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Fraught U.S-Israel ties on display as Knesset reconvenes

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:25:00 GMT

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli lawmakers reconvene Monday after a month-long parliament recess, resuming the fight over a contentious government plan to overhaul the judiciary that has split Israelis and drawn concern from Israel’s most important ally, the United States.The tensions will be on full display when the highest-ranking Republican politician in the U.S., House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, addresses the Knesset later Monday.Israel’s government has portrayed McCarthy’s visit as a nod to bipartisan U.S. support for Israel as it marks 75 years since its creation. Critics say the rare honor given to McCarthy — he’s only the second House speaker to address the Knesset, after Newt Gingrich in 1998 — is a pointed jab at Democratic President Joe Biden. Biden has publicly voiced concern about the legal overhaul and, largely because of it, has so far denied Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a typically customary invitation to the White House after his election win late last year.M...

Millions snap up new Germany-wide public transit ticket

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:25:00 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Public transit companies in Germany say more than 3 million people have already snapped up a new ticket being launched Monday that allows them to use all local and regional trains, buses and metros across the country for 49 euros ($53.90) a month.The new Germany Ticket is intended to encourage people to ditch their cars in favor of more environmentally friendly forms of transportation. It follows on from an experimental 9-euro ‘all you can ride’ ticket that proved to be success last year, but which officials said wasn’t financially viable.The new ticket is considered a revolution in Germany’s fractured public transit system where dozens of regional companies offered myriad different fare options that baffled many travelers.The Germany Ticket will be valid for almost all forms of public transport apart from long-distance intercity trains. Cross-country travel will still be possible using regional trains, significantly reducing costs for some people who used to pay...

Missouri judge to rule on strict trans health care limits

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:25:00 GMT

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri judge is expected to rule Monday on whether a strict, first-of-its-kind rule in the U.S. on gender-affirming health care can take effect, or if the new rules will remain unenforced as a legal challenge seeking to overthrow them plays out in court. The rule, which requires documented gender dysphoria for three years and more than a year of therapy, was scheduled to kick in last Thursday. But transgender Missourians and health care providers sued to block it, claiming Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey sidestepped the GOP-led Legislature and acted beyond his authority in attempting to regulate gender-affirming health care under the state’s consumer-protection laws.St. Louis County Circuit Judge Ellen Ribaudo on Wednesday temporarily delayed the rule’s effective date as she considers blocking its enforcement throughout the court battle. The rule will require people to have experienced an “intense pattern” of documented gender dysphoria for t...

Regional talks on Syria’s fate kick off in Jordanian capital

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:25:00 GMT

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Regional leaders met in Jordan Monday to discuss Syria’s return to the Arab fold and a Jordanian proposal to reach a “political solution” to the Syrian conflict.The talks, attended by the top diplomats of Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Egypt, kicked off with a meeting between Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, followed by a meeting of all the ministers.A Jordanian foreign ministry spokesman said the meeting came as a follow-up to talks with the Arab Gulf countries, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt that were held in Saudi Arabia last month. The spokesman added that those countries aimed to build on their contacts with the Syrian government and discuss a “Jordanian initiative to reach a political solution to the Syrian crisis.”Syria was ostracized by Arab governments over President Bashar Assad’s brutal crackdown on protesters in a 2011 uprising that descended into civil war. However, in recent years, as Assad consolida...

Regulators seize First Republic Bank, third bank to fail in two months

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:25:00 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Regulators seized troubled First Republic Bank early Monday and sold all of its deposits and most of its assets to JPMorgan Chase Bank in a bid to head off further banking turmoil in the U.S.San Francisco-based First Republic is the third midsize bank to fail in two months. It has struggled since the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank and investors and depositors had grown increasingly worried it might not survive because of its high amount of uninsured deposits and exposure to low interest rate loans.The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said early Monday that First Republic Bank’s 84 branches in eight states will reopen as branches of JPMorgan Chase Bank and depositors will have full access to all of their deposits. A guide to the latest banking crisis Regulators worked through the weekend to find a way forward before U.S. stock markets opened. Markets in many parts of the world were closed for May ...

