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Netanyahu leaves hospital as Israel faces a key vote – and a crisis – over divisive legal changes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:37 GMT

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was released from the hospital on Monday after an emergency heart procedure, facing an unprecedented national crisis ahead of parliament’s vote on the first major piece of legislation to remake the country’s justice system.Demonstrators, many of whom feel the very foundations of their country are being eroded by the government’s plan, stepped up their opposition, blocking a road leading up to parliament. Businesses across the country shuttered their doors in protest of the vote.Driven by a governing coalition made up of ultranationalist and ultra-religious parties, the judicial overhaul has divided Israel, testing the delicate social ties that bind the country, rattling the cohesion of its powerful military and repeatedly drawing concern from even its closest ally, the United States.Efforts to find a last-ditch compromise were underway, with Israel’s President Isaac Herzog shuttling between the sides, incl...

Democratic governor pushes back against transgender-related attacks by GOP in Kentucky campaign

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:37 GMT

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear is pushing back hard against Republican efforts to cast him as an advocate of gender reassignment surgery for minors, saying his detractors have misrepresented his position and invoking his Christian faith and support for parental rights to explain why he vetoed a measure that banned gender-affirming care for children.Beshear, a Democrat seeking a second term in a race that could test the political potency of Republican messaging on transgender issues, said in an interview that he has always opposed gender reassignment surgery for children.“My position on this has always been clear,” Beshear said. “I have never supported gender reassignment surgery for minors, and they don’t happen in Kentucky.”It’s a direct response to what he says is a patently false Republican narrative that suggested he supports such surgeries. The Courier Journal has reported there is no record of such surgeries for minors happening in Kentucky. The GOP att...

Russia wants allies, so it is hosting an Africa summit. Food security and Wagner are key questions

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:37 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — As Russia seeks more allies during its invasion of Ukraine, longtime U.S. security partner Kenya might not be an obvious choice. But hours after Russia terminated a deal to keep grain flowing from Ukraine, Moscow’s ambassador saw an opening to appeal to one of the African countries that would feel the effects the most.In an opinion piece for two of Kenya’s largest newspapers, Ambassador Dmitry Maksimychev blamed the United States and European Union for the deal’s collapse, asserting they had “used every trick” to keep Russian grain and fertilizer from the global markets.“Now, my dear Kenyan friends, you know the whole truth about who is weaponizing food,” he wrote.It’s the kind of brash outreach expected this week at the second Russia-Africa Summit. Grain supplies are in question. The future of the Wagner military group is, too. It’s a notable time for Russia to host nearly 50 African countries that rely heavily on Moscow for agricultural prod...

Celebrating its 70th anniversary - that's the Port of Dover

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:37 GMT

It may have passed under the radar but this month marks the 70th anniversary of a key landmark in Great Britain.For seven decades it has “stood as an integral connection between the British Isles and Europe”.The landmark in question is the Port of Dover, home to one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.On 4 July 1953, the Port of Dover’s roll-on, roll-off berths opened for the first time, transforming ferry travel forever. Some 70 years on from the opening of the Port’s first roll-on, roll-off ferry berths, Dover Harbour Board says they “remain proud to be stewards of Dover’s heritage and to be driving the Port into a new age.”The Port of Dover of today facilitates £144bn of UK trade each year, handles 33% of all trade with the EU, and is driving efficiencies and innovations that, it says, “will ensure the next 70 years are even more prosperous.”Due to its geographic position, Dover had been Britain’s connection to Europe for centuries, receiving its royal charter in...

Russian terrorists arrested in Poland

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:37 GMT

Russian agents have flooded Europe and are planning terrorist attacks on the Polish rail system, Dispatches, IFBG.On 19 July 15 Kremlin agents were arrested, who had been kept under surveillance between March and July of this year. The terrorist agents were planning attacks on the Polish railway, specifically, the bombing of railway trains carrying weapons for Ukraine, which is defending itself from Russian occupation. Receiving instructions directly from the Kremlin, the criminals installed video cameras in Poland's Województwo przedkarpackie, which borders Ukraine. Russian terrorists have become a threat to Europe, which is the Kremlin's next priority target if it conquers Ukraine.For a long time Russia has meticulously prepared sabotage and reconnaissance groups to operate in the EU. This is part of the Kremlin's growing threat to Europe. The detention of Russian agents who have been planning terrorist attacks on the Polish r...

