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Iran says an Israeli strike in Syria killed 2 Revolutionary Guard members while on advisory mission

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:17:55 GMT

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard stated through its website that two of its forces stationed in Syria were killed in an Israeli airstrike Saturday.The report on the Guard’s news portal identified the two members as Mohammad Ali Ataei Shourcheh and Panah Taghizadeh, and said they were carrying out an advisory mission in Syria. It did not elaborate on their rank, or the area where they were killed.Syrian state media, quoting an unnamed military official, said Israeli airstrikes hit several areas on the outskirts of the capital Damascus early Saturday. The strikes resulted in only “material losses,” the report added.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based opposition war monitor, said the strikes hit the southern Damascus suburb of Sayyida Zeinab, where “there are military forces working with the Lebanese (militant group) Hezbollah.” It said the strike killed two Syrian citizens and two foreigners and wounded five others.This latest deve...

In Mexico, a Japanese traditional dancer shows how body movement speaks beyond culture and religion

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:17:55 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — When music requires her to cry, Japanese traditional dancer Naoko Kihara barely alters her expression. It’s her arms and torso that move like a slow-motion wave.“Expression is minimal because we cry with our body,” said Kihara, wrapped in her white and navy kimono, on a recent day at her dancing studio in Mexico, where an estimated 76,000 Japanese descendants live.“It is the dance that is speaking, interpreting, since we do not smile, shout or laugh.”Kihara won’t reveal her age, but she’s been practicing Japanese traditional dance for almost 24 years. Born in Brazil from Japanese parents who later moved to Mexico City, she carries on the legacy of Tamiko Kawabe, her mentor and pioneer of Hanayagi-style dance in the country.For Latin American audiences, Kihara said, Japanese traditional dance might be hard to embrace.Unlike the fast-moving interpreters of samba and salsa — widespread in Brazil and Mexico — Hanayagi dancers move quietly and gently, performing just a...

Send-offs show Carlton Pearson’s split legacy spurred by his inclusive beliefs, rejection of hell

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:17:55 GMT

Before his peers would label him a heretic, the late Bishop Carlton D. Pearson was once one of the best known preachers in the nation. His skilled biblical oration, steeped in the Black Pentecostal tradition and melded with white evangelicalism, helped swell the membership of the storefront church he started in 1981 in Jenks, Oklahoma, to a full-service, multiracial congregation of more than 5,000.But things changed dramatically in the 2000s. Pearson underwent a cataclysmic theological shift that altered the course of his life – and his legacy among the canon of American Christian leaders. Pearson, 70, died Nov. 19 after a brief battle with cancer. His splintered influence was underscored this week as different factions paid tribute to Pearson at various memorial services that have raised questions — and objections — about how best to remember him.During the apex of his career as leader of Higher Dimensions Evangelistic Center, Pearson said he heard a message from God that led him t...

Teen girls are being victimized by deepfake nudes. One family is pushing for more protections

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:17:55 GMT

A mother and her 14-year-old daughter are advocating for better protections for victims after AI-generated nude images of the teen and other female classmates were circulated at a high school in New Jersey. Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, officials are investigating an incident involving a teenage boy who allegedly used artificial intelligence to create and distribute similar images of other students – also teen girls – that attend a high school in suburban Seattle, Washington. The disturbing cases have put a spotlight yet again on explicit AI-generated material that overwhelmingly harms women and children and is booming online at an unprecedented rate. According to an analysis by independent researcher Genevieve Oh that was shared with the Associated Press, more than 143,000 new deepfake videos were posted online this year, which surpasses every other year combined.Desperate for solutions, affected families are pushing lawmakers to implement robust safeguards for...

