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Libyan city buries thousands in mass graves after flood; mayor says death toll could triple

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:27 GMT

The city of Derna has buried thousands of people in mass graves, Libyan officials said Thursday, as search teams scoured ruins left by devastating floods and the city’s mayor said that the death toll could triple.The deluge swept away entire families on Sunday night and exposed vulnerabilities in the oil-rich country that has been mired in conflict since the 2011 uprising that toppled long-ruling dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Health officials have confirmed 5,500 deaths and say 9,000 people are still missing.Here’s a look at the latest developments.WHAT HAPPENED IN LIBYA?Daniel, an unusually strong Mediterranean storm, caused deadly flooding in towns across eastern Libya, but the worst-hit was Derna. As the storm pounded the coast Sunday night, residents said they heard loud explosions when the dams outside the city collapsed. Floodwaters washed down Wadi Derna, a valley that cuts through the city, crashing through buildings and washing people out to sea.A U.N. official said Thurs...

Movie Review: ‘Cassandro,’ with Gael Garcia Bernal as a liberated luchador, is a winner

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:27 GMT

Anyone who has eagerly followed Gael Garcia Bernal since his breakthrough roles in “Amores Perros” and “Y tu mamá también” likely never foresaw him one day in the world of lucha libra wrestling. Bernal, far from the most brawny actor, has been a slyer shape-shifter, whether in heels as a femme fatale in Pedro Almodovar’s “Bad Education” or on a motorcycle as Che Guevara in Walter Salles’ “Motorcycle Diaries.” But while almost anything with Bernal in it has been worth seeing, it’s been a little while — maybe his pair of movies with Pablo Larrain, 2012’s “No” and 2016’s “Neruda” — since Bernal had a sufficiently good part to, well, really go to the mat for. He’s found it, though, in “Cassandro,” Roger Ross Williams’ based-on-a-true-story drama about the Mexican wrestler Saúl Armendáriz. He was an exótico in 1990s lucha libra wrestling who rose to become one of the sport’s most popular champions. Exóticos, who first emerged in the 1...

China promotes economic ‘integration’ with Taiwan while militarily threatening the island

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:27 GMT

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China is promoting new economic opportunities for Taiwanese people while at the same time ramping up military activity around the island it claims as its own.Experts say the “carrots and sticks” approach, which Beijing has employed for years, signals a choice between peaceful “reunification” and military aggression ahead of a Taiwanese presidential election next year.This week, China unveiled a plan for an “integrated development demonstration zone” in its southeastern Fujian province, the closest to self-governed, democratic Taiwan. Taipei strongly rejects China’s sovereignty claims.As part of the plan, Beijing is encouraging Taiwanese companies to list on Chinese stock exchanges and is promising better conditions for Taiwanese investors and a more “relaxed” environment for travel, according to a statement Tuesday by the Communist Party’s Central Committee and the State Council, China’s Cabinet.“The goal is to build an integrated development demonstration zone...

France sends the army to ensure water to drought-stricken Indian Ocean island of Mayotte

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:27 GMT

PARIS (AP) — France is sending military forces to distribute water on the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte, which is facing an unprecedented water crisis prompted by the island cluster’s most severe drought in decades.Troops with the French Foreign Legion and French navy based in the region will work with local authorities to ensure water supplies to local populations, the Defense Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.Authorities have ordered water cuts two days out of three on Mayotte, a territory northwest of Madagascar that is the poorest part of France. The water woes come on top of migration tensions around people arriving from the neighboring country of Comoros.Residents protested Saturday outside the Mayotte water management headquarters, carrying banners reading “Mayotte is Thirsty!”, according to local media reports. When the water taps are working, families fill up buckets and tubs as they can, but supplies quickly run low, especially in more remote areas....

World Cup referee Yoshimi Yamashita among first women match officials at Asian Cup

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:27 GMT

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Referee Yoshimi Yamashita will return to Qatar to make more soccer history at the men’s Asian Cup in January after she worked in the country last year at the men’s World Cup.Yamashita is among five female match officials, including two referees, picked Thursday by the Asian Football Confederation to work in Qatar. The tournament runs form Jan. 12 to Feb. 10.It is the first time the AFC has appointed female match officials for its marquee men’s event.Katherine Jacewicz of Australia was also picked among the referees. The assistants selected are Makoto Bozono and Naomi Teshirogi of Japan, and Kim Kyoung Min of South Korea.The 24-team Asian Cup will be played in most of the same stadiums as the men’s World Cup, where Yamashita served as the fourth official for six group games.Yamashita was one of three female referees picked by FIFA for the men’s World Cup. Stephanie Frappert of France made history working the Germany-Costa Rica game in t...

