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EU leaders to discuss Israel-Hamas war on Tuesday

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:28 GMT

EU leaders will hold a video conference on Tuesday to discuss the Israel-Hamas war.The extraordinary European Council meeting will be held by video conference on Tuesday (October 17) at 5:30 p.m.European Council President Charles Michel said in a statement: “We stand in full solidarity with the people of Israel and the victims of the terrorist attacks. Israel has the right to defend itself in full compliance with international law, in particular international humanitarian law.”He added: “The unfolding tragic scenes in the Gaza Strip resulting from the siege and the lack of basic needs combined with the destruction brought by significant shelling, are raising alarm bells in the international community.“It is of utmost importance that the European Council, in line with the Treaties and our values, sets our common position and establishes a clear unified course of action that reflects the complexity of the unfolding situation,” Michel said.

‘Climate resilience’ a top priority in redesigning Boston park blocks from Mass and Cass

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:28 GMT

All options are on the table when it comes to envisioning the future of the dilapidated Clifford Playground in Roxbury, according to officials overseeing a redesign process.“When we’re looking at park designs, it’s not made in a bubble. There are so many things that go into the decisions,” said Lauren Bryant, a project manager leading the effort for the city.“There are City of Boston priorities, in terms of things like climate resiliency,” Bryant said during a meeting last week, ” … and then there’s community input which is a huge part of what we are here for,” .Residents and advocates have long called on officials to address Clifford Playground’s disorderly state, as the 8-acre recreational space festers with needles, human feces and other trash. The city has said it’s responded with increased clean ups, and police frequently monitor the area.But those efforts have only gotten so far. The intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard, a grow...

ICE to deport accused rapist, fraud suspect amid migrant crisis

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:28 GMT

An illegal immigrant facing multiple rape charges was allowed to walk out of court after federal immigration agents were denied a request to interview him first, the Herald has learned.That same suspect had a driver’s license permit from the RMV, a law enforcement official said.Elgin Antonio Bamaca Zacarias, a 30-year-old citizen of Guatemala, is now in federal custody awaiting a deportation hearing.He was arrested in Lynn after being arraigned — and released — on two counts of rape, three counts of assault to rape, and one count of assault and battery on a pregnant victim.“These crimes, which include multiple charges of rape and assault and battery on a pregnant victim, are deeply disturbing,” said Todd Lyons, director of the Boston field office of ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO). “ERO Boston is committed to apprehending and removing immigration violators who present a threat to public safety.”It’s not known when and how Zaca...

K-pop group TOMORROW X TOGETHER on their new album, working with Anitta and the Jonas Brothers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:28 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — In 2019, when the K-pop group TOMORROW X TOGETHER (TXT for short) first debuted, they were best known as the first BigHit Entertainment boy band since BTS. Those days went as quickly as they arrived.The quintet of Yeonjun, Soobin, Taehyun, HueningKai, and Beomgyu are one of the most influential contemporary K-pop groups, lovingly referred to as “K-pop’s voice for Gen Z” for their high-concept, relatable albums and their fearless genre eclecticism. No two records are the same, but the accolades are many. Last year, TXT made their U.S. debut at Lollapalooza, the famed festival in Chicago. This year, they became the first ever K-pop group to headline it, a few months after their album, “The Name Chapter: Temptation,” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. On Friday, the TXT story continues, and they will release another album, “The Name Chapter: Freefall.” There’s a very specific, whimsical mythology behind it: “Temptation” centered on a narra...

‘Ring of fire’ eclipse moves across the Americas, bringing with it cheers and shouts of joy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:28 GMT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.. (AP) — First came the darkening skies, then the crescent-shaped shadows on the ground, and finally an eruption of cheers by crowds that gathered Saturday along the narrow path of a rare “ring of fire” eclipse of the sun.It was a spectacular show for millions of people across the Americas as the moon moved into place and the ring formed. There were hoots, hollers and yelps for those with an unfettered view in Albuquerque, where the celestial event coincided with an international balloon fiesta that typically draws tens of thousands of spectators and hundreds of hot air balloon pilots from around the world.They got a double treat, with balloons lifting off during a mass ascension shortly after dawn and then the eclipse just hours later. Some pilots used their propane burners to shoot flames upward in unison as the spectacle unfolded.“It’s very exciting to be here and have the convergence of our love of flying with something very natural like an eclipse,” said Allan ...

