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Live updates | Hamas frees 16 hostages as deadline to extend truce nears

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:32 GMT

A group of 10 Israeli women and children and four Thai nationals have been handed over by Hamas to the Red Cross late Wednesday, the Israeli military said. The release was expected to be followed by Israel freeing 30 Palestinian prisoners. Two Russian-Israeli women were also freed in a separate release earlier Wednesday evening and have arrived back in Israel.International mediators are working to extend a cease-fire that’s just a few hours from expiring. Israel has agreed to extend the truce by one day for every 10 militant-held hostages who are freed. The cease-fire, which was originally set to expire on Monday, has paused the deadliest fighting between Israel and Palestinians in decades.However, Israel has vowed to resume the war in an effort to end Hamas’ 16-year rule of Gaza, but it’s facing mounting international pressure to extend the truce and spare southern Gaza a devastating ground offensive like the one that has demolished much of the north.Hamas’ ...

Grad students look for help from Queen’s donor

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:32 GMT

Weeks after an historic donation to the Queen’s School of Engineering from Stephen Smith, grad students at the university are formally asking the donor to extend his generosity to help with their struggle. On Wednesday afternoon PSAC 901, the union representing grad student workers at Queen’s, published a formal letter to Mr. Stephen Smith seeking his assistance in reviving the union’s Emergency Food Support Fund. The letter states that it’s difficult to share in the excitement of the recent donation while many teaching assistants both in and out of the School of Engineering will continue to experience life below the poverty line.“Your donation was excitedly announced to our members as the meeting of momentum and magnitude,” the letter reads.“We believe that momentum would actually meet magnitude if no graduate student employee needed to apply for emergency food support programs, or go to foodbanks run by their employer, as Queen’s Universit...

Biden visits Boebert's district to reject Republican criticism of green policies

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:32 GMT

PUEBLO, Colo. (AP) — President Joe Biden used a backdrop of the world's largest facility for wind tower manufacturing to sharpen his criticism of Republicans Wednesday, saying the company's expansion validates an environmental agenda his political opponents want to undo. The company that Biden visited, CS Wind, is on the home turf of Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, who has described the president's climate policies as “a massive failure.”"Did you all know that you’re part of a massive failure?” Biden said to the workers and local officials gathered for his speech as he touted hundreds of new jobs fueled by tax incentives for clean energy initiatives. “None of that sounds like a massive failure to me. How about you?” Watch full replay of Pres. Biden's remarks in Pueblo President Joe Biden speaks at CS Wind on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023, in Pueblo, Colo. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)Biden’s rebuttal to Boebert was fresh evidence of the Democratic president's intention to more aggressively ...

West Boylston grounds out Div. 8 state title over Carver, 41-7

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:32 GMT

FOXBORO — Utilizing a dynamic rushing attack, West Boylston was able to emerge victorious over Carver, 41-7, to win the Division 8 state championship.This was the second straight state title for the Lions, as the team took home the Division 7 championship in 2022.The offense produced 413 total yards, with 359 coming on the ground. The defense limited Carver to just 122 yards.“Our goal was to get pressure on that quarterback,” Lions coach Mike Ross said. “We got a lot of pressure and made him uncomfortable. On offense, we’re tough, we wanted to keep them off the field and grind the ball and that’s what we did.”The Lions started with the ball, but Carver was able to force a quick punt. After this, the Crusaders marched down the field and took a 7-0 lead via a pass connection from Tyler Lennox and Robert Peterson.The Crusaders forced a fumble on the ensuing drive and looked poised to extend the lead. Instead, a great defensive stand followed, with a sack from Jake O’Brien providing a h...

‘Prepared for anything:’ Boston braces for oncoming winter weather

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:32 GMT

City officials once again gathered around one of the city’s mountainous salt piles to announce Boston is braced for any oncoming winter weather — and they urged residents to do their part.“Winter doesn’t stand a chance in Boston, because we are ready,” said Mayor Michelle Wu, flanked by a glittering salt pile and large snow plow in the Public Works Yard Wednesday. “And we know that last winter was particularly mild, and so I’m trying not to jinx it today here in front of the salt pile, but we will be prepared for anything.”The city has 44,000 tons of salt — upping last year by 4,000 tons — and 175 pieces of snow clearing apparatus with 800 more available for snow emergencies, Wu said.Following a notably mild winter last year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association forecasted a warmer-than-average winter for the New England region in their 2023-24 Winter Outlook release. In a report released in October, though, Acc...

