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Dutch Supreme Court confirms immunity of former Israeli officers over a deadly 2014 Gaza airstrike

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:34:12 GMT

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch Supreme Court on Friday upheld a ruling that a Palestinian man cannot sue Israel’s former defense minister and another former senior military officer over their roles in a deadly 2014 Gaza airstrike.The Highest Dutch court confirmed findings by judges in two lower courts that Benny Gantz and former Air Force Commander Amir Eshel are protected from civil proceedings in the Netherlands because they have “functional immunity.”The long-running case was brought by Ismail Ziada, who lost six members of his family in the airstrike that lawyers for the two Israelis argued was part of an Israeli military operation during the 2014 Gaza conflict. Ziada wanted the Dutch court to order Gantz and Eshel to pay damages. His legal team argued that the men didn’t have immunity because their actions amounted to war crimes.Israel’s Justice Ministry told a lower Dutch court that an internal Israeli military investigation determined the airstrike had killed f...

As temperatures climb across the globe, track and field athletes try to keep cool

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:34:12 GMT

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Before her first-round race, Jamaican sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce climbed on a chair in the waiting area to momentarily feel the refreshing breeze from an air conditioning vent.In an era of rising temperatures and rising risk that comes with competing in them, everyone in track and field — from sprinters to race walkers, from high jumpers to pole vaulters — is constantly looking for ways to keep cool.It’s been baking in Budapest at the world championships, with temperatures pushing 34 degrees Celsius (94 degrees Fahrenheit) and humidity levels that make it feel hotter, all of which could be a glimpse of things to come at next year’s Paris Olympics and beyond.The planet just experienced its hottest July on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Athletes are dealing with weather conditions in unique ways to get them swiftly across the finish line.Some have worn ice vests before races and in training. Others have pr...

Zimbabweans anxiously wait for election results as armed police gather with water cannons

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:34:12 GMT

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabweans waited anxiously Friday for the outcome of general elections as dozens of armed police with water cannons guarded the national results center, the scene of deadly violence after the previous vote five years ago.The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission said it was still verifying results from close to 12,500 polling stations across the country and could start releasing details Friday. Results in the presidential balloting are not expected for several days.Zimbabwe’s long history of disputed elections has left many wary of official results.Voting closed Thursday after delays in distributing ballot papers in the capital, Harare, and other urban areas prompted President Emmerson Mnangagwa to extend voting by a day. Many voters slept outside polling stations in urban areas that are opposition strongholds to cast their ballots.Mnangagwa, 80, is seeking a second and final five-year term but faces a major challenge from Nelson Chamisa, a 45-year-old lawyer and p...

List of NFL players suspended for violating gambling policies

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:34:12 GMT

The NFL has been suspending players for gambling violations since the 1963 season. Paul Hornung and Alex Karras were suspended for the 1963 season but eventually ended up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But the league has suspended 10 players this year alone for either betting on NFL games or placing bets while on league property. The NFL ramped up efforts this offseason to better educate players and especially rookies on where and when they can bet and what they can bet on. ___1963Green Bay HB Paul Hornung: The 1986 inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame was suspended for the season for betting on league games. Detroit DT Alex Karras: The 2020 inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame also was suspended for the season for betting on league games. 1983Baltimore QB Art Schlichter: Suspended for the season for betting on at least 10 NFL games as a rookie. He returned in 1984 and played 10 games for Indianapolis before his career ended.2019Arizona CB Josh Shaw: Suspended Nov. ...

CDC, FDA gearing up for fall vaccine campaign with US in 'strongest position yet'

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:34:12 GMT

(The Hill) - Federal health authorities are laying out plans for taking on this year's respiratory viral season, with officials emboldened by the new spate of preventive medications the U.S. has gathered heading into the fall and winter."We are in our strongest position yet to be able to fight COVID-19 as well as the other viruses that are responsible for the majority of fall and winter hospitalizations, namely flu, COVID as well as RSV," a CDC official said in a press call on Thursday.They cited the high rate of COVID-19 immunity — 97 percent — among U.S. individuals 16 and older for helping the country get into a stronger position. They acknowledged, however, that immunity is not a guarantee of protection and noted the new vaccines and antibodies at hand.Officials on Thursday reaffirmed the updated COVID-19 shots made by Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax are expected to rollout in mid-September. The new mRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna will be fully licensed vaccines for individual...

