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Blinken says Israel has accepted US-backed proposal for cease-fire, calls on Hamas to do same [Video]

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday that Israel has accepted a proposal to bridge differences holding up a cease-fire and hostage release in Gaza, and he called on Hamas to do the same, without saying whether it had addressed concerns cited by the militant group.Blinken spoke after holding a 2 1/2 hour meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier in the day, and was expected to travel to Egypt on Tuesday. The United States, Egypt and Qatar have spent months trying to broker an agreement, with the talks repeatedly stalling.He did not say whether the so-called bridging proposal addressed Israel’s demands for control over two strategic corridors inside Gaza, which Hamas has said is a nonstarter, or other issues that have long bedeviled the negotiations.In a very constructive meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu today, he confirmed to me that Israel supports the bridging proposal,” Blinken told reporters. The next important step is for Hamas to say yes.”Blinken had earlier said the time is now to conclude a Gaza cease-fire agreement that would return hostages held by Hamas and bring relief to Palestinian suffering after more than 10 months of devastating fighting in Gaza.Blinken’s ninth mission to the Middle East since the conflict began came days after mediators, including the United States, expressed renewed optimism that a deal was near. But Hamas has expressed deep dissatisfaction with the latest proposal, and Israel has said there were points on which it was unwilling to compromise.The trip, days before new talks expected this week in Egypt, came amid fears that the conflict could widen into a deeper regional war following the targeted killing of two top militants in Lebanon and Iran that were attributed to Israel.This is a decisive moment, probably the best, maybe the last, opportunity to get the hostages home, to get a cease-fire and to put everyone on a better path to enduring peace and security, Blinken said as he opened talks with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv.Its also time to make sure that no one takes any steps that could derail this process, he said in a veiled reference to Iran. And so were working to make sure that there is no escalation, that there are no provocations, that there are no actions that in any way move us away from getting this deal over the line, or for that matter, escalating the conflict to other places and to greater intensity.Herzog thanked Blinken for the Biden administration’s support for Israel and lamented a spate of recent attacks against Israelis in the past 24 hours.This is the way we are living these days, Herzog said. We are surrounded by terrorism from all four corners of the earth and we are fighting back as a resilient and strong nation.Mediators will meet again this week in Cairo to try to cement a cease-fire. Blinken will travel to Egypt on Tuesday for meetings in the Mediterranean city of el-Alamein after he wraps up his Israel stop.He met one-on-one with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for 2 hours Monday and with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant later in the day.The war began on Oct. 7 when Hamas-led militants broke into Israel, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250 others. Of those, about 110 are still believed to be in Gaza, though Israeli authorities say around a third are dead. More than 100 hostages were released in November during a weeklong cease-fire.Israel’s counterattack in Gaza has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, and devastated much of the territory.Late last week, the three countries mediating the proposed cease-fire Egypt, Qatar and the U.S. reported progress on a deal under which Israel would halt most military operations in Gaza and release a number of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of hostages.Shortly before Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv on Sunday, Netanyahu told a Cabinet meeting there are areas where Israel can be flexible and unspecified areas where it wont be.We are conducting negotiations and not a scenario in which we just give and give, he said.The evolving proposal calls for a three-phase process in which Hamas would release all hostages abducted during its Oct. 7 attack. In exchange, Israel would withdraw its forces from Gaza and release Palestinian prisoners.Hamas accuses Israel of adding new demands that it maintain a military presence along the Gaza-Egypt border to prevent arms smuggling and along a line bisecting the territory so it can search Palestinians returning to their homes in the north. Israel said those weren’t new demands, but clarifications of a previous proposal.Officials said the U.S. has presented proposals to bridge all the gaps remaining between the Israeli and Hamas positions. Formal responses to the U.S. outline are expected this week and could lead to a cease-fire declaration unless the talks stall, as has happened with multiple previous efforts.Late Sunday, Hamas said in a statement that Netanyahu has continued to set obstacles to a deal by demanding new conditions, accusing him of wanting to prolong the war. It said the mediators latest offer was a capitulation to Israel.The new proposal responds to Netanyahus conditions, Hamas said.Blinken said Monday both sides should take this opportunity to reach a deal.It is time for everyone to get to yes and to not look for any excuses to say no, he said.An Israeli delegation held talks with Egyptian officials as part of the truce efforts, an Egyptian official said Monday.The hourslong meeting Sunday focused on the Philadelphi corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border, but didnt achieve a breakthrough, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing negotiations.The official said that Israel still insists on keeping control of the border and the east-west route that bisects Gaza. He said that the delegation didnt offer anything new in their meeting.

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Las Vegas Raiders name Gardner Minshew as starting quarterback over Aidan O’Connell WSOC TV [Video]

Minshew Mania is back for 2024, with the Las Vegas Raiders naming Gardner Minshew as the starting quarterback for the upcoming season. Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce announced Sunday that Minshew won the starting job over second-year QB Aidan O’Connell.

