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France’s president is accused of siding with Depardieu as actor faces sexual misconduct allegations

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:48 GMT

PARIS (AP) — Women’s rights activists criticized French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday for appearing to take sides with actor Gérard Depardieu by saying the film star who is facing sexual misconduct allegations “makes France proud.” Speaking Wednesday night on TV channel France 5, Macron described himself as a “big admirer” of a “great actor.” Macron added: “He makes France proud.”Macron’s comments in a televised interview came after a documentary that aired earlier this month said 16 women have accused Depardieu of harassing, groping or sexually assaulting them. The France-2 report also showed the actor making obscene remarks and gestures during a 2018 trip to North Korea. Asked about the latest accusations against Depardieu, Macron said he believed in the presumption of innocence and the judicial process. “You will never see me participate in a manhunt,” the French leader said. Macron also criticized his culture minister’s decision to launch a disciplinary procedure c...

Israeli police are investigating 19 prison guards in the death of a 38-year-old Palestinian prisoner

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:48 GMT

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Nineteen Israeli prison guards are under investigation in the death of a 38-year-old Palestinian security prisoner in their custody, police said Thursday. Thaer Abu Assab was found with “severe signs of violence” on his body, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, an advocacy group. He died on Nov. 18 at the Ketziot prison in the southern Negev Desert. Abu Assab was arrested in 2005 and was serving a 25-years sentence for attempted murder.The Prisoners’ Club demanded an investigation, including an autopsy. Police originally told the group that it was difficult to identify the guards involved due to their helmets. Police announced the investigation of the guards Thursday, after a gag order expired. The Israel Prison Service said it was cooperating.The Prisoners’ Club says about 7,800 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli prisons. Hundreds were rounded up since the Oct. 7 start of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, triggered by a ...

Weekly US unemployment claims rise slightly but job market remains strong as inflation eases

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:48 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose slightly last week but still remained at historically low levels despite high interest rates intended to slow hiring and cool the economy. The Labor Department reported Thursday that jobless claims were up by 2,000 to 205,000 the week that ended Dec. 16. The four-week average of claims, which smooths out week-to-week ups and downs, fell by 1,500 to 212,000.Overall, 1.87 million Americans were collecting jobless benefits the week that ended Dec. 9, little changed from the week before.Weekly unemployment claims are a proxy for layoffs. They have remained at extraordinarily low levels in the face of high interest rates.The Federal Reserve began raising interest rates last year to combat the inflation that surged as the result of an unexpectedly strong economic rebound from the COVID-19 recession of 2020. The Fed has raised its benchmark rate 11 times since March 2022. And inflation has eased. Consumer pri...

Top US military officer speaks with Chinese counterpart as US aims to warm relations with Beijing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:48 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Gen. CQ Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke with his Chinese counterpart on Thursday, in the first of what officials said will be renewed talks between the two nation’s senior military leaders, as the Biden administration works to thaw relations with Beijing.The video call between Brown and Gen. Liu Zhenli is the first senior military communications between the U.S. and China since August 2022, when Beijing suspended all such contacts after former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan. It comes on the heels of similar conversations between top U.S. and Chinese diplomats, all triggered by the meeting last month between U.S. President Joe Biden and China’s President Xi Jinping. Biden’s meeting with Xi, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco, was aimed in part at restoring the military talks amid escalating concerns about frequent unsafe or unprofessional incidents between the two nati...

Green Christmas expected in Toronto as winter officially arrives tonight

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:48 GMT

Winter officially arrives Thursday night but there won’t be a winter wonderland in Toronto this Christmas.It is expected to be a calm, snow-free start to the season across the GTA as the winter solstice begins at 10:27 p.m. ET. The low will be near -4 C under partly cloudy skies.A mix of sun and cloud will greet the first full day of winter on Friday, with a high of 1 C.“Conditions are pretty quiet for the next couple of days. We have the chance of showers on Saturday,” CityNews weather specialist Denise Andreacchi said.Then on Sunday, which is Christmas Eve, Santa won’t need the extra winter gear while making stops in the city because we are in for a green Christmas. It will be mostly cloudy with a high near 4 C.The mild weather continues on Christmas Day with a high near 6 C and no snow in the forecast.David Phillips, chief climatologist at Environment Canada, says the rest of Canada will also see a green Christmas since most of the country has been unusual...