Caution: Monkeys — Florida officials warn residents amid simian sightings

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:34:12 GMT

(The Hill) - Wild monkeys have been spotted in Orange City, Fla., sparking warnings from local officials to stay away from the on-the-loose primates.Orange City police warned residents not to feed a wild rhesus monkey seen in the town, about 30 miles north of Orlando.The monkeys can cause outbreaks of E. coli and herpes and devastate quail and other bird populations by eating eggs, according to a publication from the University of Florida.It is unknown how many rhesus monkeys, native to Southeast Asia, roam wild in the state. There are also several populations of squirrel monkeys wild in Florida.“Rhesus macaques pose the greatest ecological and human health threats of the monkeys in Florida,” the university said. “Macaques accustomed to being fed lose their fear of humans and begin to see humans as a food source. As a result, the macaques may become aggressive, attacking humans when food is around.”It is illegal to feed wild monkeys in Florida, with the crime punishable by up to 2 m...

Suspect in murder, sexual assault of 11-year-old Texas girl has been arrested

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:34:12 GMT

PASADENA, Texas (KIAH/NEXSTAR) — Less than a day after police in Pasadena, Texas, identified a person of interest in connection with the murder of an 11-year-old girl, authorities in Louisiana arrested the suspect believed to be involved.Juan Carlos Garcia-Rodriguez, 18, was arrested and charged with capital murder in connection to the death of Maria Gonzalez, who was found dead last Saturday in the apartment she shared with her father.Police in Louisiana have arrested a man in connection with the murder of Maria Gonzalez, who was found murdered last week in the Texas apartment she shared with her father. (Pasadena Police Department)Garcia-Rodriguez was identified as a person of interest on Friday. Police said he lived in the same apartment complex as Gonzalez and her father.In the time since, officials said they found evidence and "corroborating information" implicating Garcia-Rodriguez. He was apprehended in Shreveport, Louisiana, police said. Investigators have been trying to pie...

Stephen Mihm: America’s on-again, off-again relationship with God

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:34:12 GMT

If religion in America were bought and sold like a stock, now might be a good time to short it in a big way. In recent weeks and months, a number of pundits have declared that the American love affair with organized religion — and Christianity in particular — is over. Recent surveys suggest that church attendance, already faltering in the 21st century, still hasn’t recovered in the wake of the pandemic.But before we conclude that we’re headed for a godless future, consider the longer ebb and flow of religiosity in this country. In the distant past, organized religion often lost adherents, only to rebound a generation later. And in modern times, church attendance and membership have proven deeply misleading, leading otherwise-sensible observers to assume that secular thinking will triumph.Many Americans have a vague idea that the first European settlers to the American colonies came here to escape religious persecution. That’s sort of true, up to a point...

98.3 TRY Social Dilemma: Would you let your friend borrow your roll-on deodorant?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:34:12 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Today's 98.3 TRY Social Dilemma is from Tina and it's about, well, deodorant. Here's her email: Get the latest news, weather, sports and entertainment delivered right to your inbox! Hey Jaime. Quick social dilemma for you. I recently went to the gym with a friend of mine. Not a super close friend, but a friend. Anyway, we worked out, we took our showers and were about to head back to work when my friend said she forgot her deodorant. She asked if she could borrow mine. I had brought a roll-on deodorant with me to the gym, so I said no. I thought it would be disgusting for someone else to use my roll-on. My friend did not understand at all. She said we're both clean and the deodorant is helping to keep us clean, but I don't know. Something about her using it under her arms and knowing it would then be under my arms seemed gross to me. Ultimately she bought a small deodorant and used it, but she's still a bit ticked off at me. Am I weird for thinking that it...

Ask Amy: Siblings confront challenging genealogy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:34:12 GMT

Dear Amy: My brother and I are the byproducts of extramarital affairs our mother had between 1943 and 1953, presumably to the same man.For decades we were led to believe that the father who raised us was our biological father.Out of a guilty conscience, our mother eventually spilled the beans about her past. We were devastated.Even though we’ve subscribed to two well-known genealogical databases in an attempt to track down our biological father, our efforts have been fruitless.Both databases put forth hundreds of “possible relatives,” even though his surname has never even appeared in either one of them.The only confirmation that we have of his actual existence was an obscure death certificate, dated 1963.Although he was passed off as nothing more than a family friend at that time, we actually did have social contact with our biological father on rare occasions, so we do know his name.I might mention that our mother did several stints in psychiatric hospitals after...