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Wagner Group Disappeared and Executed Civilians in Mali

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:24:20 GMT

Malian soldiers and foreign fighters, identified as members of the Russia-linked Wagner Group, have committed extrajudicial executions and forced disappearances of dozens of civilians in central Mali since December 2022, according to a new Human Rights Watch report shared with The Intercept. Researchers found that the longtime U.S.-backed Malian military also tortured detainees in an army camp and destroyed and looted civilian property as part of its protracted campaign against militant Islamists.The Malian soldiers committed the atrocities in four villages in the center of the country, according to telephone interviews with 40 people knowledgeable about the abuses, half of them witnesses to the violence. Witnesses told Human Rights Watch that foreign, non-French-speaking armed men whom they described as “white,” “Russians,” or “Wagner” participated in most of the attacks.In December 2021, the Malian junta reportedly authorized the deployment of Wagner mercenary forces to fight Isla...

Penalty pain: Players converted just 4 of the first 8 penalty kicks at the Women’s World Cup

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:24:20 GMT

AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) — How’s this for a pair of stats? The first eight matches of the Women’s World Cup each included a penalty kick – and the attacking team converted just four times from the spot.Some of the attempts were turned away by goalkeeping heroics, others were clean misses and all four denials had some of the game’s biggest names on the short end.Longtime New Zealand striker Ria Percival missed high off the crossbar with a chance to extend the lead in the Football Ferns’ eventual opening-match upset of Norway. Spain’s all-time top scorer Jennifer Hermoso’s kick was saved by Costa Rica’s Daniela Solera.Canada captain Christine Sinclair was stopped by Nigeria captain Chiamaka Nnadozie to hold an unlikely draw between the world’s sixth-ranked and 39th-ranked teams.And finally, the U.S. co-captain Alex Morgan was denied on a strike to the left side of the net by Vietnam’s Tran Thi Kim Thanh, leading to jubilation from the Vietnamese.“I felt confident, stepped up and it ...

Did this woman fake winning the $1 billion Powerball jackpot?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:24:20 GMT

A woman seen darting into the downtown Los Angeles convenience store that sold last week’s winning $1.08 billion Powerball ticket and appeared to be celebrating in the store is not the real jackpot winner, the Daily Mail reports.  KTLA’s cameras were rolling when the woman, wearing a black cap, ran into the Las Palmitas Mini Market on Wall Street on July 20, a day after the drawing, and seemed to be celebrating the win before quickly exiting, hopping into a dark-colored BMW with tinted windows and driving away.  “She came in here and she screamed … She hugged people in the store and then she ran away,” KTLA 5 News reporter Eric Spillman said at the time. “She claims that she has the winning Powerball jackpot ticket.” Sarai Palacios, the granddaughter of 52-year-old Nabor Herrera, who co-owns the store, told the UK based outlet that the woman who appeared to be celebrating and thanking people is not the real winner.  “She didn’t win. I’m not sure why she did that....

Israel’s Netanyahu released from hospital ahead of key vote on legal overhaul

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:24:20 GMT

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The hospital treating Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was released Monday ahead of a key vote on legal changes.Netanyahu was rushed to the hospital over the weekend for an emergency pacemaker implantation. The procedure went smoothly and he said he planned to be out in time to vote for the first major piece of his government’s legal overhaul.Protests against the overhaul have been intensifying while Netanyahu was undergoing treatment.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was recovering in a hospital on Sunday after an emergency heart procedure, as tens of thousands of supporters and opponents of his government’s judicial overhaul plan held rival rallies ahead of a key vote.Netanyahu’s sudden hospitalization for the implant of a pacemaker added another dizzying twist to an already dramatic series of events that have bitterly divided his country and are...

Jesuits confirm expulsion of priest artist and lament Vatican norms preclude further sanction

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:24:20 GMT

ROME (AP) — The Jesuits said Monday that a famous artist priest is definitively expelled from the religious order for sexually, spiritually and psychologically abusing women, and lamented they couldn’t prosecute him more vigorously under the Vatican’s internal procedures.The Rev. Marko Ivan Rupnik remains a Catholic priest but is no longer a Jesuit priest, after he didn’t appeal his June expulsion decree, said Rupnik’s former superior, the Rev. Johan Verschueren.Rupnik, a Slovenian priest, is one of the most celebrated religious artists in the Catholic Church. His mosaics decorate churches and basilicas around the world, including at the Vatican.Late last year, the Jesuits acknowledged Rupnik had been accused by several women of sexual, spiritual and psychological abuse over 30 years. He had largely escaped punishment until then, apparently in part because of his exalted status in the church and at the Vatican, where even Pope Francis’ role in the case came into question...

