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Keir Starmer defies Gaza cease-fire calls despite Labour backlash

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:20 GMT

LONDON — Keir Starmer doubled down on his position on the war between Israel and Hamas Tuesday despite open revolt on the opposition Labour Party’s front bench.In a speech at the Chatham House foreign policy think tank, Starmer faced down calls to demand a cease-fire in Gaza and said this would only “embolden” Hamas militants to launch another attack.In the past week a dozen Labour frontbenchers have defied the agreed party line on the conflict and called for a cease-fire.Dozens of Labour MPs, including some shadow Cabinet members, have been privately lobbying Starmer’s office to change its position and warning that the party is losing significant support from the British Muslim community.Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar and London and Greater Manchester mayors Sadiq Khan and Andy Burnham all joined calls for a cease-fire last week.But Starmer warned on Tuesday that a cease-fire “always freezes any conflict in the state where it currently lies. And, as we speak, that would l...

Useless fuckpigs: How Dominic Cummings described Boris Johnson’s Cabinet

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:20 GMT

LONDON — Boris Johnson’s top adviser Dominic Cummings described the U.K.’s governing Cabinet as “useless fuckpigs” and urged a round of sackings at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.In summer 2020 WhatsApp exchanges shown at Britain’s official coronavirus inquiry Tuesday, Cummings lambasted the government’s most senior ministers — and called on Johnson to carry out a reshuffle.The messages were sent as Johnson’s government reeled from a rise in COVID-19 cases after deciding to reopen key parts of the economy — and get pupils back to school — following that spring’s lockdown.“Don’t think sustainable for [then-Education Secretary Gavin Williamson] to stay [at the Department for Education],” Cummings texted, as he urged Johnson to sack his education secretary and carry out a reshuffle to “focus minds intensely.”After Johnson said it would be “fatal” to brief the Cabinet about an upcoming resh...

Massachusetts migrant crisis in the spotlight at planned emergency superior court hearing over right-to-shelter law

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:20 GMT

A court date has been set in the showdown over sheltering migrants.Suffolk Superior Court on Tuesday will be the setting as plaintiffs seek a temporary restraining order to force compliance with the state’s right-to-shelter law.Lawyers for Civil Rights Boston filed the lawsuit on Friday against the Healey administration, on behalf of three families who the organization said are “on the brink of homelessness.” The suit comes after Gov. Maura Healey announced this month that the state could no longer guarantee housing for families and pregnant women, despite a state law that guarantees housing for qualifying families.The hearing will be held hours before Nov. 1, the date that Healey determined the state’s shelter system would “reach capacity” and that families may begin to be placed on a waiting list if there is no room available.The governor said that starting Wednesday the state would not add any new shelter units and families who come s...

‘Friends’ stars react to ‘unfathomable loss’ of Matthew Perry

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:20 GMT

(CNN) — The cast of “Friends” is taking time to “grieve and process” the death of their former co-star Matthew Perry.In a joint statement provided to CNN on Monday, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer and Matt LeBlanc wrote: “We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just cast mates. We are a family.”“There is so much to say, but right now we’re going to take a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss,” the statement, released by their individual representatives, continued. “In time we will say more, as and when we are able. For now, our thoughts and our love are with Matty’s family, his friends, and everyone who loved him around the world.”Perry died Saturday at his home in the Los Angeles area. He was 54.Perry, 54, starred on the NBC sitcom “Friends” from 1994 to 2004 as Chandler Bing, the charming and sarcastic member of a group of tight-knit friends living in New York City. The show was one of t...

Israeli forces rescue soldier held by Hamas in special operation, IDF says

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:20 GMT

(CNN) — An Israeli soldier who was abducted by Hamas has been rescued in a special joint operation, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told CNN, the first successful hostage extrication since the militant group’s October 7 rampage.In its initial announcement, the IDF said Pvt. Ori Megidish was “released.” But that was a translation error, IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Tuesday.Megidish was among over 200 hostages held by Hamas and was “actively rescued” with “boots on the ground” in a joint operation between the IDF and the Israeli Security Agency (ISA) which is also known as Shin Bet, Conricus said.With Israel declaring a “new phase of war” as it started ground operations last Friday, Conricus said that “based on intelligence” the Israeli special forces went into northern Gaza knowing her whereabouts and rescued her.“It indeed was a special operation that was targeted in specifically getting her out,” he said.“They were in there for a jo...

