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Israel could open second front in Lebanon, defense minister hints

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:49 GMT

Despite increasing pressure from the U.S. to rein in the war in Gaza, Israel’s defense minister is now suggesting his forces could soon open a northern second front to push Iran-backed Hezbollah back from the Lebanese border.Speaking to mayors and municipal leaders from the north, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Wednesday the government would not encourage some 80,000 residents evacuated from northern communities near the Lebanese border to return home before Hezbollah is driven back beyond the Litani River in southern Lebanon.The persistent fear from northern communities is that they are at serious risk of rocket attacks and incursions by Hezbollah.In remarks cited by the Times of Israel and Haaretz, Gallant said in a meeting in Nahariyya, the northernmost coastal city in Israel, that the government hoped to push Hezbollah back through diplomatic means but, if that failed, would “act with all the means at its disposal” using military action.The southern stretch ...

Minister quits over Rishi Sunak’s new plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:49 GMT

LONDON — Rishi Sunak’s government suffered a blow Wednesday night when his immigration minister quit just as the government unveiled a new plan aimed at making it easier to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.Robert Jenrick had been among those arguing for a tougher line from Sunak’s government as it tries to get a controversial scheme long snarled in the courts off the ground ahead of the next election.But as the plan was published Wednesday, Home Secretary James Cleverly confirmed in the House of Commons chamber that Jenrick had left government. In a statement minutes later, Jenrick said: “I cannot continue in my position when I have such strong disagreements with the direction of the government’s policy on immigration.”It comes after Jenrick’s old boss at the Home Office, Suella Braverman, took her own swipe at Sunak and warned the Tories faced electoral “oblivion” without a more hardline bill to force through the Rwanda scheme, meant to see asylum seekers who make “dange...

Driver killed after SUV goes off road in Wellesley, crashes through pole and into tree

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:49 GMT

Police in Wellesley say a driver was killed after their SUV went off of Route 9 and struck a utility pole and a tree Wednesday morning.The Wellesley Police Department said first responders were called in around 7:15 a.m. after receiving a 911 call for a crash on Route 9 westbound, near Cedar Street.Authorities said officers arrived to find an SUV had gone off of the roadway before striking a utility pole, shearing it at the base before crashing into a tree.Image provided by the Wellesley Police Department.According to police, the driver was found to be unresponsive and was the only person inside the SUV, with officials determining no other vehicles were involved in the crash.The victim was later taken to Newton Wellesley Hospital where they were declared dead shortly after 8 a.m.Throughout the morning, Route 9 westbound was reduced to one lane as an investigation got underway and personnel with the Wellesley Municipal Light Plant replaced the pole.No additional details on the crash ...

Holiday Baking 2023: 3 new cookbooks to inspire the perfect cookie platter

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:49 GMT

Looking for ways to boost your cookie-baking skills this holiday season? We paged through three hot new baking cookbooks to help and the results — Scandinavian honey cookies with chocolate, gingerbread and coconut almond slice-and-bake butter cookies — are sure to impress at your next holiday party or cookie exchange.But there’s more where these recipes came from. Here’s what to expect from the pages of these new baking-centric volumes.‘Scandinavian from Scratch’ by Nichole AccettolaScandinavian from Scratch is a cookbook by Nichole Accettola, the chef and owner behind Kantine, a Scandinavian cafe and bakery in San Francisco. (Courtesy Anders Schønnemann/Ten Speed Press)For guidance on what to bake when it’s cold out, why not seek guidance from the folks who weather some of the gnarliest winters out there, the Scandinavians?Nichole Accettola, the chef-owner behind San Francisco’s Kantine, a Scandinavian bakery and cafe, offers more than 60 recipes in her new cookbook, which was insp...

Nurse shortages are set to get even worse with mass US visa delays

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:49 GMT

Katia Dmitrieva | (TNS) Bloomberg NewsErica DeBoer, the chief nurse at America’s largest rural health network, thought she could finally offer some relief for her overworked staff and thousands of patients. More than 160 reinforcement nurses were supposed to arrive over the coming months across Sanford Health’s Midwest facilities from as far away as Manila and Lagos, Nigeria.But now, only 36 are coming — if they’re lucky.The U.S. is in the midst of a visa retrogression, when a surge in demand collides with annual caps, jamming up the processing queue. The delays are particularly bad for the main visa category that hospitals use. Today, government officials are only just starting to work on filings made two years ago — right around the time when many hospitals began hiring foreign nurses and applying for their visas.Experts estimate that at least 10,000 foreign nurses have been delayed indefinitely — a holdup that’s almost certain to worsen an already dire national shortage. After th...

