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Judges to decide if 300 possible victims of trafficking from India should remain grounded in France

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:21:50 GMT

PARIS (AP) — Judges will decide Sunday whether about 300 Indian citizens, suspected of being victims of human trafficking, should continue to be sequestered in a small French airport.En route to Central America, the passengers have been held at Vatry airport — in Champagne country — since Thursday after a dramatic police operation prompted by a tip about a possible human trafficking scheme, authorities said. The passengers will appear before judges throughout the day, who will decide whether to extend their detention in the airport, according to the administration for the Marne region. If they can’t be held any longer, they will be free to leave the country. “I don’t know if this has ever been done before in France,” Francois Procureur, lawyer and head of the Châlons-en-Champagne Bar Association, told BFM TV on Saturday. The situation is urgent because “we cannot keep foreigners in a waiting area for more than 96 hours. Beyond that, it is the liberty and custody judge wh...

A weekend of combat in Gaza kills 14 Israeli soldiers in a sign of Hamas’ entrenchment

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:21:50 GMT

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Fourteen Israeli soldiers were killed in combat in the Gaza Strip over the weekend, the Israeli military said Sunday, in some of the bloodiest days of battle since the start of the ground offensive and a sign that Hamas is still putting up a fight despite weeks of brutal war. The mounting death toll among Israeli troops is likely to play an important factor in Israeli public support for the war, which was sparked when Hamas-led militants stormed communities in southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 and taking 240 hostage. The war has devastated parts of the Gaza Strip, killed roughly 20,400 Palestinians and displaced nearly 85% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people.The Health Ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza said 166 people were killed in the coastal enclave over the past day. Israelis still stand firmly behind the country’s stated goals of crushing Hamas’ governing and military capabilities and releasing the remaining 129 captives. That support has stayed mostly s...

Skywatch: Signs of Christmas in the skies

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:21:50 GMT

While we don’t have any Christmas constellations in the night sky, there are three celestial signs of the most wonderful time of the year among the stars. There are two in the evening and a bright one in the morning.The first and probably best sign of Christmas is a challenging one. It’s known formally in the astronomical books as New General Catalog Object 2264 or NGC 2264. Its nickname, though, is the Christmas Tree cluster because that’s exactly what it looks like. What’s really nice is that the cluster is easily visible through a small telescope or even a decent pair of binoculars.It’s easier to find in the dark countryside, but you shouldn’t have too much trouble even in light-polluted areas. You also have to stay up a little bit to see the Tannenbaum, but I know you’ll love it and want to share it with others. It’s so cute and hopefully will add to your holiday spirit.(Mike Lynch)After 8:30, it will be high enough above the eastern horizon to start your search. The Christmas T...

KARE 11’s Boyd Huppert talks about surviving, and thriving, more than two years after his cancer diagnosis

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:21:50 GMT

When asked if he remembers his lowest point during his ongoing battle with multiple myeloma, Boyd Huppert chuckled.“I do,” said the award-winning KARE-TV reporter and “Land of 10,000 Stories” host. “It was probably a week after the (bone marrow) transplant. You feel pretty good for four or five days, but then it was like a truck hit me and it was two weeks of feeling as sick as I’ve ever been.“Every day, we’d go down to the U for blood tests. Some days I needed platelets or anti-nausea drugs or fluids. (My wife) Sheri was going to drive us and I threw up in the driveway. That was my low moment. I told Sheri, ‘I don’t know if I could do this anymore.’ I was so sick and so exhausted and there I am, throwing up in my driveway. I don’t know that I can get any worse. And I don’t know that it ever did.”Indeed, more than two years after he was diagnosed with the relatively rare blood cancer that has no known cure, Huppert’s life is back to no...

Sunday Bulletin Board: Life can still surprise you, even when you’re 93 years old!

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:21:50 GMT

The kindness of strangersReports GRANDMA PAT, “formerly of rural Roberts, Wisconsin, now of St. Paul”: “One would think that by age 93, things would be mostly uneventful. Not so.“Case in point: A few days ago, two friends and I decided to go to O’Shaughnessy Auditorium, on the adjacent college campus, for a Kevin Kling performance. We settled into our seats a bit early. My seat was at the end of a row where there is a 1-foot dropoff from the aisle to the seating.“A woman came to our row carrying a glass of beer. She fell, showering me with beer. (Luckily she was not injured.) She was very apologetic, and hurriedly went off to gather an armful of paper towels. Next she proceeded to energetically wipe me down, all while apologizing. This was almost as traumatizing as the beer shower, but she meant well.“Then, when the show was over, we realized that the temperature outside had dropped enough to form a slick coating of ice on the sidewalks and parkin...

