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President Biden speaking after meetings in Israel

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:32 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is set to speak after several diplomatic meetings in Israel on Wednesday, including one with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.The goal of the trip is to prevent the war with Hamas from spiraling into an even larger conflict, a challenge that became more difficult as outrage swept through the Middle East over an explosion that killed hundreds in a Gaza Strip hospital.Biden was originally scheduled to visit Jordan as well, but his meetings with Arab leaders were called off as he was leaving Washington, costing him an opportunity for the face-to-face conversations that he views as crucial for navigating this fraught moment. Biden’s trip to Jordan canceled after Gaza hospital hit Now Biden's only stop is Israel, which has been preparing for a potential ground invasion of Gaza in response to Hamas' attacks on Oct. 7, which killed 1,400 Israelis.John Kirby, a White House national security spokesman, told reporters aboard Air For...

Victoria’s Secret will sell intimate apparel for women with disabilities

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:32 GMT

New York (CNN) — Victoria’s Secret, for the first time, has introduced a collection of bras and panties specifically designed to meet the needs of women with disabilities.The retailer announced the launch of the VS & PINK Adaptive line on Tuesday and said the merchandise is now available to customers online and in select stores nationwide.Victoria’s Secret said its adapting offering, priced at $16.50 for panties and $36.95 for bras, is available in popular styles and in a variety of sizes under both its namesake and Pink brands, including Body by Victoria and PINK’s Wear Everywhere.Among the collection’s adaptive features are magnetic closures, sensory-friendly fabric, fully adjustable and convertible front straps and panties specially designed with magnetic side closures.The retailer said it developed the collection in consultation with GAMUT Management, a consulting firm that works with and for people with disabilities.The move by Victoria’s Secret is the latest example o...

Rare compound detected in the ‘Mona Lisa’ reveals a new secret, study says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:32 GMT

(CNN) — Leonardo da Vinci was a painter, inventor and anatomist, to name just a few of his talents — and now, you can add innovative chemist to the polymath’s many gifts. It turns out the master artist was more experimental with his renowned “Mona Lisa” than previously thought — and was likely the creator of a technique seen in works created a century later, a new study suggests.By using X-ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopy, a team of scientists in France and Britain has detected a rare mineral compound within the iconic piece. The finding provides fresh insight into how the work from the early 1500s was painted, according to the study recently published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.Along with lead white pigment and oil, the compound — known as plumbonacrite — was found in the base layer of the paint. A study published in 2019 had identified the mineral in several 17th-century works by Rembrandt, but researchers had not come across ...

Quartz crystals detected swirling in an exoplanet’s atmosphere

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:32 GMT

(CNN) — Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have for the first time detected tiny quartz crystals containing silica — a common mineral on Earth — within the atmosphere of a blazing hot exoplanet.It’s likely that the nanoparticles of silica, which on Earth appears in beach sands and is used to produce glass, swirl from the clouds of the exoplanet, known as WASP-17b, according to the researchers.First discovered in 2009, WASP-17b is a gas giant planet located 1,300 light-years from Earth. It has a volume more than seven times that of Jupiter, making it one of the largest exoplanets known to astronomers.The researchers detected the the quartz nanoparticles in high-altitude clouds using Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument, according to new research published Monday in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.“We were thrilled,” said lead study author David Grant, a researcher at the University of Bristol, in a statement. “We knew from Hubble observations that there must be ae...

Germany’s Scholz demands probe into Gaza hospital strike

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:32 GMT

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Wednesday that an explosion at a Gaza hospital must be investigated “very thoroughly,” after competing claims from Israel and Hamas about who blew up the site, killings hundreds, on Tuesday night.At least 500 people were killed at the al-Ahli hospital in Gaza after a massive blast, according to local health authorities linked to the Hamas militant group. Hamas blamed an Israeli air strike, while the Israeli military said a rocket misfired by other Palestinian militants had caused the explosion. Speaking in Cairo on Wednesday, Scholz cautioned that “we still do not know exactly what happened,” and stressed: “It is important that this incident is investigated very thoroughly.”Scholz expressed his condolences to the victims and their families, and said: “Yet this incident also makes it clear: Hamas brought terrible suffering to the citizens of Israel with its horrific terrorist attack on October 7, and as a result, much s...

