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Macron hosts Gaza aid conference, urges Israel to protect civilians

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:51 GMT

By Sylvie Corbet | Associated PressPARIS — Western and Arab nations, international agencies and nongovernmental groups stressed the urgent need for aid for Gaza civilians at a Paris conference Thursday, held as the humanitarian crisis in the besieged territory worsens amid Israel’s massive air and ground campaign against Hamas.The gathering ended a few hours before the White House said Israel has agreed to put in place four-hour daily humanitarian pauses in Gaza, starting on Thursday.The French presidency said the participants’ overall pledges topped 1 billion euros ($1.07 billion) in funding, though that included some funds already announced earlier, and stressed that the global amount still remains to be finalized.French President Emmanuel Macron opened the conference with an appeal for Israel to protect civilians, saying that “all lives have equal worth” and urging for pauses in the fighting to allow deliveries of desperately needed aid.“In the immed...

Satellite photos show Israeli push this week into Gaza

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:51 GMT

By Jon Gambrell | Associated PressDUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Israeli troops have pushed into Gaza City along a key coastal road on the Mediterranean Sea as part of their war on Hamas, according to satellite images from earlier this week analyzed on Thursday by The Associated Press.Monday’s images from Planet Labs PBC show a moonscape of impact craters from missile strikes and smoke rising over the northern reaches of Gaza City, the besieged territory’s largest urban zone. The images also show previous positions of Israeli tanks and armored personnel carriers on one of three axes of attack used to cut the city off from the rest of the Gaza Strip.The city has seen hundreds of thousands of people flee it after a month of war since Hamas’ unprecedented Oct. 7 incursion into southern Israel that killed some 1,400 people.That assault sparked a punishing campaign of airstrikes and the Israeli military offensive into the Gaza Strip that has so far killed over 10,500 peo...

85,000 Kaiser Permanente workers ratify contract that’s boosting wages 21%

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:51 GMT

More than 85,000 Kaiser Permanente workers have voted to ratify a new labor contract that will boost wages, promote increased hiring and give front-line healthcare employees a stronger voice on the job.The workers, represented by the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, voted 98.5% in favor of the four-year labor agreement that runs from Oct. 1, 2023 to Sept. 30, 2027. It affects Kaiser employees in facilities across California, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.Kaiser operates three dozen hospitals and more than 500 medical offices throughout California.“This is more than a contract – it signals a new day for frontline healthcare workers and for patient safety across Kaiser facilities,” said Angelica Mateo, a licensed vocational nurse at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center. “When healthcare workers stand shoulder-to-shoulder to fight for our patients and our jobs, we can win.”The contract follows months of tense negotiations and...

Hundreds of apartments may sprout at San Jose site of old DMV office

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:51 GMT

SAN JOSE — The shutdown of a DMV office in San Jose could pave the way for hundreds of homes to sprout on the site, which is near Kelley Park and Spartan Stadium.The preliminary proposal envisions multiple residential buildings that together would contain well over 300 apartments, according to a preliminary proposal on file with San Jose city planners.The housing development would be built at 2222 Senter Road, which is the site of a DMV office that the state government closed in September.The project consists of 372 apartments that would be accommodated within three buildings, according to the preliminary proposal at San Jose City Hall.HC Investment Associates, which is also the property owner, proposed the development.Related ArticlesHousing | Housing project may sprout at big North San Jose office building site Housing | California Forever proposes land exchange near Travis Air Force Base Housing | Affordable homes may be part of hu...

Spanish politician shot in the face in Madrid

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:51 GMT

By Alicia Leon and Joseph Wilson | Associated PressMADRID — Veteran Spanish right-wing politician Alejandro Vidal-Quadras was shot in the face in broad daylight on a central Madrid street on Thursday. His life was not in danger, according to the hospital where he was rushed for treatment.Police said Vidal-Quadras was attacked at around 1:30 p.m. local time near his home and that he was conscious when taken to a hospital by emergency crews. A motive for the shooting wasn’t immediately disclosed.According to Spanish state news agency EFE, police believe the shooter fled the scene on a motorbike, wearing a black helmet.Four hours after the shooting, Madrid’s Gregorio Marañón hospital issued its first public medical report on Vidal-Quadras’ condition. The hospital said the gunshot had fractured his jawbone and that he will undergo surgery. It said he was in stable condition and that his life was not in danger.Vidal-Quadras, 78, was a long-time member of Spain’s c...

