Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - August 6, 2024, Winnipeg, Manitoba STURGEON CREEK I 10 Hallonquist Dr. 204.885.1415 SHAFTESBURY PARK 905 Shaftesbury Blvd. 204.885.7272 STURGEON CREEK II 707 Setter St. 204.885.0303 RIVER RIDGE I 50 Ridgecrest Ave. 204.589.2273 SEINE RIVER 1015 St. Anne’s Rd. 204.256.8877 VICTORIA LANDING 10 Victoria Ave. E 204.571.6000 RIVER RIDGE II 2701 Scotia St. 204.586.2273 Brandon Winnipeg P l e a s e c o n t a c t y o u r n e a r e s t r e s i d e n c e i f y o u w i s h t o j o i n u s ! PROUDLY CANADIAN www.allseniorscare.com Where Caring is Our Number One Concern™ ASC Market A Day at the RIVER RIDGE I Wed., August 7 th RIVER RIDGE II Wed., August 21 st SEINE RIVER Wed., August 7 th SHAFTESBURY PARK Fri., August 16 th STURGEON CREEK I Wed., August 14 th STURGEON CREEK II Thurs., August 15 th ACTIVITIES: Homemade Jam Making, Corn Hole Yard Game, Farm to Table Lunch, The ASC Market, Movie Night All Area Seniors Are Welcome! Experience the charm of a bustling farmers market right at home! Celebrate the freshest, finest local produce and a vibrant atmosphere filled with flowers, music & fun! VICTORIA LANDING Tues., August 13 th WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM ● A5 NEWS I WORLD TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2024 U.S., allies make frantic push to avert wider Mideast war T HE United States and its allies worked to head off an Iranian attack on Israel and avert a wider regional war as concerns grew that a strike may come at any moment in retaliation for the killing of a top Hamas leader in Tehran. The Biden administration moved additional forces to the region and Secretary of State Antony Blinken conferred with top officials from Qatar and Egypt — the two countries helping lead nego- tiations for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas militants — on Monday, according to State Depart- ment spokesman Matthew Miller. “It is a critical moment,” Blinken told reporters in brief comments Monday in Washington. “We are engaged in intense diplomacy — pretty much round the clock — with a very simple message: All parties must refrain from escalation, all parties must take steps to ease tensions.” The focus has been to prepare for and possibly blunt an attack by Iran, which has warned it will re- spond after blaming Israel for killing a top Hamas political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in a government guest house in Tehran on July 31. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for Haniyeh’s death, even as the country’s armed forces said an- other operation on Sunday killed a top Hamas com- mander, Jaber Aziz. The US push was only one element of a broader effort by officials who sought to head off tit-for-tat escalation between Iran and Israel that could push the region into all-out regional war. Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi made a rare trip to Iran over the weekend, meeting Iran’s acting foreign minister, Ali Bagheri Kani. Presi- dent Joe Biden also spoke with King Abdullah II of Jordan on Monday, according to the White House. Qatar, which has mediated between Iran and the U.S. in the past, has also been in contact with the Islamic Republic, according to a person with know- ledge of the matter. In Israel, the patience of some is wearing thin after days of awaiting promised reprisals by Iran and its proxies. One top lawmaker even proposed preemption. “It is beneath our dignity to sit fretting rather than to take the initiative,” Yuli Edelstein, head of parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Commit- tee and a senior member of Prime Minister Benja- min Netanyahu’s conservative Likud party, said in a speech. “We know how to do that, and we should be doing that.” For its part, Iran reaffirmed that it wants to avoid all-out war with Israel, while again vowing to re- taliate. “Reinforcing stability and security in the region will be achieved by punishing the aggressor and creating deterrence against Israel and its adven- turism,” a spokesperson for Iran’s foreign ministry told reporters on Monday in Tehran. The Islamic Republic doesn’t want to escalate tensions but has the right to punish Israel under international law, he added. The surge in tensions, almost 10 months into the war in Hamas-ruled Gaza, has scared many foreign airlines from the skies of Israel and neighbouring Lebanon, where Hezbollah holds sway. The Penta- gon has beefed up its Middle East presence, includ- ing with missile-interceptor warships. The USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group is in the Gulf of Oman with an air wing that bristles with F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter jets and other advanced aircraft. The carrier is accompanied by three destroyers capable of land attack and air de- fence — the USS Daniel Inouye, USS Michael Mur- phy and USS Russell. Two additional missile defence destroyers, the USS Cole and USS Laboon, recently arrived in the Red Sea, according to a U.S. defence official who asked not to be identified discussing private infor- mation. A second U.S. defence official said the Air Force this week will deploy a squadron of stealthy F-22 Raptor fighters to the region. A squadron is comprised of between 16-24 jets. With tensions running high, a rocket attack on Iraq’s Al Asad military base wounded several U.S. personnel, according to a spokesperson for the U.S. Defense Department. Israel says its forces are on hair-trigger alert to carry out defensive and offensive missions. Israel has activated a command bunker beneath the Jerusalem hills in anticipation of a major Iran- ian-orchestrated attack, an Israeli official said. The “National Management Center,” a bunker lo- cated under the government complex in Jerusalem with an access point in the city’s western foothills, has been activated to enable decision-making in wartime, according to the official, who discussed the move on condition of anonymity. The U.S. is pressing Netanyahu to redouble ef- forts to reach a ceasefire deal with Hamas over their war in Gaza. The U.S. and Arab states believe an end to fighting in the Palestinian territory would calm the region. General Michael Kurilla, head of U.S. Central Command, which oversees American forces in the Middle East, was in Israel on Monday for talks. Ku- rilla “held a joint situational assessment on security and strategic issues, as well as joint preparations in the region,” according to the Israel Defense Forces. Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu visited Iran for talks with new President Masoud Pezeshkian and other officials on Monday. It was unclear whether Shoigu, regarded as one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest allies, urged Tehran to restrain its response to Israel. — Bloomberg News DAN WILLIAMS, ARSALAN SHAHLA AND IAIN MARLOW ;