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BOSTON (AP) — Thousands of people were expected to line the streets of South Boston on Sunday for the city's annual St. Patrick's Day parade, one of the nation'slargest celebrations of Irish heritage.

The parade traditionally draws crowds from across Massachusetts and beyond, with marching bands, floats, veterans' groups and local organizations making their way along the route through South Boston.

City officials said preparations had been underway for weeks, with police, transit officials and emergency crews coordinating safety and transportation plans as large crowds gather in the neighborhood.

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The event is a major annual tradition in Boston, a city with deep Irish roots, and often coincides with celebrations of Evacuation Day, which commemorates the departure of British troops from Boston in 1776.

Officials encouraged people attending the parade to plan ahead for road closures and crowded public transit as the neighborhood fills with spectators throughout the day.

Last year's parade drew tens of thousands of attendees and featured dozens of marching groups.

This year's event was expected to begin late Sunday morning and continue into the afternoon.

ROME (AP) — Thousands of people protested Saturday against wars in theMiddle Eastand judicial reforms proposed by Italy's conservative government — linking international tensions with a growing domestic political battle before a national referendum.

Italy Protests

The March 22–23 referendum on changes to the judicial system has become a major political test for Prime MinisterGiorgia Meloni's government, which faces an election next year. The debate over legal reforms has escalated into a broader confrontation between the prime minister and her political opponents.

In central Rome, protesters waving red trade union banners and Palestinian and Cuban flags chanted "Meloni government, resign" before the rally ended peacefully.

"The United States and Israel are destroying any form of coexistence dictated by international law," demonstrator Sandra Paganini said.

"They are dragging us towards a world war in which they are targeting completely innocent people who have done nothing wrong, intervening and destroying nations," she said.

Meloni said that the reforms are needed to tackle chronic delays in Italy's courts and restore public confidence in the legal system. But opponents argue that the changes could weaken judicial independence and make judges subject to political influence.

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The referendum has increasingly taken on the character of a political test for the prime minister. Meloni joined the campaign directly this week.

"If justice doesn't work, if it's slow, if it's inefficient, if it's unfair, then the whole machine gets stuck and everyone pays the consequences," Meloni said at a campaign speech in Milan on Thursday.

Anti-war protests have surged since the launch on Feb. 28 of large-scale U.S. and Israeli air attacks on Iran targeting military sites and senior leaders, and triggering retaliatory strikes that have shaken global markets.

Demonstrations also took place acrossSpainon Saturday, where rallies were organized in dozens of cities by a coalition of civic groups calling for an end to the conflict in the Middle East. In Madrid, thousands chanted slogans against the war and expressed solidarity with civilians affected by the conflict.

Additional protests took place earlier this week in Athens and other cities acrossGreece.

Derek Gatopoulos reported from Athens, Greece.

Two secret battlefield letters written by George Washington during one of the toughest winters of the Revolutionary War have recently surfaced and are now up for sale — just in time for America's 250th birthday celebration this July 4.

Four years into the American colonist's bloodystruggle to break free from British rule, Gen. Washington, from his headquarters in Morristown, NJ penned the letters revealing how the Continental Army tried to monitor loyalist activity and British troop movements across the Hudson River during the winter of 1779 to 1780.

Those messages, carefully preserved by descendants of Revolutionary War soldiers, are now owned by The Raab Collection, a firm that tracks down historic letters from figures like Abraham Lincoln, Amelia Earhart, and Theodore Roosevelt.

"This is a very exciting find, " collector and historian Nathan Raab told The Post from his office in Ardmore, Pa. "We're very excited to have these letters."

Raab bought the letters for an undisclosed price from a family that had no heirs left to inherit them.

The 47-year-old co-author of the 2020 book "The Hunt for History," isnow selling the letters on his site. The first is going for $150,000 and the second for $80,000.

In Washington's day, communication wasn't easy.

There were no phones, texts or emails to rally the troops. Instead, Washington relied on horse-riding couriers carrying handwritten orders.

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The first letter, dated Dec. 22, 1779, shows Washington, who was commanding about 20,000 Continental soldiers for his New Jersey post, sounding the alarm about Tories — colonists still loyal to the British Crown. His object was to prevent them from passing information to the British.

He instructed its recipient, Lt. Col. William De Hart, who was part of the 1st NJ Battalion, to keep an eye on them.

Part of the letter reads: "The Objects of it are to cover the communication between this & Kings Ferry — to give protected to the well affected Inhabitants & restrain the others by preventing all kind of intercourse with the Enemy & to obtain the best intelligence of their movements & designs … The detestable & pernicious traffic carried on with the Enemy will demand your greatest vigilance & attention — I intreat you to pursue the most decisive measures to put a stop to it."

Less than a month later — on Jan. 14, 1780 — Washington sent De Hart another urgent dispatch, detailing a surprise raid against British outposts on Staten Island, which at the time was a major British stronghold used to launch raids in New Jersey.

He ordered De Hart to Newark, N.J., to spy on the British during the campaign to make sure they hadn't been warned of the raid and called in reinforcements.

The orders read: "An attempt is to be made by a detachment of the army under the command of Lord Stirling against the enemy upon Staten Island. The object of your taking post in Newark is to observe the motions of the enemy … You will keep parties of observation over towards Bergen, and should they discover any motion in that quarter, you will instantly communicate it by way of Elizabeth Town to Lord Stirling."

General Stirling was dispatched that very day with some 2,500 troops to surprise attack the outposts of the enemy on Staten Island.

Unfortunately, the Tories had already warned the British of Lord Stirling's plans. British reinforcements had been sent in, and Stirling was forced to retreat to Elizabeth Town — today known as the city of Elizabeth.

The amazingly preserved documents offer a rare glimpse into real-time decisions Washington was making during one of the toughest winters of the Revolutionary War.