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Hamas and Israel carry out first swap of hostages and prisoners as Gaza cease-fire begins

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:31:06 GMT

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hamas on Friday released 24 hostages it held captive in Gaza for weeks, and Israel freed 39 Palestinians from prison in the first stage of a swap under a four-day cease-fire that offered a small glimmer of relief to both sides.Israel — wrenched by the abduction of nearly 240 people in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war — cheered as 13 Israeli women and children emerged free from Gaza. Most were in their 70s or 80s, and the youngest was a 2-year-old. Also released were 10 people from Thailand and one from the Philippines.In Gaza, the truce’s start Friday morning brought the first quiet for 2.3 million Palestinians reeling and desperate from relentless Israeli bombardment that has killed thousands, driven three-quarters of the population from their homes and leveled residential areas. Rocket fire from Gaza militants into Israel went silent as well.Increased supplies of food, water, medicine and fuel promised under the deal began to roll into Gaza, whe...

CU Buffs eyeing future, but aiming to finish on high note

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:31:06 GMT

BOULDER,CO October 13:Colorado’s Deion Sanders comes out for the Stanford game during the Pac-12 football game with Stanford and Colorado on October 13, 2023. (Cliff Grassmick/Staff Photographer)Game at a GlanceMatchup: Colorado Buffaloes at Utah UtesKickoff:  1 p.m. MTWhere: Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake CityCapacity: 51,444. Playing surface: FieldTurf.TV: Pac-12 NetworkRadio: KOA (850 AM)Odds: Utah by 20.5Series: Utah leads 34-32-3It would be easy for the Colorado football team to shut down mentally this week.At 4-7, the Buffaloes can’t finish with a winning record and won’t be playing in a bowl game. They’re also riding a five-game losing streak as they head into Saturday’s finale at Utah.Oh, and they might be without their most important player, quarterback Shedeur Sanders, who is hurting and may not play in Salt Lake City.Related Articles Mines football opens Division II playoffs eyeing another run to the national championship game: “We have an extra ch...

L.A. teen seeking treatment for disease that causes constant excruciating pain

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:31:06 GMT

A simple injury playing sports has derailed the life of Michael Lopez, activating a debilitating condition that has filled his everyday life with excruciating pain.Michael was in the eighth grade and playing football when he injured his knee, which triggered this disease.It’s a rare disease that affects 200,000 people each year, and there is no cure, but there is treatment; however, that’s expensive.“So my son has CRPS, that’s complex regional pain syndrome, and basically the brain is looping and sending pain signals throughout my son's body continuously,” said Michael's dad, Michael Lopez Jr.Over the last 14 months, the Lopez family has experienced intense pain. Michael, suffering from the debilitating illness, faces both emotional exhaustion and severe physical pain to the point where he cannot be touched or hugged.“We’ve gone through times where his spine feels like it’s been ripped out of his back. We’ve lost many days of him crying in pain and saying things that a parent doesn’...

Monrovia family barely avoids unwanted Thanksgiving guest 

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:31:06 GMT

Some residents of SoCal's foothill communities love the bears that roam the area, but not enough to allow them in their house. But for one Monrovia family, a four-legged guest nearly crashed their Thanksgiving Day gathering. Even better, the whole incident was caught on camera.Video shows the bear casually strolling around the home's backyard on Thursday before strolling all the way up to the home's sliding glass doors, almost as if it was invited in for Thanksgiving dinner. Why plumbers call it ‘Brown Friday,’ and it’s not why you think A man quickly shut the door before the bear could join in on the feast, and it then trudged away upon realizing that it was not on the guest list. A family managed to capture video of a bear casually strolling around their backyard on Thanksgiving Day in Monrovia, CA. A family managed to capture video of a bear casually strolling around their backyard on Thanksgiving Day in Monrovia, CA. A family managed to capture video of a bear casual...

Man's body found in water in Hermosa Beach 

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:31:06 GMT

Authorities are investigating after a body was found in the water off the Strand in Hermosa Beach on Friday morning. According to the Hermosa Beach Police Department, officers responded to the 2200 block of the waterline around 7 a.m.Upon arriving, they located the body of a man in the water and recovered it. He had suffered a gunshot wound, HBPD said.Authorities investigating a body found in the water near Hermosa Beach on Nov. 24, 2023. (South Bay Responders)The victim's identity has not been released. Woman dead after vehicle crashes into lake in Orange County Police are asking the public to keep clear of the immediate area until further notice.Luis Zuñiga contributed to this report.

