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A bomb at a political rally in northwest Pakistan kills at least 40 people and wounds more than 150

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 20:14:21 GMT

KHAR, Pakistan (AP) — A powerful bomb ripped through a rally by supporters of a hard-line cleric and political leader in the country’s northwestern Bajur district that borders Afghanistan on Sunday, police and health officials said. At least 40 people were killed and more than 100 wounded.Senior police officer Nazir Khan said the workers convention of Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s Jamiat Ulema Islam party was taking place on the outskirts of Khar, the capital of Bajur district, when the explosion took place.AP video showed wounded people being carried from the scene in the chaotic aftermath of the explosion.Adam Khan, 45, was hit by splinters in his leg and both hands. He said it was around 4 p.m. when the the explosion knocked him to the ground.“There was all dust and smoke around and I was under the some injured people from where I hardly (could stand) up but only to see chaos and some scattered limbs,” he said.No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Islamic St...

French embassy in Niger is attacked as protesters waving Russian flags march through capital

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 20:14:21 GMT

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — Thousands of supporters of the junta that took over Niger in a coup this week marched through the streets of the capital on Sunday denouncing the country’s former colonial power and lighting a door at the French Embassy ablaze before the army broke up the crowd.Black smoke could be seen across the city from the burning of the door, which was captured on video by The Associated Press. The Russian mercenary group Wagner is operating in neighboring Mali, and President Vladimir Putin would like to expand his country’s influence in the region. The new junta’s leaders have not said whether they would move toward Moscow or stick with Niger’s Western partners. French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday that attacks on France and its interests would not be tolerated. Anyone who attacked French nationals, the army, diplomats and French authorities would see an immediate response, he said. Niger, a French colony until 1960, had been seen as the We...

Record heat waves illuminate plight of poorest Americans who suffer without air conditioning

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 20:14:21 GMT

DENVER (AP) — As Denver neared triple-digit temperatures, Ben Gallegos sat shirtless on his porch swatting flies off his legs and spritzing himself with a misting fan to try to get through the heat. Gallegos, like many in the nation’s poorest neighborhoods, doesn’t have air conditioning.The 68-year-old covers his windows with mattress foam to insulate against the heat and sleeps in the concrete basement. He knows high temperatures can cause heat stroke and death, and his lung condition makes him more susceptible. But the retired brick layer, who survives on about $1,000 a month largely from Social Security, says air conditioning is out of reach. “Take me about 12 years to save up for something like that,” he said. “If it’s hard to breath, I’ll get down to emergency.”As climate change fans hotter and longer heat waves, breaking record temperatures across the U.S. and leaving dozens dead, the poorest Americans suffer the hottest days with the fewest defenses. Air con...

Helicopter crashes near I-70 in Ohio, killing pilot and causing minor accidents, police say

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 20:14:21 GMT

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio (AP) — A helicopter hit power lines and crashed near an interstate in Ohio over the weekend, killing the pilot and causing a series of crashes, authorities said.The Bell 206L-4 aircraft was flying near I-70 in Springfield Township in Clark County when it hit the lines and crashed into a cornfield shortly after noon Saturday, the Ohio State Highway Patrol said.The pilot, 36-year-old Isaac Lee Santos of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, was pronounced dead at the scene, state troopers said. The aircraft was owned by Helicopter Applicators Inc. of Gettysburg, which does aerial applications such as herbicide and insecticide to farmland and other industries, according to the Springfield News-Sun.Power lines fell onto the westbound and eastbound lanes of I-70, resulting in minor crashes of seven vehicles, authorities said. No other injuries were reported. The highway was closed for about five hours and Ohio Edison crews have been working to restore power to the area.The Federal ...

One person is dead and multiple were wounded in Indiana shooting, police say

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 20:14:21 GMT

MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) — A shooting at a large party in Indiana early Sunday morning left one person dead, police said. A hospital said 19 people were being treated for injuries at its facility.Muncie police responded to multiple reports of gunfire on the city’s east side just after 1 a.m., The Star Press reported. Police said in a news release that there was no active threat to the community and that “multiple” victims were injured, including some critically.“Due to the number of victims and nature of the incident, multiple agencies were contacted to assist,” Muncie Deputy Police Chief Melissa Criswell said in a statement sent to The Star Press.Police did not say how many people were injured, but officials at Indiana University Health Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie told WTHR-13 that 19 victims were treated in their emergency department for injuries related to the shooting. Criswell said some victims sustained critical injuries and were transferred by medical helicopter to other ...

