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Lebanon’s prime minister visits troops at the country’s tense southern border with Israel

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:17 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister Tuesday visited troops deployed near the border with Israel and U.N. peacekeepers, as Hezbollah militants and Israeli troops clash for a third week.The visit by Prime Minister Najib Mikati to the tense southern province is his first since clashes erupted along the border following a surprise attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Israel on Oct. 7. It also came two days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited troops along the border on Sunday.Mikati and international governments have been scrambling to prevent the Israel-Hamas war from expanding to Lebanon, where the powerful Hezbollah group warned Israel about a ground incursion into the blockaded Gaza Strip. Hezbollah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Kassem said the group is in the “heart” of the war to “defend Gaza and confront the occupation.”“Its finger is on the trigger to whatever extent it deems necessary for the confrontation,” Kassem tweeted.Clashes bet...

COVID-19 passports convinced few people to get vaccinated in Ontario: study

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:17 GMT

COVID-19 vaccine passports in Quebec and Ontario did little to convince the unvaccinated to get the jab and did not significantly reduce inequalities in vaccination coverage, a new peer-reviewed study has found.The passports, which forced people to show proof of vaccination to enter places such as bars and restaurants, were directly responsible for a rise of 0.9 per cent in the vaccination rate in Quebec and 0.7 per cent in Ontario, says Jorge Luis Flores, a research assistant at McGill University and lead author of the paper published Tuesday in the CMAJ Open journal.Compared to wealthier parts of Quebec and Ontario, low-income neighbourhoods in both provinces tended to have higher rates of COVID-19 and lower vaccine coverage, he said in an interview. Areas in Quebec with large racialized populations also had lower vaccination rates, though the opposite was true in Ontario.“What we saw was that, overall, the vaccine passport had very little impact on reducing those inequaliti...

Man wanted Canada-wide appears to mock Toronto police in now-viral TikTok video

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:17 GMT

A man wanted on a Canada-wide arrest warrant with distinctive face tattoos has taken to social media, appearing to mock Toronto police as the search for him continues.Last week, Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) said 31-year-old federal offender Michael Stamatakos is wanted for once again breaching his statutory release.The same suspect was wanted in February for the same reason. He was taken into custody a few weeks later when he was recognized while checking himself into a hospital in Hamilton.TikTok account “Toronto’s Joker” uploaded several since-deleted videos to ostensibly ridicule Toronto police officers. Though not confirmed to be Stamatakos, he strongly resembles the man currently wanted Canada-wide.In one video, a local media outlet’s story on the wanted man can be seen in the background, with the person presumed to be Stamatakos donning sunglasses and a bucket hat, listening on and smiling. In another video uploaded to TikTok, a man with distinguisha...

A new RSV shot for infants is in short supply

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:17 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A new shot for infants against RSV is in short supply, and U.S. health officials told doctors they should prioritize giving the drug to babies at the highest risk of severe disease.Infants less than 6 months who have chronic lung disease or other underlying conditions should be given priority, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told doctors in a Monday evening advisory. RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, is a common cause of coldlike symptoms that can be dangerous for young children. A seasonal virus, it’s being widely reported in the southern United States and is expected to continue to spread over the next month or two.The new, one-time shot is a lab-made antibody that helps the immune system fight off the virus. Sold under the brand name Beyfortus, the drug was developed by AstraZeneca and Sanofi.In July, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved it, and the next month the CDC recommended it for infants born just before or during the RSV s...

5 dead, including 3 kids, after shootings in Sault Ste. Marie: police

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:17 GMT

Five people — including three children and a shooter — were found dead in the northern Ontario city of Sault Ste. Marie after shootings at two homes, police said Tuesday, calling what happened a tragic case of intimate partner violence.“The grief the families, friends, and loved ones of the victims are facing is unimaginable. Our hearts go out to them,” Sault Ste. Marie Police Chief Hugh Stevenson wrote in a statement on X.“As our community grieves this tragedy, I urge everyone to please watch out for each other.”They say officers also found the 44-year-old shooter, who appeared to have died after a self-inflicted gunshot wound.Police say the deaths are the result of intimate partner violence and say the loved ones of those who died are facing unimaginable grief.Police said the shootings were not random acts of violence and there was no ongoing risk to public safety. They also said they would not be releasing the names of the victims or the accus...

