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Applications for US jobless benefits fall to lowest level in more than 8 months

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:52 GMT

Applications for unemployment benefits fell to their lowest level in eight months last week as businesses continue to retain workers despite elevated interest rates meant to cool the economy and labor market.Jobless claim applications fell by 13,000 to 198,000 for the week ending Oct. 14, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s the fewest since January.Jobless claim applications are considered a proxy for layoffs.The four-week moving average of claims, which flattens out some of the week-to-week volatility, ticked down by 1,000 to 205,750.Overall, 1.73 million people were collecting unemployment benefits the week that ended Oct. 7, about 29,000 more than the previous week.

Staff picks for Week 7 of 2023 NFL season: Steelers vs. Rams, Chargers vs. Chiefs, Dolphins vs. Eagles and more

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:52 GMT

Baltimore Sun staff writers pick every game of the NFL season. Here’s who they have winning in Week 7:Jacksonville Jaguars at New Orleans Saints (Thursday, 8:15 p.m.)Brian Wacker (53-40 season; 11-4 last week): JaguarsChilds Walker (60-33 season; 9-6 last week): JaguarsMike Preston (52-41 season; 9-6 last week): JaguarsC.J. Doon (62-31 season; 10-5 last week): JaguarsTim Schwartz (60-33 season; 13-2 last week): JaguarsLas Vegas Raiders at Chicago Bears (Sunday, 1 p.m.)Wacker: RaidersWalker: RaidersPreston: RaidersDoon: RaidersSchwartz: RaidersCleveland Browns at Indianapolis Colts (Sunday, 1 p.m.)Wacker: BrownsWalker: BrownsPreston: BrownsDoon: BrownsSchwartz: BrownsBuffalo Bills at New England Patriots (Sunday, 1 p.m.)Wacker: BillsWalker: BillsPreston: BillsDoon: BillsSchwartz: BillsWashington Commanders at New York Giants (Sunday, 1 p.m.)Wacker: CommandersWalker: CommandersPreston: CommandersDoon: CommandersSchwartz: CommandersAtlanta Falcons at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Sunday,...

Harvard pro-Palestinian ‘die-in’ to be followed by ‘walk-out’ today

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:52 GMT

A pro-Palestinian “die-in” at Harvard University yesterday is being followed by a call for a “general strike” this afternoon.The Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee, already embroiled in a scathing letter the group co-signed blaming Israel for the Hamas terror attack Oct. 7, is now urging fellow Crimson students to “walk out of class.”An Instagram post on the @HarvardPSC page states, “Stand in solidarity with Palestinians Facing Genocide. Walk out of class, meet at Mass Hall. Thursday — 1-3 pm.”The post already has 1,210 likes and comments that run the gamut from “You guys are amazing” to “Prove that you stand with Palestine by leaving the USA, UK, EU and remaining in Palestine.”Another comment pointed out that access to Harvard Yard appears to be limited to just students who can show a campus identification.This all comes a day after members of the group and supporters marched to the Harv...

EU demands Meta and TikTok detail efforts to curb disinformation from Israel-Hamas war

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:52 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The European Union ratcheted up its scrutiny of Big Tech companies on Thursday with demands for Meta and TikTok to detail their efforts to curb illegal content and disinformation during the Israel-Hamas war. The European Commission, the 27-nation bloc’s executive branch, formally requested that the social media companies provide information on how they’re complying with sweeping new digital rules aimed at cleaning up online platforms. The commission asked Meta and TikTok to explain the measures they have taken to reduce the risk of spreading and amplifying terrorist and violent content, hate speech and disinformation. Under the EU’s new rules, which took effect in August, the biggest tech companies face extra obligations to stop a wide range of illegal content from flourishing on their platforms or face the threat of hefty fines. The new rules, known as the Digital Services Act, are being put to the test by the Israel-Hamas war. Photos and videos have...

European court says Italy violated rights of residents near Naples over garbage crisis

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:52 GMT

ROME (AP) — Italy violated the human rights of residents living in and around Naples by failing to manage a 15-year garbage and pollution crisis that contributed to higher mortality rates from cancer in the area, the European Court of Human Rights ruled. The preliminary verdict announced Thursday from the Strasbourg-based court is the second major one in recent years to find that Italy’s failure to collect, treat and dispose of tons of waste in the Campania region adversely affected residents’ personal well-being.Residents of the area have long complained about adverse health effects from the dumping, which has poisoned the underground wells irrigating the farmland that provides vegetables for much of Italy’s center and south. The area is known as the “land of fires,” since the accumulated waste is commonly burned, spewing toxic fumes for kilometers (miles). Authorities say at least some of the contamination is due to the local Camorra mob’s multibillion-dollar racket in disposing o...

