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How has Justin Fields been in the last two games? What does the defense need now? Insights on 4 Chicago Bears questions.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:15:30 GMT

The Chicago Bears needed that. In the worst way. Thursday night’s blowout of the Washington Commanders snapped a franchise-record 14-game losing streak, was the team’s first victory in 346 days and triggered a jubilant dance party inside the visiting locker room at FedEx Field. It also sent the Bears into their mini-bye with a bit of momentum and encouragement as they try to salvage the season after an 0-4 start.So where does the team go from here? How can Matt Eberflus push the team’s progress forward in the coming weeks? Tribune writers Brad Biggs, Colleen Kane and Dan Wiederer offer their analysis.The Bears’ 40-20 defeat of the Commanders on Thursday night was ___.Brad Biggs: Mood-shifting.The 40-20 defeat of the Commanders on Thursday night was precisely what the organization needed to shift the mood in the locker room and the building. That’s not to suggest it’s been all doom and gloom at Halas Hall but winning is the ultimate deodorant...

Nobel economics prize goes to professor for research on the workplace gender gap

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:15:30 GMT

By DAVID KEYTON, MICHAEL CASEY and MIKE CORDER (Associated Press)STOCKHOLM (AP) — The Nobel economics prize was awarded Monday to Harvard University professor Claudia Goldin for research that has advanced the understanding of the gender gap in the labor market.The announcement went a tiny step to closing the Nobel committee’s own gender gap: Goldin is just the third woman to win the prize out of 93 economics laureates.She has studied 200 years of women’s participation in the workplace, showing that despite continued economic growth, women’s pay did not continuously catch up to men’s and a divide still exists despite women gaining higher levels of education than men.“I’ve always been an optimist. But when I look at the numbers, I think something has happened in America, that we, in the 1990s, our labor force participation rate for women was the highest in the world, and now it isn’t the highest in the world,” Goldin told The Associated Press.“We have to step back and ask questions ab...

Stock market today: Oil gains, Wall Street falls after Israel declares war on Hamas

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:15:30 GMT

BANGKOK — Wall Street tumbled lower in premarket trading Monday as crude oil prices surged after the Israeli government declared war following deadly attacks by Hamas from the Gaza Strip. Futures for the S&P 500 skidded 0.6% before the bell, while futures for the Dow Jones industrials fell 0.5%.The bond market in the U.S. is closed Monday for the Columbus Day holiday, but the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq will be open. Oil prices were up more than $3 a barrel. Conflict in the Middle East often pushes oil prices higher given the risk of disruptions to supplies. “Disruptions or escalations in the region can have far-reaching implications for energy markets, global supply chains, and geopolitical dynamics,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.The fighting has not yet had any discernible impact on oil output, but geopolitical escalations in the Middle East typically lead to a “buy-first-ask-questions-later” response, he said. Oil prices had eased back fro...

German far-right leader says gains in state election show her party has ‘arrived’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:15:30 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — A leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany said on Monday that her party is no longer a primarily eastern German phenomenon after a pair of strong state election performances in the country’s more prosperous west, declaring that “we have arrived.”The 10-year-old Alternative for Germany, or AfD, is at its strongest in the country’s former communist east. It hopes to emerge as the strongest party for the first time in three state elections in that region about a year from now.However, co-leader Alice Weidel said gains for the party on Sunday in the western states of Hesse and Bavaria show that “AfD is no longer an eastern phenomenon, but has become a major all-German party. So we have arrived.”Sunday’s elections, halfway through the term of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s unpopular three-party government, followed a campaign marked by discontent with persistent squabbling in the national government and by pressure to reduce the number of mig...

UK’s Labour Party says it will invest for growth, as carnage in Israel hangs over its conference

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:15:30 GMT

LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Britain’s main opposition Labour Party said Monday that it will focus on economic growth rather than higher taxes to “rebuild” the country after more than a decade of Conservative rule.Labour economy spokeswoman Rachel Reeves told delegates at the party’s annual conference that “Labour will tax fairly and spend wisely.”“But I must tell you, you cannot tax and spend your way to economic growth,” she said. “The lifeblood of a growing economy is business investment.”Reeves was making her pitch to British voters and businesses at the four-day conference in Liverpool, where Labour is trying to cement its front-runner status in opinion polls before an election due in 2024.The party is running 15 or more points ahead of the governing Conservatives in multiple opinion polls, as Britain endures a sluggish economy and a cost-of-living crisis driven by the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and economic disruption following the U.K.’s exit from the Europea...