Workers at Wells Fargo location in New Mexico vote to unionize

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:48 GMT

Employees at a Wells Fargo bank in New Mexico have voted to unionize, the first time that workers at a major U.S. bank have attempted to organize in the modern era. The vote comes after a series of extraordinary gains for unions in the U.S., with organized labor sealing huge contracts in industries that have historically had strong labor representation, and inroads in those that have not. Bankers and tellers at the Wells Fargo branch in Albuquerque, New Mexico will join the Communications Workers of America’s Wells Fargo Workers United, the Committee for Better Banks said in a prepared statement Wednesday. And employees at other bank locations like Daytona Beach, Florida, have already filed for a vote to unionize with the National Labor Relations Board, according to the committee, which is made up of current and former employees of banks including Wells Fargo, US Bank, Santander, Bank of The West, and Bank of America.The workers say they are understaffed, underpaid, and mismanaged. ...

Mayor Chow, Trudeau to make major Toronto housing announcement today

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:48 GMT

A significant announcement is expected from Toronto’s mayor and the prime minister on Thursday as the city continues to deal with a housing affordability crisis. Mayor Olivia Chow will be joined by Justin Trudeau for the housing announcement in the morning. Trudeau is also scheduled meet with Chow in her City Hall office on Thursday afternoon.The announcement comes after Chow expressed disappointment when the Trudeau government released its fall economic statement last month, saying it failed to meet the ambition of Toronto’s housing plan with the housing funding initiatives outlined in the budget not kicking in until 2025.She argued the city needs more urgency to help tackle an ongoing crisis, citing the hundreds of refugees sleeping on the city’s streets. Chow has previously said the federal government’s Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) could help remedy the issue. The HAF asks for housing plans from local governments, and once approved, provides funding upfront to ensure the ...

Faith groups say more foster families are needed to care for the children coming to the US alone

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:48 GMT

HOMESTEAD, Florida (AP) — Snuggling on the sofa across from the Christmas tree, Sol proudly showed off the dog her foster parents gave her for earning all A’s even though she crossed the southern U.S. border knowing very little English. “They helped me a lot,” said the 14-year-old eighth grader. Then she blushed, hid her face in Cosmo’s fur, and added in Spanish, “Oooh, I said that English!”Sol — who is from Argentina — is among tens of thousands of children who arrive in the United States without a parent, during a huge surge in immigrants that’s prompting congressional debate to change asylum laws.Faith and community groups across the country are trying to recruit many more foster families to help move the children from overwhelmed government facilities. U.S. authorities encountered nearly 140,000 unaccompanied minors at the border with Mexico in fiscal year 2023, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Almost 10,000 are still in custody of the Department of Health and Hu...

EU pays the final tranche of Ukraine budget support for 2023. Future support is up in the air

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:48 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union on Thursday paid the final tranche of a multibillion-euro support package to Ukraine to help keep its war-ravaged economy afloat this year, leaving the country without a financial lifeline from Europe as of next month.The EU has sent 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion) each month in 2023 to ensure macroeconomic stability and rebuild critical infrastructure destroyed in the war. It’s also helping to pay wages and pensions, keep hospitals and schools running, and provide shelter for people forced from their homes.To ensure that Ukraine has predictable, longer-term income, the EU’s executive branch, the European Commission, proposed to provide the country with 50 billion euros ($55 billion.) At a summit last week, 26 of the 27 nation bloc’s leaders endorsed the plan, but Hungary imposed a veto.The decision came as a major blow to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskky, days after he had failed to persuade U.S. lawmakers to approve an additional $61 bill...

Bally's moving to 24/7 operation next week

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:48 GMT

CHICAGO — Full-time gambling will begin at Chicago's casino in River North next week.Bally's temporary casino has been operating on a 20-hour schedule since it opened in September.Now, the Illinois Gaming Board has approved gambling there around the clock, like most casinos.Bally's Chicago will move to a 24/7 operation on Wednesday. The casino says the move will help boost profits. Eighty-six thousand people visited the casino last month. Art mystery solved: Owner of Wrigley Field painting meets artist behind it thanks to WGN The permanent Bally's complex, on the site of the old Tribune Freedom Center, is expected to open in 2026.