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Hochul apologizes after saying Israel 'has right to defend itself' with 'inappropriate' Canada analogy

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Hochul apologizes after saying Israel 'has right to defend itself' with 'inappropriate' Canada analogy

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul apologized for recent remarks in which she said Israel “has a right to defend itself,” while making what she later called an “inappropriate analogy” about Canada invading Buffalo, New York.

“Call out Hamas for what it is, and it is a terrorist organization that must be stopped. No one, no country should live with that threat, that specter over them,” Hochul said Thursday during a speech at the United Jewish Appeal-Federation of New York, according to video shared on X. 

“And for those that don’t understand this dynamic here in our own state, in our own country, I’ll give you an example,” she said. “I’m from Buffalo, anybody realize that? If Canada someday ever attacked Buffalo, I’m sorry my friends, there would be no Canada the next day. Right? I love Canada, but we did have the War of 1812, and they did burn Buffalo… so there might be a little conflict here. But think about that. That is a natural reaction. You have a right to defend yourself and to make sure it never happens again. And that is Israel’s right.” 

Hochul later walked back her comments amid online backlash, apologizing in a statement to the New York Times on Friday. The governor claimed that she made an “inappropriate analogy” at the Jewish philanthropic event in New York City and apologized for her “poor choice of words.”

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Gov. Kathy Hochul seen speaking at an unrelated press conference this month. She apologized Friday for remarks that implied Israel has a right to destroy Gaza.  (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

“While I have been clear in my support of Israel’s right to self-defense, I have also repeatedly said and continue to believe that Palestinian civilian casualties should be avoided and that more humanitarian aid must go to the people of Gaza,” she told the Times. 

The apology comes after New York State Assemblyman Zohran Kwame Mamdani criticized the governor in a post on X.

“Governor Hochul justifying genocide, while laughing. Disgusting,” Mamdani wrote, reacting to the clip of her speech at the annual United Jewish Appeal-Federation Lawyers Division event at the Pierre Hotel.

Gov. Kathy Hochul, seen listening to Eric Goldstein from the UJA Federation of New York, previously announced $3 million would be allocated to Homeland Security’s Domestic Terrorism Prevention Unit’s Threat Assessment and Management training to all colleges and universities in New York state. (Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Daily News via Getty Images)

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The UJA-Federation thanked Hochul in a post Thursday night for her attendance and “for always standing with the Jewish community and against antisemitism and hate in New York.”

Hochul’s speech came as Israel has been ramping up strikes across Gaza in recent days. The United States, Israel’s top ally, meanwhile, said it would veto another draft U.N. cease-fire resolution.

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The U.S. instead hopes to broker a cease-fire agreement and hostage release between Israel and Hamas, and envisions a wider resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called Hamas’ demands “delusional” and rejected U.S. and international calls for recognizing Palestinian statehood without going through negotiations without preconditions.

A New York Stands with Israel vigil and rally at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza on Oct. 10, 2023, which attracted dozens of local politicians, including Gov. Kathy Hochul, Mayor Eric Adams and Attorney General Letitia James. (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

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His cabinet adopted a declaration Sunday saying Israel “categorically rejects international edicts on a permanent arrangement with the Palestinians” and opposes any unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state, which it said would “grant a major prize to terror” after the Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war.

Netanyahu has vowed to continue the offensive until “total victory” over the Hamas terrorist group and to expand it to Gaza’s southernmost town of Rafah, where more than half the enclave’s population of 2.3 million Palestinians has sought refuge, according to The Associated Press. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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New York

Man Sentenced to 115 Years for Killing N.Y.P.D. Officer in Queens

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Man Sentenced to 115 Years for Killing N.Y.P.D. Officer in Queens

A man was sentenced to 115 years in prison on Monday for the fatal shooting of a New York City police officer who had ordered him to step out of a car in Queens in 2024.

More than 200 people, mostly police officers, packed a courtroom in State Supreme Court in Queens to hear Justice Michael Aloise sentence Guy Rivera in the killing of Jonathan Diller, 31, who was promoted to the rank of detective after his death.

“It took me five minutes to calculate these numbers,” Justice Aloise said. “It’s going to take you a lifetime to calculate the damage you did and the grief that you caused.”

He said that Mr. Rivera had determined his own fate “the second you pulled that trigger.”

Detective Diller’s wife, Stephanie, who sat among the officers in the courtroom, read a statement in court just before the sentencing, speaking of the pain and loss that she and her son, Ryan, now 3, have suffered. Ms. Diller, who testified during the trial, spoke directly to Mr. Rivera as he sat at the defense table.

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“This is the last moment I will allow you to take from me,” she said as tears rolled down her cheeks. “You took my husband, Jonathan. You took the future we planned together. The life we were building, the years we were supposed to share together.”

“What you did to Jonathan” she said, “gave me and our son a life sentence without him.”

A jury found Mr. Rivera, 36, guilty earlier this month on four charges, including aggravated manslaughter, in Detective Diller’s death, but acquitted him of the most serious charge, first-degree murder. The decision, after a three-week trial in Queens, stunned the dozens of police officers present when it was announced in the courtroom on April 1.

To find him guilty of murder, the jury had to decide whether they believed Mr. Rivera had intended to kill Detective Diller when he pointed his gun at him in the Far Rockaway section of Queens on March 25, 2024. They ultimately determined that Mr. Rivera had intentionally pulled the trigger, but did not intend to kill him.

Mr. Rivera did not speak at his sentencing at the advice of one of his lawyers, Jamal Johnson, who told Justice Aloise they would appeal the conviction.

