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Live updates | Israel says it’s ready to fight for months to defeat Hamas as deaths surpass 17,700

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:54 GMT

Israel says it’s prepared to fight for months or longer to defeat Gaza’s Hamas rulers, as its ground offense intensifies with more airstrikes and artillery fire.Israel faces international outrage after its military offensive has killed more than 17,700 Palestinians in Gaza, around two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory. About 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced within the besieged territory, where United Nations agencies say there is no safe place to flee. With only a trickle of humanitarian aid reaching a small portion of Gaza, residents face severe shortages of food, water and other basic goods. Some observers worry that Palestinians will be forced out of Gaza altogether.Israel says 97 of its soldiers have died in its ground offensive after Hamas raided southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 240 hostages. Qatar, which has played a key m...

DeVito leads clutch drive to Bullock’s winning kick as New York Giants top Green Bay Packers 24-22

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:54 GMT

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Tommy DeVito threw a 32-yard pass to Wan’Dale Robinson to set up Randy Bullock’s 37-yard field goal as time expired, and the New York Giants beat Green Bay 24-22 on Monday night to hand the Packers their first December loss since Matt LaFleur took over as coach in 2019.The Giants went 57 yards in eight plays after Jordan Love threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Malik Heath with 1:33 to play. Green Bay then tried a 2-point conversion but Jayden Reed was stopped by linebacker Bobby Okereke. The go-ahead drive was set up by a Saquon Barkley fumble.DeVito rushed for 71 yards in the third straight win for the Giants (5-8). He threw an 8-yard TD pass to Isaiah Hodgins while leading four scoring drives, two of them capped by Barkley runs of 5 and 1 yards. The Giants defense forced three turnovers.Reed scored on a 16-yard run and Anders Carlson kicked field goals of 36, 32 and 48 yards for the Packers (6-7), who had won three in a row. Green Bay dropped...

Miramar Police and Target gift teenagers $100 shopping spree

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:54 GMT

Miramar Police officers treated teenagers to a shopping spree.Twenty-seven deserving kids and officers went down the aisles of the Target on Miramar Parkway. The teens were chosen by Target’s Heroes and Helpers program and were given $100.“They get to further their character, helping people,” said Miramar Police Sgt. Oscar Mendoza They’re doing it right now with their family. They’re bringing presents home for their family and it’s going to be a really amazing holiday season for them.”“I didn’t get nothing for myself,” said a teenager. “I just rather spread love towards the people I love instead of getting myself something, so that’s why I didn’t get anything for myself.”The program has provided holiday shopping experiences to over 100,000 children.

As COP28 negotiators wrestle with fossil fuels, activists urge them to remember what’s at stake

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:54 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — In the bustling halls where global climate talks are being held, onetime farmer Joseph Kenson Sakala of Malawi is sharing the story of how fossil fuel development upended his life — and hoping that negotiators listen to many such stories and then move decisively to cut use of the coal, oil and gas warming the planet.Sakala grew maize and produced enough to sustain his family and to help feed his broader community of Mchinji. But he was forced out by water and soil pollution from coal mining in his East Africa nation, he said, and Sakala now helps lead a non-governmental organization, Youth for Environment and Sustainable Development, that helps farmers adapt to climate change.“Climate crisis and damages because of fossil fuel extraction destroyed me,” Sakala said. “Now in Malawi, there are just a few rich people who are making money at the expense of so many people like us who are suffering.”At the COP28 talks in Dubai, the 34-year-old Sakala...

Australia credits improving relations with Beijing after China lifts some meat export bans

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:54 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — China has lifted import bans on three Australian meat suppliers in another sign of improving trade relations between the two countries, Australian officials said Tuesday.China’s customs agency announced overnight it was removing bans on imports of beef and mutton from Australian plants of JBS, a global foods company, and from the Australian Lamb Company, both in Victoria state. Also from Teys Australia in South Australia state, a government statement said.China had banned imports of red meats from 11 Australian abattoirs since 2020, citing cases of COVID-19 among staff and incorrectly labeled products. The bans were seen as part of various official and unofficial trade barriers China imposed to punish Australia over policies that included calling for an independent inquiry into the origins of and responses to the pandemic.China still bans meat from the other eight Australian slaughter houses. Australian officials were working toward resolving “technical im...

