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As last planned hostage releases begin, mediators aim to extend Israel-Hamas truce in Gaza

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:34:04 GMT

By WAFAA SHURAFA, JACK JEFFERY and MELANIE LIDMAN Associated PressEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — International mediators on Wednesday worked to extend the truce in Gaza, encouraging Hamas to keep freeing hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners and further relief from Israel’s air and ground offensive. The cease-fire will otherwise end within a day.Hamas freed two Russian-Israeli women, who exited Gaza Wednesday evening, Israel said. The release was expected to be followed by the swap of 10 more hostages in Gaza for 30 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.Israel has welcomed the release of dozens of hostages in recent days and says it will maintain the truce if Hamas keeps freeing captives. Still, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu underscored on Wednesday that Israel will resume its campaign to eliminate Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for 16 years and orchestrated the deadly attack on Israel that triggered the war. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist or...

Senate Majority Leader Schumer warns that antisemitism is on the rise as he pushes for Israel aid

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:34:04 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat who is the highest-ranked Jewish elected official in the U.S., warned Wednesday that antisemitism in the United States has reached levels unseen in generations and called on his fellow Democrats to clearly condemn it.Schumer’s remarks during a nearly-45 minute speech on the Senate floor come at a sensitive time in the Israel-Hamas war. The Biden administration is engaged in delicate negotiations to release hostages held by Hamas and extend a ceasefire, Democratic senators are increasingly calling to attach humanitarian conditions on a military aid package for Israe l, and the left-wing of the party has demonstrated a surge in support for Palestinians.Schumer is carefully navigating the moment, but said it was time for a clear-throated denouncement of the antisemitism that has flared in the U.S. and Europe ever since Hamas militants stormed into Israel last month. “The vitriol against Israel in the wake of Octob...

TDSB moves away from communicating every hate incident to parents

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:34:04 GMT

Canada’s largest school board says it has moved away from communicating every hate- or racism-related incident to school communities after finding that letters about the cases could lead to further harm.The changes in the Toronto District School Board procedures drew attention recently after two parents raised concerns about how an elementary school handled reports of hateful graffiti on site.The parents, who are school council co-chairs at McMurrich Junior Public School, say they were “disheartened” when they heard from their children last week about swastikas drawn in a girl’s bathroom at the school.Rachel Cooper and Livy Jacobs say the school principal and superintendent didn’t send an email to parents and other school community members about the incident, which they argue should have happened.TDSB spokesman Ryan Bird says the board decided more than a year ago to reduce the frequency of distributing letters to school communities because the communic...

Feminist website Jezebel will be relaunched by Paste Magazine less then a month after shutting down

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:34:04 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The irreverent feminist website Jezebel is making a comeback less than a month after it was shut down.Paste Magazine, a digital pop culture publication based in Atlanta, announced Wednesday that it was buying Jezebel.com from G/O Media, which closed it and laid off its staff earlier this month.In an announcement on its website, Paste said it “moved quickly to try and save” Jezebel after learning of its closure, calling the site “a beloved platform with a strong focus on women’s issues, pop culture and social commentary.” The acquisition was first reported by the New York Times, which said it was an all-cash deal, though no figures were disclosed. Paste Founder and Editor-in-Chief Josh Jackson said Jezebel’s “acquisition means that the critical information and content that Jezebel readers have come to rely on will live on.”“Our mission has always been to provide insightful, thought-provoking content that resonates with a diverse audience. Jezebel’s unique voice ...

Top diplomats meet in North Macedonia for OSCE but some boycott Lavrov’s expected attendance

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:34:04 GMT

SKOPJE, North Macedonia (AP) — Top diplomats from more than 50 countries were arriving in North Macedonia on Wednesday while others boycotted the expected presence of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.The foreign ministers of Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania had said they would not attend the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe talks due to Lavrov’s participation during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a brief stop in North Macedonia’s capital, Skopje, for the meeting but was to leave for Israel hours later. He was not expected to encounter Lavrov, who was due in Skopje late Wednesday.Blinken accused Russia of “flagrant violations of every single core principle” of Cold War efforts to ease East-West tensions that led to the creation of the OSCE, and “relentless efforts to obstruct the OSCE’s work.”Speaking at NATO headquarters in Brussels earlier Wednesday, Blinken added that the other OSCE me...

