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Editorial: Standing up, speaking out against Hamas terror

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:56:06 GMT

Evil is not stupid.Its latest incarnation, the Hamas terrorist group, was particularly cunning as it spent some two years planning and training for its Oct. 7 slaughter of over 1,400 Israelis, leaving many more wounded and kidnapping hostages which it still holds. Men, women, children – all indiscriminate victims of the carnage, and all of it calculated.But the immoral machinations didn’t stop there. Hamas was undoubtedly aware of rising the rising tide of antisemitism around the globe in recent years. As the Associated Press reported in April, antisemitism rose in the U.S. last year as political radicals gain mainstream popularity, according to a report released by Tel Aviv University’s Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry and the U.S.-based Anti-Defamation League.The ADL found that the number of antisemitic incidents in the U.S. increased by more than 35% in the past year, from 2,721 in 2021 to 3,697 in 2022.Hamas may not have had the statistics, but it ...

How parents can be more involved in child’s school

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:56:06 GMT

Parents can make every effort to encourage children to make the most of the school experience, including academics and extracurricular activities.According to the National Education Council, when parents get involved in their children’s education, those children are more likely to do better in school and be more positive about the school experience.Consider these possibilities:Attend school board meetingsMany community school boards are comprised entirely of volunteers who work with superintendents and other personnel to advocate for policies and procedures for students. Decisions typically are up for vote, and parents can run for school board positions or simply attend meetings each month and let their voices be heard about various issues.Attend open houses and conferencesParents can make every effort to get to know teachers and other staff. Putting faces to names can help parents develop a connection to teachers and vice versa. Most schools have back to school nights, meet t...

Dear Abby: She forgives, but can’t forget, his cheating

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:56:06 GMT

Dear Abby: I am 26 and have been with my boyfriend, “Trey,” for eight years. We have an 18-month-old son. When I was six months pregnant, I went through Trey’s phone and saw he was cheating on me. I was humiliated and told my best friend because I couldn’t keep it in any longer. It hurt me deeply.I chose to forgive Trey because we were starting a family and I felt I owed it to my baby to at least try. But I constantly think about the things I saw on his phone, and I don’t trust him. If I even think about him going out somewhere without me, I get terribly anxious.I’m not going to lie. I wasn’t a saint throughout our relationship, but when I got pregnant, I was all about Trey and our family. I love him, but I can’t seem to be happy. We are polar opposites. I’m affectionate and love my family. He’s dry and doesn’t care for my family or his. I also feel we resent each other. Sometimes, I want to break up with him so I can...

Lotto 649 winning numbers for Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023.

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:56:06 GMT

TORONTO — The winning numbers in Wednesday’s Lotto 649 draw for an estimated $5 million: 01, 04, 16, 22, 29 & 47. Bonus: 43The winning number for the guaranteed $1 million: 01327664-02In the event of any discrepancy between this list and the official winning numbers, the latter shall prevail. The Canadian Press

As world roils, US and China seek to ease strained ties and prepare for possible Biden-Xi summit

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:56:06 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — In the midst of two active and potentially world-changing conflicts in the Middle East and Europe, the U.S. is hoping to find at least a small measure of common ground with China as China’s top diplomat visits Washington this week.Over three days of meetings that begin Thursday, top Biden administration officials, including possibly the president himself, will press Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the importance of China stepping up its role on the world stage if it wants to be considered a responsible major international player.Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, are both expected to urge China to play a constructive role in both the Israel-Hamas and Russia-Ukraine wars. Those meetings could set the stage for a summit between President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping next month on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum leaders gathering in San Francisco.The U.S. has been disapp...

