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Israeli strikes pound Gaza City, where tens of thousands have fled in recent days

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:49 GMT

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli strikes pounded Gaza City overnight and into Thursday as ground forces battled Hamas militants in dense urban neighborhoods from which tens of thousands have fled in recent days.Israeli troops were around 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from Shifa Hospital in the heart of downtown, the hospital’s director said. Israel has been vague on troop movements, but officials say Gaza’s largest city is the focus of their campaign to crush Hamas following its deadly Oct. 7 assault inside Israel.International mediators were meanwhile closing in on a possible deal for a three-day humanitarian cease-fire in exchange for the release of around a dozen hostages held by Hamas, according to two Egyptian officials, a United Nations official and a Western diplomat. The deal would also allow a small amount of fuel to enter the territory for the first time since the war began.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said any temporary cease-fire would have ...

Canadians and other foreign nationals still waiting for border crossing to reopen

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:49 GMT

A key crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt has remained closed today as hundreds of people connected to Canada await news of when — and whether — they will be able to escape the besieged Palestinian territory. The federal government confirmed that no Canadians were able to leave the Gaza Strip on Wednesday because of a closure of the Rafah border crossing.A U.S. State Department spokesperson told reporters on Wednesday that the closure was because of a “security circumstance,” but offered little additional detail. Global Affairs Canada says Canadian officials in Egypt remain ready to welcome those leaving the territory and help them get to Cairo.Those coming from Gaza are allowed to stay in Egypt for up to three days, and the Canadian government will provide them with accommodation and basic essentials during that time.On Tuesday, 75 Canadian citizens, permanent residents and their families were the first people connected to Canada to leave the territory since the w...

India, Pakistan border guards trade fire along their frontier in Kashmir; one Indian soldier killed

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:49 GMT

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Indian and Pakistani soldiers exchanged gunfire and shelling along their highly militarized frontier in disputed Kashmir, killing an Indian border guard, officials said Thursday.Authorities in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir said Pakistani soldiers fired mortars and machine guns at border posts in the southern Jammu area on Wednesday night, calling it “unprovoked.”India’s Border Security Force said in a statement that its soldiers “befittingly responded” and that one of its border guards was killed.The fighting ended early Thursday.There was no immediate comment from Pakistan. Each side often accuses the other of starting border skirmishes in the Himalayan region, which both claim in its entirety.Last month, two Indian border guards and three civilians were injured in fighting along the fronter with Pakistan.India and Pakistan have a long history of bitter relations over Kashmir. They have fought two of their three wars since 1947 over their competing...

New island emerges after undersea volcano erupts off Japan, but experts say it may not last long

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:49 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — An undersea volcano erupted off Japan three weeks ago, providing a rare view of the birth of a tiny new island, but experts say it may not last very long. The unnamed undersea volcano, located about 1 kilometer (half a mile) off the southern coast of Iwo Jima, which Japan calls Ioto, started its latest series of eruptions on Oct. 21. Within 10 days, volcanic ash and rocks piled up on the shallow seabed, its tip rising above the sea surface. By early November, it became a new island about 100 meters (328 feet) in diameter and as high as 20 meters (66 feet) above the sea, according to Yuji Usui, an analyst in the Japan Meteorological Agency’s volcanic division. Volcanic activity has increased near Iwo Jima and similar undersea eruptions have occurred in recent years, but the formation of a new island is a significant development, Usui said.Volcanic activity at the site has since subsided, and the newly formed island has somewhat shrunk because its “crumbly” formatio...

In The News for today: Gaza bombardment overnight hits close to hospital

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:49 GMT

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed tobring you up to speed on what you need to know today…Israel and Hamas conflict continuesThe general director of Gaza City’s main hospital says scores of wounded people are being treated at the Al-Shifa Hospital following overnight Israeli strikes and shelling.Dr. Mohammad Abu Selmia told the Associated Press by phone that at least one shell landed very close to the hospital at around dawn Thursday, resulting in only a few people sustaining minor injuries. He said it would’ve been a “catastrophe” had the shell landed any closer, adding that conditions at the hospital are “disastrous in every sense of the word.”Abu Selmia said the hospital is in short supply of medicine and other medical equipment, while doctors and nurses are exhausted and “unable to do much for the patients.”Meantime, negotiations are underway to reach a three-day humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza in exchange for the release of about a d...

