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AP PHOTOS: Rare blue supermoon dazzles stargazers around the globe

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:54:13 GMT

A rare blue supermoon — the closest full moon of the year — dazzled stargazers Wednesday night.Saturn joined the celestial spectacle, visible alongside the moon, at least where skies were clear.It was the second full moon of August, thus the blue label. And it was unusually close to Earth, therefore a supermoon. The moon appeared to be bigger and brighter than usual, given its close proximity to Earth: just 222,043 miles (357,344 kilometers) or so. The Aug. 1 supermoon was more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) farther away.If you missed it, it will be a long wait: The next blue supermoon isn’t until 2037. But another regular supermoon is on the horizon at the end of September, the last one of the year.___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.Source

Moreno sparks Timbers to 2-1 victory over Real Salt Lake

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:54:13 GMT

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Santiago Moreno had a goal and an assist to propel the Portland Timbers to a 2-1 victory over Real Salt Lake on Wednesday night.Moreno took a pass from defender Juan Mosquera in the 13th minute and scored his first goal of the season to give Portland (7-11-8) an early lead. David Bingham saved the only shot he faced to preserve the lead at halftime.Felipe Mora gave the Timbers a two-goal lead when he used an assist from Moreno in the 64th minute to score for a second time this season.Cristian Arango took a pass from defender Brayan Vera and scored in the 83rd minute to pull Real Salt Lake (10-9-7) within a goal. It was Arango’s second goal in his fourth start and fifth appearance since coming over from Los Angeles FC.Bingham finished with four saves for Portland. Zac MacMatch did not save a shot for Real Salt Lake.Portland’s victory ends a four-match losing streak in all competitons. Real Salt Lake has lost five in a row in all competititons.Real Sa...

Emergency services say at least 38 dead in a fire in a multi-story building in South Africa’s biggest city

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:54:13 GMT

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Emergency services say at least 38 dead in a fire in a multi-story building in South Africa’s biggest city.Source

Toronto stuns Union 3-1 to snap 11-match winless streak

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:54:13 GMT

TORONTO (AP) — Deandre Kerr had a goal and an assist and Toronto FC stunned the Philadelphia Union 3-1 on Wednesday night to snap an 11-match winless streak.Toronto (4-13-10) had lost eight consecutive regular season matches, but stayed away from FC Cincinnati’s record 14-match losing streak spanning the 2021-22 seasons.Lorenzo Insigne staked Toronto to a 1-0 lead when he took a pass from Kerr in the 23rd minute and scored his fourth goal of the season.Julián Carranza found the net for an 11th time this season for Philadelphia (13-8-4), scoring unassisted in the 45th minute to knot the score at halftime.Toronto regained the lead on Kerr’s fourth goal of the season — unassisted in the 58th minute. Jonathan Osorio gave Toronto a two-goal cushion five minutes later, using an assist from defender Kobe Franklin to notch his second goal. Tomás Romero totaled one save in his fourth start for Toronto this season. Andre Blake stopped three shots for Philadelphia.Philadelphia’s Je...

Freeman and Heyward homer, Dodgers beat Diamondbacks 7-0 for 3-game sweep

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:54:13 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Freddie Freeman and Jason Heyward hit two-run homers in the third inning, Mookie Betts had his 18th multi-hit game in August and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-0 on Wednesday night for a three-game sweep.The NL West leaders won their fourth in a row overall and fifth straight at home, outscoring the D-backs 23-5 in the series and finishing with their 13th shutout of the season. The Dodgers outhit the D-backs 38-20.Freeman hit his MLB-leading 51st double in the fourth, leaving him one shy of tying Johnny Frederick (1929) for most in franchise history. Betts, who singled in the first, reached on an infield single to short leading off the third. Freeman followed with a 440-foot blast — third-longest for the Dodgers this season — into right field for a 2-0 lead.David Peralta was safe at first on a fielding error by D-backs starter Brandon Pfaadt (1-7). That set up Heyward, who homered to right for a 4-0 lead.Max Muncy’s two-run RBI doubl...

