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After Two Decades of U.S. Military Support, Terror Attacks Are Worse Than Ever in Niger

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:05:30 GMT

NIAMEY, Niger — The look on Miriam’s face was abject fear. Her pink, white, and green veil had mostly slipped from her head, and her dark eyes grew wide as she stared down at her lavender smartphone. In a flash, she pulled it to her ear. “Allo!” she said, her pitch rising as her other hand nervously cradled her chin.In the courtyard of her family’s tree-lined compound in a well-to-do neighborhood in Niger’s capital, members of Miriam’s ethnic group had been describing jihadist attacks on their historic community in a rural region to the north. Now, the six or seven men wearing tagelmusts — a combination of turban and scarf worn by Tuareg men to provide protection from sun and dust — were also glued to their phones as chimes announced incoming texts and calls. Voices on the phones sounded panicked. There were gunshots, and a familiar roar rumbled through the desert scrubland 100 miles away. At any moment, relatives warned, they expected an attack by the “motorcycle guys.”Over the las...

Power outages and winds linger as DC-area surveys damage from Saturday’s storms

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:05:30 GMT

Thousands of D.C-area residents are waking up in the dark after Saturday’s high winds and storms caused power outages to linger into Sunday morning.Winds remain strong Sunday morning with some gusts up to 30 mph. But by the afternoon, winds are expected to slow to 5-10 mph.Listen to WTOP online and on the radio at 103.5 FM or 107.7 FM.Current traffic conditionsPower outages mapWeather forecastSign up for WTOP alerts“Winds gradually calm through this morning with any early morning clouds clearing through the first few hours of daylight,” WTOP meteorologist Lauryn Ricketts said.While winds largely died down overnight, gusts up to 70 mph damaged power lines on Saturday and some outages remain.Winds continue to decrease today with high pressure building in. Expect NW gusts up to 30 mph this morning decreasing to 20 mph this afternoon. Highs will top out in the mid to upper 50s for most outside the mountains. Turning warmer Monday & Tuesday. #MDwx #VAwx #WVwx pic.tw...

Pandemic pounds push 10,000 U.S. Army soldiers into obesity

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:05:30 GMT

After gaining 30 pounds during the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Daniel Murillo is finally getting back into fighting shape.Early pandemic lockdowns, endless hours on his laptop and heightened stress led Murillo, 27, to reach for cookies and chips in the barracks at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. Gyms were closed, organized exercise was out and Murillo’s motivation to work out on his own was low.“I could notice it,” said Murillo, who is 5 feet, 5 inches tall and weighed as much as 192 pounds. “The uniform was tighter.”Murillo wasn’t the only service member dealing with extra weight. New research found that obesity in the U.S. military surged during the pandemic. In the Army alone, nearly 10,000 active duty soldiers developed obesity between February 2019 and June 2021, pushing the rate to nearly a quarter of the troops studied. Increases were seen in the U.S. Navy and the Marines, too. “The Army and the other services need to focus on how to bring the forces bac...

100th game for Caitlin Clark at Iowa is for national title

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:05:30 GMT

DALLAS (AP) — Led by Caitlin Clark, The Associated Press women’s basketball Player of the Year, Iowa will play in its first national championship game Sunday against LSU. That will be the Clark’s 100th game with the Hawkeyes. A look at her Iowa career so far for the 6-foot guard who will be back next season. As a 21-year-old junior, she’s not eligible for the WNBA draft. SOME IMPRESSIVE STATS— Averaging 27.1 points, 7.1 rebounds and 8.0 assist per game in her career.— 11 career triple-doubles, a Big Ten record and tied for the second-most in NCAA history. — 43 career double-doubles.— This season became the first player in Division I women’s basketball history to record more than 1,000 points and 300 assists in a single year. — Active streak of 89 consecutive games scoring in double figures, an NCAA Division I record.— Has made a 3-pointer in 56 consecutive games.SOME MILESTONE MOMENTSNov. 25, 2020: Made her Iowa debut by scoring 27 points with eight rebounds,...

