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Blinken urges protections for civilians in Gaza on visit to Israel amid fears war could widen

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:53 GMT

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Israel on Friday to do everything in its power to protect civilians caught in the fighting in Gaza and ensure they receive humanitarian aid, while underscoring the country’s right to defend itself. Israel, meanwhile, warned that it was on high alert for attacks on its border with Lebanon as fears grew that the conflict could widen.Israeli troops tightened their encirclement of Gaza City, the focus of their campaign to crush the enclave’s ruling Hamas militants, who launched a brutal attack on Israeli communities that started the war.But ever since that Oct. 7 assault, there have been concerns the conflict could ignite fighting on other fronts, and Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group have repeatedly traded fire along the border. Tensions escalated further ahead of a speech planned for later Friday by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.Hezbollah, an Iran-backed ally of Hamas, attacked Israeli military...

Sports gambling could be back on the California ballot

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:53 GMT

California voters could soon weigh in, again, on the issue of legalized sports betting in the Golden State.Documents filed with the Attorney General’s Office last week propose two ballot initiatives for 2024.The Tribal Gaming Protection Act would allow California's governor to negotiate agreements with tribes to allow both in-person and online sports wagering. The Sports Wagering Regulation and Tribal Gaming Protection Act would create the framework for it.Both initiatives need to gather 875,000 signatures in 180 days to qualify for the November 2024 ballot.If this all sounds familiar, that's because California voters overwhelmingly rejected a pair of similar initiatives in 2022, even with hundreds of millions of dollars spent on advertising.With both new initiatives including "tribal" in their titles, one could assume that California's Native American tribes are involved. That, however, does not appear to be the case, and tribal representatives are expressing frustration.“The spons...

Bay Area News Group girls athlete of the week: Kate Brongiel, Granada flag football

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:53 GMT

Granada flag football player Kate Brongiel is the Bay Area News Group’s girls athlete of the week for Oct. 23-28 after she received 35.05% of the vote by the deadline Wednesday.San Ramon Valley volleyball player Ali Cook finished second.Congratulations to all the candidates for this week’s recognition.Granada High flag football player Kate Brongiel. (Photo courtesy of Adam Clark Photography). Brongiel, a junior, caught seven passes for 149 yards and three touchdowns in two games at the EBAL tournament.To nominate an athlete for next week’s poll, email [email protected] by Monday, Nov. 6, at 11 a.m. Please include stats and team results.Related ArticlesHigh School Sports | Bay Area News Group boys athlete of the week: Tyson Lovett, Clayton Valley Charter football High School Sports | Poll closed: Bay Area News Group boys athlete of the week High School Sports | Poll closed: Bay Area News Group girls athlete of the week ...

How the Warriors will approach the in-season tournament, which opens Friday vs. OKC

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:53 GMT

The NBA’s inaugural in-season tournament starts Friday across the league. The Warriors begin this regular season tournament in Oklahoma City against the Thunder.The tournament is the league’s attempt to generate more competitive fire and interest in the regular season by adding stakes to some of the earlier games. There are some incentives to winning the NBA Cup: Each player on the winning team gets $500,000, a trophy and a midseason trip to Las Vegas to play the semifinal and championship games.There’s a lot unknown about how teams will approach the tournament and if its addition will accomplish the NBA’s goal to lather up more intensity in some early-season games — teams should feel compelled to all play their stars. The Warriors, though, won’t be facing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City’s All-Star guard who’ll sit out Friday with a knee issue.Draymond Green has a prominent role in the NBA’s TV advertisement for the tourna...

‘It all feels like a nightmare.’ This mom and former Israeli tank commander is leading her Silicon Valley startup from a war zone

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:53 GMT

By Matt Egan | CNNNew York — Maayan Cohen was on a flight from Tel Aviv to Las Vegas when she learned through a text that a terror attack was unfolding in Israel.After delivering a speech at a tech conference in Vegas, the Israeli-American CEO of health company Hello Heart hopped on a flight back to Tel Aviv the next day to be with her 5-year-old son and employees.Cohen, a former tank commander in the Israeli Army, had no doubt she should immediately return to Tel Aviv.“It wasn’t even a question,” Cohen, who was born and raised in Israel, told CNN. “If Jews are not protected in Israel, Jews won’t be protected anywhere.”Based in Silicon Valley, Hello Heart is a digital health company that lets users monitor and manage their heart health by detecting their blood pressure and heart rate and by providing recommendations.Before the terror attacks, Cohen had been splitting her time between California and Israel. Now she is leading Hello Heart from Tel Aviv, where the company employs about...

