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Crush of people at opening ceremony of the Indian Ocean Island Games in Madagascar kills at least 12

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:11 GMT

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (AP) — A crush of people at a stadium in Madagascar left at least 12 dead and 85 injured as sports fans attended the opening ceremony of the Indian Ocean Island Games, authorities said Saturday. The stampede at the Mahamasina Stadium in Antananarivo, the capital of the East African island nation, happened Friday as people gathered at an entrance for the official opening of the regional multi-sports event.Government spokesperson Lalatiana Rakotondrazafy said Saturday that 33 of the injured remained in the HRJA Hospital in Antananarivo. Prime Minister Christian Ntsay said Friday that 11 people were in critical condition following the crush, which happened at around 4.30 p.m. local time. Ntsay visited the injured at the hospital.His office also issued a statement Saturday offering condolences and promising that the government would transfer the victims’ bodies to their families and pay for the medical treatment of the injured.“The Prime Minister and...

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich appeals extension of pretrial detention in Russia

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:11 GMT

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has appealed a Moscow court’s decision to extend his pretrial detention in Russia until the end of November, according to documents on the court’s website.The American journalist was arrested in March during a work trip to the city of Yekaterinburg, almost 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) east of Moscow. He is the first U.S. journalist since the Soviet era to be held on espionage charges in Russia. An order that authorized keeping Gershkovich in jail before trial was set to expire on Aug. 30. The Moscow City Court extended the custody order on Thursday by three months, drawing objections from U.S. government officials and the Journal. The court’s website on Saturday showed that Gershkovich’s defense team had filed an appeal. The court in June rejected his appeal of the earlier ruling to keep him behind bars until the end of August. Journalists gathered outside the court Thursday were not allowed to witness the proceedings. Russian st...

Maryland oral surgeon convicted of murder in girlfriend’s overdose death

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:11 GMT

ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) — An oral surgeon was convicted on Friday of a murder charge in the death of his girlfriend who overdosed on anesthetic drugs that he administered at his Maryland home.Jurors heard testimony that James Ryan, 50, set up an intravenous stand to administer the addictive drugs to his 25-year-old girlfriend, Sarah Harris, who was found died at his Montgomery County home in January 2022. Ryan faces a maximum of 55 years in prison when he is sentenced at a date to be determined, The Washington Post reported.An autopsy found that Harris died of intoxication from ketamine, propofol and diazepam. Prosecutors argued that Ryan showed “an extreme indifference” to Harris’ life by continuously supplying her with drugs as her addiction and health worsened. She weighed 83 pounds at the time of her death. Montgomery County Assistant State’s Attorney Jennifer Harrison said Ryan was a skilled oral surgeon who knew how risky the drugs could be,“And despite his vast knowledge an...

Greek authorities arrest 2 for arson while firefighters battle wildfires across the country

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:11 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Fire department officials in Greece arrested two men Saturday for allegedly deliberately setting fires, while hundreds of firefighters battled wildfires that have killed at least 21 people in the past week.One man was arrested on the island of Evia for allegedly setting fire to dried grass in the Karystos area. The fire department said the man confessed to having set four other fires in the area in July and August. A second man arrested in the Larissa area of central Greece also was accused of intentionally setting fire to dried vegetation.Officials have blamed arson for several fires in Greece over the past week. It remains unclear what sparked the country’s largest blazes, including one in the northeastern region of Evros, where nearly all the fire-attributed deaths occurred, and another on the fringes of Athens.“Some … arsonists are setting fires, endangering forests, property and above all human lives,” Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minist...

Wild horses that roam Theodore Roosevelt National Park may be removed. Many oppose the plan

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:11 GMT

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The beloved wild horses that roam freely in North Dakota’s Theodore Roosevelt National Park could be removed under a National Park Service proposal that worries advocates who say the horses are a cultural link to the past.Visitors who drive the scenic park road can often see bands of horses, a symbol of the West and sight that delights tourists. Advocates want to see the horses continue to roam the Badlands, and disagree with park officials who have branded the horses as “livestock.”The Park Service is revising its livestock plans and writing an environmental assessment to examine the impacts of taking no new action — or to remove the horses altogether.Removal would entail capturing horses and giving some of them first to tribes, and later auctioning the animals or giving them to other entities. Another approach would include techniques to prevent future reproduction and would allow those horses to live out the rest of their lives in the park.The horses h...

