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Hamas leader visits Cairo as talks over another Gaza cease-fire gather pace

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:18:33 GMT

By WAFAA SHURAFA, JOSEF FEDERMAN and SAMY MAGDY (Associated Press)DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hamas’ top leader traveled to Cairo on Wednesday for talks on the war in Gaza, part of a flurry of diplomacy aimed at securing another cease-fire and swap of hostages for Palestinian prisoners at a moment when Israel’s offensive shows no signs of slowing.Hamas has been putting up stiff resistance, even as the Israeli army claims to be making great progress in eradicating them. The visit to Cairo by its top leader, Ismail Haniyeh, came a day after Hamas fired rockets that set off air raid sirens in central Israel. It was a show of strength after a 10-week war that has devastated much of northern Gaza, killed nearly 20,000 Palestinians, and driven some 1.9 million — nearly 85% of the population — from their homes.Israel has called on the rest of the world to blacklist Hamas as a terrorist organization, saying it must be removed from power in Gaza in the wake of its Oct. 7 rampage a...

Teachers in Ontario’s French-language public school system to hold strike vote

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:18:33 GMT

Teachers in Ontario’s French-language public school system will be voting next month on whether to give their union a strike mandate after nearly a year and a half of bargaining.Union president Anne Vinet-Roy says the government is insisting on proposals “that will add to teachers’ workloads and worsen the critical staff shortages” threatening the French-language education system.Strike votes have been set for Jan. 24 to Jan. 26.As well, the Association des enseignantes et enseignants franco-ontariens is asking for a conciliator to help move contract negotiations forward. Related: Ontario English elementary teachers vote in favour of 4-year agreement High school teachers accept Ford government’s binding arbitration proposal Ontario Catholic teachers file for conciliation in contract talks with Ford government Elementary and secondary teachers have reached deals with the province that settle certain issues a...

Feds sign first carbon contract for difference with Calgary-based Entropy

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:18:33 GMT

CALGARY — A Calgary carbon capture company has signed a first-of-its-kind carbon offtake agreement with the federal government.The federal Liberal government promised in its recent fall economic statement to introduce a carbon contracts for difference framework in order to give certainty to companies considering investing in emissions reducing technology.Carbon contracts for difference reduce the risk for businesses investing in clean technologies by guaranteeing the price of carbon for a fixed period of time.The government said Wednesday it has signed a first contract with Entropy Inc., which has developed a unique modular carbon capture, utilization and storage technology.The agreement will see the Canada Growth Fund provide Entropy with a large-scale, long-term, fixed price carbon credit offtake framework.Many environmental groups have said this type of agreement has long been the missing piece when it comes to encouraging private sector investment in decarbonization.This report ...

Maine governor tells residents to stay off the roads as some rivers continue rising after storm

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:18:33 GMT

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A river that runs through Maine’s capital city has risen to levels not seen in decades in the aftermath of a heavy storm, and the state’s governor urged people in heavily impacted areas to avoid travel Wednesday.People across the northeastern U.S. were still mopping up after the major pre-Christmas storm dumped torrential rains and brought damaging winds from Pennsylvania to Maine, as some rivers in the region rose even higher. Some of the worst damage was in Vermont and Maine, where hundreds of thousands of people still lacked power.At least five people in East Coast states were killed in the storms. In Maine, Democratic Gov. Janet Mills planned to address the state while emergency managers tended to dozens of road closures.The Kennebec River, which runs through Augusta, and the Sandy, Swift, Carrabassett and Androscoggin rivers were all seeing higher water levels than typical, leading to damage and closures, the Maine Department of Transportation...

S&P/TSX composite up in late-morning trading as price of oil climbs higher

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:18:33 GMT

TORONTO — Strength in the energy stocks and battery metals helped Canada’s main stock index move higher in late-morning trading as the price of oil rose and U.S. stock markets also moved up.The S&P/TSX composite index was up 44.81 points at 20,884.44.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 31.07 points at 37,588.99. The S&P 500 index was up 2.75 points 4,771.12, while the Nasdaq composite was up 35.40 points at 15,038.62.The Canadian dollar traded for 75.08 cents US compared with 74.94 cents US on Tuesday.The February crude oil contract was up 97 cents at US$74.91 per barrel and the January natural gas contract was down a penny at US$2.49 per mmBTU.The February gold contract was down US$4.40 at US$2,047.70 an ounce and the March copper contract was up a penny at US$3.90 a pound.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 20, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD) The Canadian Press

