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South Korean opposition leader attends court hearing on arrest warrant for alleged corruption

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:39:34 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Coming off a 24-day hunger strike, South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung appeared in front of a judge on Tuesday who will decide whether he will be arrested on broad corruption allegations.Walking slowly with a cane, Lee, a former presidential candidate, refused to answer questions from reporters as he arrived at Seoul Central District Court for a hearing on prosecutors’ request for an arrest warrant. Despite a light rain, hundreds of Lee’s supporters and critics occupied separate streets near the court amidst a heavy police presence, holding dueling signs reading “Stop the prosecution’s manipulated investigation” and “Arrest Lee Jae-myung.”In an unexpected outcome last week, the opposition-controlled National Assembly voted to lift Lee’s immunity to arrest, reflecting growing divisions within his liberal Democratic Party over his legal problems months ahead of a general election.The court is expected to decide by late Tuesday or early Wednesda...

Colombian club president shot dead after match

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:39:34 GMT

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombian second division club Tigres FC has announced its president, Edgar Paez, was fatally shot after his team’s loss on Saturday night.According to local media reports, the 63-year-old Paez was driving home with his daughter after a home loss to Atletico FC when he was shot by two men on a motorbike close to Tigres’ Metropolitano de Techo stadium in Bogota. His daughter was uninjured in the attack and prosecutors have an investigation into the murder underway.“The Tigres family and the sporting community are devastated by this event,” the club said in a statement that was posted to X, formerly known as Twitter. “His commitment to the team and his dedication to the development of the sport in our region left an indelible mark on all who had the privilege of knowing him.”The Colombian Football Federation also extended its condolences to Paez’s family and team in a statement.“The Colombian Football Federation and its Executive Committee mourn the...

Powerball jackpot climbs to $835 million after no one overcomes awful odds to win top prize

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:39:34 GMT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Powerball jackpot climbed to an estimated $835 million after no one beat the immense odds Monday night and won the top prize.The winning numbers were: 10, 12, 22, 36, 50 and 4.With the latest bit of lottery losing, there now have been 29 consecutive drawings without a jackpot winner, dating back to July 19 when a player in California won $1.08 billion.That winless streak is due to the miserable odds of winning the Powerball jackpot, at 1 in 292.2 million. It’s those long, long odds that result in such large top prizes, as they cause the jackpot to roll over week after week.Three people in Florida and one person in Oregon matched five numbers to win $1 million.The new jackpot is one of the largest in the world, behind grand prizes in the Powerball and Mega Millions games that all topped $1 billion. The biggest jackpot was a $2.04 billion Powerball prize won in November 2022 in California.Although the game highlights the $835 million prize, that is for a wi...

Writers strike is not over yet with key votes remaining on deal

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:39:34 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The deal is made, the pickets have been suspended, and Hollywood’s writers are on the verge of getting back to work after months on strike. Actors, meanwhile, wait in the wings for their own resolution.Crucial steps remain for the writers, who technically remain on strike, and for other workers awaiting a return to production of new shows. The next phase comes Tuesday, when the governing boards of the two branches of the Writers Guild of America are expected to vote on the tentative agreement reached by union negotiators with Hollywood studios.Following the approval from the boards — which is likely — comes a vote from the writers themselves, whose timing is uncertain. The guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents studios, streaming services and production companies in the negotiations, were still finalizing language Monday on their agreement.That could prompt a delay of Tuesday’s voting and has kept union lead...

America’s poor math skills raise alarms over global competitiveness

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:39:34 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — Like a lot of high school students, Kevin Tran loves superheroes, though perhaps for different reasons than his classmates.“They’re all insanely smart. In their regular jobs they’re engineers, they’re scientists,” said Tran, 17. “And you can’t do any of those things without math.” Tran also loves math. This summer, he studied calculus five hours a day with other high schoolers in a program at Northeastern University. But Tran and his friends are not the norm. Many Americans joke about how bad they are at math, and already abysmal scores on standardized math tests are falling even further. The nation needs people who are good at math, employers say, in the same way motion picture mortals need superheroes. They say America’s poor math performance isn’t funny. It’s a threat to the nation’s global economic competitiveness and national security.___The Education Reporting Collaborative, a coalition of eight newsrooms, is documenting the math crisis facing schools and highlig...