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Category 1 Hurricane Ernesto continues sending dangerous rip currents to East Coast [Video]

Ernesto became a hurricane again Sunday as it churned away from Bermuda and headed further out in the northeastern Atlantic, sending powerful swells toward the U.S. East Coast, generating rip currents associated with at least one death and prompting many rescues.The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Ernestos maximum sustained winds were 85 mph early Monday morning. More strengthening was forecast before Ernesto weakens and becomes a post-tropical cyclone on Tuesday, the hurricane center said. The storm was centered about 340 miles south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and was expected to pass near southeastern Newfoundland late Monday and early Tuesday.Swells generated by Ernesto were affecting portions of the Bahamas, Bermuda, the U.S. East Coast as well as the Canadian Atlantic coast. Life-threatening surf and rip current conditions are likely in these areas during the next couple of days, the hurricane center said.The National Weather Service posted a coastal flood advisory and warned of a high risk for rip currents along the Atlantic Coast through Monday evening, saying they can sweep even the best swimmers away from shore into deeper water.A warning extended from Florida to the Boston area and portions of Maine.In periods of high risk, rip currents become more likely and potentially more frequent, posing a danger to all levels of swimmers, not just inexperienced ones, said meteorologist Mike Lee in Mount Holly, New Jersey.Its going to be really dangerous out in the water today, he said.At Manasquan Inlet in New Jersey, officials said a fisherman was washed off the north jetty Saturday but was quickly rescued by lifeguards. The victim had knee and back injuries and a possible concussion and was taken to a hospital, Lifeguard Chief Doug Anderson told NJ Advance Media, and lifeguards rescued at least five other people.In Ventnor to the south, Senior Lt. Meghan Holland of the city beach patrol said eight people were rescued.Forecasters, citing local emergency management, said a 41-year-old man drowned Saturday in a rip current at Surf City, North Carolina.Two men drowned Friday in separate incidents on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, but it was unclear whether rip currents were involved, The Island Packet of Hilton Head reported, citing a lifeguard services spokesperson.Separately, heavy rains unrelated to the hurricane caused flooding in parts of western Connecticut Sunday, closing roads, forcing water rescues and causing a minor mudslide. Floodwaters swept two people into the Little River in the town of Oxford, CT Insider reported, but officials weren’t able to immediately reach the area because of high waters and had to respond to other emergency calls, said Scott Pelletier, Oxford’s fire chief. Pelletier did not respond to a message from The Associated Press seeking additional details.Videos posted on Facebook showed severe flooding in Oxford overtaking roads and homes, with at least one video showing a small building being washed downstream.In Southbury, police asked residents via Facebook to stay home while roads were closed and crews responded to emergencies. In nearby Danbury, city officials said in a statement that a mudslide prompted the evacuation of a home.Flash flood warnings were posted for parts of Connecticut and southeastern New York, and flash flood watches and advisories were in effect for areas of Delaware, New Jersey and southeastern Pennsylvania.A flash flood emergency was issued to parts of northwestern Suffolk County including Brentwood, West Babylon and Coram until 4:30 a.m.The rough surf spawned by Hurricane Ernesto contributed to an unoccupied beach house along the Cape Hatteras National Seashore on North Carolinas Outer Banks collapsing into the water Friday evening. Seashore officials urged the public Sunday to avoid beaches in parts of the village of Rodanthe where substantial damage to several oceanfront structures occurred. Debris cleanup was expected over the next several days.On New York’s Long Island, East Hampton Village Mayor Jerry Larsen said beaches were closed to swimmers on Saturday and Sunday because high tides pushed water right up to the base of the dunes so you cant really have people sitting on the beach.Many people watched the water from the parking lot Sunday, he added.Its quite a sight to see the water coming up almost to the parking lot, and if you think about it that storm was hundreds of miles offshore so it must have been quite powerful, Larsen said.The annual fireworks show that draws thousands was canceled Saturday night and again for Sunday night, he said.Ernesto had weakened to a tropical storm late Saturday after bringing heavy rain and strong winds to Bermuda.At a press conference Sunday afternoon, Bermuda Security Minister Michael Weeks said the tiny British territory made it through the hurricane without any injuries or major incidents. I want to express my gratitude to everyone for taking this storm seriously, he said.Steady progress is being made to clear the roads and restore power in Bermuda, he added. Businesses were beginning to reopen and airport operations were to resume Sunday.There were no reports of major damage, said Lyndon Raynor of Bermudas Disaster Risk Reduction Mitigation Team. BELCO, Bermudas power company, said more than 70% of customers had electricity and more than 7,000 remained without it Sunday.Ernesto previously battered the northeastern Caribbean, leaving tens of thousands of people without water in Puerto Rico. The national power company LUMA said it had restored electricity to more than 1.4 million customers, but service data Sunday showed more than 61,000 without power.After cleaning up and removing debris, the Virgin Islands Department of Education said all public schools would resume operations Monday. Public school classes also were slated to start Monday in Puerto Rico, nearly a week after the original opening date.___Gary Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina, Cedar Attanasio and Julie Walker in New York and Mariana Martnez Barba in Mexico City contributed.