Grocer Empire reports Q1 profit and sales up from year ago

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:27 GMT

STELLARTON, N.S. — Empire Co. Ltd. says it earned $261.0 million in its latest quarter, up from $187.5 million in the same quarter last year, boosted by the sale of its 56 gas stations in Western Canada to Shell Canada.The grocer, which owns Sobeys and Safeway and other banners, says the profit amounted to $1.03 per share for the quarter ended Aug. 5, up from a profit of 71 cents per share a year earlier.Sales in what was Empire’s first quarter totalled $8.08 billion, up from $7.94 billion in the same quarter last year. Same-store sales were up 3.0 per cent, while same-store sales, excluding fuel, were up 4.1 per cent.On an adjusted basis, Empire says it earned 78 cents per share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 71 cents per share a year earlier.The average analyst estimate had been for an adjusted profit of 75 cents per share, based on estimates compiled by financial markets data firm Refinitiv.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14...

Chevron reports LNG outage at Australian plant as strike action escalates

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:27 GMT

SYDNEY (AP) — A Chevron Corp. liquefied natural gas plant in Australia reported a production outage Thursday as workers escalated a strike action against facilities that provide more than 5% of global LNG supplies. The U.S. energy giant said in a statement that it was working to resume full production at its Wheatstone facility “following a fault which has impacted about 25% of LNG production.”“The cause has been identified and restart activities have commenced,” the statement said.Chevron’s Wheatstone and Gorgon plants in Western Australia state account for more than 5% of global LNG supply.Chevron did not link the disruption to an escalation Thursday in the strikes at its Wheatstone and Gorgon LNG plants in Western Australia. Around 500 workers at the two Chevron sites have been taking limited strike actions since Sept. 8 in a dispute over wages and conditions.The Offshore Alliance, a partnership between the Australian Workers’ Union and the Maritime Union of Australia that ...

Thursday Forecast: Mostly sunny, low 70s

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:27 GMT

Thursday: Mostly sunny, coolest near the lake, E 5-10. High: 72, Low: 68Thursday Night: Mostly clear, calm, E 0-5. Low: 54Chicago Weather | Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center's Forecast (wgntv.com)Friday: Mainly sunny, coolest near the lake, SW 5-10. High: 77, Low: 74

Florida officer hits 13-year-old bicyclist with patrol car, critically injuring her

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:27 GMT

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) - A teenager is in critical condition after being struck by a Tampa, Florida, police cruiser Wednesday.The Tampa Police Department said in a news release that a 13-year-old girl was trying to cross a street on a bicycle when she was hit by the officer at 7:40 p.m. The teenager was knocked off her bike and suffered a head injury and a broken leg. She was listed in critical condition Wednesday night. 2 charged after St. Pete robbery turns into police shootout, PCSO says The teenager was struck approximately 75 feet from the nearest crosswalk, according to TPD. The officer stopped and rendered aid until paramedics arrived, TPD said. "Our thoughts are with the teen cyclist who was injured in this unfortunate incident, and we hope for her full recovery," Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw said in a statement. "We take all accidents involving our officers seriously."The officer was described as a five-year veteran of the department and "though shaken, was not injured in t...

'60 Minutes' will become 90 minutes for several episodes this fall

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:27 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The iconic stopwatch won't be reset, but for six episodes this fall, “60 Minutes” will become 90 minutes.The CBS newsmagazine is stretching on some Sundays when CBS airs an NFL doubleheader, starting Oct. 8. Often, the show doesn't air until 7:30 p.m. on the East Coast those nights (it usually starts at 7 p.m.).This image released by CBS News shows, from left, Sharyn Alfonsi, L. Jon Wertheim, Bill Whitaker, Lesley Stahl, Scott Pelley, Cecilia Vega, Anderson Cooper and Executive Producer Bill Owens, from the CBS news series "60 Minutes." (Jai Lennard/CBS News via AP)The request to Bill Owens, the show's executive producer, came from top CBS executive George Cheeks, and predated the strikes that have paralyzed Hollywood and left networks looking for more content. Owens said he needed to weigh whether the three extra hours across the six episodes would dilute the broadcast.“My job is to protect the place,” he said. “I don't ever want to harm a hair o...