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‘Widespread’ sexual and gender-based crimes committed during Hamas attack, Israeli officials say

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:11:56 GMT

By SAM MEDNICK (Associated Press)JERUSALEM (AP) — A man hiding in a pit during the Oct. 7 Hamas assault on an outdoor music festival in Israel said he heard someone nearby screaming she was being raped. Elsewhere in the area, a combat paramedic saw the body of a young woman with her legs open, her pants pulled down, and what looked like semen on her lower back. An army reservist who was tasked with identifying those killed said some of the women were found wearing only bloodied underwear.Such accounts given to The Associated Press, along with first assessments by an Israeli rights group, show that sexual assault was part of an atrocities-filled rampage by Hamas and other Gaza fighters who killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took more than 240 hostages that day.While investigators are still trying to determine the scope of the sexual assaults, Israel’s government is accusing the international community, particularly the United Nations, of ignoring the pain of Israe...

Failed Boston City Council redistricting process cost taxpayers $700G

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:11:56 GMT

The Boston City Council’s failed redistricting process left taxpayers on the hook for more than $700,000 in legal fees associated with a lawsuit that forced a federal judge to throw out an electoral map that likely violated the Constitution.The city, which, along with the Council and Mayor Michelle Wu was sued after an initial map was passed by the body last fall, incurred roughly $349,000 in legal fees, plus another $54,000 for outside consultants, a Wu spokesperson said.As part of a federal court settlement reached in October, per the docket, the city agreed to pay $313,500 in legal fees for the plaintiffs, bringing its total tab to $717,211, the spokesperson said.City Council President Ed Flynn, who joined three of his colleagues in voting against a failed map that landed the body in court, told the Herald he had confirmed higher consultant costs with the city’s law department, which placed the total legal bill closer to $1 million.“Taxpayers should be outraged — it was completel...

True or false: The resurgence of the Chicago Bears defense will help Matt Eberflus save his job

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:11:56 GMT

The Chicago Bears took the good vibes from a 12-10 last-minute win over the Minnesota Vikings into their bye week, hoping the confidence and momentum from that triumph can fuel them down the stretch of the season.With four games in December and an early January finale against the Green Bay Packers, the Bears still have significant tests ahead and are showing more reasons to feel encouraged by their improvements. But they are still well outside the playoff picture in a very ordinary NFC and will have to be sharp this weekend to have any chance at upsetting the division-leading Detroit Lions at Soldier Field.The Lions rallied from 12 points down late in the fourth quarter three weeks ago to stun the Bears 31-26 and added another exciting victory to their resume Sunday, downing the New Orleans Saints 33-28. So what’s next for the 4-8 Bears as they try to create direction? What’s the sense of how coach Matt Eberflus is doing? And what else deserves mention as the team return...

Boston City Council airs out immigrant voting rights proposal

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:11:56 GMT

A majority of city councilors indicated their support for a proposal that would grant voting rights to immigrants with “legal status,” but election officials said such a change could prove challenging, in terms of tracking those new voters.The proposed home rule petition, put forward by Councilor Kendra Lara, was discussed during a Tuesday afternoon hearing, where the Council, advocates and city election officials attempted to sketch out how the potential policy change would look in Boston.“We have people who, despite not being given a voice in their local government through the ballot, have worked, sacrificed and invested in their neighborhoods, and all people should have a say in the decisions that impact their daily lives,” Lara said.The only relevant example of such a policy change, however, was presented by Jessie Carpenter, city clerk for Takoma Park, Maryland, which according to an October press release, marked 30 years of non-citizen voting last month.Unlike what is being pr...

Craig Breslow lays out Red Sox offseason wish list

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:11:56 GMT

NASHVILLE — Two days into the Winter Meetings and the Red Sox shopping cart is still empty. While Craig Breslow won’t say who the club is or isn’t interested in — and specifically wouldn’t comment on any potential pursuit of Shohei Ohtani — he did emphasize that the club has remained active behind the scenes.“Obviously there’s nothing consequential and material to report which means that while it may be moving it hasn’t broken yet,” Breslow said. “We remain actively engaged and hope to push.”One thing Breslow did shed light on was the club’s priorities as far as what order they hope to address their needs. Unsurprisingly, Breslow said starting pitching is the club’s No. 1 need and everything else will be a secondary concern until that’s been taken care of.He said so explicitly when asked about the club’s plans for adding a second basemen.“Those conversations are ongoing but I think we’ve largel...

