General news

• Biden admin sanctions Israel national security minister ally, reportedly weighs expanding to IDF unit

  20-04-2024 23:35 via foxnews.com
  
  The Biden administration could announce sanctions against an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) battalion for alleged human rights violations in the West Bank before the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas-led terrorists, according to reports.Axios reported that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken could announce the sanctions against IDF battalion "Netzah Yehuda" within days, marking the first time the U.S. will have placed sanctions on military units operated by Israel.If sanctions are imposed, the ba
  
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• Erdoğan urges Palestinian unity after meeting Hamas chief

  20-04-2024 22:54 via theguardian.com
  
  Turkish president says recent events between Iran and Israel should not allow Israel to ‘gain ground’ in GazaTurkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan urged Palestinians to unite amid Israel’s war in Gaza following hours-long talks with Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Istanbul on Saturday, his office said.Erdoğan has failed to establish a foothold as a mediator in the Gaza conflict that has roiled the region, with the Hamas-run Palestinian territory bracing for a new Israe
  
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• 5 teens injured in shooting at senior skip day gathering in Maryland park: Police

  20-04-2024 22:06 via abcnews.go.com
  
  Five teenagers were shot after gunfire rang out at a large gathering of high school students taking part in a senior skip day in Maryland, police said.
  
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• ‘Epidemic’ of violence against Aboriginal women in NT is getting worse, exasperated experts warn

  20-04-2024 22:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Despite having Australia’s highest rates of domestic violence, particularly against Indigenous women, the NT only receives about 1% of federal funding, senators hearGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastShe was a domestic and family violence advocate; a leader in her community and the country. But in 2021 Kumarn Rubuntja was murdered by her partner, Malcolm Abbott.“We lost one of our own,” the Tangentyere family violence prevention manager, Dr
  
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• Being Jewish ‘should never be seen as provocative’, says Home Office

  20-04-2024 22:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Statement comes after Met police apologised for calling antisemitism campaigner ‘openly Jewish’Being Jewish “should never be seen as provocative”, the government has said after a row over the policing of a pro-Palestine march.In a video released by Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA), the charity’s chief executive, Gideon Falter, who was wearing a kippah skull cap, was told by a Met officer at a pro-Palestine march last Saturday: “You are quite openly Jewish,
  
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• 10-year-old boy confesses to fatally shooting a man in his sleep 2 years ago, Texas authorities say

  20-04-2024 21:47 via abcnews.go.com
  
  The boy cannot be charged with the crime because of his age at the time.
  
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• US House passes bill that could lead to total TikTok ban

  20-04-2024 21:42 via theguardian.com
  
  Bill – with updated language that extends deadline to a year for ByteDance to divest of TikTok – to go before Senate next weekThe House of Representatives voted 360 to 58 on the updated divest-or-ban bill that could lead to the first time ever that the US government has passed a law to shut down an entire social media platform.The Senate is expected to vote on the bill next week and Joe Biden has said he will sign the legislation. Continue reading...
  
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• Fighting rages at Myanmar’s border with Thailand as rebels target junta troops

  20-04-2024 20:58 via theguardian.com
  
  Thousands of civilians flee as resistance fighters fight to flush out soldiers holed up at eastern bridge border crossing Fighting raged at Myanmar’s eastern border with Thailand on Saturday, both governments said, forcing 3,000 civilians to flee as rebels fought to flush out Myanmar junta troops holed up for days at a bridge border crossing.Resistance fighters and ethnic minority rebels seized the key trading town of Myawaddy on the Myanmar side of the frontier on 11 April, a blow to a we
  
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• House approves $95 billion in aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan

  20-04-2024 20:53 via abcnews.go.com
  
  The House of Representatives on Saturday passed foreign aid bills that included billions in aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
  
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• US House approves $61bn in military aid for Ukraine after months of stalling

  20-04-2024 20:38 via theguardian.com
  
  Ukrainian president thanks America after Speaker Mike Johnson secures bipartisan support for funding Ukraine, Israel and TaiwanAfter months of stalling, the US House of Representatives finally approved more than $61bn worth of military assistance to help Ukraine in its desperate defense against Russia, as well as billions for other allies including Israel and Taiwan.In a bipartisan vote, 210 Democrats and 101 Republicans joined to support Ukraine, with 112 Republicans – a majority of the G
  
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• London police apologize after threatening to arrest ‘openly Jewish’ man near pro-Palestinian protest

  20-04-2024 20:37 via nbcnews.com
  
  London’s police force has been forced to issue two apologies after officers threatened to arrest an “openly Jewish” man if he refused to leave the area around a pro-Palestinian march because his presence risked provoking the demonstrators.
  
