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Jewish communities hold Seder services to mark start of Passover following string of antisemitic attacks

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:05:18 GMT

Many families in South Florida and across the country are sitting with loved ones for Seder service, marking the start of Passover, a time for celebration, but after a string of antisemitic acts, communities will be on high alert.In recent months, communities have seen threatening graffiti, hateful pamphlets tossed into driveways and front lawns, and one Jewish man was even punched in the face while riding his bicycle in Hollywood.According to the FBI, more than half of the religious hate crimes committed in 2021 were targeted at Jews.President Joe Biden wrote an editorial on CNN, Wednesday.“To the Jewish community, I want you to know that I see your fear, your hurt and your concern that this venom is being normalized,” Biden wrote.Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, who leads the Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, said the words come from his heart.“I’ve heard him say it; I know he really believes it,” Lipstadt said. “There a...

Six people injured in crash involving MBTA bus in Jamaica Plain

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:05:18 GMT

Six people were injured Wednesday in a crash involving an MBTA bus in Jamaica Plain that saw the bus crash through a fence before coming to a stop in the Forest Hills Cemetery.SKY7-HD was over the scene shortly before 6 p.m., capturing video of the bus and its smashed windshield. Another vehicle involved in the crash was stopped in the nearby intersection of Forest Hills Avenue and Morton Street with visible damage. Debris was also seen elsewhere around the crash site as traffic backed up on nearby roads.People riding in both the bus and the other vehicle at the time of the crash were taken to the hospital, officials said.“Everyone should be, essentially, assessed at the hospital and hopefully discharged with no serious injuries from this,” said Boston EMS Deputy Superintendent Steven McHugh.In a statement, MBTA Transit Police Superintendent Richard Sullivan said a preliminary investigation found the crash happened shortly after 5:30 p.m. when a passenger vehicle “made an abrup...

Indiana, Idaho governors sign bans on gender-affirming care

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:05:18 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Republican governors in Indiana and Idaho have signed into law bills banning gender-affirming care for minors, making those states the latest to restrict transgender health care as Republican-led legislatures continue to curb LGBTQ+ rights this year.Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb signed legislation Wednesday that will prohibit transgender youth from accessing medication or surgeries that aid in transition and mandate those currently taking medication to stop by the end of the year.Idaho Gov. Brad Little had signed legislation Tuesday evening that criminalizes gender-affirming care for youth.More than a dozen other states are considering bills that would prohibit transgender youth from accessing hormone therapies, puberty blockers and transition surgeries, even after the approval of parents and the advice of doctors. Other proposals target transgender individuals’ everyday life — including sports, workplaces and schools.“Permanent gender-changing surgeries with lifelon...

Defense Department detains guest in hotel training mix-up

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:05:18 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — Participants in a Department of Defense training exercise at a Boston hotel entered the wrong room Tuesday and mistakenly detained a guest instead of the person assigned the role of the person to be detained, according to the FBI.The mistake happened about 10 p.m. with the Boston Division of the FBI helping the U.S. Department of Defense in conducting the Defense Department exercise.The exercise was meant to simulate a situation that personnel might encounter during an actual incident.“Based on inaccurate information, they were mistakenly sent to the wrong room and detained an individual, not the intended role player,” an FBI said in a written statement. “Thankfully nobody was injured.”A Department of Defense official said the department apologies to the person affected by the training exercise.“The training was meant to enhance soldiers’ skills to operate in realistic and unfamiliar environments. The training team, unfortunately, entered the wrong room and detai...

Pop singer Danny Fernandes accused of taking thousands from aspiring musicians: CBC

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:05:18 GMT

TORONTO — A lawyer for Canadian pop star Danny Fernandes says the singer is confident he will be able to rebuild his career after the CBC published an investigation that alleged he took thousands of dollars from aspiring musicians.“He is confident through our joint efforts in rehabilitation and restitution he can rebuild his trust in the public and his career to once again give back to our community the talents he has been rewarded for,” lawyer Amedeo DiCarlo said in a message to The Canadian Press on Wednesday afternoon.The CBC investigation cites bank and legal documents, text messages and interviews that collectively accuse Fernandes of taking more than $200,000 from about a dozen people, largely in the form of loans and for career help they say never materialized.CBC says Fernandes apologized to those he “hurt or misled” and that the singer attributed his behaviour to drug use. CBC also quotes DiCarlo as saying efforts will be made to recover any losses.T...

