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Home from Israel: South Florida man who boarded chartered flight mourns friend killed in Hamas attack

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:17 GMT

A South Florida man from Israel said he is grateful to be back home after he received help to escape the war,Cellphone video captured Ori David Meyer as he greeted his girlfriend, moments after he landed at Miami International Airport, earlier this weekend.“It was very hard to leave the country. I’m lucky Nicole and her team helped me go out,” he said.Nicole spoke with 7News last week after she raised money and chartered a flight for Meyer and 154 others who were stranded in Israel after Hamas’ surprise attack out of Gaza.“You all the time hear bombings, you all the time hear sirens,” said Meyer.Tragically, one of Meyer’s closest friends, Rachel, was among those killed at the Tribe of Nova Music Festival.“The day before I left, I was in a funeral for my best friend Rachel,” he said. “She’s an angel, and it’s hard because we’ve been in a funeral, and we you see another funeral for another guy.”Meyer i...

Daniel Noboa, heir to banana fortune, wins Ecuador’s presidential runoff election

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:17 GMT

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Daniel Noboa, an inexperienced politician and an heir to a fortune built on the banana trade, won Ecuador’s presidential runoff election Sunday held amid unprecedented violence that even claimed the life of a candidate.With more than 97% of the votes counted, electoral officials said Noboa had 52.1%, compared to 47.9% for Luisa González, a leftist lawyer and ally of exiled former President Rafael Correa. González conceded defeat during a speech before supporters in which she also urged Noboa to fulfill his campaign promises.Noboa, 35, will lead the South American country during a period that drug trafficking-related violence has left Ecuadorians wondering when, not if, they will be victims. Their uneasiness has prompted them to continuously watch their backs and limit how often they leave home.After results showed him victorious, Noboa thanked Ecuadorians for believing in “a new political project, a young political project, an improbable political project.”He s...

Palestinians scramble to find food, safety and water as Israeli ground invasion looms

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:17 GMT

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — More than a million people have fled their homes in the besieged Gaza Strip in the past week as water supplies dwindle and hospitals warn they are on the verge of collapse, while the enclave’s population waits for an expected Israel invasion that seeks to eliminate Hamas’ leadership after its deadly attack.Israeli forces, supported by a growing deployment of U.S. warships in the region and the call-up of some 360,000 reservists, positioned themselves along Gaza’s border and drilled for what Israel said would be a broad campaign to dismantle the militant group. Israel said it has already struck dozens of military targets, including command centers and rocket launchers, and also killed Hamas commanders.But even so, a week of blistering airstrikes that have demolished entire neighborhoods but failed to stem militant rocket fire into Israel. And Israeli officials have given no timetable for a ground incursion that aid groups warn could hasten a humanitaria...

Colorado train derails, spilling train cars and coal onto a highway and trapping a semi-truck driver

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:17 GMT

PUEBLO, Colo. (AP) — A train derailment and bridge collapse Sunday spewed coal and mangled train cars across a highway near Pueblo, Colorado, trapping a semi-truck driver beneath the wreckage, the Colorado State Patrol said. Efforts were underway to rescue the truck driver, state patrol spokesperson Gary Cutler said, although police did not immediately know the driver’s condition or if other drivers were involved.The National Transportation Safety Board is sending investigators to the site about 114 miles (183 km) south of Denver.The state patrol and Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office posted photos and videos showing a partially collapsed bridge over the interstate with the semi-truck caught beneath. The images also show a pileup of train cars, train wheels scattered across the scene and loads of coal covering a portion of the highway. It was unclear when the bridge collapsed, Cutler said. Officials were directing drivers to avoid the area coal and train cars were removed fr...

Leaders from emerging economies are visiting China for the ‘Belt and Road’ forum

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:17 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — A stream of leaders of emerging market countries are arriving in Beijing for a meeting organized by the Chinese government that will mark the 10th anniversary of its Belt and Road Initiative.Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed landed in Beijing on Monday, following Chilean President Gabriel Boric and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Sunday night. Under the initiative, a signature policy of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Chinese companies have built ports, roads, railways, power plants around the world in a bid to boost trade and economic growth. But the massive Chinese development loans that funded the projects have also burdened some poorer countries with heavy debts.Others leaders from Africa, Southeast Asia, Central Asia and the Mideast will attend the Belt and Road Forum, whose main day is on Wednesday. Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to attend, as are representatives of the Taliban government in Afghanistan.The Associated Press

