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Powerful pro-Israel political group targets the liberal ‘Squad’ and Ayanna Pressley

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:58:31 GMT

A powerful pro-Israel lobbying group is reportedly spending $100 million to remove the “Squad,” the super liberal cohort that includes Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Massachusetts’ Ayanna Pressley, from Congress next year.The bid by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), reported first by Slate, is the most audacious move yet to target elected officials who strongly oppose Israel’s war against Hamas in response to the terror group’s surprise attack on the country last month.Pressley and the seven-member Squad are firmly ensconced in liberal Democratic territory and getting them knocked out won’t be easy.Several members of the Squad, including Reps. Cori Bush, Jamaal Bowman, Summer Lee and Ilhan Omar, already face Democratic opposition in next fall’s primary.But there has been no reported interest in another Democrat challenging Pressley, the Boston congresswoman who herself ousted longtime Democratic incumbent Michael Capuano to win her seat.Pressley’s 7th District incl...

IBM and EU pull ads from Elon Musk’s X over concerns about antisemitism

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:58:31 GMT

Advertisers are fleeing social media platform X, formerly Twitter, over concerns about their ads showing up next to pro-Nazi content and hate speech on the site in general, with billionaire owner Elon Musk inflaming tensions with his own tweets endorsing an antisemitic conspiracy theory.IBM said this week that it stopped advertising on X after a report said its ads were appearing alongside material praising Nazis — a fresh setback as the platform formerly known as Twitter tries to win back big brands and their ad dollars, X’s main source of revenue.The liberal advocacy group Media Matters said in a report Thursday that ads from Apple, Oracle, NBCUniversal’s Bravo network and Comcast also were placed next to antisemitic material on X.“IBM has zero tolerance for hate speech and discrimination and we have immediately suspended all advertising on X while we investigate this entirely unacceptable situation,” the company said in a statement.Apple, Oracle, NBCUniversal an...

Marijuana master Snoop Dogg announces he’s giving up smoking

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:58:31 GMT

Karu F. Daniels | New York Daily NewsPot proponent Snoop Dogg is seemingly dropping his obsessive weed habit.The 16-time Grammy-nominated hip-hop star, whose real name is Calvin Broadus, announced on Thursday that he’s giving up smoking.“After much consideration & conversation with my family, I’ve decided to give up smoke. Please respect my privacy at this time,” he posted on Instagram, without offering any more specifics.Snoop, who has his own line of cannabis products, has been a marijuana advocate throughout his 30-year rap career — dating back to his debut on Dr. Dre’s marijuana-themed opus “The Chronic” in 1992.BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA – MAY 03: Snoop Dogg attends the 2023 Milken Institute Global Conference at The Beverly Hilton on May 03, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Jerod Harris/Getty Images)The 52-year-old Long Beach, California, native has notoriously smoked weed in public spaces, and revealed to Howard Stern in 2019 that he even hired a personal ...

Wellesley College faces investigation after antisemitism complaint amid Israel-Hamas war: ‘No support for Zionism’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:58:31 GMT

Wellesley College is facing a federal civil rights investigation in the wake of an antisemitism complaint after dorm RAs wrote that there should be “no support for Zionism” on campus amid the Israel-Hamas war.The Massachusetts college is one of seven schools across the country that the U.S. Department of Education will look into following the rise in reported antisemitism, Islamophobia, and other discrimination on college campuses and in K-12 schools since the Hamas terrorist attacks last month.The federal investigation of Wellesley College comes after residential staff and assistants wrote an explosive email to dorm residents. The RAs wrote, “… there should be no space, no consideration, and no support for Zionism within the Wellesley College community.”Then the U.S. Department of Education was contacted about this email and antisemitism complaint by the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law.“When advised of the email, Wellesley fai...

Shooter kills 1 before being fatally shot by trooper at New Hampshire psychiatric hospital

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:58:31 GMT

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — An armed individual fatally shot one person before being shot and killed by a state trooper Friday in the lobby of a New Hampshire psychiatric hospital, officials said.CPR was performed on the victim, who was transported to Concord Hospital before dying, officials said.At a press conference, police said the shooting was contained to the front lobby and that patients are safe as of late Friday. The state trooper who shot the gunman was not wounded in the attack. The motive of the shooter remains unclear.New Hampshire Hospital, which has roughly 185 beds, is the only state-run psychiatric hospital for adults. It is located in the capital city of Concord, near Concord High School, multiple state agencies and a district courthouse. It’s located on a large campus comprising more than a hundred acres (40.5 hectares) of land.Democratic U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster called the shooting “horrifying” in a statement and asked the public to stay away from t...