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• Strong storms may bring flooding, strong winds to the South this weekend

  20-04-2024 20:27 via abcnews.go.com
  
  A system in the South will bring rounds of heavy rain and thunderstorms across parts of the Gulf Coast states today – including much of Texas.
  
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• ‘Invincibles’: unbeaten girls’ football team win boys’ league

  20-04-2024 20:19 via theguardian.com
  
  Queens Park Ladies under-12s finished top of division three of the Bournemouth Youth Football League with 18 wins, four draws and no defeatsA girls’ football team has won a boys’ league after going unbeaten all season, earning them the “invincibles” title.Queens Park Ladies under-12s finished top of division three of the Bournemouth Youth Football League with 18 wins, four draws and no defeats. Continue reading...
  
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• House passes critical aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan along with a TikTok ban

  20-04-2024 20:05 via nbcnews.com
  
  The House is poised to vote on U.S. aid to Israel and Ukraine, alongside a bill that would force TikTok’s parent company to sell it or be banned in the U.S.
  
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• Labour shifts poll tactics to target fearful Tory over-65s

  20-04-2024 19:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Alarm grows over possible pension cuts as research suggests Jeremy Hunt tax cut announcement was ‘blunder’Labour is to wage a new campaign to win over Tory-supporting pensioners in an attempt to neutralise one of the government’s last remaining electoral strengths, amid evidence the Conservatives are now performing as badly among the age group as they did under Liz Truss’s leadership.With less than a fortnight to go until local elections in England, which some Tories fear
  
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• Sunak has ‘set Britain back’ on net zero, says UK’s climate adviser

  20-04-2024 19:11 via theguardian.com
  
  Chris Stark, head of the Climate Change Committee, says Tories’ decision to dilute key green policies has had huge diplomatic impactRishi Sunak has given up Britain’s reputation as a world leader in the fight against the climate crisis and has “set us back” by failing to prioritise the issue in the way his predecessors in No 10 did, the government’s green adviser has warned.Chris Stark, the outgoing head of the Climate Change Committee (CCC), said that the prime min
  
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• Tesla cuts US prices for 3 of its electric vehicle models after a difficult week

  20-04-2024 19:10 via abcnews.go.com
  
  Tesla knocked $2,000 off the prices of three of its five models in the U.S.
  
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• The US military will begin plans to withdraw troops from Niger

  20-04-2024 18:54 via abcnews.go.com
  
  U.S. officials said that they will begin to withdraw troops from Niger but there is no timeline
  
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• US to withdraw from Niger after security pact fails in strategic victory for Russia

  20-04-2024 18:53 via theguardian.com
  
  Biden administration to rethink counter-terrorism strategy after breakdown of pact allowing US forces on soil to fight jihadistsThe US will withdraw more than 1,000 military personnel from Niger in a move that will force the Biden administration to rethink its counter-terrorism strategy and amounts to a strategic victory for Russia.The decision comes a month after the west African country’s ruling military junta revoked a security pact with Washington that had allowed American forces on it
  
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• 2 mayoral candidates killed in Mexico, bringing the number slain so far to 17

  20-04-2024 18:33 via nbcnews.com
  
  Two mayoral candidates in Mexico were found dead Friday, bringing to 17 the number of contenders slain in the lead-up to the June 2 election.
  
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• Hilary Cass warned of threats to safety after ‘vile’ abuse over NHS gender services review

  20-04-2024 18:30 via theguardian.com
  
  The paediatrician, who has been advised to stop using public transport, describes ‘straight disinformation’ about report The doctor behind a landmark review of the NHS’s gender identity services for children and young people has said fears had been raised about her personal safety amid online abuse after the report’s release.Dr Hilary Cass told the Times she wished to address the “disinformation” circulating about the findings and recommendations handed down b
  
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• ‘Sesame Street’ writers set new contract, avert strike

  20-04-2024 18:28 via nbcnews.com
  
  Writers at Sesame Workshop reached a five-year agreement with the production company behind “Sesame Street,” averting the possibility of picket lines popping up in the show’s friendly neighborhood.
  
