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Burying friends, updating death lists: The morbid routine of displaced survivors of a Hamas massacre

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:14 GMT

EIN BOKEK, Israel (AP) — For evacuees of Kibbutz Be’eri, the salty waters of the lowest point on earth, known for their healing powers, are little comfort for a grief that feels bottomless.More than two weeks after Hamas militants killed more than 100 of some 1,100 members of their community, torturing scores and kidnapping 10, the Israeli government has relocated most of the kibbutz to an upscale resort. The hotel-turned-refugee camp is nestled among the jagged bluffs surrounding the Dead Sea, some 1,000 feet (305 meters) below sea level. The survivors now follow a morbid routine. They wake up and board tour buses repurposed into funeral shuttles. Some attend five services a day, burying friends and family in temporary graves because the Be’eri cemetery is off limits, located in the closed military zone now encircling the kibbutz. At nightly meetings, they gather in the main hall to hear the news of the day. Kibbutz leaders recite the names that have officially migrated from ...

UN chief warns that the risk of the Gaza war spreading is growing as situation becomes more dire

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:14 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations chief warned at a high-level U.N. meeting Tuesday that the situation in the Middle East is growing more dire by the hour with the risk of the Gaza war spreading through the region increasing as societies splinter and tensions threaten to boil over.Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire to deliver desperately needed food, water, medicine and fuel. He appealed “to all to pull back from the brink before the violence claims even more lives and spreads even farther.”Guterres told the U.N. Security Council’s monthly meeting on the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict — which has turned into a major event with ministers from the war’s key parties and a dozen other countries flying to New York -– that the rules of war must be obeyed.The secretary-general said the grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify “the horrifying and unprecedented Oct. 7 acts of terror” by Hamas in Israel and dema...

Uber driver called cops on passenger accused of stabbing 2 people at Whitby bar

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:14 GMT

An Oshawa man is in custody after allegedly stabbing two employees at a bar and then having his Uber driver report him to police while he was fleeing the scene.Durham Regional Police officers were called to Hotel Royal near Brock and Dundas streets in Whitby around 2:20 a.m. Monday for reports of someone armed with a knife.Upon arrival, officers located two employees at the scene suffering from stab wounds. Both were taken to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. Their conditions have since been upgraded to stable.The suspect left the bar before police arrived.Police say a short time later an Uber driver reported a suspicious passenger to police. Officers initiated a traffic stop on the Uber driver’s vehicle and were able to confirm the passenger was the stabbing suspect.He was arrested during the traffic stop without incident. Police say 22-year-old Tyrese Widsom, of Oshawa, is facing six charges including two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of ...

Forced labor concerns prompt U.S. lawmakers to demand ban on seafood from two Chinese provinces

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:14 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A group of U.S. lawmakers wants the Biden administration to ban seafood processed in two Chinese provinces from entering the U.S. market. They also say that Chinese facilities using forced labor should be banned from doing business with American companies.The request was sent Tuesday by the chairs of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China to the Department of Homeland Security. The commission is a congressional group charged with monitoring China’s compliance with international human rights standards.It’s the latest effort by U.S. lawmakers to restrict imports of Chinese goods on the grounds of rights abuse, a move that is certain to irk Beijing at a time of tensions over trade and other issues.The commission cited investigations by the nonprofit journalist organization The Outlaw Ocean Project that revealed human rights abuses on China’s fishing fleet and the forced labor of ethnic Muslim Uighurs from the northwestern region of Xinjiang in sea...

States sue Meta claiming its social platforms are addictive and harming children’s mental health

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:14 GMT

Dozens of US states, including California and New York, are suing Meta Platforms Inc. for harming young people’s mental health and contributing the youth mental health crisis by knowingly designing features on Instagram and Facebook that addict children to its platforms. The lawsuit filed in federal court in California also claims that Meta routinely collects data on children under 13 without their parents’ consent, in violation of federal law. “Meta has harnessed powerful and unprecedented technologies to entice, engage, and ultimately ensnare youth and teens. Its motive is profit, and in seeking to maximize its financial gains, Meta has repeatedly misled the public about the substantial dangers of its social media platforms,” the complaint says. “It has concealed the ways in which these platforms exploit and manipulate its most vulnerable consumers: teenagers and children.”In addition to the 33 states, nine other attorneys general are filing in their respective states, bring...

