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How a secret cell got Hamas to release 50 hostages

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:23 GMT

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu grabbed the arm of the White House’s top Middle East official as they exited a contentious meeting in Israel on Nov. 14. Talks to secure the release of 240 hostages held by Hamas militants were stalling and tensions were high.Brett McGurk turned around to find the Israeli leader looking straight back at him. “We need this deal,” Netanyahu said.A week later, the Israeli leader got what he wanted.Both the Israeli government and Hamas announced Tuesday night that they agreed to a long-anticipated deal: Hamas would release 50 women and children taken from Israel on Oct. 7.Three Americans will be among them, including a three year old girl, Abigail, whose parents the militants killed during last month’s attack. Israel will release around 150 Palestinian prisoners, women and teenagers, as fighting in the six week war pauses for four to five days. The release of every additional 10 hostages beyond the initial 50 would lead ...

Patriots extra points: Trent Brown, J.C. Jackson explain recent absences

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:23 GMT

Patriots starting left tackle Trent Brown and cornerback J.C. Jackson were listed on the team’s injury report prior to the bye with “personal matters.”Brown and Jackson, both of whom missed the Patriots’ trip to Germany in Week 10 but were present at practice Tuesday, explained to reporters in the locker room why they were recently absent.Brown’s personal matter was a death in his family, he told MassLive’s Mark Daniels. But he said he wasn’t going to play in Week 10 anyway because he was dealing with a sprained MCL and low and high ankle sprains. Head coach Bill Belichick said in Germany that the personal matter and injury kept Brown away from the team.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots QB Will Grier shares mentality if he gets called on to play New England Patriots | Mac Jones gets good news at first Patriots practice after bye week New England Patriots | Bill Belichick helping to fil...

Woman suspected of trying to take child from shopping cart wanted

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:23 GMT

SANTEE, Calif. -- A $1,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to an arrest of a woman suspected of attempting to take a child from their parents' shopping cart in Santee.The attempted kidnapping of the child occurred Monday before 6 p.m. in the 100 block of Town Center Parkway, Lt. Chris Galve with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department said in a news release Tuesday.A woman described as around 40 years old with long blonde hair, standing 5-foot-7 and a thin build tried to take the child from the cart several times, according to law enforcement. The child, who was secured with a lap belt, was not hurt. Substitute teacher arrested after suspected ‘inappropriate activity’ with teen: police The suspect then left the scene as the child's parents called police, Galve said. She was last seen wearing a black sweatshirt or jacket that possibly had a white stripe on it and blue jeans.Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Santee Sheriff's Station...

4 men found dead inside a home in a Denver suburb

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:23 GMT

DENVER (AP) — Four men were found dead Tuesday inside a home just north of Denver, authorities said. Deputies responded to a call about a gunshot victim at a home in the afternoon and found the four men dead inside, the Adams County Sheriff’s Office said via the social media platform X. The agency said it appeared to be an “isolated incident” and there was no ongoing threat to the public. The house was locked so deputies forced their way inside and found one man dead from a gunshot wound, Sgt. Adam Sherman told the Denver Post. Deputies found the other three deceased men while checking the rest of the house, Sherman said. Initial indicators show three of the four men were family members, Sherman said. The person who called 911 was a family member of one of the victims, he said. The discovery was made a day after three people were fatally shot in a rural area southwest of Denver, allegedly over a property dispute between neighbors. A suspect in that case was arrested near Albuquerque...

A strong earthquake shakes eastern Indonesia with no immediate reports of casualties or damages

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:23 GMT

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A strong, deep undersea earthquake shook the eastern side of Indonesia on Wednesday with no immediate reports of casualties or damages in the area.The 6.0 magnitude earthquake hit an area 94 kilometers (58 miles) west of Tobelo in Indonesia’s North Maluku province, at a depth of 116 kilometers (72 miles).Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysical Agency said there was no potential danger of a tsunami but warned of possible aftershocks.Indonesia, a vast archipelago and a home of more than 270 million people, is frequently hit by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions because of its location on the so-called “Ring of Fire,” an arc of seismic faults around the Pacific Basin.A magnitude 5.6 earthquake last year killed at least 331 people and injured nearly 600 in West Java’s Cianjur city. It was the deadliest in Indonesia since a 2018 quake and tsunami in Sulawesi killed about 4,340 people.In 2004, an extremely powerful Indian Ocean quake set off a ...

