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Washington Post backs down from story on Hamas hostage deal

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 20:00:33 GMT

The Washington Post backed away from its claim Saturday evening that Israel and Hamas had reached a tentative deal that would free at least 50 hostages in exchange for a five day pause in fighting on both sides, after a U.S. National Security Council spokesperson tempered the claim online.In an alert around 8:30 p.m. Saturday evening, the Post reported that Israel and Hamas had reached a “tentative U.S.-brokered deal” that would pause the deadly conflict in Gaza and allow some women and child hostages to be free. At 9:27 p.m., National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson reposted the story on X, formerly Twitter, with her own clarification:“We have not reached a deal yet, but we continue to work hard to get to a deal,” Watson wrote.The article was subsequently updated to say that the U.S. was “close” to a deal with Israel and Hamas to free some of the hostages, but no correction or clarification was added to the story. As of Sunday morning, the story had last been updated ...

Latvia’s Kariņš eyes NATO top job

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 20:00:33 GMT

Latvian Foreign Minister Krišjānis Kariņš on Sunday declared his interest in becoming NATO’s next secretary-general, throwing his hat in the ring for the much contended race to succeed Jens Stoltenberg when he steps down next October. “Krišjānis Kariņš is ready to join the competition,” a spokesperson for Kariņš’ said in a statement on Sunday.Kariņš, who stepped down as Latvian prime minister in August, can bring to the NATO position “his leadership experience as prime minister, clear understanding of Russia’s threat, strong stance on Ukraine, and proven track record as an international consensus builder,” according to the statement. Kariņš joins Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in vying to be the next leader of the defense alliance. Stoltenberg’s tenure, which has been extended four times, ends in October 2024.Speaking at the POLITICO Defense Summit last week, Kallas said she would like to be considered for the position. R...

‘Grandpa Joe:’ Biden campaign facing heat over plans to deal with his age

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 20:00:33 GMT

At the Democratic National Committee’s September fundraiser retreat, a donor pressed Joe Biden’s deputy campaign manager, Quentin Fulks, about one of the more oft-discussed topics in party circles: the president’s age.How, the person asked during a question-and-answer session on the 2024 campaign, should donors handle the stream of concerns they’ve heard about it?Fulks acknowledged the obvious: You can’t change the age of the president, who will turn 81 on Monday. Instead, he advised the donor to focus on Biden’s historic accomplishments.Fulks’ response, which was described by four people who attended the session, was well-received by those who see his age as a mark of his deep experience — and met with disagreement by others, who fear not enough is being done to remind voters that former President Donald Trump is just three-and-a-half years younger. All told, it highlighted a larger dynamic currently facing the party: Not everyone is sure what the right playbook is for handling the...

Boston Medical Center radiology tech arraigned on drug fraud charges

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 20:00:33 GMT

A Boston Medical Center radiology tech was arraigned Friday in Boston Municipal Court Central Division on charges that he received improper prescriptions for controlled substances from a nurse practitioner he worked with at the hospital, District Attorney Kevin Hayden announced.Rafael Garcia, 44, of Boston, is charged with conspiracy to violate drug laws, obtaining drugs by fraud and larceny of a drug. Judge James Coffey set bail at $2,500 and ordered Garcia to return to court Dec. 29 for a pre-trial hearing.The Massachusetts State Police Narcotics Unit built information about Garcia’s illegitimate prescription scheme during their investigation of John Cann, a nurse practitioner who worked with Garcia in the Boston Medical Center emergency department, according to a statement.Cann was arraigned in Malden District Court earlier this year on charges involving issuing improper prescriptions at a Malden pharmacy for Adderall, Lorazepam and Amphetamine ER, many of which he would pick up ...

Chicago Bears at Detroit Lions: Everything you need to know about the Week 11 game before kickoff

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 20:00:33 GMT

The 3-7 Chicago Bears will play the 7-2 Detroit Lions at Ford Field in a Week 11 matchup. Here’s what you need to know before kickoff (noon, FOX).‘Just go out there and win games’Bears quarterback Justin Fields isn’t focused on proving himself over the final seven games of the season — though it will be necessary to do that as team leadership charts its future.Fields’ purpose is narrower as he prepares to make his first start in more than a month Sunday. Asked if he still feels pain in his hand, he said it’s not 100%.“But it feels good,” he said. “There’s still a little bit of healing left. But it’s stable.”Fields said he doesn’t think ball security will be an issue with the injury, noting he wouldn’t be playing if it was. But protecting the football is a major focus. Read more here.5 things to watch in the Bears-Lions game — plus our Week 11 predictionsColumn: As others look at the big p...