Man wanted in hate-motivated assault after woman punched during demonstration last month

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:34:04 GMT

Police have released an images of a suspect wanted in a hate-motivated assault during a demonstration in downtown Toronto last month. Investigators say a suspect approached a woman on a sidewalk observing a demonstration in the area of University Avenue and College Street on Oct. 29. She was holding a Canadian flag and a poster of an Israeli hostage when a man, along with four or five other males, surrounded and began yelling at her. Police say the man punched the woman, then ripped her poster and stomped on her flag before fleeing the scene. The man is described as between 40 to 60 years old and five-foot-nine. He was last seen wearing a black coat, a blue baseball hat and a blue medical mask. Police say the investigation is being as a hate-motivated offence, meaning if the person is charged and convicted the judge will take into consideration hate as an aggravating factor when imposing a sentence.

U.S. says alleged murder plotter was directed by India and mentioned B.C. killing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:34:04 GMT

OTTAWA — American prosecutors say a man allegedly involved in a murder plot against a Sikh activist on U.S. soil also discussed the killing of Canadian Hardeep Singh Nijjar, just hours after Nijjar was gunned down outside a British Columbia temple.The murder-for-hire indictment against Nikhil Gupta, 52, says he told an undercover officer who he thought was a hit man that Nijjar “was also the target,” and because he was dead, there was “no need to wait” on the next killing.The indictment says Gupta was recruited by an Indian government employee to orchestrate the killing of the activist, who isn’t named in the document, but has previously been identified by U.S. officials as Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.The indictment unsealed in Manhattan Federal Court says Gupta told an undercover officer the day after Nijjar’s murder in Surrey, B.C., last June that “we have so many targets.”It says the plot was directed by an Indian government employee who has descri...

Video of rich kid beating parking guard outrages Mexico, already plagued by class divisions

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:34:04 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — An expensive private high school in Mexico said Wednesday it has suspended and may expel a student who was caught on video beating a parking lot attendant at his housing complex. It was the latest in a decade-long string of beatings of working-class Mexicans by wealthy people that have caused anger in a country riven by stark income disparities. The incident happened in the central state of Puebla, where income inequality is particularly sharp.The state governor said that racism and classism may have been behind the incident, which he said occurred Tuesday. Gov. Salomón Céspedes called on prosecutors to consider bringing criminal charges in the case.The high school student, whose name authorities have not yet confirmed, was seen on security camera footage that went viral this week. He is seen rushing into the guard shack and punching the smaller employee ruthlessly and repeatedly. The student was reportedly angry because his automatic parking pass wouldn’t work. “...

China presents UN with vague Mideast peace plan as US promotes its own role in easing the Gaza war

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:34:04 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — China on Wednesday presented the United Nations Security Council with a four-point plan for Middle East peace in a demonstration of its ambitions to be a global superpower. But the plan was short on details, and the United States quickly reminded the council of its attempts to ease the Gaza war. China has had little role in negotiations over the Israel-Palestinian conflict, which have been largely monopolized by the United States for decades. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the council that the war shows the urgent need for a Palestinian state alongside Israel.“We should revitalize the political prospects of the two-state solution with stronger determination,” he said. The lack of a Palestinian state is “the crux of the repeated turbulence in the Palestinian-Israeli situation,” he said.U.S. President Joe Biden and other U.S. officials also have spoken in favor of working toward a two-state solution for the conflict.China made its biggest foray into Middle...

Investigation opened after Saguenay, Que., police kill man allegedly armed with knife

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:34:04 GMT

SAGUENAY, Que. — Quebec’s police watchdog says it is investigating after police in Saguenay, Que., shot and killed a man who was allegedly armed with a knife.The agency, known as the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes, says police in the city about 180 kilometres north of Quebec City received a 911 call reporting a stabbing shortly after 10 a.m. on Tuesday.The agency says in a news release that officers arrived a few minutes later and reported seeing an individual with a knife.It says the officers ordered the man to drop the weapon, and when he didn’t, they attempted to use a stun gun to stop him.However, it says, the individual continued to advance toward the officers with the knife in his hand.It says one of the police officers then shot the man, who was declared dead at the scene.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 29, 2023. The Canadian Press