An EF-2 tornado knocks down trees and injures at least 6 in Pennsylvania

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:11 GMT

MILL RUN, Pa. (AP) — An EF-2 tornado brought down trees and damaged homes as well as a resort and campground in southwestern Pennsylvania, injuring at least six people, authorities said.The National Weather Service in Pittsburgh said an EF-2 tornado with peak winds estimated at 120 mph (193 kilometers) was on the ground for more than two miles (three kilometers) in Fayette County shortly after 2:30 a.m. Friday.A storm survey just southeast of Connellsville found that the tornado snapped or uprooted trees across Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park resort and campground in Mill Run, where several hundred campers were present. Trees fell on RVs, cabins, and other structures and three tents were destroyed. Officials said three people were injured by falling trees.“There were large, large trees on vehicles, cabins and campers that people had taken there,” Susan Griffith, public information officer for the Fayette County Emergency Management Agency, told The (Uniontown) Herald-Standard.Yogi Bear’...

Stingray impales Florida woman's back, misses lung by centimeters: 'Super, super painful'

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:11 GMT

RUSKIN, Fla. (WFLA) – A woman from Tampa Bay is recovering after being impaled by a venomous stingray which buried its barb inches into her back, just missing her lungs. Kristie Cataffo-O'Brien said she and her husband visited Bahia Beach in Ruskin, Florida, to grab lunch and hang out in the water. They were knee-deep when the barb of a stingray impaled her.“He was like, 'Stay still, don’t move,'” Cataffo-O’Brien told Nexstar's WFLA. “He was kind of holding my weight and the stingray’s weight in the water." Florida officials warn residents amid simian sightings Cataffo-O’Brien described the pain as excruciating.A stingray barb is seen piercing Kristie Cataffo-O'Brien's back after an incident at a beach in Ruskin, Florida. (Kristie Cataffo-O'Brien)“I felt something sting me right away. I felt like it was a jellyfish maybe or something, but it was super, super painful,” said Cataffo-O’Brien. "I started to stand up, and that's when he was like, 'No, don't move at all, there's a sting...

COVID summer surge: Should you get a booster now or wait?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:11 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – COVID cases are still on the rise, but an updated vaccine could be more than a month away. That leaves some concerned people in a predicament: get boosted now, or wait?As of August, the latest version of the vaccine we have available is the "bivalent" shot, which was released last year. It was designed to target the highly contagious omicron variant of COVID, which is still the dominant variant to this day. However, studies show the bivalent shot's effectiveness wanes substantially over time.And over the past year, omicron has spawned many subtypes, each with a name composed of letters and numbers. The most common over much of the past year have been the XBB strains.The new booster, which should be available by end of September or early October, is a monovalent vaccine, specifically made to target XBB. As COVID surge continues, is the booster still working against new variants? Whether they want the protection now or not, many people have to wait for the XBB-targeting ...

'It's game over': What Prigozhin's end means for Wagner Group

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:11 GMT

(The Hill) – Wagner Group’s fate is hanging in the balance after leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and top field commander Dmitry Utkin were both presumably killed in a fiery plane crash.The private military company — a once wide-reaching empire that has helped prop up authoritarian regimes in several African countries and played a significant role in Russia’s invasions of Ukraine — will increasingly come under Russian President Vladimir Putin’s control, analysts told The Hill.Putin and his military officials must decide what parts of the group to keep, what to discard — and how to keep the mercenaries in line.  US citizens urged to leave Belarus immediately John Hardie, the deputy director of the Russia Program for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said Wagner will be easier for Moscow to control “with Prigozhin, Utkin, and other top figures out of the picture.”“But without its core commanders, it won’t be the same organization,” he wrote in an analysis sent to The Hill. “An...

Reina, a once-closed Rainey St. bar, reopens at new location

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:11 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – A little over a year after closing its Rainey Street location, Reina, a once-popular Austin bar, announced it has reopened. Reina announced in August 2022 that it could no longer operate out of its Rainey Street locale due to city plans to develop the area for additional residential buildings.  MORE: 'We knew this was coming’: Another bar on Rainey Street set to close for new residential development projects On Wednesday, Reina staff posted on social media that it would open its doors again – this time, a couple of blocks over at 214 Trinity St. On Instagram, the Reina account said the bar would host a soft opening at its new downtown location featuring three local DJs. The popular bar has yet to say when the doors of the new venue will open permanently.