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Secret U.S. War in Lebanon Is Tinder for Escalation of Israel–Gaza Conflict

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:48 GMT

The State Department urged U.S. citizens to leave Lebanon on Sunday “due to the unpredictable security situation.” The warning followed clashes between protesters and Lebanese security forces in a Beirut suburb near the U.S. Embassy after hundreds of Palestinians were killed last week in a blast at Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza. The unrest seems to confirm the fears of almost eight in 10 Americans that the war between Israel and Hamas will lead to a broader conflict in the Middle East.But few Americans realize that the United States has long been embroiled in a wider war in Lebanon, and that U.S. forces may be a target there, as well. The U.S. has, over decades, poured billions of dollars in security assistance into Lebanon and conducted counterterrorism efforts against Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Shia group with political and military wings. Lebanon’s dominant political and military force, Hezbollah has long been designated a terrorist organization by the U.S.In the shadow of that co...

Family, friends, colleagues bid farewell to Philadelphia officer killed in airport garage shooting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:48 GMT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Family, friends and fellow law enforcement officers gathered Tuesday to bid farewell to a Philadelphia police officer killed in an airport parking garage shooting that also wounded another officer earlier this month.Interim Police Commissioner John Stanford announced Tuesday at the service at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Philadelphia that slain officer Richard Mendez had been posthumously promoted to sergeant and awarded several medals.Mendez and Officer Raul Ortiz had just started their shift around 11 p.m. on Oct. 12 when they heard breaking glass and saw several people breaking into a car in the parking lot at Philadelphia International Airport, police said. A confrontation ensued and the two officers and one of the suspects were shot. Mendez, 50, was shot four times and pronounced dead at a hospital, police said. Ortiz was shot once in the arm.Stanford said Mendez was described by family and friends as “a great son, an amazing husband, a...

Lebanese PM visits troops at border with Israel while Saudi Arabia evacuates families of diplomats

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:48 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister Tuesday visited troops deployed near the border with Israel and U.N. peacekeepers, as Saudi Arabia evacuated the families of diplomatic staff because of ongoing clashes between Hezbollah militants and Israeli troops.The Saudi move comes amid rising tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border, where Hezbollah members have been exchanging fire with Israeli troops daily for two weeks.There was no official announcement from Saudi authorities, but the move came days after Saudi Arabia urged its citizens to leave Lebanon immediately. Officials who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations said the Saudi ambassador to Lebanon, Waleed Bukhari, the military attache and other staff members were not with the 65 people leaving Lebanon on Tuesday afternoon.The visit by Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati to the tense southern province was his first since clashes erupted along the border following a surprise attack by the Palesti...

Clemson brings in Syracuse transfer Girard to add scoring punch to deep, experienced team

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:48 GMT

CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — Joe Girard III found out quickly his latest ACC stop wasn’t going to be like his last. The Syracuse transfer recalls getting ready for his first day of class at Clemson and finding fresh-baked cookies outside his door with a note wishing him good luck at school. “I’m not saying you don’t get that in New York, but it was very few (and far) in between,” said Girard, one of the most coveted portal players this past offseason. Girard averaged 16.4 points last season as a senior for the Orange. He joins a Clemson group led by forward PJ Hall, who averaged 15.3 points a game, giving the Tigers two of the ACC’s top returning scorers from last season. Clemson coach Brad Brownell said the 6-foot-2 graduate student guard brings the experience of his four seasons at Syracuse, where doing things the right way on the court was a requirement if you were going to play. Girard made 88 3-pointers, more than anyone at Clemson last year, and has the s...

The Dolphins’ utilization of ‘cheat motion’ takes the NFL by storm

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:48 GMT

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Coach Kyle Shanahan saw the new wrinkle his former assistant Mike McDaniel added to the Miami offense by putting speedster Tyreek Hill in short motion at the snap and immediately added it to the San Francisco offense.The opportunity to give a playmaker a running start was just the type of addition Shanahan wanted for Deebo Samuel and other playmakers on the 49ers offense so he added it his own playbook with the name “cheat motion.” Why that name?“I don’t know. It looks hard to stop people like Tyreek and Deebo and stuff with a running start,” Shanahan said. “That’s usually only in the CFL. So it’s cool to get them running sideways and still find a way to hit it vertically.”The use of pre-snap motion has been on the rise throughout the NFL over the past decade, going from a usage rate of just 37.5% of plays in 2014 to 54.6% so far this season, according to Sportradar.Some of the most proficient and innovative offenses are using it an even higher rate,...

