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US death toll in Israel-Hamas war rises to 22 as Blinken heads to Israel and US makes military moves

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:03:26 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of U.S. citizens confirmed to have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war has risen to at least 22 with at least 17 more Americans unaccounted for, the State Department said Wednesday. That’s an increase in the death toll from 14 the day before, in a war that has already claimed more than 2,200 lives on both sides.A “handful” of U.S. citizens are among the estimated 150 hostages captured by Hamas militants during their shocking weekend assault on Israel, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday.In a further sign of U.S. support for Israel, Secretary of State Antony Blinken left for meetings with officials there. And the U.S. military is moving a second aircraft carrier toward the Mediterranean Sea as part of efforts to prevent the war from spilling over into a more dangerous regional conflict.Kirby said the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and its ships would be an “available asset” if necessary. The USS Gerald R. Ford, the Navy’s mos...

Renew proposes MEP Martin Hójsik as new Parliament vice president

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:03:26 GMT

BRUSSELS — Liberal Slovak MEP Martin Hojsík is in the running to become one of the European Parliament’s 14 vice presidents, after a spot opened up in the wake of September’s election in Slovakia.Chaired by Parliament President Roberta Metsola, the bureau of vice-presidents makes decisions on how the €2-billion-a-year Parliament runs, including appointments of top civil servants, acquisition of properties, and agreeing rules for MEPs.A current vice president, Michal Šimečka, is set to resign as he prepares to take up a seat in the national parliament, having led his Progressive Slovakia to the second-placed spot in the election. Hojsík also represents Progressive Slovakia, which looks set to be the main opposition party in Slovakia, after populist Robert Fico struck a tentative coalition deal with the social democrats and a far-right party Wednesday.“For me it’s humbling and I will try to do my best in order to get the confidence of the colleagues in the Parl...

Authorities investigating deadly industrial accident in Abington

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:03:26 GMT

An investigation is underway after an industrial accident in Abington killed a 67-year-old Braintree man Tuesday, the Plymouth County District Attorney’s office announced. The DA’s office said Abington police first responded to Troupe Waste and Recycling on Bedford Street around 1:40 p.m. after receiving a 911 call from an employee who said another employee had fallen off a forklift. The DA’s office said first responders soon found the injured employee and began life saving measures. The employee was ultimately taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. The Plymouth County DA’s office on Wednesday identified the man who died as Donald Schaefer. In its statement, the DA’s office said Schaefer appeared to have been working with two other men to offload several steel container bottoms using a tractor with a forklift attachment. The DA’s office said Schaefer “was standing on top of one of the loads to provide counterweight.” When the load shifted, officials sa...

State police add 17-year-old suspect in fatal Brockton shooting to ‘Most Wanted List’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:03:26 GMT

Massachusetts State Police have added a 17 year old wanted for a fatal shooting in Brockton to the department’s Most Wanted List.According to authorities, an arrest warrant for Kahmari Price was issued after state and local police identified the teenager as a suspect in the shooting death of Mark Boyd.Boyd, 33, was found by Brockton police the night of Feb. 26, 2023, after officers were called to North Main Street for reports of a shooting.First responders arrived to find Boyd unresponsive and suffering from a gunshot wound the head, officials said.Price was later identified as a suspect following a homicide investigation by state and local police and the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office.The teen is now wanted for murder and, due to a firearm never being recovered, should be considered armed and dangerous.In a news release, MSP officials described Price as having a height of 5’10” and weight of 140 pounds, along with black ha...

Biden announces new actions slashing junk fees

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:03:26 GMT

(CNN) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday unveiled new efforts to crack down on junk fees while announcing $2 billion in savings and $140 million in consumer refunds from previous crackdowns on junk fees from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.“Folks are tired of being taken advantage of and played for suckers,” Biden said during remarks in the Rose Garden.“Unfair fees known as junk fees – those hidden charges that companies sneak into your bill to make you pay more because they can. Simply because they can. Charges that are taking real money out of the pockets of American families. These junk fees can add hundreds of dollars weighing down family budgets, making it harder to pay family bills. These junk fees may not matter to the wealthy, but they sure matter to working folks in homes like the one I grew up in,” he added, arguing that the moves will give Americans “breathing room.”The Federal Trade Commission unveiled a proposed rule that the Biden administr...