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Mr. Johnson, a lawyer with the Legal Aid Society, said after the hearing that Justice Aloise’s statement at sentencing showed the court “had already made up its mind about sentencing well before the trial was conducted.”

During the trial, prosecutors said that before the fatal shooting, Detective Diller’s partner, Sgt. Sasha Rosen, saw Mr. Rivera and another man, Lindy Jones, come out of a store and get into a car. Mr. Rivera had an L-shaped object in the pocket of his sweatshirt that resembled a firearm, prosecutors said.

Detective Diller approached the vehicle and asked Mr. Rivera repeatedly to comply with orders. When he did not, Sergeant Rosen reached in to pull him out of the car.

Then Mr. Rivera fired, the jury found. The defense argued that Mr. Rivera’s gun went off accidentally when Sergeant Rosen pulled him out, striking Detective Diller. Prosecutors said Mr. Rivera then turned his gun on Sergeant Rosen, but the weapon jammed.

Justice Aloise did not allow the jury to see video that, the defense contended, showed Mr. Rivera’s arm was broken during his confrontation with the police.

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That evidence would have directly undermined the prosecution’s contention that Mr. Rivera was physically able to pull the trigger when he tried to shoot Sergeant Rosen, they said.

In all, Mr. Rivera was sentenced to 25 years to life for the aggravated manslaughter conviction; 40 years to life for the attempted murder of Sergeant Rosen; and 25 years to life for each of the gun possession counts. He was ordered to serve those sentences consecutively.

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On Monday, after the sentencing, dozens of police officers smiled and embraced one another as they left the courtroom. The prosecutors who tried the case and Melinda Katz, the Queens district attorney, hugged several of Detective Diller’s family members.

Jessica Tisch, the police commissioner, called the sentence “obviously the right result, for him and for anyone who kills a New York City police officer.”

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Outside the courthouse, members of the Police Benevolent Association, the police officers’ union, said they were pleased with the sentence.

“The verdict in this case did not send the right message to the Diller family and every police officer who wears the uniform,” said Patrick Hendry, the union president, who spoke at the foot of the courthouse stairwell, backed by nearly 100 police officers.

“But this sentence,” he said, “it sent the right message.”

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Boston, MA

Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” musical returns to Boston for first time in 25 years

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Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” musical returns to Boston for first time in 25 years


Say bonjour to the return of “Beauty and the Beast.” The national tour has been in Boston before, but this is the first time in 25 years that Disney is behind the production.

Kyra Belle Johnson stars as Belle, the bookworm who doesn’t quite fit into her quiet village.

“I think part of treating her like a real person is finding the humor and finding the faults and breathing and being present on stage every night,” Johnson said. 

As Mrs. Potts, Kathy Voytko embodies the beloved teapot.

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“When I was talking to my daughters about, ‘How do you feel about mom being gone for the better part of a year?’ They said, ‘Well, geez, mom, we’re gonna miss you, but it’s Mrs. Potts,’” Voytko explained. 

The actors told WBZ-TV that Disney’s involvement in this tour makes a noticeable impact, with Voytko saying, “There is nothing like a Disney-produced Disney production because the magic in the show, the attention to detail, the loving recreation of the movie that we all know and love, plus some elements of surprise.”

Johnson added, “They care about this piece of art so much… And they’re really precious with it, but at the same time, they’re open with it.”

 Book writer Linda Woolverton worked with the cast in the rehearsal room to make sure the piece felt modern.

“She literally changed some scenes and lines specifically for us and our versions of these characters to make it seem grounded and real,” Johnson explained.

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And Johnson gained extra insight into Belle’s life by visiting the Alsace region of France, which inspired the original Disney animators.

“Walking in the town and having like a storefront and then the leaning building that was this like blue and the wooden windows and somebody leaning out of it talking to somebody on the street. These are real places, it’s not just like a made-up place in your head.”

The wonder she felt is echoed in the audience’s response.

“This is a gate for a lot of new theater lovers. We get a lot of people who this is their first show,” said Johnson.

“It’s for everybody,” added Voytko. “It’s for adults, it’s for married couples, it is for a date night, it for a pack of pals who just want to see something nostalgic from their youth and it makes it a thrill for us every single day.”

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You can see Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” at the Citizens Opera House in Boston through Sunday.



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Pittsburg, PA

NFL Draft in Pittsburgh sets onsite attendance record, third-best viewership mark

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NFL Draft in Pittsburgh sets onsite attendance record, third-best viewership mark


A historic number of people flooded into Pittsburgh for the NFL Draft on Thursday.

Around 320,000 fans attended the opening round of the draft on Thursday night just outside of Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, which marked an attendance record for round one of the draft, ESPN announced on Monday afternoon. In total, about 805,000 people attended the three-day event.

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ESPN also said that about 13,2 million people tuned in to watch the first round of the NFL Draft on Thursday night, which made it the third-most watched opening round under the current format, which started back in 2010. Only the 2025 and 2020 editions of the draft drew a bigger audience on the first night.

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The league said that a record amount of merchandise was sold throughout the NFL Draft weekend, too, though it did not provide a figure or metric there. The previous record on that front was set last season in Green Bay.

The Las Vegas Raiders used the No. 1 overall pick on Indiana quarterback and reigning Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza on Thursday night. Mendoza, who led the Hoosiers to the national championship earlier this year, was not in attendance in Pittsburgh. Instead, he celebrated with his family from home in Miami.

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The NFL Draft will be held next spring in Washington D.C. for the first time in modern history. It’s expected to be held on the National Mall. Washington D.C. held the draft one other time back in December 1940.



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