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Live updates | An Israel-Hamas deal for hostages and a four-day cease-fire has been approved

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:01 GMT

Israel’s Cabinet approved a cease-fire agreement with the Hamas militant group that would bring a temporary halt to the devastating war that is now in its seventh week.The Israeli government said that under an outline of the deal, Hamas is to free at least 50 of the roughly 240 hostages taken in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack over a four-day period. Qatar, which mediates with Hamas, later confirmed the deal, saying the start time will be announced in the next 24 hours and that it will last for four days.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said before the Cabinet voted early Wednesday that the war would continue even if a deal was reached.Israel, the United States and Qatar have been negotiating for weeks over a hostage release that would be paired with a temporary cease-fire in Gaza and the entry of more humanitarian aid. Israel says Hamas uses civilians and hospitals as shields, while critics say Israel’s siege and relentless aerial bombardment amount to collective punishment of the territory’...

Scaloni wonders whether he’ll stay on as Argentina coach after winning in Brazil

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:01 GMT

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A Copa America title, a World Cup trophy and now a first-of-a-kind win in Brazil has Lionel Scaloni wondering whether he’ll stay on as Argentina coach.“I need to think a lot about what I will do,” Scaloni said in a news conference after Argentina’s 1-0 win over Brazil on Tuesday in a World Cup qualifying match in Rio de Janeiro. “I need this time to think.”Scaloni said he’d give it some thought before talking to Argentina’s soccer federation president Claudio Tapia and the players “because this national team needs a coach that has every possible energy, and that feels well.”The Maracana Stadium result was Brazil’s first ever home defeat in a World Cup qualifying match.“It is not a goodbye, it is not something else. But I need to think because the bar is set really high and it is tough to go ahead,” Scaloni said, “it is tough to continue winning.”He did not respond to other questions after making his comments...

Sam Altman to return as OpenAI’s CEO

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:01 GMT

Just days after he was fired by the OpenAI board, Sam Altman is set to return to the firm he co-founded as CEO, alongside a new board.In a post on X early Wednesday morning, the artificial intelligence firm said it had “reached an agreement in principle” for Altman to return, and that Bret Taylor, the former CEO of Salesforce, would chair a new “initial board,” which would also include former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Larry Summers and Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo, who is an existing board member.Altman, who took a job at Microsoft after his controversial ousting on Friday, said he was “looking forward” to returning to OpenAI, which created the famed ChatGPT language model-based chatbot.More than 730 of OpenAI’s employees — around 95 percent of the workforce — signed an open letter on Monday threatening to quit the firm if Altman wasn’t reinstated.

Chicago White Sox add another infielder with local ties, signing Paul DeJong after last week’s trade for Nicky Lopez

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:01 GMT

The Chicago White Sox continued their work to fill infield holes Tuesday by signing veteran Paul DeJong to a one-year deal, a source confirmed to the Tribune. The move is pending a physical.DeJong, who went to Antioch High School and Illinois State, has a .229/.299/.417 career slash line with 116 home runs and 344 RBIs in 729 career games over seven seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals (2017-23), Toronto Blue Jays (’23) and San Francisco Giants (’23).He finished second in National League Rookie of the Year voting in 2017 after slashing .285/.325/.532 with 25 home runs and 65 RBIs in 108 games. And he earned an All-Star selection in 2019, when he had career highs in home runs (30) and RBIs (78) in 159 games.The 30-year-old DeJong had a combined .207/.258/.355 slash line last season with 14 home runs and 38 RBIs in 112 games with the Cardinals, Blue Jays and Giants. He has 656 career starts at shortstop and 20 at second base.Jon Heyman of the New York Post and MLB Network ...

Woman arrested after kidnapping attempt in East County

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:01 GMT

SANTEE, Calif. -- A woman suspected of trying to kidnap a 1-year-old child in Santee was arrested Tuesday, authorities said.Isela Ortega, 31, faces a charge of attempted kidnapping, Lt. Chris Galve with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department said in a news release. She will be booked into Las Colinas Detention and Reentry Facility. Substitute teacher arrested after suspected ‘inappropriate activity’ with teen: police The attempted kidnapping occurred Monday just before 6 p.m. when a woman tried to take the child from a shopping cart in the 100 block of Town Center Parkway, according to law enforcement. However, the suspect was unable to remove the child from the cart as they were secured with a lap belt. The woman left the scene and headed south toward Mission Gorge Rd., but she was not located.Around 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Ortega was arrested in the 400 block of Orsett Street in Chula Vista, Galve said.

