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11 Americans killed in Israel; Hamas ‘made a mistake of historic proportions,’ Benjamin Netanyahu says as Israel military orders ‘complete siege’ on Gaza

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:33 GMT

At least 11 Americans have been killed in Israel amid Hamas’ terrorist attacks, while other U.S. citizens still remained unaccounted for on Monday after the terrorist group took hostages during the “savage” and “mindboggling” onslaught, according to officials.Israel’s military on Monday ordered a “complete siege” on Gaza, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that Israel will “exact a price” on Hamas that “will be remembered by them and Israel’s other enemies for decades to come.”President Biden on Monday confirmed that at least 11 American citizens have been killed since Hamas attacked Israel over the weekend.“It’s heart wrenching,” Biden said in a statement. “These families have been torn apart by inexcusable hatred and violence. We also know that American citizens still remain unaccounted for, and we are working with Israeli officials to obtain more information as to their w...

Battenfeld: Massachusetts Democrats and liberals face blowback for comments on Israel

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:33 GMT

Massachusetts Democrats and other liberals who have criticized Israel are now getting blowback after calling for a cease-fire following Hamas’s terrorist attacks that left more than 1,000 people, including Americans, dead or captured.U.S. Sen. Edward Markey got loudly booed at a rally in support of Israel on Monday after suggesting de-escalation in the Middle East was the right response to Hamas’ vicious surprise assault.Markey is urging the White House to encourage peace talks between Israel and Hamas – which appears ridiculous given Israel’s declaration of war.Markey’s Democratic colleague, U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.) strongly rebutted Markey while speaking directly after the senior senator at the rally.“De-escalation is not possible when they are taking hostages,” Auchincloss said to cheers as Markey stood by awkwardly clapping.Members of the leftist “Squad” and other critics of Israel are also being forced to condemn Hamas after the terrorist group launched its deadly a...

Robbins: Coddled by Left, armed by Iran, Hamas stages massacre

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:33 GMT

On Saturday morning, several thousand young Israelis were celebrating a Jewish holiday at an all-night music festival in southern Israel, a few miles from the border fence that separates Israel from the Gaza Strip. Shortly after sunrise, hundreds of Hamas operatives armed with machine guns and grenades broke through the fence and headed  for the festival, murder on their minds, wielding the tools with which to carry out a massacre.Descending on the terrified youngsters, who ran for their lives, the Hamas gunmen mowed down the children with everything they had, chasing them by car, surrounding them and blowing them to pieces. They slit these youngster’s throats. They bound the limbs of these kids, some lifeless and some barely clinging to life, and rammed their bloody bodies onto their vehicles, speeding back into Gaza, where Palestinians on the street screamed with joy, passed around celebratory sweets and once again displayed the bloodlust which so tragically has come to characteri...

Lucas: Gov fumbles migrant hotel mess

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:33 GMT

Gov. Maura Healey does not have to go to the southern border to witness the illegal invasion of America.All she has to do was go to Foxboro and try to book a hotel room for the iconic Army/Navy football game on Dec. 9 to be played at Gillette Stadium. There is no room at the inn, however.Had she even made a reservation in advance, it would have been canceled since all the rooms at the Comfort Inn in Foxboro and other hotels near Gillette Stadium have been taken over by illegal immigrants her administration has sent there.As reported by the Herald’s Joe Battenfeld, scores of service academy graduates, families and veterans are now scrambling to find hotel and motel rooms that were cancelled to make way for the illegal immigrants.And the hotel operators love it because it is a financial bonanza for the hotel and motel operators. The state (taxpayer) is paying jacked up prices to house the immigrants and there is no set date for them to leave.It’s a wonder Healey did not provide the im...

Harvard students called ‘morally repugnant’ for blaming Israel for attacks

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:33 GMT

Harvard students who authored a letter blaming Israel for the Hamas terror attacks is being ridiculed as “intellectually weak and morally repugnant.”U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Salem, and former Harvard president Larry Summers are lining up to call out the Cambridge university students — and the “leadership” remaining silent.“Terrorism is never justified nor someone else’s fault. As hundreds of Israelis and others, including several Americans, remain kidnapped, injured, or dead, the 31 Harvard organizations that signed a letter holding Israel ‘entirely responsible’ for Hamas’ barbarous terrorism should be condemned, as should Harvard leadership for whom silence is complicity,” said Moulton, who added “I cannot recall a moment when I’ve been more embarrassed by my alma mater.”Summers tweeted: “In nearly 50 years of @Harvard affiliation, I have never been as disillusioned and alienated as I am today.”Summers is the former Treasury Secretar...

