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Filings for jobless claims tick up modestly, continuing claims fall

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:10:26 GMT

U.S. applications for jobless benefits ticked up last week, but the overall number of people in the U.S. collecting unemployment benefits fell after hitting its highest level in two years last week.Unemployment benefits claims rose by 1,000 to 220,000 for the week ending Dec. 2, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That was in line with analyst expectations.About 1.86 million were collecting unemployment benefits the week that ended Nov. 25, 64,000 fewer than the previous week. It’s just the second time in 11 weeks that continuing claims have fallen.Analysts say the continuing claims have been rising because many of those who are already unemployed may now be having a harder time finding new work. That comports with a government report earlier this week showing that U.S. employers posted 8.7 million job openings in October, the fewest since March of 2021.Jobless claim applications are seen as representative of the number of layoffs in a given week.Hiring has slowed from the...

United Nations bemoans struggles to fund peacekeeping as nations demand withdrawal of missions

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:10:26 GMT

ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — The United Nations’ top peacekeeping official defended the organization’s missions worldwide amid growing concerns that they’ve gone into retreat as African leaders demand their withdrawal from Mali to Congo.Undersecretary General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix said on Wednesday the 30,000-member force operates with a $5.5 billion budget – less than the operating budget for the New York City Police Department. He told delegates at a UN peacekeeping ministerial meeting in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, that efforts had been hampered by divisions among member states.The majority of UN peacekeeping missions are in Africa, including in Central African Republic, Sudan and Western Sahara. However, they’ve faced increasing blowback and scrutiny over their ability to successfully carry out their missions, including protests in Congo from residents claiming peacekeepers did little to protect them from armed groups.The operations, whic...

Cold turkey: Drivers spot something fowl on Hwy. 401 during snowy morning rush

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:10:26 GMT

It wasn’t just the snow and slush disrupting the drive in the GTA on Thursday morning with some commuters in Toronto noticing something fowl on a busy highway.Motorists reported a turkey blocking live lanes of the westbound Highway 401 off-ramp to Warden Avenue before 8 a.m. The bird was reportedly wandering on and off the roadway for around 40 minutes.Several callers to the CityNews 680 traffic centre were taken aback by the boldness of the large bird, saying the turkey was trotting right up to vehicles stopped on the Warden ramp.Watch out for a Turkey on the Warden ramp to the WB 401. The bird is pacing back and forth and some callers have reported it walking up to the cars. MTO have been notified. pic.twitter.com/idw8SVC6FV— CityNews Toronto Traffic & Weather (@citynews680) December 7, 2023Traffic cameras along the highway captured the bird pacing back and forth in the snow. CityNews 680 traffic reporter Jordan Kerr was tracking the turkey and says it appears to h...

Federal, Quebec ministers say major grocers need to sign code of conduct

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:10:26 GMT

OTTAWA — The federal and Quebec agriculture and food ministers are calling on all members of the grocery industry supply chain to sign onto a code of conduct.Federal Minister Lawrence MacAulay and Quebec Minister André Lamontagne say they’re disappointed to see the grocery code of conduct has still not been launched after years of work.They’re also disappointed that “supply chain partners are hesitant to move forward” with signing on to the voluntary code.The statement by the ministers doesn’t name any companies, but Loblaw Cos. Ltd. and Walmart Canada have expressed concern that the code in its current form could raise food prices for Canadians. At a House of Commons agriculture committee meeting this morning on stabilizing food prices, Walmart Canada CEO Gonzalo Gebara said the company is “not in a position at this time to commit to” the code. The ministers say the major grocers and all supply chain partners need to adopt and adhere to the...

Intact subsidiary RSA selling U.K. home and pet insurance business

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:10:26 GMT

TORONTO — Insurance company Intact Financial Corp. says its Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Ltd. subsidiary has signed a deal to sell its U.K. home and pet insurance business to Admiral Group.The company says the sale includes an initial cash payment of 82.5 million pounds, with a potential additional payment of up to 32.5 million pounds, subject to certain retention thresholds.The proceeds from the sale and the release over time of capital backing the U.K. personal lines business are expected to total about 350 million pounds, including the benefit of earnout provisions, Intact says.The deal will result in the transfer of renewal rights, brands and employees. Around 300 RSA employees are expected to move to Admiral.Intact says it will also work to exit its home and pet partner and broker contracts in the U.K.The sale has been approved by the boards of directors of Intact and Admiral. It is expected to close at the end of the first quarter of 2024.This report by The Canadian Pres...