10 die, including 3 children, as strong winds hit a tourist camp in central Russia, officials say

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 20:14:21 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — Ten people — including three children — died after high winds tore through central Russia, emergency services and a local official reported Sunday. Eight of the dead were part of a group of tourists camping close to Lake Yalchik in the Mari-El region when the storm hit Saturday, Russia’s emergencies ministry said.The strong winds caused a large number of trees to fall in the area, including where the group’s tents had been pitched on a stretch of wild beach inside the Mariy Chodra National Park, regional leader Yuri Zaitsev wrote on social media. He said that three children were among the dead. Russia’s investigative committee has opened a criminal case to determine whether unsafe or sub-standard services provided by the park’s management company contributed to the deaths.Across the wider Volga Federal District, 76 people were injured in the storm, with thousands of households losing power, emergency services said.The Associated Press

Remembering SARSfest, the concert that revived Toronto, 20 years later

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 20:14:21 GMT

Twenty years ago, Toronto was reeling from the deadly SARS epidemic that severely impacted the local economy. As the World Health Organization declared the global outbreak contained and travel advisories for Canada’s largest city were lifted, efforts immediately began to bring people back to Toronto — and one of the country’s biggest music events was born. On July 30, 2003, an estimated 450,000 to 500,000 people descended on Downsview Park for what was officially called the Molson Canadian Rocks for Toronto concert, but more commonly known as SARSstock or SARSfest.With that attendance, it was the largest concert in Canadian history. The concert was a fundraiser for health-care and hospitality workers and featured an all-star lineup with The Rolling Stones as the headline act along with AC/DC, Justin Timberlake and Canadian acts such as Rush, The Guess Who, Kathleen Edwards and Blue Rodeo. The tickets were sold for as little as $21.50.With the gates opening at 8 a.m...

‘Letters of heaven’: Kyiv coffee shop manager proud to be called up to fight Russia

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 20:14:21 GMT

Anton says he has always been willing to pick up arms and fight for Ukraine.He recently got his wish, receiving a letter calling him into military service in his country’s battle with Russia.“I am going to the army,” the 29-year-old coffee shop manager from Kyiv told The Canadian Press in a phone interview.“I wasn’t surprised really. Now is the time that mostly all men receive these letters of heaven, as we call them.”Anton worked last month as an interpreter for The Canadian Press. Members of the Ukrainian military are discouraged from revealing their last names for the safety of their family members in the country.Men ages 18 to 60 were banned from leaving Ukraine after Russia invaded the country in February 2022. The Ukrainian government is not forcing men to fight, but they must register and remain in the country. There is a chance of enforced conscription if the violence continues. “It’s just my duty. It’s a matter of honour...

Flying taxis are coming — eventually, to an exclusive few

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 20:14:21 GMT

MONTREAL — From his suite on the 23rd floor of the Fairmont Dubai, Fethi Chebil surveys the luxury cars and driverless metro line unfurling to the horizon.“I can see the future,” says the Quebec-based CEO and founder of VPorts, which designs terminals for flying taxis.Chebil is referring with a wink to Dubai’s Museum of the Future, but he might just as well be describing the mode of transport he envisions high above the roads and rails of the desert city and beyond: flying cars.Air taxis, long hyped as the next giant leap in short-haul passenger transport, are coming closer to a vertiport near you — even as skepticism deepens over their ability to change commuter behaviour and emissions output, and overcome questions of safety, both real and perceived.Electric air taxis can start plying the skies by 2028, according to a regulatory timeline laid out by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration this month. Some manufacturers have 2025 as their target, such as Silicon Valley’s Arc...

4 killed in 2 separate aircraft crashes near Wisconsin air show

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 20:14:21 GMT

OSHKOSH, Wis. (WFRV) - Four people are dead and two are hospitalized after two separate crashes on Saturday. Both incidents are connected to an annual air show in Wisconsin, according to officials.The first crash happened shortly after 9 a.m. A T-6 Texan aircraft crashed into Lake Winnebago near Oshkosh, where the Experimental Aircraft Association is holding its annual fly-in convention, EAA AirVenture.Both people aboard the aircraft died, according to EAA officials. A few hours later, a Rotorway 162F helicopter and ELA 10 Eclipse gyrocopter collided in mid-air at the south end of the EAA AirVenture flight line at Wittman Regional Airport, killing two and injuring two others. Both of the injured are in stable condition, according to EAA. Time running out to file for $725M Facebook settlement: How to claim your payment The Oshkosh Fire Department said one of the aircraft landed on top of a parked plane, but did not clarify which. The National Transportation Safety Board is investig...