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Senate confirms Jacob Lew as US ambassador to Israel, filling a key diplomatic post during the war with Hamas

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:36:37 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate confirms Jacob Lew as US ambassador to Israel, filling a key diplomatic post during the war with Hamas.Source

Steelers QB Kenny Pickett says he’s playing ‘for sure’ against Titans despite rib injury

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:36:37 GMT

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett plans to play against Tennessee on Thursday night despite a rib injury that forced him to sit out the second half of a loss to Jacksonville on Sunday.Pickett said he “for sure” will be on the field when Pittsburgh (4-3) hosts the Titans (3-4). The second-year starter watched the final two quarters against the Jaguars from afar after getting drilled by Jacksonville defensive end Adam Gotsis.Gotsis hit Pickett in the left side of the chest and then drove him into the ground in the waning moments of the first half. Pickett sat on the soggy Acrisure Stadium turf for several minutes before slowly walking off. He came out to warm up for the second half, but then went back to the training room while backup Mitch Trubisky took over.“(I was) doing what I could to try and go back out there,” Pickett said. “I felt like I couldn’t throw it the way I needed to throw it to win so just listened to what the doctors said.”Asked if...

Has Israel invaded Gaza? The military has been vague, even if its objectives are clear

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:36:37 GMT

Over the past five days, Israeli ground troops have pushed deeper and deeper into Gaza in their war against Hamas, launched in response to a bloody Oct. 7 cross-border raid by the Islamic militant group. A growing array of units, including naval, air and ground forces, have joined the effort. The army says it has killed scores of militants and damaged Hamas’ strategic tunnel network. Soldiers have taken over abandoned Palestinian homes to stake out positions.Yet even as the operation expands each day, the army refuses to call it an invasion.Its vague choice of words is more than an issue of semantics. It appears to be a deliberate strategy aimed at keeping its enemy off balance and preserving its options as a lengthy war unfolds.Here is a closer look at what Israel is doing inside Gaza.IS IT AN INVASION?In the classic sense of the word, an Israeli invasion appears to be underway.Ground forces have moved into enemy territory and operated continuously since last Friday. While the army...

North Dakota woman accused of fatally poisoning her boyfriend hours after he received an inheritance

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:36:37 GMT

A North Dakota woman is accused of fatally poisoning her boyfriend with antifreeze after learning that he planned to break up with her after he received a large inheritance. Steven Riley Jr., 51, became ill when he met with a lawyer Sept. 3 to get the money, witnesses told investigators, according to Minot Police Department records. The girlfriend, Ina Thea Kenoyer, called 911 the next day, and paramedics found Riley unresponsive. He was hospitalized and died Sept. 5. Kenoyer, 47, has been charged with AA felony murder, the most severe murder charge in North Dakota. She told investigators that she was entitled to some of Riley’s inheritance as his common-law wife and planned to split the money, which she estimated to be about $30 million, with his son, the records show.She is being held without bond at the Ward County Detention Center and is representing herself, court records show. The Associated Press left voicemail messages for her at the center on Tuesday.Source

Big backs are putting their stamp on the Big 12. The league has most 100-yard rushers in Power Five

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:36:37 GMT

The Big 12 is running all over the other Power Five conferences when it comes to robust rushing attacks.Oklahoma State’s Ollie Gordon II leads the nation in rushing with 135.9 yards per game, and the Big 12 has three other running backs averaging at least 100. The other four power conferences have five 100-yard-per-game rushers combined.The Big 12 is first among its brethren in rushing yards per game (172.8) and second in total yards (421.7).“It’s interesting how cyclical football is in some ways,” said Sonny Dykes, the coach at TCU, where Emani Bailey has three 100-plus yard games, putting him fourth in the conference in rushing yards. “You go back and you look now, and the Big 12 was a running league forever, and then we became a four-wide league, and now it’s back to an emphasis on running the football and playing defense. And so it’s funny how this stuff cycles through.”Big 12 squads are definitely leaning on their ball carriers this season.Jonathon Brooks averages 115 yar...

