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Prisoners, Propaganda, and the Battle Over the Gaza War Narrative

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

Despite a temporary pause in Israel’s massive bombardment and ground operations in Gaza, the humanitarian catastrophe continues to worsen. With more than 15,000 dead Palestinians and whole neighborhoods and towns left in ruin, Israel’s defense minister has defiantly vowed to dramatically escalate the attacks inside Gaza the moment the truce ends. This week on Intercepted, Jeremy Scahill and Murtaza Hussain discuss the state of the war as well as the propaganda campaigns being waged by each side. Then Roy Yellin, head of public outreach at Israel’s leading human rights organization B’Tselem, discusses recent developments on the hostage and prisoner exchanges, how the crisis has impacted Israeli society, and describes the conditions faced by Palestinians when they are thrown into Israel’s military justice system. Yellin also explains the state sponsorship of violent Israeli settlers, the mass detentions underway of Palestinians in the West Bank, and the dangerous nature of Israel’s ...

A Hong Kong court hears final arguments in the subversion trial of pro-democracy activists

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

HONG KONG (AP) — A Hong Kong court started hearing the final arguments Wednesday of some of the city’s best-known pro-democracy activists tried under a law imposed by China’s ruling Communist Party to crush dissent.The activists’ subversion trial is the biggest prosecution yet under the national security law. They may face up to life in prison if convicted.The defendants were among 47 activists arrested in 2021 under the sweeping law imposed by Beijing following massive anti-government protests in 2019. They were charged in connection with an informal 2020 primary election to pick candidates who could win control of the territory’s Legislative Council.Prosecutors accuse the activists of trying to paralyze Hong Kong’s government and topple the city’s leader by securing a majority to veto budgets.Prosecutor Jonathan Man argued that unlawful means to subvert state power didn’t necessarily imply the use of force or physical violence. “(In) the 21st century, social medi...

Washington’s London Fletcher advances to semifinal stage for Pro Football Hall of Fame

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

FILE - In this Sept. 16, 2012, file photo, Washington Redskins inside linebacker London Fletcher (59) celebrates an interception in the end zone during the third quarter of an NFL football game against the St. Louis Rams in St. Louis. Tony Gonzalez, Ed Reed, Champ Bailey and London Fletcher are first-year eligible players among the 102 modern-era nominees for the class of 2019 for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, announced Thursday, Sept. 13, 2018. (AP Photo/Tom Gannam, File)(AP/Tom Gannam) FILE - In this Sept. 16, 2012, file photo, Washington Redskins inside linebacker London Fletcher (59) celebrates an interception in the end zone during the third quarter of an NFL football game against the St. Louis Rams in St. Louis. Tony Gonzalez, Ed Reed, Champ Bailey and Lo...

Bilibili: Q3 Earnings Snapshot

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

SHANGHAI (AP) — SHANGHAI (AP) — Bilibili Inc. (BILI) on Wednesday reported a loss of $185.2 million in its third quarter.The Shanghai-based company said it had a loss of 45 cents per share. Losses, adjusted for stock option expense and non-recurring costs, were 29 cents per share.The Chinese video sharing website posted revenue of $795.7 million in the period.Bilibili expects full-year revenue in the range of $3.08 billion to $3.22 billion.Bilibili shares have dropped 44% since the beginning of the year. The stock has climbed 6% in the last 12 months._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on BILI at https://www.zacks.com/ap/BILISource

VAR official removed from Champions League game after Mbappé’s late penalty for PSG vs. Newcastle

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

GENEVA (AP) — A video review official has been removed from his Champions League game on Wednesday, one day after having a key role in a disputed decision to award Paris Saint-Germain a stoppage-time penalty for handball against Newcastle which contradicted UEFA’s own advice to referees.The VAR specialist from Poland, Tomasz Kwiatkowski, is no longer listed to work at the Real Sociedad-Salzburg game and has been replaced by a German match official.In Paris on Tuesday, Kylian Mbappé scored in the eighth minute of stoppage time to salvage a 1-1 draw after a ball struck Newcastle defender Tino Livramento in the chest and then deflected off his arm, and a penalty was awarded by Polish referee Szymon Marciniak following a VAR review.Marciniak refereed the Champions League final last season and the 2022 World Cup final with Kwiatkowski in his team. Marciniak initially allowed play to continue Tuesday but awarded the penalty after he was advised by his video assistant to review the inciden...

