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Netanyahu says Israel won't give in to Hamas demand to end war

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Israel is prepared to temporarily halt the war in Gaza to gain the release of the hostages held there, but won’t agree to the Hamas demand to end the war completely, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

It’s unclear where the comments — and an exchange of barbs with the Hamas political leader — will leave the potential for a halt in...Read more

Yuri Gripas/Abaca Press/TNS

Ukraine faces drones on Easter night, Russia advances in East

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Russia marked Orthodox Easter with a drone attack across much of Ukraine, hours after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv’s forces had shot down a Russian fighter jet and as Kremlin troops pressed in Ukraine’s east.

Kremlin troops launched 24 Shahed-type UAVs over the southern region of Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk in central Ukraine, and ...Read more

FBI/FBI/TNS

'I didn't punch any officers,' North Carolina man says after new Jan. 6 assault charges

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Former Marine Lee Stutts of Lake Norman, N.C., on Saturday defended himself against new federal charges against him related to the violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

“I didn’t do what they say I did,” the 46-year-old Terrell resident told The Charlotte Observer, days after a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., indicted him ...Read more

Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Israel shuts Gaza crossing after Hamas rocket barrage from Rafah

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Israel closed the Kerem Shalom humanitarian crossing into Gaza on Sunday after a rocket barrage was fired by Hamas from the southern Gaza city of Rafah, in an incident that could imperil delicate hostage and cease-fire negotiations.

Israel and Hamas have been negotiating for weeks through mediators toward a potential truce that would include ...Read more

Leo Correa/Pool/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Netanyahu's cabinet votes to shut Al Jazeera's Israel operations

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Israel’s cabinet approved a decision to shut down Al Jazeera’s broadcasts out of the Jewish state in an unprecedented step to terminate the local operation of an international media outlet.

Several ministers from Benny Gantz’s National Unity Party abstained from the vote and criticized its timing, underlining escalating tensions between ...Read more

Jewish Americans changed their names, but not at Ellis Island

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A well-worn joke in American Jewish culture goes like this. A Jewish immigrant landed at Ellis Island in New York. The procedures were confusing, and he was overwhelmed by the commotion. When one of the officials asked him “What is your name?” he replied, “Shayn fergessen,” which in Yiddish means “I’ve already forgotten.” The ...Read more

Mikhail Metzel/Pool/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Putin critic warns Kremlin will seize more assets to punish foes

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Sergey Petrov could do nothing from his home in the outskirts of Vienna as Russian President Vladimir Putin moved to take over the car dealership he had founded and built.

Putin signed the decree in December transferring ownership of Rolf, Russia’s largest car dealership, from a Cyprus-registered entity controlled by Petrov’s family to the ...Read more

Jason Getz/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS

Georgia schools explore ways to curb unruly behavior in bathrooms

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ATLANTA — Walking the halls of South Gwinnett High School, Principal Rodney Jordan ran into an alum he had never met.

Administrators, teachers and other staff were also in the hallways, including near student bathrooms. The halls were calm. There were no signs of unruliness. Jayqunn Billingsley, a 2023 graduate, let Jordan know he liked what ...Read more

Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/TNS

LGBTQ+ people in this California town fearful of what they say is a rise in hostility

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HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. -- Huntington Beach radiates California cool. The best surfers in the world descend here each summer to compete on waves rolling in under its public pier. Convertibles zoom past towering palms along Pacific Coast Highway. Beachfront homeowners enjoy breathtaking views, and everybody seems to sport a hang-loose attitude. ...Read more

JOSH EDELSON/Getty Images North America/TNS

Meta now has an AI chatbot. Experts say get ready for more AI-powered social media

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When you use Facebook Messenger these days, a new prompt greets you with this come-on: "Ask Meta AI anything."