Tents and suitcases go into garbage compactors as Vancouver encampment is dismantled

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:05:18 GMT

VANCOUVER — The garbage trucks moved slowly down Hastings Street, to the shouts and protests of residents of a homeless encampment on the sidewalks of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Into the compactors went tents, suitcases, mattresses and furniture, crushed with bags of garbage and other detritus.The implementation of a city decree to clear the encampment on Wednesday, backed by dozens of a police, was met with frustration from residents and their advocates who wonder where they’ll sleep next, even as the city says it’s too unsafe to stay. Police and city staff rolling rubber tubs labelled “personal belongings” arrived on Hastings Street on Wednesday to dismantle about 80 tents and other structures that lined the sidewalks.Residents scrambled to take down tents and pack as trash and belongings were scattered.Officials said the encampment had become a significant safety and fire hazard and, without intervention, it was a matter of time before people die...

Lawyers for man accused of killing 2 Indiana teens want move

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:05:18 GMT

DELPHI, Ind. (AP) — Attorneys for a man charged with killing two northern Indiana teenage girls filed an emergency court motion Wednesday seeking to move him from a prison where they claim his condition is deteriorating.The emergency request filed by Richard Matthew Allen’s lawyers in Carroll Circuit Court cited “dramatic change in Mr. Allen’s condition, including his change in demeanor, change in appearance and change in his overall mental status.”His defense team compared his treatment to that of a prisoner of war, saying he sleeps on a pad on a concrete floor, hasn’t received visits from his wife or family for the past five months, is allowed to shower only once or twice per week and is forced to wear the same clothes for “days and days on end, all of which are soiled, stained, tattered and torn.”The Delphi man has been held at the maximum-security Westville Correctional Facility since November. Allen was arrested Oct. 28 and charged with two counts of murder in the killing...

NPR protests as Twitter calls it ‘state-affiliated media’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:05:18 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Twitter has labeled National Public Radio as “state-affiliated media” on the social media site, a move some worried Wednesday could undermine public confidence in the news organization.NPR said it was disturbed to see the description added to all of the tweets that it sends out, with John Lansing, its president and CEO, calling it “unacceptable for Twitter to label us this way.”It was unclear why Twitter made the move. Twitter’s owner, Elon Musk, quoted a definition of state-affiliated media in the company’s guidelines as “outlets where the state exercises control over editorial content through financial resources, direct or indirect political pressures, and/or control over production and distribution.”“Seems accurate,” Musk tweeted in a reply to NPR.NPR does receive U.S. government funding through grants from federal agencies and departments, along with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The company said it accounts for less than 1% of NPR’s annual...

LSU’s Reese on White House flap: ‘We’ll go to the Obamas’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:05:18 GMT

First lady Jill Biden’s walk-back of her suggestion that runner-up Iowa should join NCAA women’s basketball champion LSU for a visit to the White House didn’t sit well with Tigers star Angel Reese.Prompted by a discussion of Biden’s comments during her Wednesday appearance on “The Paper Route Podcast,” Reese said the Tigers should celebrate their title with former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama rather than President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden.Jill Biden, at an appearance in Denver on Monday, had praised Iowa’s sportsmanship and congratulated both teams. She also said that as part of the longstanding tradition of having champions visit the White House, Iowa should come as well “because they played such a good game.”The Tigers defeated Iowa 102-85 for the title in Dallas on Sunday.Reese on Monday called Jill Biden’s suggestion “a joke.”Joe Biden invited LSU and men’s champion Connecticut to the White House...

New Mexico governor signs bill to shield abortion providers

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:05:18 GMT

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Democratic New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed a bill Wednesday that protects providers of abortions from related prosecution, professional disciplinary action or extradition attempts by out-of-state interests.A companion abortion-rights bill signed in March guarantees access to reproductive health care in response to a string of anti-abortion ordinances by cities and counties in eastern New Mexico where opposition to abortion access runs deep.New Mexico is increasingly seen as a destination for abortion patients traveling from states including Texas that have banned abortion, or those imposing major restrictions.“I think there is a lot of fear there,” said Democratic state Sen. Siah Correa Hemphill of Silver City, a school psychologist and cosponsor of the newly signed bill. “We want to make sure New Mexico is a state that is safe for women and safe for health care workers.”The new law also protects medical providers when it comes to gender-affirming...