Puzzle solutions for Sunday, June 12, 2022

Associated Press
Israel's refusal to withdraw from this narrow strip of desert could threaten the Gaza ceasefire
Israel's refusal to withdraw from a narrow strip of desert on the Gaza side of the border with Egypt, as called for in the ceasefire with Hamas, could further threaten the fragile truce. An Israeli official said Thursday that Israeli forces would remain in the so-called Philadelphi corridor to prevent weapons smuggling. Under the ceasefire agreement reached last month, Israel was to begin withdrawing on Saturday and complete the pullout within eight days.
Reuters
Ukraine's army chief visits eastern front heavily pressured by Russia
Ukraine's top commander said on Thursday he had visited brigades defending the Novopavlivka front in the eastern Donetsk region where Russia has stepped up its assaults. "The enemy is conducting intense offensive actions in this area, trying to break through the defences of our troops and capture three settlements," Oleksandr Syrskyi, chief of Ukraine's armed forces, wrote on Facebook. Ukraine's military reported 19 combat engagements on the Novopavlivka front in the past day near the villages of Kostyantynopil, Rozdolne, Shevchenko and Burlatske.
Associated Press
A German court sentences 2 Afghans to prison for plotting to attack the Swedish parliament
A German court sentenced two Afghan men to several years in prison on Thursday for planning an attack on the Swedish parliament and killing lawmakers in response to the burning of copies of the Quran, German news agency dpa reported. The Jena Higher Regional Court found the men guilty of, among other things, membership or support of a terrorist organization abroad and conspiracy to commit murder. The court handed one of them, aged 30, a prison sentence of five years and six months and the other, aged 24, a term of four years and two months, dpa reported without further identifying the two men.
AFP
Caution urged as ailing pope records slight improvement
Pope Francis, battling pneumonia in both lungs, slept well and is resting, the Vatican said Thursday, after revealing the 88-year-old's condition was slightly improving."For an 88-year-old who was already suffering from a chronic respiratory disease before the pneumonia, (his condition) remains critical at least until the improvement is defined as stable," they said in a joint interview with the Corriere della Sera daily.
AFP
Stock markets struggle as Trump tariffs target EU
Stock markets struggled Thursday after US President Donald Trump's latest tariffs salvo, this time against the European Union, while earnings from chip titan Nvidia failed to impress despite another record performance.Trump warned Wednesday that he would hit the European Union with 25 percent tariffs.
Associated Press
Gatwick Airport, just south of London, wins provisional support for second runway
The U.K. government on Thursday provided provisional approval to the creation of a second runway at Gatwick Airport outside London if certain improvements to the plan were met, including on noise reduction. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said in a written statement that she was "minded to approve” the expansion, which would involve moderately moving Gatwick's northern runway, which is currently only used for planes to taxi or as a backup. Gatwick, which is about 40 miles (65 kilometers) south of London and serves more than 40 million passengers a year, is the country's busiest single-runway airport.
AFP
US cuts overseas aid contracts by more than 90%
The United States has slashed its multi-year aid contracts by 92 percent, as it sought around $60 billion in savings in development and overseas humanitarian programs, the State Department said Wednesday.The administration's review in part targeted multi-year foreign assistance contracts awarded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), with the vast majority eliminated during its course.
Reuters
Italy readies $3 billion package to help families, firms cope with energy costs
Italy will unveil a set of measures on Friday worth roughly 3 billion euros ($3.14 billion) to help families and firms cope with high energy costs, Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said. Rising gas prices are a major headache for Italy's government as they risk blunting the impact of tax cutsintroduced in its 2025 budget to shore up the purchasing power of low and middle-income earners. The cabinet is also expected on Friday to adopt draft legislation aimed at allowing the use of nuclear power again, after it was banned almost 40 years ago, a representative from the energy ministry said.
Yahoo Finance
Salesforce stock falls amid concerns around its AI agent: Wall Street reacts
Salesforce talks down its sales potential for AI agents in 2025. Here's what All Street analysts are saying.
Reuters
Ultimatum to federal workers raises tensions between Musk, White House staff
U.S. President Donald Trump’s top aides are struggling to contain disputes at the White House and across the administration following billionaire Elon Musk's ultimatum to federal workers to list their accomplishments or lose their jobs, said three government officials familiar with the tensions. Before the weekend, the White House felt confident that coordination had been improving between senior staffers and Musk, two of those people said. In the first weeks of Trump’s new administration, some White House officials had expressed concerns over the tactics of Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, as Reuters previously reported.
Associated Press
The EU beat COVID and ditched Russian energy. Now it must learn to live without US security help
Over the last five years, European Union countries have been forced to adapt to unprecedented circumstances. After President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops into Ukraine three years ago, Russia restricted the flow of natural gas to weaken Western support for Kyiv. In response, the 27 EU nations weaned themselves off a dependency on Russian energy in record time.
Reuters
Scientists predict major quake in Chile's mineral-rich north
Fifteen years ago on February 27, a devastating 8.8 magnitude quake struck southern Chile off the coast of Concepcion, shaking the ground for four minutes and unleashing a tsunami that left 550 dead. It was the deadliest natural disaster in the country since the 1960 9.5 magnitude quake, the strongest ever recorded in the world. Chile is the world's largest copper producer and second-largest lithium producer.
Reuters
Trump, Britain's Starmer meet at the White House amid differences on Ukraine
President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will meet at the White House on Thursday for their first in-person visit since the Republican leader upended U.S. policy on Ukraine, the Middle East and global trade. Starmer is the second European leader to meet Trump this week after French President Emmanuel Macron came to the White House on Monday for a friendly encounter that displayed stark differences about Russia's war with Ukraine and the U.S. push for a quick ceasefire.
CNN
Trump, Starmer at odds over security guarantees for Ukraine ahead of critical talks
A bust of Winston Churchill will gaze at Keir Starmer on Thursday as he executes one of the trickiest visits by a British Prime Minister with a US president since the days of the great World War II leader.
USA TODAY
'Died a hero': Communities mourn officers killed in recent spate of shootings
Communities in Mississippi, Virginia and Pennsylvania are mourning law enforcement officers killed in a recent spate of shootings.
Reuters
Montana scientists alarmed by wildfires encroaching on US towns
Scientists at a federal laboratory in Montana that has focused on fire for decades are increasingly concerned about wildfires that spread to population centers as Americans build communities ever closer to forests. Mark Finney, senior scientist at the U.S. Forest Service's Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory, noted a pattern in January fires in California -- which killed dozens of people and destroyed thousands of homes -- and recent fires elsewhere. What they learn from such experiments about, for example, how far and fast fires can move is shared across the country and the world to help wildland fire managers make decisions when responding to fires.
Reuters
Amazon unveils quantum chip, aiming to shave years off development time
Amazon Web Services on Thursday showed a quantum computing chip with new technology that it hopes will shave as much as five years off its effort to build a commercially useful quantum computer. The chip, named Ocelot, is a prototype that has only a tiny fraction of the computing power needed to create a useful machine. The AWS announcement, which coincides with the publication of a peer-reviewed paper in the scientific journal Nature, comes as quantum computing is sweeping through the technology world, with Alphabet's Google, Microsoft and startup PsiQuantum all announcing advances in recent months.
Yahoo Finance
The stock market might be Trump's strongest check and balance: Morning Brief
President Trump has redefined the presidential powers in his second term, with little pushback from Congress or the judiciary. But as the economic mood sours, markets may present themselves as a tempering influence.
Yahoo Finance
Amazon unveils quantum computing chip to keep pace with rivals Microsoft, Google
Amazon has debuted its first-generation quantum computing chip called Ocelot.
Reuters
Explainer-What are the IMF and World Bank, and what happens if the US pulls support?
Alarm is rising over Washington's potential withdrawal from global institutions, including the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, with the no-show of U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent at G20 meetings adding to anxiety. WHAT DO THE IMF AND WORLD BANK DO? The U.S. and its allies formed the two institutions in the ashes of World War II to encourage global integration and forestall future wars.