PBS boasts slate of new shows unaffected by strikes, which it hopes will draw viewers in

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:39:34 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — PBS was looking forward to a relatively free lane to offer fresh television to viewers downtrodden by the Hollywood strikes this fall, but that advantage may only last a couple of months now.A tentative deal reached late Sunday in the crippling TV writers strike, with hopes that actors would soon follow suit, has given rise to hopes that new episodes of favorite scripted shows might return sometime this winter.With commercial networks largely bereft of fresh material beyond reality shows, sports and game shows, PBS has a fall schedule of new programming, including a heavy dose of nonfiction, led by Ken Burns’ look at “The American Buffalo.”“I have to believe that people are looking for new stuff,” said Paula Kerger, CEO of the Public Broadcasting Service.PBS’ plans were virtually unaffected by the strike. One exception is a delay making “American Historia,” a three-part documentary series helmed by actor John Leguizamo about Latino figures in history, Ker...

Leaf-peeping influencers are clogging a Vermont backroad. The town is closing it

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:39:34 GMT

POMFRET, Vt. (AP) — Social media influencers take note: You won’t be able to snap that fall foliage selfie at a popular Vermont spot. The town has temporarily closed the road to nonresidents due to overcrowding and “poorly behaved tourists.” The normally quiet dirt road from Pomfret to Woodstock, home to the frequently photographed Sleepy Hollow Farm, will be open only to residents through mid-October. And local law enforcement plans to enforce it. In recent years, social media users and photographers have clogged the narrow road for selfies and fall foliage shots of the scenic private property, drawn by its colorful hillside trees, the barn and classic New England home.Locals say they understand the lure of the beautiful leaves and landscape, but say some visitors have gone too far: blocking traffic with their parked vehicles, obstructing access for residents and emergency vehicles, as well as picnicking and even relieving themselves on private land surrounding th...

South Korea’s Yoon calls for a strong military amid deepening North Korean-Russian ties

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:39:34 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s president on Tuesday urged his troops to build an “unwavering military spirt” and train harder, as he used an Armed Forces Day speech to vow immediate retaliation against any potential provocation by North Korea.President Yoon Suk Yeol’s speech came amid growing concern that North Korea is pushing to acquire Russian support to boost its nuclear arsenal in return for refilling Russia’s conventional arms stores exhausted by its war with Ukraine.“Above all, the cornerstone of our robust national defense lies in your unwavering military spirit, strong commitment, and a clear definition of who your enemies are,” Yoon said to troops during the Armed Forces Day ceremony, after reviewing soldiers and weapons systems at a military airport near Seoul.“I strongly urge you to train hard every day with the discipline demanded in real combat situations,” Yoon said.Yoon called North Korea’s advancing nuclear program “an existential threat to our people,̶...

Donald Trump, skipping GOP debate, eyes California delegate sweep in the state he loves to hate

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:39:34 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Few corners of the U.S. may be less hospitable to Donald Trump than California, where he lost by more than 5 million votes in the 2020 election. But as the former president seeks to return to the White House, the liberal bastion may give him an unlikely boost.A state GOP rule change has opened the possibility that Trump could sweep each of the state’s 169 delegates on March 5, when California is among more than a dozen states participating in the so-called Super Tuesday contests. With Trump already leading his rivals in many state and national polls, a dominant performance in California could move him much closer to the GOP nomination.“This race is quickly consolidating,” said GOP fundraiser Charles Moran, a Trump delegate in 2016 and 2020. With a win in California, he added, “I truly think Trump could take the nomination on Super Tuesday — then this is over.”With less than four months before the Iowa caucuses officially kick off the GOP nomination process, the dy...

As Gen. Milley steps down as chairman, his work on Ukraine is just one part of a complicated legacy

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:39:34 GMT

OSLO, Norway (AP) — On a frigid U.S. air base in Germany, the top U.S. military officer was in his element. Striding along the training area in his fatigues, Army Gen. Mark Milley bellowed at the Ukrainian troops gathered around him.“Slava Ukraini!” he hollered, again and again, the “glory to Ukraine” battle cry. A bit nervously, the Ukrainians shouted back the traditional response, “Heroyam slava,” meaning glory to the heroes.It was a classic scene of a powerful general rallying the troops, but one that would have made Biden administration officials wince. They’ve consistently stressed that this is Ukraine’s war, not America’s, as they fear further escalating tensions with Moscow.But Milley can’t help himself when he is in battle mode. He yelled encouragement and bantered with the soldiers as they learned how to use American weapons. Soon they’ll be back on the front lines fighting the Russians, he told them, so they’ll need to fight hard and use what they h...