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Republicans quickly eye Trump-backed hard-liner Jim Jordan as House speaker, but not all back him

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:42:19 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Increasingly desperate Republicans convened behind closed doors again Friday as the endless search for a House speaker drags deeper into a second week leaving the GOP majority spiraling into chaos for the foreseeable future.Attention swiftly turned to Rep. Jim Jordan, the Trump-allied Judiciary Committee chairman and founder of the hard-line Freedom Caucus as the next potential candidate after Majority Leader Steve Scalise abruptly ended his bid when it became clear hard-line holdouts refused to back him.But not all Republicans want to see Jordan as speaker, second in line to the presidency. Overwhelmed and exhausted, anxious GOP lawmakers worry their House majority is being frittered away to countless rounds of infighting over rules, personalities and direction of the GOP. “Someone said ‘You know, you could put Jesus Christ up for Speaker of the House, and he still wouldn’t get 217,” said Rep. Mark Alford, R-Mo., about the number needed to win a floor ...

Reaction to Supreme Court’s ruling on environmental review law

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:42:19 GMT

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled Friday against federal legislation dealing with the environmental effects of major developments. Five out of seven judges found most of the law unconstitutional, because it seeks to regulate activities within provincial jurisdiction.Here is some of the reaction to the decision:“The Government of Canada developed the Impact Assessment Act to create a better set of rules that respect the environment, Indigenous rights and ensure projects get assessed in a timely way. We remain committed to these principles. We are heartened that the Supreme Court of Canada affirmed our role on these core principles. We will now take this back and work quickly to improve the legislation through Parliament.” — federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault and Justice Minister Arif Virani—“(Prime Minister) Justin Trudeau with the help of the NDP has violated the constitutional rights of Canadians to develop their own natural resources. He has blo...

Bank regulator outlines expanded risk guidelines to include integrity, security

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:42:19 GMT

TORONTO — Canada’s banking regulator has released draft guidelines on how it expects to oversee the integrity and security of financial institutions, including foreign interference risk.The guidelines released Friday by the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions come as a result of the federal government expanding the regulator’s mandate in June to cover those areas, and are part of a widening of its oversight beyond the direct financial health of institutions.“Public confidence depends not just on knowing that financial institutions are and will remain financially sound but also in knowing that they conduct their business with integrity,” said OSFI assistant superintendent Tolga Yalkin in a media briefing.“We’re now required to advance the management of these risks, irrespective of their link to overall financial health of the institutions we regulate.”The guidelines for integrity include aspects like ensuring the “good character&...

These Canadian designers are putting the brakes on ultrafast fashion

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:42:19 GMT

TORONTO — Canadian fashion companies that are pushing back against a market that expects loads of cheap clothes say keeping operations small and local is the key to sustainability, but so too is the need to inform the public about the consequences of fast fashion.Ahead of the 10th annual Canadian Arts and Fashion Awards on Saturday, homegrown retailers at the forefront of an ethically-minded movement say they’re increasingly focused on changing consumer expectations driven by quickly made clothing. “It’s just a fact that humans are consuming at a fast pace and consuming a lot of resources and energy,” said Jean-Philippe Robert, president of the Montreal-based outerwear company Quartz Co., among several brands nominated for a sustainability CAFA. “We have to limit ourselves. Fashion is a polluting industry; it’s a known fact. But at the same time, people need to dress.” It may appear to be a counterintuitive stance for a company that relies o...

In Israel’s call for mass evacuation, Palestinians hear echoes of their original catastrophic exodus

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:42:19 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — In Israel’s call for the evacuation of half of Gaza’s population, many Palestinians fear a repeat of the most traumatic event in their tortured history, their mass exodus from what is now Israel during the 1948 war surrounding its creation.Palestinians refer to it as the Nakba, or “catastrophe.” An estimated 700,000 Palestinians, a majority of the prewar population, fled or were expelled from what is now Israel in the months before and during the war, in which Jewish fighters fended off an attack by several Arab states.The Palestinians packed their belongings, piling into cars, trucks and donkey carts. Many locked their doors and took their keys with them, expecting to return when the war ended.Seventy-five years later, they have not been allowed back. Emptied towns were renamed, villages were demolished, homes reclaimed by forests in Israeli nature reserves.Israel refused to allow the Palestinians to return, because it would threaten the Jewish ma...