UAW strikes at General Motors SUV plant in Texas as union begins to target automakers’ cash cows

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:17 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — The United Auto Workers union turned up the heat on General Motors as 5,000 workers walked off their jobs Tuesday at a highly profitable SUV factory in Arlington, Texas.The move comes just a day after the union went on strike at a Stellantis pickup truck factory in Sterling Heights, Michigan, north of Detroit.The additional plants further escalate a labor dispute that’s in its sixth week and now has about 46,000 union workers off the job. And rhetoric from both sides shows that they remain far apart on what they believe are fair wage and benefits offers, with the company and the union hold firmly to their positions.The addition of the Arlington plant, which makes big truck-based SUVs such as the Cheverolet Tahoe, GMC Yukon and Cadillac Escalade, came just after GM announced strong third-quarter financial results. The SUVs are among GM’s most profitable vehicles.The company on Tuesday posted a net profit of just over $3 billion for the quarter, down 7% from...

Chicago City Council set to review Mayor Johnson's proposed 2024 CPD budget

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:17 GMT

CHICAGO — Members of the Chicago City Council will get their first look at Mayor Brandon Johnson's new plan for the Chicago Police Department on Tuesday.The mayor's 2024 spending plan would increase the overall CPD budget to nearly $2 billion.Part of Johnson's proposal includes spending nearly $5 million more next year on mental health services for law enforcement.The meeting started at 10 a.m. Monday. Watch the city council meeting streaming live in the player above Mayor Johnson delivers first budget address This is a developing story. Check back for details.

House Republicans whittle down names for third Speaker nominee: Live coverage

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:17 GMT

House Republicans on Tuesday are trying for a third time to pick a nominee for Speaker who can get 217 votes on the House floor.The conference's first nominee for Speaker — House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) — withdrew his name before even receiving a floor vote when it became clear he couldn't reach that threshold. Its second nominee — House Judiciary Committee Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) — lost three votes on the House floor before the House GOP voted to remove him as its nominee.After two rounds of voting, five candidates remain in the running to be the third nominee: House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), House Republican Conference Vice Chairman Mike Johnson (R-La.), Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), and Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.).The GOP's internal election kicked off at 9 a.m. and could be a lengthy process.Follow along with live updates below.

Women without college degrees to bear brunt of future job losses: report

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:17 GMT

(The Hill) -- Women who don’t have a college degree are going to bear the brunt of job losses in the future, a recent analysis found.According to employment trends and predictions, the jobs non-college-educated women have typically found security in are going to decline, per the analysis.“Specifically, non-college women are slated to lose the most middle-wage jobs — jobs that have historically allowed them to provide for themselves and their family,” the report by Third Way found. “And unless there is a surge in women moving into traditionally male-dominated professions, job growth for non-college women will be concentrated in the lowest-paying sectors."The analysis, performed on data provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), projected jobs like cashiers and mail carriers, mostly held by people without a college degree, are going to see some of the biggest declines in employment in the next 10 years.According to the gender breakdown of the occupations likely to see the most ...

'Sad': Sears reopened a store in California and shoppers have thoughts

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:17 GMT

BURBANK, Calif. (KTLA) — The reopening of a Sears store in California is being called "the saddest thing" some users of local Reddit pages have ever seen. Once a titan of the brick-and-mortar industry with hundreds of locations across the globe, Sears fell on hard times with the vast majority of its stores closing up shop and shuttering doors for good. The company filed for bankruptcy and liquidated most of its assets, only to come out of bankruptcy earlier this year with fewer than 25 stores remaining, and that number has continued to dwindle. As of August 2023, there were only about a dozen left in the world. Rite Aid plans to close over 150 stores: Is yours on the list? Just last year, Sears bid adieu to the Burbank Town Center, leaving the mall with an anchor store-sized hole to fill. Despite the closure, the presence of Sears still loomed, with intact signage and storefront still visible across its three-story former home.Rumors and hints of a comeback were discussed, but no...