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Suicide bombing at Shiite mosque during Friday prayers kills 7 worshippers in Afghanistan’s north

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:00 GMT

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A suicide bomber blew himself up among worshippers attending Friday prayers at a Shiite mosque in northern Afghanistan, killing at least seven people and wounding 15 others, a police spokesperson said.The attack happened in the city of Pol-e-Khomri, the capital of Baghlan province, police spokesman Sher Ahmad Borhani said in a statement. Security officials were working to determine how the attacker reached the area to strike at the Imam Zaman mosque.There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but blame is likely to fall on the Islamic State group, which targeted Afghanistan’s minority Shiites in past large-scale attacks.The Taliban footage from the mosque showed debris strewn over a red-carpeted floor, scattered personal items and bodies covered with shrouds. The regional affiliate of IS, known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province, increased attacks on mosques and minorities across the country after the Taliban seized power in August 2021.IS, which...

Stock market today: Wall Street is mixed as hope for stronger profits collides with worry about war

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:00 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — US. stocks are mixed Friday as they get pulled in opposite directions by competing waves of optimism and fear.Several of the biggest U.S. banks said their profits during the summer were better than feared, which offered hope for an earning reporting season that may deliver the first growth in a year. But worries about the latest war in Gaza at the same time sent oil prices jumping and Treasury yields falling.All the push and pull left the S&P 500 0.2% higher in morning trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 160 points, or 0.5%, as of 10:30 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.2% lower.Some of the strongest action was in the oil market, where a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude rose 4% to $86.23. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 3.5% to $88.98 per barrel.Israel’s military ordered the evacuation of northern Gaza ahead of an expected ground invasion against the ruling Hamas militant group, according to the United Nations, which warne...

Macklem says BoC will have to decide whether to be patient or to raise rates further

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:00 GMT

OTTAWA — Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem says the central bank will be deciding whether to exert patience at its next rate meeting or hike rates further. Macklem held a virtual roundtable with reporters from the sidelines of the annual International Monetary Fund meetings in Marrakech, Morocco on Friday morning.The governor previewed what the Bank of Canada’s governing council will be discussing in the lead-up to the Oct. 25 rate decision.“What I expect it’ll focus on is, do we stay with a policy rate of five per cent and let past interest rate increases work through the economy and relieve price pressures or is the weight of the evidence of all those economic indicators, when you put them together, is it telling us that more action is needed to restore price stability,” Macklem said.Macklem says while demand in the economy is slowing, core inflation — which strips out price volatility — has remained sticky over the last six to eight months.“WeR...

Israeli family mourns grandfather killed by Hamas and worries about grandmother, a captive in Gaza

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:00 GMT

David Moshe was born in Iraq. So decades later in Israel, his wife, Adina, cooked his favorite Iraqi food, including a traditional dish with dough, meat and rice.But what really delighted the family, their granddaughter Anat recalls, was Adina’s maqluba — a Middle Eastern meal served in a pot that is flipped upside-down at the table, releasing the steaming goodness inside. Pleasing her husband of more than a half-century, Anat Moshe says, was her grandmother’s real culinary priority.“They were so in love, you don’t know how in love they were,” Anat Moshe, 25, said in a telephone interview Thursday. Adina Moshe “would make him his favorite food, Iraqi food. Our Shabbat table was always so full.”It will be wracked with heartbreak now.On Saturday, Hamas fighters shot and killed David Moshe, 75, as he and Adina huddled in their bomb shelter in Nir Oz, a kibbutz about two miles from the Gaza border. The militants burned the couple’s house. The next time Anat Moshe saw h...

Canadian woman terrified for loved ones in Gaza as Israel orders evacuation

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:00 GMT

A Canadian woman with family in Gaza says she’s terrified her relatives will die in the coming days after Israel’s military told about one million Palestinians to evacuate northern parts of the sealed-off territory ahead of an expected ground invasion.Dalya Shaath, a resident of Montreal, says some of her family members sent her goodbye messages in the last few hours. She says some of her cousins have chosen to stay in northern Gaza to remain with elderly family members who can’t evacuate, while others have told her they have left their homes and are making their way south. Israel’s military has told about one million Palestinians to evacuate northern Gaza and head to the southern part of the sealed-off coastal enclave, an unprecedented order applying to nearly half the population ahead of an expected ground invasion against Hamas, which staged a shocking and brutal attack on Israel nearly a week ago.The order sparked panic among civilians and aid workers alr...

