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Opinion: U.S. should use leverage with Israel to minimize Gaza toll

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:07:21 GMT

We cannot ignore the mounting civilian death toll in Gaza. The victims are not abstractions, nor are they the inevitable collateral damage of a just war. They are the result of choices Israeli leadership has made on how to pursue this just war.To be sure, Hamas holds primary responsibility for this war and its casualties, having committed the horrific atrocities on Oct. 7 that provoked Israel’s response. Hamas also puts civilians in harm’s way by placing operations and facilities amid critical civilian infrastructure — which is a war crime.But as an American citizen and U.S. foreign policy professional, my question is: What can the United States do to mitigate civilian harm and help secure peace?The U.S. government has and must continue to condemn the acts of Hamas. But America’s leverage is over Israel, so that is where it can make a difference in this war.Principal weapons supplierThe United States has no relationship with Hamas, having designated it a terrorist organization since...

Monarch butterfly numbers down again, but no reason to panic … yet

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:07:21 GMT

PACIFIC GROVE — Monarch butterfly numbers are down this year entering prime counting season, but experts aren’t panicking yet.“Butterfly populations are bouncy,” said Isis Howard, an endangered species conservation biologist at the Xerces Society. “The monarch butterfly life cycle is unique in that they have multiple generations present at one time. The super generation’s success is reliant on the previous generation’s success.”And with last year’s winter storms, she says it likely impacted the breeding population of monarchs, hence the lower numbers. Animals can behave differently year after year, meaning there may be more on the way. “It’s a little early to tell. There might always be a late wave of monarchs.”The western monarch butterfly is the species that earned Pacific Grove the name of Butterfly Town, U.S.A. Unlike the eastern monarch butterfly, they migrate between northern states like Washington, Oregon, and Idaho before coming to roost in temperate California for the winte...

Top 15 Thanksgiving movies and TV episodes to watch

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:07:21 GMT

Some entertainment seekers put as much thought into their Thanksgiving-related viewing as they do their holiday meals.Related ArticlesTV Streaming | ‘The Crown’ review: The death of Princess Diana opens the Netflix series’ final season TV Streaming | What time are the 2023 Latin Grammys? TV Streaming | Photos: Ex-‘RHOC’ Elizabeth Lyn Vargas lists renovated California estate for $9 million TV Streaming | How to watch tonight’s San Jose Sharks-Florida Panthers game TV Streaming | The actors strike is over — what now? A morning parade appetizer is followed by football gluttony.Others simply count down the minutes until it’s societally acceptable to watch “Love Actually,” “Die Hard” or some other Christmas classic.In part, it’s because there are nowhere near as many great movies or TV episodes that deal with Thanksgiving as there are for its December counterpart with a better marketing team. Sure, you ...

California restaurant worker pleads not guilty to killing woman with a fire extinguisher

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:07:21 GMT

A 26-year-old Laguna Beach restaurant employee accused of using a fire extinguisher to kill a woman who worked at another eatery in the city pleaded not guilty on Monday morning, Nov. 20, to a special-circumstances murder charge.Dino Fabrizio Rojas-Moreno, 26. was arrested as a suspect in connection with the murder of Tatum Goodwin in Laguna Beach. (Photo courtesy Laguna Beach Police Department) During a brief hearing in a Santa Ana courtroom, a lawyer entered a not guilty plea on behalf of Dino Fabrizio Rojas-Moreno, who is facing a first-degree murder charge as well as enhancements for the use of a deadly weapon and for murder during the commission of another crime — an alleged kidnapping — related to the slaying of Tatum Lee Goodwin, 27.Rojas-Moreno spoke only a few words, when asked by Orange County Superior Court Judge Andre Manssourian to confirm his date of birth and to make sure he agreed to set his next pretrial hearing for Jan. 30. The judge ordered Rojas-Moreno to re...

More free home Covid-19 tests available for order

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:07:21 GMT

US households are now eligible to order an additional four at-home Covid-19 tests — free of cost — through the government.As of Monday, residential households in the US can submit an order through Covidtests.gov for four individual rapid antigen COVID-19 tests. Orders will start to ship on Nov. 27, according to USPS. People without an internet connection can call 1-800-232-0233 (TTY 1-888-720-7489) to request tests.The US government had suspended the rapid test distribution program earlier in May, then reopened it in September. Residents who haven’t placed an order since the program reopened can place two orders, which will provide eight tests in total, according to USPS.Covid-19 rapid tests can be taken at home and can be used regardless of whether someone has symptoms. The tests should work through the end of the year; some of the dates on the tests may show that they are expired, but the US Food and Drug Administration has extended those dates.The US Centers for Disease Control a...

