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Biden says Netanyahu ‘has to change,’ accuses Israel of ‘indiscriminate bombing’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:05 GMT

President Joe Biden on Tuesday warned Israel that international support for its response to the Oct. 7 attack was beginning to fracture, issuing his bluntest public critique yet of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the conflict.Speaking at a closed-door fundraiser in Washington, Biden said that U.S. and European support for Israel was softening in the wake of “indiscriminate bombing.” He also said Netanyahu “has got a tough decision to make” when it comes to his own government, which the president described as the “most conservative” in Israel’s history.“I think he has to change,” Biden said, but the “government in Israel is making it very difficult for him to move.”Biden suggested that any sort of long-term solution would not be feasible with Israel’s current government, pointing out that its conservative factions opposed anything “remotely approaching a two-state solution.”The president’s comments were vague on details. But the context was unmistakably critical. At o...

Newly-obtained surveillance video shows 2022 chainsaw attack in Cohasset

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:05 GMT

Newly-obtained video shows the moment a chainsaw attack unfolded at a police station in Cohasset last year, showing a man entering the police station and cutting into a door. The incident happened on Dec. 18, 2022. New video, though, comes on the heels of a guilty plea in the case and shows the moment when local landscaper Brian Buckley initially drove his dump truck onto the police station’s front lawn. In video, Buckley is seen cutting up a cardboard box which had been delivered to an employee. He is then seen barging into the police station foyer where he begins to cut away at a steel security door. A freighted civilian was working the reception desk at the time of the incident and locked herself in an office, according to Cohasset police Lt. Michael Lopes.“That’s what really hits me in this,” Lopes said. “I really feel for her. I’m sure it was a very traumatizing experience for her.”Lopes said the person working at the reception desk has since left the department. “Tha...

ImprovBoston is closing after 40 years of laughter at Cambridge theater: ‘This is incredibly difficult’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:05 GMT

ImprovBoston will soon be dimming its lights for the final time.After a 40-year run of laughter at the Cambridge comedy theater, ImprovBoston has announced that it’s shutting its doors at the end of the year. The Board of Directors is winding down all operations amid fiscal challenges for the nonprofit.The Central Square staple tried to reemerge post pandemic, with the National Touring Company performing all over New England, and a regular roster of classes each and every week. The organization said it will fulfill all remaining contracts and classes, all staff will be released, and the theater plans on evaluating all options during the remainder of the year.“This is incredibly difficult,” Managing Director Matt Laidlaw said in a statement. “Everyone at ImprovBoston worked extremely hard over these last three years to keep our doors open — from Leadership to our Touring Company, Instructors, Techs, Staff, Ensemble Members, volunteers and students.“...

Crime Briefs: 2 men indicted on Dorchester shooting that left 5 people wounded

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:05 GMT

Two men have been indicted for their alleged roles in a Dorchester shooting last summer that left five people, including two children, wounded.A Suffolk county grand jury on Tuesday indicted Gianni Williams-Johnson, 24, of Dorchester, and Micah Ennis, 24, of South Boston, on five counts of armed assault with intent to murder, four counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, as well as single counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury and unlawful possession of firearms. Williams-Johnson was also indicted on a charge of unlawful possession of a machine gun.The serious charges stem from the Sept. 17 shooting at an apartment complex on the first block of Ames Street. in Dorchester. Police responded there, according to previous Herald reporting, a little before 8:40 p.m. and found three adults and two juveniles suffering from gunshot wounds in a courtyard toward the rear of the building.Williams-Johnson was arrested on Oct. 2 and has b...

Red Sox will meet with top free agent pitcher this week

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:05 GMT

The Red Sox will meet with Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the coming days, MLB’s Mark Feinsand reports.With Shohei Ohtani signed to his record-breaking $700 million Los Angeles Dodgers contract, Yamamoto is the biggest star on the free agent market. He’s also one of the most promising talents to hit the posting system, coming off his third consecutive MVP and Sawamura Awards (their Cy Young equivalent) season in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league.Boston has been linked to Yamamoto throughout the offseason and scouted him in Japan this summer. They also have a potential advantage on their roster; he and Masataka Yoshida were longtime teammates on the Orix Buffaloes. They also played together on Team Japan, and took home the gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. The Red Sox outfielder classified their relationship as a “close” one to the Herald in September.However, the Toronto Blue Jays will also be meeting with Yamamoto this week, and after losing t...