Israel and US at odds over conflicting visions for postwar Gaza

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:10:26 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — The United States has offered strong support to Israel in its war against the Hamas militant group that rules the Gaza Strip. But the allies are increasingly at odds over what will happen to Gaza once the war winds down.Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, this week announced that Israel would retain an open-ended security presence in Gaza. Israeli officials talk of imposing a buffer zone to keep Palestinians away from the Israeli border. They rule out any role for the Palestinian Authority, which was ousted from Gaza by Hamas in 2007 but governs semi-autonomous areas of the occupied West Bank.The United States has laid out a much different vision. Top officials have said they will not allow Israel to reoccupy Gaza or further shrink its already small territory. They have repeatedly called for a return of the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority and the resumption of peace talks aimed at establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel.These conf...

Rights groups say Israeli strikes on journalists in Lebanon were likely deliberate

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:10:26 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Two Israeli strikes that killed a Reuters videographer and wounded six other journalists in south Lebanon nearly two months ago were apparently deliberate and a direct attack on civilians, two international human rights groups said Thursday.Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said that the strikes should be investigated as a war crime. Their findings were released simultaneously with similar investigations by Reuters and Agence France-Presse.Israeli officials have said that they don’t deliberately target journalists. The investigations by the rights groups found that two strikes 37 seconds apart targeted the group of journalists near the village of Alma al-Shaab on Oct. 13.The strikes killed Issam Abdallah and wounded Reuters journalists Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh, Qatar’s Al-Jazeera television cameraman Elie Brakhya and reporter Carmen Joukhadar, and AFP’s photographer Christina Assi, and video journalist Dylan Collins.The seven journalists, all we...

The past, present and future of birth control

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:10:26 GMT

In today’s Big Story Podcast, “the pill” has been around for more than 60 years now. And while it changed society, sparked a sexual revolution and helped reshape the workforce, the side effects can be challenging for those who take them. The past six decades have seen incredible medical advancements, but somehow hormonal birth control remains the go-to for a lot of people who menstruate — even though we keep discovering new side effects even today.Nicole Schmidt wrote about the birth control pill for The Walrus. “We’re kind of just starting to understand how vast the side effects really are,” said Schmidt. Why hasn’t the pill gotten much better over six decades? Why haven’t better alternatives come to market? What is possible in the world of birth control and science pushes further? And why, despite promising research, is there still no proper birth control for men?You can subscribe to The Big Story podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google and Spotify.You can ...

Man dies after being found shot on street in West Loop

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:10:26 GMT

CHICAGO — A man has died after being found shot in the chest in the city's West Loop.Police responded to a person shot in the 100 block of North Clinton Street around 12:50 a.m. Thursday.Upon arrival, officers found the man on the street with a gunshot wound to the chest. According to police, the man was unresponsive and appeared to be about 40-years-old.He was transported to Stroger Hospital in critical condition, but was later pronounced dead. Pedestrian struck and killed on sidewalk in River North No one is in custody. Area Three Detectives are investigating.

Strikes on Gaza's southern edge sow fear in one of the last areas to which people can flee

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:10:26 GMT

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli forces struck the southern Gaza town of Rafah twice overnight, residents said Thursday, sowing fear in one of the last places where civilians could seek refuge after Israel widened its offensive against Hamas to areas already packed with displaced people. United Nations officials say there are no safe places in Gaza. Heavy fighting in and around the southern city of Khan Younis has displaced tens of thousands of people in a territory where over 80% of the population has already fled their homes, and cut most of Gaza off from deliveries of food, water and other vital aid.Two months into the war, the grinding offensive has set off renewed alarms internationally, with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres using a rarely exercised power to warn the Security Council of an impending “humanitarian catastrophe” and urging members to demand a cease-fire.The United States has called on Israel to limit civilian deaths and displacement, saying too many Palesti...