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Moroccan soldiers and aid teams battle to reach remote, quake-hit towns as toll rises past 2,400

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:18:39 GMT

TAFEGHAGHTE, Morocco (AP) — Moroccan soldiers and aid teams in trucks and helicopters battled Monday to reach remote mountain towns devastated by a monstrous earthquake that killed more than 2,400 people, with survivors desperate for help to find loved ones feared trapped under the rubble.Moroccan officials have so far accepted government-offered aid from just four countries — Spain, Qatar, Britain and the United Arab Emirates — and some foreign aid teams said they were awaiting permission to deploy. Morocco’s Interior Ministry says officials want to avoid a lack of coordination that “would be counterproductive.”The United Nations estimates that 300,000 people were affected by Friday night’s magnitude 6.8 quake, made more dangerous by its relatively shallow depth. Most of the destruction and deaths were in Al Haouz province in the High Atlas Mountains, where homes folded in on themselves and steep, winding roads became clogged with rubble. Residents sometimes cleared away rocks them...

Europe’s economic outlook worsens as high prices plague consumer spending

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:18:39 GMT

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Union has lowered its forecast for economic growth this year and next, saying inflation is taking a heavy toll on people’s willingness to spend in shops — while higher interest rates are sharply restricting the credit needed for investment and purchases. The revised forecast Monday from the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, comes as fears of recession grow and as the European Central Bank faces a key decision this week on whether to keep raising rates, which are aimed at getting inflation under control.The 20 countries that use the euro currency are expected to see growth of 0.8% this year instead of 1.1% projected in the spring forecast, the commission said. For next year, growth expectations were lowered to 1.3% from 1.6%. For the broader 27-country EU, the forecast also was lowered to 0.8% from 1% this year and to 1.4% from 1.7% next year.“Weakness in domestic demand, in particular consumption, shows that high and stil...

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

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:18:39 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...

Trudeau working to leave India Tuesday morning after plane breaks down

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:18:39 GMT

NEW DELHI — The Canadian Armed Forces sent a plane yesterday evening to pick up Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is stranded in India after the plane he arrived on was grounded because of technical issues. A press secretary for the Prime Minister’s Office says Trudeau is working to leave New Delhi Tuesday morning, local time. Mohammad Hussain says they’ll keep the public updated as the situation remains fluid. The lockdown in New Delhi lifted at midnight following the G20 leaders’ summit, but Trudeau and his Canadian delegation remain after his plane broke down. The prime minister’s office says a component on the plane has to be replaced, with the problem being discovered during the pre-flight check as the Canadian delegation was waiting at the airport to board the flight. The Prime Minister’s Office says Trudeau wants to be at the Liberal caucus retreat that starts Wednesday in London, Ont, with the Canadian Armed Forces doing their best to get the delegation back to ...

European Union home affairs chief appeals for release of Swedish EU employee held in Iranian prison

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:18:39 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s home affairs commissioner made an impassioned appeal Monday for the release of a Swedish employee of the EU’s diplomatic corps who spent a second birthday in an infamous Iranian prison.Sweden said last week that Johan Floderus, who worked for the European Union’s External Action Service, was arbitrarily detained in Iran last year. He has been in custody for more than 500 days and turned 33 on Sunday. Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson said Floderus was part of her Cabinet for almost two years but had asked to work for the EU delegation in Afghanistan before he was detained in Iran.“I’m very sad. I’m very worried,” Johansson told journalists Monday. “This has been with me for such a long time now. Of course, my feelings, my worries, are nothing compared to the situation of Johan or the worries that his closest family are living with every day.”Johansson said it was up to the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs t...

