- Bayern hit nine, Real Madrid and Liverpool win as new Champions League kicks off
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- Stylish Liverpool strut past Milan in confident Champions league opener
- Kane scores four as Bayern put nine past Zagreb in the Champions League
- Mbappe strikes on Madrid Champions League debut win over Stuttgart
- More than 3,600 food packaging chemicals found in human bodies
- Harris calls Trump as assassination scare sparks tensions
- Dow edges down from record as some eye a smaller Fed rate cut
- Sommer vows Inter will 'defend with all we have' to stop Haaland
- Report links meatpacking companies to 'war on nature' in Brazil
- Bolivian ex-leader Morales, backers set out on weeklong protest march
- Smith grateful to McCullum for launching his England career
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- Villa make perfect start on Champions League return after 41-year absence
- Israeli supply chain infiltration likely behind Hezbollah pager blasts: analysts
- Rodgers backs Celtic to be 'really competitive' in Champions League
- Spacewalk an 'emotional experience' for private astronauts
- Storm Boris toll rises to 22 in central Europe
- Nine dead, 2,800 wounded as Lebanon's Hezbollah hit by pager blasts
- Boeing, union resume talks as strike empties Seattle plants
- Over 3,600 food packaging chemicals found in human bodies
- Australia's Zampa accepts Ashes chances remote as 100th ODI looms
- UN General Assembly debates call for end to Israeli occupation
- Marseille complete signing of French international Rabiot
- Easterby to fill in as Ireland coach while Farrell is with the Lions
- Hezbollah in Lebanon hit by wave of deadly pager blasts
- Postecoglou taken aback by criticism of his second season success claim
- US, European stocks rise on retail sales, rate cut expectations
- Fendi sees Roaring 20s at Milan Fashion Week in challenging times
- Ronaldo's Al Nassr part ways with coach Castro
- Scottish government backs Glasgow to stage troubled 2026 Commonwealth Games
- Storm Boris toll rises to 21 in central Europe
- Instagram, under pressure, tightens protection for teens
- Inflation slows again in Canada to 2%
- US, European stocks rise on eve of Fed rate decision
- EU bans Algerian spread toasted on social media
- Sean 'Diddy' Combs charged with racketeering, sex trafficking
- Trump returns to campaign trail after assassination scare
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- US retail sales see slight rise, beating expectations
- US Fed begins two-day meeting set to end with rate cut
- Exploding Hezbollah pagers wound hundreds across Lebanon
- Runners-up Yokohama thrashed 7-3 in AFC Champions League goal fest
- Sean 'Diddy' Combs to plead not guilty to racketeering, sex trafficking
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- 'I am a rapist,' Frenchman tells trial over mass rape of wife
Bomb threat rattles US city in Republican anti-migrant conspiracy
Government buildings and an elementary school in Springfield, Ohio were evacuated Thursday after an emailed bomb threat, police said, rattling the small US city at the heart of an anti-migrant conspiracy theory amplified by Donald Trump.
Springfield has been thrust into the spotlight in recent days after an unfounded story of Haitian migrants eating pets went viral on social media, with the Republican ex-president and current White House candidate pushing the narrative despite it being debunked.
Democrats have accused Trump and his running mate, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, of fanning racial tensions as they use the Springfield conspiracy theory to elevate immigration as a campaign issue ahead of November's election.
The White House condemned the conspiracy theory on Thursday as "filth" and said they were endangering people's lives.
"It is spreading filth that makes the lives of the communities that are being smeared here... it puts their lives in danger," Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.
Despite local officials saying they had received no credible reports of pets being stolen and eaten, Trump repeated the claim during his debate Tuesday against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.
Springfield police said in a statement that City Hall and several other government buildings had been evacuated after a bomb threat sent by email at 8:24 am (1224 GMT).
"Authorities investigated and cleared all facilities listed in the threat with the assistance of explosive detecting canines," it said.
Fulton Elementary School and Springfield Academy of Excellence were also listed in the threat and evacuated, according to the statement.
"We are currently partnering with the Dayton office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to identify the source of the email," it added.
- Tensions in community -
Arriving at the school to retrieve his child, Haitian immigrant Mackenso Roseme told AFP that the current tensions in the community were "worrying."
"I'm a little stressed. I think something might happen," he said.
A sign in English, Spanish and Haitian Creole informed Roseme and other parents that the students had been moved to a high school.
Mayor Rob Rue told the Springfield News-Sun that the person who sent the bomb threat claimed to be from the city and mentioned Haitian immigration issues.
Despite the bomb threats, Trump was still reposting memes related to the conspiracy theory hours later on his Truth Social platform.
He claimed Ohio was being "inundated with Illegal Migrants, mostly from Haiti, who are taking over Towns and Villages at a level and rate never seen before."
Springfield, with a population of about 58,000, has seen an increase in Haitian immigrants in recent years -- 10,000 to 15,000 according to the Springfield News-Sun.
Social services, schools and housing have been stressed in the city for years, with some pointing to migration as a factor.
A multiracial group of pastors called a press conference Thursday in Springfield, joining hands in prayer and calling on the community to come together.
"Today there were some things that happened, some threats of violence," Wes Babian, a former pastor of First Baptist Church, told AFP.
"That is part of what motivated the quick calling of clergy to come together to express our support for the Haitian community and our concern for the well being of the entire community."
Y.Aukaiv--AMWN