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Israel’s Netanyahu says Gaza offensive has ‘only started,’ attacks will reverberate for years

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:23:16 GMT

By JOSEF FEDERMAN and ISSAM ADWAN (Associated Press)JERUSALEM (AP) — BodyIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that Israel has “only started” a fierce offensive in the Gaza Strip in response to an unprecedented Hamas attack.Netanyahu delivered the pronouncement in a nationally televised address as Israel pressed ahead with a third day of heavy airstrikes in Gaza.“We have only started striking Hamas,” he said. “What we will do to our enemies in the coming days will reverberate with them for generations.”THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel increased airstrikes on the Gaza Strip and sealed off the Palestinian territory from food, fuel, and other supplies in retaliation for a deadly incursion by Hamas militants, as the toll rose to nearly 1,600 dead on both sides. Hamas mounted its own escalation on Monday, pledging to kill captured Israelis if its attacks targete...

Lawyer: Tyre Nichols had stolen items, hallucinogenic in car during fatal encounter with police

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:23:16 GMT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A lawyer for one of five former Memphis officers charged with fatally beating Tyre Nichols after a traffic stop said in court documents that investigators found a hallucinogenic drug and stolen credit cards in the Black man’s car when he was pulled over, but authorities have not confirmed the claims. A lawyer for Justin Smith said the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s inventory of Nichols’ car showed he had psilocybin, a substance found in mushrooms, when police stopped him Jan. 7 for an alleged reckless driving violation before he was beaten during a confrontation caught on police video.The lawyer, Martin Zummach, said the ex-officers’ attorneys learned from a review of the inventory that Nichols had stolen credit cards, debit cards and photo identifications in his car. Zummach made the claims in a court filing joining another officer’s request for prosecutors to give them Nichols’ cell phone records as part of the federal...

South Carolina nuclear plant gets yellow warning over another cracked emergency fuel pipe

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:23:16 GMT

JENKINSVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Federal officials have issued a warning about a substantial safety violation at a South Carolina nuclear plant after cracks were discovered again in a backup emergency fuel line.Small cracks have been found a half-dozen times in the past 20 years in pipes that carry fuel to emergency generators that provide cooling water for a reactor if electricity fails at the V.C. Summer plant near Columbia, according to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.The agency issued what it calls a preliminary “yellow” warning to plant owner Dominion Energy last week. It is the second most serious category and only seven similar warnings have been issued across the country since 2009, nuclear power expert David Lochbaum told The State newspaper after reviewing records from federal regulators.The commission’s ruling is not final and Dominion will have a chance to explain what happened, utility spokesman Darryl Huger told the paper in an email.Dominion has already st...

Nigerian court sentences policeman to death for killing a lawyer in a rare ruling

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:23:16 GMT

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — A Nigerian court sentenced Monday a police officer to death for shooting and killing a lawyer in the commercial hub of Lagos. Many applauded the rare sentence as a punitive measure against rampant cases of police abuse.After nearly a year, Justice Ibironke Harrison of the Lagos High Court found police officer Drambi Vandi guilty of one count of murder of Bolanle Raheem, who was pregnant at the time when she was shot dead Christmas Day last year. Local reports said Raheem was in her early forties.Vandi shot the lawyer after her vehicle in the town of Ajah in Lagos failed to stop at a checkpoint, local media reported at the time.He had denied opening fire at Raheem, but one of his colleagues who testified during the hearing confirmed hearing the gunshot. Vandi has a right to appeal the ruling.“You will be hanged by the neck till you are dead,” the judge told the police officer who had pleaded not guilty.The death sentence was lauded by many in Africa’s most popul...

UN airs concerns for civilians as Israel steps up military response in Gaza to deadly Hamas attacks

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:23:16 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — The United Nations on Monday expressed growing concerns about humanitarian needs in Palestinian areas as Israel ratchets up a muscular military riposte and lockdown of Gaza, after the weekend attack by Hamas militants who killed and kidnapped hundreds of civilians in Israel.U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres led the clarion call Monday, putting the focus on civilians in both Israel and Gaza and renewing his condemnation of the fatalities and hostage-takings by Hamas. He also warned of the prospect of more innocent lives lost.Guterres said in a statement that over 137,000 people in Gaza – or about 6% of its population – were now sheltering in sites run by UNRWA, the aid agency for Palestinians. He cited reports of Israeli missile strikes on places like schools, health facilities and high-rise apartment buildings.“I am deeply distressed by today’s announcement that Israel will initiate a complete siege of the Gaza Strip, nothing allowed in –- no electricity, food, o...

