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Trump says he stands with Netanyahu after a barrage of GOP criticism for saying he ‘let us down’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:55 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump said Friday that he stood with Israel and its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, as his GOP rivals continued to pointedly denounce his lashing out at Netanyahu days after Hamas’ deadly attacks.Referring to Netanyahu by his nickname, Trump posted “#IStandWithIsrael” and “#IStandWithBibi” on his Truth Social network Friday afternoon. That stood in stark contrast to comments earlier this week, when Trump told a rally crowd in Florida that Netanyahu had “let us down” before the U.S. killed a top Iranian general. Trump further faulted the country’s intelligence agencies, saying they needed to “step up their game,” and referred to Hezbollah, the group Israel fears may launch a large-scale attack from the country’s north, as “very smart.”The comments drew widespread condemnation from the White House as well as Trump’s GOP rivals, who have generally avoided directly attacking the former president and GOP front-runner because...

As accusations fly over ballot stuffing in mayoral primary, Connecticut Democrat takes the 5th

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:55 GMT

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) — A local Democratic official in Connecticut’s largest city invoked her 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination Friday rather than answer questions in court about allegations of illegal ballot box stuffing during a recent mayoral primary.Wanda Geter-Pataky, vice chair of the Bridgeport Democratic Town Committee, exercised her right to remain silent multiple times during a court hearing in a lawsuit challenging the results of the Sept. 12 primary, in which incumbent Mayor Joe Ganim defeated fellow Democrat John Gomes.Among the questions she wouldn’t answer: Whether she was the woman seen on surveillance footage making multiple trips in the predawn darkness to an election drop box outside a government building, and stuffing papers inside that looked like ballots.“She is invoking her Fifth Amendment privilege,” her lawyer, John Gulash, told the court.Testimony began Thursday and is scheduled to continue next week in a court proceeding in which ...

Environmentalists warn of intent to sue over snail species living near Nevada lithium mine

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:55 GMT

RENO, Nev. (AP) — In an ongoing legal battle with the Biden administration over a Nevada lithium mine, environmentalists are poised to return to court with a new approach accusing U.S. wildlife officials of dragging their feet on a year-old petition seeking endangered species status for a tiny snail that lives nearby. The Western Watersheds Project said in its formal notice of intent to sue that the government’s failure to list the Kings River pyrg as a threatened or endangered species could push it to the brink of extinction.It says the only place the snail is known to exist is in 13 shallow springs near where Lithium Americas is building its Thacker Pass Mine near the Oregon line.President Joe Biden has made ramped-up domestic production of lithium a key part of his blueprint for a greener future. Worldwide demand for the critical element in the manufacture of electric vehicle batteries is projected to increase six-fold by 2030 compared with 2020.Past lawsuits filed by conse...

Black student disciplined over hairstyle hopes to ‘start being a kid again’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:55 GMT

For more than a month, Darryl George, a Black high school student in Texas, spent each school day sitting by himself in punishment over his hairstyle. This week, he was sent to a separate disciplinary program, where he’s been told he will spend several more weeks away from classmates.In an interview with The Associated Press, George said he has felt discouraged about missing out on his classes and time with the football team.“I feel like I’m missing my full experience of being in the classroom,” George said Thursday. George, 18, was first pulled from the classroom at his Houston-area school in August after school officials said his locs fell below his eyebrows and ear lobes and violated the district’s dress code. His family argues his hairstyle does not break any rules.By the time George is allowed to return to Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu, Texas, in November, he will have missed 56 of 67 days of regular classroom instruction to start his junior year. The family ha...

US military to begin draining leaky fuel tank facility that poisoned Pearl Harbor drinking water

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:55 GMT

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (AP) — The military next week plans to begin draining fuel from World War II-era underground fuel tanks in Hawaii, nearly two years after the massive facility sickened 6,000 people when it leaked jet fuel into a Pearl Harbor drinking water well.Removing the fuel is a key step toward shutting down the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility as demanded by the state of Hawaii. The November 2021 spill poisoned the Navy’s water system serving 93,000 people in and around Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. The leak continues to threaten an aquifer used by Honolulu’s municipal water utility to serve 400,000 people on Oahu.“I want the community to know that my team and I understand the enormity and the significance of this mission,” said Vice Admiral John Wade, the commander of Joint Task Force-Red Hill.Work to drain the 104 million gallons (394 million liters) remaining in the tanks was scheduled to begin on Monday. Each tank is 250 feet (76 meters) tall and 100 f...

