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Israel strikes neighborhood after neighborhood in Gaza as war appears set to escalate

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:24 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Residents of the Gaza Strip scrambled to find safety Wednesday, as Israeli warplanes hammered neighborhood after neighborhood in the tiny coastal enclave, retaliating for the deadly weekend attack by Hamas militants.As Gazans crowded into U.N. schools and a shrinking number of safe neighborhoods, humanitarian groups pleaded for the creation of corridors to get aid into Gaza, warning that hospitals overwhelmed with wounded people were running out of supplies. Israel has stopped entry of food, fuel and medicine into Gaza, and the sole remaining access from Egypt shut down Tuesday after airstrikes hit near the border crossing.The war, which has claimed at least 2,100 lives on both sides, is expected to escalate. Israel appears determined to crush Hamas’ hold on Gaza, following an unprecedented attack in which militants gunned down civilians in their homes, on streets and at a mass outdoor music festival, while dragging men, women and children into captivity. Hama...

What to know on fifth day of latest Israel-Palestinian war

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:24 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — The war between Israel and the militant group Hamas raged for a fifth day on Wednesday, as Israeli warplanes hammered neighborhood after neighborhood in the Gaza Strip, reducing buildings to rubble and sending people scrambling to find safety.Humanitarian groups pleaded for the creation of corridors that would allow them to deliver aid, saying hospitals were overwhelmed with wounded people and running out of supplies.Israel has stopped entry of food, fuel and medicines into Gaza in response to Hamas’ bloody incursion into Israel on Saturday. The sole remaining access from Egypt shut down Tuesday after airstrikes hit near the border crossing.The war, which has claimed at least 2,100 lives on both sides, is expected to escalate. New exchanges of fire over Israeli’s northern borders with militants in Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday pointed to the risk of an expanded regional conflict. The Israeli military said more than 1,200 people, including 155 soldiers, have die...

Live updates | Day 5 of the latest Israel-Palestinian war

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:24 GMT

Airstrikes pounded neighborhoods throughout the night and into Wednesday as Israel stepped up its offensive on the Gaza Strip in response to an unprecedented attack by Hamas.The war, which has claimed at least 2,100 lives on both sides, is expected to escalate. The weekend attack that Hamas said was retribution for worsening conditions for Palestinians under Israeli occupation has inflamed Israel’s determination to crush the group’s hold in Gaza. Here’s what’s happening on Day 5 of the latest Israel-Palestinian war:GAZA CAN’T REACH PEOPLE WHO ARE TRAPPED UNDER RUBBLE, OFFICIALS SAYGAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — As airstrikes are reported nonstop in the Karama district north of Gaza city, many dead and injured are stuck under rubble that Gaza lacks the equipment to handle, officials said Wednesday. With streets badly damaged and the ongoing and intense nature of the airstrikes, ambulances and civil defense teams are unable to approach areas where people were reported trapp...

Seager still going deep in Texas, helps send Rangers to ALCS with sweep of 101-win Orioles

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:24 GMT

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Corey Seager is still going deep in Texas during the postseason. This time he is doing it for the Rangers, who are streaking through October. Seager and Adolis García homered early, Nathan Eovaldi pitched seven smooth innings in another playoff clincher and Texas completed an AL Division Series sweep of the Baltimore Orioles with a 7-1 victory in Game 3 on Tuesday night. The Rangers, whose loss at Seattle on the last day of the regular season made them a wild-card team instead of the AL West champion, have since won all five of their postseason games. They are headed to the American League Championship Series for the first time since 2011. “We had our work cut out going on the road against Tampa and Baltimore. Just shows the toughness with this ballclub and the deal with having to fly to Tampa,” said Texas manager Bruce Bochy, a three-time World Series champion with San Francisco who is now going to his first ALCS. “Trust me, they wanted to win one more game ...

Myanmar’s military is accused of bombing a displacement camp in a northern state, killing about 30

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:24 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s military has been accused of launching an airstrike on a camp for displaced persons in the northern state of Kachin that killed about 30 people, including about a dozen children, Kachin militants and activists and local media said Tuesday.Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, triggering widespread popular opposition. After peaceful demonstrations were put down with lethal force, many opponents of military rule took up arms, and large parts of the country are now embroiled in conflict.Col. Naw Bu, a spokesperson for the Kachin Independence Army, said 29 people including 11 children under the age of 16 were killed and 57 others injured in the attacks carried out by air and artillery late Monday. The casualties occurred at the Mung Lai Hkyet displacement camp in the northern part of Laiza, a town where the headquarters of the rebel KIA is based, about 324 kilometers (200 miles) nort...

