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Florida lawmakers to begin special session by expressing support of Israel

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:18:33 GMT

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The Florida Legislature will return to the Capitol for a special session Monday that will allow lawmakers to express their support for Israel, while giving Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis some talking points as he campaigns for president. Lawmakers are expected to consider new sanctions against Iran, which has supported Hamas, as well as vote on resolutions expressing support for Israel’s right to defend itself.After Hamas militants attacked Israeli citizens last month, a large, bipartisan group of Florida lawmakers met in the Capitol to express their horror and to stand with Israelis. Now, they’ll be taking official action to send a similar message, both about the current war and against antisemitism at home.More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, most of them in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that started the fighting. The Palestinian death toll has reached 9,700, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza.The session will open with an...

Ukraine says 19 troops killed by missile at an awards ceremony. Zelenskyy calls it avoidable tragedy

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:18:33 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine confirmed on Monday that 19 service members were killed by a Russian missile strike in Zaporizhzhia during a military awards ceremony in what President Volodymyr Zelenskyy lamented was a “tragedy that could’ve been avoided.”Defense Minister Rustem Umerov has ordered an investigation into why the 128th Separate Mountain-Assault Brigade of Zakarpattia participated in the crowded event Friday honoring troops for Rocket Forces and Artillery Day so close to front lines.The announcement came as officials said Russian drone and missile strikes in Odesa wounded eight people and damaged an art museum that is part of a UNESCO World Heritage site, and satellite photos showed damage done by a Ukrainian missile strike to a Russian naval ship.Odesa’s National Art Museum said seven exhibitions, most featuring the work of contemporary Ukrainian artists, were damaged by a strike that left a large crater outside the museum celebrating its 124th anniversary.Photos and vide...

Yellen will host the Chinese vice premier for talks in San Francisco before the start of APEC summit

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:18:33 GMT

REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. (AP) — U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will host Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng for two days of talks this week, the latest in a series of high-level talks between U.S. and Chinese officials as the world’s two largest economies aim to ease tensions, the Treasury Department announced Monday.The Yellen-He talks set for Thursday and Friday come ahead of the start of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco which starts November 11. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to meet next week during the summit, what would be the first engagement between the two leaders in nearly a year.“As a foundation, our two nations have an obligation to establish resilient lines of open communication and to prevent our disagreements from spiraling into conflict,” Yellen wrote in a Washington Post op-ed to spotlight the upcoming meeting. “But we also know that our relationship cannot be circumscribed to crisis management.”The...

‘Amtrak Joe’ Biden is off to Delaware to give out $16 billion for passenger rail projects

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:18:33 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden — perhaps the nation’s biggest Amtrak fan — is set to promote new federal investments for trains on the heavily trafficked Northeast Corridor. The Democratic president is headed to Bear, Delaware, on Monday to announce more than $16 billion in new funding that will go toward 25 passenger rail projects between Boston and Washington, the White House says. Bear is located about 12 miles (20 kilometers) from Biden’s home of Wilmington.His remarks will be held at the Amtrak Bear Maintenance Shops, where trains are maintained and repaired. The investments, the White House says, will help trains run faster, cut delays and create union jobs.The money comes from the roughly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law that Biden signed nearly two years ago, one of several legislative achievements that the president is touting as he gears up for his reelection bid. From the law, Amtrak will get about $66 billion in new investments, according to t...

This year’s Affordable Care Act enrollment is different: What you need to know

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:18:33 GMT

(The Hill) - Open enrollment for plans available through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace has officially begun, and this year’s sign-up period will have some new factors that may make it easier for more people to sign up for coverage. Prospective customers now have until Jan. 15 to sign up for ACA insurance plans, though those who want coverage at the start of the calendar year should sign up by Dec. 15. Last year’s enrollment reached record numbers — 15.7 million — and this year’s is expected to exceed that rate. “We're already at a record high in terms of ACA Marketplace enrollment, and there's really been a couple of years of record highs in a row,” said Cynthia Cox, KFF vice president and director of the program on the ACA. “A lot of that was driven by the enhanced subsidies. The pandemic also might have motivated more people to get or maintain their health coverage.” Several factors could drive up this year’s enrollment, includin...

Trump set to testify in New York fraud trial with business empire at stake

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:18:33 GMT

(The Hill) - Donald Trump and lawyers from New York Attorney General Letitia James’s (D) office will face off this week when the former president is expected to take the stand in the fraud case jeopardizing his business empire.His testimony marks an unprecedented turn in U.S. history where a former president and current White House candidate must defend himself on trial and in the shadow of a host of other legal troubles. However, that seems to have had little effect among GOP primary voters throwing their support behind Trump, who is consistently polling with double-digit leads ahead of his challengers among that contingent of likely voters.Still, the former president’s fury over the probe into his business has been on full display — both online and in fiery stump speeches in the Manhattan courthouse’s hallways — throughout which he has derided James as “corrupt,” “racist” and complicit in “prosecutorial misconduct.” At stake are Trump’s business licenses and the potential for...

Late week cold front puts an end to warming trend

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:18:33 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Unseasonably warm and muggy to start the new work week, but the end is expected to look and feel much different.Today will be similar to Sunday -- warm (low 80s), high clouds, filtered sunshine and dry. South/southwest winds could be gusty at times, with speeds up to 10-15 mph. More of the same can be expected Wednesday ahead of an incoming cold front.Late week cold frontA storm system trekking east across the Plains will send a cold front our way on Thursday. Although the exact timing of whether it comes in early morning or late afternoon is uncertain still, the impacts remain the same -- gusty north winds, scattered rain and cooler temperatures.Next cold front arrives ThursdayThe time of arrival will dictate just how warm we get on Thursday, but it is likely we'll stay in the 60s Friday through the weekend.Gusty north winds follow cold front on ThursdayEarly rainfall projections show less than an inch rain for those who see rain Thursday and Friday, particularly f...

Coming soon: Listen to OutLaw podcast

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:18:33 GMT

(KXAN) — This standalone season is a companion to our “OutLaw” project – exploring a record number of laws proposed in 2023 impacting LGBTQ+ Texans, including a repeated effort to repeal the state’s ban on homosexual conduct. KXAN’s team of journalists – many, members of that community themselves – share how they work to make fair, objective coverage decisions with this topic and also how their own experiences shape their reporting – including the murder of a gay college student two decades ago.Listen to the podcast here.

Albany Police investigating Emmet Street stabbing

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:18:33 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Albany Police have confirmed with NEWS10 they are investigating a stabbing that happened on Emmet Street on Sunday. Details at this time are limited. Get the latest news, weather, sports and entertainment delivered right to your inbox! The state of the victim is unknown at this time. Stick with NEWS10 as more information becomes available.

Ask Amy: Abuse survivor tries to confront the past

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:18:33 GMT

Dear Amy: When I was a child, my mother was abusive. She’d threaten to send me away (I’m adopted, and therefore I believed her); she’d slap me across the face or hit me with a wooden spoon in a rage, and she constantly gave me the silent treatment — without explanation — sometimes for days.I don’t think my younger brother (who really misbehaved, and yet could do no wrong) got any of that.It wasn’t horrific child abuse — there were no physical scars — but it shaped me and I’m still angry about it.I am now 50, and she’s 75.We get along OK, although I still walk on eggshells around her.I tried to talk about it with her one time, a few years back.She got angry, said I was exaggerating, and then blamed me for whatever had happened: “You were miserable to be around, you know.”She said that I am “living in the past” and that it’s not healthy.Is she right?I just want to make it clear that what happened wasn’t OK — and that these things that happened were not in my imaginat...