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Live updates | Palestinian officials say death toll rises from expanded Israel military operation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:41:58 GMT

Israel launched an expanded ground operation on Saturday after knocking out communications and creating a near-blackout of information in the Gaza Strip with increased bombardment and artillery fire overnight.Israel said infantry and armored vehicles were backed by “massive” strikes from the air and sea, including the bombing of Hamas tunnels, which are a key target in its campaign to crush the territory’s ruling group.Explosions from continuous airstrikes lit up the sky over Gaza City for hours after nightfall Friday as the Israeli military said it was expanding ground operations in the territory, signaling a move closer to an all-out invasion of Gaza after the bloody rampage by Hamas in southern Israel on Oct. 7.The Palestinian telecom provider, Paltel, said the bombardment caused “complete disruption” of internet, cellular and landline services as the besieged enclave’s 2.3 million people were largely cut off from contact with the outside world. Some satellite phones continued to...

Movie review: ‘The Holdovers’ an instant addition to holiday movie canon

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:41:58 GMT

There’s a double-layered sense of self-reflective nostalgia baked into Alexander Payne’s misfit holiday movie “The Holdovers.” Set in 1970, there’s nostalgia for the time period, which is textured and rendered with care and conviction on-screen. But the film itself, a warm, spicy brew of humor, poignancy and irascible charm, also inspires the odd desire to be rewatching it while you’re watching it, a kind of nostalgia for the present moment. That funny feeling is reflected in the plot too, in which a trio of near strangers form an unlikely but indelible bond over Christmas break at a Massachusetts boarding school.“The Holdovers” crackles and pops with film grain, like a roaring fire might. Right away, Payne places us in a vintage setting, with 1970s-style production logos aiding his time travel mission, allowing us to settle into the era, like sinking into a brocade sofa with a few fingers of Canadian Club in a coffee cup.There is a certain warmth to “The Holdovers,” though the envi...

White Earth Nation says water ordinance is allowed under 20th-century treaties

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:41:58 GMT

WHITE EARTH, Minn. — While farmers on and near the White Earth Band of Chippewa Reservation — or White Earth Nation — believe state, rather than tribal, officials control the issue of irrigation permits, the band itself believes it retained the right to control natural resources like water through its treaties with the U.S. government.On May 5, 2023, the White Earth Reservation Business Committee — the governing body for the White Earth Band of Chippewa’s reservation — passed a new water resolution and ordinance that required farmers who wish to irrigate on the reservation or within a five-mile zone around it to apply for a tribal permit, in addition to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources permit.Vehicles from the White Earth Division of Natural Resources in Mahnomen, Minn., on Aug. 30, 2023. Under an ordinance enacted May 5, 2023, by the White Earth Reservation Business Committee, farmers wanting to irrigate within White Earth Nation or in a 5-mile perimeter outside the re...

Rainy and frigid weekend forecast, but relief on the horizon

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:41:58 GMT

ST. LOUIS -- It was much cooler this morning than previous mornings. The cold front responsible for the drop in temperatures and rainfall has wiggled its way just to the south of the viewing area, where it will eventually stall out later this morning. This stalled front will be responsible for more rain this weekend. Scattered development behind the front this morning will continue through late morning, with more widespread rain and a few thunderstorms likely this evening or overnight. Second Missouri teacher suspended for OnlyFans account The greatest rainfall will occur south of I-70. There will be no severe weather with these storms. Just expect a wet, gloomy, cold Saturday continuing into Sunday. Afternoon highs both today and tomorrow won’t make it out of the 40s, with overnight lows falling from the low 40s (Saturday night) to the lower 30s (Sunday night).Fortunately, the rain will make its final exit out of the area Sunday night before temperatures drop below freezing thro...

Silicon Valley ditches news, shaking an unstable industry

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:41:58 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO — Campbell Brown, Facebook’s top news executive, said this month that she was leaving the company. Twitter, now known as X, removed headlines from the platform days later. The head of Instagram’s Threads app, an X competitor, reiterated that his social network would not amplify news.Even Google — the strongest partner to news organizations over the past 10 years — has become less dependable, making publishers more wary of their reliance on the search giant. The company has laid off news employees in two recent team reorganizations, and some publishers say traffic from Google has tapered off.If it wasn’t clear before, it’s clear now: The major online platforms are breaking up with news.Some executives of the largest tech companies, like Adam Mosseri at Instagram, have said in no uncertain terms that hosting news on their sites can often be more trouble than it is worth because it generates polarized debates. Others, like Elon Musk, the owner of X, have expre...

