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Fifth American told police friends feared missing in Mexico

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:32:06 GMT

LAKE CITY, S.C. (AP) — The frantic effort to rescue four Americans taken captive in Mexico in a kidnapping that left two of them dead came after a fifth person traveling with the group contacted police when they did not return to the U.S. side as expected.Cheryl Orange, who did not cross into Mexico with the others, told The Associated Press in a text message that her three friends were supposed to return within 15 minutes after dropping off their companion, Latavia McGee, for cosmetic surgery in the Mexican border city of Matamoros on Friday.Orange stayed behind at a motel in Brownsville, Texas, and said she grew concerned as the hours passed and she did not hear from the others. The five friends had driven a rented minivan from South Carolina on Thursday to the southern tip of Texas, according to a police report based on Orange’s account. Four of them left Friday morning around 8 a.m. to go to Mexico.Orange’s statements and the report offers the most detailed account s...

Ex-Navajo President Zah, guided by love for people, dies

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:32:06 GMT

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Peterson Zah, a monumental Navajo Nation leader who guided the tribe through a politically tumultuous era and worked tirelessly to correct wrongdoings against Native Americans, has died. Zah died late Tuesday at a hospital in Fort Defiance, Arizona, after a lengthy illness, Navajo President Buu Nygren’s office said. He was 85. Zah was the first president elected on the Navajo Nation — the largest tribal reservation in the U.S. — in 1990 after the government was restructured into three branches to prevent power from being concentrated in the chairman’s office. At the time, the tribe was reeling from a deadly riot incited by Zah’s political rival, former Chairman Peter MacDonald, a year earlier.Zah vowed to rebuild the tribe, and to support family and education, speaking with people in ways that imparted mutual respect, said his longtime friend Eric Eberhard. Zah was as comfortable putting on dress clothes to represent Navajos in Washington, D...

Police identify man wanted for sexually assaulting woman in Toronto’s PATH

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:32:06 GMT

Toronto police have identified a 27-year-old man wanted for sexually assaulting a woman while she was walking through Toronto’s underground PATH network.Investigators were called to the underground pedestrian walkway just before 10 p.m. on Sunday in the section closest to St. Andrew Station.It’s alleged that a 21-year-old woman entered the PATH network at Wellington Street West when the suspect, already in the PATH, began following her.The male suspect engaged the victim in conversation and then sexually assaulted her. The woman attempted to flee, and a struggle ensued, during which the suspect continued to sexually assault the victim.The man then ran through the PATH and fled.The suspect has been identified as 27-year-old Samoual Elamam of Toronto. He’s wanted for sexual assault, and police say an arrest warrant is being sought.

Xi accuses US of trying to hold back China’s development

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:32:06 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Is the United States out to sabotage China? Chinese leaders think so.President Xi Jinping accused Washington this week of trying to isolate his country and hold back its development. That reflects the ruling Communist Party’s growing frustration that its pursuit of prosperity and global influence is threatened by U.S. restrictions on access to technology, its support for Taiwan and other moves seen by Beijing as hostile.Xi, China’s most powerful leader in decades, tries to appear to be above problems and usually makes blandly positive public comments. That made his complaint Monday all the more striking. Xi said a U.S.-led campaign of “containment and suppression” of China has “brought unprecedented, severe challenges.” He called on the public to “dare to fight.”On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Qin Gang sharpened the warning, saying Washington faces possible “conflict and confrontation” if it fails to change course.“The foreign minister is speaking on behalf of a wi...

Man charged for spraying pepper-spray-like substance on TTC subway rider

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:32:06 GMT

A man has been charged for allegedly assaulting and spraying a man with a substance believed to be pepper spray during an unprovoked altercation on a TTC subway train.Toronto police say the incident happened around 10 p.m. on Feb. 28 when officers were called to Coxwell Subway Station in the Danforth.It’s alleged that two men were travelling eastbound on the Bloor-Danforth line between Donlands and Greenwood Stations when one man randomly sprayed another man in the face with an unknown, pepper-spray-like substance. Police said he was resprayed each time the victim stepped away from the attack.On Wednesday, police arrested 44-year-old Greg Ferris of Toronto. He was charged with administering a noxious substance and assault.He’s expected to appear in court on April 19.