The US and the Philippines conduct joint air, sea patrols in South China Sea not far from Taiwan

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:01 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — The United States and the Philippines are conducting joint air and maritime patrols in the South China Sea, which come as the two countries step up cooperation in the face of growingly aggressive Chinese activity in the area.The Philippine Air Force said Wednesday its aircraft had taken part in joint patrols on Tuesday in the vicinity of Batanes, the northernmost province of the Philippines, which is only about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from Taiwan, a self-governed island that China claims as its own. The patrols run through Thursday and also include both the U.S. and Philippine navies. They come only days after Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. called the situation in the South China Sea increasingly “dire” as China seeks to assert its presence in an area where multiple nations have competing territorial claims.China claims virtually the entire South China Sea as its own waters, which has led to disputes not only with the Philippines but also with Vietnam, ...

The top contenders to lead the Netherlands, from a former refugee to an anti-Islam populist

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:01 GMT

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — No fewer than 26 Dutch political parties are seeking a share of the 150 seats in the lower house of parliament when the Netherlands holds a general election Wednesday. Only a few of them stand a realistic chance of providing the candidate who will succeed Mark Rutte as prime minister.Rutte, who is standing down once a new government is formed, led four coalitions over a record-breaking 13 years, making him the longest-serving Dutch prime minister. These are the main contenders to succeed him. Dilan Yesilgöz-Zegerius, People’s Party for Freedom and DemocracyDilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius, who could become the Netherlands’ first female prime minister, is a former refugee and now advocates cracking down on migration.The 46-year-old justice minister and leader of the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, or VVD, sees no contradiction in that.Instead, her party riffs on Yeşilgöz-Zegerius’ story in its manifesto as a reason to rein in immigration.“Th...

An election to replace the longest-serving leader of the Netherlands gives voters a clean slate

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:01 GMT

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — One thing is certain for the Dutch voters casting ballots in a general election on Wednesday: Mark Rutte, the Netherlands’ longest-serving prime minister, is on the way out.His replacement after 13 years in office could be the country’s first female premier or a social democrat who left his job as the European Union’s climate czar to return to national politics. The next prime minister also might turn out to be an anti-Islam lawmaker or a centrist who created his party only three months ago.The outcome is hard to predict given what happened in other European elections in recent months. Populist and hard-right parties triumphed in some EU member nations and faltered in others, creating conflicting messages on where democracy on the continent was heading.Spain set the scene in July, when it looked like the far right together with the conservative Christian Democrats might dislodge Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who has led the country...

A Las Vegas high school grapples with how a feud over stolen items escalated into a fatal beating

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:01 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Students at a Las Vegas high school had gone home for the day when an urgent message was broadcast from the intercom: A defibrillator was needed near one of the classrooms.A nurse ran in the direction of the emergency. A group of teachers tried to perform CPR. It wasn’t until the next day that social studies teacher Reuben D’Silva learned what happened — a student who was standing up for a friend was put on life support after being brutally beaten by 10 of his peers in a nearby alley.It was a devastating episode for Rancho High School, a predominantly minority campus in east Las Vegas. Some students walked out of class when they heard Jonathan Lewis Jr., 17, wouldn’t survive head trauma and other injuries he suffered in the Nov. 1 attack, D’Silva said.Adding to the devastation is that cellphone video of the beating was widely shared across social media.In the following weeks, a small memorial sprung up in the trash-littered alley bordered by ...

Britain’s Conservative government set to start cutting taxes ahead of likely election next year

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:01 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s Conservative government will try to win favor with voters by cutting taxes but avoiding worsening inflation in a budget statement Wednesday, coming ahead of a likely national election next year that opinion polls suggest it will lose.Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has hinted that tax cuts are back on the agenda now that his self-imposed pledge to halve inflation this year has been met and government revenue is higher than anticipated.In a speech Monday, Sunak raised expectations that Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt’s autumn statement will begin reducing the tax burden in the U.K., which is the highest in 70 years in the wake of COVID-19 and the energy price spike triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.Sunak said Monday that his government would “cut tax and reward hard work” but would “avoid doing anything that puts at risk our progress in controlling inflation.” Inflation eased to 4.6% in October from a year earlier after hitting a 41-year ...