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Pakistan: 3 troops, 7 militants killed in overnight attacks

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:35:45 GMT

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Militants targeted Pakistani security forces in three overnight attacks in the country’s volatile northwest, triggering shootouts that killed three soldiers and seven militants, the military said Friday.The near-simultaneous attacks late Thursday night in Lakki Marwat, a district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, lasted several hours. A military statement said the attackers were repulsed but that three soldiers “embraced martyrdom” while responding to the attacks.In one of the attacks, a suicide bomber riding on a motorcycle blew himself up near a compound housing security forces. The military said troops were still searching the area for the militants who escaped following the attacks.There was no claim of responsibility for the attacks but suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban who have been behind past attacks in the region and have a strong presence in the province. The militants, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pak...

Man accused of setting fire to 2 Minneapolis mosques

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:35:45 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Police in Minneapolis are searching for a man suspected of setting fires that damaged two mosques earlier this week.Jackie Rahm Little was charged with second-degree arson for one of the fires that rattled Minnesota’s Muslim community. The criminal complaint does not mention possible motives, but Muslim leaders on Tuesday said they feared the attacks were motivated by Islamophobia, the Star Tribune reported.Little, 36, is charged in connection with the second fire, which on Monday burned the third floor of the Mercy Islamic Center. The center houses the Masjid Al Rahma mosque.The criminal complaint states that surveillance footage shows Little entering the center carrying a bag with a gasoline can inside. A short time later, a staff member spotted a fire near offices. It was extinguished before it could spread very far.The other fire was Sunday night in the bathroom of the mosque in the 24 Somali Mall. The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic...

2 journalists killed in Haiti as gang violence spikes

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:35:45 GMT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Two local journalists have been killed in Haiti over the past couple of weeks as rampant gang violence has gripped the capital of Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas.The Committee to Protect Journalists said in a statement Thursday that radio reporter Dumesky Kersaint was fatally shot in mid-April, while journalist Ricot Jean was found dead on Tuesday.“The security crisis in the country is putting journalists at a constant risk of extreme violence. It is the authorities’ responsibility to make sure reporters can do their jobs without fear of violence,” said Carlos Martínez de la Serna, CPJ’s program director.The National Association of Haitian Media also condemned the killings, adding that the “climate of tolerated and fueled violence” led to Kersaint’s death. He was an online journalist for Radio Tele INUREP, according to local media reports.Meanwhile, Haitian newspaper Le Nouvelliste reported that Jean was kidnapped on Monday and his body discovered t...

Speedboat capsizes in west Indonesia; 11 dead and 1 missing

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:35:45 GMT

PEKANBARU, Indonesia (AP) — A speedboat carrying 74 people capsized in rough seas in western Indonesia, killing at least 11 and leaving one person missing, officials said Friday.Many of the dead were women and children, said Nyoman Sidakarya, chief of the Pekanbaru Search and Rescue Agency. He said 62 people had been rescued, including some who were unconscious after drifting in the choppy waters for hours. They were hospitalized and were in stable condition, he said.The Evelyn Calista 01 was carrying 68 passengers, mostly people returning from visits to their hometowns to celebrate the Eid al-Fitr holiday with their families, and six crew members, Sidakarya said. He revised the number of people on board from an initial estimate of 78.Television video showed people standing on an overturned boat trying to reach a fishing boat packed with survivors.The boat sank Thursday afternoon about three hours after leaving Tembilahan, a town in Indragiri Hilir Regency in Riau province. It was b...

Iran TV airs footage of commandos seizing US-bound tanker

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:35:45 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Masked Iranian navy commandos conducted a helicopter-borne raid to seize a U.S.-bound oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman, footage aired by Iran’s state television showed Friday. The capture on Thursday of the Turkish-managed, Chinese-owned Advantage Sweet represents the latest seizure by Iran amid tensions with the U.S. over advancing nuclear program. While Tehran says the tanker was seized over it running into another Iranian vessel, it has provided no evidence yet to support the claim — and the Islamic Republic has taken other ships as bargaining chips in negotiations with the West.The footage showed the commandos descending on the deck of the Advantage Sweet by ropes from a hovering helicopter. A photograph showed one commando with his fist in the air after apparently taking the vessel. The U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet has said the Iranian seizure was at least the fifth commercial vessel taken by Tehran in the last two years.“Iran’s continued h...

