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Palestinian militants launch dozens of rockets into Israel. Millions of Israelis are told to shelter

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:54 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip launched dozens of rockets toward Israel early Saturday, setting off air raid sirens across the country and raising the likelihood of a new round of heavy fighting. Israel ordered residents near Gaza to remain indoors as it said a “suspected security incident” along the border had occurred.The sound of outgoing rockets whooshing through the air could be heard in Gaza and sirens wailed as far away as Tel Aviv, some 70 kilometers (40 miles) to the north, during an early morning barrage that lasted more than 30 minutes. Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue agency said a 70-year-old woman was critically injured when a rocket hit a building in southern Israel. Elsewhere, a 20-year-old man was moderately injured by rocket shrapnel, it said.As the rocket attacks continued throughout southern and central Israel, millions of Israelis were instructed to stay near bomb shelters in their homes and apartment buildings. The army said resi...

21 Savage cleared to legally travel abroad with plans of international performance in London

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:54 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Rapper 21 Savage can now legally travel outside the United States and plans to make his international performance in his native London.Savage’s lawyer, Charles Kuck, told The Associated Press in a statement Friday that his client has officially become a permanent U.S. resident and may now go overseas. He cleared a major traveling hurdle after being taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Georgia in 2019.Kuck said the Grammy-nominated artist followed “all applicable immigration laws since his initial detention by ICE.”“His immigration court proceedings have now been terminated and he is a lawful permanent resident of the United States with the freedom to travel internationally,” Kuck said.Savage, 30, whose given name is She’yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, spent 10 days in a detention center in southern Georgia before his release. He was arrested in a targeted operation over his visa, which expired in 2006.The Atlanta-based rapper said he ha...

US fears Canada-India row over Sikh activist’s killing could upend strategy for countering China

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:54 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is nervously watching a dispute between Canada and India, with some officials concerned it could upend the U.S. strategy toward the Indo-Pacific that is directed at blunting China’s influence there and elsewhere.Publicly, the administration has maintained that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations that the Indian government may have been involved in the killing of a Sikh separatist near Vancouver are a matter between the two countries.But U.S. officials have also repeatedly urged India to cooperate in the investigation. Those calls have been ignored thus far by India, which denies the allegations.Behind the scenes, U.S. officials say they believe Trudeau’s claims are true. And they are worried that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi may be adopting tactics to silence opposition figures on foreign soil akin to those used by Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and North Korea, all of which have faced similar accusations.Perhaps o...

China’s flagging economy gets a temporary boost as holiday travel returns to pre-pandemic levels

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:54 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Tourism in China bounced back to pre-pandemic levels during a recent eight-day national holiday, giving a temporary boost to the nation’s flagging economy.The government said that tourism revenues reached about 753 billion yuan ($103 billion) during the combined Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday period that ended Friday, a rise of 1.5% over 2019 and 130% compared to last year when pandemic restrictions were still in place.China maintained locked-downs and other restrictions much longer than most other countries, enforcing a “zero-COVID” policy until last December. But a hoped-for consumer spending boom after the lifting of restrictions hasn’t materialized, as many Chinese remain cautious with an unfolding real estate crisis weighing on the economy and youth unemployment topping 20%.Planes and high-speed trains were heavily booked over the holiday. The tourism ministry said that 826 million domestic trips were made, up 4.1% from 2019 and 71.3% fr...

Trump is inserting himself into the messy race to become the next House speaker. Will it matter?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:54 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump is again testing the power of his endorsement.With an early morning social media post on Friday, Trump inserted himself into the chaotic race to replace Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker by backing Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan for the post. The move was the latest example of Trump attempting to flex his influence within a Republican Party he has already fundamentally reshaped in the eight years since his first White House bid.“I think he does well. I hope he does well,” Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 GOP nomination, said of Jordan in a Friday interview with Real America’s Voice. “He’s got competition, as you understand. And they’re friendly with me, too. Very nice people and good people. We’ll see what happens.”With Trump’s firm grip on the GOP base, his endorsement can effectively clear the field in many congressional primaries. But the speaker’s race is more complex, an intraparty fight that will play out in secret at points and in a tense en...

