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ARUSHA, Tanzania (AP) — The World Health Organization said Wednesday an outbreak of suspected Marburg disease has killed eight people in a remote part of northern Tanzania.

“We are aware of 9 cases so far, including 8 people who have died,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement. “We would expect further cases in coming days as disease surveillance improves.”

Like Ebola, the Marburg virus originates in fruit bats and spreads between people through close contact with the bodily fluids of infected individuals or with surfaces, such as contaminated bed sheets.

Without treatment, Marburg can be fatal in up to 88% of people who fall ill with the disease. Symptoms include fever, muscle pains, diarrhea, vomiting and in some cases death from extreme blood loss. There is no authorized vaccine or treatment for Marburg.

WHO said its risk assessment for the suspected outbreak in Tanzania is high at national and regional levels but low globally. There was no immediate comment from Tanzanian health authorities.

An outbreak of Marburg in Rwanda, first reported on Sept. 27, was declared over on Dec. 20. Rwandan officials reported a total of 15 deaths and 66 cases, with the majority of those affected healthcare workers who handled the first patients.

An outbreak in 2023 of Marburg in Kagera, which shares a border with Rwanda, killed at least five people.

Associated Press, The Associated Press

HONG KONG (AP) — Asian stocks were mixed Wednesday following Wall Street’s mostly positive performance ahead of key U.S. inflation data that could influence the pace of market-boosting rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.

U.S. futures and oil prices rose.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index edged 0.1% higher to 38,444.58.

The Kospi ended the day with a minor change at 2,496.81 after South Korean law enforcement officials detained impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday in connection with his failed declaration of martial law last month.

South Korea’s unemployment rate reached 3.7% in December on a seasonally adjusted basis, the highest since June 2021, amid political uncertainty, the government reported.

The Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 0.2% to 19,263.29 after media reported that President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming economic team is discussing gradually ramping up tariffs in different phases. The Shanghai Composite shed 0.4% to 3,227.12.

Shares related to Xiaohongshu, the Chinese Instagram-style app, surged after it topped the Apple App Store chart in the United States, as U.S. TikTok users flock to the app amid the looming threat of a TikTok ban. Companies like Foshan Yowant Technology, a digital marketing firm, and Inly Media Co., an advertising company, both saw their shares rise by around 10%.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.2% to 8,213.30.

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 rose 0.1% to 5,842.91 as three out of every four stocks in the index climbed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.5% to 42,518.28, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.2% to 19,044.39.

Stocks got a boost from a report showing inflation at the U.S. wholesale level wasn’t as high last month as economists expected. It’s an encouraging signal ahead of a report coming later in the day, which will show how much inflation U.S. consumers faced at gasoline pumps, grocery registers and auto lots in December.

Stubbornly high readings on inflation and a run of better-than-expected updates on the U.S. economy have sent Wall Street into a weekslong rut, pulling it further from the dozens of all-time highs set last year. The fear is that all the strong data will convince the Federal Reserve to deliver less relief this year through lower interest rates.

The Fed has already hinted it’s likely to cut rates just two times in 2025, down from an earlier projection of four. Speculation is growing about whether the Fed may cut rates zero times this year.

Such questions have sent Treasury yields sharply higher in the bond market, which cranks up the pressure on the stock market. Yields slowed their ascent following the update on wholesale inflation.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury held at 4.78%, where it was late Monday. It was below 3.65% in September.

The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks expectations for Fed action, eased to 4.36% from 4.39%.

Indexes drifted between gains and losses through the day in large part due to drops for several Big Tech stocks. Nvidia fell 1.1% and was the second-heaviest weight on the S&P 500.

The only stock to drag more on the market was Eli Lilly, which fell 6.6% after saying it expects to report weaker revenue for the last three months of 2024 than previously forecast.

CEO David Ricks said last quarter’s 45% growth in Lilly’s revenue for its Mounjaro diabetes treatment, Zepbound obesity injections and other products in the incretin market wasn’t as big as expected.

Several of the nation’s biggest financial companies will report their latest results on Wednesday, including JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, as earnings reporting season gears up. Such reports are always under the spotlight, but companies may be under more pressure to impress this time around.

If Treasury yields continue to rise, either stock prices need to fall or companies need to produce bigger profit growth to make up for it.

In other dealings on Wednesday, U.S. benchmark crude oil rose 54 cents to $76.91 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added 36 cents to $80.28 per barrel.

The U.S. dollar fell to 157.23 Japanese yen from 158.00 yen. The euro slipped to $1.0294 from $1.0309.

Zimo Zhong, The Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched a massive aerial attack against Ukraine on Wednesday, forcing the country to introduce preventive power cuts, the Ukrainian energy minister said.

“The enemy continues to terrorize Ukrainians,” Herman Halushchenko wrote on Facebook, urging residents to stay in shelters during the ongoing threat and follow official updates.

The state energy company Ukrenergo reported emergency power outages in the Kharkiv, Sumy, Poltava, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kirovohrad regions.

Russian forces launched missile strikes targeting energy infrastructure in the western Lviv region early Wednesday, said the city’s mayor, Andrii Sadovyi.

“During the morning attack, enemy cruise missiles were recorded in the region,” he said.

No casualties or damage were reported.

