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Top Hamas leader arrives in Cairo for talks on the war in Gaza in another sign of group’s resilience

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:46:29 GMT

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hamas’ top leader arrived in Cairo on Wednesday for talks on the war in Gaza, where the militant group is putting up stiff resistance after more than 10 weeks of heavy Israeli bombardment and fierce urban combat that has killed nearly 20,000 Palestinians.The visit by Ismail Haniyeh came a day after Hamas fired rockets that set off air raid sirens in central Israel, a show of strength during a war that has devastated much of northern Gaza and driven some 1.9 million Palestinians — nearly 85% of the population — from their homes.Israel has called on the rest of the world to blacklist Hamas as a terrorist organization, saying it must be eradicated in the wake of its Oct. 7 rampage across southern Israel that triggered the war. But the sides have recently relaunched indirect talks, mediated by Egypt and Qatar, aimed at instituting another cease-fire and freeing more hostages captured in that attack in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel....

Daily horoscope for December 20, 2023

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:46:29 GMT

Moon Alert: There are no restrictions to shopping or important decisions today. The Moon is in Aries.Happy Birthday for Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2023:You are hardworking and a gifted problem-solver. You are a born leader who wants to make the world a better place. This year has been about socializing and enjoying your life. In 2024, it’s time to work and get productive. Keep things simple. Stay grounded and levelheaded.ARIES(March 21-April 19) ★★★★Something unexpected could impact banking situations or something to do with an inheritance or anything that you are sharing or divide with someone else. It might be a sudden gift or a favor. Unfortunately, it also might be a cancellation of something. Tonight: Check your finances.TAURUS(April 20-May 20) ★★★A partnership or close friendship will experience an upset today. It could be pleasant. (“For me? How thoughtful!”) Or it might be unpleasant. (“Whaaat? Are you kidding me?”) Be ready for anything. Some of you w...

Commission calls on member states to improve their National Energy and Climate Plans to ensure collective achievement of the EU´s 2030 targets

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:46:29 GMT

The Commission has published its assessment of EU member states' draft National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) and issued recommendations to assist Member States in raising their ambitions in line with EU targets for 2030. The draft updated NECPs bring us closer to meeting the EU's 2030 targets and to implementing recently agreed legislation. However, there is a clear need for extra efforts, also in light of the COP28 outcome and the global call to accelerate action this decade.In today's assessment, the Commission calls on member states to enhance their efforts on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions and set out clearer plans on how they intend to adapt to climate change. It also invites them to better prepare for an increased uptake of renewables and enhance energy efficiency measures. Additional measures are also needed to empower consumers, improve energy security, and support European companies in strengthening their competitiveness. Greater efforts will be necessary to ...

Miss Manners: I try to make draft dodgers feel bad. Is this wrong of me?

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:46:29 GMT

DEAR MISS MANNERS: My brother died in his early 60s of an unknown cancer, just five weeks after diagnosis.His illness and death were likely related to his service in Vietnam.Related ArticlesAdvice | Miss Manners: People are noticing my watch and it’s making me uncomfortable Advice | Miss Manners: Snow shoveling has created an awkward situation with my neighbors Advice | Miss Manners: Our houseguests canceled abruptly and implied we were running a frat party Advice | Miss Manners: If you’re the best man at this wedding, brace for embarrassment Advice | Miss Manners: I’m irritated by drivers who leave their car at the pump I have been in the presence of people from that era who brag and even laugh at their “good fortune” at never having to serve there. “Good fortune,” that is, because some of them played fast and loose with health claims or knew a physician who wou...

Russia to seize energy assets from ‘unfriendly’ European countries

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:46:29 GMT

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed decrees granting his government power to confiscate and forcibly sell off billions of dollars worth of assets belonging to European energy firms to new state-approved owners.In a decree published Wednesday, the Kremlin mandated the creation of new Russian-run companies to take over shares in the colossal Yuzhno-Russkoye oil and gas field, currently owned by Austria’s OMV and Germany’s Wintershall. The two European energy giants, both from countries that Moscow claims are “unfriendly” in the wake of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, together hold a 60 percent stake in the drilling site in Russia’s icy far north.While the companies will theoretically be compensated for their investment, the amount they receive from the sale will be determined by the Russian state, in a move that marks the biggest asset seizure in the country’s recent history.Earlier this year, the Kremlin laid out a legal framework for t...

