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Rallygoers in Pakistan kill man accused of blasphemy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:00 GMT

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Rallygoers for a political party in Pakistan beat to death a participant for allegedly making a blasphemous speech, police said Sunday. Local police officer Iqbal Khan said Maulana Nigar Alam, 40, was killed Saturday night by demonstrators in Sawaldher village of Mardan district northeast of Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.The rallygoers, gathered to express support for the country’s judiciary, accused Alam of blasphemy when he made a concluding prayer at the end of the event.“Some words of his prayer were deemed blasphemous by a number of protestors, leading to torture and death at the hands of the angry mob,” said Khan.Witnesses said the police deputy on duty at the rally attempted to save the man by locking him up in a nearby shop, but the mob broke through the door and attacked him.Videos circulating on social media showed people pushing the accused man to the ground, kicking him and beating him with batons. The man died at the scene.Polic...

Israel releases lawmaker said to have smuggled guns

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:00 GMT

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli authorities released a Jordanian lawmaker to his home country on Sunday, Israel’s domestic security agency said, after he allegedly tried smuggling dozens of rifles and handguns through an Israeli-controlled border crossing.Legislator Imad Al-Adwan’s arrest threatened to further strain ties between Israel and neighboring Jordan, which have had tense relations recently despite a nearly three-decade-old peace treaty. Israel viewed the incident as serious, but Al-Adwan’s release signaled it was hoping to put the potentially combustible affair behind it.Al-Adwan was arrested on Apr. 22 with bags full of more than 200 guns, the Shin Bet agency said in a statement. It said its investigation revealed that Al-Adwan carried out 12 separate smuggling attempts since early 2022, using his diplomatic passport to bring in anything from electronic cigarettes to gold to birds. The Shin Bet said that since the start of the year, he made numerous successful...

12 killed in multi-vehicle crash in Turkey’s Hatay province

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:00 GMT

ISTANBUL (AP) — A multi-vehicle crash in southern Turkey’s Hatay province killed at least 12 people and injured 31 others, including three seriously, officials said.A truck crossed into opposite lanes after the driver lost control late Saturday, colliding with nine cars and two minibuses, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.Many of the vehicles were parked by the roadside near a gas station as friends and relatives said goodbye to men leaving to carry out mandatory military service.Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said that fires broke out on the Iskenderun-Antakya highway. The minister tweeted that 22 ambulances and three medical rescue teams were sent to the scene in Topbogazli.“May God have mercy on our citizens who lost their lives, I express my condolences to their relatives,” he tweeted. “We will do our best to ensure that the injured regain their health as soon as possible.”Hatay was one of the worst hit of the 11 Turkish provinces affected by a Feb. 6 earthquake t...

Lives immigrants built in Texas town shattered by shooting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:00 GMT

CLEVELAND, Texas (AP) — Wilson Garcia and his family were among the Latino immigrants who carved out a community inside the thick, piney woods near Cleveland, Texas, through a combination of hard labor, fortitude and love of family, friends and neighbors.On a 1-acre (4,046 square-meter) plot of land bought with a small down payment, Garcia built a home in the Trails End neighborhood that provided nurturing shelter for his family. It was also an inviting space for friends to visit. The lush green space around his home, located about 60 miles (100 kilometers) north of Houston, reminded Garcia of the countryside of his native Honduras.“Back home in Honduras, he was a country man … He talked about how beautiful the country is,” said Johnny Ray Gibbs, who has known Garcia for a decade. “I asked him, ’How is it up there (in Cleveland)? He said, ‘Beautiful.’”That beauty was shattered by gunfire on April 28 when authorities say a neighbor, Francisco Oropeza, responded to a reque...

Ukraine farmers risk losing their lives or livelihoods

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:00 GMT

POTOMKYNE, Ukraine (AP) — A grassy lane rutted with tire tracks leads to Volodymyr Zaiets’ farm in southern Ukraine. He is careful, driving only within those shallow grooves — veering away might cost him his life in the field dotted with explosive mines. Weeds grow tall where rows of sunflowers once bloomed. Zaiets’ land hasn’t been touched since the fall of 2021, when it was last seeded with wheat. Now, it’s a minefield left by retreating Russian forces.Zaiets eschewed official warnings and demined this patch of land himself, determined not to lose the year’s harvest. He expects that 15% of his 1,600 hectares (4,000 acres) of farmland was salvaged. Workers like Victor Kostiuk still spot mines, but he’s ready to start the tractor.“We have to do it,” he says, “Why be afraid?”Across Ukraine, the war has forced grain growers into a vicious dilemma. Farmers in areas now free from Russian occupation are risking their lives to strip their land of explosives before the cr...

