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‘Ethnic cleansing’ looms in Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia leader warns

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:24:57 GMT

KORNIDZOR, Armenia — Tens of thousands of Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh could be forced to flee after Azerbaijan effectively conquered the breakaway region in a lightning offensive last week, Armenia’s leader said, with preparations for a mass evacuation under way amid growing fears of ethnic cleansing.Despite assurances from Russian peacekeepers on the ground, “the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh still face the danger of ethnic cleansing,” Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan warned in a televised address on Sunday.“If the needs of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh are not met [so that they are able to stay] in their homes, and effective mechanisms of protection against ethnic cleansing not put in place, then the likelihood is increasing that the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh will see expulsion from their homeland as the only way out,” he predicted.At the same time, Pashinyan said Armenia would welcome its “brothers” from the exclave — insid...

Field hockey notebook: Andover among at least 28 programs with new head coach

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:24:57 GMT

Bridget Morris was sitting at her work desk in May when she received a call from Andover field hockey head coach Maureen Noone. As one of her assistants, it was a frequent occurrence.But this time, as soon as Noone started speaking, Morris thought Noone was politely giving her the boot from the program.“She basically called and (said), ‘I’m calling because I want to talk to you about being a head coach,’ ” Morris said. “She kept talking, and my head just kind of went radio static. I was like, ‘Oh my God, where does she want me to go coach?’ And then I started listening to what she was saying, and I (asked), ‘Do you mean at Andover?’ ”Indeed, she was suggesting a promotion.After 25 years of building the Golden Warriors from the bottom of the Merrimack Valley Conference to become five-time Div. 1 state champions, Noone made the decision amid a full-time move to Maine to retire and pass the torch.Two aspects of the job she talked so positively about in recent years was the quality of c...

Pakistan recalls an injectable medicine causing eye infection, sight loss and orders a probe

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:24:57 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s health minister said Sunday that an injectable medicine that was causing a severe eye infection and sight loss in diabetic patients in the province of Punjab has been recalled and an investigation ordered while police are looking for the suppliers. Federal Health Minister Nadeem Jan said in Islamabad that a case has been lodged against the two absconding suppliers of locally manufactured injection Avastin. The Punjab government has formed a five-member committee of experts to look into the matter and report in three days.In a televised news conference along with Jan, provincial Health Minister Jamal Nasir said diabetic patients in Lahore, Kasur and other districts were administered Avastin injections to address retinal damage. However, the injections led to severe infections, ultimately resulting in the loss of sight of a dozen patients.Jan said that the government would prosecute those responsible while providing those affected with medical assista...

High-speed rail was touted as a game-changer in Britain. Costs are making the government think twice

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:24:57 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The British government confirmed Sunday it may scrap a big chunk of an overdue and over-budget high-speed rail line once touted as a way to attract jobs and investment to northern England.British media reported that an announcement is expected this week that the line will end in Birmingham – 100 miles (160 kilometers) from London — rather than further north in Manchester.The Conservative government insists no final decision has been made about the embattled High Speed 2 project. But Cabinet minister Grant Shapps said it was “proper and responsible” to reconsider a project whose costs have ballooned because of high inflation driven by the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.“We’ve seen very, very high global inflation in a way that no government could have predicted,” said Shapps, a former transportation secretary who now serves as the U.K.’s defense minister.“It would be irresponsible to simply spend money, carry on as if nothing had changed,” he told ...

Death toll in a Taiwanese golf ball factory fire rises to 10. Four of the victims were firefighters

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:24:57 GMT

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Search teams found the bodies of the last three missing people on Sunday at the site of a golf ball factory fire in southern Taiwan, bringing the death toll to 10, according to Taiwanese media reports.Launch Technologies, the operator of the plant, is a major global supplier of golf balls.Four of the victims were firefighters. Taiwan’s Central News Agency, quoting a Pingtung County fire official, said an explosion caused part of the building to collapse about 6:10 p.m. on Friday, trapping firefighters and workers under rubble, A second explosion followed 20 minutes later.Two bodies were found Sunday morning and the final one was recovered in the afternoon. About 100 people were injured in the blaze at Pingtung Technology Industrial Park. The fire was not extinguished until the next day. The cause remained unclear.Taiwan is a major manufacturer of golf balls with factories supplying major brands including Callaway, TaylorMade, Bridgestone, Mizuno and Wilson, acc...

