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‘Drop in the ocean’: UN-backed aid could soon enter Gaza from Egypt, but only at a trickle for now

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:43 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — President Joe Biden says he struck a deal with his Egyptian counterpart to allow a first run of 20 trucks carrying humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, which Israel sealed off after the Hamas attack on Oct. 7. Israel says it’s now ready to honor Biden’s request to let in limited humanitarian aid. The Egyptian and Palestinian Red Crescent Societies and the United Nations are expected to help oversee the operation, in part to ensure the supplies from the convoy through the Rafah Crossing on Egypt’s border with Gaza reaches civilians — not combatants.Official at the U.N. health agency say they’re “praying” the first tranche will go in on Friday. Here’s a look at what could be expected to go in, and how.WHAT THE TRUCKS WILL CARRY The United Nations and its various agencies — the World Health Organization, the World Food Program, and children’s agency UNICEF among them — along with partners like Red Cross and Red Crescent groups are accustomed ...

Michigan Republican charged in false elector plot agrees to cooperation deal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:43 GMT

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan Republican accused of participating in a fake elector plot had all criminal charges dropped Thursday after the state Attorney General’s office said a cooperation deal was reached. The defendant, James Renner, was one of 16 Republicans who investigators say met following the 2020 presidential election and signed a document falsely stating they were the state’s “duly elected and qualified electors.” Michigan was one of seven states where supporters of then-President Donald Trump signed certificates that falsely stated he won their states.President Joe Biden won Michigan by nearly 155,000 votes, a result confirmed by a GOP-led state Senate investigation in 2021.In July, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced that each of the 16 would face eight criminal charges, including multiple counts of forgery. All 16 had pleaded not guilty.But on Thursday, the attorney general’s office announced during a court hearing in Ingham County that it ...

Ontario’s English Catholic teachers vote 97 per cent in favour of strike mandate

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:43 GMT

Ontario’s English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA) has voted 97 per cent in favour of strike action.OECTA President Rene Jansen in de Wal says a vote in favour of strike action does not necessarily mean teachers will take job action as long as there is “meaningful progress and results at the bargaining table.”The Association did not specify a strike deadline and talks are set to continue this month.Education minister Stephen Lecce called it disappointing that teachers have “voted to put themselves on a path to strike.” He urged them to sign a deal similar to the public high school teachers which accepts binding arbitration and avoids strikes.High school teachers have agreed to a bargaining process with the government that will see the parties keep negotiating until Oct. 27 before sending any outstanding issues to arbitration. But the other unions have rejected that option.OECTA and other teachers’ unions have been bargaining with the g...

Birds nesting in agricultural lands more vulnerable to extreme heat, study finds

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:43 GMT

As climate change intensifies extreme heat, farms are becoming less hospitable to nesting birds, a new study found. That could be another barrier to maintaining rapidly eroding biodiversity that also provides benefits to humans, including farmers who get free pest control when birds eat agricultural pests.Researchers who examined data on over 150,000 nesting attempts found that birds in agricultural lands were 46% less likely to successfully raise at least one chick when it got really hot than birds in other areas.“I don’t think we expected it to be as extreme as it was,” said Katherine Lauck, a PhD candidate at University of California, Davis and lead author of the study published Thursday in the journal Science.Bird scientists have been tracking the decline of avian wildlife for years. In 2019, a comprehensive study showed that there were three billion fewer wild birds than in 1970. The new study represents a closer look at what might be behind the dramatic decline.Intense commerc...

Federal forecasters predict warm, wet US winter but less snow because of El Nino, climate change

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:43 GMT

The upcoming United States winter looks likely to be a bit low on snow and extreme cold outbreaks, with federal forecasters predicting the North to get warmer than normal and the South wetter and stormier.A strong El Nino heavily moderates and changes the storm tracks of what America is likely to face from December to February, with an added warming boost from climate change and record hot oceans, officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday in releasing their winter outlook.The forecast warmth will likely turn some storms that would have dumped snow into rain in the nation’s northern tier, but there’s also “some hope for snow lovers,” with one or two possible whopping Nor’easters for the East Coast, said Jon Gottschalk, operations branch chief of NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center. Parts of the East Coast, particularly the Mid-Atlantic, may get more snow than normal because of that, he said.Most of the country is predicted to be warmer than normal wi...

