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Israel and Hamas begin cease-fire, setting stage for release of some hostages and more aid to Gaza

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:08 GMT

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — A four-day cease-fire between Israel and Hamas began Friday, setting the stage for the release of dozens of hostages held by militants and Palestinians imprisoned by Israel as well as allowing sorely needed aid to start flowing into Gaza.There were no reports of fighting in the hours after the truce began. That promised some relief for Gaza’s 2.3 million people, who have endured weeks of Israeli bombardment and dwindling supplies of basic necessities, as well as families in Israel fearful for the fate of loved ones taken captive during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, which triggered the war.The deal raised hopes of eventually winding down the war, which has flattened vast swaths of Gaza, fueled a surge of violence in the occupied West Bank and stirred fears of a wider conflagration across the Middle East. Israel has pushed back on such speculation, saying it was determined to resume its massive offensive once the truce ends.Not long after the truce took ...

Cooler and breezy Black Friday

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:08 GMT

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving spent with family and friends! Doing any Black Friday shopping? We have a nice day for it! It’ll be cooler overall and a bit breezy later today with a blend of sun and clouds. There’s a cold front off to our west and on the other side of it MUCH COLDER air. That’ll work in our region over the next 24 hours. Yes the teens you see in Ottawa will reach us overnight.You can see tomorrow starts off cold. It stays chilly with temperatures recovering to the upper 30s. On a positive note, there will be less wind and abundant sunshine to offset the chill.Sunday temperatures rebound to the upper 40s/near 50 with a slight southwest breeze. We’ll see increasing cloud cover later in the day ahead of our next chance for rain.Rain arrives late Sunday between 10 pm – 12 am. Showers will be around for the Monday morning commute, but taper off into the afternoon. Next week is quiet just chilly!-Meteorologist Melanie Black

Howie Carr: No limit to the empty office space in state government

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:08 GMT

I have a modest proposal.If they’re going to use the state Transportation Building in Park Square as the next flophouse for the swarming hordes of foreign freeloaders, why stop there?Do you realize how much empty office space the state has, since everyone in the hackerama stopped coming to work during the phony-baloney Panic of 2020?A huge percentage have never returned and have no plans to do so – and yes, I’m looking at you, you $207,000-a-year stumble-bum state judges.Put some of the “asylum” seekers and “families” up at Logan Airport – they can wave goodbye to all the law-abiding citizens fleeing Massachusetts once and for all.Let the machete-wielding MS-13 gangbangers and the Hamas baby-beheaders camp out on the ghost trains of the MBTA. Nobody else is riding ‘em – I don’t care what the drifters from New York now running the T bleep-show say about ridership coming back.Nobody in the city works anymore, so why would they need to take the T, unless they’re heading to Downtown Cro...

The Netherlands’ longtime ruling party says it won’t join a new government following far-right’s win

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:08 GMT

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The process of forming a new Dutch government in the aftermath of far-right firebrand Geert Wilders’ stunning election victory got underway Friday as leaders of political parties met with the chair of parliament’s lower house to appoint a “scout” to investigate possible coalitions.Wilders’ anti-Islam Party for Freedom, known by its Dutch acronym PVV, won 37 seats in the 150-seat lower house, indicating a seismic shift to the right for the Netherlands. The party of outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte won 24, 10 fewer than in the previous election, according to a near complete count of Wednesday’s votes.The new leader of Rutte’s People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius, said ahead of Friday’s meeting that the party known as VVD would not formally join a new coalition but might support one in parliament.Yeşilgöz-Zegerius told Dutch broadcaster NOS said that after 13 years of Rutte as prime m...

Weekend need-to-know: Santa’s coming to town and more holiday events

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:08 GMT

Holiday festivities are in full swing this weekend in Toronto and the GTA as the first snowfall is expected to hit the area on Sunday.There are no major TTC or GO Transit closures to impede your holiday spirit this weekend as well.Top eventsToronto’s Santa Claus ParadeThe Original Santa Claus Parade returns to Toronto streets this Sunday with hundreds of floats and Santa Claus in his sleigh, of course. If you want to catch a glimpse, the parade starts at Christie Pits Park at 12:30 p.m. and ends at St. Lawrence Market.The new route of the Santa Claus Parade in Toronto. (Photo via: The Original Santa Claus Parade website)And just prior to the parade, you can catch Santa’s running in the Holly Jolly Fun Run for the most festive five-kilometre run in the city, kicking off at 11:45 a.m. The run is held along the parade route. If you are interested in running yourself, registration is still open.Road closures will be in effect for the parade and run. As well, the TTC says it ...

