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Israeli air and ground strikes intensify in Gaza; internet collapse cuts territory off from outside

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

By WAFAA SHURAFA, JOSEF FEDERMAN and BASSEM MROUE (Associated Press)DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Internet and phone services collapsed in the Gaza Strip under intensified Israeli bombardment Friday night, largely cutting off its 2.3 million people from the outside world and each other, as Israel’s military said it was “expanding” ground operations in the besieged territory.The military’s announcement signaled it was moving closer to an all-out invasion of Gaza, where it has vowed to crush the ruling Hamas terrorist group after its bloody incursion in southern Israel three weeks ago. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.Explosions from a barrage of airstrikes lit up the sky over Gaza City after nightfall Friday when the blackout in internet, cellular and landline services hit. Already plunged into darkness after most electricity was cut off weeks ago, Palestinians were now thrown into isolation, huddled in homes...

Hundreds arrested for shoplifting in latest Vancouver police blitz

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

VANCOUVER — Retailers across Canada are concerned about an uptick in violence as a “tsunami” of retail theft plagues businesses that threatens the safety of employees and customers, says the general manager for loss prevention at London Drugs. Tony Hunt told a news conference Friday at Vancouver police headquarters that most retailers have seen at least a 20 per cent increase in retail theft in recent years, so he is grateful city police are cracking down on the problem. “Our primary concern as employers is the abuse of front line employees with aggressive and violent behaviours with increasing frequency and intensity,” he said. “This isn’t a Vancouver problem. We’re hearing across the province, across the country, employees and customers are afraid and this is simply not OK.”This comes as Vancouver police reported on its latest shoplifting crackdown on Friday with 258 arrests, along with the recovery of almost $57,000 in stolen goods ...

Inmate suspected in prison attack on Kristin Smart’s killer previously murdered ‘I-5 Strangler’

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

COALINGA, Calif. (AP) — A California inmate accused of attacking Paul Flores this summer, shortly after Flores reported to prison to serve his conviction for murdering college student Kristin Smart, strangled his serial killer cellmate two years ago, officials said.The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation this week identified inmate Jason Budrow as the suspect in the Aug. 23 attack on Flores at the Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga, about 185 miles (300 kilometers) north of downtown Los Angeles.The department declined to share information about how Budrow allegedly was able to get to Flores or whether it is investigating how the attack happened on the agency’s watch in light of Budrow’s previous behavior while incarcerated.“CDCR is limited in the amount of information it can provide on incarcerated people’s housing for safety and security reasons,” the agency said in an email.Budrow is serving life without parole for fatally strangling his girlf...

New York City sets up office to give migrants one-way tickets out of town

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

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York City is intensifying efforts to transport migrants out of the city as its shelter system reaches capacity, setting up a dedicated office to provide asylum-seekers with free, one-way tickets to anywhere in the world. City Hall confirmed the establishment of a new “reticketing center” in Manhattan as its latest bid to ease pressure on its shelters and finances following the arrival of more than 130,000 asylum-seekers since last year. Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, has described the situation as a crisis and has begun to warn that shelters are so full that migrants will soon be forced onto the street as winter approaches. “I cannot say this enough. You know, we are out of the room,” he told reporters this week. “And it’s not ‘if’ people will be sleeping on the streets, it’s when. We are at full capacity.”The city’s plan to offer migrants transportation builds upon previous efforts to send the asylum-seekers elsewhere, though the establishment of the dedicate...

COVID-19 treatments to enter the market with a hefty price tag

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

WASHINGTON (AP) — The COVID-19 treatments millions of Americans have taken for free from the federal government will enter the private market next week with a hefty price tag. Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is setting the price for a five-day treatment of Paxlovid at $1,390, but Americans can still access the pills at no cost — for now. The less commonly used COVID-19 treatment Lagevrio, manufactured by Merck, also will hit the market next week. Millions of free, taxpayer-funded courses of the pills will remain at pharmacies, hospitals and doctor’s offices across the country, U.S. Health and Human Services officials said Friday. People on private insurance may start to notice copays for the treatments once their pharmacy or doctor’s office runs out of the COVID-19 treatments they received from the government. The U.S. government initially inked a deal with Pfizer to pay more than $5 billion for 10 million courses of Paxlovid in 2021. Under a new agreement, reached las...