Joveljic’s PK goal lifts Galaxy over Earthquakes 3-2

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:54:13 GMT

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Dejan Joveljic scored on a penalty kick in the 61st minute and the Los Angeles Galaxy held off the San Jose Earthquakes 3-2 on Wednesday night.Tyler Boyd gave Los Angeles (7-10-7) the lead in the 16th minute, using an assist from Raheem Edwards to score his sixth goal of the season. Jeremy Ebobisse put San Jose (9-9-8) ahead 2-1 with a goal in the 31st minute. It came two minutes after an own-goal by LA defender Calegari knotted the score. Jamiro Monteiro picked up an assist on Ebobisse’s eighth netter of the campaign.The Galaxy scored the equalizer five minutes into the second half when Riqui Puig took a pass from Edwin Cerrillo and scored for a fifth time this season.Joveljic’s third score of the season came after Edwards was fouled by San Jose defender Miguel Trauco.Jonathan Bond saved four shots for the Galaxy. Daniel de Sousa Britto had two saves for the Earthquakes. It was the second straight victory for LA and the second straight loss for t...

Palestinian driver rams truck into pedestrians at West Bank checkpoint, wounding 3

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:54:13 GMT

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A Palestinian driver slammed his truck into pedestrians at a busy checkpoint in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, wounding three people in the latest bloodshed in a relentless cycle of violence to roil the region.The violence comes a day after Israeli police shot and killed a 14-year-old Palestinian boy who stabbed a man in a Jerusalem light-rail station and after Palestinian militants detonated a bomb near a convoy of Israeli troops escorting Jewish worshippers to a holy site in the occupied West Bank, wounding four Israeli troops. The unrest is part of more than a yearlong wave of violence that has surged to levels unseen in the West Bank in some two decades. Israeli paramedics said they were treating three people, one critically, in the aftermath of the attack. According to Israel’s Defense Ministry, the driver sped away from the area and was stopped by security guards at a separate checkpoint nearby. The attacker’s condition was not immediat...

North Korea says it simulated nuclear attacks on South Korea and rehearsed occupation of its rival

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:54:13 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Thursday its latest missile launches simulated “scorched earth” nuclear strikes on South Korea and that it’s also been rehearsing an occupation of its rival’s territory in the event of conflict.Pyongyang has previously tested nuclear-capable missiles and described how it would use them in potential wars with South Korea and the U.S. But the North’s disclosure of detailed war plans reaffirmed its aggressive nuclear doctrine to intimidate its opponents, as it escalates its protest of the ongoing South Korean-U.S. military exercises that it views as a major security threat, observers say.North Korea’s military said it fired two tactical ballistic missiles from the capital on Wednesday night to practice “scorched earth strikes” at major command centers and operational airfields in South Korea, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.The North’s military said the missiles carried out their simulated strikes through air bursts,...

A building fire has killed at least 58 people, many homeless, in Johannesburg, authorities say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:54:13 GMT

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — At least 58 people died when a fire ripped through a multi-story building in Johannesburg that had been overtaken by homeless people, emergency services said Thursday.Spokesman Robert Mulaudzi said another 43 people were injured in the blaze that broke out in the predawn hours. He said the death toll was likely to still increase in what he described as effectively “an informal settlement.”“Over 20 years in the service, I’ve never come across something like this,” Mulaudzi said.A search and recovery operation was underway and firefighters were moving through the building, Mulaudzi said. The team had pulled 58 bodies out so far, he said, adding that more might be trapped inside.At least one child was among the dead, Mulaudzi said.Authorities said the fire had been largely extinguished, but smoke still seeped out of windows of the blackened building downtown. Strings of sheets and other materials also hung out of some windows. It was not clear if people had used tho...

Stock market today: Asian markets lower after Japanese factory activity and China services weaken

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:54:13 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets were mostly lower Thursday after Japanese factory activity and Chinese service industry growth weakened.Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul declined. Tokyo gained. Oil prices edged lower.Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index rose 0.4% on Wednesday after the U.S. government cut its estimate of economic growth for the second quarter to a still-robust level.Traders hope that and this week’s updates on hiring and consumer inflation will convince the Federal Reserve prices are under control and no more interest rate hikes are needed.Official data showed Japanese factory activity shrank by 2% from the previous month in July. A survey of Chinese service industries showed activity weakened in July but still was expanding.“Things could be worse. But markets are not likely to take too much comfort from this set of data,” said Rob Carnell of ING in a report.The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.6% to 3,119.06 while the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo advanced 1% ...