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Hamas frees two Israeli women as US advises delaying ground war to allow talks on captives

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:36:00 GMT

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hamas released two elderly Israeli women held hostage in Gaza on Monday, as the United States expressed increasing concern that the escalating Israel-Hamas war will spark a wider conflict in the region, including attacks on American troops.The death toll in Gaza was rising rapidly as Israel ramped up airstrikes, flattening residential buildings in what it says was preparation for an eventual ground assault. The United States advised Israel to delay an expected ground invasion to allow time to negotiate the release of more hostages..A third small aid convoy from Egypt entered Gaza, where the population of 2.3 million has been running out of food, water and medicine under Israel’s two-week seal. With Israel still barring entry of fuel, the U.N. said its distribution of aid would grind to a halt within days when it can no longer fuel its trucks. Gaza hospitals are struggling to keep generators running to power life-saving medical equipment and incubators for pr...

Stay in EU, comply with EU law: EU’s digital chief warns X’s Musk

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:36:00 GMT

X owner Elon Musk will have to comply with European Union law and clamp down illegal content on the social network if it wants to keep on doing “good business” in the region, the EU’s digital chief Věra Jourová said today.“With Mr. Musk, the dialog doesn’t go well, very simply,” Jourová told reporters in the wake of an EU probe into how the platform shows graphic illegal content and disinformation linked to Hamas’ attack on Israel. The tech mogul denied a report last week that he was considering pulling X out of Europe to avoid new requirements for digital platforms. X is used by over 101 million Europeans in the bloc. Under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), the company must swiftly take down content and ensure the network limits disinformation and cyberviolence. Musk does “good business in [the] European Union, but it will be his decision and if he decides to stay in as well, he will have to comply with the EU law,” Jourová s...

Blink-182 announces Fenway Park tour date

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:36:00 GMT

The award-winning punk rock band Blink-182 is coming to Boston next year. The band announced its local stop on Monday as part of its “One More Time Tour.”The tour’s North American leg will kick off on June 20 in Orlando. Blink-182 will then take the state at Fenway Park on July 23 with special guest Pierce the Veil. Blink-182 formed in the 1990s and released its latest album, One More Time, last week. Tickets for all tour dates will go on sale on Friday on the Blink-192 website.

Reports: Trump told Mar-a-Lago member about calls with foreign leaders

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:36:00 GMT

Washington (CNN) — Mar-a-Lago member and Australian billionaire Anthony Pratt said then-President Donald Trump told him about his private calls with the leaders of Ukraine and Iraq, according to reports published Sunday about private recordings of Pratt, a key prosecution witness in Trump’s classified documents case.The reports from The New York Times and “60 Minutes Australia” revealed previously unknown recordings of Pratt candidly recalling his conversations with Trump – and build on existing allegations that Trump overshared sensitive government material.In the tapes, Pratt says Trump shared insider details about his phone calls with world leaders during his presidency. Pratt also offers searing critiques of Trump’s personal ethics.CNN previously reported that Pratt gave an interview to special counsel Jack Smith, who charged Trump with mishandling national security materials by hoarding dozens of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. (Trump ple...

Recipe: Put this easy-to-make vegetable soup on your emergency dinner list

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:36:00 GMT

This soup recipe is on my “emergency dinner list.” The formula is open to vegetable substitutions and goes together quickly. I started making it 10 years ago when I interviewed cookbook author Mark Bittman about his book, “Eat Vegan Before 6:00.”Thumbing through the recipes, I doubted it at first glance. A quarter-cup tomato paste seemed like a bad idea. But guess what? I made it and loved it. The soup is as delicious as it is simple to prepare.Easiest Vegetable SoupYield: 4 servingsINGREDIENTS3 tablespoons olive oil1 large yellow onion, chopped1 tablespoon minced garlic1/4 cup tomato paste1 teaspoon salt, plus more to tasteBlack pepper to taste6 cups vegetable broth or water3 cups chopped firm vegetables, such as carrots, winter squash, cauliflower, broccoli or root vegetables3 cups chopped soft vegetables such as zucchini, bell peppers, green beans or any greens3 cups cooked or canned beans or fresh or frozen corn kernels or peasGarnish 1/2 cup chopped fresh basilDIRECTIONS1. Put ...

