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Israeli strike on eastern Lebanon kills 5 Palestinian militants, wounds 10

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:22 GMT

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — An Israeli airstrike targeting positions of a Syria-backed Palestinian group in eastern Lebanon early Wednesday killed five Palestinian militants and wounded 10 others, an official with the group said.Anwar Raja of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, told The Associated Press in Damascus that the Israeli strike hit positions in the Lebanese eastern town of Qusaya near the border with Syria. He said two of the wounded are in critical condition.Another PFLP-GC official, the Lebanon-based Abu Wael Issam, told the AP that his group will retaliate “at the suitable time.” He added that the strike will not deter his group from “escalating the fight against the Israeli enemy.”There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army. The Lebanese army and Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group also had no immediate comment on the airstrike. The PFLP-GC has positions along the Lebanon-Syria border as well as military presence in both countri...

6 victims remain hospitalized after Hollywood Broadwalk shooting on Memorial Day

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:22 GMT

Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital is currently caring for four young victims, aged between 1 and 17, who were injured in a mass shooting that took place on Memorial Day. Additionally, two adults from the incident remain hospitalized across the street at Memorial Regional Hospital, bringing the total number of hospitalized individuals to six. Three additional adults were treated and discharged, said a spokesperson for the hospital on Tuesday morning.It was a busy Monday night at Memorial Hospital’s emergency room after a shooting on Hollywood’s Broadwalk sent shockwaves through the community, leaving families and authorities devastated. The incident unfolded on a tranquil day, where families had gathered to pay homage to fallen heroes. Hollywood Police responded swiftly to the distress call and rushed to the scene, where they found multiple victims in need of immediate medical attention.Among the victims was a visibly distraught 16-month-old child, cradled in the arm...

Repeated Rounds of Rain

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:22 GMT

Heavy rain leading to areas of street flooding across South Florida are likely every afternoon through Saturday.An upper low over the Gulf of Mexico will slowly move toward Florida by the end of the week, leaving the air “ripe for rain.”Most areas are expected to receive between 3-5″ of rain through Saturday night, with isolated higher amounts.Some of the storms that form could produce gusty winds, frequent lightning and an isolated tornado. However, flooding will be the biggest worry.NHC is giving the disturbance in the Gulf that will slowly approach Florida a low chance to form during the next 7 days. Regardless of development, it just means a “wet/stormy stretch in store” for us.Have a wonderful day South Florida and stay weather aware with your Storm Station, 7 News! Vivian GonzalezMeteorologist, AMS Certified WSVN Channel 7

NOAA anticipates near-average Atlantic Hurricane Season: Find out the projected number of storms

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:22 GMT

(CNN) — This year’s Atlantic hurricane season is expected to be near average, officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday.Forecasters at the agency are predicting 12 to 17 named tropical storms, five to nine of which could become hurricanes. They expect as many of four of those could strengthen into major hurricanes – category 3 or stronger.The last time there were fewer than the average of 14 named storms was in 2015. Hurricane season technically begins June 1, though storms have developed before that date in the past.“As we saw with Hurricane Ian, it only takes one hurricane to cause widespread devastation and upend lives. So regardless of the number of storms predicted this season, it is critical that everyone understand their risk and heed the warnings of state and local officials,” FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said at a news conference. “Whether you live on the coast or further inland, hurricanes can cause serious impacts to everybody ...

Why the nation’s banks will lose even if Biden avoids default

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:22 GMT

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is warning of the “catastrophic” impact that a debt default would have on the U.S.But even if Washington averts disaster and raises the debt ceiling, the nation’s banks — and President Joe Biden’s economy — are likely to feel some pain.Financial institutions, already reeling from the stunning failure of three regional lenders since March, are likely to face a drain on deposits and less cash in the banking system as a whole as Yellen’s Treasury suddenly cranks up borrowing. Thatwill squeeze their ability to lend to businesses and consumers, especially coming on top of pressure the banks are feeling from the Federal Reserve’s aggressive rate hike campaign.The threat of more banking turmoil is heightening the chances that the economy will slip into a recession heading into the presidential election year, creating a challenge for Biden as he campaigns for a second term.“Even if we assume that history repeats itself, and the debt limit is raised at the las...

