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Palestinian Americans watch with dread as family members in Gaza struggle to stay alive

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:32:26 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — For the unforeseeable future, Laila El-Haddad has one mission: to get the voices of her fellow Palestinians, along with their pleas for help, out to the rest of the world.From her home office in Columbia, Maryland, El-Haddad frantically juggled phone calls this week from journalists seeking her expertise on Gaza and Palestinian Americans trying to get the attention of their local elected officials. In between the calls, the 45-year-old mother and author checked WhatsApp, the global messaging application, for updates from her own family members in Gaza during their brief windows of electricity and internet access. Electricity was since cut off by Israel and internet outages have made it difficult for many to keep in touch.“I’m just trying to stay sane by doing what I can to help,” El-Haddad said.For many Palestinian Americans, there’s a sense of helplessness and hopelessness as they struggle to hear from loved ones in Gaza. Amid a fuel and water shortage, no electrici...

Hackers attack Guatemalan government webpages in support of pro-democracy protests

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:32:26 GMT

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — In what Guatemalan authorities described as a national security incident, hackers affiliated with the activist group Anonymous disabled multiple government webpages Saturday. The attacks were in support of demonstrations led by Indigenous organizations in the Central American country. For almost two weeks, demonstrators have been calling for the resignation of Guatemalan Attorney General Consuelo Porras, saying she has tried to undermine the popular vote that made progressive Bernardo Arévalo the president-elect.Posting on the social media website X, formerly known as Twitter, hackers under the handle @AnonGTReloaded announced, “This October 14 #Anonymous will attack the Government of Guatemala, but this time we do not come alone.” The hackers targeted government webpages with floods of automated traffic until they crashed, a technique known as distributed denial-of-service attacks.Webpages for Guatemala’s judicial branch, Department of Agriculture ...

‘Ring of fire’ eclipse brings cheers and shouts of joy as it moves across the Americas

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:32:26 GMT

CANCÚN, México (AP) — First came the darkening skies, then the crescent-shaped shadows on the ground, and finally an eruption of cheers by crowds that gathered Saturday along the narrow path of a rare “ring of fire” eclipse of the sun.It was a spectacular show for millions of people across the Americas as the moon moved into place and blocked out all but a brilliant circle of the sun’s outer edge. Hundreds of people filed into the planetarium in the Caribbean resort city of Cancún to watch the eclipse. Some peered through box projectors, while others looked through telescopes and special glasses.Excited children whistled, as some adults raised their arms toward the sky as if to welcome the eclipse.Vendors selling plants outside observed the dance between the moon and the sun in a more natural way — with the help of trees as the shifting sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting unique shadows on the sidewalk.“There was silence and like a mist, as if it was dusk, but only a...

8-year-old boy killed, woman injured after stabbing in Plainfield Township

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:32:26 GMT

PLAINFIELD, Ill. — An investigation is underway on Saturday afternoon after a child was killed and a woman was badly injured after the two were both stabbed over a dozen times in unincorporated Plainfield Township, authorities say.According to the Will County Sheriff’s Office, authorities were called to a home in the 16200 block of South Lincoln Highway, just after 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, on reports that a woman was allegedly being attacked by her landlord with a knife. Authorities say the woman told police that she ran into a bathroom of the home while fighting off her attacker and dialing 911.Will County deputies and officers from the Plainfield Police Department responded and after arriving on the scene, they located a man sitting outside of the home. Police say he was found sitting upright near the driveway and had suffered a laceration to his forehead. Currently, it is unclear how he sustained the wound. Read more: Latest Chicago news headlines According to authorities, deput...

TxDOT starts campaign to end pedestrian-related crashes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:32:26 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — "Walking billboards" from the Texas Department of Transportation could be seen across Austin intersections this week, each sending a message to drivers and pedestrians to be careful while on the road.Glynda Chu, a spokesperson for TxDOT, said the campaign aims to remind those on foot and behind the wheel about the importance of crossing roads safely, and driving cautiously when near pedestrians.TxDOT said this awareness campaign coincides with the changing seasons as the days become shorter and the nights grow longer.Chu said over the last year, the state has seen a 29% increase in the number of pedestrian-related crashes. She said this is a worrying trend that can be reduced with simple, everyday actions.“As a pedestrian, make eye contact with those drivers. If you see them looking down at their phone you know they can't see you. Put that phone away when you're driving, no matter what we're looking for pedestrians, looking for other drivers. Keep yourself and others...