Nissan will invest over $1 billion to make EV versions of its best-selling cars in the UK

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:08 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Nissan will invest more than 1 billion pounds ($1.3 billion) to update its factory in northeast England to make electric versions of its two best-selling cars, a boost for the British government as it tries to revive the country’s ailing economy. The Japanese automaker manufactures the gasoline-powered Qashqai and smaller Juke crossover vehicles at the factory in Sunderland, which employs 6,000 workers. The company said it’s directly investing up to 1.12 billion pounds to produce electric successors to the two models. The money also will enable “wider investment in infrastructure projects and the supply chain, including a new gigafactory” at the site, the government said in a separate press release. “Nissan’s investment is a massive vote of confidence in the U.K.’s automotive industry,” which contributes 71 billion pounds a year to the economy, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said. The Qashqai is the U.K.’s second most popular vehicle this year, while the ...

Indian authorities release Kashmiri journalist Fahad Shah after 21 months in prison

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:08 GMT

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Indian authorities have released a prominent Kashmir journalist on bail nearly two years after he was arrested on accusations of publishing “anti-national content” and “glorifying terrorism” in the disputed Himalayan region.Fahad Shah, founder and editor of news portal The Kashmir Walla, was arrested in February 2022 under India’s sedition and anti-terror laws. He was released on Thursday after a court last week granted him bail, saying there was not enough evidence to try him for terrorism and quashed some of the charges.The 21 months’ confinement of Shah, who is also a correspondent for U.S. newspaper Christian Science Monitor and other international outlets, highlighted the widening crackdown against journalists and freedom of expression in the contested region. The Indian government banned The Kashmir Walla earlier this year for undeclared reasons.“What he and his colleagues at The Kashmir Walla actually did was to report widely and honestly about ev...

Clive Crook: Democrats empower Trump by ignoring the collapse of trust

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:08 GMT

If polls are to be believed, the U.S. is seriously thinking about putting Donald Trump back in the White House. To those not steeped in politics, that prospect might seem astounding. Naïve observers will ask, first, how Republicans can possibly believe that he’s the right man to lead the country. Next, they will ask why Democrats can’t summon the wit to wreck his chances.The country should be terrified by this looming absurdity, as well as deeply perplexed. Trump’s critics are surely right that his second term would be more dangerous than the first — though they’re right for the wrong reasons. Support for Trump is not just a vote of confidence in a leader with nakedly authoritarian appetites. Second time around, it’s also a conscious and deliberate vote of no confidence in the country’s most vital institutions.To be sure, Trump was elected in 2016 as an outsider who would dare to bend a few norms and break a few things. But in 2024 he’...

EU received over 91,700 asylum applications in August 2023

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:08 GMT

In August 2023, 91,735 first-time asylum applicants (non-EU citizens) applied for international protection in EU countries, a 19% increase compared with August 2022 (77,145). There were also 5,660 subsequent applicants, representing an 8% decrease compared with August 2022 (6 165).This information comes from the monthly asylum data published by Eurostat. The article presents a handful of findings from the more detailed Statistics Explained article on monthly asylum statistics. Source dataset: migr_asyappctzm Syrian nationals remain the largest group of asylum-seekersAs in previous months, in August 2023, Syrians continued to be the largest group of people seeking asylum (18,170 first-time applicants). They were followed by Afghans (9,785), ahead of Turks (7,970), Venezuelans (4,805) and Colombians (4,665). Germany, Spain, France and Italy received 68% of all first-time asylum applicantsSimilarly to previous months, in August 2023, Germany (29,110), Spain (12,075), France (11,495) an...

Word Game: Nov. 24, 2023

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:08 GMT

TODAY’S WORD — VORTEXES (VORTEXES: VOR-tex-ez: Masses of fluid in a whirlpool.)Average mark 31 wordsTime limit 45 minutesCan you find 39 or more words in VORTEXES? The list will be published tomorrow.YESTERDAY’S WORD — IMPLANT inapt mail main malt mint pail pain paint palm pant pima pint pita plain plaint plait plan plant plat pliant lain lamp lapin limn limp lint alit anti nail tail tampTo purchase the Word Game book, visit WordGameBooks.com. Order it now for just $5 while supplies last!RULES OF THE GAME:1. Words must be of four or more letters.2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed.3. Additional words made by adding a “d” or an “s” may not be used. For example, if “bake” is used, “baked” or “bakes” are not allowed, but “bake” and “baking” are admissible.4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.Contact Word Game creator Kathleen Saxe at [email protected].