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Finland to close 4 border crossing points after accusing Russia of organizing flow of migrants

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:31:04 GMT

HELSINKI (AP) — Finland will close four crossing points on its long border with Russia to stop the flow of Middle Eastern and African migrants that it accuses Moscow of ushering to the border in recent months, the government said Thursday.Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo and Interior Minister Mari Rantanen said the southeastern crossing points — Imatra, Niirala, Nuijamaa and Vaalimaa — will be closed at midnight Friday on the Finland-Russia land border that serves as the European Union’s external border.It runs a total of 1,340 kilometers (832 miles), mostly in thick forests in the south, all the way to the rugged landscape in the Arctic north. There are currently nine crossing points with one dedicated to rail travel only.“Operations of the Russian border authorities have changed,” Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo told reporters.He referred to dozens of migrants, mostly from the Middle East and Africa, who have arrived in recent days at the Nordic nation without p...

Demonstrators calling for Gaza ceasefire block bridge in Boston

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:31:04 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — Demonstrators seeking a ceasefire in Gaza blocked traffic on the Boston University bridge during rush hour Thursday, slowing traffic to a trickle.The group chanted “Ceasefire now!” during the protest amid an Israeli ground offensive in Gaza that followed Hamas-led attacks in Israel on Oct. 7. They also held signs that said, “Let Gaza Live.” The bridge connects Boston and Cambridge.Activists were demanding that Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts support an immediate ceasefire and use her influence to stop the Israeli government’s military action.Boston Police were at the scene of the protest, which was organized by IfNotNow, which said it represented members of Jewish community in Boston.The protest came as Israeli forces dropped leaflets warning Palestinians to flee parts of southern Gaza, residents said Thursday, signaling a possible expansion of their offensive.The Associated Press

CMHC says annual pace of housing starts in October up 1% from September

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:31:04 GMT

OTTAWA — Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the annual pace of housing starts for October ticked up from September.The national housing agency says the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts in October came in at 274,681, up one per cent from 270,669 in September.The increase came as the pace of urban housing starts rose two per cent to 257,357 units, with multi-unit urban starts up one per cent at 209,887 and single-detached urban starts up nine per cent at 47,470.CMHC says the annual pace of housing starts in Montreal fell 43 cent and Toronto saw a 24 per cent decline, while the pace of starts in Vancouver rose 35 per cent, boosted by a 40 per cent increase in multi-unit starts.The annual pace of rural starts for October was estimated at 17,324.The six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts in October was 256,280, up one per cent from 253,957 in September.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 16, 20...

U.S. applications for jobless claims rise in a labor market that remains very healthy

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:31:04 GMT

More Americans filed for jobless claims last week, but the labor market remains broadly healthy in the face of retreating inflation and elevated interest rates.Applications for unemployment benefits rose by 13,000 to 231,000 for the week ending Nov. 11, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s the most in three months.Jobless claim applications are seen as representative of the number of layoffs in a given week.The four-week moving average of claims, a less volatile measure, rose by 7,750 to 220,250.Overall, 1.87 million people were collecting unemployment benefits the week that ended Nov. 4, about 32,000 more than the previous week and the most since March.Analysts suggest that those so-called “continuing claims,” are steadily rising because many of those who are already unemployed may now be having a harder time finding new work.Still, the American labor market continues to show resiliency in the midst of the Federal Reserve’s campaign to get inflation back down to its...

Nicaragua’s exiled clergy and faithful in Miami keep up struggle for human rights at Mass

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:31:04 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — When the Rev. Silvio Báez finished his homily on a recent Sunday, applause broke out among the hundreds of faithful in St. Agatha Catholic Church, on the outskirts of Miami, that has become the spiritual home of the growing Nicaraguan diaspora.For the auxiliary bishop of Managua, his fellow priests and many worshippers who have fled or been exiled from Nicaragua recently, the Sunday afternoon Mass is not only a way to find solace in community. It’s also a means of pushing back against the regime’s violent suppression of critics, including many Catholic leaders.“For me, it’s the moment when I am closest to the people of Nicaragua. It’s like going back for an hour,” Báez told The Associated Press after greeting a long line of congregants outside the sacristy. “My constant message is, ‘Let’s not lose hope, let’s not get used to a situation that God doesn’t want.’”Báez said he left Nicaragua in the spring of 2019 only because Pope Francis told him to, “to save my life – he ...