State of Texas: Public funds for private schools plan 'on the one-yard line'

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:32:26 GMT

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday projected confidence that his push for education savings accounts will pass the Texas legislature, following months of intractable disagreements between the Governor and some reluctant lawmakers in his own party.“As we begin this final push, we are on the one-yard line, a good place to be,” Abbott said at an event arranged by the conservative think tank Texas Public Policy Foundation. “I am committed. However long it takes, that race is going to continue. I will not stop until we get ESAs passed in the state of Texas.”Unstoppable force, meet immoveable object.“Nothing changes,” State Rep. Drew Darby, R-San Angelo, told Nexstar on Wednesday. “Now’s not the time for timidity…Now I think we need to make sure all our positions are known and then stand by our position and never retreat. If I’m here in November, December, January, February, March, I’ll be here. This is one of those things that I feel passionate about. And we’re not just goin...

Gargantuan pumpkin weighs in at 2,501 pounds at Stillwater Harvest Fest

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:32:26 GMT

With hundreds of people watching, a forklift hauled “Joy,” a gargantuan pumpkin, over to the scale at the the Stillwater Harvest Fest’s Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off on Saturday afternoon.Grower Charlie Bernstrom, of Lancaster, Minn., told the crowd he was nervous as everybody watched Joy being lifted onto the scale.The pumpkin he’d started growing in April measured 20 feet around — the largest pumpkin to ever be weighed on an official scale.But more important than that, it was a contender to break the world record set by another Minnesotan a few days before in California when Travis Gienger of Anoka set the new world record with a 2,749-pound pumpkin.Joy was the third pumpkin this year that Bernstrom had grown that weighed more than a ton (over 2,000 pounds). The biggest pumpkin he’d ever grown had weighed in at 2,131 pounds.It was one of 50 giant pumpkins weighed at the Stillwater festival on Saturday.“What’s going through your mind?” an a...

PHOTOS: St. Louis Blues 2023-24 home opener and pregame rally

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:32:26 GMT

ST. LOUIS - Happy home opener night! The St. Louis Blues host the Seattle Kraken to begin the home slate of their 2023-24 season. Ahead of the game, thousands of fans had the opportunity to enjoy an outdoor pregame rally at Union Station. The rally featured guest appearances from new captain Brayden Schenn, chairman Tom Stillman, Blues Hall of Famer Bernie Federko and many others. Check the slideshow below for photos from Saturday's home opener festivities.

Thousands rally in West L.A. in support of Palestine

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:32:26 GMT

The Israel-Hamas war has sent shockwaves throughout the world, and the reverberations are being felt across Los Angeles and the Southland. Thousands of demonstrators armed with Palestinian flags and signs denouncing “Israeli apartheid” were seen marching down Wilshire Boulevard on Saturday afternoon. The Los Angeles Police Department said on social media that traffic on Wilshire between Federal Avenue and Veteran Avenue will be impacted due to the rally."Intermittent closures on side streets [will occur] to allow pedestrians to cross the intersections," LAPD said.Thousands of demonstrators armed with Palestinian flags and signs denouncing “Israeli Apartheid” were seen marching down Wilshire Boulevard on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023. (KTLA) Thousands of demonstrators armed with Palestinian flags and signs denouncing “Israeli Apartheid” were seen marching down Wilshire Boulevard on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023. (KTLA) Thousands of demonstrators armed with Palestinian flags a...

Photos: Annular eclipse peaks through clouds in parts of the Bay Area

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:32:26 GMT

Related ArticlesNews | Where to watch the partial “Ring of Fire” solar eclipse at sunrise on Saturday News | What to look for and where to buy solar shades for safe eclipse viewing Groups gathered across the Bay Area, including a viewing event at Stanford University. Crowds donned protective glasses to see the moon move across the face of the sun.An annular solar eclipse is different from a total eclipse as the moon appears smaller than the sun due to its orbit. The moon during a total eclipse appears larger and completely blocks the sun from view.While viewers in the Bay Area saw a crescent sun during the eclipse, those viewing along the route of “totality” were able to witness a spectacular “ring of fire.” The sun’s edges glow red past the smaller moon.Lesley and Lyric Dawson, left and center, and Iyanis Ludwig use their special glasses to view the eclipse during a viewing event, Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023, at ...