The death toll from a truck bomb at a checkpoint in Somalia rises to 21

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:24:57 GMT

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — The death toll from a bombing attack at a government checkpoint in central Somalia has reached 21, authorities said Sunday. The number of wounded in Saturday’s truck bombing in Beledweyne stood at 52, said Abdifatah Mohamed Yusuf, director general of the Hirshabelle ministry of humanitarian and disaster management. He told The Associated Press that 17 of those critically wounded were airlifted to the capital, Mogadishu, for treatment.There has been no immediate claim of responsibility. East Africa’s al-Qaeda affiliate al-Shabab often carries out such attacks in Somalia.Beledweyne has been the staging point for the Somali government’s ongoing military offensive against the extremists, who control parts of central and southern Somalia.___AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africaOmar Faruk, The Associated Press

‘Live With Kelly and Mark’: Till death (or cancellation) do they part

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:24:57 GMT

At the start of the Feb. 16 episode of the ABC morning talk show “Live With Kelly and Ryan,” before actress Camryn Manheim demonstrated her knowledge of American Sign Language, before Ryan Seacrest and the show’s resident DJ competed in a game called “Love Songs,” the show’s host Kelly Ripa made an announcement: Seacrest, who had hosted with her for six years, would soon be departing. His replacement? “My husband, Mark Consuelos, in what Ryan and I are calling the nation’s weirdest social experiment.”“Live,” which began in 1988 as “Live With Regis and Kathie Lee,” hosted by Regis Philbin and Kathie Lee Gifford, has always depended, as its executive producer Michael Gelman told me, on the illusion that the hosts are a married couple who have invited some unusually glamorous friends over for morning coffee. He referred to the hosts — any hosts — as “this faux husband-and-wife, only they’re better looking and smarter and more vivacious than your normal neighbors,” he said.Kelly Ripa an...

Gophers tailback Darius Taylor’s injury looms over Northwestern loss

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:24:57 GMT

The Gophers’ 37-34 loss to Northwestern contains plenty of sting, but the possible extent of running back Darius Taylor’s injury also hangs over Minnesota’s defeat at Ryan Field in Evanston, Ill.“Hopefully (Taylor’s injury) is nothing serious, but we’ll see,” U head coach P.J. Fleck said postgame. “We will find out here very shortly, but again, next man up, if that’s where it gets to.”With two minutes left in regulation, Taylor was stopped for a loss of one yard on third and 2 and didn’t return to the field for overtime. Taylor had bounced his run outside, and after being tackled by Wildcats linebacker Xander Mueller, Taylor initially grabbed behind his left leg.The true freshman tailback rushed for 198 yards on 31 carries (6.4 yards per rush) and two touchdowns. He added three receptions on three targets for 18 yards on Saturday.Taylor has been the brightest spot on the U offense, winning Big Ten freshman of the week honors after the Eastern Michigan win in Week 2 and the North Car...

Skywatch: Harvest moon 2023 has good company

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:24:57 GMT

Sadly, summer officially came to an end this weekend. Saturday at 1:50 a.m. was the moment of the autumnal equinox. That’s when the sun slips below the celestial equator, a projection in the sky of the Earth’s terrestrial equator. From day to day and week to week until Dec. 21, the sun’s arc across the sky will get lower, and the days will become shorter as we dive toward winter.In the meantime, we still have plenty of daylight, and our nighttime hours are bright with moonlight. That’s because we start this week with a football-shaped waxing gibbous moon. We’ll have a full harvest moon on Friday since it’s close to this year’s autumnal equinox.The harvest moon was named because it lights up the night sky around harvest time. Like any full moon, it rises at sunset and sets around sunrise. What makes the harvest moon so unique is that it rises only about 20 minutes later each night instead of the usual 45 to 50 minutes, so there isn’t as much of a gap between the time the sun goes dow...

Readers and writers: Author Hampl and artist/printer partner on project again after four decades

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:24:57 GMT

“Forty years,” Gaylord Schanilec says with a laugh. “Forty years it took for me to get a manuscript from Patricia.”Schanilec is an internationally known artist and printer and the owner of Midnight Paper Sales printing company. He’s talking about Patricia Hampl, award-winning poet and author.Artist, illustrator and fine press printer Gaylord Schanilec, left, worked with author John Coy on the Minnesota Book Award-winning “My Mighty Journey” in 2019 before he partnered with Patricia Hampl on her new book “It’s Come to This.” (Paul Nylander / Minnesota Historical Society Press)They first partnered in 1982 when Schanilec did a two-color drawing frontispiece and ornamental rose decoration for the fine press edition of Hampl’s second poetry collection, “Resort and Other Poems,” published by Bookslinger Editions.“Working on ‘Resort’ was pivotal for me,” Schanilec continues, “and I b...