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• Tennessee teacher arrested after bringing guns to preschool and threatening to shoot colleague

  20-04-2024 18:05 via nbcnews.com
  
  A Tennessee teacher has been arrested after she allegedly threatened to shoot a colleague in the preschool where she worked, police said.
  
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• Artwork commemorating Indigenous Australian history triumphs in Venice

  20-04-2024 17:41 via theguardian.com
  
  Prize for best national participation goes to Archie Moore, who becomes first Australian artist to win itThe artist Archie Moore has won the prestigious Golden Lion for best national participation at the 2024 Venice Biennale – the first time an Australian artwork has won the prize.With this year’s theme of “Stranieri Ovunque – Foreigners Everywhere,” Moore won the award for his artwork, kith and kin, at the Australia Pavilion. The work, which has involved the artist
  
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• Middle East crisis – as it happened: US denies carrying out airstrikes in Iraq after explosion at military base

  20-04-2024 17:38 via theguardian.com
  
  ‘The United States has not conducted air strikes in Iraq today,’ the US military’s Central Command said Paul Scruton, Lucy Swan, Iona Serrapica and Alex Olorenshaw have created a visual guide to Friday’s events in Iran via graphics, video and satellite images.You can take a look at it here: Continue reading...
  
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• 10-year-old Texas boy confesses to fatally shooting a man in his sleep two years ago

  20-04-2024 17:36 via nbcnews.com
  
  A 10-year-old Texas boy confessed to fatally shooting a man in his sleep two years ago, according to the Gonzales County Sheriff's Office.
  
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• Gaza death toll passes 34,000 as Israel and Iran missile strikes grab global attention

  20-04-2024 17:31 via theguardian.com
  
  Grim milestone comes as G7 leaders urge Netanyahu not to press ahead with Rafah invasionThe death toll from Israel’s war on Gaza climbed to more than 34,000 on Saturday, with the majority of victims women and children, including at least six killed by an overnight airstrike on a house in Rafah.The latest grim milestone comes as hope of a ceasefire has dimmed, and global attention has shifted to the dangerous exchange of missile and drone strikes between Iran and Israel. Continue reading...
  
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• Israel is fighting on four fronts – but the defeat may come at home

  20-04-2024 17:30 via theguardian.com
  
  The IDF is embroiled in simultaneous conflicts with Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran and in the West Bank – but hadn’t reckoned on the social and political divisions this would causeYoav Gallant, Israel’s defence minister, described the conflict Israel was engaged in as a “multi-front war” earlier this month.Israeli forces were fighting Hamas inside Gaza and engaged in daily exchanges of fire with Hezbollah on the northern border with Lebanon. A low-level conflict, mainly
  
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• Radical Iranian province hit by Israel highlights regime's weaknesses

  20-04-2024 17:18 via foxnews.com
  
  JERUSALEM - Just a week ago, some residents of Iran’s central province of Isfahan - a nuclear weapon and missile production hub of the Islamic Republic - cheered the Iranian rockets fired into Israel.In the early-morning hours of Friday, the Isfahan authorities were jolted by Israeli strikes that triggered their air defense systems in the cities of Isfahan and Tabriz after three explosions went off near an important military airbase close to Isfahan. It is unclear how much damage Isra
  
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• Congress passes bill that could unlock billions in frozen Russian assets for Ukraine

  20-04-2024 17:15 via nbcnews.com
  
  The House passed a foreign aid package on Saturday as well as what's called the REPO Act that will allow the Biden administration to confiscate billions of dollars’ worth of Russian assets sitting in U.S. banks and transfer them to Ukraine for reconstruction.
  
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• ‘You can’t rule out a complete panicked meltdown’: Tories fear wipeout after another disastrous week

  20-04-2024 16:51 via theguardian.com
  
  Infighting, suspensions and bizarre allegations have dogged efforts torestore order as the party prepares for May’s byelectionsLess than two weeks before local elections that some senior Tories fear could unleash another party meltdown and an attempted putsch against Rishi Sunak’s leadership, Downing Street had hoped that Friday’s prime ministerial speech on the weighty issue of welfare reform might finally begin to restore the party’s reputation for competent governance.
  