Israel says Yemen’s Houthi rebels hijacked an Israeli-linked ship. The Houthis haven’t commented

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 20:00:33 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel said Yemen’s Houthi rebels seized an Israeli-linked cargo ship in a crucial Red Sea shipping route on Sunday, raising fears that regional tensions heightened over the Israel-Hamas war were playing out on a new maritime front. There was no immediate comment from the Houthis, an Iran-backed rebel movement in Yemen that threatened earlier Sunday to target Israeli-linked vessels in the Red Sea. Last month, Houthi rebels were suspected of sending missiles and drones over the crucial shipping lane of the sea. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said 25 crew members of various nationalities, including Bulgarians, Filipinos, Mexicans and Ukrainians but no Israelis, had been on board the hijacked Bahamas-flagged ship. Netanyahu’s office condemned the seizure of the Galaxy Leader, a vehicle carrier, as an “Iranian act of terror.” The Israeli military called the hijacking a “very grave incident of global consequence.” Israeli...

Canada criminalized ‘condoning, denying or downplaying’ the Holocaust: is it working?

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 20:00:33 GMT

OTTAWA — Canadian Jewish organizations are calling on the Liberal government to remove what they see as barriers to enforcing a relatively new Criminal Code provision against Holocaust denialism amid a rise in antisemitism.Shimon Koffler Fogel, CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, said his organization had been asking the Liberals to criminalize Holocaust denialism, noting there are similar laws in France and Germany.He said it was an important symbolic step for the government to take as a way to show that Canada says: “This is the red line.”The Liberal government included an amendment to the Criminal Code in the 2022 budget implementation bill to prohibit communicating a statement that “wilfully promotes antisemitism by condoning, denying or downplaying the Holocaust,” except in private conversation.More than six million Jews in Europe were systematically killed by Nazi Germany, as well its allies and collaborators, during the Holocaust from 1933...

Wedding trashes 'largely untouched' Utah landmark, council member says

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 20:00:33 GMT

CASTLE VALLEY, Utah (KTVX) -- The residents of Castle Valley, a small town about 16 miles northeast of Moab in southeastern Utah, are expressing their concerns after a wedding trashed a scenic area largely untouched by humans. Castle Valley Councilmember Pamela Gibson told Nexstar's KTVX that a wedding in September turned into a large, unpermitted reception that left furniture, garbage bags, broken glass, and leftover food scattered around the base of Castleton Tower. Goodbye, snowy winters? New climate report offers dry projections Gibson said she noticed the aftermath during a morning walk from her house to the base of Castleton Tower and Adobe Mesa. She said on its best days, it's a beautiful and pristine area, largely untouched by human beings and buildings. When she noticed a tent and a truck at Castleton Tower, her first thought was someone was camping. "Camping is not permitted, that's the reason why it was such a shock and it really made me mad to see that," said Gibson. ...

Does your smartphone expire? Sort of

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 20:00:33 GMT

(NEXSTAR) — You’re undoubtedly familiar with expiration dates. From the milk in your fridge to the Twinkies in your pantry (yes, even those can expire) — but what about your phone?It’s not like your phone starts to sprout mold or smell funny after you’ve had it for a while. If you can avoid cracking the screen and keep it clean, it might be hard to even tell how old your phone is from a distance. But yes, in a sense, it can "expire," though not in the bread-going-stale style you’re familiar with. If you have an older iPhone, you may have actually experienced this already. Take, for example, the last major iPhone update Apple pushed out in September, iOS 17. While it introduced a bevy of new features for iPhone users, not everyone was able to get the update.  What do the orange, green dots on my iPhone mean? Apple made the massive update available to select models, dating only as far back as the iPhone XR and XS models (both released in 2018). If you have an iPhone 8...

Missing Florida mom found dead inside storage unit, deputies say

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 20:00:33 GMT

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A mom from Orange County, Florida, who went missing on Nov. 11 was found dead inside a storage unit on Saturday, according to deputies. Shakeira Rucker, a 37-year-old mother of four, was reported missing last week.On Saturday, Orange County deputies responded to a self-storage center on Wiggings Road in Popka, where they found Rucker's body."Shakeira’s family was notified this evening," the sheriff's office said. "We grieve with them & our detectives are committed to bringing them justice in this case."The last time Rucker's family reported hearing from her was when she said she was going home after picking up food the night of Nov. 11, according to WESH. Suspect found dead after a teenager and 3 women killed in Memphis The Winter Springs Police Department said Rucker was last seen two days later at around 7:30 p.m. She was spotted leaving her home in Winter Springs with her estranged husband, 51-year-old Cory Hill, who was a person of interest in her disa...