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Israel forms unity government as strikes hammer Gaza

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:50 GMT

By Joseph Krauss and Wafaa Shurafa | Associated PressJERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a leading opposition figure on Wednesday created a war-time Cabinet overseeing the fight to avenge a stunning weekend attack by Hamas militants. In the sealed-off Gaza Strip ruled by Hamas, Palestinian suffering mounted as Israeli bombardment demolished neighborhoods and the territory’s only power plant ran out of fuel.The new war-time Cabinet establishes a degree of unity after years of bitterly divisive politics, and as the Israeli military appears increasingly likely to launch a ground offensive into Gaza.The Cabinet, which will focus only on issues of war, will consist of Netanyahu, Benny Gantz — a senior opposition figure and former defense minister — and current Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, a statement released by Gantz said.The government is under intense public pressure to topple Hamas after its militants stormed through a border fence Saturday and massacred...

GOP nominates Scalise to be the new House speaker

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:50 GMT

By Lisa Mascaro and Kevin Freking | Associated PressWASHINGTON — Republicans nominated Rep. Steve Scalise on Wednesday to be the next House speaker and will now try to unite to elect the conservative in a floor vote after ousting Rep. Kevin McCarthy from the job.In private balloting at the Capitol, House Republicans pushed aside Rep. Jim Jordan, the Judiciary Committee chairman, in favor of Scalise, the current majority leader, lawmakers said. The Louisiana lawmaker is seen as a hero to some after surviving a mass shooting on lawmakers at a congressional baseball game practice in 2017. He is now battling blood cancer.Republicans who have been stalemated after McCarthy’s historic removal last week will seek to assemble their narrow House majority around Scalise in what is certain to be a close vote of the full House. Democrats are set to oppose the Republican nominee.A floor vote of the whole House could come as soon as Wednesday afternoon.“I don’t know how the hell...

Stranger is missing after pulling child from river after crash near Tracy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:50 GMT

A stranger who pulled a child to safety from the San Joaquin River then disappeared, and it’s not known if he drowned or walked away, the California Highway Patrol said.At 1:29 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 10, an emergency call reported that an SUV had gone into the river from Airport Way, near the San Joaquin River Club, southeast of Tracy.Related ArticlesCrashes and Disasters | These Bay Area cities ranked the worst for drivers in the U.S. Crashes and Disasters | Cable-car accident in San Francisco sends 6 to hospital Crashes and Disasters | Another leak at Martinez refinery brings hazardous materials team Crashes and Disasters | At least 16 migrants killed in bus crash in Mexico Crashes and Disasters | Collision at major Brentwood intersection injures 12-year-old on bike The two occupants — the driver and a 5-year-old girl — climbed out and were standing on top of the vehicle as it began to si...

Which way does beach sand flow? Studies challenge established views on sand migration along San Diego County coast

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:50 GMT

Phil Diehl | The San Diego Union-TribuneA renowned oceanographer who has studied the California coast for decades says new research challenges a well-established notion about how sand flows within the surf and long-shore currents that constantly shape the state’s beaches.Studies show sand doesn’t always flow south and in some cases is carried north between the coastal communities, said Reinhard Flick, a member of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography’s Coastal Processes Group.“That’s a new finding, and it’s important,” Flick said. “This strongly suggests that little, if any, sand flows south from Oceanside to Carlsbad.”Carlsbad and Oceanside, like many coastal cities, are losing sand at alarming rates.The accumulating data could change how local officials approach efforts to preserve their eroding coastlines, particularly sand replenishment projects that cost tens of millions of dollars and can be wiped out by the storms of a single El Niño winter.Past studies by researchers at th...

49ers’ Fred Warner explains his gratitude before player-of-week honors

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:50 GMT

SANTA CLARA — Fred Warner came away from Sunday night’s clobbering of the Cowboys with a forced fumble, a sack, an interception, a 42-10 victory, and, three days later, the NFC’s Defensive Player of the Week award.“You did your job, Warner,” his wife, Sydney, said on the “The Warner House” podcast the couple is posting weekly this season after 49ers’ games.Her husband did not take his job, nor the spotlight, for granted.Warner revealed that he carried around a football all week ahead of the game — a tactic borrowed from former teammate Kwon Alexander — in hopes of creating a takeaway for the unbeaten 49ers (5-0). Sure enough, Warner forced a fumble at the end of the first quarter, and, early in the fourth quarter, he intercepted a Dak Prescott pass that cornerback Deommodore Lenoir deflected.“When you talk about just a perfect little basket of love, that ball couldn’t have floated at a softer, perfect spiral rig...

