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North Korea appears to be cracking opening its sealed border with dispatch of sports delegation

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 22:02:17 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — North Korea appears to have cracked open its borders in the first significant way since they were shut at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, with the impoverished nation sending a large group of taekwondo athletes and officials through Beijing to an international competition.The group of around 80 men and women wearing white track suits with the North Korean flag on the front were in the departure hall of Beijing’s international airport. They reportedly arrived Wednesday or Thursday. The group was expected to take an Air Astana flight to Kazakhstan to compete in the International Taekwon-do Federation World Championships, according to Japanese and South Korean media. The competition is being held in Astana through Aug. 30.North Korea has very limited air connections at the best of times, and international travel all but ended when it closed its borders to prevent the spread of COVID-19. How badly North Koreans were affected by the illness is unknown. Mo...

Firefighters battle through the night to halt wildfire in Spain’s popular tourist island of Tenerife

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 22:02:17 GMT

SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Canary Islands (AP) — Firefighters battled overnight to try to bring under control the worst wildfire in decades on the Spanish Canary Island of Tenerife, a major tourist destination, officials said Friday. The fire in the north of the island, which started late Tuesday, has forced the evacuation or confinement of nearly 8,000 people in eight municipalities.Television images and videos posted on social media showed the flames coming down the hill close to houses in small neighborhoods and a massive cloud of smoke rising from the area.The fire is located up in a pine wooded mountain area with several municipalities on its flanks, including Arafo and Candelaria to the east, and La Orotava to the west.Army captain Rafael San José told Spanish National Television that some progress had been made overnight in stopping the fire’s spread but that rising temperatures during the day would increase difficulties.The Canary Islands have been in drought for most of ...

Rosalynn Carter marks 96th birthday at home with former president, butterflies and ice cream

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 22:02:17 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Rosalynn Carter will celebrate her 96th birthday at home Friday with her husband, former President Jimmy Carter, and other family members, while the surrounding community of Plains, Georgia, honors the former first lady's years of public health advocacy.The latest milestone comes as Rosalynn Carter navigates dementia and the former president, now 98, continues to receive hospice care. Yet they remain together in the same small town where they were born, married and that anchored Jimmy Carter's victorious 1976 presidential campaign.Rosalynn will have a quiet birthday celebration, according to The Carter Center, the human rights organization the pair opened in Atlanta after losing his 1980 reelection bid. She plans to eat cupcakes and peanut butter ice cream, nodding to the couple’s experience as Georgia peanut farmers, which became part of their political branding.She also will release butterflies in the Carters' garden; her love of butterflies...

Trump calls off planned 'news conference' to push election fraud claims

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 22:02:17 GMT

(The Hill) - Former President Donald Trump on Thursday canceled a planned news conference for next week in which he said he would share claims of election fraud in Georgia in the 2020 election, the same types of claims that led to his indictment in the state earlier this week.Trump wrote on Truth Social that his lawyers indicated they would rather he compile his claims about election fraud in the state into "formal Legal Filings as we fight to dismiss this disgraceful Indictment.""Therefore, the News Conference is no longer necessary!" Trump wrote.The former president on Tuesday posted on Truth Social that he would hold an event at his Bedminster, N.J., golf club next Monday to present a report that he said would lay out claims of election fraud in Georgia.Some of Trump's legal advisers had reportedly raised concerns that the former president's planned news conference could further complicate his case, however. Trump has in recent weeks grown more vocal in claiming the 2020 election...

Maui's emergency services chief resigns after criticism for not activating sirens during fire

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 22:02:17 GMT

LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — The head of the Maui Emergency Management Agency resigned abruptly Thursday, a day after saying he had no regrets about not using sirens to warn residents of wildfires that devastated the historic seaside community of Lahaina and killed at least 111 people.That decision from the agency directed by Administrator Herman Andaya, coupled with water shortages that hampered firefighters and an escape route that became clogged with vehicles, has brought intense criticism from many residents. The lack of sirens has emerged as a potential misstep, and The Associated Press reported that it was part of a series of communication issues that added to the chaos. Lahaina fire fatalities remain at 111 Mayor Richard Bissen accepted Andaya's resignation effective immediately, the County of Maui announced on Facebook. Andaya cited unspecified health reasons, with no further details provided.“Given the gravity of the crisis we are facing, my team and I will be placing someone i...

