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Israel agrees to 4-hour daily pauses in Gaza fighting to allow civilians to flee, White House says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:27:53 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Israel has agreed to put in place four-hour daily humanitarian pauses in its assault on Hamas in northern Gaza starting on Thursday, the White House said, as President Joe Biden pressed Israelis for a multi-day stoppage in the fighting in a bid to release hostages held by the militant group.Biden said Thursday that there was “no possibility” of a formal cease-fire at the moment, but he also expressed frustration that it had taken so long for Israel to agree to the humanitarian pauses. Biden had asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to institute the daily pauses during a Monday call and said he had also asked the Israelis for a “pause longer than three days” to allow for negotiations over the release of some hostages held by Hamas.“It’s taken a little longer than I hoped,” Biden told reporters.National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that the first daily humanitarian pause would be announced Thursday and that the Israelis had committed to announ...

Germany’s Scholz: Every form of antisemitism ‘poisons our society’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:27:53 GMT

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday vowed to protect Jewish institutions and communities amid growing acts of antisemitism in Germany since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7.“Every form of antisemitism poisons our society. We won’t tolerate it,” Scholz said on the occasion of the 85th anniversary of the Nazis’ “Kristallnacht” pogrom of Jews.“Never again — that means the physical protection of Jewish institutions and communities. It means that the police and judiciary consistently enforce applicable law,” he said, adding: “October 7th allows only one conclusion: Germany’s place is on Israel’s side.”Scholz also said he was glad that many have shown their solidarity with the victims of the Hamas attack. “That gives us confidence and strengthens our community,” he said.Josef Schuster, head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, told the Jewish weekly newspaper Jüdische Allgemeine that “the images from German streets in which people of Arab ...

White House says Israel agrees to 4-hour daily pauses in Gaza fighting to allow civilians to flee

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:27:53 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House said Israel has agreed to put in place four-hour daily humanitarian pauses in its assault on Hamas in northern Gaza starting on Thursday, as the Biden administration said it has secured a second pathway for civilians to flee fighting.President Joe Biden had asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to institute the daily pauses during a Monday call.U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that the first humanitarian pause would be announced Thursday and that the Israelis had committed to announcing each four-hour window at least three hours in advance.Biden also told reporters that he had asked the Israelis for a “pause longer than three days” during negotiations over the release of some hostages held by Hamas, though he ruled out the chances of a general cease-fire.U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had warned Israel last week that it risked destroying an eventual possibility for peace unless it acted swiftl...

Staff picks for Week 10 of 2023 NFL season: Texans vs. Bengals, 49ers vs. Jaguars, Commanders vs. Seahawks and more

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:27:53 GMT

Baltimore Sun staff writers pick every game of the NFL season. Here’s who they have winning in Week 10:Carolina Panthers at Chicago Bears (Thursday, 8:15 p.m.)Brian Wacker (84-52 season; 13-1 last week): PanthersChilds Walker (88-48 season; 11-3 last week): BearsMike Preston (78-58 season; 10-4 last week): BearsC.J. Doon (87-49 season; 9-5 last week): BearsTim Schwartz (84-52 season; 9-5 last week): BearsIndianapolis Colts at New England Patriots (Sunday, 9:30 a.m.)Wacker: ColtsWalker: ColtsPreston: PatriotsDoon: ColtsSchwartz: ColtsHouston Texans at Cincinnati Bengals (Sunday, 1 p.m.)Wacker: BengalsWalker: BengalsPreston: BengalsDoon: BengalsSchwartz: BengalsSan Francisco 49ers at Jacksonville Jaguars (Sunday, 1 p.m.)Wacker: 49ersWalker: 49ersPreston: 49ersDoon: 49ersSchwartz: JaguarsNew Orleans Saints at Minnesota Vikings (Sunday, 1 p.m.)Wacker: VikingsWalker: SaintsPreston: VikingsDoon: VikingsSchwartz: SaintsGreen Bay Packers at Pittsburgh Steelers (Sunday, 1 p.m.)Wacker: ...

6 takeaways from the Chicago Bulls’ OT loss, including Alex Caruso shutting down Kevin Durant and erasing a double-digit deficit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:27:53 GMT

For the final eight minutes of the Chicago Bulls’ 116-115 loss to the Phoenix Suns, Alex Caruso drove Kevin Durant into a state of frustration.The guard acted as a shadow for Durant Wednesday, poking and prodding to keep the forward from settling into a comfortable scoring rhythm down the stretch. Caruso hung all over Durant on his final attempt at a game-winner with time expired, forcing him to take a slightly off-balance shot that clanked off the rim to send the game into overtime.Durant finished with 25 points, nearly five points below his season average. But Durant scored only four in the final two frames of the game, a testament to Caruso’s nullifying presence.“It’s his mentality,” Durant said. “He’s a hard worker who’s going to do everything he can. He’s a phenomenal player. I don’t even want to call him a role player, but just a guy that you can plug with any lineup and he’s going to make the right reads, the r...

