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Weekly US jobless claims highest since 2021, but companies avoid risk of being caught short-handed

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:05:16 GMT

By MATT OTT (AP Business Writer)The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits last week rose to its highest level in a year-and-a-half, though jobs remain plentiful by historical standards even as companies cut costs as the economy slows. Applications for jobless aid for the week ending May 6 rose by 22,000 to 264,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. That’s up from the previous week’s 242,000 and is the most since November of 2021. The weekly number of applications is seen as roughly representative of the number of U.S. layoffs.Many employers appear to have put a premium on retaining workers after some of them were caught short-handed by the rapid post-COVID-19 economic recovery. As a result, most economists don’t envision waves of layoffs even if a recession were to strike later this year as many expect. The four-week moving average of claims, which evens out some of the weekly volatility, rose by 6,000 to 245,250. Analysts have pointed to a sustain...

Coast Guard suspends search for plane crash survivors off California coast

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:05:16 GMT

The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended its active search for survivors of a plane crash off San Clemente Island.The Gates Learjet 36A was carrying three people when it crashed Wednesday morning roughly one mile southwest of the island, officials said.San Clemente Island is the southernmost of California’s Channel Islands and is managed by the U.S. Navy.Coast Guard and U.S Customs and Border Protection crews on Wednesday located a debris field in the area where the plane is believed to have gone down. The search encompassed 334 square miles, the Coast Guard said.A map shows San Clemente Island in relation to Catalina Island, Orange County and San Diego. (KTLA)Officials have not stated where the flight originated or released any information about those aboard.The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash.

Migrants huddle at the border as food, water, shelter in short supply

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:05:16 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Dozens of border agents practiced riot techniques Wednesday while preparing for the end of Title 42. Hundreds of migrants have gathered on the border in hopes of accessing the U.S. asylum system, which has been blocked by a Center for Disease Control statute baring migrants because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Migrants watch the clock in asylum-seeking limbo On Thursday at 9 p.m. in San Diego, Title 42 will end and what happens next is a question mark.Migrant families have been taken o the limit line early to be processed at the border while other migrants have sat for days waiting to surrender to border agents. Food, water and shelter are in short supply as migrants huddle together while asking people to charge their cellphones through the border wall. Volunteers pass trash bags snacks and homemade food through the fence to eager hungry families. MORE: End of Title 42 As more people are lined up and processed, some migrants have become more optimistic about their tu...

Hundreds of migrants await the end of Title 42

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:05:16 GMT

“Help, help,” one migrant said through the 30-foot U.S.-Mexico border wall Wednesday.With just one day left until Title 42 expires, there is uncertainty and confusion at the border.“It’s a human rights nightmare,” said Pedro Rios, Director of the American Friends Service Committee. “We are trying the best we can here and still feel like we are only making a dent in terms of providing the support that’s needed…” Local mayors prepare for end of Title 42 He’s been assisting with various efforts at the border for decades and said this is unlike anything he’s seen before.“We were distributing food and water this morning and trying to make an assessment on some of the needs some of the asylum seekers need, making contact with Border Patrol when its necessary, whenever there might be an extreme health need,” Rios said.Rios and others were passing out water bottles, snacks and food to the migrants throughout the day. MORE: End of Title 42 He’s been in contact with CBP when migrants need...

Local mayors prepare for end of Title 42

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:05:16 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Several mayors in San Diego County are bracing for the end of Title 42 while stressing the importance of getting more resources from the federal government.Mayors in San Diego, El Cajon and National City have shared concerns about food, safety, space, and beds to house migrants.Mayors have told FOX 5 their resources are already limited and could be spread thin if there is a significant amount of migrants arriving to their cities. The mayors have also said they are not getting much communication from the federal government on what to expect once the policy is lifted. MORE: End of Title 42 "And so we don't really know what the scope of the problem is going to look like. So we are going to have to wait and see until it happens," El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells said.Wells said he worries about enough beds, food and stress on the city and its police and fire departments. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection told his staff El Cajon could see up to 400 migrants a day."I think th...