Woman shot in head near South Side strip mall

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:14 GMT

CHICAGO — A woman was shot in the head while in a car near a South Side strip mall Tuesday morning.At around 10 a.m., officers responded to the 100 block of West 87th Street, located in Chatham, on the report of a person shot.Authorities said a 42-year-old woman was inside of a vehicle when a bullet went through the glass and struck her in the head.She was transported to the University of Chicago Medical Center in critical condition.SkyCam9 over the scene showed a heavy police presence around the sedan, parked on 87th Street, near the Starbucks.It's unknown if anyone is in custody at this time.

No charges for man who fired gun in the air near rallies in Skokie

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:14 GMT

SKOKIE, Ill. — No charges will be filed against a man who was arrested after firing a gun into the air near a pro-Palestinian, pro-Israel rally in Skokie on Sunday, according to the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.In a statement Monday, the office said that the man is a FOID card holder and acted in self-defense upon being surrounded by the crowd.The full statement reads:The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office (CCSAO) has reviewed the events that took place yesterday along Touhy Ave in Skokie and Lincolnwood during the Israeli and Palestinian demonstrations.  After reviewing the evidence, which includes surveillance video and witness statements, we have determined the individual, who holds a valid FOID card and Conceal Carry License and has no criminal history, acted in self-defense upon being surrounded by a crowd and attacked by some of those individuals. No charges will be filed in this case.  Cook County State's Attorney's OfficeThe incident happened Sunday evening at At...

Dozens of states suing Meta, alleging its social platforms addictive, harmful to kids

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:14 GMT

Dozens of US states, including California and New York, are suing Meta Platforms Inc. for harming young people’s mental health and contributing the youth mental health crisis by knowingly designing features on Instagram and Facebook that addict children to its platforms.The lawsuit filed in federal court in California also claims that Meta routinely collects data on children under 13 without their parents' consent, in violation of federal law.“Meta has harnessed powerful and unprecedented technologies to entice, engage, and ultimately ensnare youth and teens. Its motive is profit, and in seeking to maximize its financial gains, Meta has repeatedly misled the public about the substantial dangers of its social media platforms,” the complaint says. “It has concealed the ways in which these platforms exploit and manipulate its most vulnerable consumers: teenagers and children.”In addition to the 33 states, nine other attorneys general are filing in their respective states, bringing the ...

Airbnb using AI to deter party rentals in Austin ahead of Halloween

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:14 GMT

Editor’s note: The above video shows KXAN Live’s top morning headlines for Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023.AUSTIN (KXAN) — Ahead of Halloween, vacation rental company Airbnb started a new system to stop party house rentals over the spooky holiday weekend. The company said its new system, which uses artificial intelligence and machine learning, aims to restrict some one-night and two-night bookings for entire homes. RELATED: Is an Airbnb ‘collapse’ happening in Austin? Airbnb's system will look at hundreds of indicators when someone is trying to book a rental, the company said. These include the length of the trip, the distance to the listing and if the booking is last minute. Guests must also attest to the company's party ban policy, which was used last year. Over Halloween in 2022, about 1,500 bookings were deterred in Austin due to the company's party house preventions, per Airbnb. Across Texas, a total of 11,000 people were discouraged from Halloween house bookings compared to booking...

Report: Politics drives school district leaders away

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:14 GMT

Editor’s note: The above video shows KXAN Live’s top morning headlines for Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023.AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Politics is the top reason superintendents are stressed out, according to a recent report by the RAND Corporation, a non-partisan research group.“The RAND Corporation did a pretty comprehensive study showing that we're having the highest turnover rate that we've ever had in district leaders,” Doug Roberts, the CEO of the Institute for Education Innovation, said. The group said it is striving to empower superintendents nationwide.“This is not the job they signed up for 20 years ago. It was a very different role then than it is today,” Roberts said.The report found the turnover of superintendents nationally increased to 17% in 2022–2023 from 13-14% prior to and at the beginning of the pandemic in 2019.“They didn't necessarily sign up to be involved in political arguments between one group and another group in a community. And for that reason, a lot of people are saying, ‘...