Hays CISD superintendent celebrates staffing levels while rushing to staff new state mandate

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 22:02:17 GMT

HAYS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) -- Hays Consolidated Independent School District is growing.“It is growing extremely fast,” Hays CISD Superintendent Dr. Eric Wright said. “This year compared to the beginning of last year we gained about 1,600 students.” NEXT: Set for School The school district is keeping up with growth by building two new elementary schools, currently under construction, and teacher staffing levels are high.“We are so pleased we only had a 6% turnover rate this year, so we were able to retain high-quality staff,” Wright said. “We are glad to be able to keep them and we have a 99% fill rate right now.”While finding and keeping teachers has not been a problem for Hays CISD, it may be more difficult to staff a new state mandate.In September, every school in Texas must have a school resource officer patrolling it under House Bill 3.“We have indicated our intent to our county that we want to place one at every campus, but unfortunately they don’t have the manpower to be able...

First the heat...then rain chances return

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 22:02:17 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- An Excessive Heat Warning is in effect again today with near-record high temperatures well over 100° areawide. This comes after an extreme high temperature of 110° Thursday at Camp Mabry -- a tie for Austin's third-hottest day ever observed -- and 109° at Austin-Bergstrom Intl. Airport, a tie for their fourth-hottest day on record.While temperatures may be a couple of degrees cooler today, it'll still be excessively hot.This weekend shows little improvement with mostly sunny skies and a high of 107º on both Saturday and Sunday that would tie and break records respectively.Tropical system may impact Texas next weekA disturbance moving into the Gulf early next week is expected to spin westward across record-hot ocean water in relatively favorable conditions for development. The National Hurricane Center has increased odds of tropical depression formation to 30%.Watching the Gulf for potential tropical development this weekWhile ocean temperatures are record-hot and ot...

Both suspects at center of Harris County Blue Alert arrested, sheriff says

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 22:02:17 GMT

HOUSTON (KXAN) – Both suspects have been arrested in connection to a shooting that injured a Harris County Sheriff's deputy Wednesday night. According to Gov. Greg Abbott's office, James Green was apprehended Thursday. The other suspect, Terran Green, was taken into custody Thursday night around 11:50 p.m. after a standoff with SWAT in Humble, northeast of Houston, according to a social media post from Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez. MORE: What is a Blue Alert? Two law enforcement officers were shot during that incident, Gonzalez said in another post. At the time, their condition was unknown but initial information was that their wounds were not life-threatening.The Texas Department of Public Safety issued a Blue Alert for the two suspects late Wednesday night after a Harris County sheriff's deputy was shot and wounded.Police were looking for a Blue 2016 Ford Escape with a Texas License Plate SVJ6590 but said in an update at 5:30 a.m. Thursday that the car had been located. Bl...

Mark Gongloff: Sorry, the courts won’t save the planet

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 22:02:17 GMT

The decision sounds monumental: A Montana court has ruled that climate change is real and caused by humans and that governments owe their constituents’ children a clean environment. Surely this will eradicate the last traces of America’s climate denialism and accelerate the transition to a green-energy future.Except … no. The Montana decision may sound as big as the local sky, but its practical implications are far narrower. It’s a win for climate activists, but a small one. Mainly, it’s a reminder that the global climate emergency is too complex for any one solution. Few, if any, will be crafted in courtrooms.The Montana case arose from decrees by the state’s conservative legislature that government agencies must ignore climate change when making decisions, such as approving fossil-fuel exploration or new energy plants. This conveniently greased the skids for a new natural-gas plant to be built on the Yellowstone River over the objections of envi...

Robert Pawlicki: Listen to learn first, not rebut

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 22:02:17 GMT

“A house divided cannot stand” feels uncomfortably on-target at this time in our political history. To compare Abraham Lincoln’s famous words to our current political intransigence may appear hyperbolic. But the reality is that our divisions are intense and deep.Politically, there is a sense of caution in talking to friends, neighbors and family. A wariness that a declaration of our viewpoint will risk an argument or, worse, a broken relationship. The differences between opposing loyal party members are now palpable.It’s understandable how this happened. Each side watches different media, receives opposing messages, evolves into separate cultures, and even moves to like-minded but separate communities.It’s pleasurable to have our views confirmed. We prefer to share time with people who have similar opinions and beliefs. It’s comfortable. To do otherwise is to risk emotional conflicts. Whether understandable or not, it harms our democracy, where ci...