Kristof: What happens when we lose sight of our shared humanity

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:53 GMT

JERUSALEM — One reason I’m afraid that the worst is yet to come in the Middle East is that the mutual dehumanization is the most savage I’ve ever seen it in decades of on-the-ground reporting in the region.Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip is destroying tunnels, ammunition dumps and Hamas fighters, yes. But I’m afraid it’s also helping to pulverize the recognition of shared humanity that in the long run allows people to live beside one another in peace. The poisonous hatred in turn is already spilling over to the United States and other countries worldwide.I was thinking about this as I drove the other day to meet some Palestinians who were temporarily allowed to visit Israel and became stuck in East Jerusalem. My Israeli taxi driver refused to enter the Palestinian neighborhood (“If I go there, I won’t make it out”) and finally abandoned me on the side of the road to get a Palestinian taxi. And then when I got to my destination, I interviewed a sweet 57-year-old Palestinian woman...

Bay Area News Group boys athlete of the week: Tyson Lovett, Clayton Valley Charter football

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:53 GMT

Clayton Valley Charter football player Tyson Lovett is the Bay Area News Group’s boys athlete of the week for Oct. 23-28 after he received 36.01% of the vote by the deadline Wednesday.Vallejo football player Jasier Smith finished second.Congratulations to all the candidates for this week’s recognition.Related ArticlesHigh School Sports | Bay Area News Group girls athlete of the week: Kate Brongiel, Granada flag football High School Sports | Poll closed: Bay Area News Group boys athlete of the week High School Sports | Poll closed: Bay Area News Group girls athlete of the week High School Sports | Special Athlete of the Week citation: Kamarri Robinson, Livermore football High School Sports | Bay Area News Group boys athlete of the week: Maxime Morelle, Los Altos football In a crucial game for Clayton Valley’s NCS playoff hopes, Lovett ran for a touchdown and threw for two touchdowns and a two-point ...

A California pilot accused of threatening to shoot a commercial airline captain is an Air Force Reserve officer

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:53 GMT

By MEAD GRUVER, DAVID KOENIG and LOLITA BALDOR | Associated PressCHEYENNE, Wyo.  — A pilot accused of threatening to shoot a commercial airline captain if they diverted their flight to give a passenger medical attention is an Air Force Reserve lieutenant colonel who was relieved of command for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine.Jonathan J. Dunn’s military service came to light in a Utah U.S. Attorney’s Office filing Thursday in which a judge was asked to delay his arraignment for 45 to 60 days to allow time for the U.S. military to bring Dunn back from overseas.Dunn was indicted Oct. 18 and charged with interfering with a flight crew over the alleged in-flight incident in August 2022. The Transportation Department’s inspector general had said Dunn threatened to shoot the captain during the disagreement over whether to divert because of the passenger’s medical issue.Dunn was afterward sent on orders to Ramstein Air Base in Germany, training to serve at the 603rd Air Operations Cente...

Woman loses leg in attack by pit bulls in her yard

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:53 GMT

By Pat Reavy | KSL.comTAYLORSVILLE, Utah (KSL) — A Taylorsville, Utah woman was hospitalized in critical condition after police say she was attacked by her son’s dogs in her own yard, leaving her with “extensive injuries” to her legs, hands and face.One of the 63-year-old woman’s legs had to be amputated by doctors, according to Taylorsville police. Officers were forced to fatally shoot one of the “violent” pit bulls when it also threatened officers, according to police.As of Thursday afternoon, the woman remained hospitalized in critical condition and police had not yet been able to speak to her to ask what led up to the attack.The incident happened about 2:30 p.m. Tuesday at the woman’s home near 4800 South and 2900 West. The woman called 911 while injured and still in her backyard to report “she had been attacked and bitten by several dogs who are owned by her son,” according to a prepared statement from police.“Th...

2023 El Niño: New maps reveal who could see more snow this winter

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:53 GMT

By Mary Gilbert | CNN MeteorologistAs the US gears up for a winter heavily influenced by the first strong El Niño in years, scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have released maps that offer insight into where snow could pile up.El Niño – a natural ocean and weather pattern in the tropical Pacific – is forecast to reach the most significant level since a very strong El Niño in 2015-2016 fostered the warmest winter on record across the contiguous US, according to NOAA.While no two El Niño winters are the same, the pattern typically brings wetter and cooler weather to the southern US while the north becomes drier and warmer. And that’s exactly what’s expected this winter.However, wetter weather doesn’t necessarily mean more snow. And when it does snow, amounts can vary wildly from one location to the next.This is where the new maps come in. They show where snow is more or less likely during El Niño winters compared to average.There’s just one caveat: these...