Malaysian leader appoints technocrat as second finance minister in Cabinet shuffle

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:54 GMT

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim appointed a technocrat as second finance minister on Tuesday in a Cabinet shuffle aimed at strengthening his administration and winning public trust a year after taking power.The shuffle was widely expected and expanded the number of portfolios with the appointment of five new ministers. Anwar said the changes were needed to meet current demands and cope with global trends, including the growing impact of artificial intelligence.Anwar, who appointed himself as finance minister after taking office last year, revived the post of second finance minister and named the head of the country’s largest pension fund, Amir Hamzah Azizan, to the portfolio in a move that could ease criticism of the prime minister.While he still heads the Finance Ministry, Anwar said having a professional team will ensure “we are on right track and can focus on the economy.”Several key ministers swapped portfolios. Mohamad Hasan, dep...

Meloni's vision for the European Union

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:54 GMT

Slightly more than a year has passed since Italy’s new government got elected and it is time to make a sense of Giorgia Meloni’s (pictured) vision for the European Union, writes Simone Galimberti, Kathmandu.She has been defined pragmatic and cunning, capable but also populist.At the same time, almost unexpectedly, she showed steadfast stewardship in the international affairs especially in relation to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.Italian Prime Minister Meloni sought a cooperative stance with the European Union, something that, in reality, many had already and, correctly, predicted as inevitable as Italy is the biggest recipient of the EU post pandemic recovery funds.Yet she proved staunchly conservative on social issues.Multiple times, her demagogic credentials were confirmed, for example, during the recent campaign in Spain where she had released a brief video intervention to support VOX, the far-right party or when, last week, she spoke at conference convened by the Hungarian Go...

Mother talks about being targeted in anti-Mexican rant at Disneyland

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:54 GMT

A mother who was the target of a woman's anti-Mexican rant at a Disneyland bathroom recalls the startling confrontation as her toddler was with her.The bathroom exchange happened on Dec. 5 when Eva Ramirez filmed the woman’s racist remarks after she reportedly heard the mother and son speaking Spanish in the bathroom.  Ramirez was celebrating her 2-year-old son’s birthday at the park when the altercation allegedly started with a disagreement over a bathroom stall.She and her son were in a Disney parking garage bathroom outside of the park's front entrance when she suddenly became the target of the woman’s racist remarks.“As we were walking into the restrooms, the stalls were empty and so I went ahead and used the big stall with my child and also with my stroller,” Ramirez said.She heard two people outside the stall making rude comments but she was preoccupied with her son and didn't realize they were actually directed towards her. An unidentified woman at Disneyland c...

LAPD helicopters cost taxpayers nearly $50 million a year

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:54 GMT

The Los Angeles Police Department’s air support division is the largest of its kind in the nation with 17 helicopters and over 90 employees. However, in the first-ever audit of the LAPD helicopter program, the L.A. City Controller's Office found that 61% of its flight time is spent on low-priority incidents, costing L.A. taxpayers nearly $50 million a year. "Some transportation and ceremonial flights were an inefficient and inappropriate use of city funds, including passenger shuttle flights for a “Chili Fly-In” and a flyby at a golf tournament,” said L.A. City Controller Kenneth Mejia.Mejia says his office spent nearly a year conducting the audit sifting through and finding information for the first time since the LAPD helicopter program started in the 1970s. “There is no persuasive empirical evidence that shows a clear link between helicopter patrols and crime reduction,” Mejia said.According to the report, there is little oversight in the air support division which costs mor...

South L.A. street food vendors robbed by knife-wielding suspect

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:54 GMT

A knife-wielding suspect remains at large after robbing street vendors in South Los Angeles.Surveillance video captured the hooded suspect walking up behind a street vendor worker and demanding all their cash.The incident happened on Dec. 8 as the workers at Tacos El Caguamo were set up on East 78th Street.The victim, Jose Segura Romero, becomes emotional when speaking about the ordeal, saying he was wondering whether he would be coming home to his family that night.“He came from behind me and forcefully applied pressure to my neck,” Jose told KTLA in Spanish.A knife-wielding suspect remains at large after robbing street vendors in South Los Angeles on Dec. 8, 2023. (Tacos El Caguamo)The Tacos El Caguamo stand in South Los Angeles. (KTLA)The suspect's getaway car leaves the scene after robbing street vendors in South Los Angeles on Dec. 8, 2023. (Tacos El Caguamo)The victim, Jose Segura Romero, owner of the Tacos El Caguamo food stand. (KTLA)The Tacos El Caguamo stand in South Los A...