Rockies Journal: Numbers paint ugly picture of state of franchise

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:41:58 GMT

Painting by the numbers not only produces a portrait of the Rockies’ failures in 2023 but also a picture of what they need to fix for 2024.Let’s get started:5.67: The club’s ERA was the highest in the majors and the second-highest in franchise history, behind only the 1999 team (6.01). Ravaged by injuries — a franchise record 17 different pitchers made a start — and hurt by a lack of quality depth, the starting rotation posted a 5.91 ERA, the worst in the majors and the second-highest in franchise history, also behind the ’99 club.Colorado had a National League-low 39 quality starts, the second-fewest for a full season in franchise history, ahead of only the 2012 “piggy-back” rotation’s 27 quality starts.There is no mystery here; the Rockies desperately need to find and develop starting pitching. Can Rockies general manager Bill Schmidt pull off a trade like the one Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen made when he swapped infielder/outfielder Jazz Ch...

Grading The Week: How Charles Barkley, Blake Barnett and Jon Gray did Denver proud

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:41:58 GMT

Is he profane? Yep. Unfiltered? Sure. Politically incorrect? Absolutely. But rarely is Charles Barkley wrong. In a world of NBA pundits who cater to narratives or to clicks, Sir Charles shoots the same way he always has: straight from the hip. Any hand could get bit, including the ones that feed him. The kids in the Grading The Week offices also appreciate that, like his “NBA on TNT” teammates Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith, he’s a fan of Jokic and sees the big Serbian for what he is: the spiritual heir to Tim Duncan, someone who’s elevated a “flyover” NBA market into the center of the national spotlight. Or should be elevating it, at any rate.Because if the last six days are any indication, we’ve still got a long, long way to go there.Barkley defending Nikola Jokic while ripping his own network — A.When Warner Bros. Discovery Sports ran a preview graphic to plug its coverage of the league’s Opening Night, the heads on th...

Blow: The solidarity between American activists and Palestinians

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:41:58 GMT

Since the heinous Oct. 7 Hamas attacks and Israel’s declaration of war against the terrorist group, I have been going over and over a question I’ve not been able to answer fully: During this episode, why has the Palestinian cause sparked so much passion among veteran activists of the movement for Black lives?Last week, I wrote that this could be traced to the ideological lens and residual energy of a younger generation attuned to protest and the ideas of equality and justice. But after interviewing several prominent activists in recent days, I realize there’s more to explore in the critical dynamics fueling that passion, which is born, in part, out of long-standing personal connections and a common sense of purpose.There are two pivotal events that seem to have ignited the new era of solidarity between some young American activists and the people of Palestine. The first came in the form of Palestinian activists expressing support on social media for the 2014 protests in Ferguson, Mi...

Son wants to know if parents should sell now or wait for ‘top dollar’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:41:58 GMT

Question: My father is waiting to sell his parents’ home. In 2022, my grandparents passed. In the will, I will receive 25% of the proceeds. I am to “buy a house.” Their Bay Area house, bought in 1960, sans remodeling, will fetch almost $2,000,000. The big draw is the schools. However, my father still waits for home loan interest rates to drop. He says, “I want to sell it for top dollar.”Your column indicates home prices are not dropping while interest rates increase. My father disagrees. Besides, if my grandparents’ home increases in value, so will the home I must purchase.Due to injuries, my disability income is limited. I need to keep expenses down. I will have to buy in a rural California area. The homes will cost a fraction of my grandparents’ home. I want to stay in California. But if my father keeps waiting, I will have to buy out of state.Should my father list and sell his parents’ Bay Area house now or wait?Answer: Does your dad want you to buy a house? If so, prepare his pa...

Bangladesh’s opposition supporters clash with police as tensions run high ahead of general election

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:41:58 GMT

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Police in Bangladesh’s capital fired tear gas to disperse supporters of the main opposition party who threw stones at security officials during a rally demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the transfer of power to a non-partisan caretaker government to oversee general elections next year.At least one policeman died and dozens of others were injured, alongside scores of opposition supporters, police and witnesses said.Dhaka police spokesman Faruk Hossain told The Associated Press that violence late Saturday continued in at least 10 spots in Dhaka, where security forces confronted opposition activists who attacked them, vandalized vehicles and torched vehicles.An opposition spokesman, Zahiruddin Swapan, said more than 1 million activists joined their rally, but Hossain put the number at about 200,000. The violence broke out at the Kakrail area in Dhaka when activists of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party led by former Prime Ministe...