Wisconsin prosecutor appeals ruling that cleared way for abortions to resume in state

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:18:33 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Republican district attorney has appealed a court ruling that determined that an 1849 Wisconsin law does not ban consensual abortions, a decision that cleared the way for abortions to resume in the state.Sheboygan County District Attorney Joel Urmanski on Tuesday appealed the ruling from a Dane County judge that said there is no state ban on abortions. The appeal was expected and the case is likely to ultimately be decided by the Wisconsin Supreme Court.Urmanski asked that the appeal be heard in the state’s Waukesha-based 2nd District Court of Appeals, where three of the four judges are conservative. Appeals are heard by three-judge panels.Any appeal of a ruling there would go to the state Supreme Court, where liberals hold a 4-3 majority. The most recently elected liberal justice, Janet Protasiewicz, campaigned as a supporter of abortion rights.The U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision legalizing abo...

Congressman told to hand over hundreds of texts and emails to FBI in 2020 election probe

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:18:33 GMT

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A federal judge is ordering Republican Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania to turn over more than 1,600 texts and emails to FBI agents investigating efforts to keep President Donald Trump in office after his 2020 election loss and illegally block the transfer of power to Democrat Joe Biden. The ruling, late Monday, came more than a year after Perry’s personal cellphone was seized by federal authorities. The decision, by U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, is largely in line with an earlier finding by a federal judge that Perry appealed to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C.Boasberg, in a 12-page decision, said that, after viewing each record, he decided that Perry, a top Trump ally, can withhold 396 of the messages under the constitution’s speech and debate clause that protects the work of members of Congress.However, the other 1,659 records do not involve legislative acts and must be disclosed, Boasberg ruled. That includes efforts to inf...

Iran summons Germany’s ambassador over Berlin accusing Tehran in a plot to attack a synagogue

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:18:33 GMT

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s foreign ministry summoned the German ambassador to Tehran on Wednesday in protest against a ruling that implicated the Islamic Republic in a plan to attack a synagogue in Germany last year, the state-run IRNA news agency said.The report said the ministry summoned German Ambassador Hans-Udo Muzel to deliver the protest after the Duesseldorf state court convicted a 36-year-old German-Iranian man of attempted arson and agreeing to commit arson and sentenced him to two years and nine months in prison.Judges found that the man threw an incendiary device at a school in the western city of Bochum in November 2022 because the neighboring synagogue appeared too well secured. The defendant denied planning to attack the synagogue. The school reportedly sustained had minor damage.The court found the defendant had been tasked with the attack by a former Hells Angels member who had gone to Iran, and that Iran was behind the latter man. The German judges establishe...

U.S. imposes more Russian oil price cap sanctions and issues new compliance rules for shippers

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:18:33 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. imposed new sanctions on alleged violators of a $60 per barrel price cap on Russian oil and tightened compliance rules for insurance firms and shippers, Wednesday.Firms across the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong were identified for economic sanctions, including UAE-based Sun Ship Management D Ltd., which Russian state-owned fleet operator Joint Stock Company Sovcomflot owns. Also sanctioned were Hong Kong-based Covart Energy, which has increased its share of the trade of Russian oil since the price cap policy was implemented, and Hong Kong-based Bellatrix Energy.Firm administrators were not available for comment to The Associated Press. The sanctions, which follow others imposed this year on shippers of Russian oil priced above the cap, block their access to their U.S.-owned property and prevent U.S. individuals and firms from doing business with the groups.The price cap coalition also announced Wednesday that it will soon require service providers, inc...

Quebec labour unions threaten unlimited strike in new year if no deal is reac

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:18:33 GMT

MONTREAL — Four Quebec public sector unions representing hundreds of thousands of workers say they will launch an unlimited strike early in the new year if they don’t reach a deal with the government.The four unions, which are negotiating together and calling themselves the “common front,” say it’s still possible to settle before the end of 2023 but add that negotiations need to intensify for that to happen.Common front leaders told reporters today they have not set a date for an unlimited general strike in 2024.The unions, which represent 420,000 public sector workers, including teachers, education support staff and lab technicians, have held three strikes, most recently from Dec. 8 through Dec. 14.A teachers union with the common front dismissed a government offer presented Tuesday, while an unaffiliated teachers union that has been on unlimited general strike for four weeks said it was studying the offer.The provincial government has said it hopes to reach...