Burglar disguised as deputy attempts to break into Westwood shop

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:37 GMT

A local business owner says a wannabe thief that uses different disguises has been trying to break into his Westwood tennis shop for the last several weeks. The most recent break-in attempt at Richard Hartman’s sporting good store, located in the 1000 block of Gayley Avenue, occurred just after 4 p.m. on Sunday, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.  “Somebody’s been trying to break into my shop for probably the last two months,” Hartman, the owner of Westwood Sporting Goods, told KTLA. “They’ve been sticking screws in my door and breaking it, so I can’t get in the shop.”  Store surveillance cameras captured a man dressed as sheriff’s deputy trying to gain entry into his shop. Just a few weeks after that, cameras caught a man who appeared to be dressed in a firefighter’s jacket trying to get inside the sporting goods store. Hartman believes it’s the same thief.  “It’s getting very annoying,” the store owner said. “He’s tried to break in at least seven times. I’ve repl...

U.N. Command’s deputy commander says it has started a conversation with North Korea over detained U.S. soldier

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:37 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — U.N. Command’s deputy commander says it has started a conversation with North Korea over detained U.S. soldier.Source

Los investigadores de los asesinatos de Gilgo Beach registraron la casa del sospechoso con un sabueso y un radar de penetración terrestre, informa afiliada de CNN

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:37 GMT

(CNN) — Las autoridades que registraron la casa del sospechoso de los asesinatos en serie de Gilgo Beach, Rex Heuermann, continuaron con esos esfuerzos durante el fin de semana con la ayuda de un perro policía y un radar de penetración terrestre, informó News 12 Long Island, afiliada de CNN.La estación de noticias informó que su equipo estaba en la escena este domingo cuando trajeron el sabueso y el radar. Más tarde ese mismo día, las autoridades comenzaron a excavar en el patio trasero de Heuermann con una retroexcavadora, según la afiliada.Los investigadores no han revelado si se encontró algo en la casa durante el fin de semana, agregó la estación de noticias.Los investigadores registran el patio trasero de la casa de Rex Heuermann el 23 de julio de 2023. (Crédito: News 12 Long Island)CNN solicitó a la policía y al fiscal de distrito detalles sobre el registro de la vivienda este fin de semana, pero no ha recibido respuesta.La policía estima que pasarán otros dos o tres día...

Russia blames Ukraine for drone attacks in Moscow, Crimea

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:37 GMT

Several drone attacks struck Crimea and Moscow overnight, causing the evacuation of several villages in the Russian-occupied peninsula and damaging buildings in the vicinity of the defense ministry in the Russian capital, Russian officials said Monday.“Drone strikes on two non-residential buildings were recorded at around four o’clock this morning,” Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in the early hours of Monday, adding there had been “no serious damage or casualties.”“Two Ukrainian UAVs were suppressed by means of electronic warfare and crashed” over Moscow, the Russian defense ministry said in a statement, accusing Kyiv of being responsible for the attack.The drones damaged two buildings in the Russian capital, causing temporary traffic interruptions, state-owned newswire TASS reported. One of the buildings is located just a few blocks from the Russian defense ministry, in downtown Moscow.An ammunition storage facility in southern Crimea wa...

Green campaigners fear UK policy backlash after ULEZ keeps Uxbridge Tory

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:37 GMT

LONDON — The Conservatives held off Labour by just 495 votes in last week’s Uxbridge and Ruislip by-election — and one hot topic tipped the scales in their direction.The Tories successfully turned the campaign for a House of Commons seat into a de facto referendum on the ultra-low emissions zone (ULEZ), a green tax levied on higher-polluting cars and vans by Labour London Mayor Sadiq Khan. ULEZ extends beyond central London — including to Uxbridge — next month, handing the Conservatives a local issue they could use to batter their opponents, at a time when they’re otherwise languishing in the national polls. Green campaigners already worry that both parties will now decide to jettison policies aimed at both cleaning up the air and decarbonizing the economy — so-called net zero goals — for fear of alienating voters.“I don’t think there is any doubt that ULEZ was the reason that we lost the election in Uxbridge,” said Labour leader Keir Starmer on Sa...