Here’s help for deciding who should make end-of-life healthcare decisions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:49 GMT

By Andrea RichardsHave you decided who will make tough choices for you, if you can’t make them for yourself?According to a 2020 survey from the National Poll on Health Aging, more than half of older adults haven’t made arrangements to assign a healthcare proxy, the person who makes medical decisions on behalf of the patient.The survey showed that 46 percent of adults ages 50-80 have completed at least one advance care planning document — legal documents such as a living will that outlines preferred medical treatment should they become unable to communicate their wishes. These documents often include the designation of a “durable healthcare power of attorney,” aka a healthcare proxy. This role is an essential part of advanced care planning, but that’s the part many haven’t filled out.“I want my patients to get the best possible care, and having the right healthcare proxy is part of that care,” notes Dr. Christopher J. Pietras, director of Palliative Care at the UCLA Department of Med...

Shopping online? How to avoid delivery thefts, ID fraud, sale panic and other seasonal scams

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:49 GMT

David J. Neal | (TNS) Miami HeraldSocial media teems with videos of boxes being swiped off porches. The internet means fraudsters don’t have to show you their face to fool you. And the big business of Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa means it’s also a busy time of year for criminals.Here are some online shopping tips for getting through the season without being victimized:Safe shopping—Don’t use public WiFi: Use private networks to keep information you enter into the website from being lifted.—Check companies and websites: Amazon used to sell just books. Walmart wasn’t born an ubiquitous chain of megastores. Everybody was small at some point. Don’t avoid lower-profile, less-established companies just because they’re not giant retail institutions.But do your homework.Check with the Better Business Bureau for complaints. Search court records where the business is based for any lawsuits. Remember, a company’s social media posts really are just advertisements for the business. Yelp, Goog...

Many would-be kidney donors are ineligible because of their weight or smoking habits. This project helps them qualify

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:49 GMT

Ilana Arougheti | Chicago Tribune (TNS)More than 70 kidney transplants were performed every day in the United States last year. Rachel Watson wanted to be one of the donors, but was told she didn’t qualify — at first.Watson, a 27-year-old digital marketer living in Warrenville, had been moved by a news story about a local politician in need of a kidney. In 2022, she reached out to a Chicagoland hospital about donating one of her kidneys to a stranger. During a phone screening, Watson was told that she weighed too much to be considered as a donor.In January, Watson tried again at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood. She passed an initial donor screening, but her BMI was still too high.That’s when she learned about Project Donor, which helps interested kidney and liver donor candidates who are turned away because of their weight or smoking history.Project Donor, a program run out of the University of Chicago’s Center for RISC, which develops creative solutions for social probl...

Kevin McCarthy was booted as House speaker two months ago. Now he’s leaving Congress by year’s end

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:49 GMT

By MICHAEL R. BLOOD and KEVIN FREKING (Associated Press)LOS ANGELES (AP) — Two months after his historic ouster as U.S. House speaker, Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy said Wednesday that he is resigning and will leave Congress by the end of the year. His announcement capped a stunning end to a House career for the onetime deli counter owner from Bakersfield, California, who ascended through state and national politics to become second in line to the presidency, until a cluster of hard-right conservatives engineered his removal in October.McCarthy is the only speaker in history to be voted out of the job.“No matter the odds, or personal cost, we did the right thing,” McCarthy wrote in The Wall Street Journal, announcing his decision. “It is in this spirit that I have decided to depart the House at the end of this year to serve America in new ways.”Word about McCarthy’s future had been expected, days before the filing deadline to seek reelection to t...

High surf, strong rip tides prompt hazard warning for San Diego County beaches

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:49 GMT

SAN DIEGO — A hazard statement has been issued by the National Weather Service for beaches along the San Diego County coast this week as high surf is expected to create dangerous conditions for swimmers.The notice will be in effect through late Thursday night as a long-period swell from the west-northwest is anticipated to set in. According to forecasters, the swell's peak is expected Thursday.While the hazard statement is in effect, NWS says waves are expected to reach heights of around four to six feet along the coast, particularly impacting South County beaches. On Thursday, some areas may see sets reach upwards of seven feet. El Niño winter has started. Here’s what conditions are predicted for San Diego Weather officials urge the public to stay out of the water throughout the duration of the beach hazard statement. According to NWS, the high surf will increase drowning risk with dangerous swimming and surfing conditions, including strong rip currents. "Waves will be high enoug...