really in no hurry,” he said in an interview Tuesday.In contrast, the candidates themselves — particularly the long shots — often are in a race to sign up first in hopes that a bit of media attention will boost their campaigns. In 1991, a writer from New York drove 11 hours in a snowstorm only t...

Charles Spencer, younger brother of Princess Diana, is writing a book about his boarding school

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:33 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — British author-journalist Charles Spencer is working on a book about his childhood years at the Maidwell Hall boarding school and the painful lessons he endured. Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, announced Wednesday that in March it will publish ‘”A Very Private School: A Memoir.” Gallery is calling the book a “clear-eyed, firsthand account of a ”culture of cruelty.” Spencer, younger brother of the late Princess Diana, also will write about his “happy life at home” during that time, according to Gallery.Charles Spencer, who has previously expressed his unhappiness with boarding school, said in a statement released Wednesday that he had finally reached a point where he could make sense of his experiences and place them within a historical context.“I’m writing this book before my memories of half a century ago tip over into that chasm of forgetfulness that shadows old age,” he said. “Beyond my own experiences, I wanted to ...

Belgium’s prime minister says his country supports a ban on Russian diamonds as part of sanctions

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:33 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — Belgium’s prime minister said his country, which has the biggest interest in the global diamond trade in the European Union, is supporting a ban on Russian diamonds as part of sanctions targeting President Vladimir Putin’s government for its war against Ukraine.This came during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyya’s visit to Brussels on Wednesday. He has repeatedly asked for such a move since the start of Russia’s invasion in February 2022. For months, the Group of Seven advanced economies and the EU have been working on a way to trace and restrict the trade in Russian diamonds to prevent it from skirting the sanctions. Russia exports about $4 billion worth of rough diamonds a year, nearly a third of the world’s total, according to various estimates.Asked when the ban will enter into force, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said, “the goal is … January 1st of 2024.”According to The Antwerp World Diamond Centre, the world’s most important diamon...

Velan CEO Bruno Carbonaro resigns, board chair James Mannebach named interim CEO

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:33 GMT

MONTREAL — Velan Inc. says Bruno Carbonaro has resigned as chief executive and a director of the company.The maker of industrial valves says board chair James Mannebach has been named interim CEO.Mannebach has been a director of Velan since 2018 and board chair since 2020. The company also announced that Rishi Sharma has been promoted to chief financial and administrative officer.Sharma has been chief financial officer of Velan since May 2022. He will now oversee all of Velan’s administrative functions in addition to his oversight of the financial team.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:VLN)The Canadian Press

King Charles III to travel to Kenya for state visit full of symbolism

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:33 GMT

LONDON (AP) — King Charles III will travel to Kenya later this month for a state visit full of symbolism: His mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, learned she had become queen while visiting a game preserve in the East African nation in 1952.The trip, announced Wednesday by Buckingham Palace, will be Charles’ first to a Commonwealth nation since he succeeded his mother last year, underscoring the king’s commitment to an organization that has been central to Britain’s global power and prestige since World War II.During the Oct. 31-Nov. 3 visit, Charles plans to meet with Kenyan President William Samoei Ruto and to visit Nairobi National Park, where he will have a chance to demonstrate his concern for environmental preservation and fighting climate change.Britain’s royal family has long ties to Africa. In 1947, the future queen pledged lifelong service to Britain and the Commonwealth on her 21st birthday. Charles himself visited Kenya in 1971, and he attended the Commonwealth heads of...

Will the Israel-Hamas war draw in other nations?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:33 GMT

In today’s Big Story Podcast, since Saturday’s horrific Hamas attacks and Israel’s brutal response, fighting has continued, but has been contained to those two sides. There are worries, though, that may not last. Some reporting suggests that Iran, which supports Hamas and calls for the end of a Jewish state, gave approval for the attacks, which has already started some of America’s hawks calling for the United States to get involved against Iran.Arash Azizi is a senior lecturer in history and political science at Clemson University. Azizi’s new book, What Iranians Want: Women, Life, Freedom, will be published in January 2024.“The Iranian regime is the only state in the world that actually fights Israel and fights Israel with a declared goal of its destruction … I think what no one can doubt is that a broader conflagration can only mean terrible things,” said Azizi.The past four days have been bloody and heartbreaking. Many nations are trying to find a w...

German government forecasts that the country’s economy will shrink by 0.4% this year

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:33 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s government said Wednesday that it expects the country’s economy to shrink by 0.4% this year, joining a string of other forecasters in revising sharply downward its outlook for Europe’s biggest economy.The revised forecast contrasted with the 0.4% growth that the government predicted in late April. The Economy Ministry said in a statement that “the effects of the energy price crisis in combination with global economic weakness are weighing down the German economy more persistently than was assumed in the spring.”On Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund forecast that the German economy will shrink by 0.5%. A group of leading German economic think tanks last month predicted a 0.6% contraction.The government predicted that gross domestic product will increase by 1.3% next year and 1.5% in 2025, helped by a decline in inflation. That is expected to average 6.1% this year, but drop to 2.6% next year and 2% in 2025. The Economy Ministry said it ...