Cruise lays offs contract workers following series of setbacks

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:51 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- Driverless ride hailing service Cruise announced Thursday it will be laying off an unspecified number of workers, KRON4 has confirmed. The layoffs are set to impact contract workers employed through third-party vendors and staffing agencies, a Cruise representative told KRON.Contingent workers who will be let go assisted with work that included cleaning, charging and maintaining the AV fleet, and customer support.It was first reported on Wednesday that Cruise layoffs were on the way. According to Forbes, Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt told company executives that layoffs were necessary during an hour-long meeting Monday. Dorsey’s Block, formerly Square, to slash 1,000 jobs That meeting, Forbes reported, was to discuss damage control measures following a series of damaging headlines about the General Motors backed autonomous vehicle service. In San Francisco, there has been a steady stream of incidents involving Cruise vehicles.In October, a Cruise vehicle ran over a ...

David DePape was caught up in conspiracies, defense says

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:51 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — David DePape, the man who is accused of bludgeoning former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband with a hammer, was caught up in conspiracies when he broke into her San Francisco home last year, his defense attorney said at his trial opened Thursday.The attack on then-82-year-old Paul Pelosi in the early hours of Oct. 28, 2022, sent shockwaves through the political world just days before last year’s midterm elections.Defense attorney Jodi Linker said Thursday she won't dispute that her client DePape attacked Paul Pelosi, an encounter caught on police body camera video. Instead, she will argue that he believed “with every ounce of his body" that he was taking action to stop corruption and the abuse of children by politicians and actors.“This is not a ‘whodunit.’ But what the government fails to acknowledge is the ‘whydunit,' and the why matters in this case,” she said.DePape pleaded not guilty to attempted kidnapping of a federal official and assault on ...

Convicted sex offender arrested for child pornography in Redwood City

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:51 GMT

(KRON) -- A convicted sex offender who was having a medical issue was arrested for possession of child pornography Tuesday after firefighters came to his home and saw explicit images on his computer. Members of the Redwood City Fire Department responded to a report of subject having a medical issue on the 1400 block of Kentfield at around 7 p.m. TuesdayAfter trying to contact the resident at the door unsuccessfully, firefighters were given access to the apartment by the apartment manager. Inside, they located 75-year-old Redwood City resident Richard Winkler. He was suffering from a serious but not life-threatening medical issue in his bedroom, according to the Redwood City Police Department. Hollister man arrested in San Jose Cinco de Mayo shooting Firefighters noticed that Winkler had an explicit image of a naked juvenile on his computer screen. They notified the Redwood City Police Department.Redwood City PD officers who responded to the location determined that Winkler was a s...

California-based Z Gallerie closing all stores

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:51 GMT

Z Gallerie, a Los Angeles-based furniture and home goods retailer, has announced that it is closing all its brick-and-mortar stores nationwide.“Thank you for shopping with our store teams over the years, you have inspired us,” the company said in a social media post on Wednesday.The company said its products will continue to be sold online.“Even though our retail stores are closing, our signature Z Gallerie style is available to you, our valued customers, 24/7 via our online channel so you can continue to get lost in the details and turn your home into a work of art.”An image from Z Gallerie's message announcing its closure. Nov. 8, 2023. (Z Gallerie)Z Gallerie has 21 locations in nine states, including five in California.On Oct. 16, it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for a third time citing negative cash flow and mounting debt as high mortgage rates crippled home sales and sapped demand for its products, Bloomberg reported.The company was founded in 1979 as a poster shop...

New Yorkers Voted to Put Environmental Rights in Their Constitution — but the Attorney General is Fighting Back

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:51 GMT

COHOES, N.Y. — In a small city in upstate New York, just a few miles from Albany, the Norlite hazardous waste incinerator sputters and groans. The sound punctures the eerie silence of a deserted public housing complex next door, separated from the plant by only a fence and some railroad tracks. No children play on the jungle gym here anymore, and no families bustle in and out of front doors. Last year, after mounting concern from the community over Norlite’s air emissions, the Cohoes Housing Authority began relocating all residents of the 70-unit Saratoga Sites complex. The city now plans to raze the homes. For more than 30 years, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, or DEC, has attempted to force Norlite to comply with state environmental laws, issuing the plant hundreds of thousands of dollars in penalties. But even dozens of violations dating back to the 1990s have failed to stop Norlite from polluting. Last year, when New York Attorney General Letitia...