Imperial Oil reports Q1 profit up from year ago, raises quarterly dividend

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:35:45 GMT

CALGARY — Imperial Oil Ltd. is raising its quarterly dividend as it reported it earned $1.25 billion in its first quarter, up from $1.17 billion in the same quarter a year earlier.The company says it will now pay a quarterly dividend of 50 cents per share, up from 44 cents per share.The increased payment to shareholders comes as the company says its profit amounted to $2.13 per diluted share for the quarter ended March 31, up from $1.75 per diluted share a year earlier.Total revenue and other income amounted to $12.12 billion, down from $12.69 billion in the first three months of 2022.Production averaged 413,000 gross oil-equivalent barrels per day, up from 380,000 in the same quarter last year.Meanwhile, refinery throughput averaged 417,000 barrels per day, up from 399,000 a year ago, as refinery capacity utilization rose to 96 per cent compared with 93 per cent a year earlier.“Imperial’s strong financial results in the first quarter were underpinned by sustained high utiliza...

18-year-old fatally shot in Near South Side drive-by, ID'd

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:35:45 GMT

CHICAGO — An 18-year-old man is dead after a drive-by shooting in Near South Side Thursday afternoon. The medical examiner's office identified the victim as 18-year-old Cameron D. Rayford According to police, two 18-year-olds were in a car when they were approached by a stolen white Kia and shots were fired. One man was struck on the hand and transported to a hospital initially in good condition. Man, woman dead after shooting at Burbank restaurant Another 18-year-old was struck in the body and was transported to Stroger Hospital where he was pronounced dead. The Kia was found unoccupied near Cermak Road and State Street. There is currently no one in custody and police are investigating the incident.

Church a 'total loss' after Kankakee County fire

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:35:45 GMT

KANKAKEE COUNTY, Ill. — A Baptist church in Hopkins Park was destroyed Friday morning following a fire.At around 2:15 a.m., authorities were dispatched to Christian Hope Baptist Church, located in the 3900 block of South Main Street, on the report of a fire.The fire completely destroyed the church and the Pembrook Fire Protection District called it a "total loss." 18-year-old woman killed in Matteson double shooting There is no cause at this time and the Illinois state fire marshal has been called to investigate. No injuries were reported.

Russian missile and drone attack in Ukraine kills 21 people

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:35:45 GMT

UMAN, Ukraine (AP) — Russia fired more than 20 cruise missiles and two drones at Ukraine early Friday, killing at least 19 people, almost all of them when two missiles slammed into an apartment building in the center of the country, officials said. Three children were among the dead.The missile attacks included the first one against Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, in nearly two months, although there were no reports of any targets hit. The city government said Ukraine’s air force intercepted 11 cruise missiles and two unmanned aerial vehicles over Kyiv. The strikes on the nine-story residential building in central Ukraine occurred in Uman, a city located around 215 kilometers (134 miles) south of Kyiv. Seventeen people died in that attack, according to the capital region's governor, Ihor Taburets. They included two 10-year-old children and a toddler. Another of the victims was a 75-year-old woman who lived in a neighboring building and suffered internal bleeding from the huge blast's shock...

MTA ends real-time service alerts on Twitter, says platform is 'no longer reliable'

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:35:45 GMT

NEW YORK (WPIX) – New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which provides public transportation services for millions of riders in the NYC metro area each day, has ended its real-time service alerts on Twitter, an agency official said in a statement Thursday night.MTA Acting Chief Customer Officer Shanifah Rieara blamed Twitter’s new policy of requiring a fee to use its application programming interface, also known as API. This interface is what allows the MTA to send out real-time service changes on the social media platform.“The MTA does not pay tech platforms to publish service information and has built redundant tools that provide service alerts in real-time. Those include the MYmta and TrainTime apps, the MTA’s homepage at MTA.info, email alerts, and text messages. Service alerts are also available on thousands of screens in stations, on trains, and in buses,” Rieara said. “The MTA has terminated posting service information to Twitter, effective immediately, as the rel...