Love K-pop star Mark Tuan’s new EP? You can discuss it with ‘Digital Mark,’ his AI twin

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

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Accessibility can be an artist’s greatest asset. Listeners want to feel close to the musicians they admire and support — and most would jump at the chance to communicate one-on-one. But celebrity schedules rarely allow for that kind of intimacy. So what’s the next best thing?For Mark Tuan, whose new EP “Fallin’” is out Friday, it was creating a digital avatar.The rapper-singer-model and former member of the K-pop boy band Got7 partnered with Soul Machines to create an autonomously automated “digital twin” called “Digital Mark.” In doing so, Tuan has become the first celebrity to attach their likeness to OpenAI’s GPT integration, artificial intelligence technology that allows fans to engage in one-on-one conversations with Tuan’s avatar. “It’s very different. It’s not really me, but it is me,” he says of Digital Mark. “It’s a cool thing, that fans get to interact with him, too.”Greg Cross, CEO of Soul Machines, views Digital Mark...

Abercrombie & Fitch slapped with lawsuit alleging sexual abuse of its male models under former CEO

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

A former model for Abercrombie & Fitch on Friday sued the fashion retailer, alleging it allowed its former CEO Mike Jeffries to run a sex-trafficking organization during his 22-year tenure.Jeffries, who left Abercrombie in 2014, converted the chain from an struggling retailer of hunting apparel to a seller of must-have teen clothing. But he faced criticism for the company’s sexualized marketing, including billboards and beefy models that alienated potential customers who didn’t fit into its image.The lawsuit comes after a BBC report earlier this month raised similar allegations against Jeffries and his partner Matthew Smith.The lawsuit, filed by David Bradberry in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges Jeffries had modeling scouts scouring the internet and elsewhere to identify attractive young men seeking to be the next face of Abercrombie. Often these prospective models became sex-trafficking victims, sent to New York and abroad and ...

Youngkin administration says 3,400 voters removed from rolls in error, but nearly all now reinstated

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

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration has identified nearly 3,400 voters who were improperly removed from the state’s rolls due to probation violations — a greater number than previously acknowledged — and said Friday that local registrars have reinstated the vast majority of those individuals. The governor’s administration first disclosed the problem earlier this month following reporting from VPM News about concerns raised by civil rights advocates over improper voter removals. The error, which the administration has blamed on a data-sharing issue that misclassified probation violations as new felonies, has sparked criticism from Democrats, including a call from the state’s Democratic congressional delegation for a Department of Justice investigation. The full scope of the problem had been unclear until the Department of Elections’ announcement Friday — less than two weeks before Election Day. A department spokeswoman, A...

El Salvador’s President Bukele registers for 2024 reelection — unconstitutionally, critics say

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

SAN SALVADOR (AP) — El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele registered as his party’s candidate to seek re-election in the country’s presidential vote next year, a decision already raising eyebrows Friday because the constitution prohibits it. Bukele and his running mate, current vice president Félix Ulloa, were the last to register before the deadline at midnight Thursday. In typical Bukele fashion, the last-minute registration became a spectacle, coming amid rumors the president had been hospitalized. Instead, he exited electoral offices to a crowd of cheering supporters. “We are ready to change whatever we have to change to be able to insert ourselves even more in the community of nations, but always respecting our sovereignty and independence,” said Bukele, speaking through a megaphone.El Salvador’s Constitution prohibits reelection, but in 2021, the country’s Supreme Court of Justice ruled that one of its articles allows the president — who serves a five-year term — to...

Judge throws out attorney's request to remove her from Delphi murders case

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

CARROLL COUNTY, Ind. -- Judge Fran Gull has thrown out the filing made by former Richard Allen defense attorney Bradley Rozzi that argued that Gull should be removed from the Delphi murders case due to claims that the judge pressured the defense attorneys to withdraw themselves from the high profile case. The move comes after a flurry of exchanges between the former defense attorney and the Allen County judge following a shocking court hearing last week that ended with Gull announcing that both of Allen's defense attorneys would be withdrawing from the case. Delphi double murder trial in disarray due to defense challenge of judge Rozzi argued that Richard Allen, the man accused of killing Abby Williams and Libby German outside of Delphi in 2017, never signed off on a change of counsel. At last Friday's hearing, Gull announced that Allen's other defense attorney, Andrew J. Baldwin, was "voluntarily withdrawing" from the case and said Rozzi would be following Baldwin's lead and wit...