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Mali’s army and suspected Russia-linked mercenaries committed ‘new atrocities,’ rights group says

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:35:32 GMT

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Mali’s army together with suspected Russia-linked Wagner group mercenaries have committed summary executions, lootings, forced disappearances and other abuses, said a leading human rights group Monday.Human Rights Watch said the atrocities happened in Mali’s central region and that several dozen civilians were summarily executed or forcibly disappeared since December 2022. The human rights group interviewed 40 people by phone, including witnesses, and reviewed a video “showing evidence of abuses by Malian soldiers and associated foreign fighters.”Abuses, according to witnesses interviewed by HRW, included the killing of at least 20 civilians, among them a woman and a six-year-old, during an operation in the Mopti region by “scores of Malian and ‘white’ foreign soldiers.” HRW said that much of the abuse took place during military operations in response to the presence of extremist groups in the Mopti and Segou regions and all, except one, involved foreign ...

UN Command says it’s communicating with North Korea about detained US soldier

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:35:32 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The American-led U.N. Command said Monday it has started a conversation with North Korea about a U.S. soldier who ran into the North last week across one of the world’s most heavily fortified borders.Andrew Harrison, a British lieutenant general who is the deputy commander at the U.N. Command, refused to say when the conversation started, how many exchanges have taken place and whether the North Koreans responded constructively, citing the sensitivity of the discussions. He also declined to detail what the command knows about Pvt. Travis King’s condition.“None of us know where this is going to end,” Harrison said during a news conference in Seoul. “I am in life an optimist, and I remain optimistic. But again, I will leave it at that.”It wasn’t immediately clear whether Harrison’s comments referred to meaningful progress in communications after the command said in a statement last week that it was “working with” its North Korean counterparts. The...

Elon Musk reveals new black and white X logo to replace Twitter’s blue bird

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:35:32 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Elon Musk has unveiled a new black and white “X” logo to replace Twitter’s famous blue bird as he follows through with a major rebranding of the social media platform he bought for $44 billion last year.Musk replaced his own Twitter icon with a white X on a black background and posted a picture on Monday of the design projected on Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters. The X started appearing on the top of the desktop version of Twitter on Monday, but the bird was still dominant across the phone app.Musk had asked fans for logo ideas and chose one, which he described as minimalist Art Deco, saying it “certainly will be refined.” “And soon we shall bid adieu to the twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds,” Musk tweeted Sunday.The X.com web domain now redirects users to Twitter.com, Musk said. In response to questions about what tweets would be called when the rebranding is done, Musk said they would be called Xs. Musk, CEO of Tesla, has long been fascinat...

2 arrested in Serbia suspected of smuggling Cubans to Spain as part of an international crime group

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:35:32 GMT

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbian police said Monday they have arrested two people suspected of helping smuggling Cubans toward Spain as part of an international crime group.The two Serbian citizens were arrested in a monthslong investigation in cooperation with Spain, the Interpol and Europol, police said in a statement. They said 18 more suspects have been arrested in Spain. The suspects in Serbia are accused of organizing the illegal transfer of at least 53 people to neighboring countries — North Macedonia or Bosnia — and on to Spain, said the statement. Serbia, a southeastern European nation located on the Balkan peninsula, is at the heart of a key land route for migrants trying to reach European Union.The country in April revoked a visa-free travel arrangement with Cuba following reports of Cubans moving on toward Spain and other EU countries after first coming to Serbia as tourists. Serbia also imposed visas earlier this year for the citizens of Burundi, Tunisia and India for th...

India’s Parliament rocked by protests for a third day over ethnic violence in remote state

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:35:32 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s Parliament was disrupted for a third day Monday by opposition protests over ethnic clashes in a remote northeastern state in which more than 130 people have been killed since May.Opposition lawmakers carried placards and chanted slogans outside the Parliament building as they demanded a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the violence in Manipur state before a debate on the issue.Last week, Modi broke more than two months of public silence over the ethnic clashes, telling reporters that mob assaults on two women who were paraded naked were unforgivable, but he did not refer directly to the larger violence.His comments came after a video showing the assaults sparked widespread outrage on social media despite the internet being largely blocked and journalists being locked out in the state. It shows two naked women surrounded by scores of young men who grope their genitals and drag them to a field.The video was emblematic of the near-civil war ...

