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Ukraine says battle for Bakhmut is ‘stabilizing’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:16 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The top commander of Ukraine’s military said Saturday that his forces are pushing back against Russian troops in the long and grinding battle for the town of Bakhmut, and British military intelligence says Russia appears to be moving to a defensive strategy in eastern Ukraine.“The Bakhmut direction is the most difficult. Thanks to the titanic efforts of the defense forces, the situation is being stabilized,” Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi said in a post on Telegram giving a synopsis of a telephone call with Adm. Sir Tony Radakin, Britain’s chief of defense staff.The seven-month battle for Bakhmut, where Russian forces have closed in on three sides, is the longest clash of the war, with Russia deploying both regular soldiers and fighters of the mercenary Wagner Group. Russian forces must go through Bakhmut to push deeper into parts of the eastern Donbas region, though Western officials say that the capture of the city would have limited impact on the course o...

Reston man accused of helping scam $1M in an email scheme

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:16 GMT

A man from Reston, Virginia, is accused of helping scam more than a million dollars from businesses across the country using hacked or fraudulent emails.Federal investigators said Patrick Allen Womble helped scam eight businesses out of at least $1.3 million from September 2020 through April 2021 using a business email compromise scheme.More Local NewsMore Virginia NewsMore Fairfax County NewsThe businesses were located throughout the U.S., ranging from Florida, Virginia, New York and Wyoming. They were usually construction or real estate-related firms.According to court documents, the businesses financial divisions or controllers were contacted by either a hacked email from one of their vendors or an email that was similar to the vendor’s. The emails would request payment for a recent service and send the firm new account information in order to wire the funds.The account information was actually one of four opened by Womble at four different banks, investigators said.Womble would ...

Shoma Uno of Japan repeats as world figure skating champion

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:16 GMT

SAITAMA, Japan (AP) — Shoma Uno prevailed in a quad showdown in the free skate on Saturday to become the first Japanese man to defend his title at the figure skating world championships.Uno, skating to selection of music that included Bach, attempted five quadruple jumps at Saitama Super Arena. He landed all of them except the quad salchow which he under-rotated for a total of 301.14 points.South Korean skater Cha Jun-hwan was second with 296.03 points followed by American teenager Ilia Malinin, who became the first skater to land a quadruple axel at the world championships and finished with 288.44 points.“The free skate was far from perfect but I put everything into it,” Uno said. “Every jump felt precarious but I was able to get a good result.”Uno capped an impressive perfomance by the hosts that saw Japanese skaters take gold in three out of four disciplines for the first time in history. Kaori Sakamoto won the women’s title while Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara won the pairs gold....

Officials raise death toll to 5 in Pennsylvania chocolate factory explosion; 6 people remain missing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:16 GMT

WEST READING, Pa. (AP) — Officials raise death toll to 5 in Pennsylvania chocolate factory explosion; 6 people remain missing.Source

Una aterradora enfermedad fúngica está infectando a las ranas en África. Te contamos por qué es importante

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:16 GMT

(CNN) — Las esporas mortales acechan en el agua e infectan la piel de las criaturas que tocan. Al propagarse al contacto y luego invadir el cuerpo, esta enfermedad fúngica causa úlceras y descamación, por lo que la piel severa se desprende en láminas.Las articulaciones de la pierna comienzan a bloquearse y, poco después de que aparecen los síntomas, el trastorno puede provocar un paro cardíaco y la muerte.La quitridiomicosis, la enfermedad más mortal que afecta a los vertebrados en la historia registrada, ha causado estragos en los anfibios durante décadas, incluidas las ranas, los sapos y las salamandras.No se sabe que la enfermedad infecte a los humanos, pero los científicos advierten que estos brotes son cruciales para comprender cómo se propagan los patógenos fúngicos y aprender a comprender un evento de extinción masiva que afecta a nuestros amigos anfibios.La dolencia ya ha diezmado las poblaciones de anfibios en las Américas, Australia y partes de Europa, y las últimas ...

