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US defense secretary is in Israel to meet with its leaders and see America’s security assistance

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:30 GMT

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived Friday in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv to meet with senior government leaders and see firsthand some of the U.S. weapons and security assistance that Washington rapidly delivered to Israel in the first week of its war with the militant Hamas group.Austin is the second high-level U.S. official to visit Israel in two days. His quick trip from Brussels, where he was attending a NATO defense ministers meeting, comes a day after Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in the region on Thursday. Blinken is continuing the frantic Mideast diplomacy, seeking to avert an expanded regional conflict.Austin is expected to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, and the Israeli War Cabinet.His arrival comes as Israel’s military directed hundreds of thousands of residents in Gaza City to evacuate “for their own safety and protection,” ahead of a feared Israeli ground offensive. Gaza’s...

Israel’s military issues unprecedented orders to evacuate Gaza City ahead of feared ground offensive

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:30 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s military told some 1 million Palestinians living in Gaza on Friday to evacuate the north, according to the United Nations, an unprecedented order for almost half the population of the sealed-off territory ahead of an expected ground invasion against the ruling Hamas militant group.The U.N. warned that so many people fleeing en masse would be calamitous, and Hamas, which staged a shocking and brutal attack on Israel this week, dismissed it as a ploy and called on people to stay in their homes, adding to widespread panic.The evacuation order, which includes Gaza City, home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, sparked confusion among civilians and aid workers already running from Israeli airstrikes and contending with a total siege and a territory-wide power blackout.“Forget about food, forget about electricity, forget about fuel. The only concern now is just if you’ll make it, if you’re going to live,” said Nebal Farsakh, a spokeswoman for the Palestinia...

Muslims gather at mosques for first Friday prayers since Israel-Hamas war started

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:30 GMT

In Muslim communities across the world, worshippers gathered at mosques for their first Friday prayers since Hamas militants attacked Israel, igniting the latest Israel-Palestinian war.IN INDONESIA, PRAYERS FOR GOD’S PROTECTION AND FOR THE ABSENTIslamic leaders in Indonesia appealed to all mosques in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation to pray for peace and safety for the Palestinian people.The chairperson of the Indonesian Mosque Council had urged all mosques to perform the Qunut Nazilahto prayer, one made for protection, to ask for God’s help so that “the conflict in the Gaza Strip would end quickly.” The appeal from the nation’s former Vice President Jusuf Kalla is in line with most Indonesian Muslims, who stand with Palestinians. The prayer was held along with the Salat Al-Ghaib, or prayer for the absent.In a sermon at Abu Bakar Al Shidiq, one of the most conservative mosques in Jakarta, a cleric called for mobilizing “our power and efforts to help the M...

Fear and confusion mark key moments of Lahaina residents’ 911 calls during deadly wildfire

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:30 GMT

Maui County officials released two hours of audio of 911 calls to The Associated Press that were recorded as frantic residents tried to escape the deadliest U.S. wildfire in a century. The inferno that engulfed Lahaina killed at least 98 people and leveled more than 2,000 buildings, most of them homes.Here are chronological summaries of some of the more than 200 calls recorded with 911 dispatchers between 3:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. on Aug. 8 obtained by the AP.___3:31 p.m.A woman called to ask if she had to evacuate. When she said she was on Front Street and Baker Street, an area in the historic heart of the town that would ultimately be razed by the flames, she was told she didn’t have to leave.“That’s not close to it yet,” an audibly stressed dispatcher said before adding they were trying to answer all the calls coming in.___4:41 p.m.A man called 911 saying he was seeking refuge in a big rig truck that he came across near the Pioneer Mill Smokestack just off Lahainaluna Road. He said...

7 killed as a suspected migrant-smuggling vehicle crashes in southern Germany

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:30 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — A vehicle trying to evade a police check in southern Germany left a highway at high speed on Friday and crashed, killing seven people, authorities said. The overcrowded vehicle appeared to be carrying migrants.The accident happened near Muehldorf, east of Munich on the A94 highway, which leads to the Austrian border. The vehicle left the road and overturned.Police said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that initial investigations showed that it was “a suspected smuggler vehicle with more than 20 people on board.” They said prosecutors had opened a homicide investigation.All of those on board were at least slightly injured and some were seriously injured, German news agency dpa reported. They were taken to nearby hospitals. The people packed into the vehicle included children. It wasn’t immediately clear where they came from.Germany has seen large numbers of migrants arriving in recent months.The Associated Press