Major airlines suspend flights to Israel after massive attack by Hamas ignites heavy fighting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:15:30 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Major airlines have suspended flights to Israel after the nation declared war following a massive attack by Hamas. American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines suspended service as the U.S. State Department issued travel advisories for the region citing potential for terrorism and civil unrest. American suspended service to Tel Aviv through Friday. The airline said that it has issued a travel alert providing additional flexibility for customers whose travel plans are impacted. “We continue to monitor the situation with safety and security top of mind and will adjust our operation as needed,” American said.United said it allowed two scheduled flights out of Tel Aviv late Saturday and early Sunday and accommodated its customers, crews and employee travelers who were at the airport. The airline said that its Tel Aviv flights will remain suspended until conditions improve. Delta said its Tel Aviv flights have been canceled into this week. The airline said it...

43 Malaysians were caught in a phone scam operation in Peru and rescued from human traffickers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:15:30 GMT

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia said Monday that 43 citizens have been rescued by police in Peru after they fell victim to a human trafficking syndicate operating a telecommunication fraud. They Malaysians were involved in the so-called “Macau scam” that reportedly originates from crime syndicates in Taiwan and China, in which scammers impersonate banks or a public official to trick a person into disclosing their personal banking details or transfer money into a third-party account. The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Peruvian police found the 43 Malaysians after raiding a house in La Molina in the capital Lima on Oct. 7. It said the Malaysian Embassy in Lima had visited them and found them in good condition. “All victims have also undergone an investigation process and will be repatriated to Malaysia” soon, it said. No further details were provided on how the Malaysians were ensnared by the syndicate or how they ended up in Peru. Activists and government offi...

British government tries to assure UK Supreme Court it’s safe to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:15:30 GMT

LONDON (AP) — A lawyer sought to assure the U.K. Supreme Court on Monday that the British government had adequately analyzed the risks of sending asylum-seekers to Rwanda and would have people “on the ground” to make sure it’s safe and that deportees’ rights are protected.Attorney James Eadie said that the controversial policy was in the public interest of deterring immigrants from risking their lives crossing the English Channel in small boats and to stop smugglers from exploiting them. He said the British government would make sure Rwanda adheres to agreements to comply with the United Nations Refugee Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights.“The appeal is, at its heart, about the judgments made by government about the future conduct of a friendly foreign state,” Eadie said. “Both the Government and the Rwandan government were fully aware of the likely controversy of the arrangements that were made when the deal was signed.”The Conservative governme...

Man, 24, shot while inside parked car on West Side

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:15:30 GMT

CHICAGO — A 24-year-old man was seriously injured after being shot while sitting inside a parked vehicle on the city's West Side, according to Chicago police.The shooting happened around 5:15 a.m. Monday on the 2600 block of South Christiana Avenue. Police said the man was inside a parked carwhen a person stopped near him and began to fire shots.The 24-year-old was shot in the back. He was transported to Mount Sinai Hospital in serious condition. 8 injured after River North shooting: CPD No one is in custody. Area Four Detectives are invesitigating.

At least 260 killed at music festival by Hamas militants

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:15:30 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — The night was a getaway. Thousands of young men and women gathered at a vast field in southern Israel near the Gaza border to dance without a care. Old and new friends jumped up and down, reveling the swirl of the bass-heavy beats.Maya Alper was standing toward the back of the bar with teams of environmentally conscious volunteers, picking up trash and passing out free vodka shots to party-goers who reused their cups. Just after 6.a.m., as a light-blue dawn broke and the headliner D.J. took the stage, air raid sirens cut through the ethereal trap music. Rockets streaked overhead.Alper, 25, jumped into her car and raced to the main road. But at the intersection she encountered crowds of stricken festival attendees, shouting at drivers to turn around. Then, a noise. Firecrackers? Panicked men and women staggering down the road just in front of her fell to the ground in pools of blood. Gunshots. ‘Several’ US citizens confirmed killed in Israel-Hamas conflict: NSC The...