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Moroccans with shovels and bulldozers dig through rubble but hope for survivors dwindles after quake

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:26:51 GMT

TAFEGHAGHTE, Morocco (AP) — Survivors with shovels worked alongside bulldozers Monday to dig through remote Moroccan villages flattened by a monstrous earthquake, as hope dwindled of finding people alive under wood-and-dirt homes that pancaked into rubble and rescuers overseas waited for Morocco to let them help. More than 2,400 were killed when the quake struck late Friday — the strongest in the North African country in more than a century.A French aid group that specializes in locating people trapped under debris said it is withdrawing an offer to send a nine-person search-and-rescue team after waiting without success for a green light from Morocco to deploy. Rescuers Without Borders’ founder, Arnaud Fraisse, told The Associated Press that “our role is not to find bodies.”Because homes in quake-hit areas were often made of mud bricks with roofs of wood, stone and clay, he said, the hope of finding survivors at this point is slim.“When all of that collapses, you don’t h...

Stock market today: Wall Street opens higher ahead of a big week of reports on the economy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:26:51 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are opening higher as Wall Street recovers some of its losses from last week, with big technology companies again swinging with the most momentum. The S&P 500 was 0.7% higher in early trading Monday, coming off its first losing week in the last three. The Dow was up 194 points and the Nasdaq composite was up 0.9%. This week will offer a huge data point for the Federal Reserve, which is weighing whether to keep raising interest rates in its effort to drive down inflation. On Wednesday, the government will release the latest monthly update on prices consumers are paying. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.Wall Street is tracking higher early Monday ahead of new inflation data this week that will provide some insight into where prices are heading and how that is playing out for households and for the economy.The futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.5%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.2%. The U.S. releases monthly co...

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will visit Russia, setting the stage for a meeting with Putin

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:26:51 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will visit Russia, both countries said Monday, and he is expected to hold a highly anticipated meeting with President Vladimir Putin that has sparked Western concerns about a potential arms deal for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.A brief statement on the Kremlin’s website said the visit is at Putin’s invitation and would take place “in the coming days.” It also was reported by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency, which said the leaders would meet — without specifying when and where.“The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un will meet and have a talk with Comrade Putin during the visit,” it said.Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said delegations from both countries will meet, but he didn’t confirm plans for a bilateral session between Putin and Kim, saying the leaders will meet one-on-one “if necessary.” The visit would be Kim’s first foreign trip since the COVID-19 pandemic, which had forced North Korea to enforce...

Police in Jamaica charge a man suspected of being a serial killer with four counts of murder

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:26:51 GMT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Police in Jamaica have charged a man they suspect is a serial killer involved in the deaths of at least four people with murder.The 25-year-old man from Montego Bay is accused of fatally stabbing at least two homeless men, an older woman and a young man in July and August, police said in a statement Sunday.All the victims were found stabbed in the parish of St. James, where the popular tourist destination of Montego Bay is located.The investigation is ongoing.The Associated Press

Ian Wilmut, a British scientist who led the team that cloned Dolly the Sheep, dies at age 79

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:26:51 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Ian Wilmut, the cloning pioneer whose work was critical to the creation of Dolly the Sheep in 1996, has died, the University of Edinburgh in Scotland said Monday. He was 79.Wilmut set off a global discussion about the ethics of cloning when he announced that his team at the university’s Roslin Institute for animal biosciences had cloned Dolly using the nucleus of a cell from an adult sheep. It marked the first time that a genetically identical mammal was created from an adult cell and spurred questions about the potential cloning of humans.Wilmut later focused on using cloning techniques to make stem cells that could be used in regenerative medicine.“With the sad news today of Ian Wilmut’s passing, science has lost a household name,’’ Bruce Whitelaw, the director of the Roslin Institute, said. “Ian led the research team that produced the first cloned mammal in Dolly. This animal has had such a positive impact on how society engages with science, and how scientist...