California man charged with filming himself kill homeless man during jog

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:07:21 GMT

A 68-year-old Garden Grove man has been charged with voluntary manslaughter after prosecutors allege he filmed himself shooting and killing a homeless man while out on a weekday afternoon jog.Craig Sumner Elliott, a Garden Grove resident, is also facing a sentencing enhancement for the personal use of a firearm — for which he apparently had a concealed carry permit — related to the the Sept. 28 killing of 30-year-old Antonio Garcia Avalos, authorities said Monday.Elliott was jogging around 3 p.m. with his two dogs while using a pushcart in the 10400 block of Katella Avenue, prosecutors say, when he encountered Avalos sleeping in the middle of the sidewalk.Elliott nudged Avalos with the pushcart to wake him up, prosecutors allege, at which point Avalos awoke and began yelling at Elliott to get away from him.Elliott grabbed a handgun from his pushcart, prosecutors say, and began filming the encounter. Elliott at the time had an active concealed carry permit issued by the Orange County...

No more Thanksgiving ‘food orgy’? Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro change how users think of the big meal

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:07:21 GMT

By JONEL ALECCIA | AP Health WriterFor most of her life, Claudia Stearns dreaded Thanksgiving. As a person who struggled with obesity since childhood, Stearns hated the annual turmoil of obsessing about what she ate — and the guilt of overindulging on a holiday built around food.Now, after losing nearly 100 pounds using medications including Wegovy, a powerful new anti-obesity drug, Stearns says the “food noise” in her head has gone very, very quiet.“Last year, it felt so lovely to just be able to enjoy my meal, to focus on being with friends and family, to focus on the joy of the day,” says Stearns, 65, of Somerville, Massachusetts. “That was a whole new experience.”As millions of Americans struggling with obesity gain access to a new generation of weight-loss drugs, Stearns’ experience is becoming more common — and more noticeable at the times of year when cooking, eating and a sense of abundance can define and heighten gatherings of loved ones and friends. Medical experts and con...

20-year-old California driver doing donuts at intersection dies in crash, sheriff says

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:07:21 GMT

A 20-year-old man who authorities say was doing donuts in an SUV at a Perris intersection died early Saturday, Nov. 18, when the vehicle overturned.Deputies and medics responded to the intersection of Indian and Placentia avenues around 12:54 a.m. and found a 2023 Jeep Rubicon on its roof. Deputies attempted to revive Angel Zamora of Perris, but Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire paramedics pronounced him dead.“Preliminary findings reflect the vehicle was performing donuts in the intersection … when it lost control and rolled over onto the rooftop,” a sheriff’s news release said. “It is unknown if alcohol or drugs were a factor in this incident. This investigation is ongoing.”An undated Google Maps image from the intersection shows several circular skid marks.Investigators ask anyone with information on the crash to call Deputy Jess Kiebach at 951-210-1000.

Douthat: Nikki Haley is having her primary moment

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:07:21 GMT

It’s time to admit that I underestimated Nikki Haley.When she began her presidential campaign, she seemed caught betwixt and between: too much of a throwback to pre-Trump conservatism to challenge Ron DeSantis for the leadership of a Trumpified party, but also too entangled with Donald Trump after her service in his administration to offer the fresh start that anti-Trump Republicans would be seeking.If you wanted someone to attack Trump head-on with relish, Chris Christie was probably your guy. If you wanted someone with pre-Trump Republican politics but without much Trump-era baggage, Tim Scott seemed like the fresher face.But now Scott is gone, Christie has a modest New Hampshire constituency and not much else, and Haley is having her moment. She’s in second place in New Hampshire, tied with DeSantis in the most recent Des Moines Register-led poll in Iowa, and leading Joe Biden by more than either DeSantis or Trump in national polls. Big donors are fluttering her way, and there’s ...

Al-Shifa Hospital, Hamas’s Tunnels, and Israeli Propaganda

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:07:21 GMT

As the death toll in Gaza surpasses 13,000 Palestinians, including more than 5,500 children, the Israel Defense Forces propaganda machine has sought to use Al-Shifa Hospital as its main exhibit in justifying the unjustifiable. It is clear that the Israeli strategy centers on a belief that if the IDF can convince the world that Hamas used the hospital as a base of military operations, all of the carpet bombing — the attacks on refugee camps, schools, and hospitals — will retroactively be viewed as just acts of war against a terrorist enemy.Both Israel and the White House, including President Joe Biden personally, have staked their credibility on the claim that there is a massive smoking gun lying below Al-Shifa Hospital. The U.S. said publicly it was not relying exclusively on Israel to back up its own assertions. Leaving aside the fact that both the U.S. and Israel have track records as long as the Gaza strip of lying about the alleged crimes of their adversaries, the key question i...