How Ziwe became your ‘Black Friend,’ and why she’d rather be loved than feared

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:36:00 GMT

Jireh Deng | Los Angeles Times (TNS)On Ziwe’s eponymous late-night talk show, which Showtime tragically canceled earlier this year, everything was carefully curated: the cartoonish graphics, the confrontational style, the contrast of the gaudy pink set with Ziwe Fumudoh’s knack for leaping into cringe and controversy with questions like: How many Black friends do you have?But in her first book of essays, “ Black Friend,” out this week, the writer-comedian plays Bad Cop with herself on topics ranging from her Nigerian immigrant upbringing to the impact of fame on body image, and the result feels unrehearsed. Though her terse acknowledgments section (in its entirety: “Thank you”) feels very Ziwe, an essay titled “ Wikifeet” veers from jokes about foot fetishists to memories of growing up “an ugly duckling.” Throughout, Ziwe toggles between sincerity and absurdity, personal anecdotes and ample footnotes, in search of a subject much harder to pin down than dumbfounded Chet Hanks or blas...

Larry Hogan slams Harvard ‘anti-Semitism’ in wake of incendiary open letter

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:36:00 GMT

Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a top Republican, is pulling all his support from Harvard University over what he says is the school’s “anti-Semitic vitriol” in the wake of the Hamas terror attack on Israel.“I cannot condone the dangerous anti-Semitism that has taken root on your campus,” Hogan wrote in a letter to Harvard President Claudine Gay that he also posted to X, the former Twitter platform.“While these students have a right to free speech,” he added, “they do not have a right to have hate speech go unchallenged by your institution.”He said he was previously “honored” by the fellowships to both Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and the T.H. Chan School of Public Health, but he will no longer accept them “especially” after “more than 30 Harvard student organizations attempting to justify and celebrate Hamas’ terrorism against innocent Israeli and American civilians” posted an open letter righ...

Detroit police say they’ve identified several people of interest in synagogue president’s killing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:36:00 GMT

By ED WHITE (Associated Press)DETROIT (AP) — Investigators have identified several people of interest in the fatal stabbing of a Detroit synagogue president but would not talk about their connections to the woman during a press conference Monday.Authorities found 40-year-old Samantha Woll’s body outside her home early Saturday after a caller told police about a person lying on the ground. Detroit Police Chief James E. White said police know Woll — who led the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue — attended a wedding Friday night and that she left the celebration around 12:30 a.m. He said there was no sign that anyone forced their way into her home and investigators believe Woll was stabbed inside before stumbling into the yard.“We have a number of people that give us interest. We are just short of calling one of the people a suspect,” he said, adding that investigators believe a suspect “acted alone.”Police have repeatedly said they have fou...

Gretchen’s table: Apples sweeten this chicken pot pie

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:36:00 GMT

Gretchen McKay | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (TNS)In my opinion, you can never go wrong with a roasted chicken, whether it’s homemade or purchased in the supermarket deli section, because it can be dressed up or down to the season with any number of side dishes.Once the kids are out of the house and smaller appetites prevail, however, a 4- or-5-pound bird can yield a lot of leftovers. Those who don’t like to eat the same thing two (or three) days in a row might consider that a curse.I’m on the plus side. When it’s tucked under a flaky, buttery crust in a flavorful gravy, leftover chicken can be nothing short of magical.In addition to being an economical way to stretch your grocery store dollars, a leftover chicken pot pie is the perfect comfort food for these early days of fall, when we instinctively reach for warmer, heartier dishes to compensate for shorter days and chillier weather.Chicken pot pie traditionally features a mix of carrots, peas and sometimes potatoes along with shredde...

Off-duty pilot accused of trying to shut down engines of San Francisco-bound jet midflight

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:36:00 GMT

PORTLAND, Ore. — An off-duty pilot riding in the extra seat in the cockpit of a Horizon Air passenger jet tried to shut down the engines in midflight and had to be subdued by the crew, according to a pilot flying the plane.Authorities in Oregon identified the man as Joseph David Emerson, 44. He was being held Monday on 83 counts each of attempted murder and reckless endangerment and one count of endangering an aircraft, according to the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office.The San Francisco-bound flight on Sunday diverted to Portland, Oregon, where it was met by officers from the Port of Portland, who took Emerson into custody.Seattle-based Alaska Airlines, which owns Horizon, a regional carrier, did not name Emerson, but said Monday that the threat was posed by one of its pilot who was off duty but authorized to occupy the cockpit jump seat.The airline said the captain and co-pilot reacted quickly, “engine power was not lost and the crew secured the aircraft without incide...