Rome scrubs antisemitic graffiti from Jewish Quarter on 85th anniversary of the Nazi Kristallnacht

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:27:53 GMT

MILAN (AP) — Rome is removing antisemitic graffiti that was scrawled on buildings in the city’s old Jewish Quarter on Thursday, which marked the 85th anniversary of Kristallnacht — or the “Night of Broken Glass” — in which the Nazis terrorized Jews throughout Germany and Austria in 1938.The graffiti, which included a star of David, the equal sign and a Nazi swastika, was being removed, the city said in a statement. “Events like this cause dismay, enormous concern and (bring) to mind the period of racial persecution,’’ said Alessandro Luzon, Rome’s liaison with the Jewish Community.On Nov. 9, 1938, the Nazis killed at least 91 people, vandalized 7,500 Jewish businesses and burned more than 1,400 synagogues. The pogrom became known as the Kristallnacht and marked a turning point in the escalating persecution of Jews that eventually led to the murder of 6 million European Jews by the Nazis and their supporters during the Holocaust.In the northern city of Treviso, a private Englis...

Canadians should plan for higher rates in the long run, BoC’s Rogers says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:27:53 GMT

VANCOUVER — Bank of Canada senior deputy governor Carolyn Rogers is warning interest rates might not return to the low levels people were used to before COVID-19 pandemic.Rogers is delivering a speech in Vancouver today, where she touches on reasons the world may be heading toward higher interest rates in the long run.According to her prepared remarks, the senior deputy governor says structural changes to the global economy, higher levels of government debt and geopolitical risks could keep interest rates high.Rogers says the world is already adjusting to the reality of higher interest rates, leaving little “wiggle room” for the global financial system if it were to face a shock.She says adjusting to higher rates in the long term would be a big change for everyone from governments to businesses to households after 15 years of lower rates, but doing so gradually and proactively lowers the risk of destabilizing the financial system.She notes that data shows Canadians are adjusting to ...

Officials in Russia-annexed Crimea say private clinics have stopped providing abortions

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:27:53 GMT

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Russian-installed health officials in Crimea said Thursday that private clinics on the Moscow-annexed peninsula have “voluntarily” stopped providing abortions, which means that the procedure is now only available there in state-run medical facilities. The move comes amid a wider effort in Russia to restrict abortion, still legal and widely available, as the country takes an increasingly conservative turn under President Vladimir Putin.Over his more than two decades in power, Putin has forged a powerful alliance with the Russian Orthodox Church and has put “traditional family values,” as well as boosting the country’s declining population, at the cornerstone of his policies. As part of the effort, authorities in several Russian regions in recent months sought to convince private clinics to stop terminating pregnancies. In Tatarstan in central Russia, officials said about a third have agreed to stop offering abortions; in the Chelyabinsk region in the Ura...

S&P/TSX composite up more than 200 points as energy stocks help lead rally

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:27:53 GMT

TORONTO — Strength in the energy stocks helped lead a broad-based rally as Canada’s main stock index rose more than 200 points in late-morning trading, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.The S&P/TSX composite index was up 246.21 points at 19,776.42.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 7.45 points at 34,104.82. The S&P 500 index was up 2.75 points at 4,385.53, while the Nasdaq composite was up 23.84 points at 13,674.25.The Canadian dollar traded for 72.66 cents US compared with 72.48 cents US on Wednesday.The December crude contract was up 93 cents at US$76.26 per barrel and the December natural gas contract was down six cents at US$3.05 per mmBTU.The December gold contract was up US$8.50 at US$1,966.30 an ounce and the December copper contract was up two cents at US$3.65 a pound.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD) The Canadian Press

Suncor says still hunting for cost savings after wave of job cuts

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:27:53 GMT

CALGARY — Suncor Energy Inc. says it has wrapped 1,500 job cuts two months ahead of schedule but that it will continue to look for areas to trim as part of a wider efficiency push.Chief executive Rich Kruger said on an earnings conference call that the reductions are expected to save $450 million a year, or about $50 million more than what they expected when the cuts were announced in June.He says the company is also pushing ahead with plans for fewer, bigger trucks, as well as cutting out drivers from operations.Kruger says Suncor will be ramping up the number of trucks running autonomously at its Base Plant operation from 31 earlier this year to 91 by the end of next year to create one of the world’s largest self-driving fleets at a single mine. The company also says it is not done finding efficiencies in its contractor base, but that further improvements will be harder as much of the waste has already been taken out of the system.Kruger stepped into the chief executive role...