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‘I heard only gunshots, screams and Arabic’: Last call from Israel festival attack

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:35:00 GMT

ASHKELON, Israel — Near Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip, terror and confusion reign. As POLITICO arrives at the cataclysmic scene, parents hunt desperately for their missing children and demand retribution against the Hamas terrorists who perpetrated a bloodbath of monstrous proportions. Israel has been in a state of emergency since Iranian-backed Hamas militants stormed out of the Gaza Strip at dawn on Saturday and unleashed a lethal assault on civilians, leaving more than 700 Israelis confirmed dead and 2,150 wounded.It was the “largest civilian massacre” in Israeli history, army spokesman Doron Spielman tells POLITICO. Sunday morning, we fly aboard a Ryanair jet from Berlin into Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport on one of the few commercial flights to Israel that has not been canceled. Typically vibrant and bustling, the city — which has come under fire from Palestinian rocket attacks — has been turned into a ghost town. Driving south from Tel Aviv toward ...

Helicopter crashes shortly after takeoff in New Hampshire, killing the pilot

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:35:00 GMT

CROYDON, N.H. (AP) — A helicopter crashed in the woods shortly after taking off in Croydon, New Hampshire, killing the pilot, the only person on board, authorities said. The craft was reported as missing for at least several hours.The helicopter had taken off at about 7:30 p.m. Sunday, but the pilot, who was working for JBI Helicopter Services, could not be tracked shortly after that, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department said in a news release Monday. It was scheduled to fly to a job site in Quonset Point, Rhode Island, about 180 miles (289.6 kilometers) away.The Croydon Fire Department said it received a report of a missing aircraft at about 10:30 p.m., said deputy chief Zachary White.The helicopter was found several hours later in a heavily wooded area near the takeoff site, White said in an email Monday.“The pilot was the only occupant and he did pass away,” the email read.The pilot, Carl Svenson, 73, of Loudon, New Hampshire, was found dead in the heavily damaged helicopte...

Boston Herald weekly divisional/ISL football rankings

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:35:00 GMT

Here are the weekly Eastern Mass. rankings for each of the eight divisions as well as the ISL.DIVISION 11. St. John’s Prep (5-0)2. Xaverian (3-2)3. Lincoln-Sudbury (4-1)4. Methuen (4-1)5. Everett (4-1)6. Needham (4-1)7. Andover (4-1)8. Franklin (4-1)DIVISION 21. Catholic Memorial (4-1)2. King Philip (5-0)3. Barnstable (5-0)4. Peabody (5-0)5. Marshfield (3-2)6. Bishop Feehan (4-1)7. Belmont (3-2)8. Winchester (4-1)/North Andover (3-1)DIVISION 31. Billerica (5-0)2. Milford (5-0)3. Milton (5-0)4. Mansfield (2-3)5. North Attleboro (2-3)6. Dartmouth (5-0)7. Woburn (4-1)8. Lynn Classical (4-1)DIVISION 41. Duxbury (3-1)2. Tewksbury (4-1)3. Norwood (4-1)4. Somerset Berkley (4-1)5. Melrose (4-1)6. Middleboro (4-1)7. Scituate (2-3)8. Wakefield (3-2)DIVISION 51. Hanover (5-0)2. Foxboro (5-0)3. Shawsheen (5-0)4. Bishop Fenwick (4-1)5. Newburyport (4-1)6. Danvers (3-2)7. Wilmington (4-1)8. Archbishop Williams (3-2)DIVISION 61. Salem (5-0)2. Norwell (4-1)3. Abington (4-1)4. Fairhaven (5-0)5...

Bill Belichick addresses relationship with Mac Jones, belief in Patriots backup QB

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:35:00 GMT

It seems that if Bill Belichick and Mac Jones are going to go down, they’re going to go down together.Belichick said Sunday night that Jones will continue to be the Patriots’ starting quarterback. The head coach was asked about his relationship with Jones on WEEI Monday morning, months after offseason reports of friction between the two.“Yeah, I’ve had a good relationship with Mac since he’s been here,” Belichick said on “The Greg Hill Show.” “I’ve met with him on a regular basis. We have a good line of communication. He works hard. I have a lot of respect for what he does.”Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | J.C. Jackson has an idea of how he can be ‘big help’ to Patriots New England Patriots | Patriots rookie Chad Ryland explains Sunday’s latest missed field goal New England Patriots | Bailey Zappe again didn’t appear like answer to Patriots’ biggest question...