What to watch: ‘House of Usher’ brilliant, unsettling take on Edgar Allan Poe

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:50 GMT

Two of the most anticipated streaming series of the season — Netflix’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” and Apple TV+’s “Lessons in Chemistry” — originated from the literary world. But does that transition from page to screen work?Oh, yeah.Here’s our roundup.“The Fall of the House of Usher”: It’s risky to modernize or repurpose classic literary works and try to create something unique and visionary in the process. Even Oscar-winning filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón failed with a misguided “Great Expectations,” starring Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow.But upscale horror filmmaker Mike Flanagan could write a textbook on how to do it right with his eight-part ode to legendary horror writer Edgar Allan Poe. This inspired “Usher” infuses Poe’s tales of terror with contemporary relevance and respects the source material.Flanagan’s macabre update of Poe’s story of familial depravity and madness serves as a table setting for an “And Then There Were None” schematic in w...

Woman who fell from SF rooftop at Fleet Week Blue Angels party ID'd

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:50 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- A San Francisco woman who watched the Fleet Week Blue Angels airshow from a rooftop party and fell to her death has been identified. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner identified the woman on Wednesday as Patricia Hamon, 51. She was known by friends as Tricia O'Connor, her maiden name. San Francisco police said officers found Hamon on the 2900 block of Van Ness Avenue in the Russian Hill neighborhood shortly after 4 p.m. Saturday. She was pronounced dead at the scene. There were no signs of foul play, police said. Clark Hamon told The San Francisco Standard that his ex-wife tripped during the Blue Angels viewing party before she tragically fell from the rooftop. Patricia Hamon's friends expressed shock and deep sorrow on social media in reaction to her sudden death.The Blue Angels airshow is a popular annual event held during Fleet Week in San Francisco. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)One friend, Alix Rosenthal, wrote in a public Facebook post ...

Union City motor home park fatal stabbing victim identified

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:50 GMT

(KRON) -- The victim in a fatal stabbing at a motor home park in Union City last week has been identified. The victim in an investigation into the incident was identified by the Union City Police Department as Jeanine Cowger, a 63-year-old Union City resident.Officers with Union City PD responded to the Tropics Mobile Home Park at 3300 Almaden Boulevard at 7:46 a.m. last Thursday, Oct. 5 on a report of a stabbing. Officers located three victims with injuries at the scene. Hayward woman killed, children injured in crash on Industrial Boulevard One victim, later identified as Cowger, was pronounced deceased at the scene. The other two were taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.The suspect in the stabbing was identified as Carlos Daniel Hernandez, a 21-year-old Mountain View resident. He was located and arrested with assistance from the Mountain View Police Department.A motive for the incident is still being investigated, police said.

TikTok, Instagram Target Outlet Covering Israel–Palestine Amid Siege on Gaza

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:50 GMT

As Israel escalates its bombardment of the Gaza Strip in retaliation for a surprise attack from Hamas, TikTok and Instagram have come after a news site dedicated to providing coverage on Palestine and Israel.On Tuesday, a Mondoweiss West Bank correspondent’s Instagram account was suspended, while the news outlet’s TikTok account was temporarily taken down on Monday. Other Instagram users have reported restrictions on their accounts after posting about Palestine, including an inability to livestream or to comment on other’s posts. And on Instagram and Facebook (both owned by the same company, Meta), hashtags relating to Hamas and “Al-Aqsa Flood,” the group’s name for its attack on Israel, are being hidden from search. The death toll from the attack continues to rise, with Israeli officials reporting 1,200 deaths as of Wednesday afternoon. The platforms’ targeting of accounts reporting on Palestine comes as information from people in Gaza is harder to come by amid Is...

Chevy Chase father describes ‘fear and terror’ of his son being in the Israeli army

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:50 GMT

Mitchell Bard, who lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland, said he has been having sleepless nights lately after his 26-year-old son, an Israeli army reservist, was called up to serve.On Tuesday, Israel’s military expanded its mobilization of reservists to 360,000 as it ramped up its retaliation for surprise attacks by Hamas militants.“The first response was to feel pride and respect that he was prepared to make this kind of sacrifice,” Bard said.However, Bard said he “almost simultaneously” had a “sense of fear and terror that he was going to put himself in harm’s way.”Bard asked that his son not be identified by name by WTOP.“It’s not so easy to sleep when you don’t know exactly what’s happening to your child and what sort of danger he may be in,” Bard said.His son has lived in Israel for the past five years.When Bard’s son first mentioned to his family a couple years ago that he was going to join the army, it w...