Specter of right-wing entering Spanish government fades after inconclusive national election

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:24:20 GMT

MADRID (AP) — Spain may be facing weeks, even months of political gridlock and possibly a new election, but a national ballot produced one result that will be greeted with relief in continental capitals that like Madrid firmly support the European Union.Spain’s Vox party, with its ultra-nationalist bent, lost support among voters in Sunday’s election, dashing its hopes to be a kingmaker and enter a governing coalition that would have given the far-right its first share of power in Spain since Francisco Franco’s 20th century dictatorship.The mainstream conservative Popular Party won the election, but performed well below polling data that had forecast it could oust Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez if it formed a government with Vox as a junior partner. Even though Sánchez’s Socialists finished second, they and their allied parties celebrated the outcome as a victory since their combined forces gained slightly more seats than the Popular Party and Vox. The bloc that would ...

11 killed as roof collapses at middle school gym in China’s far northeast, officials say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:24:20 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Eleven people were killed when a roof collapsed at a middle school gymnasium in China’s far northeast, authorities said Monday.The incident occurred Sunday in the city of Qiqihar and the last victim was pulled from the wreckage Monday morning. The official Xinhua News Agency said construction work at the school was the likely cause, after workers stored materials on the gym’s roof that absorbed rain water.Nineteen people had been in the gymnasium of the No. 34 Middle School, Xinhua said, but gave no details on how many were students. Social media and the Baidu news website carried footage of angry parents complaining about what they said was a lack of communication from authorities.Such expressions of anger and defiance are usually quickly suppressed by police and government departments worried over social unrest. The ruling Communist Party allows no challenges to its authority and seeks to keep total control over the press and social media.Construction an...

Dare to dive from 27 meters or 90 feet? Impact is like a car crash at 85 kph — 50 mph

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:24:20 GMT

FUKUOKA, Japan (AP) — Matt Cooper has no illusions about the hazards of diving from a 27-meter platform — about 90 feet, or as high as a nine-story building — into the sea, a lake, or a diving tank.“Even if it’s a good dive, the impact you have from 27 meters is like a car crash going 85 kilometers per hour (50 mph),” said Cooper, who’s preparing for the high-diving competition this week at the World Aquatics Championships in southwestern Japan.Cooper is dented up.He pulverized his left heel in Australia diving into a pool that was too shallow. The heel’s now fastened together with metal plates, screws, and rods.In Switzerland he was rescued by scuba divers who pulled him unconscious from a lake after a belly flop.“I basically landed on my chest and my chin and got an uppercut punch,” the American said. “I didn’t get knocked out immediately. But I remember thinking — ‘Oh, that didn’t feel good.'” His Dutch wife Ginni van Katwijk — yes, she’s also ...

Police arrest suspect in knife attack on a train in western Japan. 3 were slashed and injured

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:24:20 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese police said Monday that they have arrested a man on suspicion of slashing three people on a train in western Japan.The 37-year-old suspect was carrying three knives, including two in each hand, when he was arrested on the platform of Rinku Town station in Osaka, western Japan, immediately after the alleged attack Sunday, according to police in Izumisano City. The injured — a train conductor in his 20s and two male passengers aged 23 and 79 — were taken to nearby hospital for treatment. Their injuries were not life-threatening, police said. After an emergency call from another passenger, four police rushed to the station just after the train arrived and the suspect holding the knives got off. The suspect ignored police order to drop the knives. One officer knocked down the weapons with a stick and officers seized him, police said.The suspect told investigators that he had “trouble” with passengers. Victims said they were suddenly attacked, police said, adding th...

Stock market today: Asian shares mostly higher after winning week on Wall Street

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:24:20 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares advanced on Monday after Wall Street closed out another winning week. Hong Kong declined but other major markets in the region were higher. U.S. futures edged lower and oil prices also fell. The Federal Reserve is widely expected to raise its federal funds rate on Wednesday to its highest level since 2001. Investors are hoping that might be the final increase of the tightening cycle because inflation has been cooling since last summer. The federal funds rate started 2022 at virtually zero. This week markets also are watching for the outcome of a major political meeting in China that might bring more measures to prop up slowing growth in the world’s second largest economy.“Recent stimulus measures to boost consumption of automobile and electronics items failed to provide much conviction that they will be sufficient to uplift the downbeat growth conditions, with mounting hopes on the China Politburo meeting this week for more follow-through,” Yeap Jun Rong,...