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Icy floodwaters kill at least 31 in India’s Himalayan northeast after lake bursts through major dam

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:30:00 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — Ice-cold floodwaters swept through mountain towns in India’s Himalayan northeast, killing at least 31 people, washing away houses and bridges, and forcing thousands of people to leave their homes, officials said Friday.The flood began shortly after midnight Wednesday, when the waters of a glacial lake overflowed, cracking open Sikkim State’s biggest hydroelectric dam and then cascading through towns in the valley below.It was the latest deadly flood to hit northeast India in a year of unusually heavy monsoon rains. Nearly 50 people died in flash floods and landslides in August in nearby Himachal Pradesh state, record rains in July killed more than 100 people over two weeks in northern India.More than 2,000 people were rescued after Wednesday’s floods, the Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority said in a statement, adding that state authorities set up 26 relief camps for more than 22,000 people impacted by the floods.Rescue workers were still searching for ...

Trump endorses Jim Jordan to succeed Kevin McCarthy as House speaker

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:30:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump is officially backing Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the pugnacious House Judiciary Committee chairman and longtime Trump defender, to succeed Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker.“Congressman Jim Jordan has been a STAR long before making his very successful journey to Washington, D.C., representing Ohio’s 4th Congressional District,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social site shortly after midnight. “He will be a GREAT Speaker of the House, & has my Complete & Total Endorsement!”The announcement came hours after Texas Rep. Troy Nehls said Thursday night that Trump had decided to back Jordan’s bid.___ Colvin reported from New York. Associated Press writer Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.Jill Colvin And Farnoush Amiri, The Associated Press

What’s streaming now: Drake, ‘Fair Play,’ Assassin’s Creed Mirage and William Friedkin’s last film

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:30:00 GMT

Drake’s latest album, the corporate movie thriller “Fair Play” starring Phoebe Dynevor, and a game show on CBS that’s being described as Mexico’s version of Bingo are some of the new television, movies, music and games headed to a device near youAmong the offerings worth your time as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists are the late director William Friedkin’s final movie, “The Caine Mutiny Court Martial,” and season two of “Quantum Leap” premieres on NBC.NEW MOVIES TO STREAM— The corporate thriller “Fair Play” stars Phoebe Dynevor (“Bridgerton”) and Alden Ehrenreich (“Solo”) as two analysts at the same hedge fund in a secret relationship. The workplace environment — sexist, cutthroat — is not exactly a healthy one for romance. In Chloe Domont’s film, that turns out especially true after Emily (Dynevor) gets a promotion Luke (Ehrenreich) expected for himself. “Fair Play,” which began streaming Friday on Netflix, was a hit out of the Sundance Film F...

Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor, a rising political star, crosses partisan school choice divide

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:30:00 GMT

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — In the partisan politics of education funding, the “school choice” movement has pressed states for decades to send taxpayer money to private and religious schools and long had to concentrate its efforts on states where a Republican governor was an ally.That suddenly changed over the summer.Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro — a first-term Democrat seen by his party as a rising star nationally — forcefully put his weight behind a Republican-backed proposal to send $100 million to families for private school tuition and school supplies.Shapiro would later back down in the face of House Democratic opposition, but his support has raised Pennsylvania’s profile in the national voucher debate and given advocates optimism that the program will eventually become law.With the backing of a major GOP campaign donor and now Shapiro, a private-school product whose near-landslide win in the battleground state has fueled talk of his national political prospects, vouchers are at t...

Migrants pass quickly through once impenetrable Darien jungle as governments scramble for answers

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:30:00 GMT

BAJO CHIQUITO, Panama (AP) — Rain-swollen rivers only briefly slowed the otherwise uninterrupted flow of migrants through this jungle-covered border area separating Colombia and Panama and by midweek another 2,000 bedraggled migrants stumbled out of the Darien jungle.Pregnant women and men carrying children atop their shoulders waded across the waist-deep Tuquesa river and into the Indigenous outpost of Bajo Chiquito where some fell to the ground in exhaustion and relief as Panamanian officials waited to register their arrival.Crossing through the dense, lawless jungle not long ago was unthinkable to most people. In recent years, it became a brutal slog of a week or more. But some migrants arriving this week described an organized trek completed in as little as 2 1/2 days on trails marked by colored ribbons and assisted by guides and porters, part of what officials say has become a business generating millions of dollars.That efficiency combined with the unrelenting economic factors...