Boston Mayor Wu dismisses ‘pathetic’ rumors around ambulance calls to her home

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:32 GMT

The mayor fired back at an order from the Secretary of State’s office compelling the City of Boston to release records around what her office described as the “pathetic and baseless” rumored ambulance calls made to her Roslindale home.The city has released two sets of police dispatch reports in response to a Herald public records request, which show numerous instances of police presence at Mayor Michelle Wu’s Augustus Avenue address, but while the incidents list the times and dates of each call, the nature of the response is not explicitly provided.In addition to each documented instance of police presence being listed as “default,” in lieu of providing a description such as it being medical or crime-related in nature as is typical with police logs, the records provided don’t include EMS or ambulance calls, which was requested by Herald columnist Howie Carr in October 2022.Following an appeal by the columnist, the Secretary of State’s office sent a letter to Shawn Williams, the city...

Cash stolen from Vietnamese temple

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:32 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A $1,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to the arrest of a man suspected of burglarizing and casing several Vietnamese temples in San Diego.The incidents occurred on Sept. 14 between 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., the San Diego County Crime Stoppers, along with the San Diego Police Department's Mid-City Division, said in a news release Wednesday. Five Vietnamese temples in City Heights and southeast San Diego were targeted, including one where the suspect broke into and stole cash from a lockbox, according to law enforcement. At another location, the suspect was escorted out by staff after casing the inside of the temples. Man who caught scrutinized USS Pinckney refit says his cameras are being targeted, once again The suspect is described as a Black man in his 40s, 6-feet-tall and weighing around 240 pounds. He was last seen wearing a black T-shirt, tan shorts and black sandals. His vehicle is believed to be a newer model Volkswagen SUV.A $1,000 reward ...

South African company to start making vaginal rings that protect against HIV

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:32 GMT

A South African company will make vaginal rings that protect against HIV, which AIDS experts say should eventually make them cheaper and more readily available.The Population Council announced Thursday that Kiara Health of Johannesburg will start making the silicone rings in the next few years, estimating that 1 million could be produced annually. The devices release a drug that helps prevent HIV infections and are authorized by nearly a dozen countries and the World Health Organization.The nonprofit council owns the rights to the rings, which are now made by a Swedish company. About 500,00 rings are currently available to women in Africa at no cost, purchased by donors. Ben Phillips, a spokesman at the U.N. AIDS agency, said the advantage of the ring is that it gives women the freedom to use it without anyone else’s knowledge or consent.“For women whose partners won’t use a condom or allow them to take oral (preventive HIV) medicines, this gives them another option,” he said.HIV re...

Leaked document says US is willing to build replacement energy projects in case dams are breached

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:32 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — The U.S. government is willing to help build enough new clean energy projects in the Pacific Northwest to replace the hydropower generated by four controversial dams on the Snake River, according to a leaked Biden administration document that is giving hope to conservationists who have long sought the removal of the dams as a key to restoring depleted salmon runs.Still, Congress would have to agree before any of the Lower Snake River dams in Washington state are removed, and that’s unlikely to happen in the near future.The document is a draft agreement to uphold 168-year-old treaties with four tribes in the Pacific Northwest that preserved their right to harvest fish in the river, among other things. The Columbia River Basin was once the greatest salmon-producing river system in the world, with at least 16 stocks of salmon and steelhead, according to the document. But today, four are extinct and seven are listed under the Endangered Species Act. Conservationists...

Louisiana’s tough-on-crime governor-elect announces new leaders of state police, national guard

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:32 GMT

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Throughout his election campaign, Republican Gov.-elect Jeff Landry promised to prioritize fighting crime in Louisiana, a state that in recent years has had one of the highest homicide rates in the country. On Wednesday, he took steps that he said would help fulfill that promise, appointing a new state police chief and other statewide safety and security leadership positions. Landry said he also plans to call the legislature into a special session to address crime once he’s in the governor’s office. Currently the state’s attorney general, Landry said an integral part of his plan as Louisiana’s chief executive is to improve safety in New Orleans, which has often been in the national spotlight for violent crime. The governor-elect remarked during a news conference that he will bring “as much of a law enforcement presence” as necessary to keep New Orleans safe.But when pressed for specifics on tackling crime in the state’s tourist-friendly and ...