Trump isn’t accustomed to restrictions. That’s beginning to test the legal system

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:56:06 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump isn’t used to constraints.The former president ignores and antagonizes anyone who tells him no. He built a business — and later political — brand as someone who says and does what he wants, largely without consequence. Even after losing the White House, Trump remains accustomed to deference, surrounded by people who greet him with nightly standing ovations at his clubs and cheer his most outrageous lies.But Trump came face-to-face with a new reality Wednesday when he was called to the witness stand and fined $10,000 for violating a gag order prohibiting him from attacking court personnel in his New York civil fraud case. Trump denied he was referring to a senior law clerk when he told reporters in the courthouse hallway that someone “sitting alongside” Judge Arthur Engoron was “perhaps even much more partisan than he is.” Engoron wasn’t having it.“I find that the witness is not credible,” he concluded before issuing the fine. Minutes la...

Texas inmate faces execution for killing prisoner. The victim’s sister asks that his life be spared

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:56:06 GMT

HOUSTON (AP) — A Texas inmate faces execution Thursday for killing another prisoner more than 26 years ago, but the victim’s sister and religious leaders have asked authorities to spare his life.William Speer, 49, is set to receive a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. He was condemned for strangling to death Gary Dickerson in July 1997 at the Telford state prison, located near New Boston in northeast Texas.“I am so aware of the things that I’ve done. I’m so aware of the pain and the hurt that I’ve caused. I could just say that I’m sorry,” Speer said in a video submitted as part of his clemency petition to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles.Speer’s lawyers say he has transformed while in prison, expressed regret for his actions and now helps lead a religious program that ministers to other death row inmates.His attorneys have asked state and federal courts to halt the execution. One request for a stay focuses on allegations that prosecutors at his 2001 tria...

Fresh off a hearty Putin handshake, Orban heads into an EU summit on Ukraine

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:56:06 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — Not so long ago, a European Union leader could heartily call Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban a “dictator” in public and it’d be chuckles all around.Already the recalcitrant EU outsider in 2015, Orban got a ribbing from EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, not only for running a self-professed “illiberal democracy” but also for setting the tone at EU summits where the need for unanimity gives any single leader massive power on a slew of issues.There are very few laughs now. Orban’s handshake last week with Russian President Vladimir Putin, just about the EU’s public enemy No. 1 after invading Ukraine, made sure of that.And as the 27 EU leaders meet for their traditional fall summit in Brussels on Thursday, the participation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who will join by video link, will only increase the focus on Orban.With unity supposedly the EU’s watchword on Ukraine, no picture could have better belied 1,000 diplomatic words. “Som...

An increase in harassment against Jewish and Muslim Americans has been reported since Hamas attacks

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:56:06 GMT

Muslim and Jewish civil rights groups say they’ve seen large increases in reports of harassment, bias and sometimes physical assaults against members of their communities since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks.The Anti-Defamation League and the Center on American-Islamic Relations saw increases in reported instances, many involving violence or threats against protesters at rallies in support of Israel or in support of Palestinians over the last two weeks as war broke out between Israel and Hamas. Other attacks and harassment reported by the groups were directed at random Muslim or Jewish people in public.A spokesperson for the Council on American-Islamic Relations said Wednesday that the organization’s chapters and national office had received 774 reports of bias-related acts between Oct. 7 and Oct. 24. The national headquarters had 110 direct reports during that period, compared to 63 for all of August. The council’s leaders believe it’s the largest wave of complaints sin...

Israel-Hamas war could threaten already fragile economies in Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:56:06 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Economic crises are rippling through the countries bordering Israel, raising the possibility of a chain reaction from the war with Hamas that further worsens the financial health and political stability of Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon and creates problems well beyond.Each of the three countries is up against differing economic pressures that led the International Monetary Fund to warn in a September report that they could lose their “sociopolitical stability.” That warning came shortly before Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, triggering a war that could easily cause economic chaos that President Joe Biden and the European Union would likely need to address.The possible fallout is now starting to be recognized by world leaders and policy analysts. For a Biden administration committed to stopping the Israel-Hamas war from widening, the conflict could amplify the economic strains and possibly cause governments to collapse. If the chaos went unchecked, it could...