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As strikes devastate Gaza, Israel forms unity government to oversee war sparked by Hamas attack

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:19 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a leading opposition figure on Wednesday created a war-time Cabinet to oversee the fight against Hamas militants after their stunning weekend attack. In the sealed-off Gaza Strip ruled by Hamas, Palestinians struggled to find safety as Israeli bombardment demolished entire neighborhoods and the territory’s only power plant ran out of fuel.The new war-time Cabinet will consist of Netanyahu, Benny Gantz — a senior opposition figure and former defense minister — and current Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, a statement released by Gantz said. The Cabinet will focus only on issues of the war. It appeared that the rest of Netanyahu’s existing government partners, a collection of far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties, would remain in place to handle other issues.The unusual arrangement cobbles together a degree of unity after years of bitterly divisive politics, as the military appears increasingly likely to launch...

Mac Jones will remain Patriots’ starting QB this week against Raiders, Bill Belichick says

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:19 GMT

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — The Patriots are making some big changes to try to improve their offense.For now, a change at quarterback won’t be one of them.New England coach Bill Belichick said Wednesday that Mac Jones will remain the starter when the Patriots visit the Las Vegas Raiders.“Yeah, we’re not making any changes,” Belichick said.Jones is having his worst season since being drafted 15th overall in 2021. He completed just 12 of 22 passes for 110 yards and two interceptions in New England’s 34-0 loss to New Orleans last week. It computed to a 30.5 passer rating, the second-worst mark of his career.He has had six turnovers over the past two weeks, one of the biggest impediments for an offense that has managed just three points during that stretch. The Patriots (1-4) haven’t scored a touchdown in 10 quarters of play.As bad as things have been, offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien believes there is time to fix the issues.“There’s a lot of season left,” O’Brien said this wee...

Mum On Fixes, But T Says GLX Back Up To Speed

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:19 GMT

Just more than two weeks after the MBTA suddenly announced its newest tracks were too narrow to support travel above a walking pace, the slow zones on the Green Line Extension have been eliminated.MBTA officials said Wednesday that full-speed travel has resumed on both the Union Square branch and on the larger Medford branch. The Union Square branch was slated to be closed until Friday for an unrelated highway bridge repair, but reopened to riders ahead of schedule on Wednesday, officials said.About a mile of track on the Green Line Extension had been limited to speeds of 3 mph, agency data showed. MBTA leaders previously said inspections determined the rails were too narrow to support faster travel, but they have not disclosed how those mysterious problems — experts say rails typically widen over time — occurred, or were fixed.“The track defects discovered during last month’s inspection have been corrected, allowing trains to operate agai...

A ‘Monk’ reunion movie is coming to Peacock

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:19 GMT

(CNN) — “Monk” is returning.Tony Shalhoub will resume his titular role in “Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie,” which premieres on Dec. 8 on Peacock.“It’s been twelve years since the world has seen a fresh installment of ‘Monk.’ The world has changed mightily in those intervening years and ‘Monk’ 2023 reflects the changing world,” executive producers Andy Breckman, David Hoberman and Randy Zisk said in a statement.In the series, Shalhoub played detective Adrian Monk, a character who lives with obsessive-compulsive disorder. According to the official film synopsis, Monk returns to solve a “very personal case involving his beloved step-daughter Molly, a journalist preparing for her wedding.”Also returning for the movie are Melora Hardin, Ted Levine, Traylor Howard, Jason Gray-Stanford, and Hector Elizondo.Breckman, who created the series, wrote the film.“Monk” ran for eight seasons and Shalhoub won the Emmy for best actor in a comedy series three times.

Bill Belichick insists re-signing Jakobi Meyers was priority for Patriots

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:19 GMT

FOXBORO — Among the Patriots’ offseason decisions to second guess, electing to sign wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster over bringing Jakobi Meyers back in free agency ranks at the top.The Patriots signed Smith-Schuster to a three-year, $25.5 million contract one day after Meyers signed a three-year, $33 million deal with the Raiders.After Smith-Schuster’s deal was originally reported as a three-year pact for $33 million, Meyers tweeted “cold world lol” in response.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Bill Belichick: Mac Jones will start at QB, Patriots ‘not making any changes’ New England Patriots | Could Patriots CB J.C. Jackson start Sunday against the Raiders? New England Patriots | Patriots return speedy WR to practice Tuesday, lose 2 others New England Patriots | Do the Patriots expect QB Mac Jones to start Sunday? Bill O’Brien answers New England Patriots | ...