Israel releases Jordan lawmaker said to have smuggled guns

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:00 GMT

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli authorities released a Jordanian lawmaker to his home country on Sunday, Israel’s domestic security agency said, after he allegedly tried smuggling dozens of rifles and handguns through an Israeli-controlled border crossing.Legislator Imad Al-Adwan’s arrest threatened to further strain ties between Israel and neighboring Jordan, which have had tense relations recently despite a nearly three-decade-old peace treaty. Israel viewed the incident as serious, but Al-Adwan’s release signaled it was hoping to put the potentially combustible affair behind it.Al-Adwan was arrested on Apr. 22 with bags full of more than 200 guns, the Shin Bet agency said in a statement. It said its investigation revealed that Al-Adwan carried out 12 separate smuggling attempts since early 2022, using his diplomatic passport to bring in anything from electronic cigarettes to gold to birds. The Shin Bet said that since the start of the year, he made numerous successful...

S. Korean, Japanese leaders meet again to improve ties

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:00 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The leaders of South Korea and Japan met Sunday for their second summit in less than two months, as they push to mend long-running historical grievances and boost ties in the face of North Korea’s nuclear program and other regional challenges. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrived in South Korea earlier Sunday for a two-day visit, which reciprocates a mid-March trip to Tokyo by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol. It was the first exchange of visits between the leaders of the Asian neighbors in 12 years.South Korean media attention on the summit is focused on whether Kishida will make a more direct apology over Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. Such comments by Kishida would likely help Yoon win greater support for his push to build stronger ties with Japan and ease domestic criticism that he’s preemptively made concessions to Tokyo without receiving corresponding steps in return.Ahead of his summit with Yoon, Kishida and his w...

‘We started running’: 8 killed in Texas outlet mall shooting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:00 GMT

ALLEN, Texas (AP) — Hundreds of terrified shoppers fled in panic after a gunman stepped out of a silver sedan and opened fire at a Dallas-area outlet mall, killing eight and wounding seven before being killed by a police officer who happened to be nearby, authorities said.The shooting in Allen, Texas, on Saturday was the latest eruption of what has been an unprecedented pace of mass killings in the U.S. Barely a week before, authorities say, a man fatally shot five people in Cleveland, Texas, after a neighbor asked him to stop firing his weapon while a baby slept. Police did not immediately provide details about the victims at Allen Premium Outlets, a sprawling outdoor shopping center, but witnesses reported seeing children among them. Some said they also saw what appeared to be a police officer and a mall security guard unconscious on the ground.A 16-year-old pretzel stand employee, Maxwell Gum, described a virtual stampede of shoppers. He and others sheltered in a storage room.“We...

Fans to pay respects at Gordon Lightfoot public visitation today in Orillia, Ont.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:00 GMT

ORILLIA, ONT. — Fans of late folk singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot will have an opportunity to pay their respects in his Orillia, Ont., hometown today.A public visitation will be held for the musician from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. at St. Paul’s United Church.Lightfoot died on Monday at age 84 and tributes have been pouring in from around the world ever since.The performer was known for his poetic and poignant lyrics on songs such as “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” and “If You Could Read My Mind.”After Lightfoot’s death, Orillia residents began placing flowers on two monuments to the singer in the city. And on Saturday, a previously planned concert tribute to his career at the Orillia Opera House became a celebration of his life and career.Lightfoot’s family says messages of condolence can be left at mundellfuneralhome.com, where service details are posted.A book of condolences can also be signed at Toronto’s Massey Hall, a venue where Lightfoot fre...

Hollywood writers strike sparks uncertainty for Canadian television crews

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:00 GMT

TORONTO — Upon learning that a threatened Hollywood writers strike had indeed become reality, Vancouver costume designer Patti Henderson gave her department bracing advice: “Please don’t go out and buy new cars. … No new clothes. Really, really be cautious about what you’re spending.”Last week’s decision by the Writers Guild of America to drop their pens for picket signs sparked immediate uncertainty over the status of current and upcoming U.S.-based productions shot in Canada, with Henderson noting a precipitous drop in Vancouver shoots that employ local crews.Henderson, who says she’s currently completing her final weeks on a Disney/Hulu series set to air in 2024, says jobs seemed to start drying up in the months leading up to the strike deadline. She knows of only four working shoots when typically there would be at least 40.“There’s literally nothing on our up-and-coming production list, if you will. And that’s really hurting a lot of people o...