House votes down bill directing removal of troops from Syria

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:32:06 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Legislation directing President Joe Biden to remove some 900 U.S. troops from Syria within 180 days was soundly defeated in the House on Wednesday as opponents of the measure warned that it could allow a dismantled Islamic State group to reorganize and endanger the U.S. and its allies.The resolution introduced by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., was voted down 321-103. Gaetz introduced the measure after four U.S. servicemembers were wounded during a helicopter raid last month in northeastern Syria that killed a senior IS leader. Despite their defeat in Syria, IS sleeper cells still conduct attacks around Syria and Iraq where they once declared a “caliphate.”In arguing for his legislation, Gaetz said he didn’t believe that “what stands between a caliphate and not a caliphate are the 900 Americans who have been sent to this hellscape with no definition of victory.”Support is growing in Congress for ending decades-old authorizations for the use of American militar...

Senate votes to block DC crime laws, Biden supportive

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:32:06 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate voted Wednesday to block new District of Columbia crime laws and overrule the city government as lawmakers in both parties have expressed concern about rising violent crime rates in cities nationwide.President Joe Biden said last week that he will sign the Republican resolution, which passed the Senate 81-14 after passing the House last month. It would mark the first time in more than three decades that Congress has nullified the capital city’s laws through the disapproval process — and a shift in the long-held Democratic position that the federal government should let D.C. govern itself. Biden, who is set to announce a reelection campaign in the coming months, has been under increasing pressure on the issue from Republicans who have made reducing crime a political priority. In D.C., homicides in the city had risen for four years straight before they dropped around 10% in 2022. The 2021 murder count of 227 was the highest since 2003.“We are the greatest ...

Swarm of quakes at Alaska volcano could mean eruption coming

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:32:06 GMT

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A swarm of earthquakes occurring over the past few weeks has intensified at a remote Alaska volcano dormant for over a century, a possible indication of an impending eruption.The Alaska Volcano Observatory raised the alert level to advisory status for Tanaga Volcano late Tuesday after the quakes became very vigorous.“We started seeing a whole lot of earthquakes occurring, one after the other, several per minute,” said John Power, a research geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey stationed in Anchorage at the Alaska Volcano Observatory. There have been hundreds of small earthquakes, none larger than magnitude 2.75, but they are concentrated beneath the summit of the volcano, he said.“That indicates that we’re seeing significant unrest at the volcano,” Power said.“Whether or not this will lead to an eruption is something we can’t say at this point in time,” he said. “But we are concerned about it enough that we have gone and elevated the warning level.”W...

Congress members warned of significant health data breach

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:32:06 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Members of the House and Senate were informed Wednesday that hackers may have gained access to their sensitive personal data in a breach of a Washington, D.C., health insurance marketplace. Employees of the lawmakers and their families were also affected.DC Health Link confirmed that data on an unspecified number of customers was affected and said it was notifying them and working with law enforcement. It said it was offering identity theft service to those affected and extending credit monitoring to all customers.The FBI said it was aware of the incident and was assisting the investigation.A broker on an online crime forum claimed to have records on 170,000 DC Health Link customers and was offering them for sale for an unspecified amount. The broker claimed they were stolen Monday. The broker did not immediately respond to questions posed by The Associated Press on an encrypted chat site. It was not possible to confirm the number claimed. Sample stolen data was po...

‘It’s about human capital’: Why more women and girls are needed in STEM

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:32:06 GMT

Women have historically been underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields and in recent years, some tech giants have been taking steps to address the inequities.Girls Who Game (GwG) is an extracurricular program created to encourage young girls to develop their tech and leadership skills developed by Dell Technologies, Microsoft and Intel.“What we do across Canada and the U.S. is provide schools with the opportunity to really improve the digital literacy skills of young women. Because we know the stats — 50 per cent of women are in the workforce, and yet only 28 per cent are in STEM-related fields,” says Katina Papulkas, senior education strategist at Dell Technologies.At a Women’s Day celebration on Wednesday, students from 10 schools from grades three through eight who participated in the eight-week program showed off projects about how to make their schools more sustainable, created with the education edition of the video ga...