One person injured after car flips during police chase in Brampton

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:52 GMT

One person is in hospital with injuries after a car flipped during a police chase in Brampton on Wednesday night.Police tell CityNews officers were trying to conduct a traffic stop on a vehicle with stolen plates near Brandon Gate Drive and Goreway Drive in Mississauga around 9:30 p.m.It is alleged the suspect vehicle fled and drove into plaza near Airport Road and Queen Street East in Brampton where it collided with a police cruiser and flipped over.The 36-year-old driver of the suspect vehicle was taken to hospital with injuries. He has been charged with possession of property obtained by crime and flight from a peace officer.No other injuries were reported.The investigation is ongoing.

Bottle of ‘most-sought after Scotch whisky’ to come under hammer at Sotheby’s in London next month

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:52 GMT

LONDON (AP) — A bottle of “the most-sought-after Scotch whisky” is set to go up for auction next month, with an estimated price of up to 1.2 million pounds ($1.4 million), the auction house Sotheby’s said Thursday.It said the 96-year-old bottle of single malt from distiller Macallan — The Macallan Adami 1926 — will come under the hammer in London on Nov. 18, with a price estimate above 750,000 pounds. Advance bidding will begin Nov. 1.A version of The Macallan 1926 was sold by Sotheby’s in 2019 for 1.5 million pounds, a record for any bottle of wine or spirit. The appearance of three different bottle variations of the whisky at auctions in 2018 and 2019 led to the record being broken three times. “The Macallan 1926 is the one whisky that every auctioneer wants to sell and every collector wants to own,” said Jonny Fowle, Sotheby’s global head of spirits. “I am extremely excited to bring a bottle to a Sotheby’s auction for the first time since we set the record for this vi...

The world waits for Israel’s ground offensive, and whatever comes next

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:52 GMT

In today’s Big Story Podcast, the Israel-Hamas war is near a tipping point. At some point Israel will have to decide to push forward with a massive and unprecedented ground offensive into Gaza in an attempt to eradicate Hamas, or find a way to back down from the stated goal of its response. A large-scale ground invasion, however, may well draw other entities into a widening conflict.Gregg Carlstrom is the Middle East correspondent for The Economist and author of How Long Will Israel Survive? The Threat From Within.“Everyone in the region, hundreds of millions of people in this region, are really waiting on tenterhooks right now because they’re nervous about what seems like a very real possibility that this will expand,” said Carlstrom.If Israel sends in ground troops, what happens next? How reliable is information coming out of Gaza right now? Will U.S. President Joe Biden’s presence in the region Wednesday accomplish anything? And is there any hope of a ceasefire?Y...

The Guardian fires longtime cartoonist after allegations of antisemitic imagery

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:52 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The Guardian newspaper has fired longtime editorial cartoonist Steve Bell after refusing to run a caricature of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that critics said drew on antisemitic imagery.“The decision has been made not to renew Steve Bell’s contract,” the Guardian said.“Steve Bell’s cartoons have been an important part of the Guardian over the past 40 years — we thank him and wish him all the best,” publisher Guardian News and Media said in a statement sent to The Associated Press on Thursday.Bell has contributed to The Guardian since 1983. Several of his hundreds of cartoons over the years have been accused of including anti-Jewish stereotypes. The latest cartoon, posted by Bell on social media, shows Netanyahu holding a scalpel and preparing to cut a Gaza-shaped incision in his abdomen, with the caption “Residents of Gaza, get out now.” It is labeled “after David Levine” and recalls a Vietnam War-era cartoon depicting U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson poi...

Communities can’t recycle or trash disposable e-cigarettes. So what happens to them?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:52 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — With the growing popularity of disposable e-cigarettes, communities across the U.S. are confronting a new vaping problem: how to safely get rid of millions of small, battery-powered devices that are considered hazardous waste.For years, the debate surrounding vaping largely centered on its risks for high school and middle school students enticed by flavors like gummy bear, lemonade and watermelon.But the recent shift toward e-cigarettes that can’t be refilled has created a new environmental dilemma. The devices, which contain nicotine, lithium and other metals, cannot be reused or recycled. Under federal environmental law, they also aren’t supposed to go in the trash.U.S. teens and adults are buying roughly 12 million disposable vapes per month. With little federal guidance, local officials are finding their own ways to dispose of e-cigarettes collected from schools, colleges, vape shops and other sites.“We are in a really weird regulatory place where there is no l...