Malian filmmaker Souleymane Cissé, a pioneer of African cinema, dies at age 84
Malian filmmaker Souleymane Cissé, a pioneer of African cinema with a career spanning 50 years, has died at age 84, Malian television announced Wednesday. The cause of Cissé's death was not announced. The Malian government said Cissé “had just held a press conference to present two trophies as a prelude to the 29th edition of Fespaco, the Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO), which will open this next weekend in the capital of Burkina Faso.”
Federal Reserve officials see risks of higher inflation ahead, support pause in rate cuts
Federal Reserve officials at a meeting last month pointed to rising risks that inflation could worsen, a key reason they kept their benchmark interest rate unchanged. According to minutes of the Jan. 28-29 meeting, which were released Wednesday, Fed officials said that President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs and mass deportations of migrants, as well as strong consumer spending, were factors that could push inflation higher this year.
Outlawed Pakistani separatist group claims killing of 7 in bus attack in restive southwest
A Pakistani separatist group claimed responsibility on Thursday for the killing of seven bus passengers in an attack earlier this week, saying the victims were affiliated with the military and intelligence services. The attack occurred late Tuesday night when ethnic Baloch militants armed with guns intercepted several passenger buses on a highway in southwestern Pakistan. The outlawed Baloch Liberation Army group said in a statement its fighters attacked the buses and killed the men in Rakhni, a town in Balochistan province.
Pope is sitting up out of bed at hospital as he recovers from pneumonia
Pope Francis is continuing his recovery from pneumonia, eating breakfast out of bed on Thursday morning after a sixth peaceful night at the hospital, the Vatican said. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni issued a new update after confirming late Wednesday that new blood tests showed a “slight improvement” in some inflammation indices for the 88-year-old pontiff, who had an acute case of pneumonia in 2023 and is prone to respiratory infections in winter.
Stock market today: Asian shares mostly dip despite S&P 500 adding to its record on Wall Street
Asian shares traded mostly lower Thursday after a quiet day on Wall Street, where the S&P 500 added to its record. Worries about U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff policies remain high on regional investors’ minds. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 dropped 1.2% to finish at 38,678.04. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined 1.2% to 8,322.80, while South Korea’s Kospi lost nearly 0.7% to 2,654.06. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dipped 1.3% to 22,640.18, after China left its benchmark interest rate unchanged, in a move it said was meant to maintain financial stability. The Shanghai Composite shed less than 0.1% to 3,349.60.
Trump signs order aimed at ending federal benefits for some immigrants
President Donald Trump has signed an order aimed at ending federal benefits for people in the country illegally, the White House said Wednesday, his latest in a blizzard of moves to crack down on immigration. The White House said the order seeks to end “all taxpayer-funded benefits for illegal aliens,” but it was not clear which benefits will be targeted. People in the country illegally generally do not qualify except for emergency medical care. Children are entitled to a free K-12 public education regardless of immigration status under a 1982 Supreme Court ruling.
Polar vortex makes much of US colder than Greenland, but warmth is coming. Then more cold
The polar vortex hit its peak across much of America on Wednesday, with an icy grip that made Arctic Greenland seem like a toasty vacation spot in comparison. Even Mars has been warmer than North Dakota this week. But there’s hope. Some of the coldest parts of the United States are forecast to see as much as a 90-degree warmup early next week, before the expected return of yet another polar plunge of freezing air the first week in March, meteorologists said.
Trump delivers another blow to Ukraine and a new boost to Putin
It looked like things couldn’t get any darker for Ukraine. Then President Donald Trump spoke up. After cutting President Volodymyr Zelensky out of the first US talks with Russia on ending the war, Trump on Tuesday falsely accused Ukraine of starting a conflict that has ravaged its land and killed thousands of its people. And in his most hostile comments toward the Ukrainian leader yet, Trump voiced yet another of President Vladimir Putin’s talking points — that it was time for an election in Ukraine — in an apparent bid to begin the process of pushing Zelensky aside.
Afghanistan accuses Pakistan of trying to expel refugees by arresting the undocumented
Authorities have stepped up arrests of Afghan citizens in Pakistan’s capital and a nearby city in an effort that the Afghan Embassy in Islamabad described on Wednesday as a push to force the expulsion of all Afghan refugees from the country. Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry promptly dismissed the allegation, saying that the authorities were only trying to facilitate conditions for the swift return of Afghans to their home country.
Rwanda-backed rebels are advancing on a third city in eastern Congo, residents say
Rwanda-backed rebels appeared to be heading toward a third major city in eastern Congo, residents said Tuesday, as international pressure rose over the M23’s expansion in a mineral-rich region that is critical for global technology. The M23 rebels on Tuesday attacked all the main Congolese army positions on the road to Butembo, a city of 150,000 people, and the situation was rapidly deteriorating, said Auguste Kombi, a civil society leader in Kitsombiro, a town along the road.