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• Tens of thousands protest against Canary Islands’ ‘unsustainable’ tourism model

  20-04-2024 16:32 via theguardian.com
  
  Organisers say 50,000 turn out to call for limit on tourist numbers, saying model makes life unaffordable and puts strain on resourcesTens of thousands of people are protesting across the Canary Islands to call for an urgent rethink of the Spanish archipelago’s tourism strategy and a freeze on visitor numbers, arguing that the decades-old model has made life unaffordable and environmentally unsustainable for residents.The protests, which are taking place under the banner “Canarias ti
  
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• US House to vote on long-delayed foreign aid bills – including Ukraine support

  20-04-2024 15:47 via theguardian.com
  
  Ukraine aid component threatens to throw the Republican party into disarray – and endangers the speakership of Mike JohnsonThe US House of Representatives will finally vote on Saturday on a series of foreign aid bills, bringing an end to a months-long standoff in Congress led mostly by Republicans who refuse to support funding Ukraine’s ongoing military defense against Russia’s invasion.House members will hold separate votes on four bills that represent $95bn in funding altoget
  
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• Man dies after setting himself on fire outside courthouse where Trump is on trial

  20-04-2024 15:26 via abcnews.go.com
  
  The man, Maxwell Azzarello, was badly burned and taken to a hospital in critical condition, officials said, but he later died from his injuries.
  
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• Republicans erupt into open warfare over Ukraine aid package vote

  20-04-2024 15:14 via theguardian.com
  
  As the speaker of the House finally allows a vote to go forward on aid, GOP infighting is tearing apart the partyRepublican divisions over military support for Ukraine were long simmering. Now, before Saturday’s extraordinary vote in Congress on a foreign aid package, they have erupted into open warfare – a conflict that the vote itself is unlikely to contain.Mike Johnson, the speaker of the House of Representatives, triggered an all-out split in his own party’s ranks last week
  
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• Asian Americans reflect on how ‘Harold & Kumar’ helped weed out stereotypes

  20-04-2024 14:45 via nbcnews.com
  
  This year marks the 20th anniversary of stoner comedy “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle” lighting up theaters across the country, but with two Asian Americans at the center of the munchie-fueled adventure, its impression on many people of Asian descent never faded.
  
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• In a first, London Marathon to award wheelchair and non-disabled athletes equal prize money

  20-04-2024 14:31 via nbcnews.com
  
  In a global first for equality in sports, wheelchair athletes and non-disabled runners participating in the London Marathon will compete for the same prize money.
  
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• Iranian foreign minister dismisses Israeli strike as 'toys,' says there'll be no retaliation

  20-04-2024 14:03 via foxnews.com
  
  Iran's top foreign affairs official dismissed weapons launched against the country by neighboring Israel as "toys" and said there was no plan to retaliate.Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian downplayed the Israeli strike during an interview on Friday, hours after the impact."What happened last night wasn’t a strike," Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told NBC News. "They were more like toys that our children play with — not drones."IRANIAN PRESIDENT MAKES NO MEN
  
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• Two imprisoned Georgia men say they were wrongly convicted, and blame a single informant

  20-04-2024 14:00 via nbcnews.com
  
  Sonny Bharadia and Erik Heard are serving life sentences in Georgia for different crimes. Both say Sterling Flint wrongly incriminated them.
  
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• From stare-downs to shut-eye: Trump’s every move in criminal trial under the microscope

  20-04-2024 14:00 via nbcnews.com
  
  But behind every scowl, whisper or even yawn, Trump’s team sees a clear message the presumptive GOP nominee has the opportunity to get across: Defiance.
  
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• Daring, audacious – but who did it? LA $30m cash heist has it all except clues

  20-04-2024 14:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The robbery from a GardaWorld warehouse on Easter Sunday was like something from a movie – and police appear to be puzzled by how it went downIt was a Tinseltown heist that belonged in a movie.A gang of audacious thieves struck at night, dodged security measures like ghosts in the night and disappeared with a staggering $30m in cash in a record-breaking robbery that played out for real on Los Angeles’s streets, not the fevered script of a thriller writer. Continue reading...
  