Lidia dissipates after killing 1 person, injuring 2 near Mexico’s Puerto Vallarta resort

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:19 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Lidia dissipated Wednesday after hitting land as a Category 4 hurricane near the resort of Puerta Vallarta, where one person was killed by a falling tree and two others injured The hurricane knocked over trees and blew roofs off houses with winds as high as 140 mph (220 kph) before moving inland. Laura Velázquez, the head of Mexico’s civil defense system, said one person died on the northern outskirts of Puerto Vallarta after being hit by a falling tree, and two others were injured elsewhere in the area.The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Tuesday that Lidia’s winds were down to 35 mph as it dissipated about 145 miles (235 kilometers) north-northeast of the city of Guadalajara, Mexico’s second-largest city and the capital of the western state of Jalisco.Lidia made landfall on a sparsely populated peninsula and then moved inland south of Puerto Vallarta, still with winds of 105 mph (165 kph). Victor Hugo Romo, the head of the Jalisco state civil defense of...

Climate activist Greta Thunberg fined again for a climate protest in Sweden

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:19 GMT

STOCKHOLM (AP) — A Swedish court on Wednesday fined climate activist Greta Thunberg once again for disobeying police during an environmental protest in July in southern Sweden.The Malmo District Court ordered her to pay a 2,250 kroner ($206) fine.Thunberg, who already had been fined for a similar offense, took part in a July 24 environmental protest at an oil terminal in Malmo, where activists temporarily blocked access to the facility by sitting down and were removed by police.On Sept. 15, she was charged with disobedience to law enforcement for refusing to obey police asking her to leave the scene. She then was dragged away by two uniformed officers. Thunberg, 20, has admitted to the facts but denied guilt, saying the fight against the fossil fuel industry was a form of self-defense due to the existential and global threat of the climate crisis.”We have the science on our side and we have morality on our side. Nothing in the world can change that and so it is. I am ready to act ba...

Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith have been separated since 2016, she says

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:19 GMT

Jada Pinkett Smith and husband Will Smith have lived “completely separate lives” since 2016, she revealed in an interview with Hoda Kotb. The prominent Hollywood couple married in 1997 and have addressed separations and marital troubles, but never this specifically.Though it’s not a legal divorce, Pinkett Smith told Kotb in a clip released Wednesday on “Today” that it is essentially a divorce without papers. Smith and Pinkett Smith share two children, Willow and Jaden, as well as a son, Trey, from Smith’s first marriage.Representatives for Smith and Pinkett-Smith did not immediately respond to request for comment.The news came as a surprise to many, considering Pinkett Smith’s candor in her “Red Table Talk” series, in which she and Smith addressed her extramarital relationship in an episode in 2020, and the slap at the 2022 Academy Awards. At the ceremony, Smith infamously walked up on stage and struck presenter Chris Rock after Rock made a joke about Pinkett Smith’s hair.The full i...

Scientists pry a secret from the `Mona Lisa’ about how Leonardo painted the masterpiece

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:19 GMT

PARIS (AP) — The “Mona Lisa” has given up another secret.Using X-rays to peer into the chemical structure of a tiny speck of the celebrated work of art, scientists have gained new insight into the techniques that Leonardo da Vinci used to paint his groundbreaking portrait of the woman with the exquisitely enigmatic smile.The research, published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, suggests that the famously curious, learned and inventive Italian Renaissance master may have been in a particularly experimental mood when he set to work on the “Mona Lisa” early in the 16th century. The oil-paint recipe that Leonardo used as his base layer to prepare the panel of poplar wood appears to have been different for the “Mona Lisa,” with its own distinctive chemical signature, the team of scientists and art historians in France and Britain discovered.“He was someone who loved to experiment, and each of his paintings is completely different technically,” said Victor G...

Exxon Mobil doubles down on fossil fuels with $59.5 billion deal for Pioneer Natural as prices surge

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:19 GMT

Exxon Mobil is buying Pioneer Natural Resources in an all-stock deal valued at $59.5 billion, its largest buyout since acquiring Mobil two decades ago, creating a colossal fracking operator in West Texas. Including debt, Exxon is committing about $64.5 billion to the acquisition, leaving no doubt of the Texas energy company’s commitment to fossil fuels as energy prices surge. Pioneer shareholders will receive 2.32 shares of Exxon for each Pioneer share they own.“I think fossil fuels, as the world looks to transition and find lower sources of affordable energy with lower emissions, fossil fuels oil and gas are going to continue to play a role over time,” Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods said during an interview with CNBC. “ That may diminish with time. The rate of that is, I think, not very clear at this stage. But it will be around for a long time.” Woods explained that Exxon and Pioneer will be able to use their combined capabilities to drive down emissions and produce lower carb...