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Solidarity with the fight for democracy in Israel

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:55:25 GMT

We, the undersigned citizens of the world, from movements representing tens of millions around the globe and in Israel, condemn the aggressive, anti-democratic legislation proposed by the Israeli government. We stand in solidarity with the citizens of Israel who have been fighting for democracy and taking to the streets in hundreds of thousands for the past 12 weeks.The legislation promoted by the Israeli government, now in its final and crucial stage, will de facto abolish the independence of the judicial system and provide unlimited power to the executive branch. Destroying the checks and balances of Israeli democracy will endanger the rights of so many – first, the political and individual rights of the Palestinian minority in Israel, including disenfranchisement, but also the rights of women, LGBTQI+ people, secular communities, civil society, asylum seekers and immigrant workers. Destroying the checks and balances of Israeli democracy will endanger the rights of so many.M...

Boycott a Russia-led UN Security Council

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:55:25 GMT

Colombe Cahen-Salvador is the co-founder of the global grassroots movement Atlas, and previously co-founded the pan-European party Volt.Can a war criminal head the United Nations Security Council?On March 17, 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin for the “unlawful deportation” of Ukrainian children — a war crime allegation. And yet, on April 1, Putin’s Russia is set to take up the presidency of the most powerful international body.Although this sounds like a cruel joke on April Fool’s Day, it is not. And for 30 days — the duration of the rotating U.N. Security Council presidency — the world will be collectively shamed as it allows Putin’s imperialistic Russia to take this leadership role. Unless, that is, we do something to stop it, to signal that this cannot be business as usual.We are taught to look at history in a very binary manner — some resisted and some collaborated; or some did good and some did bad. But the ...

UK Labour says never mind the Indo-Pacific — let’s build Europe ties

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:55:25 GMT

LONDON — The U.K.’s Labour Party wants to do “much more in partnership with the EU” if it wins the next election — but it’s not so bothered about the government’s big “Indo-Pacific tilt.”In a document setting out the opposition party’s foreign policy focus in detail for the first time, Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: “I believe there is much more that we can do with Europe — in partnership with the EU and bilaterally.”But he suggested he would move away from the current Conservative government’s much-vaunted “Indo-Pacific tilt,” which focuses on building closer ties with countries in that region.The Indo-Pacific is mentioned just four times in the new pamphlet issued by the Fabian Society, a left-wing think tank. It says the government’s “tilt” is “more rhetoric than substance” and argues it “cannot come at the cost of our security commitments in Europe or mean that we can safely ignore our own neighbourhood.”The comments come after similar n...

Immanuel Quickley scores career high 40 points in blowout victory over lowly Rockets

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:55:25 GMT

Three days rest and the lowly Houston Rockets did the trick.The Knicks got off the schneid by pummeling the Rockets with points in Monday’s 137-115 runaway victory, snapping their three-game losing streak behind Immanuel Quickley’s career evening.Quickley, playing in the place of the injured Jalen Brunson, finished with a personal-best 40 points, carrying the Knicks through a third-quarter run that forged the cakewalk.The Knicks stepped on the gas in the final period, and the Rockets — young, disorganized and generally awful — offered little resistance.The victory was important for two reasons: it reestablished positive vibes by killing the losing streak; and it gave the Knicks a 2 ½ game lead for fifth in the East ahead of the Nets and Heat.Miami is the next opponent at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, and there were concerns the Knicks might fall victim to a trap game against the sadsack Rockets (18-58).Instead, the home team (43-33) took care of bu...

Highland Park survivor heads to scene of Nashville shooting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:55:25 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — The survivor of a mass shooting last July 4th outside Chicago rushed to the scene of the latest such tragedy Monday in Nashville, expressing disbelief that one had occurred again.“Are you freaking kidding me right now?” Ashbey Beasley told the Chicago Tribune by phone as she drove to the scene of the shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, in which three children and three adults were killed before the shooter was killed. Beasley had stopped in Nashville on her way back from her 12th trip to Washington since the July 4th Highland Park tragedy to lobby members of Congress to pass a federal assault weapons ban. The shooter killed at least seven people and injured more than 30 others.Beasley was about to meet Shaundelle Brooks, the mother of a young man killed in a 2018 mass shooting, in which four people were killed at a Nashville Waffle House. That’s when Brooks called to say her surviving son’s school in Nashville was on lockdown because of the shooting at...