EU troops storm the beaches as bloc aims to be military player

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:32 GMT

ABOARD THE FRENCH HELICOPTER CARRIER TONNERRE — It’s not yet a European army, but it’s getting close. This week in the south of Spain, the European Union is holding its first live military exercise — an effort to show the world it’s a serious security and defense player that can operate without NATO. Air, land and maritime armed forces from nine EU countries will land on a beach to rescue a fictitious European ally called Seglia that’s asking for help to deal with a rapidly deteriorating security situation caused by a violent extremist group. Spanish troops will play the enemy forces. Until Sunday, armies that don’t speak the same language and don’t use the same military equipment need to work together. About 2,800 personnel are taking part — 1,800 from Spain, 600 from France and 200 from Portugal — as well as 25 aircraft, such as Spain’s Eurofighter Typhoons, and six vessels including assault ships and a French mine hunter. “France was keen to be the...

Firefighters working to contain massive blaze at RI vehicle recycling facility

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:32 GMT

Fire crews are working to extinguish a large fire that is raging at a vehicle recycling facility in Tiverton, Rhode Island.Witnesses said they could hear explosions and popping sounds coming from the area.Video from the scene showed firefighters using a ladder truck to douse the flames.The cause of the fire remains under investigation.No additional information was immediately available.This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

Bit Milder Today, Terrific Thursday

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:32 GMT

While we’ve had a few spotty showers from time to time the last couple of days, we’ve also had many dry hours in the mix. Temps have also been fairly seasonable, running in the lower 60s. Overall, through 17 days in October, rainfall has been well below average for the month in Boston and Worcester with Boston only recorded .01″ or more on two days. Certainly the last couple of weeks have been a welcomed change in the pattern. Today, we’ll have a similar theme as yesterday with highs just a touch milder, low to mid 60s, and just a few isolated showers bubbling up. Overall, it’ll be a fairly quiet day. Tomorrow looks great, mostly sunny skies with temps in the mid to upper 60s as we’re dry from start to finish. Enjoy! Rain chances go up late Friday, Friday night and into Saturday as moisture rides in ahead of an area of low pressure. As that low crosses New England, it’ll strengthen and on the back side of it, provide us with gusty winds Sund...

Fire crews rescue trapped driver after fiery crash involving tanker truck in East Boston

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:32 GMT

Fire crews worked quickly to free a trapped driver who was hospitalized following a fiery crash with a tanker truck on Route 1 in East Boston, officials said.A section of Route 1 northbound was temporarily shut down as crews worked to extinguish the flames, which were threatening to ignite the 8,000 gallons of diesel fuel that were inside the tanker, fire officials said. The fire appeared to have been sparked by a pipe underneath the truck.The woman was taken to the hospital with burn injuries.“It was burning while she was in it, so one company went right to her and focused on getting her out of the car, and the other started with the truck because obviously we had to get that fire out quick,” Boston District Fire Chief Mark Raymond said.The cause of the fire remains under investigation.This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

Boston Herald Weekly divisional football rankings

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:32 GMT

 Here are the weekly Eastern Mass. rankings for each of the eight divisions as well as the ISL. DIVISION 11. St. John’s Prep (6-0)2. Xaverian (4-2)3. Lincoln-Sudbury (5-1)4. Everett (5-1)5. Needham (5-1)6. Methuen (4-2)7. Andover (5-1)8. BC High (4-2) DIVISION 21. Catholic Memorial (4-1)2. King Philip (6-0)3. Marshfield (4-2)4. Peabody (6-0)5. Bishop Feehan (5-1)6. Barnstable (5-1)7. North Andover (4-1)8. Winchester (5-1) DIVISION 31. Billerica (6-0)2. Milford (6-0)3. Mansfield (3-3)4. Milton (5-1)5. Dartmouth (6-0)6. Woburn (5-1)7. Walpole (3-3)8. Lynn Classical (4-2) DIVISION 41. Duxbury (4-1)2. Tewksbury (5-1)3. Norwood (5-1)4. Somerset Berkley (5-1)5. Scituate (3-3)6. Burlington (4-2)7. Wakefield (4-2)8. Bedford (4-2) DIVISION 51. Hanover (6-0)2. Shawsheen (6-0)3. Bishop Fenwick (5-1)4. Foxboro (5-1)5. Newburyport (5-1)6. Danvers (4-2)7. Wilmington (4-2)8. Archbishop Williams (3-3) DIVISION 61. Salem (6-0)2. Norwell (5-1)3. Abington (5-1)...