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Israel-Hamas deal hinged on proof-of-life evidence, Qatar sheikh

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:06 GMT

By Jordan Fabian, Fiona MacDonald and Jennifer Jacobs, Bloomberg NewsThe breakthrough between Israel and Hamas that will see dozens of hostages and prisoners released from both sides — and more aid flow into Gaza — almost never happened.Talks over an agreement to free some of the captives held in Gaza began soon after Hamas’s forces stormed into Israel last month and took an estimated 240 hostages back with them, according to U.S. and Qatari officials who briefed reporters as the latest deal was announced.But it wasn’t clear the negotiations in Doha would succeed.Related ArticlesWorld | Israel and Hamas agree on a truce to free hostages in swap, raising hopes of halting war in Gaza World | 3 arrested in New Hampshire for allegedly trespassing at Israel-based defense contractor World | Israeli Cabinet approves truce for hostages deal with Hamas; Palestinian prisoners also to be freed World | Robbins: Israel’s only optio...

Ravens QB Lamar Jackson got hurt around this time the past two years. His plan this season? ‘Don’t get hit.’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:06 GMT

Lamar Jackson has a simple philosophy when it comes to avoiding injury.“Just don’t get hit,” he said Tuesday. “That’s all I know.”Easier said than done. Each of the past two years, the Ravens quarterback has suffered season-ending leg injuries. The first occurred on Dec. 12, 2021, in Week 13 against the Cleveland Browns when linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah brought Jackson down by his ankles as he scrambled away from pressure. The next happened on Dec. 12 last year — in Week 12 against the Denver Broncos — after outside linebacker Jonathan Cooper sacked Jackson from behind, resulting in a knee injury.Thursday night, the Ravens and their $260 million star got another scare.Late in the first quarter of Baltimore’s eventual 34-20 win over the Cincinnati Bengals, Jackson scrambled toward the sideline on a third-and-4 from the Ravens’ 37-yard line and threw an underhanded pass that fell incomplete as he was brought to the grou...

Cocoanut Grove Memorial set to break ground in Boston, decades in the making

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:06 GMT

Roslindale native Charles Capone stopped by the Cocoanut Grove the night of Nov. 28, 1942, to wish a farewell to some of his buddies who were going off to fight in World War II.“A pleasant evening ended in tragedy,” says his niece and goddaughter Phyllis Cavan, of Medfield.Capone and 489 others lost their lives in the deadliest nightclub fire in history, while 166 people were sent to city hospitals with injuries, an event that many refer to as Boston’s “worst catastrophe.”Decades in the making, a memorial honoring those who died and the major advancements in burn treatment, trauma response and fire codes that came out of the blaze is set to break ground at Statler Park on Sunday.Cavan said she will be attending the grand occasion, carrying a picture of her uncle, who was 26 years old at the time of the fire, which robbed him from the chance to “live, marry and have children.”Around the time of the anniversary, while growing up, Cavan and her father would attend mass at Holy Name Chu...

Pope meets relatives of Israeli hostages and Palestinians in Gaza and sets off firestorm over words

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:06 GMT

VATICAN CITY (By NICOLE WINFIELD)Associated Press (AP) — Pope Francis met separately Wednesday with relatives of Israeli hostages in Gaza and Palestinians living through the war and set off a firestorm by using words that Vatican diplomats usually avoid: “terrorism” and, according to the Palestinians, “genocide.”Francis spoke about the suffering of both Israelis and Palestinians after his meetings, which were arranged before the Israeli-Hamas hostage deal and a temporary halt in fighting was announced. Francis didn’t refer to the deal, which marked the biggest diplomatic breakthrough since the war erupted following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel.Francis met at the Vatican with 12 relatives of some of the 240 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza for about 20 minutes. Separately, he met for about the same amount of time with 10 Palestinians whose relatives have been killed or otherwise affected by the war in Gaza, along with priests who min...

Substitute teacher suspected of lewd acts with 13-year-old girl

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:06 GMT

OCEANSIDE, Calif. -- A 27-year-old Vista Unified School District substitute teacher suspected of lewd acts with a 13-year-old girl was arrested over the weekend, authorities said.Conner Chanove, who is also a coach for the all-girls Seaside Water Polo Club in Carlsbad, was arrested Monday after the teen's mother allegedly found him with her daughter in a vehicle at Guajome Lake Park in Oceanside, Sgt. Josh Morris with the Oceanside Police Department said in a news release Tuesday."The mother noticed inappropriate activity was taking place and removed her daughter from the vehicle and confronted the suspect," Morris said. Encinitas removes benches at Swami’s beach, frustrating locals Authorities were unable to find the suspect when they received the report Saturday, but two days later found and arrested him. Police also conducted a search of Chanove's home in Carlsbad.Chanove was booked into the Vista Detention Facility on suspicion of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor under 1...