Iowa jurors clear man charged with murder in shooting deaths of 2 students

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:55 GMT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Jurors have cleared an Iowa man charged with murder in the shooting deaths of two students at a Des Moines alternative school, a month after another man was convicted for his role in the killings.Jurors acquitted 20-year-old Bravon Tukes of two counts of first-degree murder and single counts of attempted murder, criminal gang participation and willful injury causing serious injury. ORIGINAL: Teens charged in fatal school shooting get separate trials The decision came about a month after jurors convicted another man on charges stemming from the Jan. 23 shooting deaths of two students at the Starts Right Here program.The shooting killed Gionni Dameron and Rashad Carr. Will Keeps, a former Chicago gang member and rapper who started the program for at-risk teens, was injured.

AI makes breakthrough reading 2,000-year-old scroll burned in Mt. Vesuvius eruption

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:55 GMT

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WDKY) — After 21 years, cutting-edge technology pioneered at the University of Kentucky is being used to read a 2,000-year-old scroll.The Herculaneum scrolls were burned and buried in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D., and now the scrolls are too fragile to unfurl.But Brent Seales, a computer science professor at the University of Kentucky, and his researchers developed technology to read what's on the scrolls without opening them.It's been a 20-year passion for Seales, but now his work is being used to unlock history. Parents sue Hyatt Hotels Corporation after death of 1-year-old son The unopened scrolls belong to the Institut de France in Paris and are believed to be from a library owned by a senior Roman statesman."What I expect is writing that expresses what it means to be human, speaking of love and war and of all the things that still matter to us because we are human, just like they were human, and the gulf that separates us,...

Meet Brandon Powell, the Vikings receiver who could really step up with Justin Jefferson out

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:55 GMT

No single Vikings player is capable of matching the output of star receiver Justin Jefferson.It’s going to take a village to replace his production on the field, with rookie receiver Jordan Addison, veteran receiver K.J. Osborn, and talented tight end T.J. Hockenson leading the charge while Jefferson is on injured reserve.That said, slot receiver Brandon Powell is a player to look out for as the Vikings try to fill the void. Though his 5-foot-8, 180-pound frame might suggest otherwise, Powell is a bulldog, and he’s more than capable of holding his own if asked to take on a bigger role.There was a glimpse of that last week as Powell stepped up to make four catches for 43 yards against the Kansas City Chiefs with most of that coming after Jefferson left the game.“It does not surprise me,” head coach Kevin O’Connell said. “I’ve always really looked at Brandon as a guy that can do a lot of things that are really, really high level on the football fiel...

Vikings receiver Jordan Addison is good to go for Bears game

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:55 GMT

Rookie receiver Jordan Addison is going to have a much bigger role this weekend with Justin Jefferson on injured reserve. The fact that Addison seems to be at 100 percent is good news for the Vikings.There was a little bit of concern this week when Addison popped up on the injury report with an ankle injury. He was a limited participant in Wednesday’s practice, then again on Thursday, before being a full participant on Friday. He does not have an injury designation with the Vikings traveling to play the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on Sunday.Asked this week about taking on a bigger role in the offense, Addison seemed more than ready for it.“It’s a great opportunity for me and for the other receivers in this room,” he said. “We just have to make plays, that’s what it’s going to come down to. We’ve got to win 1-on-1.”It has been impressive to watch Addison acclimate so seamlessly to the NFL this season. He has 19 catches for 249 ...

Twins’ Byron Buxton has knee surgery; Alex Kirilloff set for shoulder repair

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:55 GMT

For the second consecutive year, Byron Buxton has undergone an arthroscopic procedure on his right knee, which has forced him off the field for significant periods of time.Last year’s surgery, Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey said, had a much longer recovery timeline. This one, to excise the plica, is something that they hope will alleviate some of the stress around the patellar tendon and isn’t expected to come with as long of a rehab process. The surgery took place on Friday, Falvey said.“The hope here is in just a few short weeks, he’s getting moving around again and starting to go through physical therapy in the offseason,” Falvey said. “… Our expectation and our hope is that we’ll get him through the offseason and get him ready for spring training ready to go and continue to build off that.”The Twins initially were hoping Buxton could serve as their designated hitter at the beginning of this season and then transition back into the outfield.That never h...