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EU leaders call for humanitarian ‘pauses’ in Israel-Hamas war

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:59:25 GMT

BRUSSELS — EU leaders have agreed to call for “pauses for humanitarian needs” to allow aid into Gaza, after days of discussions on how to phrase a call for breaks in the fighting between Israel and Hamas.At a summit in Brussels, the leaders came up with a compromise text that condemns Hamas’ attack and backs Israel’s right to defend itself “in line with international law.” It also calls for access to aid “including humanitarian corridors and pauses for humanitarian needs.”It followed a complex diplomatic waltz by EU diplomats over the last few days. The exact language in the summit’s conclusions was hard-fought due to historic sensitivities between EU countries on the war between Israel and Hamas. A line on a “humanitarian pause” (singular) was too sensitive for some EU countries.The text does, however, include mention of a “Peace Day Effort.” The final draft “supports the holding of an international peace conference soon...

Longtime Merkel adviser faces uproar over Israel-Hamas comments  

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:59:25 GMT

Munich Security Conference Chairman Christoph Heusgen is under pressure to resign over a television interview in which he characterized the brutal killing of more than 1,400 Israelis on October 7 as a “Hamas action” while endorsing comments made earlier in the week by U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres that outraged Israeli leaders. “Guterres is a very level-headed man,” Heusgen, who served as former Chancellor Angela Merkel’s chief foreign policy adviser for 12 years, told Germany’s ZDF public television. “He was right to both condemn the Hamas action while also noting that it didn’t happen in a vacuum.”Guterres’s comment at a Security Council meeting on Tuesday that the Hamas attack “did not happen in a vacuum” unleashed a storm of criticism, especially among Israeli leaders, who saw the secretary-general as justifying the Hamas attack. Benny Gantz, a centrist Israeli politician who served as an opposition leader until joining Israel’s unity government following the Hama...

Law enforcement continues massive search for suspected gunman in Maine shootings

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:59:25 GMT

Lisbon, MAINE (WHDH) – Communities near Lewiston, Maine remained on high alert Thursday as authorities continued to search for a gunman suspected of carrying out a deadly mass shooting Wednesday night. Investigators said 40-year-old Robert Card allegedly first targeted a bowling alley in Lewiston before moving to a restaurant in town around 7 p.m. Maine’s Governor on Thursday morning said at least 18 people were killed. Thirteen people were injured. In nearby Lisbon, Maine, heavily-armed tactical units clutching onto SWAT team trucks scrambled from call to call Thursday. Residents in the town of 12,000 spent the day hunkered down hours after Card’s car was found at a local boat ramp.“It’s beyond comprehension, really,” said concerned resident Doug Pickard. “I don’t understand how someone could do something like this.”Route 196 in Lisbon, near the site where Card’s car was found, was closed for much of the day Thursday. It had reopened as of around 4 p.m.Asked at one point...

Maine shootings raise questions about how gunman was able to own weapon used in attacks

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:59:25 GMT

As new information emerges about the suspected gunman in Wednesday’s deadly shootings in Lewiston, Maine, the situation is raising questions about how 40-year-old Robert Card was allegedly able to own the weapon used in the attacks. With a longstanding culture of gun-ownership, Maine is highly protective of gun rights. According to Massachusetts advocacy group “Stop Handgun Violence,” the state does not ban high capacity guns. The group said Maine also does not require background checks or permits to buy and carry such a weapon. “It was absolutely preventable,” said Stop Handgun Violence Co-Founder John Rosenthal. “But, in Maine, they don’t have the tools to prevent it.” Rosenthal said Maine “is one of the worst offenders,” adding “There are virtually no gun laws in Maine.” 7NEWS has learned that, unlike Massachusetts, Maine does not have a “Red Flag Law,” which allows a judge to temporarily take a person’s guns away if family members report that they pose a risk to t...

Notices Warn Mass. And Cass Tent Removals Will Begin Nov. 1

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:59:25 GMT

The City of Boston began posting notices around Mass. and Cass on Thursday to notify those who live on the street that the city will start removing tents used as homeless encampments on Nov. 1.While the Inspectional Services Department notices went up, across town at Boston City Hall the city’s top cop warned that there would be an increased police presence in the area, which has become the center of the state’s opioid epidemic.“Anyone who has any interest of coming into the area to do any type of criminality, I want to caution this, in a sense, that it’s been perceived that it’s been an area of permissiveness more recently,” Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox said at a press conference. “We’re going to have a heavy police presence throughout the area. And you know, with an increased police presence, I can promise you there’ll probably be an increased enforcement presence in the area.”The Boston City Council on Wed...

