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Live updates | Gaza loses communications due to lack of fuel, Israel signals forces may move south

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:30 GMT

A dire fuel shortage in the Gaza Strip has shut down all internet and phone networks, the main Palestinian telecom provider said Thursday, effectively cutting off the besieged territory from the outside world.And in a signal that Israel’s ground invasion is about to expand in the south, Palestinians in parts of southern Gaza said they received evacuation notices Thursday.Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are crowded into the south, including hundreds of thousands who heeded Israel’s calls to evacuate the north to get out of the way of its offensive. Residents say bread is scarce and supermarket shelves are bare. Central electricity and running water have been out for weeks.More than 11,470 Palestinians — two-thirds of them women and minors — have been killed since the war began, according to Palestinian health authorities, which do not differentiate between civilian and militant deaths. About 2,700 people are reported missing.Israel vowed to wipe out Hamas after the militant group l...

Fury and Usyk to fight on Feb. 17 in Saudi Arabia to unify all 4 major heavyweight boxing titles

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:30 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk to unify all of the major heavyweight boxing titles will take place in Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh, on Feb. 17, promoters announced Thursday.The last fight to crown an undisputed heavyweight champion was in 1999, when Lennox Lewis beat Evander Holyfield to win three major titles — the WBC, WBA and IBF belts. Lewis had to relinquish his WBA title the following year in a dispute over his next title defense.This time, it’s for four belts. Fury (34-0-1) of England is the WBC champion and Usyk (21-0) of Ukraine holds the WBA, IBF and WBO belts, having previously been the undisputed champion at cruiserweight in 2018 and 2019.Fury and Usyk were expected to meet on Dec. 23 but the fight was delayed after Fury’s disappointing performance in a split-decision victory over MMA star Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia last month.“I am destined to cement my legacy as the No. 1 fighter in this era and to do that, I’ve got to beat this li...

Correction: Hawaii-Wildfires story

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:30 GMT

HONOLULU (AP) — In a story published Nov. 14, 2023, about fatalities from a Maui wildfire, The Associated Press, relying on information from the Honolulu medical examiner’s office, erroneously reported the date of a victim’s death. The 78-year-old woman died Sept. 4, not Oct. 16. Source

Vote counting starts in Madagascar election marked by low turnout and boycotted by most candidates

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:30 GMT

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (AP) — Polling stations closed and the counting of votes began Thursday in Madagascar in a presidential election that was boycotted by the majority of candidates following weeks of unrest and court battles.A low voter turnout marked the election, as many people appeared to heed a call by a collective of 10 candidates to stay away from voting booths. Civil society groups had also called for a postponement of the election.The country’s elections management body, Céni, is expected to announce late Thursday the first nationwide trend, based on the counting of 60% of the votes cast in major cities, before proclaiming the “provisional consolidated results” between Nov. 24 and Nov. 25.It will then be up to the country’s High Constitutional Court to proclaim the official results of the election at the beginning of December. A runoff has been scheduled for Dec. 20 if none of the candidates attain more than 50 percent from Thursday’s vote.But the opposition has alread...

RSV is straining some hospitals, and US officials are releasing more shots for newborns

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:30 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — RSV infections are rising sharply in some parts of the country, nearly filling hospital emergency departments in Georgia, Texas and some other states.To help counter the surge, federal officials on Thursday announced they were releasing 77,000 doses of a new RSV shot for newborns that have been in short supply.Reports of the seasonal virus are rising nationally, but experts said RSV is not expected to generate the kind of patient traffic seen last fall, when hospital emergency departments were overwhelmed with sick, wheezing kids.Nevertheless, it will get worse and the virus may be intense in some places, said Dr. Meredith McMorrow, an RSV expert at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.In Virginia, 20 kids are currently hospitalized with RSV at the Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU Health, with about half of them in the intensive care unit, said spokesperson Shira Pollard. In Georgia, the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta hospital system is in “surge” m...