O’Ya hoho brand enoki mushrooms recalled for possible Listeria contamination

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:23 GMT

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has issued a recall for O’Ya hoho brand enoki mushrooms due to a possible Listeria contamination.The product was sold in 200-gram packages in Ontario and Quebec.Customers are being told to either throw the mushrooms out or return them to the store where they were purchased.There have been no reports of any illnesses linked to the product.Food contaminated with Listeria may not look or smell spoiled but can still make you sick.Symptoms can include vomiting, nausea, persistent fever, muscle aches, severe headache and neck stiffness.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 21, 2023.The Canadian Press

2 arrested after Rexdale stabbing, victim expected to survive

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:23 GMT

Toronto police say two suspects are now in custody after a stabbing in Rexdale on Tuesday night.It happened shortly after 7 p.m. in the Kipling Avenue and Brookmere Road area.Officers located a male with stab wounds at the scene. He was taken to hospital with injuries considered non life-threatening. Police initially arrested the first suspect, while the second remained at large. Later Tuesday police announced the arrest of the second suspect. Stabbing: **UPDATE**Kipling Ave & Brookmere Rd area-second suspect in custody-victim in non-life threatening condition #GO2693178^av— Toronto Police Operations (@TPSOperations) November 22, 2023

Exploring AI: Artificial intelligence's development and future potential

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:23 GMT

CHICAGO — President Joe Biden's recent executive order on artificial intelligence aims to maximize AI's benefits while also addressing risks.AI can have some great perks, like early illness detection. But it's not all good and there are some serious concerns about privacy, bias and job displacement that come with it.Artificial intelligence is a machine that can perform human tasks autonomously when trained on data.Data are the ingredients or puzzle pieces to describe and teach AI programs how to understand the human world. Algorithms are like formulas that provide the recipe to guide computer programs in processing and making sense of data, enabling them to perform a task.Cybersecurity expert Roman Eng is working on his Ph.D in Explainable AI."Now you can actually have the chatbot see, it can hear you and it can actually talk," Eng said. You've probably heard of Open AI's Chat GPT. Similar to a search engine, a chatbot allows you to type a prompt. Once the prompt is entered, the cha...

Tuesday's wet storm generated Chicago's heaviest rain in 5 weeks; mixed sun in its wake Wednesday and Thanksgiving

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:23 GMT

Colder temperatures take hold Friday — we're tracking some possible snow SundayWGN WEATHER HEADLINESTHE LATEST ON THANKSGIVING WEATHER AND CHANCES FOR SOME SNOW THIS COMING SUNDAYAdditional forecast models have locked onto the chance for at least SOME snow here Sunday. Having multiple models supporting a forecast trend — such as the chance for some snow Sunday — lends confidence to the forecast. Current thinking DOESN'T suggest a MAJOR STORM, but this is worth continuing to monitor since we're in the very early stages of this forecast scenario and still days away from that potential for at least SOME SNOW. I'm posting a series of forecast maps off one of our key forecast models which illustrate current thinking on the Sunday system.Before any Sunday snow here, Wednesday and Thanksgiving, (Thursday) — as well as Friday anThis NWS GFS model MOISTURE TRANSPORT forecast lays out the moisture predicted through a fairly deep layer of the atmosphere at 6am CST this Sunday — moisture which ...

Israeli Cabinet OKs cease-fire with Hamas that includes release of some 50 hostages

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:23 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s Cabinet on Wednesday approved a temporary cease-fire with the Hamas militant group that is expected to bring the first halt in fighting in a devastating six-week war and win freedom for dozens of hostages held captive in the Gaza Strip, in exchange for the release of Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons.The deal calls for a four-day cease-fire, during which Israel will halt its military offensive in Gaza while Hamas frees “at least” 50 of the roughly 240 hostages it and other militants are holding, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said. The first hostages to be released are women and children.“The government of Israel is committed to bringing all of the hostages home. Tonight, the government approved the outline for the first stage of achieving this goal,” the office said in a statement. 31 ‘very sick’ babies evacuated from Gaza’s largest hospital, trauma patients remain A statement released by Qatar, which mediates with Hamas...