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4 officers and 3 militants die after attacks on police office and 2 army posts in northwest Pakistan

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:59:36 GMT

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Militants attacked a regional police headquarters and two military posts in northwest Pakistan early Friday, triggering firefights that killed four officers and three insurgents, security officials said.The attacks came three days after a suicide bomber in the same region rammed his car into a police station’s main gate and five others opened fire, killing 23 officers in this year’s worst attack on troops. Local police chief Iftikhar Shah said two police officers were “martyred” and three others were wounded in an attack on the police headquarters in the town of Tank in Dera Ismail Khan, while two of the attackers died. He said a third militant was killed by soldiers during the assault on a nearby army post. Hours later, Pakistani Taliban also attacked a military post in the northwestern Khyber region bordering Afghanistan, killing two soldiers and wounding five others, local police official Salim Khan said.No one immediately claimed responsibility fo...

Sexton and Fonteccio lead short-handed Jazz to 122-114 win over Trail Blazers

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:59:36 GMT

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Collin Sexton scored 27 points, Simone Fonteccio had 24 and the Utah Jazz beat the struggling Portland Trail Blazers 122-114 on Thursday night.Talen Horton-Tucker added 23 points for the short-handed Jazz (9-16), who led by 33 in the second half despite playing without All-Star forward Lauri Markkanen, John Collins, Jordan Clarkson and Keyonte George.Fonteccio shot 7 of 8 from the field, including 5 for 5 from 3-point range.“I thought everyone was very connected, especially defensively,” Utah coach Will Hardy said. “And then offensively, I thought the ball moved around great tonight. I think you see what happens to the collective energy when everyone feels like they’re involved.”Rookie guard Scoot Henderson had a career-high 23 points and 10 assists to lead the Trail Blazers (6-17), who lost their fifth straight in the opener of a five-game homestand. Rookie forward Toumani Camara also set a career best with 18 points, and Portland got 14 points and nine reboun...

Kailer Yamamoto scores 2 early goals to spark Kraken to 7-1 romp over Blackhawks

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:59:36 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — Continuing to get contributions from the depth players might be what the Seattle Kraken need to turnaround their sluggish, disappointing start. Kailer Yamamoto scored twice in the first period, Oliver Bjorkstrand had a goal and two assists and the Kraken shut down rookie sensation Connor Bedard in a 7-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night.Seattle won consecutive games for just the third time this season and the first time without needing overtime. The Kraken snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 4-0 victory over Florida on Tuesday night and followed up by overpowering the outmatched Blackhawks.“It’s big for the confidence, big for the team,” Yamamoto said. “I know we had a tough stretch there but the ability to get these last two wins was big for us.”Yamamoto scored 3:07 into the game and added a second late in the period, although the goal was originally awarded to Pierre-Edouard Bellemare. But it was continued contributions from Seattle’...

Suspected separatists kill 11 people in a nighttime attack on a police station in southeastern Iran, state TV says

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:59:36 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Suspected separatists kill 11 people in a nighttime attack on a police station in southeastern Iran, state TV says.Source

US senator ‘can see the deal’ on Ukraine, border funding

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:59:36 GMT

A few days ago, talks to link border security restrictions with Ukraine funding were stalled. By Thursday afternoon, Chuck Schumer felt they’d made enough progress to shorten the chamber’s beloved recess.The border discussions are still exceedingly complicated and there’s no guarantee that negotiators — including the Biden administration, Senate leaders, Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) and James Lankford (R-Okla.) — can clinch a deal. But Democrats felt leaving for a three-week recess was too dangerous given the uncertainty ahead for Ukraine.After hours and hours of talks this week, Sinema said things are moving: “I can see the deal. We have a lot to go to get there. But I can see it.”“There was a time when we were not making progress. It was feeling stalled,” Sinema said in an interview on Thursday. “And what I did at that point was provide my honest assessment to folks about what I believed needed to happen for us to get out of that stall and move forward.”A...