Mary Lou Retton thankful for support as she slowly recovers from pneumonia

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:20 GMT

(CNN) — Olympic gymnastics legend Mary Lou Retton expressed thanks Monday for those who have supported her during a scare with pneumonia.“I am overwhelmed with the love and support from the world as I fight,” Retton, 55, said in an Instagram post. “I am forever grateful to you all! I’m with family continuing to slowly recover and staying very positive as I know this recovery is a long and slow process.”The family last week said Retton had been released from the hospital. The former gymnast had a rare form of pneumonia that made her unable to breathe on her own and left her fighting for her life. She is now recovering at home after weeks in the hospital.“I’m beyond blessed to have the opportunity to make this statement,” Retton wrote.One of the athlete’s children started an online fundraiser on behalf of Retton’s four daughters to help support the medical costs, noting Retton is uninsured.Retton captured American hearts in 1984 when she was the first US ...

Pilot eyed to introduce traffic enforcement by camera

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:20 GMT

Lawmakers were cool last session to Gov. Charlie Baker’s idea to allow red-light cameras in any interested city or town, but supporters are hopeful that a more narrow version that would limit the idea to a handful of communities will get a more favorable reception.A bill filed by Rep. Steven Owens (H 3393) would launch a pilot program allowing up to 10 municipalities to install a limited number of cameras to monitor for certain traffic violations, such as failing to stop at a right light or blocking an intersection.Cities and towns would need to present crash data at proposed locations and consider the social and racial equity impacts of the cameras before launching the system. The bill would also require pictures of the back of a car, not the front, which Owens said would prevent drivers from being racially profiled.Owens, a Watertown Democrat, told his colleagues that “the time has really come for Massachusetts to join the 26 other states that allow some sort of automa...

Brush fire erupts near I-805 in Kearny Mesa

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:20 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A brush fire erupted early Tuesday near Interstate 805 in Kearny Mesa.The fire broke out around 6:25 a.m. near the northbound I-805 onramp and Clairemont Mesa Boulevard. Video shows moments before shots fired in South Bay restaurant Check back for updates on this developing story.

Prosecutors in Manny Ellis trial enter its 5th week by questioning his closest allies

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:20 GMT

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — Five weeks into the trial against three Tacoma, Washington, police officers charged in the death of Manny Ellis and prosecutors will build upon their case by questioning some of Ellis’ closest allies in court Tuesday.On Monday, Cedric Armstrong, the man who ran the sober-living home where Ellis lived, said he was happy earlier on the night he died, adding, “he didn’t seem like he was off in any way.”Also Monday, a lieutenant with the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office acknowledged that his agency failed to find or collect witness cellphone videos before ending their investigation into Ellis’ death.The videos and witness statements are critical pieces of evidence in the case. They show Ellis with his hands up in a surrender position as the officers shoot a Taser at his chest and wrap an arm around his neck. The officers later told investigators that Ellis attacked them and was violent, something not shown in the videos or seen by witnesses.Ellis die...

War plunged Israel’s agricultural heartlands into crisis, raising fears for its farming future

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:20 GMT

ASHKELON, Israel (AP) — The soldiers guarding Avi Chivivian’s organic vegetable farm in southern Israel must first scour every corner of his fields for militants before they give him the all clear: He has six hours to work.It’s potato planting season for the farms of southern Israel, a region near the Gaza border that the Agriculture Ministry calls the country’s “vegetable barn” because it supplies at least a third of Israel’s vegetables. But Chivivian — one of the few remaining farmers in the area since the brutal Oct. 7 cross-border attack by Hamas militants — no longer lives by the harvest cycle. He’s on the military’s timetable.“If we don’t plant potatoes now, there won’t be any in the spring,” said Chivivian, who lives in the small village of Yated. “If we put our hands up, we will have a food crisis in Israel.”The Israel-Hamas war has plunged Israel’s agricultural heartlands, located around the Gaza Strip and in the north near the Lebanese a...