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The family who left the U.S. to live in their ancestral Italian cave

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:52:31 GMT

By Silvia Marchetti, CNNThere’s an island off the coast of Rome where locals have been living in cozy grottoes since the dawn of time.The shores and fishermen village of Ponza – the largest island of the Pontine archipelago, which sits offshore between Rome and Naples – are dotted with cave dwellings cut into the ragged sea cliffs, offering stunning views.These homes, fresh in summer and warm in winter, require neither heating or air conditioning. They’re the island’s gem, and now popular with vacationers.Since the 19th century, locals have been emigrating abroad, mainly to the US in search of a new life. However, they’ve held on to their traditions – which includes their traditional housing style.One family to emigrate were the Avellinos. Luigi Avellino was the first of his family to leave Ponza at the beginning of the 20th century, initially going back and forth between the island and New York, before settling in the US permanently.Attilio Avellino – one of his nine children, and ...

Mideast reaction in Bay Area: Blue ribbons for Israel, protest signs for Palestine

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:52:31 GMT

More than 7,000 miles away from Gaza and Israel, emotions ran high on Sunday afternoon in the Bay Area as local residents took part in pro-Palestine and por-Jewish demonstrations as the Israel-Hamas war entered its ninth day.The death toll continues to climb with Israel saying more than 1,300 have been killed from bombings by Hamas, while the health ministry in Gaza said more than 2,600 have been killed by Israeli air strikes.In the South Bay, hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters lined the intersection of Stevens Creek and Winchester boulevards in San Jose, waving the flag of Palestine as cars passing by honked their horns. The throngs of demonstrators then proceeded to march through the main thoroughfare of Santana Row, shutting down traffic as they chanted “free, free Palestine” and held signs inscribed with phrases like “end U.S. funding to Israel apartheid” and “let Gaza live.”Students from Hillel at Stanford tied blue ribbons around campus ...

Settlement would prevent border separations for next 8 years

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:52:31 GMT

By Rebecca Santana and Elliot Spagat | Associated PressSAN DIEGO — The federal government would be barred from immigration policies that separate parents from children for eight years under a proposed court settlement announced Monday that also provides families that were split under the Trump administration with temporary legal status and short-term housing aid.The settlement between the Biden administration and the American Civil Liberties Union, if approved by a judge, would at least temporarily prohibit the type of “zero-tolerance” policy on illegal immigration under which former President Donald Trump separated thousands of families at the border with Mexico.“It is our intent to do whatever we can to make sure that the cruelty of the past is not repeated in the future. We set forth procedures through this settlement agreement to advance that effort,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told The Associated Press.Trump, the front-runner for the ...

49ers hope final drive instills confidence in Aiyuk, Jennings despite missed kick

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:52:31 GMT

CLEVELAND — Brandon Aiyuk caught Brock Purdy’s quick pass, slanted toward midfield, and raced past four Browns defenders, with a potential game-winning score in his sights.“I wish,” Aiyuk said in the 49ers’ locker room after Sunday’s 19-17 loss.Instead, Aiyuk was tackled at the Browns’ 43-yard line for a 25-yard gain, but ensuing receptions by him (8 yards) and Jauan Jennings (9 yards) vaulted the 49ers into field-goal range, or so it seemed until Jake Moody’s 41-yard miss in the final seconds.“Just a lot of emotions,” Jennings said afterward. “Just us having each other’s back with players going down and others having to step up.“To get the ball there, to be able to kick a field goal, it meant a lot to us players on the sideline,” Jennings added. “Whether Jake made it or missed it, we were locked in for that moment. Unfortunately, it didn’t go our way.”As off-kilter as the 49ers’ passing attack was Sunday, their final drive fueled hope and re-instilled confidence t...

Can frozen DNA help species survive extinction? San Diego’s Frozen Zoo, conservationists partner to put biodiversity banking on the map

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:52:31 GMT

Emily Alvarenga | The San Diego Union-TribuneFor nearly half a century, the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance has been taking the fantasy world of “Jurassic Park” from fiction to reality — minus the dinosaurs and destruction.As wildlife populations plummet and biodiversity is lost worldwide, the alliance has been working to collect and preserve genetic samples, taken during routine exams or after animals have died, from as many species as it can with what it calls its Frozen Zoo.Now its conservation efforts are being recognized globally, as it was designated Wednesday by a major conservation group as its first-ever center focusing on gene banking to help rare and endangered species survive.The Species Survival Commission of the International Union for Conservation of Nature — the world’s largest conservation organization — has partnered with the wildlife alliance to form the union’s newest Center for Species Survival.It will be one of the organization’s just 17 such centers around the...

