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EU leaders pause talks as Poland and Hungary’s anti-migrant governments block progress

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:35:35 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders broke off migration talks early Friday as Poland and Hungary blocked progress after they were outvoted earlier this month on a plan to share out refugees arriving in Europe among the 27 member countries.Few leaders spoke to reporters as they left the summit venue after talks long into the night. Belgian Prime Minister Alexander DeCroo put on a brave face after what he described as a “rather difficult” discussion. Poland and Hungary refused to endorse a summit statement, which requires unanimity.“There are two options. Either we continue, or we give up and say there’ll be no summit statement, nothing. But there’s a clear willingness among the great majority of countries to try,” DeCroo said. The talks will resume later Friday.Ahead of the meeting in Brussels, Poland’s prime minister had insisted that the country wouldn’t be forced to accept European Union rules on migration, and he vowed to veto any plan that might force countries to...

UN children’s chief: Youngsters in Haiti need aid and face `staggering levels’ of gender violence

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:35:35 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Close to half of Haiti’s people, 2.2 million adults and 3 million children, need humanitarian aid and thousands of youngsters face “staggering levels” of gender-based violence, the head of the U.N. children’s agency said Thursday.“Haitians and our team, they’re telling me it’s never been worse than it is now — unprecedented hunger and malnutrition, grinding poverty, a crippled economy, resurgence of cholera, and a massive insecurity that creates a deadly downward spiral of violence,” said Catherine Russell, the executive director of UNICEF.Russell said what was clear during her just-completed visit was that the police don’t have the capacity to secure the country and protect the population from violent gangs and “something needs to change.”“We have to, as an international community, say we can’t watch this country completely fall apart,” she said. “And so my job is to try to bring some attention to that problem and to make sure people understand how terri...

Supreme Court’s affirmative action ruling leaves colleges looking for new ways to promote diversity

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:35:35 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has sent shockwaves through higher education with a landmark decision that struck down affirmative action and left colleges across the nation searching for new ways to promote student diversity.Leaders of scores of universities said Thursday that they were disappointed by what they see as a blow to diversity. Yet many also voiced optimism that they would find new ways to admit more Black and Hispanic students, despite evidence that eliminating the practice often leads to steep enrollment decreases among them.President Joe Biden said he disagreed with the decision and asked the Education Department to explore policies that could help colleges build diverse student bodies. He also pushed against policies like legacy preferences — admissions boosts given to the children of alumni — that tend to help white, wealthy students.“We should never allow the country to walk away from the dream upon which it was founded,” Biden told reporters. “We need a new p...

Ukraine has an array of new Western weapons. What advantages could they offer in a counteroffensive?

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:35:35 GMT

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Ukraine’s military was largely reliant on Soviet-era weaponry, from tanks to artillery to fighter jets.While that arsenal helped Ukraine fend off an assault on the capital of Kyiv and prevent a total rout in the early weeks of the war, billions of dollars in military assistance has since poured into the country, including more modern Western-made weapons. Ukraine’s counteroffensive, now in its early stages, could offer a glimpse of whether and to what extent the newer weapons systems have strengthened Kyiv’s ability to stand up to Russia.Analysts are cautiously optimistic.“Ukraine is in a much better position to be able to conduct a combined arms warfare than where they were in the beginning of Russia’s full-scale reinvasion of Ukraine,” George Barros, a Russia analyst for the Center for Strategic International Studies said.Here’s a look at some of the Western weapons sent to Ukraine and what advantages they might offer.Striking TargetsO...

Ukraine aims to wear down and outsmart a Russian army distracted by infighting

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:35:35 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The ambush had been postponed three times before Ukrainian commanders decided one recent night that conditions were finally right. Cloaked in darkness, a battalion of Kyiv’s 129th brigade pressed ahead, advancing stealthily on unsuspecting Russian soldiers.By the time the Russians situated along the front line realized they were under attack, it was too late.Ukraine’s recapture of the small village of Neskuchne in the eastern Donetsk region on June 10 encapsulates the opening strategy of a major counteroffensive launched earlier this month. Small platoons bank on the element of surprise and, when successful, make incremental gains in territory and battlefield intelligence.“We had a few scenarios. In the end, I think we chose the best one. To come quietly, unexpectedly,” said Serhii Zherebylo, the 41-year-old deputy commander of the battalion that retook Neskuchne. Across the 1,500-kilometer (930-mile) front line, Ukrainian forces are attempting to wear dow...