New fighting kills 2 Palestinian militant commanders, man in Israel as Egypt pursues truce

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:05:16 GMT

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip killed two militant commanders on Thursday, while a 70-year-old man was killed by Palestinian rocket fire in the first fatality inside Israel amid the current wave of fighting. The continuing bloodshed, which has left 28 Palestinians dead, came despite Egyptian efforts to broker a cease-fire.It has been the worst bout of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza in months, with at least 10 civilians — mostly women and children — among the dead. The conflagration, now in its third day, comes at a time of soaring tensions and spiking violence over the past year in the occupied West Bank. Palestinian militants launched unrelenting rocket barrages into Israel throughout the day. One rocket struck an apartment block in the central Israeli city of Rehovot, killing a 70-year-old man, the MADA rescue service said. It said four others were moderately wounded.Earlier Thursday, Israeli military pressed ahead with...

Idaho prosecutors urge jurors to convict slain kids’ mom

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:05:16 GMT

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho prosecutors have spent the last four weeks painstakingly detailing their case against a woman accused of killing her two youngest children and a romantic rival in a bizarre doomsday-focused plot. On Thursday morning, Madison County Prosecutor Rob Wood gave an impassioned speech to jurors, urging them to convict Lori Vallow Daybell for the deaths of 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow, 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, and her fifth husband’s previous wife Tammy Daybell. “Money, power and sex,” Wood told jurors, reprising the opening arguments they heard last month. “Beginning in October of 2018, Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell set in motion a series of events that led to three horrific murders in the state of Idaho.” Vallow Daybell wanted to be “unencumbered by obstacles,” Wood said, so that she could have what she truly desired: money, power and sex. “The plan that she set in motion must end today in the verdicts you render in this trial,” Wood said. Both defendants ha...

Jacklyn Zeman, longtime ‘General Hospital’ cast member who played nurse Bobbie Spencer, dies at 70

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:05:16 GMT

Jacklyn Zeman, who became one of the most recognizable actors on daytime television during 45 years of playing nurse Bobbie Spencer on ABC’s “General Hospital,” has died. She was 70.Zeman died of cancer, her family confirmed Wednesday. News of her death was first announced by the show’s executive producer, Frank Valentini.“I am heartbroken to announce the passing of our beloved Jackie Zeman,” he wrote on Twitter. “Just like her character, the legendary Bobbie Spencer, she was a bright light and a true professional that brought so much positive energy with her work.”ABC Entertainment and “General Hospital” also released a statement saying Zeman “leaves behind a lasting legacy for her Emmy-nominated portrayal of the bad girl turned heroine and will always be remembered for her kind heart and radiant spirit. We are devastated by the news of her passing, and send our deepest condolences to Jackie’s family, friends and loved ones.”Zeman joined “General Hospital” in 1977 as Barbara ...

Top Tory strategist accuses Liberals of dropping the ball on foreign interference

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:05:16 GMT

OTTAWA — The former deputy chief of staff to Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper says the Liberal government isn’t doing enough to combat foreign interference, echoing similar testimony from experts who study the matter. Jenni Byrne, who was also the Conservatives’ campaign manager in the 2015 election, is testifying today at a House of Commons committee.She says the government is too soft on China and is turning a blind eye to the country’s alleged meddling in Canada’s democracy. Other witnesses have also said the government could be doing more to tackle foreign interference, like creating a foreign agent registry or holding an independent public inquiry into the matter. Michel Juneau-Katsuya, a former intelligence officer with Canada’s spy agency, says both Conservatives and Liberals haven’t done enough — and the current government should expel more Chinese diplomats.The Liberal government expelled a Chinese diplomat earlier this week who...

Prosecutor: International Criminal Court issues 4 arrest warrants for alleged crimes in Libya

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:05:16 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court announced Thursday that judges have issued four new arrest warrants stemming from his investigations of alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Libya.Prosecutor Karim Khan also said he recently applied for two additional warrants.He told the U.N. Security Council that he has applied to the court’s independent judges to unseal the four new arrest warrants, and they will decide “in due course.”Khan called the warrants “an important step in the rights of victims and survivors” for accountability, but only a first step.The Security Council unanimously referred Libya to The Hague, Netherlands-based ICC in February 2011 to launch an investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. The referral followed Moammar Gadhafi’s brutal crackdown on protesters that was then taking place. The uprising, later backed by NATO, led to Gadhafi’s capture and death in October 2011.Oil-rich Libya was then sp...