EU summit to look at changes the bloc needs to make to welcome Ukraine, others as new members

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:30:00 GMT

GRANADA, Spain (AP) — A day after pledging Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy their unwavering support, European Union leaders on Friday will face one of their worst political headaches on a key commitment — how and when to welcome debt-laden and battered Ukraine into the bloc. The 27-nation EU has said since the start of Russia’s invasion in February 2022 that at the end of the war it would work steadfastly on “lasting unity” that would eventually translate into Ukraine’s membership in the wealthy bloc. For a nation fighting for its very survival, that moment cannot come quickly enough. For the bloc itself, that remains to be seen. On Friday, the leaders will assess “enlargement” as they call it at their informal summit in southern Spain’s Granada. Beyond Ukraine, several western Balkan nations and Moldova are also knocking with increasing impatience at the door.In his summit invitation letter, EU Council President Charles Michel asked the leaders “critical q...

Michigan judge to decide whether to drop charges against 2 accused in false elector scheme

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:30:00 GMT

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan judge is expected to decide Friday morning whether to drop charges against two defendants accused of participating in a fake elector scheme after the state attorney general said the group was “brainwashed” into believing former President Donald Trump won the 2020 election.The defendants, Clifford Frost and Mari-Ann Henry, are two of 16 Michigan Republicans who investigators say met following the 2020 election and signed a document falsely stating they were the state’s “duly elected and qualified electors.” Each of the 16 faces eight criminal charges, including multiple counts of forgery.Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, however, may have derailed the case by saying during a virtual event last month that the electors “legit believe” Trump won the election.“Every single charge requires the government to prove they did this with the intent to defraud,” said Matthew Schneider, a former U.S. attorney in Detroit. “If the attorn...

Economic spotlight turns to US jobs data as markets are roiled by high rates and uncertainties

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:30:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Job growth in the United States has remained resilient for the past 2 1/2 years even after high inflation flared and the Federal Reserve jacked up interest rates at the fastest pace in four decades.The September jobs report that the Labor Department will issue Friday will show just how much of that durability remains. Additional threats to the economy have emerged in recent weeks, including much higher long-term interest rates, rising energy prices, the resumption of student loan payments, widening labor strikes and the ongoing threat of a government shutdown.Economists have forecast that employers added 163,000 jobs last month, a solid increase, though down sharply from the pace earlier this year, when the economy was adding an average of 310,000 jobs a month in the first quarter. The unemployment rate is expected to drop to 3.7%, near a 50-year low, from 3.8% in August. A growing body of evidence, though, suggests that the job market is cooling — something Fed of...

Ghost guns showing up at crime scenes in Canada but RCMP not keeping statistics

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:30:00 GMT

FREDERICTON — Even as the technology to produce so-called “ghost guns” becomes less expensive and more widespread, the RCMP is not keeping records on how often the weapons are used in crimes across the country.Ghost guns are firearms without serial numbers that are assembled from individual parts or 3D printers. They are easy to make and hard to trace, and are increasingly showing up at crime scenes in Canada and the United States.The RCMP doesn’t have a database on 3D guns, printers or how many shootings there have been with the weapons. The force said in an email it has laid charges in several cases in which 3D guns were seized, but it didn’t give numbers.“This presence is consistent with national and international trends observed, where privately made firearms are being used in criminal activity,” the email said. It noted that 3D print files exist capable of creating a range of firearms, including assault rifles.The RCMP said they are aware ...

Texas high school football scores for Thursday, Oct. 5

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:30:00 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Pflugerville scored a late touchdown to lift them to their first win of the season 30-26 over Waco University on Thursday in action around the KXAN viewing area.Buda Johnson edged Austin High in a district showdown 20-19 and the Westlake Chaparrals scored 53 unanswered points after trailing Anderson 14-13 to win 67-14. REPORT YOUR SCORE: We'd love to post your team's score on our website, but we need your help to do it. Email the score of your game to [email protected] and we'll get it on our websiteVista Ridge picked up a 26-21 win over Westwood and Georgetown thumped Leander 45-21.Scores from around the KXAN viewing areaBuda Johnson 20, Austin High 19Boerne Geneva 49, Brentwood Christian 43Georgetown 45, Leander 21Pflugerville 30, Waco University 26Smithson Valley 42, Lehman 7Travis 56, Eastside 0Vista Ridge 26, Westwood 21Westlake 67, Anderson 14Scores from around Texas compiled by the Associated PressCLASS 6AAlvin Shadow Creek 24, Alvin Elsik 0Amarillo Tascosa 33, ...