Lithuania to issue special passports to Belarus citizens staying legally in the Baltic country

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:18:39 GMT

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Belarusian emigrants in Lithuania who were stripped of the right to get new passports by Minsk, will be able to receive special Lithuanian travel documents, authorities in the southernmost Baltic state said Monday.Such passports will be issued to Belarusian citizens who have the right to reside in Lithuania but do not have a passport or a corresponding travel document, the Interior Ministry said. It will allow them to leave and enter Lithuania, which shares a 679-kilometer (422-mile) border with Belarus. “A foreigner’s passport is valid for more than one year but perhaps that term could be longer if the parliament would extend it,” deputy Interior Minister Arnoldas Abramavicius said.Last week, Minsk announced that its diplomatic missions would no longer issue passports to citizens permanently residing abroad in a move considered a blow to the Belarusian emigrant communities in Europe. The ban could force those who fled the country amid growing repression to...

Dutch court sentences former Pakistani cricketer to 12 years over a bounty for a far-right lawmaker

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:18:39 GMT

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A Dutch court on Monday sentenced a former Pakistani cricketer to 12 years in prison over allegations that he incited people to kill firebrand anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders.Khalid Latif, 37, stood accused of offering a bounty of some 21,000 euros ($23,000) to anybody who killed Wilders. Latif did not appear in the high-security courtroom near Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport for the trial and he was not represented by a lawyer.He’s believed to be in Pakistan, which has no extradition agreement with the Netherlands.Throughout the trial, Latif was not identified by name, but prosecutors said in a statement that a video posted online in 2018 showed a famous Pakistan cricketer offering the money for killing Wilders. Wilders himself identified the suspect as Latif.“The court has now ruled that a long-term unconditional term of imprisonment is the only suitable punishment for these types of offenses,” a statement said.Dutch lawmaker Wilders, who was present f...

Hawaii's Kilauea volcano erupts after nearly two months of quiet

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:18:39 GMT

HONOLULU (KHON) — Kilauea, one of the most active volcanoes in the world, began erupting Sunday after a two-month pause, displaying glowing lava that is a safe distance from people and structures in a national park on the Big Island.The Hawaii Volcano Observatory said the eruption was observed in the afternoon at the summit of Kilauea.The observatory said gases released by the eruption will cause volcanic smog downwind of Kilauea. People living near the park should try to avoid volcanic particles spewed into the air by the eruption, the observatory said.Visitors to the Big Island’s Hawaii Volcanoes National Park were advised of potential for a dusting of powdery to gritty ash due to the composition of volcanic glass and rock fragments.The volcano’s alert level was raised to warning status and the aviation color code went to red as scientists evaluate the eruption and associated hazards.In June, Kilauea erupted for several weeks, displaying fountains of red lava without threatening a...

Lee remains a major hurricane, unleashes heavy waves on northern Caribbean

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:18:39 GMT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (WFLA) — Hurricane Lee barreled over open waters Monday morning just northeast of the Caribbean, unleashing heavy swell on several islands as it regained some strength and expanded in size.The Category 3 storm is not forecast to make landfall and is expected to stay over open waters through Friday. Late Sunday, it was centered about 340 miles north of the northern Leeward Islands. Its maximum sustained winds were clocked at 120 mph, and it was moving northwest at 7 mph.(WFLA)Last week, Lee strengthened from a Category 1 storm to a Category 5 storm in just one day.“We had the perfection conditions for a hurricane: warm waters and hardly any wind shear,” said Lee Ingles, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in San Juan.By Saturday night, it had slowed to a Category 2 hurricane but began restrengthening Sunday. Lee is expected to strengthen further in the upcoming days and then weaken again, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Hurricane Lee r...

Austin Chronicle holds 33rd annual Hot Sauce Festival

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:18:39 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – The Austin Chronicle held its 33rd annual Hot Sauce Festival on Sunday in South Austin. According to the Chronicle, Fantastic Fuego won the most awards (3) in the commercial bottlers category. Tacodeli won most (3) in the restaurant category. Bindu Bites won three awards in the People's Choice category. Here's a list of all the winners. Attendees at the 33rd annual Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival. (KXAN: Frank Martinez) The festival at The Far Out Lounge and Stage featured music and hot sauce samples from 20 commercial bottlers, according to the Chronicle.The Chronicle said the festival, which began as a contest in 1990, serves as major fundraiser for the Central Texas Food Bank. It said the festival has raised over 1 million meals.