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Earthquakes kill over 2,000 in Afghanistan. People are freeing the dead and injured with their hands

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:22:51 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Powerful earthquakes killed at least 2,000 people in western Afghanistan, a Taliban government spokesman said Sunday. It’s one of the deadliest earthquakes to strike the country in two decades. The figures couldn’t be independently verified.The magnitude-6.3 earthquake was followed by strong aftershocks on Saturday, a spokesperson for the country’s national disaster management authority said.The United States Geological Survey said the quake’s epicenter was about 40 kilometers (25 miles) northwest of Herat city. It was followed by three very strong aftershocks, measuring magnitude 6.3, 5.9 and 5.5, as well as lesser shocks.On Sunday, people attempted to dig out the dead and injured with their hands in Herat, clambering over rocks and debris. Survivors and victims were trapped under buildings that had crumbled to the ground, their faces grey with dust. One video, shared online, shows people freeing a baby girl from a collapsed building after being buried up to ...

American mountaineer, local guide dead after avalanches hit Tibetan mountain. Two others are missing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:22:51 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — American mountaineer Anna Gutu and a Nepalese guide Mingmar Sherpa were confirmed Sunday dead after avalanches struck the slopes of a Tibetan mountain, while two others remained missing, according to Chinese media reports.The avalanches struck Tibet’s Mount Shishapangma on Saturday afternoon at 7,600 (24,934 ft) and 8,000 meters (26,246 ft) in altitude, according to state-owned Xinhua News Agency.Two others, American climber Gina Marie Rzucidlo and a Nepalese mountain guide Tenjen Sherpa went missing, the news agency said.The avalanches also seriously injured Nepalese mountain guide Karma Geljen Sherpa, who was escorted down the mountain by rescuers and is currently in stable condition.A total of 52 climbers from various countries including the U.S., Britain, Japan, and Italy were attempting to summit the mountain when the avalanches hit, Xinhua said.Climbing activities have since been suspended due to snow conditions.Shishapangma is the 14th-highest mountain in the w...

MuchMusic’s expansive physical videotape archive is finally going digital

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:22:51 GMT

TORONTO — MOVES SUNDAY AT 4 A.M.Decades of MuchMusic programming is being rescued from the sands of time.The music channel’s owner Bell Media says it’s on the final stretch of a years-long project to go through tens of thousands of videotapes and transfer pieces of pop culture history into a new digital archive.Bell’s content development vice-president Justin Stockman says interviews with international and Canadian musicians as well as Much’s special event broadcasts will be preserved in the process.Stockman says the project has been in the works for “several years” as the Canadian broadcaster considered ways to replace its physical card-cataloguing system with a computerized alternative.He says making the process more challenging are the various videotape formats used by MuchMusic over the years.Stockman says the archive will be useful for licensing footage to documentaries though he notes that some digitized footage is already available on Much’s YouTube channel.This report ...

Canadian universities bet on international students, but global shifts present risks

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:22:51 GMT

VANCOUVER — When the University of British Columbia announced the launch of Vantage College in 2013, the school said it envisioned the program for fee-paying international students would have enrolment of 1,000 by August 2016.The program would target first-year students who otherwise failed to meet UBC’s English requirements, providing them with extra language lessons in addition to their degree courses. It would house the students — whose fees are now about $60,000 per year — in a $127 million facility designed by world-renowned architecture firm Perkins&Will, some of its dorm rooms featuring sweeping ocean views.However, Vantage’s enrolment is currently 172 students, having declined every year since reaching 498 in 2018-2019. The struggles of Vantage College reflect the unpredictable nature of the lucrative international education sector, as Canadian universities find themselves beholden to geopolitical and economic shifts.There have been massive changes in the sec...

‘Most challenging Thanksgiving:’ Long weekend marked with soaring food bank use

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:22:51 GMT

VANCOUVER — Food banks across Canada continue to face soaring need this Thanksgiving, with one executive warning that things could quickly get worse.Amid inflation, increasing food and housing costs, and precarious employment situations, the country’s food banks have watched the need for their goods balloon as the organizations enter what, for many, is a critical time of year for fundraising. Neil Hetherington, CEO of Toronto’s Daily Bread, which supports more than 200 food programs in the area, said this long weekend has been the “most challenging Thanksgiving we have ever had.”Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization saw about 65,000 client visits per month, he said. That number last month was 275,000.“You’ve got food prices, you’ve got a precarious work environment, and most of all lack of decent, affordable housing,” he said.“And you put all of those things together and suddenly you can understand why people are turni...

