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Convoy attack in eastern Congo leaves 4 dead, including 3 park rangers

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 18:31:57 GMT

GOMA, Congo (AP) — Four people were killed in an ambush Thursday in Congo’s Virunga National Park when their convoy of vehicles was attacked by gunmen, according to a statement by local conservation authorities. A further six people were injured, including villagers from the Lubero Territory where the attack took place.The convoy included technical staff for rural development projects working in the park area, according to the North Kivu branch of the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature (ICCN). Three of the dead were “ecoguards” working for the conservation group. The ICCN statement said the attack was carried out by “a group of armed men belonging to the Mai Mai,” a network of local militia groups.Eastern Congo has been wracked by violence from a myriad of armed groups for more than a quarter-century. While much of it has been linked to the struggle for control of the region’s vast mineral wealth, other tensions have stemmed from long-standing inter-communal di...

Trial over Kari Lake’s last challenge to loss in Arizona governor’s race enters 2nd day

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 18:31:57 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — Attorneys for Kari Lake entered a second day Thursday of trying to build a case for the only remaining legal claim in her challenge to the Arizona governor’s race.A judge in suburban Phoenix is allowing Lake a three-day trial to prove county election officials failed to perform higher level signature verifications on mail-in ballots that had been flagged. Maricopa County has a failed process for verifying thousands of ballot signatures that even some of its own workers question, her attorneys argued in court Wednesday.Lake’s lawyers spent most of the trial’s first day showing video and taking testimony from two previous signature screeners who alleged election workers were overwhelmed. Only one of her claims has yet to be dismissed in her case challenging her loss six months ago to Democrat Katie Hobbs.“There’s simply no way to review signatures with respect to procedures,” said Kurt Olsen, one of Lake’s attorneys.The former TV anchor was...

Michigan boy who used slingshot to save sister says he ‘was just lucky’

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 18:31:57 GMT

ALPENA TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A 13-year-old Michigan boy who used a slingshot to save his 8-year-old sister from an attempted kidnapping said he was “freaking out” and simply reached for something that could stop the attack. “So I grab my slingshot and open the window and I grab two things — a marble and a gravel rock or something,” Owen Burns told WWTV/WWUP-TV in Cadillac in northern Michigan.Police said Owen struck the 17-year-old assailant in the head and chest, and his sister was able to get away.“I was just lucky. He’s just a big target because he’s not like one Pepsi can,” Owen said.The attempted kidnapping occurred on May 10 outside the family’s home in Alpena Township. Owen’s sister was outside looking for mushrooms.“I say, ‘OK, be careful.’ … And then, boom, something happens,” he recalled.Owen heard a scream while playing video games but figured his sister was just “messing around” with friends. A second scream alarmed him. “So I l...

White House expected to withdraw federal appeals court nomination, in judicial defeat for Biden

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 18:31:57 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a rare judicial defeat for President Joe Biden, the White House is expected to soon withdraw the nomination of Michael Delaney for the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, according to a person familiar with his confirmation process.Delaney’s nomination lacks the needed votes in the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision had not yet been made public. The White House declined to comment. Democrats’ inability to secure the necessary votes both in the committee and on the floor is partly due to concerns over a legal brief on abortion that Delaney signed as deputy attorney general in New Hampshire. The brief defended a parental notification law in the state.Delaney also faced scrutiny of his representation of St. Paul’s School, a private boarding school in New Hampshire that was sued in connection with a sexual assault.Delaney said in written testimony to senators that he did not write t...

World War II soldier’s remains identified, will be buried in Tennessee hometown

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 18:31:57 GMT

MARYVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The remains of a U.S. Army corporal who was killed in Germany during World War II have been identified and will be buried in his Tennessee hometown, officials said Thursday.Joe A. Vinyard, 23, was assigned to Company A, 774th Tank Battallion as a crew member on a tank in December 1944, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said in a news release.Vinyard was engaged in battle with German forces near Gey, Germany, when his tank was destroyed by shelling. When his crew regrouped, Vinyard was missing. The U.S. War Department issued a presumptive finding of death in April 1946. A set of unidentified remains recovered from a burned-out tank in Gey that had been buried in Belgium were disinterred in 2021 and sent to a U.S. laboratory for anthropological and DNA analysis. The statement said Vinyard was accounted for on Sept. 9, 2022.Vinyard’s burial will be held on a date to be determined in Maryville, Tennessee, according to the statement.The Associated Press

10K bridges similar to Pittsburgh one that collapsed should be checked for corrosion, report says