Federal safety officials launch probe into Chicago commuter train crash

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:58:31 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — Federal safety officials said Friday they have launched an investigation into a Chicago commuter train crash that injured nearly 40 people but they’re likely more than a year away from releasing any conclusions about what caused the incident.National Transportation Safety Board Chairperson Jennifer Homendy said during a short news conference Friday that a team of seven investigators from her agency has started documenting the scene of the crash. They expect to spend about five days on the scene.The investigators have not reviewed event recorders or video of the incident yet, she said. The agency expects to issue a preliminary report in a matter of weeks, she said, but didn’t specify when. The agency will likely need a year to 18 months to produce a final report with an analysis of what happened, conclusions and recommendations, Homendy said. The Chicago Transit Authority train was heading south from Skokie on Thursday morning when it rear-ended snow-remova...

Guatemalan prosecutors request that President-elect Bernardo Arévalo be stripped of immunity

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:58:31 GMT

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Guatemala’s Attorney General’s office formally requested Friday that President-elect Bernardo Arévalo and others be stripped of their immunity so it can investigate them for allegedly encouraging the student occupation of the country’s only public university.Cultural Heritage prosecutor Ángel Saúl Sánchez had announced on Thursday that he planned to make the request while federal agents executed search warrants and sought to arrest dozens of members of Arévalo’s Seed Movement party.That announcement drew waves of criticism from within and outside Guatemala.Sánchez formally requested that immunity be lifted for Arévalo, Vice President-elect Karin Herrera, three lawmakers and a deputy-elect from the Seed Movement. Stripping them of immunity allows prosecutors to pursue a formal investigation.Among the crimes prosecutors plan to pursue against Arévalo and others in the new case are exploitation of cultural assets, influence peddling and illegal association.In Apri...

Do you know the difference between roommates, subletting and lease assignment?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:58:31 GMT

As per the Rental Tenancies Act (RTA), there are a few ways in which tenants can legally share their rental home or have someone else take it over from them in Ontario, but each is different and governed by a specific set of rules.RoommatesA tenant in Ontario can choose to share their rental home with roommates or move in a partner or spouse with no legal obligation to inform or take permission from the landlord.“The way that I like to frame it generally is it’s frankly none of the landlord’s business who else lives in your unit,” says Don Valley Community Legal Services staff lawyer Karly Wilson.“If you wanna add a tenant to a lease, then you have to obviously communicate that to the landlord because that’s a contract between the two of you. But if it’s just someone moving into the unit and they’re paying rent to you directly, and then you pay it to the landlord, that’s totally fine. As long as you’re not overcrowding the ...

East York brewery moving out of Toronto due to rising costs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:58:31 GMT

An East York brewery said it’s closing it doors in Toronto and moving out of town due to rising costs.Jeff Manol, co-founder of Muddy York Brewing Co. first opened the brewery nine years ago with his wife Susan and now employs eight people.But rising costs have led them to make the decision to move the business out of Toronto to Stouffville.“We were hoping the business would grow, we could gain capital and then eventually buy the building and it stayed out of our reach the whole time. Every time we had enough money, the building [cost] doubled. So it’s triple what it was worth 10 years,” Manol told CityNews.The building has now been conditionally sold, the lease isn’t being renewed. He described leasing another space nearby as “potentially doable” but added lease rates have shot up too and industrial spaces in the size he needs are hard to find. “That would definitely put a strain on what we’re doing. Margins are huge in the craft brewing industry...

2 transgender boys sue after University of Missouri halts gender-affirming care to minors

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:58:31 GMT

Two transgender boys are suing the University of Missouri over its decision to stop providing gender-affirming care to minors over concerns that a new state law could create legal issues for its doctors.The lawsuit, filed Thursday in federal court, alleges that the university is discriminating against the teens based on their diagnoses of gender dysphoria. The new Missouri law, which took effect Aug. 28, outlawed puberty blockers, hormones and gender-affirming surgery for minors. But there are exceptions for youth who were already taking those medications before the law kicked in, allowing them to continue receiving that health care. The suit said that the teens, who are identified only by their initials, should be covered under that “grandfather clause” and allowed to continue receiving treatment. University of Missouri spokesperson Christian Basi said Friday that the four-campus system is reviewing the lawsuit and is not in a position to discuss it. Asked about it Thursday after a...