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Iraq’s years of carnage still engrained in Baghdad streets

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:33 GMT

BAGHDAD (AP) — There are places around Baghdad where I’ll sometimes say a silent prayer for the dead when I pass — on certain residential streets, at a particular restaurant, in a square where minibuses gather. Today, people go about their daily business in these places, perhaps no longer thinking of the horror that took place years ago right where they are walking. For me, each site has become indelibly linked to the carnage I saw and the pain people suffered there.As an Associated Press photographer, I covered 20 years of turmoil since the U.S.-led invasion of my country. At the height of the sectarian butchery following the invasion, I and other photographers rushed to the scenes of suicide bombings, rocket strikes and shootings around Baghdad nearly every day, sometimes multiple times a day. Iraqis today remember the pervasive fear of that era, but with so many bombings, the specifics of individual attacks may have faded. This series of composites joins some of my photos from th...

Kraken make successful playoff debut, stun Avalanche 3-1

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:33 GMT

DENVER (AP) — There were of course so many “firsts” for the Seattle Kraken in their postseason debut.First playoff goal for the franchise (and answer to a future trivia question) — Eeli Tolvanen. First playoff penalty — Will Borgen. Above all, first playoff win and brief celebration. Alex Wennberg had a goal and an assist, Philipp Grubauer stopped 34 shots and the Kraken made a successful postseason debut by beating the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche 3-1 on Tuesday night. The second-year Kraken became the 13th expansion franchise to earn a win in their first postseason game, according to NHL Stats. “Obviously, we played a good game, getting the first franchise win in the playoffs. But right now this is Game 1,” Wennberg said. “Obviously, we are happy about this performance, but we’ve got to do it again and do it again.”Grubauer was sharp all night against his former team. He frustrated Colorado’s top scorers with one big save after another, while his defense...

Grandes zonas de Asia baten récords con temperaturas cálidas extremas

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:33 GMT

(CNN) — Numerosos países asiáticos están batiendo récords de temperatura, mientras la brutal ola de calor del mes de abril sigue afectando a gran parte del continente.Laos ha sido el último país en batir un nuevo récord histórico, ya que este martes Luang Prabang alcanzó los 42,7° C (109° F), según el historiador meteorológico Maximiliano Herrera.El fin de semana, Tailandia superó los 45° C por primera vez en su historia, según Herrera. La ciudad de Tak alcanzó los 45,4° C el sábado, pero gran parte del país ha estado entre los 30 y los 40 grados desde finales de marzo.China siembra nubes para reponer el río Yangtze, que se está secando en medio del calor extremoLas temperaturas abrasadoras también se han extendido por China. Este martes se registraron temperaturas de hasta 42,4° C en Yuanyang, a sólo 0,3° C del récord nacional de abril, según Herrera. Este lunes, más de 100 estaciones meteorológicas de 12 provincias batieron su récord de temperatura de abril, según el climató...

Warsaw Ghetto Uprising commemorated on 80th anniversary

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:33 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Presidents and Holocaust survivors and their descendants are commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising on Wednesday with a poignant sense that the responsibility for carrying on the memory of the Holocaust is passing from the witnesses to younger generations.The anniversary honors the hundreds of young Jews who took up arms in Warsaw in 1943 against the overwhelming might of the Nazi German army. There are no surviving fighters still alive. Marek Edelman, the last surviving commander, died in 2009. He remained in Poland and helped keep alive the memory of the revolt in his homeland. Simcha Rotem, a fighter who smuggled others out of the burning ghetto through sewage tunnels, died in 2018 in Israel, where he settled.The small number of surviving witnesses today were mostly children at the time of the revolt. Official commemorations will be attended by presidents Isaac Herzog of Israel, Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany and Andrzej Duda of...

UK inflation remains over 10% as food prices rise

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:33 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The price of food in the U.K. rose at the fastest pace in 45 years last month in, keeping inflation above 10% for a seventh straight month amid a cost-of-living crisis that has fueled a wave of strikes by government workers.Food prices jumped 19.2% in the 12 months through February, the biggest increase since August 1977, the Office for National Statistics said Wednesday.Overall, consumer price inflation eased to 10.1%, from 10.4% the previous month, as the cost of gasoline and diesel fuel fell. The March figure was above the 9.8% rate economists had forecast.“The heat has been turned down on the bubbling cauldron of prices, but inflation is still scalding and interest rates look set to be pushed up again to try and cool it down rapidly,” said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown in London.The British government and Bank of England are struggling to prevent price increases triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine from becoming embedded i...