With Erdoğan back, Sweden presses Turkey again on NATO bid 

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:22 GMT

LULEÅ, Sweden — Sweden has met all of its commitments to join NATO and expects to become part of the transatlantic military alliance by July, Tobias Billström, the country’s foreign minister, told POLITICO.Speaking on the sidelines of the EU-U.S. Trade and Technology Council summit, Billström said Stockholm had assuaged all of the concerns from Turkey, an existing NATO member which has held up Sweden’s application over concerns about its support for Kurdish groups which Ankara considers to be terrorist entities. Longtime leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan secured a new term as Turkish president on Sunday. Sweden’s tweaks included updating its domestic terrorism legislation, which will come into effect on June 1, to include lengthy prison terms for individuals convicted of participating in extremist organizations in ways that promote such groups. That is a veiled reference to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has a following in Sweden but is banned in Tu...

‘Robustly transparent’ or ‘really slippery’? UK ministers dispute WhatsApp disclosures in COVID inquiry

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:22 GMT

LONDON — Get ready for another three years of this.With the coronavirus pandemic over, the U.K.’s official inquiry into it — expected to run until 2026 — has yet to hold a single public hearing. But it’s already embroiled in a bitter disclosure dispute with the government over whether to hand over ministers’ private WhatsApp messages and notebooks.The post-mortem will drag on past the next general election, as confirmed Tuesday. It’s expected to call on senior figures from a series of British governments, roving over the state’s preparedness for the virus, decision-making by ministers and officials, the way public contracts were handed out, and how the country got jabs in arms.Yet before any of that, there’s the small matter of what the inquiry will actually be allowed to see.In a series of interviews Wednesday morning, Cabinet minister Mel Stride said the government will be “absolutely robustly transparent where it is appropriate to be so.”“I thi...

European Commission tells staff: Don’t use AI for ‘critical’ work

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:22 GMT

BRUSSELS — The European Commission has created guidelines for its staff regarding the use of generative artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT and Bard. According to the document’s introduction, its purpose is “to help staff members assess the risks and limitations of online available generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools and set conditions for their safe use in working activities of the Commission.”Generative AI refers to tools used to create new content — such as text or images — based on prompts. The four-page paper, obtained by POLITICO and dated May 24, provides an outline of generative AI’s function and establishes five main rules Commission staffers are recommended to follow when using such tools. The rules include: not disclosing information not in the public domain when using a generative AI tool; being aware that the AI’s responses might be inaccurate or biased; considering whether the AI might be violating intellectual proper...

Stop getting Brexit wrong, Labour’s born-again Brexiteer Starmer tells Tories

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:22 GMT

LONDON — Keir Starmer is optimistic about Brexit after all.The U.K. Labour leader — who once campaigned harder than many in his party to try to reverse the result of 2016’s Brexit referendum — on Wednesday accused the Conservatives of failing to make the most of Britain’s newfound freedoms. And he doubled down on his view that the U.K.’s future “is outside the EU.”In an opinion piece for the deeply-Eurosceptic Daily Express newspaper, published Wednesday, Starmer argued that the government’s “total mismanagement of Brexit” was compounding a host of issues facing the U.K., including jitters from the country’s carmakers over imminent tariff hikes.“Every one of the problems I have outlined can be fixed from outside the EU,” Starmer wrote. “But it will require hard work, good relations and — above all — honesty. That’s why we should be optimistic.” Starmer — who leads a U.K. opposition that looks likely ...

‘Very militant’: France slams Novak Djokovic over Kosovo message

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:22 GMT

Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic’s controversial message at the French Open, in which he said Kosovo was the “heart of Serbia,” is “clearly not appropriate,” France’s Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra said Wednesday.“It’s a very militant message, very political,” Oudéa-Castéra said in an interview with French public broadcaster France 2.“We really shouldn’t go down that road, especially given the circumstances,” the minister added, referring to recent clashes.One of the most successful athletes in tennis history with 22 Grand Slam titles, Djokovic caused an outcry on Monday after his first-round win at Roland-Garros. “Kosovo is the heart of Serbia. Stop the violence,” Djokovic wrote in Serbian on a TV camera screen. Long-standing tensions between Serbia and Kosovo — which declared its independence in 2008 but is not recognized by Belgrade — have resurfaced in recent days, after clashes between p...