GasBuddy: Albany prices continue to rise

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:25:00 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Average gasoline prices in Albany have risen 1.2 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.73/g on Monday, according to GasBuddy's survey of 546 stations in Albany. Prices in Albany are 24.6 cents per gallon higher than a month ago and stand 56.8 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has fallen 5.3 cents in the last week and stands at $4.07 per gallon. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! According to GasBuddy price reports, the cheapest station in Albany was priced at $3.44/g on Sunday while the most expensive was $3.89/g, a difference of 45.0 cents per gallon. The lowest price in the state yesterday was $2.66/g while the highest was $4.15/g, a difference of $1.49/g.The national average price of gasoline has fallen 6.3 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.58/g today. The national average is up 8.2 cents per gallon from a month ago and stands 59.6 c...

Siena Men's Tennis brings home first MAAC title

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:25:00 GMT

LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- The Siena Men's Tennis team won the MAAC tournament championship for the first time in program history last weekend. The Saints defeated rival and top-seeded Fairfield to get the job done. Something head coach Jeff Osborn believes no one saw coming. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! “To come into the finals and win it 4-0, I don’t know if anybody would’ve predicted that, but the kids came focused that day, and you could see it right from the start,” Osborn said.The Saints overcame a 0-3 deficit in the semifinals and had to go through Quinnipiac and Fairfield, whom they lost to in the regular season. It's coach Osborns second title at Siena, and he said the road to get here was not easy."We’ve talked about this for the entire year," said Osborn. "We’ve had both these teams, we lost to both teams earlier in the season and you know we had Fairfield, we wanted Fairfield very badly I can tell you that...

Colorado mandates audit of halfway houses for first time in 20 years

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:25:00 GMT

Colorado’s halfway houses will get an independent financial audit for the first time in 20 years, after a ProPublica investigation found a lack of oversight contributes to a system where more people end up incarcerated than rehabilitated.A new state law directs Colorado’s Division of Criminal Justice to hire a third-party auditor to evaluate the finances of halfway houses every five years, including the costs imposed on residents of the facilities. The findings of the first audits will be presented to lawmakers by July 1, 2025.“The goal is to make sure (halfway house programs) are working the way they were intended and to evaluate if they have the funds to meet those expectations,” state Rep. Emily Sirota, a Denver Democrat who co-sponsored the bill, told ProPublica. “We need the necessary data to assess that.”There are three ways people typically arrive in Colorado’s halfway houses: Some are sentenced by a judge to community corrections in lieu of jail or prison; others are finishi...

Ask Amy: My dad is demanding I tell lies about our family

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:25:00 GMT

Dear Amy: Should I approve a false obituary going out on the internet?My serial cheater elderly dad moved in with his girlfriend (who is my age) and divorced my mom (who was dying of lymphoma).Dad showed up at our mother’s funeral and announced he was engaged to his girlfriend!He has now sent around a copy of an obit that says our mom was survived by her “husband.” He also demanded that I lie about other things.Within months of our mother’s death, he married the girlfriend. None of us kids showed up at the wedding, so they screamed at us. We were told to “straighten up and fly right” and from now on send Mother’s Day cards to her because we now have a new mother.We kids are all adults!I truly feel brain-dead.Should I just shut up and fake all the lies for family unity?GrievingDear Grieving: No. You shouldn’t fake anything.Your father seems to take up a lot of space. I suggest that you let his new wife provide the attention he seems to demand. He is her proble...

Sale closed in San Ramon: $1.8 million for a four-bedroom home

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:25:00 GMT

1151 Arrowfield Way – Google Street ViewA spacious house located in the 1100 block of Arrowfield Way in San Ramon has new owners. The 2,363-square-foot property, built in 2003, was sold on April 13, 2023, for $1,815,000, or $768 per square foot. The property features four bedrooms, three baths, an attached garage, and two parking spaces. It sits on a 5,350-square-foot lot.These nearby houses have also recently been sold:On Allanmere Drive, San Ramon, in June 2022, a 3,223-square-foot home was sold for $2,250,000, a price per square foot of $698. The home has 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms.A 3,223-square-foot home on the 1400 block of Allanmere Drive in San Ramon sold in September 2022, for $2,200,000, a price per square foot of $683. The home has 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.In September 2022, a 3,223-square-foot home on Allanmere Drive in San Ramon sold for $2,129,000, a price per square foot of $661. The home has 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.