Trump, DeSantis among 2024 GOP hopefuls set to appear at Moms for Liberty gathering

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:35:35 GMT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the main rivals for the Republican presidential nomination, are scheduled to speak Friday at the annual gathering of Moms for Liberty, a two-year-old group that has fiercely opposed instruction related to race and gender identity in the nation’s classroom.The group, which has quickly become a force in conservative politics, advocates “ parental rights ” in education, but an anti-hate watchdog has labeled it “ extremist ” for allegedly harassing community members, advancing anti-LGBTQ+ misinformation and fighting to scrub diverse and inclusive material from lesson plans. Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and DeSantis’ wife, Casey DeSantis, also are slated to address the group Friday at the downtown Philadelphia hotel hosting the conference. Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy are set to give remarks on Saturday.Their attendance underscores the influen...

Rep. George Santos set to appear federal court on fraud and money laundering charges

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:35:35 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. Rep. George Santos is set to return to court Friday for the first time since pleading not guilty last month to charges that he duped donors, stole from his campaign, collected fraudulent unemployment benefits and lied to Congress about being a millionaire.The New York Republican, known for fabricating key parts of his life story, is free awaiting trial. He is scheduled to go before U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert in a Long Island courthouse at noon. The hearing is expected to focus on the timing of future court dates as the case against the Republican congressman moves forward.Federal prosecutors have charged Santos with 13 counts of wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and making false statements to Congress. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. Taken together, the allegations suggest Santos relied on “repeated dishonesty and deception to ascend to the halls of Congress and enrich himself,” according to U.S. Attorney for the Eastern...

EU leaders recommit to support Ukraine as they and NATO see divisions emerging in Russia

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:35:35 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took center stage at a European Union summit, underscoring the importance the 27 EU leaders attach to protecting their eastern flank from Russian aggression and beefing up Ukraine’s defense capabilities.In a statement issued early Friday after the meeting ended, the leaders reaffirmed their willingness “to provide sustainable military support to Ukraine for as long as it takes.”Zelenskyy addressed the gathering by video link and Stoltenberg attended an early lunch for leaders. But the biggest seat at the table was reserved for something that’s not officially on the agenda: the fallout from the stunning weekend mutiny in Russia and the impact it has on the rule of President Vladimir Putin.“The mutiny we saw at the weekend demonstrates that there are cracks and divisions within the Russian system. At the same time, it is important to underline that these are internal Russian matters,” said Stoltenber...

Arizona city holds 10-year remembrance for 19 firefighters who died in the Yarnell Hill Fire

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:35:35 GMT

It was one of the deadliest wildland fires ever in the U.S., killing 19 members of an elite central Arizona firefighting crew in 2013 after flames trapped them in a brush-choked canyon.The city of Prescott and the neighboring town of Yarnell are expected to honor the fallen Granite Mountain Hotshots on Friday with public events. Lew Theokas, who lost his grandson, 27-year-old Garret Zuppiger, said it’s still tough for him to talk about the Yarnell Hill Fire a decade later.“He was my only grandson and only grandchild,” said Theokas, who was with his wife in Oklahoma the day he lost his grandson. “We were on an RV trip and were going to be back in town in two days. I talked to Garret that morning.”When the fire started, dry lightning had struck a patch of vegetation in steep, mountainous terrain and ignited the fire high on a ridge west of Yarnell, which hadn’t experienced a wildfire in more than 45 years.Two days later, the Hotshots were battling the wildfire in a box can...

Heat waves like the one that’s killed 14 in the southern US are becoming more frequent and enduring

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:35:35 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — Heat waves like the one that engulfed parts of parts of the South and Midwest and killed more than a dozen people are becoming more common, and experts say the extreme weather events, which claim more lives than hurricanes and tornados, will likely increase in the future.A heat dome that pressured the Texas power grid and killed 13 people there and another in Louisiana pushed eastward Thursday and was expected to be centered over the mid-South by the weekend. Heat index levels of up to 112 degrees (44 Celsius) were forecast in parts of Florida over the next few days. Eleven of the heat-related deaths in Texas occurred in Webb County, which includes Laredo. The dead ranged in age from 60 to 80 years old, and many had other health conditions, according to the county medical examiner. The other two fatalities were Florida residents who died while hiking in extreme heat at Big Bend National Park. Scientists and medical experts say such deaths caused by extreme heat will o...