Bedard earns assist in NHL debut as Blackhawks beat Crosby, Penguins 4-2

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:24 GMT

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Connor Bedard skated into the faceoff circle, saw one of his idols standing across from him and tried to soak in the moment.That really was Sidney Crosby within arm’s reach. That really was referee Kelly Sutherland welcoming him to the NHL on national television. That really was a sellout crowd pulling cameras out trying to capture the meeting of two generational talents at opposite ends of their careers.Then the puck dropped, and the instincts that have made the 18-year-old Bedard the NHL’s next big thing kicked in.Playing with a charismatic fearlessness, Bedard dazzled in Chicago’s 4-2 comeback win over Crosby and the Penguins on Tuesday night.The top pick in the 2023 NHL entry draft picked up an assist and fired five shots at Tristan Jarry while playing 21:29, hardly looking intimidated by the stage, the stakes or pretty much anything else.“I think, for me, it’s just trying to get better every shift, every game,” Bedard said. “I created a...

Stock market today: Asian shares rise after eased pressure on bonds pushes Wall Street higher

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:24 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Shares advanced Wednesday in Asia, tracking Wall Street gains following an easing of pressure from the bond market. U.S. futures were little changed and oil prices rose slightly. In China, investor sentiment got a boost from a report by Bloomberg, citing unnamed sources, that the government is considering boosting spending on construction to support the economy. China’s lackluster recovery from the blows to its economy during the COVID-19 pandemic have weighed heavily on regional and global growth. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 1.4% to 17,919.55 and the Shanghai Composite index was up 0.2% at 3,081.22. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index climbed 0.9% to 32,019.42.In South Korea, the Kospi jumped 2.5%, to 2,462.10 after Samsung Electronics reported improved quarterly earnings. Samsung’s shares surged 4.4%, while SK Hynix’s were up 3.3%. Analysts say the worst of the post-pandemic contraction in demand for computer chips and electronic devices may be ove...

Abortion rights and marijuana questions expected to drive Ohioans to polls as early voting begins

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:24 GMT

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Heavier-than-normal turnout is expected Wednesday as early voting begins in Ohio’s closely watched off-year election to decide the future of abortion access and marijuana legalization in the state. Of greatest interest nationally is Issue 1, a proposed constitutional amendment giving every person “the right to make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions.” The effort comes on the heels of a string of victories for abortion rights proponents around the country who have been winning in both Democratic and deeply Republican states since the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling legalizing abortion was overturned.Both sides tried to gin up enthusiasm over the past week as they hosted rallies and canvassing events across the state.Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights, the yes campaign, emphasizes the measure’s ability to keep Ohio’s ban on most abortions after fetal cardiac activity is detected from taking effect. A judge’s order has pla...

Filing period for New Hampshire presidential primary opens

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:24 GMT

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The New Hampshire presidential primary filing period starts Wednesday, a ritual unruffled by either a changing of the guard or changes to the nominating calendar elsewhere.For the first time in more than four decades, candidates will file paperwork with a new secretary of state thanks to the retirement last year of longtime elections chief Bill Gardner. But his successor, David Scanlan, is carrying on the tradition of ensuring New Hampshire remains first, waiting for the dust to settle in other states before scheduling the 2024 contest.“I’m really in no hurry,” he said in an interview Tuesday.In contrast, the candidates themselves — particularly the longshots — often are in a race to sign up first in hopes that a bit of media attention will boost their campaigns. In 1991, a writer from New York drove 11 hours in a snowstorm only to find another perennial candidate waiting at the door. In 2007, a Minnesota fugitive living in Italy sent a package by courier that a...

New Zealand immigration hits an all-time high as movement surges following pandemic lull

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:24 GMT

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand’s immigration numbers have hit an all-time high, enabling employers to fill jobs but also putting pressure on the housing market, according to economists.The net number of immigrants was 110,000 in the year ending August, beating the previous high of 103,000 set a month earlier, according to figures released Wednesday by Statistics New Zealand. The numbers represent a big turnaround after more people left New Zealand than arrived during much of the COVID-19 pandemic.“We are talking very, very big numbers for a small economy like ours,” said Jarrod Kerr, chief economist at Kiwibank. Kerr said the surge likely reflected pent-up demand that had built during the pandemic. He said it had come as a relief to employers, who last year were having great difficulty finding skilled workers to fill vacant roles.New Zealand’s unemployment rate remains at a relatively low 3.6%. But Kerr also cautioned the migrants would need a lot of resource...