Pennsylvania seeks to expand public awareness of its Indigenous culture and history

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:42:19 GMT

BETHLEHEM, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s absence of federally recognized tribal nations means there’s been an incomplete picture of its Native American culture and history, officials said Friday as they announced a grant-funded program designed to change that.The Pennsylvania Tourism Office, in partnership with Lehigh University’s Institute for Indigenous Studies and with input from federally recognized tribes, will develop a plan to highlight the state’s Indigenous stories, culture and history through a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission.Pennsylvania is behind other states in its consideration of Indigenous culture and history, compared with Midwestern states, said Jason Hale, a researcher from the Institute for Indigenous Studies, Lehigh University. Hale is from the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation near Mayetta, Kansas.The grant will allow them to change that. “It comes right under the mission of what we do to connect and to help Indigenous tribal nat...

Sharon Stone says health issues slowed her acting career so she’s expressing herself through paint

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:42:19 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — During the pandemic, a friend sent Sharon Stone a paint-by-numbers set to keep her busy, a gesture that has led to a new path of creative expression for the actor. Known best for roles in films like “Casino” and “Basic Instinct,” Stone has discovered a love of painting and launched a show of her giant canvases at the C. Parker Gallery in Greenwich, Connecticut, this week.Stone got frustrated staying within the lines and colors in that first paint set and started creating her own abstract paintings using acrylic on canvas. Over the past several years she has carved out studio space in her home where she works both inside and outside and says she loves it because she always needs to be moving.The show, titled “Welcome to My Garden” is only her second outing and features 19 of her brightly colored works. Stone, 65 and the mother to three sons, recently spoke with The Associated Press about artistic inspiration, battling health issues and whether she will act again. Answ...

A teacher is dead and 3 people are wounded after a France stabbing attack that echoes a 2020 killing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:42:19 GMT

ARRAS, France (AP) — A man of Chechen origin who was under surveillance by French security services over suspected Islamic radicalization stabbed a teacher to death at his former high school and critically wounded three other people Friday in northern France, authorities said. The attack was being investigated by anti-terror prosecutors amid soaring global tensions over the war between Israel and Hamas. It also happened almost three years after another teacher, Samuel Paty, was beheaded by a radicalized Chechen near a Paris area school.President Emmanuel Macron said France had been “hit once again by the barbarity of Islamist terrorism.”“Nearly three years to the day after the assassination of Samuel Paty, terrorism has hit a school again and in a context that we’re all aware of,” Macron said at the site of the attack in Arras, a city 115 miles (185 kilometers) north of Paris.A colleague and a fellow teacher identified the dead educator as Dominique Bernard, a French language teache...

Israel's Netanyahu vows to 'destroy' Hamas, says Gaza offensive still in early stages

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:42:19 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas as the army prepares for an expected ground invasion of the Gaza Strip.Netanyahu delivered the threat in a nationally televised address late Friday.Israel has been pounding Gaza with airstrikes since Hamas militants carried out an unprecedented cross-border attack last Saturday, killing over 1,300 people in a brutal rampage. Early Friday, Israel ordered half of Gaza’s population to evacuate their homes.“This is just the beginning,” Netanyahu said. “We will end this war stronger than ever.”“We will destroy Hamas,” he added, saying Israel has widespread international support for the operation.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.JERUSALEM (AP) — Palestinians fled in a mass exodus from northern Gaza Friday after Israel’s military told some 1 million people to evacuate toward the southern part of the besieged territory, an unprecedented order ahead of an expected ground inva...

Can the Bears end 2 more losing streaks on Sunday?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:42:19 GMT

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Fans of the Bears were able to breathe a sigh of relief after the team ended their 14-game losing streak against the Commanders on October 5.But as they approach Sunday's game against the Vikings at Soldier Field, there are still two more they'd like to end. (Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images)The first is a losing streak against their opponents in the NFC North, which actually goes back longer than the team's 11-month overall skid they ended last week. Right now, the team has a ten-game losing streak against the division, with their last win coming against the Lions on Thanksgiving Day in 2021 when Andy Dalton led the team to victory. The Bears loss their final three division games of that season, then all six in a 3-14 campaign in 2022.This season, the Bears dropped their season opener to the Packers 38-20 at Soldier Field, putting that streak into the double digits.(Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)Speaking of the Bears' home stadium, it's been over a year s...