Candlelight vigil held in Toronto to honour lives lost in Israel and Gaza

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:17 GMT

Members of the Jewish community gathered for a vigil in downtown Toronto on Sunday night to honour the lives lost in Israel.Dozens of mourners gathered at Matt Cohen Park near Bloor Street West and Spadina Road for the candlelight vigil, sharing stories and listening to music while remembering the men, women and children killed in the attacks.Those at the rally also called for the safe release of hostages being held, an end to the bombings in the Gaza Strip, and they want the Canadian government to push for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.“You cannot bring back dead people, you cannot bring back the murdered by murdering more people – we want to say that loud and clear, that a ceasefire must happen now,” said Daniel Roth, one of those present at the vigil.“I think that people have drawn lines between Israelis and Palestinians and I think what we need to do is draw lines between those who are for life and for humanity and those who are against it, those w...

Hundreds attend Israel, Palestine rallies at Texas Capitol

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:17 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — While the Israel-Hamas war rages on thousands of miles away, it's hurting many people living right here in Central Texas.Sunday, hundreds of protestors filled the front of the Texas Capitol and downtown streets. Some were pro-Israel and others were pro-Palestine. The two groups had rallies back to back. 'There has to be a change'The Austin branch of the Israeli-American council and the Texas Israel Alliance held its rally first. "Two members of my extended family have been murdered in cold blood," said one speaker at the rally. "You cannot tolerate it. This time there has to be a change."The Austin branch of the Israeli-American Council and the Texas Israel Alliance hosted a rally from 12 to 3 p.m. at the Texas Capitol Sunday. (KXAN Photo/Frank Martinez)The Austin branch of the Israeli-American Council and the Texas Israel Alliance hosted a rally from 12 to 3 p.m. at the Texas Capitol Sunday. (KXAN Photo/Frank Martinez)The Austin branch of the Israeli-American Coun...

Theater review: ‘Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress’ is a lovely exploration of imagination

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:17 GMT

Maybe our biggest problem right now is a love shortage. Perhaps we’ve reached a point in human history at which we’re turning our backs on compassion, empathy and understanding and turning our hearts toward hatred in hopes that this will somehow make us happier, even though there’s no evidence that that’s ever worked before.These thoughts permeated my mind as I departed Children’s Theatre Company on Saturday night after the premiere performance of “Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress.” It may sound like a flighty title, but I came away regarding it as perhaps the most important production CTC has offered so far this century.Granted, this simple little show does nothing to project any sense of grave import. It comes off as something of a week in the life of a grade schooler, but it’s a week in which the protagonist of the title first encounters roadblocks for his vivid imagination.Adapted from a 2014 picture book by Christine Baldacchino (with vibrantly colorful illustrations ...

Minnesota officials overshot tax rebate estimate by $144M

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:17 GMT

State revenue officials overestimated how many Minnesotans would be eligible for tax rebate checks, resulting in $144 million less going out the door.When lawmakers approved the one-time rebates this spring, they had projections of a giveback that would top $1.1 billion. The final amount was below $1 billion.The difference was noted in a quarterly economic memo released Wednesday by the Minnesota’s finance agency.Minnesota Department of Revenue officials said they used 2019 income tax returns to set their estimate for rebate checks. Those were adjusted to account for population growth between 2019 and 2021. But that led to an overcount of how many dependents could be covered.Lawmakers approved and the governor signed into law a tax bill earlier this year that granted a one-time rebate of $260 to individuals under a certain income cap, or $520 to married couples. And families with dependents could see an extra $260 for up to three dependents.Single filers had to make less than $75,00...

COVID-19 ticks down in Minnesota; flu and RSV barely present

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:17 GMT

Emergency room visits for COVID-19 have dropped during the last couple of weeks in Minnesota.While there is no guarantee that trend will continue, there has been a longer downward trend for the United States as a whole. That may be a sign that COVID ER visits will continue to decline in Minnesota as well.‘Tis the season, however, for two other major respiratory illnesses to become more prevalent — influenza and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV. So far, flu is barely registering above zero for Minnesota ER visits. Flu visits in the United States overall have increased in recent weeks but still remain very low — below 0.5 percent. RSV visits have also increased nationally but remain at zero in Minnesota.More on the latest COVID-19 data in Minnesota below, but first an update on the lingering aftereffects of COVID on the cardiovascular system.New evidence linking COVID-19 to cardiac issuesScientists have now identified how SARS-COV2 — the virus that causes COVID-19 — leads to heart ...