President Biden interviewed as part of special counsel investigation into classified documents

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:33 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has been interviewed as part of an independent investigation into his handling of classified documents, the White House said late Monday. Spokesperson Ian Sams says in a statement that the interview was voluntary and conducted at the White House on Sunday and Monday. The Associated Press

Alabama library mistakenly adds children’s book to “explicit” list because of author’s name

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:33 GMT

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama public library mistakenly added a children’s picture book to a list of potentially inappropriate titles because the author’s last name is “Gay,” the library’s director said. “Read Me a Story, Stella,” a children’s picture book by Canadian author Marie-Louise Gay, was added to a list of books flagged for potential removal from the children’s section of the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library because of “sexually explicit” content. But the book, which is about a pair of siblings reading together and building a dog house, should not have been on the list and was only added because of the keyword “gay,” Cindy Hewitt, the library’s executive director told AL.com on Sunday. The book was one of 233 books set to be reviewed and potentially moved. “We wanted to be proactive and allow our library staff to look at our collection and make decisions about moving material to an older age group and not have someone from ou...

Casino industry spurs $329 billion in US economic activity, study by gambling group shows

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:33 GMT

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — The casino gambling industry in the U.S. generates nearly $329 billion a year in economic activity, according to a new study by the industry’s national trade association.The American Gaming Association released a study Monday showing the industry’s economic impact in 2022 was up 26% from 2017, before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.Commercial and tribal casinos support 1.8 million jobs, including 700,000 jobs at casinos themselves or related businesses, about the same as in 2017. Those jobs generated $104 billion in wages across the country, up 40% from 2017, according to the study.The industry paid $52.7 billion last year in taxes to federal, state and local governments, up 29% since 2017, the report said.The report was the first such study released by the association since 2018, which presented 2017 data. Bill Miller, president and CEO of the association, said the numbers show the casino industry’s “resiliency and continued strength” since th...

Tropical Storm Max makes landfall in Mexico as country braces for Lidia

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:33 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Tropical Storm Max made landfall in Mexico’s southern Pacific coast Monday, as the country braces for a second punch from Tropical Storm Lidia, expected to hit Tuesday as a hurricane in a different part of the country.Max was located about 40 miles (65 kilometers) east of the resort town of Zihuatanejo with winds of about 60 mph (95 kph) and was moving inland at about 7 mph (11 kph). Mexico’s Civil Defense office said Max was causing “torrential” rain in the states of Guerrero and Michoacan. The storm was expected to quickly weaken.However, the U.S. National Hurricane Center and Mexican authorities warned of the possibility of flash floods from both systems.Lidia was gaining strength farther north off Mexico’s western Pacific coast and was expected to make landfall Tuesday as a hurricane on a stretch of coast north of the resort of Puerto Vallarta with winds of up to 100 mph (160 kph).Hurricane warnings were in force for the resort of Puerto Vallarta and the...

Former Texas Rep. Will Hurd suspends long-shot GOP 2024 presidential bid, endorses Nikki Haley

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:33 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Texas congressman Will Hurd suspended his Republican presidential bid Monday, abandoning a brief campaign built on criticizing Donald Trump at a time when his party seems even more determined to embrace the former president. Hurd said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that he was endorsing Nikki Haley, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, for the GOP nomination.“While I appreciate all the time and energy our supporters have given, it is important to recognize the realities of the political landscape and the need to consolidate our party around one person to defeat both Donald Trump and President Biden,” Hurd wrote. He said Haley “has shown a willingness to articulate a different vision for the country than Donald Trump and has an unmatched grasp on the complexities of our foreign policy.”Hurd was the last major candidate to join the already crowded Republican primary field when he announced his run in late July. He leaves the race afte...