North Vancouver RCMP called to amateur film set featuring actors with replica guns

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:23:16 GMT

VANCOUVER — Police in North Vancouver say they were called to the set of a film shoot over the weekend after receiving a report of a group of men in body armour carrying rifles. North Vancouver RCMP say they were called to an underground parking lot on Marine Drive on Saturday evening. Police discovered the men there were part of a shoot for an action film that was without permits. Police say the film crew were given a warning and educated about city protocols around filming in public spaces.Const. Mansoor Sahak says no one was injured.He adds the North Vancouver RCMP takes reports involving firearms “very seriously.”This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 9, 2023. The Canadian Press

Man stabbed in downtown Toronto, suspect fled on bike

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:23:16 GMT

Toronto police say a man suffered serious injuries after he was stabbed in the city’s downtown core on Monday.Officers were called to the Queen Street East and Church Street area around 2:15 p.m. for reports of a stabbing.One man was located with stab wounds. He was rushed to a hospital with serious injuries.A male suspect fled the area on a bike, police said.Road closures include Church Street and Queen Street East, and Berti Street and Queen Street East.

Mast snaps aboard historic Maine schooner, killing 1 and injuring 3

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:23:16 GMT

ROCKLAND, Maine (AP) — The top portion of a mast snapped toppled on a historic excursion vessel, killing one person and injuring others aboard the Grace Bailey schooner off the coast of Maine, officials said Monday. One person died from injuries and three people were transported to hospitals on Monday, the Rockland Fire Department said. A helicopter transported one of the three injured, while the other two were transported via ambulances, fire officials said.Images posted online showed the vessel with its main mast splintered. The Grace Bailey is part of the state’s so-called windjammer fleet, a collection of historic sailing vessels that take people on excursions up and down the coast.The Grace Bailey is 118 feet long (36 meters) and can carry 29 passengers, according to an official website. It was built in Long Island, New York, in 1882.The Associated Press

Vatican defends wartime Pope Pius XII as conference honors Israeli victims of Hamas incursion

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:23:16 GMT

ROME (AP) — The Vatican secretary of state on Monday strongly defended World War II-era Pope Pius XII as a friend of the Jews as he opened an historic conference on newly opened archives that featured even Holy See historians acknowledging that anti-Jewish prejudice informed Pius’ silence in the face of the Holocaust.Cardinal Pietro Parolin’s defensive remarks were delivered before the conference observed a minute of silence to honor victims of the Hamas incursion in Israel. Standing alongside the chief rabbi of Rome, Parolin expressed solidarity with the Israeli victims and “to those who are missing and kidnapped and now in grave danger.”He said the Vatican was following the war with grave concern, and noted that many Palestinians in Gaza were also losing their lives.The conference at the Pontifical Gregorian University was remarkable because of its unprecedented high-level, Catholic-Jewish organizers and sponsors: The Holy See, Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust research institute, the...

McCarthy opens door to Speakership comeback amid Israel turmoil

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:23:16 GMT

Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) kept the door open to a comeback bid for the Speakership on Monday, outlining steps he believes the U.S. should take to respond to the crisis in Israel during a lengthy press conference — a presentation that was reminiscent of when he held the gavel just a week before.The California Republican did not directly answer if he envisions a scenario in which he could be a candidate for Speaker; if he would accept a colleague nominating him for Speaker; or if he thinks he is the right person to lead the House in the current moment, considering his pro-Israel background.“That’s a decision by the conference,” McCarthy said, relaying iterations of that multiple times.He similarly deflected when asked if he would endorse either of the candidates running to replace him: House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).But McCarthy, who hours after being ousted as Speaker said he would not run for...