Pedro Grifol wants more from retooled Chicago White Sox roster: ‘We played a game that doesn’t win in the big leagues’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:11:56 GMT

Pedro Grifol wants the Chicago White Sox to become a well-rounded team.The manager saw what didn’t work in 2023 and the many steps needed to move forward.“One of the things I learned last year is that we played a game that doesn’t win in the big leagues,” Grifol said Monday. “We need to play faster. We need to be more athletic. We’ve got to catch a baseball. We have to do things a little better fundamentally.“When we talk about getting more rounded, that’s what it’s about. Being able to bring in Nicky Lopez (in a trade) and (sign free agent) Paul DeJong and what those guys can do defensively, and obviously, we’re not done. It’s the type of game that wins games at the major-league level. You have to play fundamental baseball to be able to compete at that level, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”Those discussions about getting the best fits continued at the MLB winter meetings.The Sox are aiming for ...

Ex-Alaska Airlines pilot accused of trying to cut plane’s engines indicted on endangerment charges

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:11:56 GMT

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The former Alaska Airlines pilot accused of trying to cut the engines of a Horizon Air flight has been indicted on 84 endangerment charges, but is no longer charged with attempted murder, authorities said Tuesday.The district attorney’s office in Oregon’s Multnomah County, home to Portland, announced the grand jury’s indictment. Joseph Emerson is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday on 83 charges of recklessly endangering another person — for each person who was on the plane — and one charge of endangering an aircraft. He previously pleaded not guilty to attempted murder charges filed by state prosecutors and to a federal charge of interfering with a flight crew.Emerson’s defense lawyers welcomed the grand jury’s decision.“The attempted murder charges were never appropriate in this case because Captain Emerson never intended to hurt another person or put anyone at risk – he just wanted to return home to his wife and children,” his defense lawyers Etha...

Wisconsin judge reaffirms July ruling that state law permits consensual abortions

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:11:56 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin judge on Tuesday reaffirmed her ruling from earlier this year that state law permits consensual medical abortions, handing abortion rights advocates a massive victory but opening up appellate options for conservatives.The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the court’s landmark 1973 decision legalizing abortion, in June 2022 reactivated an 1849 Wisconsin law that conservatives interpreted as banning abortion. Abortion providers ceased operations in the state out of fear of violating the ban.Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul filed a lawsuit days after the U.S. Supreme Court decision challenging the ban’s validity. He argued the statutes were too old to enforce and a 1985 law permitting abortions before fetuses can survive outside the womb trump the ban. Three doctors later joined the lawsuit as plaintiffs, saying they fear being prosecuted for performing abortions. Dane County Circuit Judge Diane Schlipper rule...

A woman has died and 2 people have been wounded in a shooting in east London, police say

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:11:56 GMT

LONDON (AP) — A woman has died and two people were wounded after a shooting in east London, British police said Tuesday.The Metropolitan Police force said three people were found with gunshot wounds after officers were called to the scene following reports of a shooting in the east London neighborhood of Hackney.A 42-year-old woman died at the scene, police said, while two others, a 20-year-old man and a 16-year-old boy, were taken to a hospital. Police said a murder investigation was launched and detectives were working to establish what happened. No arrests have yet been made, and no other details were immediately available. Detective Superintendent Vicky Tunstall described the incident as “shocking.” Gun crimes are relatively rare in London and in the United Kingdom. “I understand the community will want answers about what has happened this evening,” she said. “Gun crime has no place on the streets of London and we will do all we can to bring whoever is responsible for this despi...

At least 16 dead and 12 injured as passenger bus falls off ravine in central Philippines

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:11:56 GMT

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A passenger bus lost control while negotiating a downhill curve in a central Philippine mountain village and plunged into a deep ravine, killing at least 16 people and injuring 12 others, officials said Wednesday.Eight of the wounded in the accident, which happened Tuesday afternoon in Hamtic town in the province of Antique, were in critical condition at a local hospital, officials said.The air-conditioned bus, which came from the nearby Iloilo province, was maneuvering through the accident-prone mountain road when the driver, who was among those killed, lost control. The bus smashed onto a concrete railing then fell into the ravine, officials said.“The driver was repeatedly sounding his horn because he had apparently lost control of the bus before it plummeted into the ravine,” Ronniel Pabustan, an Antique provincial crisis responder, told The Associated Press by telephone, citing accounts by some of the passengers.Dozens of rescuers, including police, ar...