After Final Four run, No. 13 Miami looks to reload and recruited a former rival

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:48 GMT

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — To help reload after last season’s run to the Final Four, Miami coach Jim Larrañaga had to make a couple of recruiting trips into archrival territory.It paid off.Matthew Cleveland — who hit a deep desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer to help Florida State pull off the comeback of the year and beat the Hurricanes in Coral Gables last season — is wearing a Miami uniform now. He will join returning starters Norchad Omier, Nigel Pack and Wooga Poplar for a team that opens the season No. 13 in the AP Top 25.“It was very difficult because I love Florida State, still kind of do love Florida State because I was there for two years,” Cleveland said of his transfer decision. “But I had to do what was best for me in a business decision. I feel like the biggest thing they showed to me is their success with transfers … how much of a jump they make.”Larrañaga and assistant coach Bill Courtney went to Tallahassee twice to court Cleveland. They didn’t actually recruit on Fl...

Quinton de Kock’s century leads South Africa past Bangladesh at the Cricket World Cup

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:48 GMT

MUMBAI, India (AP) — Quinton de Kock blasted his second-highest ODI score as South Africa beat Bangladesh by 149 runs at the Cricket World Cup on Tuesday.De Kock scored 174 runs off only 140 balls, including 15 fours and seven sixes, as the Proteas recorded the third-highest total of the tournament: 382-5 in 50 overs.It was De Kock’s third century in five innings. Heinrich Klaasen followed up his century against England with 90 runs off 49 balls. He smashed two fours and eight sixes.Bangladesh faltered in light of the tall chase and was bowled out for 233 (46.4 overs) with Gerald Coetzee picking 3-62. Marco Jansen took 2-39 in eight overs, while Kagiso Rabada finished with 2-42 as South Africa romped to its fourth win in five games.South Africa moves up to second with eight points, above New Zealand (8 points) due to a higher net run-rate.Mahmudullah’s hundred went in vain — he scored a run-a-ball 111 runs — as Bangladesh sunk to 10th on the table with a poorer run-rate than England...

Leandro Santoro se baja del balotaje y Jorge Macri será el nuevo jefe de Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:48 GMT

(CNN Español) — El candidato a jefe de Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires por Unión por la Patria, Leandro Santoro, confirmó este martes a través de un comunicado que no competirá en la segunda vuelta electoral contra Jorge Macri, de Juntos por el Cambio.A través de un texto difundido en las redes sociales del partido político de la ciudad, explican que la decisión se tomó debido a que “el resultado que obtendrá Jorge Macri estará a muy pocos votos de alcanzar el número establecido por la Constitución de CABA para ser electo jefe de Gobierno”.Leandro Santoro junto a Sergio Massa en el acto de cierre de la campaña por la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. (Matias Baglietto/NurPhoto via Getty Images)Así, desde el espacio afirman que “sería insensato forzar un balotaje”, y que apostarán por concentrar esfuerzos en “defender la democracia frente a la amenaza autoritaria, contribuyendo a que Sergio Massa gane en la Ciudad de Buenos Aires y sea electo president...

You could attract thieves if these types of stickers are on your car

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:48 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Many drivers decorate the outside of their car with fun stickers. Some add their family members in stick figure form, while others show off their honor students. But some stickers can make your car a target for theft. Auto theft is a well-known issue in Colorado, especially at Denver International Airport. Auto theft grew during the pandemic across the country, but thefts rose faster in this state than elsewhere.According to Denver Police Department records, 2023 has seen more auto thefts than ever around the nation’s third-busiest airport. During the first half of the year, January through July, there were 801 auto thefts in the 7-mile radius surrounding the airport. More than a dozen indicted for stealing 59 cars from DIA, other nearby areas Denver also has the third-highest auto theft rate in the country, according to a study from the Common Sense Institute, a free-market think tank and policy analysis group.Now, Colorado State Patrol is asking drivers...

Report: 2022 had the highest record of domestic violence deaths in Colorado

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:48 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — On Monday, the Colorado Attorney General's Office released a report revealing the number of domestic violence deaths in 2022 reached an all-time high.According to the report from the Colorado Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board, the total number of deaths was almost 1.5 times higher than the average number of deaths since data collection started in 2017.This is the second year in a row that Colorado reached a record-high number. Report: 2021 was most deadly year for domestic violence incidents Last year, at least 94 recorded lives were lost in Colorado due to domestic violence. Of this number, 39 were killed by their current or former partner and 22 were collateral victims, which includes six children and two officers.Defining a domestic violence deathThe Colorado Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board uses these factors to determine if a death was caused by domestic violence. Homicides where the victim was the perpetrator's current or former partnerHomicides ...