NASA spacecraft launched to mysterious and rare metal asteroid in first mission of its kind

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:00 GMT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s Psyche spacecraft rocketed away Friday on a six-year journey to a rare metal-covered asteroid.Most asteroids tend to be rocky or icy, and this is the first exploration of a metal world. Scientists believe it may be the battered remains of an early planet’s core, and could shed light on the inaccessible centers of Earth and other rocky planets.SpaceX launched the spacecraft into a midmorning sky from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Named for the asteroid it’s chasing, Psyche should reach the huge, potato-shaped object in 2029.After decades of visiting faraway worlds of rock, ice and gas, NASA is psyched to pursue one coated in metal. Of the nine or so metal-rich asteroids discovered so far, Psyche is the biggest, orbiting the sun in the outer portion of the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter alongside millions of other space rocks. It was discovered in 1852 and named after Greek mythology’s captivating goddess of the soul.“It’s long been...

A teacher is dead and 2 people are wounded after a France stabbing attack that echoes 2020 killing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:00 GMT

ARRAS, France (AP) — A man of Chechen origin who was under surveillance by the French security services over suspected radicalization stabbed a teacher to death at his former high school and critically wounded two other people in northern France on Friday, authorities said. The attack was being investigated as potential terrorism amid soaring global tensions over the war between Israel and Hamas. It also happened almost three years after another teacher, Samuel Paty. was beheaded by a radicalized Chechen near a Paris area school.French anti-terror prosecutors were leading the investigation into the stabbings at the Gambetta-Carnot school, which enrolls students ages 11-18 and is located in the city of Arras, some 115 miles (185 kilometers) north of Paris.The suspected assailant was arrested. The National Police force identified him as a Russian national of Chechen origin who was born in 2003. The French intelligence services told The Associated Press the man had been closely watched...

Pence will skip the Nevada GOP caucus and instead run in the primary, giving up chance for delegates

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:00 GMT

RENO, Nev. (AP) — Former Vice President Mike Pence will skip the Nevada caucuses run by the state Republican Party, which has adopted rules that critics say favor former President Donald Trump, and will instead compete in a state-run primary contest.Pence’s name appeared Thursday on a list of presidential candidates who filed for the primary with the Nevada secretary of state’s office. The party has barred candidates from participating in the Feb. 8 caucuses if they also run in the primary election. By skipping the caucus, Pence gives up a chance to try to win Nevada’s relatively small number of delegates, which requires more intensive organizing across the state. Instead, a primary win could offer a symbolic opportunity to prove electability before crucial contests in South Carolina and a slate of primaries on Super Tuesday.Pence seemed to blame his trailing fundraising on the decision, telling reporters on Friday while signing up for the New Hampshire primary in that s...

Mexican military helicopter crashes in the country’s north killing 3 crew members

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:00 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — An armed forces helicopter crashed in the northern Mexico state of Durango, killing three military personnel, defense officials said Friday. The Defense Department said the crash happened Thursday as the helicopter was flying to a base in the township of Canelas. The crash killed all three crew members aboard the Bell 412 chopper.The area is in a drug-producing region known as the Golden Triangle, because the borders of three states meet there: Durango, Chihuahua and Sinaloa. Helicopters are often used by the Mexican armed forces in anti-drug and eradication efforts in the area, though it was unclear what the mission was of the aircraft involved in the Thursday crash. The Department of Defense said the cause of the crash was under investigation.The Mexican armed forces have a history of helicopter crashes. In 2022, a helicopter crashed in the neighboring state of Sinaloa, killing 14 marines. Investigators later said the chopper had run out of fuel. The Associated ...

WATCH LIVE | Ruling expected in trial of former DCFS workers in connection to death of 5-year-old A.J. Freund

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:00 GMT

CHICAGO -- A McHenry County judge is expected to make a ruling on two former DCFS workers accused of ignoring signs of child abuse in the case of 5-year-old A.J. Freund. They have both pleaded not guilty.Carlos Acosta and Andrew Polovin worked on 5-year-old A.J. Freund's case, who was killed by his parents in 2019.They are accused of ignoring signs of abuse and failing to remove 5-year-old A.J. Freund from his Crystal Lake home despite multiple police reports indicating the situation. Testimony also was heard from emergency room doctors who treated Freund. Freund was murdered in 2019 by his parents and his body was found in a shallow grave after his parents claimed he was missing. Chicago to open new migrant shelters weekly His parents, Joanne Cunningham and Andrew Freund, were both convicted of numerous charges in connection to his murder and are serving at least 30 years in prison. The defense has tried to poke holes in the police reports for a l...