The Associated Press

It’s Minor Hockey Week!
U11, U13, U15 and U18 teams are featured this week.

U9, U7 and U5 will be in the spotlight next week

Local stories, news, obituaries, jobs, notices and events in Pincher Creek and Crowsnest Pass in the Jan. 15 issue of Shootin’ the Breeze.

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Millions of Southern Californians were on edge as a final round of dangerous fire weather was forecast for the region on Wednesday, along with a rare warning of a “Particularly Dangerous Situation” for an area near where two massive blazes have killed at least 25 and destroyed thousands of homes.

Firefighters got a reprieve Tuesday when winds were unexpectedly light and they were able to make progress battling the two huge Los Angeles area fires and quickly snuff out several new fires.

The Eaton Fire burning just north of Los Angeles and the Palisades Fire that destroyed much of the seaside LA neighborhood of Pacific Palisades broke out Jan. 7 in conditions similar to what’s expected Wednesday. High winds last week pushed flames at remarkable speed and carried fire-sparking embers sometimes miles away.

The National Weather Service issued red flag warnings – done when temperatures are warm, humidity is low and strong winds are expected – from 3 a.m. to 3 p.m. from the Central Coast 275 miles (443 kilometers) south to the border with Mexico. The “Particularly Dangerous Situation” was in effect for an area that includes parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

“Key message: We are not out of the woods yet,” the weather service said in a post late Tuesday. “The winds underperformed today, but one more enhancement could happen tonight-tomorrow.”

More than 77,000 households were without electricity as utilities shut off power to prevent their lines from sparking new blazes.

A state of alert

Weary and anxious residents were told to be ready to flee at a moment’s notice. They remained vigilant, keeping an eye on the skies and on each other: Police announced roughly 50 arrests, for looting, flying drones in fire zones, violating curfew and other crimes.

Of those, three people were arrested on suspicion of arson after being seen setting small fires that were immediately extinguished, LA Police Chief Jim McDonnell said. One was using a barbecue lighter, another ignited brush and a third tried to light a trash can, he said. All were far outside the disaster zones. Authorities have not determined a cause for any of the major fires.

Among nine people charged with looting was a group that stole an Emmy award from an evacuated house, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said.

The biggest worry remained the threat from intense winds. Now backed by firefighters from other states, Canada and Mexico, crews were deployed to attack flareups or new blazes. The firefighting force was much bigger than a week ago, when the first wave of fires began destroying thousands of homes in what could become the nation’s costliest fire disaster.

Kaylin Johnson and her family planned to spend the night at their home, one of the few left standing in Altadena, near Pasadena. They intended to keep watch to ward off looting and to hose down the house and her neighbors’ properties to prevent flareups.

“Our lives have been put on hold indefinitely,” Johnson said via text message, adding that they cannot freely come and go because of restrictions on entering the burn areas. “But I would rather be here and not leave than to not be allowed back at all.”

Packed and ready to go

Residents said they were ready to make a hasty escape.

Javier Vega, who said he feels like he has been “sleeping with one eye open,” and his girlfriend have planned out how they can quickly pack up their two cats, eight fish and leopard gecko if they get orders to evacuate.

“Typically on any other night, hearing helicopters flying overhead from midnight to 4:00 in the morning, that would drive anyone crazy,” Vega said. But figuring they were helping firefighters to keep the flames from threatening their neighborhood, he explained, “it was actually soothing for me to go to sleep.”

Preparing for another outbreak

Planes doused homes and hillsides with bright pink fire-retardant chemicals, while crews and fire engines deployed to particularly vulnerable spots with dry brush.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and other officials who were criticized over their initial response expressed confidence that the region is ready to face the new threat. The mayor said she was able to fly over the disaster areas, which she described as resembling the aftermath of a “dry hurricane.”

Winds this time were not expected to reach the same fierce speeds seen last week but they could ground firefighting aircraft, LA County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said.

He urged homeless people to avoid starting fires for warmth and to seek shelter.

Wildfires on the rise across LA

With almost no rain in more than eight months, the brush-filled region has had more than a dozen wildfires this year, mostly in the greater Los Angeles area.

Firefighters have jumped on small blazes that popped up, quickly smothering several in Los Angeles county, including a blaze Tuesday evening in the Angeles National Forest.

The four largest fires around the nation’s second-biggest city have scorched more than 63 square miles (163 square kilometers), roughly three times the size of Manhattan. Of these, the Eaton Fire near Pasadena was roughly one-third contained, while the largest blaze, in Pacific Palisades on the coast, was far less contained.

Searching for victims

The death toll is likely to rise, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna. Nearly 30 people were still missing, he said Tuesday. Some people reported as missing earlier have been found.

Just under 90,000 people in the county remained under evacuation orders, half the number from last week.

Hollywood on hold

Hollywood’s awards season has been put on hiatus because of the crisis. The Oscar nominations have been delayed twice, and some organizations postponed their awards shows and announcements without rescheduling.

___

Watson reported from San Diego, and Seewer from Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press journalists Christopher Weber and Lindsey Bahr in Los Angeles, Lisa Baumann and Hallie Golden in Seattle and Julie Walker in New York contributed.

Jaimie Ding, Julie Watson And John Seewer, The Associated Press