At least 16 shot, 6 fatally, in weekend shootings across Chicago over weekend

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:35:32 GMT

CHICAGO — At least 16 people were shot, six fatally, due to gun violence in Chicago since Friday night. According to police, the shootings took place from the Loop, all the way down to the West Pullman Neighborhood with the victims ages ranging from 16 to 50.Police reposed to a call of a person shot in Little Village around 1:25 a.m. Sunday morning and found a man with a gunshot wound to the head inside of a flipped over vehicle. He was transported to Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition and later died of his injuries.Community activist Andrew Holmes said he and his team has been assisting impacted families. Here's a breakdown of what we know from each shooting, in chronological order, beginning late Friday night:1200 Block of West 81st Street (Auburn Gresham) - Friday, around 10:15 p.m.According to CPD, a 16-year-old boy, who had been shot multiple times in the chest, was discovered on the sidewalk and taken to Comer Children's Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.Pol...

Gene therapy eyedrops restore boy's sight. Similar treatments could help millions

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:35:32 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — Dr. Alfonso Sabater pulled up two photos of Antonio Vento Carvajal’s eyes. One showed cloudy scars covering both eyeballs. The other, taken after months of gene therapy given through eyedrops, revealed no scarring on either eye.Antonio, who's been legally blind for much of his 14 years, can see again.The teen was born with dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, a rare genetic condition that causes blisters all over his body and in his eyes. But his skin improved when he joined a clinical trial to test the world’s first topical gene therapy. That gave Sabater an idea: What if it could be adapted for Antonio's eyes?Dr. Alfonso Sabater, left, examines Antonio Vento Carvajal's eyes accompanied by his mother, Yunielkys Carvajal, right, Thursday, July 6, 2023, at University of Miami Health System's Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami. Antonio, who spent much of his life legally blind, can see again after months of gene therapy delivered with eyedrops. (AP Photo/Wilfredo...

Key drug-pricing bill capping insulin costs faces hurdles in Congress

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:35:32 GMT

(The Hill) - Major drug-pricing legislation to cap the cost of insulin is in danger of slipping to the fall, where it risks getting lost amid fights over appropriations bills, abortion and a potential government shutdown. The legislation is a priority for Democrats, and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said earlier this month that he was hoping to combine the insulin bill and legislation reforming the pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) industry into a package that could get bipartisan support and a vote before the end of summer. In a press conference earlier this month, he said passing an insulin bill was a “very, very high priority.”But with just a week left before lawmakers leave town for August, there’s a lot on the agenda, and time is a precious resource.Senate lawmakers last week began taking up their version of the annual defense policy bill. The House pushed through a highly controversial and partisan version just more than a week ago, and senators intend to start nego...

'Barbie' takes box office crown while 'Oppenheimer' soars in historic weekend

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:35:32 GMT

“Barbenheimer ” didn’t just work – it spun box office gold. The social media-fueled fusion of Greta Gerwig’s “ Barbie ” and Christopher Nolan’s “ Oppenheimer ” brought moviegoers back to the theaters in record numbers this weekend, vastly outperforming projections and giving a glimmer of hope to the lagging exhibition business, amid the sobering backdrop of strikes.Warner Bros.’ “Barbie” claimed the top spot with a massive $155 million in ticket sales from North American theaters from 4,243 locations, surpassing “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” (as well as every Marvel movie this year) as the biggest opening of the year and breaking the first weekend record for a film directed by a woman. Universal’s “Oppenheimer" also soared past expectations, taking in $80.5 million from 3,610 theaters in the U.S. and Canada, marking Nolan’s biggest non-Batman debut and one of the best-ever starts for an R-rated biographical drama.This combination of images shows Margot Robbie in a scene from "Barbie...

Splash pad malfunctioning at Pease Park

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:35:32 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- An unknown issue has kept the splash pad at Pease Park turned off for the majority of the summer season, according to the interim CEO of the Pease Park Conservancy. A controller that monitors the water quality at the splash pad is falsely reading the water pH and the ORP (oxidation reduction potential), which is then automatically shutting off the splash pad. The park has tried replacing the controller, probes that monitor the water, and the problem is still happening. "As much fun as splash pads are, we have to ensure that the water quality is safe at all times. Until we can diagnose and figure out what the issue is with the controller, the reality is we can't ensure the water is safe," Chuck Smith, the interim CEO of the Pease Park Conservancy, said. State regulations for splash pads Splash pads must follow rules in order to ensure the water is safe for children. A splash pad system must have a controller that constantly monitors the water quality, automatically ...