The FBI director warns about threats to Americans by those inspired by the Hamas attack on Israel

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:36:37 GMT

FBI Director Christopher Wray warned on Tuesday that Hamas’ rampage inside Israel could inspire violence in the U.S., telling lawmakers that multiple foreign extremist groups have called for attacks against Americans and the West in recent weeks.“We assess that the actions of Hamas and its allies will serve as an inspiration the likes of which we haven’t seen since ISIS launched its so-called caliphate years ago,” Wray said, using an acronym for the Islamic State group.In his testimony before the Senate Homeland Security Committee, Wray gave his most detailed and ominous assessment of potential threats to the U.S. since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israeli soldiers and civilians. His reference to the Islamic State, a reminder of when the FBI scrambled to disrupt hastily developed plots of violence by people inspired by the group’s ascendancy, underscores the bureau’s concerns that the current Middle East conflict could create a similarly dangerous dynamic.Though t...

Suspect in custody for posting online threats about Jewish students at Cornell University

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:36:37 GMT

ITHACA, N.Y. (AP) — A suspect was in custody Tuesday for posting threatening statements online about Jewish students at Cornell University, according to officials.The menacing messages, posted over the weekend on a forum about fraternities and sororities, alarmed students at the Ivy League school in upstate New York. The anonymous threats came amid a spike of antisemitic and anti-Muslim rhetoric appearing on social media during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.“We can confirm that a subject has been identified as a suspect in the antisemitic threats made against our Jewish students on Sunday and is currently in custody,” Joel M. Malina, vice president for university relations, said in a statement.New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said an individual identified Tuesday as a person of interest was in the custody of state police for questioning.State police referred questions about the case to Cornell. An email seeking additional information was sent to Cornell.The comments this weekend were...

Tennessee family sues police for fatally shooting unarmed man fleeing stop with officer in car

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:36:37 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The mother of a man who was fatally shot by an officer in Tennessee while fleeing a traffic stop, in an unusual case where the officer got into the car, has filed a federal lawsuit over her son’s death.Linda Allen, whose son Eric Allen, 39, died in the November 2022 interaction with Mt. Juliet Police, filed the lawsuit Monday against the chief of police, two officers and the city.The lawsuit claims the officer who shot Allen used “unnecessary, unreasonable, and excessive force” in violation of Allen’s constitutional rights. It seeks $50 million, in addition to federal monitoring of Mt. Juliet Police Department’s use of force practices and procedures, and changes to its patrol techniques.The police department has noted that the officer, Sgt. Joshua Lo, returned to duty after a preliminary review and a Wilson County grand jury declined to issue an indictment in the shooting.The shooting happened after Mt. Juliet officers stopped a vehicle and at a l...

Jury finds Hawaii couple guilty for stealing identities of dead babies

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:36:37 GMT

HONOLULU (AP) — A jury has convicted a Hawaii couple of conspiracy, passport fraud and identity theft for stealing identities and living for decades under the names of dead babies. Jurors deliberated for about two hours before reaching guilty verdicts Monday, according to court records. The judge presiding over the trial in U.S. District Court in Honolulu referred to the couple by their preferred names of Bobby Fort and Julie Montague. The couple had argued in court that their actions did not harm anyone. At the start of the trial, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Muehleck said the real Bobby Fort has been dead for more than 50 years. The baby had “a bad cough” and lived 3 months, Muehleck said. One of the witnesses who testified was Tonda Montague Ferguson, who said she was in the eighth grade when her mother gave birth to her sister, Julie Montague, in 1968. But the infant had birth defects and died about three weeks later, Ferguson said.The two babies were buried in Texas cemeteries 1...

UN human rights official is alarmed by sprawling gang violence in Haiti

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:36:37 GMT

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — The United Nations expert on human rights in Haiti said Tuesday that he is alarmed by the rapid spread of gang violence and the bleak future awaiting children in the embattled country.William O’Neill spoke at the end of a weeklong visit to Haiti, his second one this year amid a spike in violence that has displaced more than 200,000 people.“Murders, injuries and kidnappings are the daily lot of the population,” he said. “An entire generation is seemingly being sacrificed by violence, and the future of a country is threatened by the dramatic situation faced by its youth.”More than 1,230 killings and 701 kidnappings were reported across Haiti from July 1 to Sept. 30, more than double the figure reported during the same period last year, according to the U.N.An estimated 200 gangs operate in Haiti, with the largest groups controlling up to 80% of the capital of Port-au-Prince.“A major challenge is the fact that many gang members are children,” O’Neill said. ...