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Siggins: Polls confirm Israel winning PR war

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:55 GMT

Recent headlines would have you believe Israel is losing ground in the domestic narrative war with Hamas. New polls indicate that the high level of support Israel enjoyed after the Oct. 7 attacks has slowly eroded as military action in Gaza drags on and a humanitarian crisis emerges.But digging beneath the headlines reveals a lot of good news for Israel’s long-term prospects in shoring up its support among the American people, and especially among critical policy, political and military leaders.The polls in question come from NPR and Reuters. The former found that 38% believed Israel’s retaliation against Hamas had gone too far, an increase of 12 percentage points from October. The Reuters/Ipsos public opinion poll found that only 32% of respondents agreed that “the U.S. should support Israel,” a 9-point decrease from October. But Reuters also found that only 4% of respondents believed that the United States should support Hamas instead of Israel — unchanged since last month.This in...

Uxbridge seeks perfection against Amesbury in Div. 7 state final

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:55 GMT

Head coach Colin McQueen says the double tight set, straight-T offense his Amesbury football team leaned on this year might be a described by others as an antiquated style.But for the Redhawks, it’s aged like a fine wine.Only two other teams that qualified for the Div. 7 state tournament averaged more points than sixth-seeded Amesbury (9-2) this year, and they have an opportunity to try to outscore one of them when they take on No. 1 Uxbridge (12-0) in the Div. 7 Super Bowl at Gillette Stadium, Friday at 3 p.m.The Spartans’ division-best 41.4 points per game is as hard as any to keep up with, but Amesbury’s 36 per game is up for the challenge.“(We) play tough football and use all four downs to do it,” McQueen said. “If we go forward, it’s pretty tough to stop us. The guys have been good at staying on schedule for most of the year and finding ways to finish drives.”The Redhawks are 1-0 in Super Bowls with a lone appearance in 2008, while Uxbridge is 2-0 with repeat titles from over 3...

Dear Abby: Hubby hands over hassles to son

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:55 GMT

Dear Abby: Our son plays a college sport for which he receives four complimentary tickets for each game. It works out well because there are four of us in his immediate family.However, my husband has been asking friends of his to join us at games by offering them free tickets. Our son then must find a teammate with unused tickets and ask for them. My husband gives no warning. He just announces a couple of days prior to a game that he has invited so and so. Then, on game day, we are responsible for getting these friends in and seated with us.More than once, we haven’t been able to enter stadiums and see our son before games, or the beginning of a game, because his friends are late and he must stay behind to meet them.My take is this: These are public sporting events. Our son is given tickets for IMMEDIATE family. If a friend expresses a desire to go to a game, send them the schedule and say, “Awesome! Here’s the schedule. See you there!” and recommend an onlin...

Man suspected of fatally stabbing mother-in-law dies in pursuit crash

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:55 GMT

CHULA VISTA, Calif. -- A 41-year-old man suspected of fatally stabbing his mother-in-law at a South Bay home is dead after leading police on a pursuit and crashing into a freeway divider, according to police.Around 8 p.m. Wednesday, officers were called about a stabbing in the 1500 block of Yanonali Avenue in Chula Vista, police said in a release. When authorities arrived, they attempted to stop a car that was leaving. When the vehicle did not pull over, police began chasing the driver.Officers entered the home and found the man's 69-year-old mother-in-law had been stabbed, police said. Paramedics took the woman to a hospital, where she died. Mikey Williams pleads guilty to single count of making criminal threats Police also found the man's 42-year-old wife with cuts on her arm. She was taken to a hospital, where she was in stable condition.Meanwhile, the driver led police on a chase for 25 minutes before crashing into a divider on the northbound Interstate 805 and Interstate 8 i...

Top world leaders will speak at UN climate summit. Global warming, fossil fuels will be high in mind

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:55 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — International climate talks turned to a power game on Friday as dozens of world leaders including the Saudi crown prince and India’s prime minister were to speak, but two of the world’s most powerful men — President Joe Biden of the U.S. and President Xi Jinping — were glaringly absent.Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, a top oil producer, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, whose biggest cities are regularly choked under poor air, were among more than 130 world leaders set to address the U.N. climate conference in Dubai over the next two days. The idea is to try to keep the planet from heating too much because of humankind’s actions.U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was expected to provide an overarching perspective about the need to cut down on fossil fuel use and turn to renewable energies, among other things, to greatly reduce the churn of carbon emissions into the atmosphere that is trapping excess...

