10 things to know for today

7/16/2014
ASSOCIATED PRESS
  • Lumberjack-School

    In this July 10, 2014 photo, Emily Eidman, of New City, N.Y., performs the boom run on Lower St. Regis Lake at the Adirondack Woodsmen's School at Paul Smith's College in Paul Smiths, N.Y. Eighteen young students in matching gray sports shirts took part recently in a weeklong crash course on old-school lumberjack skills such as sawing, chopping, ax throwing, log boom running and pole climbing. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)

    ASSOCIATED PRESS

    • Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:

    1. ISRAELI RAIDS ON GAZA INTENSIFY

    Hundreds of Palestinians flee Gaza border areas after Israel tells them to leave ahead of further strikes.

    2. AGENCY TOUGHENS PROTECTIONS FOR PREGNANT WORKERS

    New U.S. government guidelines prohibit employers from forcing pregnant workers to take leave and acknowledge that bosses may have to decrease workloads.

    3. JAPAN SET TO REOPEN FIRST NUCLEAR PLANT SINCE FUKUSHIMA

    The only facility to win approval to operate after the fatal disaster three years ago had to comply with stringent safety requirements.

    4. HOW LOCAL FOODS ARE BECOMING BIG BUSINESS

    Organizations delivering directly from local farms to major institutions are growing, eliminating scores of middlemen from farm to fork.

    5. WHO IS PROMISING TO HELP WASHINGTON ON IMMIGRATION

    Mexico says it will tighten its porous border with Guatemala where thousands of migrants cross, hoping to continue north to the U.S.

    6. NYC MAYOR ON LIRR: WHAT, ME WORRY?

    Bill de Blasio has a vacation in Italy planned--funded in part by taxpayers--and seemingly no intention of letting a looming strike at the nation’s largest commuter railroad hold him back. Besides, he says, people “now, because of technology, can work from home.”

    7. WHERE MIDDLE EASTERN FOOD IS HEADED

    Entrepreneurs from the region’s buzzing restaurant scene are eyeing franchise opportunities in the U.S. and Europe.

    8. ‘COMMUNITIES IN DANGER OF RUNNING OUT‘

    That’s what a state regulator says as water use by Californians rises despite the governor’s pleas to cut back during the severe drought.

    9. BARKING UP THE WRONG CAREER TREE? TRY LUMBERJACK SCHOOL

    Don’t let the absence of bushy beards, plaid shirts and even suspenders fool you. Paul Smith’s College teaches aspiring woodsmen to do things like throw an ax and climb a 45-foot pole.

    10. ‘THIS IS ABOUT DEREK JETER‘

    That’s what Tampa Bay pitcher David Price says about the 14th and final All-Star Game for the retiring New York Yankees shortstop.