Hate crimes, campus fights and division: How the Hamas-Israel conflict is changing Canada

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:31:04 GMT

In today’s Big Story Story, shots fired at Jewish schools in Montreal. Slurs screamed as Muslims outside a mosque. Clashes of protesters on Canadian campuses and at weekend marches. General demands to pick a side, or be placed on the other one. While every day in Gaza and Israel brings more death and tragedy, and more allegations of atrocities, the fallout from the conflict here is taking its toll on the fabric of Canadian unity.Dr. Mira Sucharov is a professor of political science at Carleton University who specializes in Israeli-Palestinian relations. She says that starting dialogue between people with opposing views on the conflict, needs to start with an acknowledgement of shared values.“You have to go in with a baseline idea that rights need to be respected, everyone deserves the right to individual and collective safety, human and civil rights, and then you can start talking more effectively here in Canada,” says Sucharov.So, where is the line between free speech and hate spee...

Here’s why heavy rain in South Florida has little to do with hurricane season

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:31:04 GMT

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Why has it been raining so much in South Florida? Experts say the latest windy, rainy storm system has nothing to do with hurricane season — and it’s finally moving on.The storm system that formed over the Florida Keys this week and dumped up to 9 inches (23 centimeters) of rain across parts of South Florida has moved into the Atlantic Ocean, bringing clearing skies to the region on Thursday, the National Weather Service in Miami said.While hurricane season doesn’t officially end until Nov. 30, this storm wasn’t associated with a tropical system, according to Luke Culver, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Miami.“It’s not considered a tropical system because of the way it formed,” Culver said, noting that the system developed more like a nor’easter, which are more common in the northeastern United States.Heavy rain started falling across South Florida on Tuesday night, continuing into Wednesday before mostl...

Blackwater founder and 4 others on trial in Austria over export of modified crop-spraying planes

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:31:04 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Five people including the founder of the Blackwater security firm went on trial in Austria on Thursday, accused of exporting two crop-spraying aircraft that were allegedly refitted for military purposes without required permits.The trial in Wiener Neustadt, south of Vienna, stems from an investigation into a local company, Airborne Technologies GmbH, which fits out aircraft with sensors and other equipment.Prosecutors say that two Ayres Thrush agricultural aircraft were equipped with armor, extra tanks and a special camera that could be used for marking and illuminating targets. They say one was sent to Malta in 2014 with Kenya as its declared destination and landed in troubled South Sudan, while the other was sent to Bulgaria in 2015.The defendants are accused of violating Austria’s law on war material by exporting such equipment without permission. One of the defendants, an Australian pilot, is accused of flying the two planes across Austria’s borders, wh...

Walmart attracts more shoppers seeking to cut spending in Q3, but muted expectations spook investors

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:31:04 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart extended its streak of strong quarterly gains heading into the holiday season as its low prices attract shoppers looking for deals in a tough economic environment.The company, based in Bentonville, Arkansas, reported better-than-expected financial results for the period. It upped its annual outlook, though it was slightly below what analysts expected. Shares fell nearly 3% in premarket trading.The nation’s largest retailer is among the first batch of major U.S. retailers to report quarterly results. Industry analysts are dissecting the data, seeking to shed more light on how consumers are feeling as the holiday approaches.Shoppers have remained resilient, propped up by a strong labor market and steady wages. That’s confounded economists, Federal Reserve officials and seems at times at odds with the sour sentiments that Americans themselves have expressed in opinion polls. But higher prices on food and other necessities, though easing, as well as h...

2 men charged in armed carjacking of family in Beverly neighborhood

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:31:04 GMT

CHICAGO — Two men have been charged in an armed robbery in the city's Beverly neighborhood.Damarri Conner, 20, and Kenneth Merritt, 26, both face one felony count of vehicular hijacking and two felony counts of armed robbery. Connor also faces three misdeameanor counts of resisting an officer.Police said the incident happened on Nov. 2 in the 9300 Block of South Pleasant Avenue. A 46-year-old woman and her 12-year-old daughter were arriving home from a volleyball open gym when she was targeted by Conner and Merritt. ‘They’re absolutely fearless’: Beverly family targeted by car thieves twice in under 2 weeks According to police, the two men held the victim up at gunpoint and pushed her to the ground before demanding car keys. The woman's 46-year-old husband came out of the house and the men took their vehicle.The incident was caught on surveillance video. Man dies after being attacked near House of Blues Police said Connor and Merritt were arrested Tuesday after they made off wit...