19-year-old woman suffers life-threatening injuries in fall from second-floor window in Boston

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:05:30 GMT

A 19-year-old woman was rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries Saturday night after falling from a second-floor window in a home in Boston.Officers responding to a 7:30 p.m. report of a woman who fell from a home at the intersection of Judge and Iroquois streets found the woman suffering from life-threatening injuries, according to Boston police.Neighbors say there was a party going on at the time of the incident.No additional information was immediately available.This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

ASK IRA: Did Bam Adebayo’s absence open Heat eyes to alternate universes?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:05:30 GMT

Q: Ira, Bam Adebayo sits out and the offense takes off. Coincidence? Cody Zeller had 20 and Kevin Love had 18, so don’t tell it wasn’t because they didn’t go inside. – Bill.A: Actually, coincidence had a lot to do with it. Dallas’ defense is trash, with shockingly minimal effort on that end. This was a night that anyone and everyone could have had big numbers. But there is something to the reality that Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler often work from the same real estate. With Kevin Love as the backup center, the Heat were playing more five out, freeing Jimmy Butler to have the freedom to probe the lane. And Cody Zeller essentially was working off Jimmy’s cues, rather than trying to create his own actions. But what worked Saturday against the Mavericks won’t necessarily work Thursday against the 76ers.Q: That play-in to the Finals path is gonna hit different – John.A: And likely is going to hit hard. The other three teams in the East play-...

Burundi: At least 13 gold miners killed in flooded pits

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:05:30 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — An official in Burundi says the bodies of 13 gold miners have been recovered from two pits in which they were trapped by flood water. Nicodème Ndahabonyimana, a district administrator in the northwestern province of Cibitoke, said the miners could not be saved after the pits collapsed Friday night amid torrential rainfall. The bodies of two other miners who were missing and presumed dead have not been recovered, he said, urging artisanal miners to avoid pits during the rainy season.Police and other authorities on Saturday unsuccessfully tried to extract the miners from the pits, flooded with water from the overflowing Rugogo river. Such mining disasters are frequently reported in Burundi’s northwest and northeast, where people mining illegally prefer nighttime work to escape the oversight of authorities. The Associated Press

Ukrainian official offers plan for a Crimea without Russia

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:05:30 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A top Ukrainian official on Sunday outlined a series of steps the government in Kyiv would take after the country reclaims control of Crimea, including dismantling the strategic bridge that links the seized Black Sea peninsula to Russia.Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, published the plan as Ukraine’s military prepares for a spring counteroffensive in hopes of making new, decisive gains after more than 13 months of war to end Russia’s full-scale invasion.Moscow annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, but most of the world does not recognize it as Russian territory. The peninsula’s future status will be a key feature in any negotiations on ending the current fighting. The Kremlin has demanded that Ukraine recognize Russia’s sovereignty over Crimea and acknowledge other land gains made by Moscow as a condition for peace. Kyiv has ruled out any peace talks with Moscow until Russian troops leave all occ...

New York, city of Trump’s dreams, delivers his comeuppance

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:05:30 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — His name has been plastered on this city’s tabloids, bolted to its buildings and cemented to a special breed of brash New York confidence. Now, with Donald Trump due to return to the place that put him on the map, the city he loved is poised to deliver his comeuppance.Rejected by its voters, ostracized by its protesters and now rebuked by its jurors, the people of New York have one more thing to splash Trump’s name on: Indictment No. 71543-23.“He wanted to be in Manhattan. He loved Manhattan. He had a connection to Manhattan,” says Barbara Res, a longtime employee of the former president who was a vice president at the Trump Organization. “I don’t know that he has accepted it and I don’t know that he believes it, but New York turned on him.”None of Trump’s romances have lasted longer than his courtship of New York. No place else could match his blend of ostentatious and outlandish. His love of the city going unrequited is Shakespearean enough,...

Trans people face rhetoric, disinformation after shooting

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:05:30 GMT

Anti-transgender rhetoric and disinformation in the days following the shooting at a Nashville Christian school that killed six people have heightened the fears of a community already on edge amid a historic push for more restrictions on trans people’s rights this year.Authorities haven’t shared any evidence linking Audrey Hale’s gender identity to the motive for the attack, which killed three children and three adults at The Covenant School last week. Yet right-wing commentators, politicians and other figures have cited the shooting as they’ve shared false claims of a rise in transgender mass shooters and suggested that the fight for trans rights is radicalizing people. Advocates worry the comments are further jeopardizing transgender people by turning them into scapegoats, at a time when they’re speaking out against a wave of bills focused on trans people in statehouses across the country. “We’ve certainly seen the uptick in transphobic rhetoric in th...