General Motors becomes 1st of Detroit automakers to seal deal with unionized workers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:30 GMT

FILE - United Auto Workers members hold picket signs near a General Motors assembly plant in Delta Township, Mich., Sept. 29, 2023. About 46,000 United Auto Workers at GM are expected to wrap up voting on a tentative contract agreement in a close race that will decide the fate of the deal that ended a six-week strike. The union is expected to announce GM results Thursday evening. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)(AP/Paul Sancya) FILE - United Auto Workers members hold picket signs near a General Motors assembly plant in Delta Township, Mich., Sept. 29, 2023. About 46,000 United Auto Workers at GM are expected to wrap up voting on a tentative contract agreement in a close race that will decide the fate of the deal that ended a six-week strike. The union is expected to a...

Ebert Metropolitan District board member subject to recall election

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:30 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- The Denver Office of the Clerk and Recorder received a recall election petition for Murray Hawthorne, a member of the office of director for the Ebert Metropolitan District in Green Valley Ranch.According to the office, the petition was reviewed and has enough valid signatures to initiate a recall election. The official date for that election is still pending. FOX31 Newsletters: Sign up to get breaking news sent to your inbox Hawthorne is treasurer of the Ebert Metropolitan District. His term expires in May 2025. He was appointed to the position prior to his election in 2022, serving from 2020-2022.Recall elections are to try and remove an elected official from their position. The petition must have valid signatures for 25% of the total votes cast in the last preceding general election.According to the recall petition, signatories believe Hawthorne "does not represent or respect Ebert residents."The petition continues by citing a pattern of verbal abuse and physic...

BSO search for missing 28-year-old man in Tamarac

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:30 GMT

The Broward Sheriff’s Office Missing Persons Unit is seeking the public’s help in finding a missing 28-year-old man.Isaac Samuel Mathis was last seen on Nov. 8, at approximately 9:38 a.m., near the 7000 block of North University Drive in Tamarac. He was last seen wearing a green long sleeve shirt, black pants and Nike sneakers.Mathis stands at about 5 feet, 10 inches tall, weighs around 150 pounds, has black hair and brown eyes. According to his family, Mathis suffers from bipolar disorder.Anyone with information on Mathis’ whereabouts is urged contact BSO Detective Leonard Charla at 954-321-4274 or the BSO non-emergency number at 954-764-HELP (4357

BSO search for missing 21-year-old man in Oakland Park

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:30 GMT

The Broward Sheriff’s Office Missing Persons Unit is seeking the public’s help in finding a missing 21-year-old man.Omarie Jamoie King was last seen on Oct. 21, at around 11 p.m., in the 200 block of Lake Pointe Drive in Oakland Park. He was last seen wearing a yellow hoodie, black pants, a black beanie and black and white sneakers.King stands at about 5 feet, 9 inches tall, weighs about 150 pounds, has black hair and brown eyes.Anyone with information on King’s whereabouts should contact BSO Detective Leonard Charla at 954-321-4274 or the BSO non-emergency number at 954-764-HELP (4357).

Israel won’t pick Hamas’ successors in Gaza, top official says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:30 GMT

TEL AVIV — Israel doesn’t want to end up deciding who rules Gaza after Hamas but is liaising closely with its allies on the future of the coastal enclave, a senior adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told POLITICO on Thursday. For now, it seems easier to answer the question of who won’t govern the coastal enclave after the war, rather than who will. Israel insists it won’t stay on as an occupier, and Ophir Falk, Netanyahu’s foreign policy adviser, also dismissively shook his head when asked about a role for the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority or the U.N. “I think the worst thing that could happen is for Israel to say who governs, but we can say who’s not going to govern, and it is not going to be Hamas,” he noted emphatically.Given Israel won’t pick the successor to Hamas, Falk argued a diplomatic approach would be needed to help settle what comes next. “We are talking with our partners and allies, and obviously have been from day o...