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 18:31:57 GMT

Investigators looking into the collapse of a Pittsburgh bridge want transportation officials nationwide to examine more than 10,000 other bridges with similar construction to ensure they don’t have the same kind of corrosion that was found on the bridge that collapsed.The National Transportation Safety Board said in a report Thursday that drainage problems on the weathered steel bridge that failed allowed the metal legs to deteriorate over time. It determined Pennsylvania neglected for years to perform the maintenance needed to clear the debris, dirt and leaves that was causing the problem even though inspectors noted the issue.Rust that caused the deterioration of the Pittsburgh bridge’s steel legs and allowed holes to form in the structure was noted on every inspection done since 2005 including one completed just four months before the Fern Hollow Bridge collapsed on Jan. 28, 2022. Work was done in 2009 to clear the debris clogging the bridge’s drainage system, b...

Death toll tops 80 after attack in north Nigeria; 7 suspects arrested

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 18:31:57 GMT

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — The death toll from an attack by dozens of gunmen in north central Nigeria’s Plateau state has reached 80, local authorities said Thursday, with survivors still searching for bodies days after the incident.The gunmen targeted several villages in the remote Mangu district of Plateau during the attack that started Monday and lasted till Tuesday, according to residents. Burials continued on Thursday in parts of Mangu located 60 kilometers (37 miles) from Jos, the state capital.The police told The Associated Press seven suspects had been arrested. It was a “situation of sporadic shooting across a vast area of different villages,” said Alabo Alfred, the command spokesman.The security crisis in the north-west and central regions of the country has stifled Nigeria’s development, despite its status as Africa’s largest economy and one of its top oil producers. After decades of conflict, current and former pastoralists from the Fulani tribe took up arms against far...

Will dashboard AM radio be saved? Bipartisan bill would require automakers to keep it in new cars

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 18:31:57 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are pushing to keep AM radio in the nation’s cars.A bipartisan group in Congress on Wednesday introduced the “AM for Every Vehicle Act.” The bill calls on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to require automakers to keep AM radio in new cars at no additional cost.The legislation would also require automakers selling cars manufactured before the proposed regulation takes effect to let buyers know if the vehicles don’t come with AM radios.Supporters of preserving AM radio in cars cite public safety concerns. The bill’s sponsors note AM radio’s historic role in transmitting vital information during emergencies, such as communication during natural disasters, especially to people in rural areas.“Carmakers shouldn’t tune out AM radio in new vehicles or put it behind a costly digital paywall,” Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., one of the bill’s sponsors, said in a statement. He added that the bill aims...

Suspect in fatal stabbing of Cash App founder pleads not guilty

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 18:31:57 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Tech consultant Nima Momeni pleaded not guilty Thursday to a murder charge in the stabbing death of Cash App founder Bob Lee on the streets of San Francisco. Judge Victor Hwang ordered Momeni kept him in jail without bail, saying there was a high probability his release could result in great bodily harm to others. Momeni, who appeared in an orange jumpsuit, did not speak and his attorney Paula Canny entered the plea on his behalf. Lee’s death on April 4 shocked San Francisco’s tech community. He created Cash App, a mobile payment service, and was the chief product officer of the cryptocurrency MobileCoin.He was found outside a condominium building with three stab wounds, including one in the heart, shortly after 2:30 a.m. and was taken to a hospital where he later died. Prosecutors say Momeni, 38, drove Lee to a secluded spot and stabbed him over an apparent dispute related to Momeni’s sister, Khazar Elyassnia. She appeared in court Thursday al...

Buffalo Grove High School mourning loss of 4 students killed in Wheeling crash

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 18:31:57 GMT

BUFFALO GROVE, Ill. — Buffalo Grove High School students and faculty are mourning the loss of four teenagers who were killed in a multi-vehicle crash in Wheeling.Crowds of people gathered Thursday at the growing memorial where the crash happened. Many shared hugs with one another and stories of their classmates who died.The fatal crash happened around 10:20 p.m. Tuesday at the intersection of Dundee and Schoenbeck roads.The victims have been identified as: 16-year-old Jesus Rodriguez, 17-year-old Kevin R. Hernandez-Teran and 18-year-old Richard De-lta of Wheeling, and 17-year-old Ricky Barcenas of Arlington Heights.One student remains hospitalized, according to School District 214.Police said speed and a disregard for traffic signals seem to be the primary factors of the crash. Buffalo Grove High School students killed in Wheeling crash ID’d Brenda Lorenzo’s son Ricky was in the back seat during the crash.“I miss him so much,” Lorenzo said. “It’s so devastating. I just want to see...