What to know about KC shooting of Black teen Ralph Yarl

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:33 GMT

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Black teen Ralph Yarl was shot twice, in the head and arm, after going to the wrong home in Kansas City, Missouri, to pick up his younger brothers. Andrew Lester, an 84-year-old white man, told police he fired at honors student Yarl, 16, out of fear last week. But whether Lester will ultimately claim self-defense in court has yet to be seen. The case raises anew questions about race relations in the United States. Here’s a look at what happened, where the criminal case stands, how the teen is faring and the role gun laws in Missouri could play in the case. WHAT LED UP TO THE SHOOTING? Yarl mixed up an address. Instead of going to 115th Terrace to pick up his twin brothers Thursday night, Yarl showed up at Lester’s home on 115th Street, at 10 p.m.Lester told police he had just gotten in bed when he heard the doorbell. Before answering, he grabbed his revolver. Lester said he then saw Yarl pulling on the storm door handle, something Yarl disputes, accordi...

Suspect at large in German gym stabbing that wounded 4

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:33 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Police are searching for a man suspected of carrying out a knife attack at a gym in the western German city of Duisburg that left four people seriously wounded, officials said Wednesday.Three people were in life-threatening condition, and one person was less seriously wounded, Duisburg police tweeted late Tuesday. They said all four victims are German citizens but didn’t immediately provide further details.Duisburg prosecutors said there had been no reportable developments in the case overnight.Authorities didn’t rule out the possibility of more than one attacker being involved, saying that “at least one perpetrator is on the run.”Police said that a “stabbing or cutting weapon” was used in the attack at a gym belonging to the John Reed Fitness chain.The company said in a statement that it deeply regretted the incident and expressed hope that the victims would recover quickly.Last month, a gunman stormed a service at his former Jehovah’s Witness hall in the ...

Stock market today: Asian trading mixed ahead of earnings

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:33 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were mixed Wednesday, as investors took a wait-and-see stance ahead of earnings reports and possible moves by central banks. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 slipped 0.2% to finish at 28,606.76. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged up nearly 0.1% to 7,365.50. South Korea’s Kospi gained less than 0.1% to 2,573.58. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.2% to 20,410.16. The Shanghai Composite shed 0.6% to 3,371.66. News that China’s economic growth accelerated in the latest quarter, to an annual 4.5%, did not have much of an impact on share prices. While consumption and retail sales have grown, other indicators, such as industrial output and fixed-asset investments, were weaker and indicate an uneven recovery. “It may still be a worst-is-over story, but recovery has shown to be more gradual than a one-shot wonder,” Yeap Jun Rong, market analyst at IG, said in a report.Wall Street closed little changed after a day of meandering trading. The S&P 500 ...

Russia says Wagner fighters take two more blocks in Bakhmut

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:33 GMT

Russia announced on Sunday (16 April) that Wagner mercenary troops, supported by airborne forces, had captured two additional city blocks in eastern Ukrainian city Bakhmut. Bakhmut was the target of a major Russian offensive.Wagner led Russia's effort to capture Bakhmut last summer, in the longest and most deadly battle of the war.The Russian defence ministry reported that Wagner assault squads took two blocks on the northwestern, and southeast parts of Bakhmut. Bakhmut has been largely destroyed by the fighting.The report added that Russian paratroopers were supporting Wagner, holding back Ukrainian forces at the flanks.Serhiy Cerevatyi is the spokesperson for Ukraine’s Eastern Military Command. He said that Wagner troops are acting like a battering-ram, and they attack dozens of time a day.He told Ukrainian Parliament's TV channel that the enemy had continued to attack his positions with a satanic zest.In a Friday intelligence update, the UK said that Ukrainian troops were forced ...

Adames, Yelich lead Brewers past Mariners 6-5 in 11 innings

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:33 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — Willy Adames drove in the go-ahead run in the 11th inning and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Seattle Mariners 6-5 on Tuesday night.Joey Weimer scored on Adames’ groundout against reliever Justin Topa (0-1). Adames finished with three RBIs, including a run-scoring double in the third and a solo homer in the sixth.Christian Yelich hit a leadoff home run against Mariners starter Logan Gilbert and made it 2-0 with an RBI single in the third. Yelich then scored on Adames’ double to push Milwaukee’s lead to three.Yelich and Adames combined for five hits and five RBIs.“(Gilbert) was struggling a little bit, struggling with his command, and we jumped on it immediately and did a nice job,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “He settled in his last three innings and was very efficient. But you know, at the top of the order, those are the guys that we count on, and they had big nights.”Garrett Mitchell scored on a double-play grounder in the 10th to give the Brewers the ...