Fire crews battle two-alarm blaze at three-storey home in midtown

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:17:55 GMT

No injuries have been reported at a two-alarm house fire in midtown.Fire crews were met with heavy smoke and flames from a vacant three-storey home on St. Clair Avenue West, just west of Avenue Road, when they arrived just before 5:30 a.m. Saturday.Firefighters say an offensive attack was initiated and a primary search of the residence was carried out but they found no one at the home. Crews have since switched to a defensive mode to bring the blaze under control.Paramedics say they did transport anybody to the hospital.

Zambia landslides bury miners digging tunnels illegally, killing 7 and leaving more than 20 missing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:17:55 GMT

LUSAKA, Zambia (AP) — Seven miners were confirmed dead and more than 20 others were missing and presumed dead after heavy rains caused landslides that buried them inside tunnels they had been digging illegally at a copper mine in Zambia, police and local authorities said Saturday.No bodies had yet been retrieved after the landslides late on Thursday night, police said. Many of the victims were believed to have drowned.The miners were digging for copper ore at the Seseli open-pit mine in the copper-belt city of Chingola, around 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of the capital, Lusaka, according to police. The landslides happened some time between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Thursday, police said.Police gave names or partial names of seven confirmed victims and said all of the miners in the tunnels are “suspected to have died.” Neither police nor government officials could say exactly how many miners were trapped in the tunnels, but Chingola District Commissioner Raphael Chumupi told The Ass...

A snowstorm brings Munich airport to a standstill and causes travel chaos in central Europe

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:17:55 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — All flights were grounded at Munich’s airport Saturday after a winter storm dumped snow across southern Germany and parts of Austria, Switzerland and the Czech Republic, affecting travel across the region.After initially announcing a halt in air traffic until noon on Saturday, the airport later announced flights would be canceled until 6 a.m. Sunday. Other airports in the region, including in the Swiss financial capital, Zurich, also announced weather-related delays and cancellations.Trains to and from Munich’s central station were also halted, Germany’s national railway said, advising passengers to delay or reroute their journeys. The news agency dpa reported that some passengers in Munich and the nearby city of Ulm spent Friday night on trains due to the halt.In Munich, no buses or trams were operating as of Saturday afternoon, the local transit authority said. Some subway and regional train lines were also affected by the weather.Downed trees left “many thousa...

9-year-old boy critical after falling from window on North Side: CPD

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:17:55 GMT

CHICAGO -- A 9-year-old boy is in critical condition after he fell from a third-story window in Rogers Park overnight, police said.Police said the incident took place near the 1500 block of West Jonquil Terrace around 2:09 a.m. Man armed with a knife shot dead by officers in Elk Grove Village The boy sustained trauma to the body and was transported to Saint Francis Hospital where he is listed in critical condition. Police are investigating the incident.

1 dead following pedestrian-involved collision in SE Austin

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:17:55 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — One person died early Saturday after a vehicle reportedly hit a pedestrian in southeast Austin, according to Austin-Travis County EMS.Officials said the incident occurred in the 4900 block of Burleson Road shortly before 2 a.m.Medics obtained a “deceased on scene pronouncement” for an adult, according to ATCEMS.It is unclear if the vehicle involved remained at the scene following the incident. No other information was available as of 2:31 a.m.

Dry and seasonably warm this week

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:17:55 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Afternoon high temperatures will be warmer than normal this weekend into much of next week. Today's normal high temperature is 67°.A mild start to the weekendThis day will start with a mostly cloudy sky. Clearing will begin later this morning with the sky partly cloudy to mostly sunny by sunset. A mostly clear sky tonight will send most lows Sunday morning down to the low to mid 40s. Fewer clouds tomorrow afternoon means a warmer day as highs peak in the low to mid 70s.A cold front skirts across the northern part of Texas overnight Sunday to Monday morning providing a brief cooling locally. Most highs Monday rise only to the mid to upper 60s.Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday will continue the dry trend with highs all three days in the upper 60s to low 70s. The week will end with highs in the low to mid 70s.Afternoon highs warmer than normal much of the weekTuesday morning will be the coldest morning with lows in the mid/upper 30s to low 40s. Lows get warmer the rest ...