Palestinians struggle to evacuate northern Gaza amid growing Israeli warnings of ground offensive

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:28 GMT

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinians struggled Saturday to flee from areas of Gaza targeted by the Israeli military while grappling with a growing water and medical supply shortage ahead of an expected land offensive a week after Hamas’ bloody, wide-ranging attack into Israel.Israel renewed calls on social media and in leaflets dropped from the air for Gaza residents to move south, while Hamas urged people to stay in their homes. The U.N. and aid groups have said such a rapid exodus along with Israel’s siege of the territory would cause untold human suffering.The evacuation directive covers an area of 1.1 million residents, or about half the territory’s population. The Israeli military said “hundreds of thousands” of Palestinians had heeded the warning and headed south. It gave Palestinians a six-hour window that ended Saturday afternoon to travel safely within Gaza along two main routes.A week after Hamas’ attack, Israel was still working to assess the full extent of the c...

Foreign affairs minister announces plan to help Canadians evacuate from West Bank

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:28 GMT

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says the federal government is still working to get Canadians out the Gaza Strip, but announced an evacuation plan for those in the West Bank. Joly’s announcement comes after an earlier plan to allow foreign nationals to leave the Palestinian territory of Gaza via a border crossing with Egypt was cancelled Saturday. She says the Israeli government has authorized Canadians’ departure from the besieged territory on the Mediterranean Sea, but that more work needs to be done to secure their passage.She says about 160 Canadians and their relatives are still in Gaza.Meanwhile, Joly says a new plan would allow between 80 and 100 Canadians in the West Bank to leave by bus from the city of Ramallah to the Jordanian capital of Amman starting as early as Tuesday.She says that plan has received authorization from Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Canadian Israeli woman, missing since ambush at musical festival, has died: family

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:28 GMT

Family of a Canadian Israeli woman, who was missing since Hamas militants ambushed a music festival in southern Israel last Saturday, are dealing with the heartbreaking news she has died.Shir Georgy’s aunt, Michal Bouganim, said the 22-year-old was killed by Hamas in the attack on the festival near Kibbutz Re’im.“We are currently a mess, heartbroken,” Bouganim said on Instagram. Earlier in the day, Bouganim shared a post, saying the family “received the terrible news.”Georgy is the fourth Canadian to die in the Israel and Hamas conflict.Georgy, a dual citizen of Israel and Canada, was attending the Supernova music festival in the Negev desert — a region bordering the Gaza Strip — on Oct. 7 when Hamas gunmen attacked the partygoers. In a 22-second video shared by Bouganim online, Georgy is seen terrified, sitting among other festival attendees — some of them injured — as they hid in a small room.  Valeri Mesasof, a cousin of Georgy’...

Weary families trudge through Gaza streets, trying to flee the north before Israel’s invasion

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:28 GMT

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Some fled home with suitcases jammed with clothes and heirlooms and photographs. Some left with stacks of foam mattresses tied to car roofs. They took buses and vans and cars and carts pulled by donkeys.Many walked. Many had nothing with them but exhausted family members trudging through streets littered with rubble. All of them were trying to get to safety.“We left the house without food, without water and without clothes,” said Mohammad Hillis, sitting at a wooden school desk scarred by generations of students in a makeshift refugee camp in central Gaza. “We left without taking anything with us.”He said about 150 people lived in his building in their northern Gaza town. All left after clouds of Israeli leaflets began dropping from the sky, warning civilians to flee the north within 24 hours.“Evacuate south for your own safety and the safety of your families and distance yourself from Hamas terrorists who are using you as human shields,” an Israeli ...

A teen’s death in a small Michigan town led the FBI and police to an online sexual extortion scheme

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:28 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Last year, a teenager in a small Michigan town killed himself after an online chat turned to demands that he pay money to keep intimate photos secret. He was one of dozens of people targeted online by two men extradited from Nigeria to face charges, FBI director Christopher Wray said Saturday.The arrests came after the FBI joined with police in Michigan to investigate the death of 17-year-old Jordan DeMay, one thousands of American teenagers targeted in a sharp rise in online “sextortion” cases in recent years.“They will face charges in the U.S. for what they did to Jordan, but also unfortunately, a whole bunch of other young men and teenage boys,” Wray said in an interview with The Associated Press. “You’re talking about a crime that doesn’t respect borders. We make sure our partnerships don’t have any borders either.”Wray highlighted the case in a speech to the International Association of Chiefs of Police about the ways the agency assists police in tackling viol...