MBTA clears slow zones on Green Line Extension but root cause of narrow tracks still unclear

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:03:26 GMT

The MBTA announced Wednesday that it had lifted a series of slow zones on the Green Line Extension that had brought trains to walking speeds but it is still unclear how exactly the brand new tracks that cost billions to build became defective so soon after opening.Regularly scheduled service on the Union Station and Medford-Tufts branches started earlier in the day following weeks of speed restrictions that were put in place when the agency discovered tracks were too narrow to safely operate trains, an anomaly MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng described last month as “certainly unusual.”In a statement provided by the Department of Transportation, Eng said a “successful operation of test trains” on the Union Station branch led officials to bring back regular service. All speed restrictions on both the Union Station and the Medford-Tufts Station branches were removed, Eng said.“Green Line trains today are traveling at regular line speeds on both branches. I wish to thank our riders for...

Nearly $1.5 million worth of liquid meth seized at border

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:03:26 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers last week found a total of 30 five-gallon buckets of liquid methamphetamine inside a commercial tractor, authorities said.The drug bust occurred on Oct. 3 at the Otay Mesa cargo facility, CBP officials said in a news release Tuesday. Around 12:30 p.m., CBP officers referred the tractor driver, a 49-year-old woman who was applying for entry to the U.S., to a secondary inspection.During the search, a CBP officer found 942.12 pounds of liquid methamphetamine hidden in 30 five-gallon buckets inside the tractor's fuel tanks, according to law enforcement. California campsite reservation bill signed by governor. Here’s what changes it makes CBP officers seized the tractor and $1,413,180 worth of liquid methamphetamine, while the driver was turned over to Homeland Security Investigations for further processing."Our officers are 100% committed to safeguarding our borders and are dedicated to disruptingdrug trafficking organizat...

Scalise is the GOP’s pick to be the House speaker but he faces an uncertain path. What happens next?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:03:26 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Now that House Republicans have chosen Majority Leader Steve Scalise as their nominee for speaker, the race is on to secure the 217 votes he will need on the House floor to win the gavel and officially take the place of the ousted Kevin McCarthy.The GOP conference picked Scalise as their nominee on Wednesday in a secret ballot. Lawmakers exiting the room said Scalise won 113 votes, while Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the House Judiciary Committee chairman, took 99. A handful of Republicans declined to vote for either.With Scalise falling well short of 217 in the conference vote, the Louisiana congressman’s path to the speakership is uncertain. He was holding meetings to try and unite Republicans behind him, but some lawmakers said they were still supporting Jordan. McCarthy, R-Calif., was suddenly and unexpectedly removed as speaker last week after just nine months on the job, leaving the House essentially leaderless with North Carolina Rep. Patrick McHenry in a c...

Entrance to Baltimore Washington International Airport closed due to law enforcement investigation

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:03:26 GMT

BALTIMORE (AP) — Law enforcement has blocked traffic from entering the Baltimore Washington International Airport terminal, citing an investigation Wednesday afternoon.People already inside the terminal should remain in place for the time being, airport officials said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, a little after 3 p.m. “The terminal roadway is temporarily shut down,” the post said. “Vehicular traffic approaching the airport is currently being held.”The Maryland Department of Emergency Management said Interstate 195 is closed at the Airport Boulevard exit.In replies to the post from airport officials, people said police were blocking foot traffic as well. They posted photos of gridlocked cars approaching the airport entrance.No additional information about the investigation was immediately available.The Associated Press

California law banning large-capacity gun magazines likely to survive lawsuit, court says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:03:26 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — In a setback to California gun rights advocates, a federal appeals court has temporarily blocked a lower court’s ruling that the state cannot ban gun owners from having detachable magazines that hold more than 10 rounds.The ban on higher-capacity magazines remains in effect while the case is still pending.The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal on Tuesday granted state Attorney General Rob Bonta’s motion for a stay of last month’s ruling by U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez.The appeals court wrote that the attorney general’s defense of the law is likely to succeed.The September ruling came in a legal action filed by five individuals and the California Rifle & Pistol Association challenging the law’s constitutionality under the Second Amendment. It was the second time Benitez struck down the law. The first time he struck it down was in 2017 and an appeals court ended up reversing his decision.Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court set a ...