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32 killed in an attack in the Abyei region, which is disputed between Sudan and South Sudan

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:30:01 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Heavy fighting Sunday in a disputed region claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan killed at least 32 people, including a U.N. peacekeeper, authorities said.The civilians and a Ghanaian soldier serving with a peacekeeping force died when unknown gunmen attacked two villages in the southern part of the Abyei administrative region, local media reported.A South Sudanese radio station, Eye Radio Juba, quoted Abyei information minister Bolis Kuoch as saying 32 people were killed and 20 others wounded, “but the clashes have now stopped and the situation calmed down.” Inter-communal and cross-border clashes have escalated since South Sudan deployed its troops to the contested territory in March. The peacekeeping mission there condemned the troop deployment, saying it would create “untold suffering and humanitarian concerns” for civilians.International solders were sent to Aleel and Rum Ameer counties as part of the U.N. Interim Security Force for Abyei to help que...

Wilson, Sutton hook up for winning TD as Broncos rally to end Vikings' 5-game winning streak, 21-20

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:30:01 GMT

DENVER (AP) — Courtland Sutton's leaping 15-yard touchdown catch with 1:03 remaining powered the Denver Broncos to a 21-20 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday night, ending the NFL's longest winning streak at five games.The Broncos (5-5) now own the league's longest winning streak at four.Sutton outleapt cornerback Mekhi Blackmon, who had his eyes on an interception of Russell Wilson's high throw. Danielle Hunter's tackle of Javonte Williams on the 2-point try kept the Vikings within a point and needing a field goal to win it.The Broncos' defense — which produced three more takeaways, giving Denver a dozen over its last three games — didn't allow the Vikings to get out of their own side of the field. 7-year-old donating Thanksgiving turkeys to those in need Denver forced Joshua Dobbs into an intentional grounding that brought up fourth-and-25 before Dobbs threw one final incompletion with from the Vikings 21 with 16 seconds left.Dobbs threw for 221 yards and a touchdown a...

Littleton mother prepares to honor her son with 22,000-foot climb

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:30:01 GMT

LITTLETON, Colo. (KDVR)-- A Littleton Mother is preparing to make a powerful journey in honor of her son Jake, a fallen Marine.Krista Meinert and her daughter Randi plan to climb the highest mountain in the western hemisphere, Aconcagua in Argentina. 7-year-old donating Thanksgiving turkeys to those in need "I think the whole thing is about the process," Krista said. Walking a mile in her shoes would give you the kind of perspective most of us couldn't imagine."Losing a child, you can't put words into it."Her son, Jake, was a fire team leader with the Marine Corps was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2010."He stepped on an IED they couldn't get to him right away. So he ended up dying in the helicopter on the way to the hospital," Krista told FOX31.It's a moment Krista said she will never forget. "I saw the two marines coming and I knew, I knew what was about to happen," she said. "I yelled 'Don't open that door' because I didn't want to be told.After Jake's death, Krista we...

Oil industry rides into climate summit bigger than ever

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:30:01 GMT

This article is part of the Road to COP special report, presented by SQM.WASHINGTON — Eight years after Paris, the oil business is bigger than ever.Profits are soaring. Production is climbing — and marking a record year in the United States. The industry is even poised to gain from the crusade to rein in climate pollution, including the billions of dollars in incentives that U.S. President Joe Biden is offering for wind farms, battery minerals and carbon-carrying pipelines.It’s not necessarily the future that appeared to be dawning in 2015, when nations gathered in the French capital to pledge an assault on the fossil fuel pollution that’s warming the planet. But it’s the reality that advocates and governments will confront when the next climate summit dawns Nov. 30 in Dubai’s Expo City, a showpiece of the United Arab Emirates’ petroleum wealth — hammering home the reality that oil and gas producers are thriving, not shrinking, during the era of ambitious green ...

Anti-green backlash hovers over COP climate talks

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:30:01 GMT

This article is part of the Road to COP special report, presented by SQM.LONDON — World leaders will touch down in Dubai next week for a climate change conference they’re billing yet again as the final off-ramp before catastrophe. But war, money squabbles and political headaches back home are already crowding the fate of the planet from the agenda.The breakdown of the Earth’s climate has for decades been the most important yet somehow least urgent of global crises, shoved to one side the moment politicians face a seemingly more acute problem. Even in 2023 — almost certainly the most scorching year in recorded history, with temperatures spawning catastrophic floods, wildfires and heat waves across the globe — the climate effort faces a bewildering array of distractions, headwinds and dismal prospects.“The plans to achieve net zero are increasingly under attack,” former U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May, who set her country’s goal of reaching climate neutrality into ...