A man is killed and a woman injured in a 'targeted' afternoon shooting at a Florida shopping mall

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:21:50 GMT

OCALA, Fla. (AP) — A man died in a shooting at a shopping mall in central Florida two days before Christmas in which the victim was “targeted” for the attack, police said. Ocala Police Chief Mike Balken told reporters Saturday evening that the man was killed after he was shot multiple times in a common area at Paddock Mall in Ocala, located about 79 miles (127 kilometers) northwest of Orlando. A woman also was shot in the leg. She was treated at a local hospital and expected to recover, Balken said.The suspect fled the scene and left behind the firearm, Balken said.Police arrived at the mall around 3:40 p.m. after a call of multiple shots being fired at the mall. “Officers immediately made entry into the mall (and) ultimately discovered that this was not what we would consider an active shooter,” Balken told reporters.The attack was likely a “targeted act of violence” against the man, Balken said. Several other mall patrons suffered injuries during the shooting, with one person havi...

Ask Amy: Sister’s married boyfriend is not welcome

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:21:50 GMT

Dear Amy: My sister “Kelly,” who lives out of state, won’t be joining us for Christmas because Mom said no when Kelly asked if she could bring her married boyfriend home to meet the family.I am firmly in Mom’s corner and am hurt and disappointed that she is choosing him over family. Kelly is my best friend.Kelly says the situation is “complicated,” but for me it’s not actually that complicated.My morals can be flexible at times, but marriage is an absolute line in the sand. I’ve been married 28 years and to me, marriage is SACRED.Am I being too judgy? Do I have to be supportive?Kelly is bound to bring him home at some point. I have no idea how to act.She is so much more than a side piece, and I’ve told her this many times.In the meantime, I’m simply asking for someone to pour a little more liquor into my eggnog.— SisterDear Sister: I wonder if there is ever a time when an extramarital relationship isn’t complicated. Of course it’s complicated!Bringing your married squeeze home...

Bridge: Dec. 24, 2023

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:21:50 GMT

Unlucky Louie has a big family, and Christmas at his house is like a baby shower that went totally overboard.“I’m afraid our Christmas tree isn’t big enough,” Louie complained to me. “There isn’t room beneath it for all the packages.”“Don’t worry about it,” Rose told him. “In the eyes of a child, every Christmas tree is about 30 feet tall.”In my club’s penny Chicago game, Louie was declarer at today’s four spades, and his perception of the play was a little off. (Louie’s hand wasn’t quite as strong as he thought — his jack of spades was probably a wasted honor — and he might have done better to bid three clubs at his second turn to try for game. North, with two aces, might have accepted a try.)West led a trump. Louie won, took the ace of clubs and led a second club, pursuing a club ruff in dummy. West won, led a second trump, won the next club and led a third trump. Then Louie’s last club was a loser, and he also lost a diamond. Down one.“Nice defense,” Louie said grudgi...

There Was No Cover-Up of Hamas’s Sexual Violence on October 7

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:21:50 GMT

Demonstrators gather during a “#MeToo unless you’re a Jew” protest outside of United Nations headquarters in New York City on Dec. 4, 2023.Photo: Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty ImagesOne thing is true: Hamas and other Palestinian militants committed unspeakable sexual violence against Israeli civilians on October 7. “The full scale of the assault is yet to be uncovered,” according to a position paper published by Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, a nongovernmental organization.Two things are not true: That the October 7 rapes and sexual mutilation were ignored or covered up by the United Nations gender-equality organization U.N. Women and a conspiracy of Western feminists, global human rights organizations, and U.S. progressives. Or that behind this alleged rape denial lies antisemitism: “#MeToo, except if you’re a Jew.”Yes, some individuals and extreme-left organizations have denied these atrocities or upheld them as justified resistance. But it...

Emergency room doctor unveils the most dangerous toys this season

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:21:50 GMT

In less than 24 hours kids everywhere will begin tearing into toys from their wish list. But before that happens, one D.C.-area doctor suggested some ways to play it safe and avoid a Christmas trip to the emergency room.Dr. Sarah Ash Combs, an emergency medicine physician and director of outreach for Children’s National Hospital, said there is an easy way for parents to make sure toys are safe. It begins with carefully checking the toy’s packaging and wrapping — especially if you have children younger than three years old.“Is it wrapped in shrink-wrap packaging?” she said. “Is it something that a young child can get their hands on and ingest and use to cover their mouths? Bear in mind what the toy is coming in.”Combs also suggested keeping toys with tiny magnets, loose buttons or coin batteries away from children. If those parts are swallowed, they could be deadly for kids.“Look at a toy critically,” Combs said. “Ask yourself, ‘If this went into my child’s mouth, could be sucked dow...