Feds take step toward requiring drunk-proof cars

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:05 GMT

DETROIT — U.S. auto safety regulators say they have taken the first step toward requiring devices in vehicles that prevent drunk or impaired driving.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced on Tuesday that it is starting the process to put a new federal safety standard in place requiring the technology in all new passenger vehicles.Such devices were required in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that was passed by Congress in 2021.The agency says an advance notice of proposed rule making will help it gather information about the state of technology to detect impaired driving. The regulation would set standards for the devices once technology is mature, NHTSA said in a statement.It can take years for a regulation to make its way through the process, which includes public comment periods.In 2021, the latest year for which statistics are available, nearly 13,400 people were killed in drunken driving crashes, costing society $280 billion in medical expenses, lost wage...

Florida fines high school for allowing transgender student to play girls volleyball

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:05 GMT

By TERRY SPENCER (Associated Press)FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Florida’s state athletic board fined a high school and put it on probation Tuesday after a transgender student played on the girls volleyball team, a violation of a controversial law enacted by Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Legislature. The Florida High School Athletic Association fined Monarch High $16,500, ordered the principal and athletic director to attend rules seminars and placed the suburban Fort Lauderdale school on probation for 11 months, meaning further violations could lead to increased punishments. The association also barred the girl from participating in boys sports for 11 months. The 2021 law, which supporters named “The Fairness in Women’s Sports Act,” bars transgender girls and women from playing on public school teams intended for student athletes identified as girls at birth. The student, a 10th grader who played in 33 matches over the last two seasons, was removed from the...

Red Sox bid for naught: Seth Lugo signs with Royals

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:05 GMT

A Red Sox pitching target is officially off the board.On Tuesday afternoon, MLB.com’s Anne Rogers broke the news that Seth Lugo is signing a three-year, $45 million contract with the Kansas City Royals. The deal pays him $15M per year with a player opt-out after two seasons.The Red Sox were not only one of several teams interested in Lugo – insider Robert Murray reported that more than half the league had checked in on the reliever-turned-starter – but actually made him an offer. The Herald confirmed that Boston was planning to take that step last week.  According to MassLive’s Chris Cotillo, the Red Sox were one of the “top four bidders” for the righty, but it’s unclear if they were willing to go as long as three years.Lugo spent the bulk of his first seven Major League seasons in the New York Mets bullpen, with sporadic starts, but proved himself in San Diego’s rotation this year. He made 26 starts for the Padres, and posted a 3.57 ERA, 3.83 FIP...

With Ukraine aid in peril, Zelenskyy meets with Biden and pleads his case on Capitol Hill

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:05 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — His country's future at stake, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy used inspirational words, optimistic resolve and a nod to Christmas in appealing Tuesday to leaders in Congress for U.S. aid for his fighters in the war with Russia.But after hours of talks on Capitol Hill, additional American support appeared in grave doubt as Zelenskyy arrived at the White House to huddle with President Joe Biden. The U.S. has already provided Ukraine $111 billion since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his grinding invasion more than 21 months ago, but Republicans are insisting on linking any more money to strict U.S.-Mexico border security changes that Democrats decry.The White House is warning that if new money isn't provided by year's end it will have swift consequences for Ukraine's capacity to hold its territory, let alone take back land captured by Russia. Zelensky arrives at White House after failing to sway Republ...

Vancouver police arrest man after claim of gun in Ibrahim Ali murder trial courtroom

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:05 GMT

Vancouver Police say a man was arrested after lawyers for Ibrahim Ali said someone brought a loaded gun to the final day of their client’s trial last week, where he was convicted of murdering a 13-year-old girl.Vancouver Police spokesman Sgt. Steve Addison says in a statement the man was released pending further investigations.Lawyer Kevin McCullough said in an interview Monday that Victoria Police told him someone close to the proceedings brought a loaded Glock handgun to court with an intention “to kill” on Friday.McCullough has filed notice of appeal against his client’s conviction for first-degree murder in the killing of the girl in Burnaby’s Central Park in 2017.The notice of appeal filed Monday lists 25 grounds, including that the court didn’t properly address safety concerns about death threats against Ali’s lawyers, and that there were “third party suspects” in the girl’s death.McCullough says two other men were ar...