Former Chicago White Sox closer Bobby Jenks named manager of the Windy City ThunderBolts

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:59:25 GMT

Bobby Jenks collected 173 saves during his six seasons with the Chicago White Sox. He’s returning to the area as the manager of the Windy City ThunderBolts in the Frontier League.“The idea of being back in Chicago drew me to the ThunderBolts,” he said in a statement Thursday. “Having the opportunity to go back there and be around this fan base again was very appealing to me.”Jenks earned Pioneer League Manager of the Year honors after leading the Grand Junction Rockies to the championship in 2022. He served as pitching coach for the Princeton WhistlePigs of the Appalachian League last season.“I love baseball and I want to put a winning product on the field,” Jenks said. “I believe I can do that and my track record has shown that I can do that.”Jenks, 42, had a 3.53 ERA in 348 career games for the White Sox (2005-10) and Boston Red Sox (2011). He recorded saves in Game 1 and Game 4 of the 2005 World Series when the White Sox swept...

Howie Carr: This Bud Light’s for you, Biden

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:59:25 GMT

For the record, since Joe Biden became president and turned the US economy into a dumpster fire, one product has gone way down in price.Bud Light.Other than that, it’s been up, up and away ever since Brandon was installed as president in January 2021.Of course, in the tradition of state-run media, Biden’s demolition of American middle-class living standards is being hailed because… Democrats.The New York Times’s Paul Krugman says the economy is “remarkably successful, even if nobody will believe it.”Bloomberg Opinion: “Biden’s Economy Is Great Everywhere Except in the Polls.”The Washington Post began its daily Democrat cheerleading by saying, “As the US economy continues to improve, President Joe Biden continues to not get credit for it.”So who are you going to believe, the comrades of state-run media or your lying eyes… or wallet.Occasionally I ask my radio audience what they’re seeing in their own lives.The consensus? Prices are way, way up, portions are down, and everybody who’s ...

Patriots-Dolphins injury report: Tyreek Hill upgraded, Bill Belichick lists 13 Thursday

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:59:25 GMT

The Patriots added running back/wide receiver Ty Montgomery and offensive tackle Calvin Anderson to their injury report Thursday, bringing them to 13 players total.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots down 2 players at practice Thursday, return DL Keion White New England Patriots | Patriots’ first-round pick being helped by ‘mirror check’ and practice reps New England Patriots | Source: Patriots signing former 1st-round WR to active roster New England Patriots | Callahan: The Patriots can’t take Demario Douglas off the field anymore New England Patriots | Patriots-Dolphins injury report: Tyreek Hill sits out Wednesday, Bill Belichick lists 12 injured Montgomery and Anderson were both non-participants at practice. Montgomery was out for non-injury related reasons, while Anderson is dealing with an illness.In Miami, the Dolphins upgraded wide receiver Tyreek Hill, who tol...

Father of manager shot to death at Schemengees Bar calls son a ‘hero’ for confronting the Maine gunman

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:59:25 GMT

Joey Walker, a manager at Schemengees Bar & Grille, died a hero Wednesday, as he picked up a knife while trying to confront gunman Robert Card, his father Leroy Walker told Lester Holt of NBC News.“Joey Walker was shot to death at Schemengees,” the father said. “He died as a hero because he picked up a butcher knife … and he tried to go at the gunman to stop him from shooting anybody else.”Leroy Walker, a member of the City Council in next door Auburn, said his son loved helping and working with people. A testament to that is how Joey had organized fundraisers at Schemengees for the past five years, his father told MSNBC.The next fundraiser Joey had planned, Leroy Walker said, was a cornhole tournament scheduled for Nov. 11, to help raise money for veterans.“That’s not going to work now because he’s dead,” the father said. “A hell of a loss for the community. He’s done everything he could in his community. … It’s just crazy. It’s still a nightmare.”Leroy Walker received the trag...

Liberals to pause carbon pricing on heating oil

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:59:25 GMT

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that the government will double the carbon price rebate for rural Canadians beginning next April. Trudeau also says there will be a temporary, three-year pause to carbon pricing measures that are applied to deliveries of heating oil, beginning in two weeks. A government press release says the change will mean that households that use heating oil would save about $250, on average, at the current rate. Through a pilot project, low- and median-income households in Atlantic Canada are to receive an upfront payment of $250 if they currently heat their homes with oil but sign up for a heat pump through a joint federal-provincial government program. The amount of federal funding that eligible homeowners can receive for the installation of a heat pump, which the government says can save households save some $2,500 on their energy bills, is also going up.Trudeau says it means that lower-income households will be able to get an a...