You may have opened the app to send a text to a pal, but Meta's new artificial-intelligence-powered chatbot is tempting you with encyclopedic knowledge that's just a few keystrokes away.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has ...Read more

Media coverage of campus protests tends to focus on the spectacle, rather than the substance

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Protest movements can look very different depending on where you stand, both literally and figuratively.

For protesters, demonstrations are usually the result of meticulous planning by advocacy groups and leaders aimed at getting a message out to a wider world or to specific institutional targets. To outside onlookers, however, ...Read more

Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times/TNS

UCLA's top cop, accused of security lapse, faces calls to step aside. He defends his actions

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LOS ANGELES — The UCLA police chief is facing growing scrutiny for what three sources told the Los Angeles Times was a string of serious security lapses before a mob attacked a pro-Palestinian student encampment this week.

But the chief, John Thomas, late Friday rejected those allegations and said he did “everything I could” to provide ...Read more

Todd Maisel/New York Daily News/TNS

City Dept. of Correction pulls all body-worn cameras after one ignites, injures captain

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NEW YORK — The city Department of Correction temporarily pulled almost 3,500 body-worn cameras after one caught fire and injured a correction captain, the department said Saturday.

The captain was on duty in the George R. Vierno Center on Rikers Island Friday when her Reveal Media D5 body-worn camera spontaneously ignited, said department ...Read more

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images North America/TNS

Bay Bridge to be relit, with twice the lights

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In the decade after they went up, the 25,000 LED lights illuminating the western side of the Bay Bridge endured a brutal pounding.

“It’s the salty air, the wind, the fog, the rain, the 24-7 vibrations on the bridge, lightning strikes, car grit and grime — and more,” said Ben Davis, founder of the San Francisco nonprofit behind the light...Read more

Sarah A. Miller/Idaho Statesman/TNS

'Stop funding genocide': Boise protesters call for ceasefire in Gaza, set up encampment

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BOISE, Idaho — Dozens of people came out to protest in Boise on Friday night and into Saturday calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

The demonstrations come amid growing antiwar protests and as students nationwide form encampments on college campuses to call for their universities to divest from companies with links to ...Read more

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America/TNS

Sullivan says US-Saudi defense pact not possible without Israel deal, Financial Times reports

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U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan insisted the Biden administration will enter into a defense pact with Saudi Arabia only if the kingdom normalizes relations with Israel, the Financial Times reported.

Sullivan said in an interview with the newspaper the two issues were part of an “integrated vision” for peace in the Middle East ...Read more

Anthony Devlin/Getty Images North America/TNS

Labour mayor wins cap triumphant election run for Starmer

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Labour wins in the U.K.’s two biggest cities completed a string of local election successes by opposition leader Keir Starmer that showed his party firmly on course for victory at a general election later this year.

Not only did Sadiq Khan comfortably win a historic third term as London mayor, but Labour candidate Richard Parker eked out an ...Read more

Justin Tallis/Getty Images North America/TNS

Yellen counsels caution on currency intervention after yen surge

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U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen acknowledged sharp moves in the value of the yen this week, even as she declined to say whether Japan had intervened to support the currency.

“I’m not going to comment on whether they did or didn’t intervene,” Yellen told reporters Saturday following a speech in Mesa, Arizona. “I think that that’...Read more

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Boaters dumping trash in South Florida's waters? Teens face felony charges

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MIAMI — Two teen boaters are facing felony charges for pollution after they were caught on video dumping trash into the Atlantic Ocean during a South Florida boating party.

The 16-year-old and 15-year-old boys from Palm Beach County were arrested Friday about a week after a drone video of the illegal dumping went viral online, according to ...Read more

K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS

A seized superyacht shows up in Pacific Northwest -- minus one Russian oligarch owner

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EVERETT, Wash. — It's not clear whether Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov had plans to visit Puget Sound this spring — the French Riviera is more the style of the U.S.-sanctioned mining and energy multibillionaire.

But on April 29, the Amadea, a 348-foot, $300 million-plus superyacht said to be owned by Kerimov, arrived in the Port of ...Read more