Vallas, Johnson both intend to reopen 'Environment Department' if elected

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:55:25 GMT

CHICAGO -- Mayoral candidates Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson addressed the environmental concerns of communities on the Southwest Side, communities bearing the burden of pollution in Chicago."We don’t want polluters anywhere in this city at all," Paul Vallas said."For too long our communities have been seen as dumping grounds for waste," Brandon Johnson said. WGN Poll: Vallas leading Johnson in Chicago Mayoral runoff election Both candidates told the crowd at Healthy Hood in Pilsen on Monday they will re-open an Environment Department, which former mayor Rahm Emanuel dissolved.Vallas says his department would not only focus on clean air and water, but also food deserts and nutrition.  The conversation capping off another busy day and weekend on the campaign trail."What truly makes us the greatest the world, it’s our extraordinary people," Johnson said.Johnson made his pitch to the City Club of Chicago after picking up an endorsement from Congressman Jonathan Jackson over the week...

The Doctor is Leaving

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:55:25 GMT

Austin ISD Board of Trustees may slow down search for permanent superintendent

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:55:25 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Austin Independent School District may pump the brakes on its superintendent search, a letter from the president of the Board of Trustees said.Arati Singh wrote a letter addressed to the AISD community Monday that said the board is calling a special meeting March 30 to, "discuss the possibility of slowing down our search for our district’s next superintendent." The letter also said the board would consider a contract extension with Matias Segura, the district's interim superintendent, through June 30, 2024. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Austin ISD names new interim superintendent, but search for permanent district leader continues "The district is focused on improving the systems to meet students’ most pressing needs and giving those systems time to take root," Singh said in the letter. "Thursday’s meeting will give us a chance to consider a revised process and timeline, hear from our community, and hold a vote if we choose to do so."Singh called the hiring proc...

How do Texas private schools tackle safety?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:55:25 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) - A former student shot through the doors of a Christian elementary school and killed three children and three adults on Monday in Nashville. Nashville shooter who killed 6 drew maps, surveilled school One of the uncommon factors about the tragic shooting was that it happened at a private school. According to data from the CATO Institute, only 6% of school shootings between 2000 and 2018 happened at private schools. What safety measures do Texas private schools have? Security cameras, locked doors and year-round drills are just a few of the safety measures in place at Kirby Hall School, a K-8th grade private school in Austin. "The children silently go into the classroom. The teacher locks the door, children have to be very quiet. They stay away from windows and doors, and they just stay there. And when the drill is over, we'll go around knocking on the door, the teacher won't answer when I knock. They will wait for me to say the password. Password changes every month...

Matt Boldy leads Wild past Kraken with another hat trick

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:55:25 GMT

Matt Boldy is on such a heater right now that it’s actually shocking when he doesn’t score a goal. Like over the weekend when the Wild earned a win over the Chicago Blackhawks despite Boldy not finding the back of the net.Naturally, Boldy made up for lost time on Monday night at Xcel Energy Center, netting a hat trick to lead the Wild to a 5-1 win over the Seattle Kraken.It’s impossible to be more locked in than Boldy has been over the past few weeks. Since Kirill Kaprizov went down with a lower-body injury on March 8, seemingly delivering a haymaker to their Wild in their battle for playoff positioning, Boldy has scored a whopping 11 goals.Not bad for a budding star who doesn’t even turn 22 years old until next week.Is it a coincidence that Boldy’s hot streak has coincided with the arrival of Marcus Johansson? Not at all. Boldy took his game to another level as soon as the Wild acquired Johansson at the trade deadline.That said, Boldy is dominating the...