Witnesses to FBI hunt for Civil War gold describe heavily loaded armored truck, signs of a night dig

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:54 GMT

PENFIELD, Pa. (AP) — In the heart of Pennsylvania elk country, Eric McCarthy and his client, Don Reichel, woke before sunrise to scour the forest for so-called “brown gold,” a rack of freshly shed antlers to add to Reichel’s collection.One hill over, a team of FBI agents was also hunting for gold. The metallic yellow kind.The FBI’s highly unusual search for buried Civil War-era treasure more than five years ago set in motion a dispute over what, if anything, the agency unearthed and an ongoing legal battle over key records. There’s so much intrigue even a federal judge felt compelled to note in a ruling last week: “The FBI may have found the gold — or maybe not.”Now, two witnesses have come forward to share with The Associated Press what they heard and saw in the woods, raising questions about the FBI’s timeline and adding plot twists to a saga that blends elements of legend, fact and science — and a heavy dose of government secrecy.The FBI insists nothing came of the 2018 excavatio...

Former Tropical Storm Philippe’s remnants headed to waterlogged New England and Atlantic Canada

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:54 GMT

The remnants of former Tropical Storm Philippe headed toward waterlogged New England with the promise of more precipitation, gusts and isolated power outages after lashing Bermuda with heavy rain and winds.The storm was expected to arrive late Saturday with gusts up to 50 mph (80 kph) in eastern and northern Maine, strong enough to cause power outages, along with 1 to 4 inches (2.5 to 10 centimeters) of rain over a broader area in a state where the ground is already saturated from previous rain, said Anne Strauser, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Maine.Down East Maine and Atlantic Canada were expected to bear the storm’s brunt just three weeks after being hit by Tropical Storm Lee. Philippe, now a low pressure system, no longer a tropical storm, should be milder but will still pack a punch.The National Weather Service in Gray, Maine, said a high surf advisory was in effect for Sunday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. with waves from 6 to 10 feet (1.8 to 3 meters) on t...

Sex education classes often don’t include LGBTQ+ students. New restrictions could make it worse

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:54 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — In fifth grade, Stella Gage’s class watched a video about puberty. In ninth grade, a few sessions of her health class were dedicated to the risks of sexual behaviors. That was the extent of her sex education in school. At no point was there any content that felt especially relevant to her identity as a queer teenager. To fill the gaps, she turned mostly to social media.“My parents were mostly absent, my peers were not mature enough, and I didn’t have anyone else to turn to,” said Gage, who is now a sophomore at Wichita State University in Kansas.Many LGBTQ+ students say they have not felt represented in sex education classes. To learn about their identities and how to build healthy, safe relationships, they often have had to look elsewhere. As lawmakers in some states limit what can be taught about sex and gender, it will be that much more difficult for those students to come by inclusive material in classrooms. New laws targeting LGBTQ+ people have been prolife...

Texas high school football scores for Friday, Oct. 6

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:54 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Rouse knocked off Class 5A Division II No. 10 Belton 32-30 on Friday to hand the Tigers their first loss of the season.East View clipped Glenn 42-38, Flatonia edged Hearne 21-19, Liberty Hill topped SA Veterans Memorial 28-21 and then there were a fair share of blowouts around the viewing area.REPORT YOUR SCORE: We'd love to post your team's score on our website, but we need your help to do it. Email the score of your game to [email protected] and we'll get it on our websiteVandegrift thumped McNeil 49-3, Lake Travis blanked Del Valle 49-0 and Weiss took care of Copperas Cove 49-7. Check out the rest of the scores from around the area and Texas below:Scores from around the KXAN viewing areaA&M Consolidated 42, Hendrickson 3Bastrop 34, Cedar Creek 7Blanco 48, Marion 7Canyon Lake 52, Marble Falls 13College Station 56, Cedar Park 28Crockett 51, Navarro 3Cuero 55, Giddings 14De Leon 42, San Saba 20Dripping Springs 48, Akins 0East View 42, Glenn 38Flatonia 21, Hearne 19...

Austyn Modrzewski shows why he’s one of Colorado’s top QB recruits as Mountain Vista beats Rock Canyon

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:54 GMT

CASTLE ROCK — As Mountain Vista trailed early in the second quarter of Friday’s rivalry game against Rock Canyon, Golden Eagles coach Garrett Looney threw down the gauntlet with star quarterback Austyn Modrzewski.“We might have to score 60 for the win, but I think we can score 70,” Looney challenged Modrzewski and the Mountain Vista wideouts in the huddle on the sideline. “I really do. Now, let’s cut out the mistakes and go do it.”Modrzewski threw a TD less than a minute later, giving Class 5A No. 9 Mountain Vista its first lead of the night. The Golden Eagles didn’t look back, and neither did Modrzewski, whose play highlighted a 37-14 win over the Jaguars at Douglas County Stadium.While Mountain Vista struggled early, and tempers flared with an ejection on each team in the first half, Modrzewski stayed calm. His offense averaged 45.3 points per game coming in, and they put on another Air Raid clinic behind Modrzewski’s powerful ...