Wet, Blustery Weather As Giant Atmospheric Wind Machine Comes to Chicago

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:30 GMT

The storm, with a central pressure of 990 mb (29.22") was centered of Kansas and creeping eastward. The system is a giant atmospheric wind machine—and will be here in Chicago too.  Gusts topping 50 mph are occurring beneath its southern flank from New Mexico into the Texas Panhandle. The system has sprung up on the nose of a powerful 150 mph jet stream wind max  which widely varied temps across the powerful system have developed. Those upper winds roaring across the Four Corners area of the Southwest at jet airplane cruising altitudes and encourage the large scale ascension of air which drops surface pressures and encourage the powerful winds I've mentioned—which, in turn, import copious amount of Gulf moisture into the system.Overnight and Thursday morning rains drenched the southern half as well as western sections of the Greater Chicago area with totals topping 2" at Coal City, Ottawa, Marseilles, Morris and Sublette to name a few—and heavy 1.50" rains have already occurred thro...

Consultation on electronic communications highlights need for reliable and resilient connectivity infrastructure

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:30 GMT

The Commission published the Summary of the results of the exploratory consultation on the future of the electronic communications sector, as well as the non-confidential versions of the received contributions.Respondents identified in network virtualisation, open networks, and edge cloud the technological breakthroughs that will have the largest impact in the coming years. These technologies are expected to bring about a shift from traditional electronic communications networks to cloud-based, virtualised, software-defined networks, driving down costs, improving the resilience and security of networks and introducing new, innovative services, while transforming the ecosystem and business models.These developments are also considered able to promote the digital single market, highlighting the need for reliable and resilient connectivity infrastructure, whilst the majority of the respondents consider that full integration of the market is hampered by the fragmentation of the sector. ...

Israel's military issues unprecedented orders to evacuate Gaza City ahead of feared ground offensive

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:30 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s military told some 1 million Palestinians living in Gaza on Friday to evacuate the north, according to the United Nations, an unprecedented order for almost half the population of the sealed-off territory ahead of an expected ground invasion against the ruling Hamas militant group.The U.N. warned that so many people fleeing en masse would be calamitous, and Hamas, which staged a shocking and brutal attack on Israel this week, dismissed it as a ploy and called on people to stay in their homes, adding to widespread panic.The evacuation order, which includes Gaza City, home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, sparked confusion among civilians and aid workers already running from Israeli airstrikes and contending with a total siege and a territory-wide power blackout.“Forget about food, forget about electricity, forget about fuel. The only concern now is just if you’ll make it, if you’re going to live,” said Nebal Farsakh, a spokeswoman for the Palestinia...

The top 10 most expensive home sales in Palo Alto, reported the week of Sep. 25

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:30 GMT

A house that sold for $4.7 million tops the list of the most expensive residential real estate sales in Palo Alto in the past week.In total, 10 residential real estate sales were recorded in the area during the past week, with an average price of $3 million, $1,583 per square foot.The prices in the list below concern real estate sales where the title was recorded during the week of Sep. 25 even if the property may have been sold earlier.10. $800,000, condominium in the first block of Newell RoadThe property in the first block of Newell Road in East Palo Alto has new owners. The price was $800,000. The condominium was built in 1973 and has a living area of 1,009 square feet. The price per square foot is $793. The condominium features two bedrooms and two bathrooms.Newell Road9. $1.5 million, single-family home in the 2100 block of Bowdoin StreetThe property in the 2100 block of Bowdoin Street in Palo Alto has new owners. The price was $1,500,000. The house was built in 1931 and has a...

Week 6 high school football preview: A battle for the ages on tap between King Philip, Foxboro

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:30 GMT

King Philip football coach Brian Lee was on the wrong side of a Jack Martinelli milestone win.He’s hoping history doesn’t repeat itself Friday night.Lee will take his undefeated Warriors into Foxboro Friday to face a 5-0 team in what has the potential to be the game of the year in the Hockomock League. Added to the suspense is the fact that Martinelli is one win away from becoming the seventh coach in state history to amass 300 wins.“He won his 250th game against us (17-15 on a John Cronin field goal in the final minute), so why does it have to be us again,” Lee said with a laugh. “I’ve known Jack since I was a little kid when he and my father (the former legendary Walpole coach John Lee) worked together at the Bay State Camp and we’ve been friends ever since.”In typical Martinelli fashion, he refuses to discuss the personal significance of a 300th win. It’s the way he’s operated since taking over the Foxboro program in 1982.“To me, Friday night i...