Daily horoscope for October 8, 2023

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:22:51 GMT

Moon Alert: There are no restrictions to shopping or important decisions today. The Moon is in Leo.Happy Birthday for Friday, Oct. 8, 2023:You’re imaginative, creative and sometime eccentric. You are also intelligent, but easily distracted. This is a year of learning and teaching for you. Take time to renew your spiritual or religious beliefs. Explore philosophies that give you a better understanding of the meaning of your life.ARIES(March 21-April 19)★★★★★This is a playful, fun-loving day! It’s the perfect time for a vacation, social outings, sports events, fun times with children, plus enjoying the theater, the entertainment world and the hospitality industry. Basically, you want the freedom to do exactly what you want to do today. Tonight: Socialize! This Week: It’s a tough start. Focus on relationships.TAURUS(April 20-May 20)★★★★You will enjoy entertaining at home today, especially in groups. This might be with people who are different from you. Or it could be ...

Shane van Ginsbergen wins Bathurst 1000 for 3rd time ahead of NASCAR departure

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:22:51 GMT

SYDNEY (AP) — NASCAR-bound New Zealander Shane van Ginsbergen has won Australia’s most-prestigious auto race, the Bathurst 1000, for the second straight year and third time overall.Van Ginsbergen and Kiwi co-driver Richie Stanaway drove their Red Bull Camaro to a 19.9 second win Sunday over Australians Brodie Kosteki and Dave Russell in the 60th anniversary edition of the race on the Mount Panorama circuit. Anton de Pasquale and Tony D’Alberto were third, 33 seconds behind van Ginsbergen.With the win, Van Ginsbergen cut Kostecki’s overall lead in the Supercars championship to 131 points.Van Ginsbergen and Stanaway started from sixth on the grid in the Triple Eight Racing car in warm dry conditions on Sunday. Kosteki was on pole position in the Coca-Cola Chevrolet and Depasquale was fifth in a Ford Mustang.Van Ginsbergen led for most of the second half of the six hour race and had a mostly trouble-free day, though he complained of a soft brake pedal after one pit stop and had a minor...

El alcalde de Nueva York, Eric Adams, dijo que visitó el tapón del Darién este sábado y pide una “respuesta uniforme” a la “crisis global”

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:22:51 GMT

(CNN) — El alcalde de la ciudad de Nueva York, Eric Adams, dijo este sábado que visitó el tapón del Darién, la traicionera región de selva tropical que conecta América del Sur y Central y se ha convertido en un importante cruce para los migrantes que buscan llegar a Estados Unidos.Adams dijo que visitó el tapón del Darién con el embajador de Colombia en Estados Unidos, Luis Gilberto Murillo, y otros bajo lo que dijo era “el control total” de la Policía Nacional de Colombia.En una conferencia de prensa vespertina desde Bogotá, Colombia, Adams se negó a decir exactamente cuánto tiempo él y otros funcionarios de la ciudad pasaron en el área.“Estábamos bajo órdenes estrictas de la Policía Nacional sobre cómo querían que respondiéramos y cómo querían que interactuáramos y cumplimos con lo que dijeron”, dijo Adams.La cifra de migrantes que cruzan el tapón del Darién alcanzó un nuevo récord, según las autoridadesEl alcalde dijo que tomó un helicóptero para sobrevolar el tapón del Dar...

Israeli military official says ‘hundreds of terrorists’ have been killed and dozens captured amid Hamas incursion

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:22:51 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli military official says ‘hundreds of terrorists’ have been killed and dozens captured amid Hamas incursion.Source

Why Biden has ‘no alternative’ to Netanyahu

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:22:51 GMT

The Palestinian militants who attacked Israel this weekend have done Benjamin Netanyahu a much-needed political favor: They’ve revived his foundering relationship with Joe Biden.The decadeslong friendship between the Israeli prime minister and the U.S. president had been sorely tested in recent months as Biden urged Netanyahu and his far-right government to abandon efforts to overhaul Israel’s judiciary in ways many Israelis fear will destroy their democracy. Divisions in the Democratic Party over Israel continue to grow. Long gone were the days when Biden expressed outright “love” for Netanyahu — instead, Biden even delayed inviting him to the White House for months.But the astonishing, multipronged attack by Hamas militants is sure to cast aside those frictions for now. Instead, the two men are refocused on something that has always united them: ensuring Israel’s security and long-term survival. And they’re doing so as both face complex political shifts at home — with their leader...