They’re talking, but a climate divide between Beijing and Washington remains

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:30:01 GMT

This article is part of the Road to COP special report, presented by SQM.Last week’s surprise deal between China and the United States may provide a boost to the climate talks in Dubai — but the two powers remain at odds on tough questions such as how quickly to shut down coal and who should provide climate aid to developing nations.The world’s top two drivers of climate change are also divided by a thicket of disagreements on trade, security, human rights and economic competition.The good news is that Washington and Beijing are talking to each other again and restarting some of their technical cooperation on climate issues, after a yearlong freeze. That may still not be enough to get nearly 200 nations to commit to far greater climate action at the talks that begin Nov. 30.The two superpowers’ latest detente creates the right “mood music” for the summit, said Alden Meyer, a senior associate at climate think tank E3G. “But it still is not saying that the world’s...

Who’s who at COP28

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:30:01 GMT

This article is part of the Road to COP special report, presented by SQM.The annual U.N. climate summit that starts November 30 has become one of the biggest diplomatic setpieces in the global political calendar. Organizers are expecting more than 70,000 people to descend upon Dubai’s Expo City: activists, billionaires, presidents, Indigenous leaders, business executives, monarchs and diplomats from every corner of the world. A few will hold sway over the outcome of the talks. Some will make noise on behalf of vulnerable ecosystems and island nations. Some are looking to make side deals or burnish their images back home.The world’s two biggest climate decision-makers — U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping — are not expected to show up. But their emissaries will. This is POLITICO’s guide to the most important people to watch. Sultan al-Jaber, the oil man in chargeIs he the least ideal person to lead an international climate conf...

The state of the planet in 10 numbers

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:30:01 GMT

This article is part of the Road to COP special report, presented by SQM.The COP28 climate summit comes at a critical moment for the planet. A summer that toppled heat records left a trail of disasters around the globe. The world may be just six years away from breaching the Paris Agreement’s temperature target of 1.5 degrees Celsius, setting the stage for much worse calamities to come. And governments are cutting their greenhouse gas pollution far too slowly to head off the problem — and haven’t coughed up the billions of dollars they promised to help poorer countries cope with the damage.This year’s summit, which starts on Nov. 30 in Dubai, will conclude the first assessment of what countries have achieved since signing the Paris accord in 2015. The forgone conclusion: They’ve made some progress. But not enough. The real question is what they do in response.To help understand the stakes, here’s a snapshot of the state of the planet — and global climat...

Party like it’s 2010? Rishi Sunak takes UK Tories back to the future

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:30:01 GMT

LONDON — David Cameron called it a “hammock idea” — a policy dreamt up during a lazy summer holiday in 2007 that would electrify his opposition Conservative Party’s ailing fortunes and put him on the path to power.The idea in question was a radical cut to inheritance tax, allowing people to pass on far more wealth to their children whey they die.“It was deeply Conservative, rewarding people who worked hard, saved and wanted to pass something on,” Cameron wrote in his memoir, For the Record.When George Osborne — Cameron’s shadow Chancellor, who devised the policy while on vacation — announced the inheritance tax pledge that fall, it was an instant hit.Prime Minister Gordon Brown was spooked, and cancelled plans for a snap election. His reputation never recovered.The policy, however, wasn’t introduced when Cameron and Osborne won power in 2010, after the 2008 financial crisis blew a huge hole in Britain’s national finances. But 16 years later, Cameron is back in Cabi...

Editorial: In too many schools, a ‘B’ means ‘D’

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:30:01 GMT

Despite widespread griping about the quality of K-12 education, polls consistently show that most parents are happy with the public schools their children attend. Since 2001, Gallup surveys on the topic show an average 76% satisfaction rate for those with kids attending a local campus.This disconnect might be explained by a survey released this week which found that parents are rarely accurately apprised of the academic progress of their children. They’re being deceived.The report, by Gallup and Learning Heroes, revealed that 88% of parents believe their kids are performing at grade level. In reality, testing last year shows that just 36% of American fourth graders and 26% of eighth graders are proficient in reading. Math numbers are similarly dismal.Yet the vast majority of students who perform below grade level still bring home report cards packed with decent grades.“Grades are the holy grail,” Bibb Hubbard, founder and president of Learning Heroes, told The Associated Press. “The...