Why hold UN climate talks 28 times? Do they even matter?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:55 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Ask most people what the annual U.N. climate talks are and the likely answer will be: “Huh?” Ask those who do know and the answer may be: “Why should I care?”The negotiations, called Conference of Parties, are nearly two weeks long and in their 28th iteration in Dubai. Delegates use wonky terms like “NDCs” “1.5 degrees” and “loss and damage,” not exactly conservation starters at parties. Any final decision is non-binding, meaning countries can agree to something and then not not follow through. And when tens of thousands of people travel to the event, a lot of greenhouse gas emissions are produced, which is contrary to the entire point of the conference.So why bother?Even many climate watchers sometimes ask that question, and there is a growing debate about whether the current process needs major reforms. But viewed with a long lens — and with the proviso that progress is often more of a slow trickle than a dramatic event and impact — there a...

Live updates | Temporary cease-fire expires; Israel-Hamas war resumes

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:55 GMT

A temporary cease-fire deal that lasted seven days has expired without word from mediator Qatar on an extension. Israel’s military said Friday morning that it has resumed combat.A total of 83 Israelis, including dual nationals, were freed during the truce, most of whom appear physically well but shaken. Another 24 hostages — 23 Thais and one Filipino — have also been released, including several men. Israel says around 125 men are still held hostage. The 240 Palestinians released so far under the cease-fire have mostly been teenagers accused of throwing stones and firebombs during confrontations with Israeli forces. The deal ended after a week and multiple extensions, despite international pressure for the truce to be upheld as long as possible. Weeks of Israeli bombardment and a ground campaign have left more than three-quarters of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million uprooted, leading to a humanitarian crisis. More than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed — roughly two-thirds of...

Rep. George Santos is facing a vote on his expulsion from Congress as lawmakers weigh accusations

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:55 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. George Santos of New York is facing a critical vote to expel him from the House on Friday as lawmakers weigh whether his actions, fabrications and alleged lawbreaking warrant the chamber’s most severe punishment.The first-term Republican congressman is at grave risk of becoming just the sixth member of the House to be ousted by colleagues. Expulsion requires support from two-third of the House, a purposefully high bar, but a blistering House Ethics Committee report released on Nov. 16 that accused Santos of breaking federal law may prove decisive.“I will not stand by quietly,” Santos declared on the House floor Thursday as lawmakers debated his removal. “The people of the Third District of New York sent me here. If they want me out, you’re going to have to go silence those people and go take the hard vote.” Of the previous expulsions in the House, three were for disloyalty to the Union during the Civil War. The remaining two occurred after the lawmakers ...

For a male sexual assault survivor, justice won in court does not equal healing

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:55 GMT

When Sam Schultz was sexually assaulted, it felt like a part of them died.It took eight years and the burgeoning #MeToo movement to spur them to go public and make a police report, and an additional five years for their attackers to plead guilty.Now, as much as Schultz hopes there’s a reckoning coming in gay and queer communities, too, it feels like they are the one shouldering the blame, not the attackers. Instead of being able to focus on recovery, Schultz has been saddled with worries from other gay men that talking about sexual abuse in their community will hurt the fight for LBGTQ+ rights.The pain of the assault and ensuing public attention and court proceedings have taken a huge toll.“It is an exhausting and horrifying journey that I almost quit because it just takes way too much of a person,” Schultz said in an interview with The Associated Press. “And to any person who has pursued justice and quit along the way, I get it. The system is not built for us. The system is built t...

Report: Belief death penalty is applied unfairly shows capital punishment’s growing isolation in US

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:55 GMT

HOUSTON (AP) — More Americans now believe the death penalty, which is undergoing a yearslong decline of use and support, is being administered unfairly, a finding that is adding to its growing isolation in the U.S., according to an annual report on capital punishment.But whether the public’s waning support for the death penalty and the declining number of executions and death sentences will ultimately result in the abolition of capital punishment in the U.S. remains uncertain, experts said.“There are some scholars who are optimistic the death penalty will be totally eradicated pretty soon,” said Eric Berger, a law professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. “I think what’s more likely is it’s going to continue to decline. But I think it’s less likely that in the foreseeable future it’ll totally disappear.” In 2023, there were 24 executions in the U.S., with the final one for the year taking place Thursday in Oklahoma. Additionally, 21 people were sentenced to death ...