Mobile and resilient, the US military is placing a new emphasis on ground troops for Pacific defense

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:49 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — As Chinese missile testing in the waters around Taiwan grew increasingly aggressive in 1996, the U.S. sailed two aircraft carrier groups to the island that Beijing claims as its own, and China was forced to back down. It employed a similar response to Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel a month ago, dispatching two carrier groups to the eastern Mediterranean in a rapid and massive show of force meant to deter other countries or Iran-backed proxy groups such as Hezbollah from joining the fight.But what is still viable in the Mideast is increasingly less practical with China, which in 1996 had no carriers of its own and little means to threaten the American ships, but now has the world’s largest navy, including three aircraft carriers, and a coastline bristling with anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles. Instead, ongoing exercises in Hawaii, which conclude Friday, highlight part of a new American approach to Pacific defense and deterrence, with a focus on small groups...

Study looks back centuries to peer into the future for polar bears

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:49 GMT

New research suggests that ancient polar bear populations shrank as sea ice dwindled, adding weight to concerns about the predator’s future as climate change melts the Arctic. “The population size seems to have decreased at a time when temperatures went up and sea ice went down,” said Paul Szpak, a professor at Trent University and a co-author of a newly published paper that looks at bear populations and habitats over thousands of years. Szpak and 19 colleagues from 11 institutions brought together three strands of inquiry to reach their conclusions — genetic analysis of old bear skulls from a Danish archive, habitat modelling based on long-ago climate and study of distinctive elements in those bones that reveal diet.  The polar bear genome has been completely mapped, allowing scientists to measure the genetic diversity of any one group of bears. More diversity suggests more bears.“How different the bears are from one another on a genetic level can be a marke...

Supreme Court to decide whether to hear Ontario election advertising case

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:49 GMT

OTTAWA — The Supreme Court of Canada is set to indicate today whether it will hear an appeal of a ruling that struck down third-party election advertising rules in Ontario.The law in question added more onerous restrictions to the amounts that third parties, such as unions and special interest groups, are allowed to spend in the lead up to an election, and the Court of Appeal for Ontario found it unconstitutional.Before 2021, third parties were allowed to spend up to $600,000 on advertising in the six months before an election call, but that year the government stretched that restricted spending period to one year, while not increasing the amount.The Progressive Conservative government argued the extended restriction was necessary to protect elections from outside influence, but critics said it amounted to the government trying to silence criticism ahead of the 2022 provincial election.The law was found unconstitutional on free speech grounds, so the government reintroduced the prov...

Tickets for Taylor Swift’s Vancouver shows go on sale to winners of presale lottery

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:49 GMT

VANCOUVER — The wait to buy tickets for Taylor Swift’s 2024 concert dates in Vancouver is finally over, with online sales scheduled to start this morning. But only the lucky fans who won a lottery to receive presale codes yesterday will get a chance to purchase up to four tickets for the shows at BC Place on Dec. 6, 7 and 8 next year.Ticketmaster’s website says the start of sales for the three dates will be staggered today at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Pacific time, but access is only being granted via a link and code that has been sent to presale lottery winners.Some Swifties tried to “manifest” victory in the presale code lottery by reciting mantras to their idol and burning candles, in what has become a social media phenomenon among fans.Such tactics didn’t work for Langley, B.C., teenagers Candace and Chloe Harding, whose mom Shae Harding says they were sad to be told they had been wait-listed again, after unsuccessful attempts to secure tickets to ...

Supports for Gaza Strip evacuees to be determined based on need, minister says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:49 GMT

OTTAWA — Immigration Minister Marc Miller says the immigration status and supports available for evacuees who escape from Gaza Strip will have to be determined based on individual circumstances once people make their way to Canada.The federal government has been working to secure the safe passage of more than 400 people with connections to Canada as part of ongoing negotiations between Israel and Egypt that are being mediated by Qatar.The slow trickle of people allowed through the highly controlled Rafah border crossing has so far included 75 people on Canada’s list of anticipated evacuees, and they are only allowed to remain in Egypt for 72 hours.The list includes Canadian citizens and permanent residents, as well as eligible family members who don’t have immigration status in Canada.Global Affairs Canada says it is also aware of reports that four Canadian citizens got out with the help of a third party. Miller says family members without Canadian citizenship or permane...