US life expectancy rose last year, but it remains below its pre-pandemic level

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

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. life expectancy rose last year — by more than a year — but still isn’t close to what it was before the COVID-19 pandemic.The 2022 rise was mainly due to the waning pandemic, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers said Wednesday. But even with the large increase, U.S. life expectancy is only back to 77 years, 6 months — about what it was two decades ago.Life expectancy is an estimate of the average number of years a baby born in a given year might expect to live, assuming the death rates at that time hold constant. The snapshot statistic is considered one of the most important measures of the health of the U.S. population. The 2022 calculations released Wednesday are provisional, and could change a little as the math is finalized.For decades, U.S. life expectancy rose a little nearly every year. But about a decade ago, the trend flattened and even declined some years — a stall blamed largely on overdose deaths and suicides.Then came the coro...

Ward 1 residents voice concerns about crime to DC police, city leaders

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

Troubled by the city’s violent crime, Ward 1 residents gathered Tuesday night for a town hall-style meeting with D.C. police Chief Pamela Smith.Smith told residents meeting at 8th and Florida Avenue NW that the department is working diligently to hire more officers as residents voiced support for anti-crime measures recently proposed by Mayor Muriel Bowser.“We are mad. We are scared in this community. There was a murder in our building just 10 days ago. A woman was shot in the face across the street on Saturday,” said Tarak Shah, who lives near 8th and V streets NW, in an interview with WTOP. “There was a gangland-style shooting in LeDroit Park this weekend. What are the police and the council doing about that? And we didn’t hear a lot of answers tonight.”The D.C. Council’s Judiciary and Public Safety Committee will be holding a public hearing Wednesday on Mayor Bowser’s Addressing Crime Trends Now Act (ACT Now) bill. The mayor says th...

NATO vows to stick with Ukraine ‘as long as it takes’

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

BRUSSELS — NATO’s foreign ministers Wednesday agreed to step up work with Ukraine on a wide range of security issues, in a bid to show solidarity amid distractions from the war between Israel and Hamas.In a statement, NATO allies vowed to “remain steadfast in their commitment to further step up political and practical support to Ukraine” and said they “will continue their support for as long as it takes,” after a meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Brussels. “We are increasing our interoperability with NATO,” Kuleba said, ahead of the first foreign ministerial-level NATO-Ukraine Council meeting. “We are pretty much becoming a de facto NATO army, in terms of our technical capacity, management approaches and principles of running an army.”According to the NATO statement, the alliance and Ukraine “are already working and taking decisions together, as equals, on a broad range of issues, including interoper...

EU’s von der Leyen urges youth to reverse Brexit

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

The U.K. is on a clear “direction of travel” toward rejoining the EU, the president of the European Commission said — as she urged young people to reverse Britain’s departure.Ursula von der Leyen said she had told her children that it was up to the next generation to “fix” the mistake of Brexit.Asked during an interview at the POLITICO 28 awards in Brussels on Tuesday night whether Britain could ever rejoin the EU, von der Leyen said: “I must say, I keep telling my children: ‘You have to fix it. We goofed it up, you have to fix it.’ So I think here too, the direction of travel — my personal opinion — is clear.”Von der Leyen described the Windsor Agreement on Northern Ireland, struck between Brussels and London earlier this year, as “a new beginning for old friends.”Polling consistently shows a majority of voters in the U.K. would back rejoining the EU if asked to do so at a referendum. The latest survey by Deltapoll p...

Melania Trump takes her place in the former first ladies club with Rosalynn Carter memorial service appearance

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

(CNN) — Former first lady Melania Trump made a rare public appearance Tuesday as an attendee of the tribute service for Rosalynn Carter in Georgia.The appearance marks Trump stepping into a more traditional former first lady role, as she joined current first lady Jill Biden and former first ladies Michelle Obama, Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton to pay tribute to Carter. It is common for sitting and former first ladies to attend the funerals of former first ladies.During the service Melania Trump sat at the end of the aisle in the front row next to Michelle Obama, who had Laura Bush placed on her other side.Former President Jimmy Carter, President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, second gentleman Doug Emhoff and former President Bill Clinton were also in attendance at Carter’s memorial service.Three former presidents did not attend: Donald Trump, Barack Obama and George W. Bush.Melania Trump has largely avoided the pu...