Puzzle solutions for Sunday, June 12, 2022

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Latest Stories

Israel's refusal to withdraw from this narrow strip of desert could threaten the Gaza ceasefire

Ukraine's army chief visits eastern front heavily pressured by Russia

A German court sentences 2 Afghans to prison for plotting to attack the Swedish parliament

Caution urged as ailing pope records slight improvement

Stock markets struggle as Trump tariffs target EU

Gatwick Airport, just south of London, wins provisional support for second runway

US cuts overseas aid contracts by more than 90%

Italy readies $3 billion package to help families, firms cope with energy costs

Salesforce stock falls amid concerns around its AI agent: Wall Street reacts

Ultimatum to federal workers raises tensions between Musk, White House staff

The EU beat COVID and ditched Russian energy. Now it must learn to live without US security help

Scientists predict major quake in Chile's mineral-rich north

Trump, Britain's Starmer meet at the White House amid differences on Ukraine

Trump, Starmer at odds over security guarantees for Ukraine ahead of critical talks

'Died a hero': Communities mourn officers killed in recent spate of shootings

Montana scientists alarmed by wildfires encroaching on US towns

Amazon unveils quantum chip, aiming to shave years off development time

The stock market might be Trump's strongest check and balance: Morning Brief

Amazon unveils quantum computing chip to keep pace with rivals Microsoft, Google

Explainer-What are the IMF and World Bank, and what happens if the US pulls support?