Cambridge man pleads guilty in 2000 rape case

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:46:29 GMT

A Cambridge man is facing prison after pleading guilty to three counts of rape.Roger Reddick Jr., 41, admitted to sexually assaulting a then 13-year-old girl when he broke into a stranger’s home in Cambridge.Officials said Reddick Jr. allegedly snuck into the child’s room early in the morning of Oct. 18, 2000, covering her mouth with his hand and sexually assaulting her. Officials said Reddick then ran out of the house.The DA’s office said police gathered evidence including boxer shorts left at the scene.Years later, the DA’s office said new DNA testing on the boxer shorts helped lead to a break in the case.“In 2022, our cold case unit began looking at this case and working with the crime laboratory,” District Attorney Marian Ryan said in March, after Reddick was charged. “As a result of advances in technology, that profile that had been obtained from the shorts was able to be uploaded and a match to Mr. Reddick as the source of the major profile on those shorts was made.̶...

Winthrop Police see uptick in checks stolen from mailboxes

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:46:29 GMT

Winthrop Police are warning residents to be extra cautious when sending checks by mail.Authorities said they’ve seen an increase in people stealing checks from the mail; thieves then alter the checks and use them fraudulently. According to Winthrop Police they’ve received six reports recently involving checks dropped in blue mail boxes around Hermon and Centre Streets and outside the post office on Michael’s Mall. The United States Postal Service says there are a few tactics individuals can use to help prevent this happening to them, including using only black gel pens when writing checks, because this ink is more difficult to remove than others, dropping off pieces of mail with checks inside the post office, shredding or burning cancelled checks rather than just throwing them away, and checking bank statements often, as some banks will only reimburse funds if the fraud is reported within 30 days.

Boston mayor to apologize for city’s action, wrongful arrests, in 1989 Stuart murder case

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:46:29 GMT

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is set to issue an apology to two men over the city’s actions during a decades-old murder case that fueled racial tensions in the city.Alan Swanson and Willie Bennett were wrongfully arrested for the 1989 murder of Carol Stuart, who was shot and killed by her husband Charles in Mission Hill in 1989.At the time, Charles Stuart lied to police and said a black man killed his wife.The false accusation led to the wrongful arrests and Wu says it resulted in racial harassment in the neighborhood by city officials and Boston Police.“This dark time in the City’s history exacerbated distrust between Boston’s Black community and the Boston Police Department,” the mayor’s office said in a statement. “Acknowledging this painful moment and apologizing for the City’s wrongdoing is an effort to aid in the healing of those still living with this trauma and our City as a whole.”The case and its aftermath are the subject of the new HBO docus...

Massachusetts Senate to review bill stripping Boston City Council of grant approval authority

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:46:29 GMT

An “embarrassing” vote by the Boston City Council has led to movement on Beacon Hill, where a bill that would strip the body of its authority to approve public safety grants was referred to a legislative committee for review.State Sen. Nick Collins, a Democrat from South Boston, introduced the bill at an informal Senate session Monday, saying that he filed for a change in state law, after the Boston City Council voted, 6-6, last week to block a $13.3 million counter-terrorism grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.The vote was slammed by outgoing City Councilor Michael Flaherty, who described the Council’s action as “nonsensical and embarrassing.”Funding in the grant would go to not only Boston, but surrounding communities including Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Quincy, Revere, Somerville and Winthrop, which are all part of what’s known as the Metro Boston Homeland Security Region, according to the feds.The legislation was co-sponsored by state Sen. Ryan...

Howie Carr: Paying the price for the blind privilege of Dems

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:46:29 GMT

“Blinded by privilege.”That sums up the attitude of most of the Beautiful People embroiled in the recent deluge of scandals involving entitled Democrats, members of assorted protected classes who feel they can never be held accountable for anything they do.“Blinded by privilege.”I came across the phrase last week when I was reading up on an earlier antisemite who preceded “Dr.” Claudine Gray as president of Harvard University — A. Lawrence Lowell.Like Gay, the Boston blue-blood Lowell presided over a virulently racist admissions policy, the only difference being that Lowell’s apartheid regime was never struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, as Gay’s was earlier this year.In 1916, Lowell of course objected to the appointment of Louis Brandeis, a Jew, to the Supreme Court. In a private letter after his confirmation, Brandeis wrote a friend that he thought Lowell wasn’t so much an antisemite as that he was “blinded by privilege… (someone) whose environment or innate narrowness have obs...