AP-Newswatch

Iran says at least 95 were killed in blasts at a ceremony honoring slain general

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran says twin bomb blasts killed at least 95 people at an event honoring a prominent Iranian general slain in a U.S. airstrike in 2020. Iranian state media called the attack, which wounded more than 200, “terroristic.” No one has immediately claimed responsibility for what appears to be the deadliest militant attack to target Iran since its 1979 Islamic Revolution. The blasts on Wednesday struck an event marking the fourth anniversary of the killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Iraq. He was the head of the Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force. The explosions minutes apart occurred near his grave in Kerman.

Israel’s Mossad chief vows to hunt down Hamas members a day after senior figure killed in strike

JERUSALEM (AP) — The chief of Israel’s Mossad has vowed the intelligence agency will hunt down every Hamas member involved in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, no matter where they are. David Barnea spoke a day after the deputy head of the Palestinian militant group was killed in a suspected Israeli strike in Beirut. Israel has refused to comment on reports it carried out the killing, but Barnea’s comments appeared to be the strongest indication yet it was behind the blast. Israel was on high alert Wednesday for an escalation with Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah militia after the strike in the Lebanese capital killed Saleh Arouri, the most senior Hamas member slain since the war in Gaza erupted nearly three months ago.

An apparent Israeli strike killed a top Hamas commander. How might it impact the Gaza conflict?

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The killing of a top Hamas commander in an apparent Israeli airstrike on a Beirut apartment has given Israel an important symbolic achievement in its 3-month-old war against the Islamic militant group. But history has shown that the benefits of such dramatic operations are often short-lived, bringing on further violence and equally formidable replacements as leaders of militant groups. Israel has not claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s airstrike that killed Salah Arouri, the No. 2 commander in Hamas. But the precision attack bore the hallmarks of an Israeli attack. The assassination raised the risk of drawing in the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah into a regionwide war.

Russia and Ukraine exchange hundreds of prisoners of war in biggest release so far

Russia and Ukraine have exchanged hundreds of prisoners of war in the biggest single release of captives since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. Ukrainian authorities say that 230 Ukrainian prisoners of war returned home in the first exchange in almost five months. Russia’s Defense Ministry says that 248 Russian servicemen have been freed under the deal sponsored by the United Arab Emirates. The Foreign Ministry in the UAE has attributed the successful swap to the country’s friendly ties to both Russia and Ukraine. The UAE has maintained close economic ties with Moscow despite Western sanctions and pressure on Russia after it launched its invasion in 2022.

As a missile hits a Kyiv apartment building, survivors lose a lifetime’s possessions in seconds

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Residents of a Kyiv apartment building are salvaging what they can a day after a Russian missile attack set it ablaze, tore off parts of its facade, and gouged a crater next to it. Two people in the building were killed and dozens were injured by the bombardment on Tuesday that also killed two other people elsewhere in the Kyiv region. The barrage was part of Russia’s recent winter campaign against urban areas in the nearly 2-year-old war. It was the first attack in months in which an apartment building suffered such heavy damage in Kyiv, where air defenses have been strengthened since the start of the invasion.

Speaker Johnson leads House GOP on a trip to a Texas border city as Ukraine aid hangs in the balance

EAGLE PASS, Texas (AP) — U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson is leading about 60 fellow Republicans in Congress on a visit to the Mexican border. Their trip Wednesday to Eagle Pass, Texas, comes as they are demanding hard-line immigration policies in exchange for backing President Joe Biden’s emergency wartime funding request for Ukraine. Senate negotiators in Washington are plugging away in hopes of a bipartisan deal. Johnson says he’s holding firmly to the policies of a bill passed by House Republicans in May without a single Democratic vote. It would build more of the border wall and impose new restrictions on asylum seekers. Democrats called the legislation “cruel” and “anti-immigrant,” and Biden promised a veto.

Court records related to Jeffrey Epstein are set to be released, but they aren’t a client list

NEW YORK (AP) — Social media has been rife in recent weeks with posts speculating that a judge is about to release a list of clients or co-conspirators of Jeffrey Epstein, the jet-setting financier who killed himself in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. There is no such list and the truth is less scandalous. Previously sealed court documents related to Epstein will be released starting Wednesday, but the great majority of those whose names appear in the documents aren’t accused of wrongdoing or have been mentioned previously in legal proceedings or news accounts. Still, the document release has fueled misinformation.

New Year’s Day quake in Japan revives the trauma of 2011 triple disasters

SUZU, Japan (AP) — The powerful earthquake that shattered the peace of New Year’s Day in central Japan did not spur the kind of tsunamis that scoured the northeastern Pacific coast in 2011. The tsunamis that did roll in along the Sea of Japan coast were mostly just a few feet, rather than waves of up to 15 feet tall predicted in alerts issued just after the magnitude 7.6 quake struck on Monday afternoon. But the dire tsunami and dozens of strong quakes that came before and after the main jolts summoned memories of the triple disasters nearly 13 years ago that forced tens of thousands of people from their homes and left more than 20,000 people dead or missing.

Plagiarism charges downed Harvard’s president. A conservative attack helped to fan the outrage

WASHINGTON (AP) — Accusations of plagiarism have ruined the careers of academics and undergraduates alike. The latest target is Harvard President Claudine Gay, who resigned Tuesday. Reviews by Harvard found multiple shortcomings in Gay’s academic citations, including several instances of “duplicative language.” While the university concluded the errors “were not considered intentional or reckless” and didn’t rise to misconduct, the allegations continued, with new ones as recently as Monday. Many came not from her academic peers but her political foes, led by conservatives who sought to oust Gay and put her career under intense scrutiny in hopes of finding a fatal flaw. The focus on Gay came amid backlash over her congressional testimony about antisemitism on campus.

Meet the newest breed to join the American Kennel Club, a little dog with a big smile

NEW YORK (AP) — A small, rare herding dog called the Lancashire heeler is the latest breed recognized by the American Kennel Club. The organization announced Wednesday that the breed is now eligible for thousands of U.S. dog shows. Lancashire heelers historically were farm helpers that could both drive cattle and rout rats. The dogs are short-legged, long-bodied and active, and owners say contented heelers sometimes pull back their lips in a move that resembles a human smile. The Lancashire heeler is the 201st breed recognized by the AKC. Heelers’ history goes back centuries in the United Kingdom, where they’re now deemed a “vulnerable native breed” at risk of dying out in their homeland.