Biden envoy to meet with Abbas as the US floats a possible Palestinian security role in postwar Gaza

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:59:36 GMT

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — The United States national security adviser and the Palestinian president were set Friday to discuss postwar arrangements for Gaza — which, according to a senior U.S. official, could include reactivating Palestinian security forces driven out by Hamas in its 2007 takeover of the territory.The proposal, floated as one of several, was the first specific indicator of Washington’s vision for security arrangements in Gaza if Israel achieves its U.S.-backed objective to end Hamas control of the besieged enclave.Any role for Palestinian security forces in Gaza is bound to elicit strong opposition from Israel, which seeks to maintain an open-ended security presence there and says it won’t allow a postwar foothold for the internationally backed Palestinian Authority, a West Bank-based autonomy government led by President Mahmoud Abbas.On Thursday, Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, spoke to Israeli leaders about a timetable for winding down t...

Canada will send helicopters to Latvia next year, defence minister says

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:59:36 GMT

OTTAWA — Four Canadian Griffon helicopters will be sent to Latvia next year as part of a NATO deterrence mission. Defence Minister Bill Blair made the announcement this morning with defence chief Gen. Wayne Eyre. The pair are visiting Canadian troops at Camp Adazi, just outside Riga, where Canada leads a NATO battle group. The number of Canadian troops in the Baltic country is set to double to around 2,200 by 2026 as NATO scales up its battle groups in the region to brigades.As part of that plan, Canada has sent 15 Leopard tanks to Latvia and is urgently procuring anti-tank missile systems.The Griffon helicopters are set to arrive next summer and Canada also plans to send Chinook helicopters in the fall of 2025.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 15, 2023.The Canadian Press

A cargo ship in the Red Sea has been hit and set ablaze by a projectile launched from Yemen

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:59:36 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A Liberian-flagged cargo ship caught fire in the Red Sea on Friday after being hit by a projectile launched from rebel-controlled Yemen, a U.S. defense official and a private intelligence firm said. The attack on the Al Jasrah further escalates a campaign by Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, who have claimed responsibility for a series of missile assaults in recent days that just missed shipping in the Red Sea and its strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The attacks are a response to the Israel-Hamas war and the pounding air-and-ground offensive targeting the Gaza Strip, though the links to the ships targeted in the rebel assaults has grown more tenuous — or nonexistent — as the attacks continue. The Houthis did not immediately claim responsibility for the assault on the Al Jasrah.The U.S. official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters. The private intelligence firm Ambrey also confirmed the attack took place.“The pro...

European Commission to issue €75 billion in long-term EU-Bonds in the first half of 2024

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:59:36 GMT

The Commission has announced its intention to issue up to €75 billion of EU-Bonds in the first half of 2024 (H1). As in 2023, it will raise these long-term funds under its unified funding approach, using single-branded EU-Bonds. The Commission will also continue to complement its long-term funding operations with issuance of short-term EU-Bills. The funds raised will be used primarily to meet payments related to NextGenerationEU and notably the Recovery and Resilience Facility.The Commission's funding plan for H1 2024 builds on a strong year of funding transactions in 2023: in total, the Commission raised €115.9 billion in long-term funds over the course of the year. This included NextGenerationEU (NGEU) Green Bond issuances of €12.5 billion, which brought the total amount of NGEU Green Bonds outstanding to €48.9 billion. 2024 will also mark the launch of the European Issuance Service (EIS) in January. The EIS will enable new EU debt securities to be settled in the same way as the s...

Europe to be late arrival at Federal Reserve party

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:59:36 GMT

The U.S. is having a party, and Europe is going to be unavoidably late to it. No fewer than four central banks across the Continent passed up the opportunity on Thursday to say they, too, were ready to consider cutting interest rates, after Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell admitted the world’s most important financial institution had discussed just that on Wednesday. Powell’s comments had triggered a wild rally on Wall Street, pushing the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a new record high and bringing bond yields — which form the reference point for corporate and household borrowing costs — down to their lowest in nearly five months. The party continued on Thursday in both U.S. and European markets, as investors looked forward to the day when interest rates will fall. But the heads of both the European Central Bank and the Bank of England refused to countenance cutting rates as their respective policy meetings ended. And while the Swiss National Bank acknowledged it pr...