San Jose hotel project near mega malls advances despite feeble market

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:52:31 GMT

SAN JOSE — Plans for a big hotel near San Jose’s mega malls are pushing forward despite the post-coronavirus maladies that still afflict the Bay Area’s feeble lodging market.The development site is located at the corner of South Winchester Boulevard and Olin Avenue in San Jose, across the street from Santana Row and a few blocks from Westfield Valley Fair.The hotel project is also next to One Santana West, a modern office building totaling 376,000 square feet. Big tech companies Splunk and NetApp have offices across the street.Street-level view of a 176-room, seven-story hotel at 425 South Winchester Boulevard in San Jose, concept. (Lowney Architecture)If the hotel is built, if could benefit from its proximity to the office buildings and their current or future tenants, as well as the two shopping centers.Why? If back-to-work gambits by employers take deeper and wider roots, that could bolster the fortunes of hotels that are near office sites where more people...

13 House Democrats Call for Immediate Ceasefire in Gaza

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:52:31 GMT

On Monday, 13 Democrats in the House of Representatives, led by Reps. Cori Bush of Missouri, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, André Carson of Indiana, Summer Lee of Pennsylvania, and Delia Ramirez of Illinois, introduced a resolution urging the Biden administration to call for an “immediate deescalation and cease-fire in Israel and occupied Palestine” and to send humanitarian aid to Gaza.“They are running out of body bags,” Tlaib said through tears in a press conference Monday. “We all know collective punishment of Palestinian is a war crime. The answer to war crimes can never be more war crimes.” It is a disgrace, Tlaib added, that Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the majority of Congress have not even mentioned the possibility of a ceasefire. The resolution comes after two earlier efforts in the House both fell short of calling for an end to violence. The first — a bipartisan resolution led by Reps. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, and Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., and supported by over 420 ...

Georgia TE Brock Bowers is having ankle surgery. He likely will be sidelined at least a month

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:52:31 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Brock Bowers, the dynamic tight end for No. 1 Georgia and one of the nation’s most versatile offensive players, is likely to be sidelined at least a month after sustaining a high ankle sprain that requires surgery.Georgia announced that Bowers would have surgery on his left ankle on Monday, two days after he hobbled off the field in the first half of a 37-20 victory at Vanderbilt.Bowers’ injury puts a damper on Georgia’s bid for a third straight national title — unprecedented in The Associated Press poll era — though there is hope the preseason All-American will be able to return in time for meaningful games at the end of the season.The school did not provide details on the surgery. But Bowers seemed likely to undergo what is known as a TightRope procedure, which stabilizes the ankle with surgical thread rather than rigid screws and generally reduces the rehab time to four to six weeks.Former Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was perhaps the most pr...

Slave descendants are suing to fight zoning changes they say threaten their island homes off Georgia

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:52:31 GMT

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Black residents of a tiny island enclave founded by their enslaved ancestors off the Georgia coast have filed suit seeking to halt a new zoning law that they say will raise taxes and force them to sell their homes in one of the South’s last surviving Gullah-Geechee communities.The civil lawsuit was filed in McIntosh County Superior Court a month after elected county commissioners voted to double the size of houses allowed in Hogg Hummock, where a few dozen people live in modest homes along dirt roads on largely unspoiled Sapelo Island. Black residents fear larger homes in the community will lead to property tax increases that they won’t be able to afford.County officials approved the larger home sizes and other zoning changes Sept. 12 after three public meetings held five days apart. Well over 100 Hogg Hummock residents and landowners packed those meetings to voice objections, but were given just one chance to speak to the changes.The lawsuit accuses...

Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez dealing with ailment during ALCS against Rangers, AP source says

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:52:31 GMT

HOUSTON (AP) — Houston slugger Yordan Alvarez is dealing with an ailment as the Astros face the Texas Rangers in the AL Championship Series, a person familiar with his condition told The Associated Press on Monday.The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the illness publicly.Manager Dusty Baker deflected when asked about Alvarez’s health prior to ALCS Game 2 on Monday.“He’s fine,” Baker said. “He’s better today than he was yesterday.”Alvarez’s illness was first reported by The Athletic.Alvarez was not on the field for introductions or the national anthem before Game 1 on Sunday night. Alvarez, who hit .438 with four homers and six RBIs in the Division Series, had an uncharacteristically poor game in the 2-0 loss, going 0 for 4 with three strikeouts.Baker added that people often have to work when they aren’t feeling well. “Like I was telling somebody yesterday, as a responsible man, a family man, you go to work, you know,...