McGill postpones French program as Quebec hikes tuition for out-of-province students

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:43 GMT

MONTREAL — McGill University has postponed a $50-million investment in French-language programs as a result of the provincial government’s plan to nearly double tuition for out-of-province students.The university says the programs were meant to help students, faculty and staff improve their French and better integrate in Quebec society.McGill explains it decided last week to put an announcement of the program on hold after the province warned its finances could be affected by unspecified, looming changes.Then on Friday, Quebec announced tuition for undergraduate students from other provinces would rise to about $17,000 from $8,992 starting next fall.McGill, which gets about 20 per cent of its students from other provinces, says it is still assessing the potential financial fallout of the tuition increases, but its principal has warned of “serious consequences” for the university.Premier François Legault has defended the move, saying Quebec taxpayers should not subs...

Le Devoir latest Quebec media outlet to get registered journalism organization status

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:43 GMT

Montreal daily newspaper Le Devoir has become the latest Quebec media outlet to transform into a registered journalism organization — which can issue tax receipts for donations.The publication said today it obtained “qualified donee” status under a tax measure from 2020 introduced by the federal government to support Canadian journalism.With its new designation Le Devoir will benefit from tax advantages, including the ability to issue donation receipts, to be exempt from income tax, and to receive donations from registered charities.Until now, the newspaper had relied on philanthropic revenues from a donor base but could not issue tax receipts.The 113-year-old Le Devoir will maintain its paid subscription model, both for print and online.Le Devoir is the sixth media outlet in Quebec to obtain RJO status, following others such as La Presse.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 19, 2023.The Canadian Press

More than 300 are arrested in a Capitol Hill protest urging a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:43 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 300 people were arrested for illegally demonstrating and three people were charged with assaulting police after protesters descended on Capitol Hill to call for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. Hundreds of demonstrators from Jewish advocacy groups, including Jewish Voice for Peace and If Not Now, poured into a congressional office building on Wednesday. They wore shirts that read “Jews say cease fire now” and they chanted “let Gaza live” and “not in my name” before they were detained by Capitol Police.Demonstrations are not allowed inside Capitol buildings, and police said they warned the crowd gathered in the rotunda of the Cannon House Office Building to stop before they began making the arrests. The 305 people arrested for illegally demonstrating were subsequently released and those charged with assault were held in custody pending an appearance before a judge. A few liberal members of Congress have been pushing for a resolution in the late...

Canada taking ‘necessary time’ to probe hospital blast in Gaza: Trudeau

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:43 GMT

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada is working with allies to determine “exactly what happened” in the blast at a hospital in Gaza earlier this week that has become a flashpoint in the Israel-Hamas war. Trudeau said at a news conference in Ottawa today that Canada is taking the “necessary time” to probe a blast that the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry says left hundreds dead. Hamas is blaming the Israeli military for the blast, but Israel has denied any involvement, saying it has images that it says show a Palestinian militant group misfired on the hospital. Pressure began to mount on Trudeau to clarify which side he thinks is responsible after United States President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his visit to the region Wednesday that it appeared the hospital blast was perpetrated “by the other team, not you.”Trudeau had said when news of the blast first emerged that what happened was “...

Richard Allen's court hearing canceled after defense team withdraws from case

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:43 GMT

UPDATE: The Oct. 19 hearing has been canceled after Richard Allen's defense team announced they have withdrawn from the case. A new trial date will be set as Richard Allen no longer has legal counsel meaning the previously scheduled trial date of Jan. 8, 2024, has been vacated. ALLEN COUNTY, Ind. -- On Thursday afternoon, Delphi murder suspect Richard Allen will appear in court for a hearing.Special Judge Fran Gull ordered the hearing last week, saying it was to discuss another hearing on Oct. 31 along with "other matters which have recently arisen."Allen is charged with two counts of murder in the February 2017 deaths of Abby Williams and Libby German near the Monon High Bridge in Delphi. Multiple issues facing court ahead of October hearings in high-profile Delphi murder case For the first time in the case, cameras will be allowed in the courtroom. And while media outlets are not allowed to livestream the hearing, t...