Greek shipping minister resigns over the death of a man who was pushed off a ferry ramp

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:26:51 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s shipping minister resigned Monday over the death of a man who was pushed off a ferry ramp by a crew member after arriving late.A Greek prosecutor brought criminal charges against the captain of the island ferry and three crew members over the encounter in the port of Piraeus, near Athens, that resulted in the Sept. 5 drowning of Andonis Kargiotis, 36. One crew member faces a charge of homicide with possible intent. Amateur video posted online showed the passenger running onto the Blue Horizon ferry’s loading ramp as the ship had cast off its moorings and was about to leave for the island of Crete. He tried to push past two crew members and then was pushed off the ramp when he tried again. The footage showed the man disappearing in water churned up by the ferry leaving the dock as crew members stepped away. The ship was eventually ordered to return but the man was found unresponsive. He was later determined to have drowned by a medical examiner. “No one...

Impaired driver found asleep behind wheel in live lane of Hwy. 401: police

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:26:51 GMT

A driver is under arrest after they were found asleep in their car on a Toronto expressway.Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) say officers discovered the driver in a live lane of Highway 401 near Leslie Street.Police say the driver blew over three times the legal limit. They were taken into custody and charged with impaired driving.Their driver’s licence has also been suspended.Photos of the incident posted to social media by OPP show a white sedan hooked up to a tow truck.Driver found asleep behind the wheel in a live lane near #hwy401 and Leslie St in #Toronto. Arrested and charged with #ImpairedOperation #Over80 #DriveSuspend. Blood alcohol concentration over 3x the legal limit. #DriveSober #TorontoOPP ^yb pic.twitter.com/l0iRcRyter— OPP Highway Safety Division (@OPP_HSD) September 11, 2023

McCarthy juggles a government shutdown and a Biden impeachment inquiry as the House returns for fall

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:26:51 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is a man who stays in motion — enthusiastically greeting tourists at the Capitol, dashing overseas last week to the G7 summit of industrial world leaders, raising funds back home to elect fellow Republicans to the House majority.But beneath the whirlwind of activity is a stubborn standstill, an imbalance of power between the far-right Republicans who hoisted McCarthy to the speaker’s role yet threaten his own ability to lead the House.It’s a political standoff that will be tested anew as the House returns this week from a long summer recess and McCarthy faces a collision course of difficult challenges — seeking to avoid a government shutdown, support Ukraine in the war and launch an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.“They’ve got some really heavy lifting ahead,” said the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, John Thune, of South Dakota.McCarthy, of California, is going to “have his hands full trying to figure out ...

Pennsylvania Republicans have the candidate they want for the US Senate. They just need him to run

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:26:51 GMT

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Republicans trying to recapture the U.S. Senate majority have the candidate they want in Pennsylvania. Now they just need David McCormick to run.Almost since the moment he lost last year’s Senate GOP primary, McCormick has floated the possibility that he would again seek the party’s nomination for the U.S. Senate, this time to challenge three-term Democratic Sen. Bob Casey.McCormick has shown up at local party events, raised money for Republican candidates, hired staff, done a publicity tour for his new book and made the rounds of conservative podcasts. In short, everything a candidate might do — except announce his candidacy.“At this point, if Dave McCormick doesn’t run, it’ll be the biggest head fake in Pennsylvania political history,” said Vince Galko, a Republican campaign strategist based in northeastern Pennsylvania.Republicans, perhaps, have done just about everything they can think of to entice McCormick to join a 2024 ticket th...

Fukushima nuclear plant’s operator says the first round of wastewater release is complete

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:26:51 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — The operator of the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant said Monday that it has safely completed the first release of treated radioactive water from the plant into the sea and will inspect and clean the facility before starting the second round in a few weeks.The Fukushima Daiichi plant began discharging the treated and diluted wastewater into the Pacific Ocean on Aug. 24. The water has accumulated since the plant was damaged by a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011, and the start of its release is a milestone in the plant’s decommissioning.The discharge, which is expected to continue for decades until the decommissioning is finished, has been strongly opposed by fishing groups and by neighboring countries. China has banned all imports of Japanese seafood in response, hurting producers and exporters and prompting the Japanese government to compile an emergency relief fund.Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, at summits last week of Southeast Asian countries and the ...