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• Tall flowers, dead shrubs, ephemeral lake: Death Valley has become a picture of climate whiplash

  20-04-2024 13:00 via nbcnews.com
  
  Death Valley has ping ponged between severe drought and record rainfall, giving rise to extra-tall wildflowers, an ephemeral lake and dead bushes.
  
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• ‘Media firestorm’: Israel protest at professor’s home sparks heated free-speech debate

  20-04-2024 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Pro-Palestinian students interrupted a dinner held by a top free speech defender at Berkeley. A polarized and very public controversy has followedDuring a dinner for students that the dean of the University of California, Berkeley law school held in his house’s backyard earlier this month, a woman wearing a hijab and checkered Palestinian scarf suddenly stood up with a microphone and amplifier. What followed lasted only a couple of minutes, but has led to a fierce debate about the limits o
  
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• Tory MP from slave-owning family set to gain £3m from sale of former plantation

  20-04-2024 12:25 via theguardian.com
  
  Caribbean historians want Richard Drax to pay reparations – but now Barbados plans to buy his land for homesThe Conservative MP under fire for his ancestors’ role in Caribbean slavery is in line for a multimillion-pound payout from the Barbados government.Despite threats to make Richard Drax pay reparations and seize his family’s plantation – described by one historian as a “killing field” of enslaved Africans – the government is now planning to pay mark
  
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• Women run 80% of US elections – but are targets of misogyny-laced threats

  20-04-2024 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Threats lean toward sexual or domestic violence, attacks on their families and criticisms that they can’t do their jobsCarly Koppes kept her pregnancy hidden from the public as long as she possibly could, fearing the potential harassment that could come from those who frequently attack the Republican elections clerk.When Koppes, who runs elections in Weld county, Colorado, did media interviews, she asked the people behind the camera to position her so her growing belly wasn’t visible
  
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• Ukraine's 1-ton payload drones can help retake Crimea as Kyiv seeks to destroy bridge: report

  20-04-2024 12:00 via foxnews.com
  
  Ukraine has started mass-producing two sea drones capable of carrying up to one ton of explosives as the military sets its sights on retaking Crimea, a crown jewel in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ambitions for the neighboring country. "These are already new generations of drones, on the improvement of which the team of SBU specialists worked and continues to work together with other members of the Security and Defense Forces," Artem Dekhtiarenko, a spokesperson for Ukraine&rsquo
  
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• Melania Trump to hit campaign trail for husband after early absence

  20-04-2024 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The enigmatic former first lady to appear at fundraiser on Saturday, marking a return to her husband’s side as he seeks re-electionHer biggest fashion statement as first lady was a green jacket emblazoned with the words “I really don’t care, do u?” More recently, Melania Trump has given the impression that she doesn’t care whether her husband, Donald, returns to the White House. That is about to change.On Saturday Melania, 53, will appear at a fundraiser at Trump&rs
  
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• ‘It bust loose and went to Europe’: Florida buoy washes up in Scotland

  20-04-2024 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Navigation buoy sails 4,000 miles across Atlantic, joining storied history of wrecks upon shores of tiny Scottish island of EriskayFrom Bonnie Prince Charlie’s ill-fated 1745 landing, to the shipwreck of a whisky-laden cargo freighter two centuries later that inspired a bestselling novel and blockbuster movie, the tiny Scottish island of Eriskay has a rich and outsized history of notable maritime events.Now, the arrival of a visitor from Florida following a 4,000-mile solo voyage across th
  
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• Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza city of Rafah kills at least 9 Palestinians, including 6 children

  20-04-2024 11:55 via nbcnews.com
  
  An Israeli airstrike on a house in Gaza’s southernmost city killed at least nine people, six of them children, hospital authorities said Saturday, as Israel pursued its nearly seven-month offensive in the besieged Palestinian territory.
  
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• Georgia man sentenced 30 years after 'horrific' beating of his 2 toddlers for messy bedroom

  20-04-2024 11:45 via foxnews.com
  
  A Georgia man was sentenced to three decades in prison for brutally beating his two children — a two-year-old son and three-year-old daughter — for making a mess in their bedroom.Dillan Michael Tennant, 24, was sentenced to 30 years in prison, with the first half without the possibility of parole, by Catoosa County Superior Court Judge Chris Arnt. This comes after Tennant was convicted last month on two counts of cruelty to children in the first degree.During the trial, prosecutors s
  
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