Live updates | Israel-Hamas truce begins with swap of hostages and prisoners; more expected Saturday

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:31:06 GMT

A four-day cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war began Friday in Gaza as part of an agreement that Qatar helped broker. Twenty-four hostages were freed, including 13 Israeli citizens, 10 Thai citizens and one Filipino citizen, Qatar said. Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners later in the day.With the truce deal comes increased shipments of fuel and supplies into Gaza — though still only enough to dent the needs of the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza who have endured weeks of Israeli bombardment, according to aid groups. Israel has agreed to allow the delivery of 130,000 liters (34,300 gallons) of fuel a day into besieged Gaza for humanitarian needs for the duration of the truce. More than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza after a dayslong pause in its casualty report, which it attributed to the health system's collapse in northern Gaza making it impossible to provide a detailed count.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu...

San Jose State-UNLV: Spartans seeks to stop explosive Rebels offense

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:31:06 GMT

SAN JOSE — San Jose State coach Brent Brennan has preached to his team all season that the true mark of a good team is whether or not it is playing meaningful games in November.Saturday’s matchup against UNLV (12 p.m., Mountain West Network) will be the most important game the Spartans play this regular season.UNLV (9-2, 6-1 Mountain West) is currently the best team in the conference, and in order for SJSU to have a chance at a Mountain West championship game berth, it will need to stifle the highest-scoring offense in the conference.“We’re getting ready to play a really good UNLV team,” Brennan said. “They do all the things that lead to winning football and it’s really impressive. They’ve got good players at all positions that present a whole bunch of different challenges. So this is an incredible challenge for our football team.”First-year head coach Barry Odom has turned around UNLV and has led the Rebels to their first nine-win season since 1984. When Odom was hired ...

Holidays 2023: Here are 10 theatrical sugarplums headed to Bay Area stages

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:31:06 GMT

A whole lot of holiday classics tend to return this time of year, and Bay Ares stages are more than ready to deliver. The diverse breadth and high quality of Bay Area theater is always a gift, and in December that means a whole lot of very different seasonal offerings.What’s great about holiday shows on local stages is that they can be pretty much anything. They might be fairy tales like Presidio Theatre’s panto “Sleeping Beauty” or Berkeley Playhouse and African-American Shakespeare Company’s different takes on “Cinderella.”They could be concerts like Lorraine Hansberry Theatre’s “Soulful Christmas” or the Christmas Revels in Berkeley. They can be circus shows like “Dear San Francisco” at Club Fugazi, Circus Bella in its San Francisco big top or Unique Derique at the Marsh Berkeley. They could even be Jewish comedy in a Chinese restaurant a la Kung Pao Kosher Comedy. Or they could simply be popular musicals and comedies with no particular holiday theme, such as “The 25t...

Post-Thanksgiving weekend could see dropping temperatures, harsh waves on the Bay Area coast

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:31:06 GMT

Just like turkey and stuffing or mashed potatoes and gravy, the holiday season and cold weather are a perfect pairing, and residents of the Bay Area should expect temperatures to drop this weekend alongside harsh sneaker waves along the coast, according to the National Weather Service.While freeze and frost warnings were limited to just the North Bay and parts of San Benito County this weekend, parts of the region will still experience temperatures below 40 degrees on Saturday and Sunday night. In San Jose and the South Bay, Saturday and Sunday lows were 38 on both nights, while other lows included 44 and 42 in Oakland, 37 and 36 in Concord, 46 for both in San Francisco and 41 and 40 in Palo Alto.The NWS warned that low temperatures could be hazardous for unsheltered populations and people, pets,plants and pipes should be protected from the cold.Colder overnight temperatures continue for inland parts of our area over the next several nights. These temperatures are hazardous for vuln...

To stem crowds, Venice rolls out 5 euro day-tripper fee

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:31:06 GMT

By Nicole Winfield | Associated PressROME — Venice authorities on Thursday unveiled a pilot program to charge day-trippers 5 euros ($5.45) apiece to enter the fragile lagoon city on peak weekends next year in an effort to reduce crowds, encourage longer visits and improve the quality of life for residents.The rollout of the tourist “contribution” program came after Venice, a UNESCO World Heritage site, narrowly escaped being placed on the U.N. agency’s danger list earlier this year because of the threat that overtourism was having on its delicate ecosystem. Member states cited the proposed new entry fee in deciding to spare Venice from the list.Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro stressed Thursday that the fee is not a new tourist tax or an attempt to bring in extra revenue. Rather, he said, it is a first-of-its-kind experiment in regulating tourist flows in one of the world’s most-visited places by incentivizing visitors to avoid high-traffic periods and come on oth...