Suspected militants kill 5, including 2 soldiers, in pair of bombings in northwest Pakistan

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:06 GMT

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (AP) — Suspected militants killed five people on Wednesday, including two soldiers, in a pair of bomb attacks targeting security forces in northwest Pakistan, near the Afghan border, officials said.The first attack occurred in North Waziristan district, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where two soldiers were killed, the military said.In the second attack, a bomb exploded at a shop in a former stronghold of Pakistani Taliban in the northwestern city of Wana, killing a pro-government elder, Aslam Noor, and two others, according to local police chief Allah Wazir.Noor, the slain elder, was known for supporting the government against the Pakistani Taliban.The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack on the troops, but denied any role in the bombing that killed the three civilians.The Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, is a separate group but also a close ally of the Afghan Taliban, who seized power in neighboring Afgha...

Incoming Philadelphia mayor taps the city’s chief of school safety as next police commissioner

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:06 GMT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia Mayor-elect Cherelle Parker, who won her post by promising gun-violence-weary residents to get tough on crime, on Wednesday selected longtime police official Kevin J. Bethel to become the next police commissioner of the nation’s sixth most populous city.The move is Parker’s first major personnel decision in a heavily Black city where her campaign tried to connect with voters who are increasingly worried about public safety as well as quality-of-life issues, from faulty streetlights to trash collection. On the stump, Parker argued that her mayoral administration can both invest in policing and address broader societal problems at the same time.In an interview with ABC Philadelphia announcing the decision, Parker said Bethel is “a leader who is not afraid to make the tough decisions that we need to bring some order back to our city.” Bethel, 60, is a former deputy police commissioner in Philadelphia who since 2019 has served as the chief of...

Washington asks India about alleged assassination plot against US-Canadian activist

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:06 GMT

WASHINGTON — The U.S. government says it asked Indian authorities about allegations of a foiled assassination plot targeting a U.S.-Canadian citizen and it expects anyone deemed responsible to be “held accountable.”National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson says in a statement the U.S. government is “treating the issue with utmost seriousness” and raised it with the “senior-most” levels of India’s government.She was responding to a report in the Financial Times alleging U.S. authorities thwarted a plan to assassinate Sikhs for Justice general counsel Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil, and raised concerns that India’s government was involved.Pannun, a dual citizen, is an organizer of a series of Sikh separatist votes in Canada and the United States. Watson says in a statement that Indian officials expressed “surprise and concern” and told the Americans that such activities were not their policy.India’...

25 killed when truck overloaded with food items and people crashes in Nigeria’s north

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:06 GMT

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — A truck overloaded with food items and more than 200 people crashed in north-central Nigeria’s Niger state, killing 25 passengers and injuring dozens of others, authorities said Wednesday.The truck was on its way to Nigeria’s economic hub of Lagos on Tuesday when it crashed in Takalafia village in Niger’s Magama district on Tuesday, according to Nigeria’s road safety agency.Niger Gov. Mohammed Umaru Bago said in a statement that the 25 victims have been taken to a nearby mortuary while other passengers were being treated for their injuries.Kumar Tsukwam, sector commander of Nigeria’s Federal Road Safety Corps in Niger, told The Associated Press that it’s believed some of the passengers wanted to travel with the trailer through Tuesday night to avoid unsafe roads during the day.“The passengers were not mindful of the (nature of the) road and the goods it was conveying,” Tsukwam said.Overloading and speeding are common causes of crashes along major roads in...

Democrats who swept Moms For Liberty off school board fight superintendent’s $700,000 exit deal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:06 GMT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Pennsylvania school board that banned books, Pride flags and transgender athletes slipped a last-minute item into their final meeting before leaving office, hastily awarding a $700,000 exit package to the superintendent who supported their agenda.But the Democratic majority that swept the conservative Moms For Liberty slate out of office hopes to block the unusual — they say illegal — payout and bring calm to the Central Bucks School District, whose affluent suburbs and bucolic farms near Philadelphia have been roiled by infighting since the 2020 pandemic.“People are really sick of the embarrassing meetings, the vitriol, they’re tired of our district being in the news for all the wrong reasons. And … the students are aware of what’s been going on, particularly our LGBTQ students and their friends and allies,” said Karen Smith, a Democrat who won a third term on the board.The district, with about 17,000 students in 23 schools, has spent $1.5 million on legal and...