How has Justin Fields been in the last two games? What does the defense need now? Insights on 4 Chicago Bears questions.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:35:00 GMT

The Chicago Bears needed that. In the worst way. Thursday night’s blowout of the Washington Commanders snapped a franchise-record 14-game losing streak, was the team’s first victory in 346 days and triggered a jubilant dance party inside the visiting locker room at FedEx Field. It also sent the Bears into their mini-bye with a bit of momentum and encouragement as they try to salvage the season after an 0-4 start.So where does the team go from here? How can Matt Eberflus push the team’s progress forward in the coming weeks? Tribune writers Brad Biggs, Colleen Kane and Dan Wiederer offer their analysis.The Bears’ 40-20 defeat of the Commanders on Thursday night was ___.Brad Biggs: Mood-shifting.The 40-20 defeat of the Commanders on Thursday night was precisely what the organization needed to shift the mood in the locker room and the building. That’s not to suggest it’s been all doom and gloom at Halas Hall but winning is the ultimate deodorant...

Nobel economics prize goes to professor for research on the workplace gender gap

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:35:00 GMT

By DAVID KEYTON, MICHAEL CASEY and MIKE CORDER (Associated Press)STOCKHOLM (AP) — The Nobel economics prize was awarded Monday to Harvard University professor Claudia Goldin for research that has advanced the understanding of the gender gap in the labor market.The announcement went a tiny step to closing the Nobel committee’s own gender gap: Goldin is just the third woman to win the prize out of 93 economics laureates.She has studied 200 years of women’s participation in the workplace, showing that despite continued economic growth, women’s pay did not continuously catch up to men’s and a divide still exists despite women gaining higher levels of education than men.“I’ve always been an optimist. But when I look at the numbers, I think something has happened in America, that we, in the 1990s, our labor force participation rate for women was the highest in the world, and now it isn’t the highest in the world,” Goldin told The Associated Press.“We have to step back and ask questions ab...

Stock market today: Oil gains, Wall Street falls after Israel declares war on Hamas

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:35:00 GMT

BANGKOK — Wall Street tumbled lower in premarket trading Monday as crude oil prices surged after the Israeli government declared war following deadly attacks by Hamas from the Gaza Strip. Futures for the S&P 500 skidded 0.6% before the bell, while futures for the Dow Jones industrials fell 0.5%.The bond market in the U.S. is closed Monday for the Columbus Day holiday, but the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq will be open. Oil prices were up more than $3 a barrel. Conflict in the Middle East often pushes oil prices higher given the risk of disruptions to supplies. “Disruptions or escalations in the region can have far-reaching implications for energy markets, global supply chains, and geopolitical dynamics,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.The fighting has not yet had any discernible impact on oil output, but geopolitical escalations in the Middle East typically lead to a “buy-first-ask-questions-later” response, he said. Oil prices had eased back fro...

German far-right leader says gains in state election show her party has ‘arrived’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:35:00 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — A leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany said on Monday that her party is no longer a primarily eastern German phenomenon after a pair of strong state election performances in the country’s more prosperous west, declaring that “we have arrived.”The 10-year-old Alternative for Germany, or AfD, is at its strongest in the country’s former communist east. It hopes to emerge as the strongest party for the first time in three state elections in that region about a year from now.However, co-leader Alice Weidel said gains for the party on Sunday in the western states of Hesse and Bavaria show that “AfD is no longer an eastern phenomenon, but has become a major all-German party. So we have arrived.”Sunday’s elections, halfway through the term of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s unpopular three-party government, followed a campaign marked by discontent with persistent squabbling in the national government and by pressure to reduce the number of mig...

UK’s Labour Party says it will invest for growth, as carnage in Israel hangs over its conference

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:35:00 GMT

LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Britain’s main opposition Labour Party said Monday that it will focus on economic growth rather than higher taxes to “rebuild” the country after more than a decade of Conservative rule.Labour economy spokeswoman Rachel Reeves told delegates at the party’s annual conference that “Labour will tax fairly and spend wisely.”“But I must tell you, you cannot tax and spend your way to economic growth,” she said. “The lifeblood of a growing economy is business investment.”Reeves was making her pitch to British voters and businesses at the four-day conference in Liverpool, where Labour is trying to cement its front-runner status in opinion polls before an election due in 2024.The party is running 15 or more points ahead of the governing Conservatives in multiple opinion polls, as Britain endures a sluggish economy and a cost-of-living crisis driven by the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and economic disruption following the U.K.’s exit from the Europea...

Major airlines suspend flights to Israel after massive attack by Hamas ignites heavy fighting

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:35:00 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Major airlines have suspended flights to Israel after the nation declared war following a massive attack by Hamas. American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines suspended service as the U.S. State Department issued travel advisories for the region citing potential for terrorism and civil unrest. American suspended service to Tel Aviv through Friday. The airline said that it has issued a travel alert providing additional flexibility for customers whose travel plans are impacted. “We continue to monitor the situation with safety and security top of mind and will adjust our operation as needed,” American said.United said it allowed two scheduled flights out of Tel Aviv late Saturday and early Sunday and accommodated its customers, crews and employee travelers who were at the airport. The airline said that its Tel Aviv flights will remain suspended until conditions improve. Delta said its Tel Aviv flights have been canceled into this week. The airline said it...