Washington

Biden holds out hope for Ramadan cease-fire in Gaza

Published

2 years ago

March 10, 2024

Biden holds out hope for Ramadan cease-fire in Gaza

President Biden expressed optimism on Saturday that a Gaza cease-fire deal in time for the start of Ramadan this week was still “possible.”

“My CIA director [is] in that region right at this minute still talking about it,” Biden said in an interview on MSNBC, referring to William J. Burns. “I think it’s always possible. I never give up on that.” However, Biden also said a day earlier that a cease-fire by Ramadan was “looking tough.”

In recent days, hopes for a pause in fighting in time for the first fast of the Muslim holy month on Monday appeared to fade amid stalled negotiations.

A Gaza cease-fire by Ramadan? What to know about the holy month.

The proposed deal would pause fighting for six weeks to free some hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinians in Israeli prisons, as well as increased humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza. But Hamas has been pressing for a more durable end to the fighting, which Israel opposes.

The United States sees the potential deal as a first phase to secure the release of hostages and give civilians in Gaza relief during Ramadan, The Washington Post reported. Burns toured the Middle East over the past several days trying to push talks over the finish line.

Civilian suffering in Gaza has worsened, with hunger and a lack of aid beginning to claim lives, local health officials say. The number of deaths from malnutrition and dehydration rose to 25, the Gaza Health Ministry said Saturday. A 2-month-old baby and a 20-year-old woman were the latest casualties.

16 children have died of malnutrition in aid-starved Gaza, health officials say

Aid groups say the crisis is man-made, thanks to insufficient entry points for supplies, Israel’s arduous inspections and attacks by Israel on U.N. aid convoys and the police securing them. On Saturday, U.S. Central Command said an Army vessel was dispatched to the eastern Mediterranean with equipment to establish a floating pier off Gaza’s coastline for humanitarian assistance. Biden announced the initiative to deliver daily meals to Palestinians during his State of the Union address Thursday.

Jordan carried out 10 aid airdrops in northern Gaza on Saturday, in an operation with Egypt, the United States, France and Belgium, the prime minister of Jordan said on X. U.S. C-130s dropped 41,400 meals and 23,000 bottles of water in the area, Centcom said, where the need for aid is the greatest.

Here’s what else to know

The United States and its allies shot down at least 28 Houthi drones in the Red Sea, Centcom said Saturday. “No U.S. or Coalition Navy vessels were damaged in the attack and there were also no reports by commercial ships of damage,” the statement said.

At least 30,960 people have been killed and 72,524 injured in Gaza since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack and says 248 soldiers have been killed since the start of its military operation in Gaza.

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Washington

Washington Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury announces she’s pregnant

Published

1 day ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

Washington Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury announces she’s pregnant

Washington Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury has announced that she and her husband Matt are expecting a baby in July.

The couple made the announcement in a video on the Spirit’s social media channels, holding a baby goalkeeper jersey on the pitch at Audi Field.

Kingsbury becomes the most recent Spirit star to go on maternity leave, following defender Casey Krueger, midfielder Andi Sullivan and forward Ashley Hatch.

Sullivan gave birth to daughter Millie in July, while Hatch welcomed her son Leo in January.

Krueger announced she was pregnant with her second child in October.

Kingsbury has served as the Spirit’s starting goalkeeper since 2018, and has been named the NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year twice (2019 and 2021).

The 34-year-old has two caps with the U.S. women’s national team, and was named to the 2023 World Cup roster.

The club captain will leave a major void for the Spirit, who have finished as NWSL runner-up in back-to-back seasons.

Sandy MacIver and Kaylie Collins are expected to compete for the starting role while Kingsbury is on maternity leave.

The Spirit kick off their 2026 campaign on March 13 against the Portland Thorns.

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Washington

Washington state board awards Yakima $985,600 loan for Sixth Avenue project design

Published

2 days ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

Washington state board awards Yakima 5,600 loan for Sixth Avenue project design

YAKIMA, Wash. — Yakima could soon take a major step toward redesigning Sixth Avenue after the Washington State Public Works Board awarded the city a $985,600 loan.

The loan was approved for the design engineering phase of the Sixth Avenue project. The funding can also be used along Sixth Avenue for utility replacement and updated ADA use.

The Yakima City Council must decide whether to accept the award. If the council accepts it, the city’s engineering work will move forward with the design of Sixth Avenue.

The cost of installing trolley lines is excluded from the plan. The historic trolleys would need to raise the funds required to add trolley lines.

The award is scheduled to be discussed during next week’s City Council meeting.

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Washington

Microsoft promises more AI investments at University of Washington

Published

2 days ago

February 25, 2026

Press Room

Microsoft promises more AI investments at University of Washington

Microsoft will ramp up its investment in the University of Washington.

Brad Smith, the company’s president, made the announcement at a press conference with University of Washington President Robert Jones on Tuesday.

That means hiring more UW graduates as interns at Microsoft, he said.

And he said all students, faculty, and researchers should have access to free, or at least deeply-discounted, AI.

“ Some of it is compute that Microsoft is donating, and some of it is pursuant to an agreement where, believe me, we give the University of Washington probably the best pricing that anybody’s gonna find anywhere,” Smith said. He assured the small group of reporters present that it would be “many millions of dollars of additional computational resources.”

The announcement today didn’t include any specific numbers.

But Smith said Microsoft has already invested $165 million in the UW over several decades.

He pointed to Jones’ vision to spur “radical collaborations with businesses and communities to advance positive change,” and eliminate “any artificial barriers between the university and the communities it serves.”

Microsoft’s goal is for AI to help UW researchers solve some of the world’s biggest problems without introducing new ones.

At Tuesday’s announcement, several research students were present to demonstrate how AI supports their work.

Amelia Keyser-Gibson is an environmental scientist at the UW. She’s using AI to analyze photographs of vines, to find which adapt best to climate change.

It’s a paradox: AI produces carbon emissions. At the same time, it’s also a new tool to help reduce them.

So how do those things square for Keyser-Gibson?

“ That’s a great question, and honestly, I don’t know the answer to that,” she said. “I’m highly aware that there’s a lot of environmental impact of using AI, but what I can say is that this has allowed us to make research innovations that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.”

“If we had had to manually annotate every single image that would’ve been an undergrad doing that for hours,” Keyser-Gibson continued. “And we didn’t have the budget. We didn’t have the manpower to do that.”

“AI exists. If we don’t use it as researchers, we’re gonna fall behind.”

Microsoft reports on its own carbon emissions. But like most AI companies, it doesn’t reveal everything.

That’s one reason another UW student named Zhihan Zhang is using AI to estimate how much energy AI is using.

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