Where’s the warmth in DC? Saturday’s highs to come at unusual time of day

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:16 GMT

The warmest part of the day in the D.C. region likely won’t be when residents would expect on Saturday.Temperatures will warm into the low 50s on Saturday afternoon but jump up into the 60s during the evening.Listen to WTOP online and on the radio at 103.5 FM or 107.7 FM.Weather forecastA modest high pressure pushed from central Canada into the Northeast on Friday. This allowed what meteorologists coin a “backdoor cold front” to ease southeast along Interstate 95 in New England into the D.C. region.It’s called a backdoor front because most fronts approach from the west but this one actually moves south and east.Notice the temperature trends at Reagan National Airport on Friday.Temperature trends at Reagan National Airport over the last few days. The highlighted part shows the non-traditional temperature trend since midnight early on Friday. (Courtesy of NOAA)The highest temperature occurred shortly after midnight and dropped during the day as the front pushed across the ...

Devastadores tornados dejan más de 20 muertos, heridos y desaparecidos en Mississippi

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:16 GMT

Al menos 23 personas murieron cuando un tornado arrasó con varias poblaciones de Mississippi el viernes por la noche, según las autoridades. Entre las víctimas están un padre y su hija.Decenas de personas resultaron heridas y cuatro más están desaparecidas después de la serie de tornados que azotaron varias zonas rurales del estado “tornados de anoche”. Las imágenes captaron poblaciones enteras destruidas, árboles y cables caídos, así como múltiples viviendas y autos en ruinas.Hasta el momento se desconoce cuántos tornados golpearon el estado y la cifra de víctimas mortales y heridos puede aumentar, informaron autoridades. Entre los muertos hay un hombre y su hija que murieron en la casa en la que se refugiaban con su esposa y otros dos hijos, dijo a NBC News el forense del condado de Monroe, Alan Gurley. Su esposa y los otros dos menores fueron trasladados al hospital. El Servicio Nacional de Meteorología confirmó que un tornado causó daños a unas 60 millas al noreste de Jackson, M...

George Mason University students petition against Youngkin as commencement speaker

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:16 GMT

George Mason University students are petitioning against the college’s decision to host Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin as the graduation commencement speaker in May.Senior Alaina Ruffin started the petition Thursday, one day after university president Gregory Washington announced that the Republican governor will speak before “the largest and most diverse class of graduates ever.” The petition has received more than 4,000 signatures since then.More Fairfax County NewsMore Virginia NewsMore Local News“George Mason University prides itself on being one of ‘the most diverse institutions in the Commonwealth.’ Yet by having Governor Youngkin as this year’s Commencement speaker, we believe that the University compromises its supposed values of centering students’ experiences and overall well-being,” Ruffin wrote in the petition.“When satiating its own desire to appease the powerful few, the University, once again, has abandoned the...

Mexico hopes to host Summer Olympics in 2036 or 2040

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:16 GMT

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Mexico has declared its desire to host the Summer Olympics in 2036 or 2040 and says it already has most of the sports infrastructure required.Interest in hosting the 2036 Olympics had earlier been expressed by officials in countries including Egypt, England, India, Indonesia, Qatar and South Korea.Mexico City hosted the Summer Games in 1968.Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard and Mexican Olympic Committee president María José Alcalá met Friday with IOC president Thomas Bach. Ebrard delivered a letter of intent to Bach.A city or region wasn’t specified but Ebrard and Alcalá said a committee would be formed to support the initiative.Last October, International Olympic Committee director general Christophe De Kepper said they were talking to “10 interested NOCs and regions across four continents” regarding potential candidacies for future Summer Games. The 2036 edition is the next available to be awarded.___More AP coverage of the Paris...

Pennsylvania chocolate factory explodes; 5 dead, 6 missing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:16 GMT

WEST READING, Pa. (AP) — An explosion at a chocolate factory in Pennsylvania on Friday killed five people and left six people missing, authorities said.The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency confirmed the increase in the number of fatalities Saturday morning after the blast just before 5 p.m. Friday at the R.M. Palmer Co. plant in the borough of West Reading. Chief of Police Wayne Holben said the blast destroyed one building and damaged a neighboring building. “It’s pretty leveled,” Mayor Samantha Kaag said of the explosion site. “The building in the front, with the church and the apartments, the explosion was so big that it moved that building four feet forward."The cause of the blast in the community about 60 miles (96 kilometers) northwest of Philadelphia was under investigation, Holden told reporters. Authorities are investigating the possibility that a gas leak may have been responsible, a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency said.Eight people wer...