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Eastern Libyan authorities round up thousands in crackdown on migrants

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:49:48 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — Libyan authorities rounded up thousands of mostly Egyptian migrants and amassed them at the border, activists said Saturday, as Libya continued its crackdown on migrants.The migrants were detained in raids over the past two days on trafficking warehouses in the border town of Musaid and other areas in eastern Libya, said Tarik Lamloum, an activist with the Belaady Organization for Human Rights.Libya is the dominant transit point for migrants from Africa and the Middle East trying to make it to Europe. The country plunged into chaos following a NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed longtime autocrat Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. Oil-rich Libya has been ruled for most of the past decade by rival governments in eastern and western Libya, each backed by an array of militias and foreign governments.Human traffickers have benefited from the chaos in Libya and smuggled migrants through the country’s lengthy border with six nations. They then pack desperate migrants seeking a...

3 Israeli soldiers, Egyptian officer killed in gunbattle at the border

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:49:48 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — A gunbattle involving an Egyptian border guard in southern Israel along the border left three Israeli soldiers and the Egyptian officer dead Saturday, officials said. It was a rare instance of deadly violence along the frontier.Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, an Israeli army spokesperson, said the fighting began overnight when soldiers thwarted a drug-smuggling attempt across the border.He said several hours later, two soldiers in a guard post were shot and killed. Their bodies were found after the shooting, when they did not respond to radio communications.Hecht said the killings appeared to be connected to the thwarted drug smuggling attempt. The army said the Egyptian border guard was killed in a second exchange of fire in which a third Israeli soldier was killed. The Egyptian military said an Egyptian border guard crossed the border security barrier and exchanged fire with Israeli forces while he was chasing drug traffickers. It said in a statement that the Egyptian bor...

India’s deadly train crash renews questions over safety as government pushes railway upgrade

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:49:48 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s prime minister had been scheduled to inaugurate an electrical semi-high-speed train equipped with a safety feature — another step in the modernization of an antiquated railway that is the lifeline of the world’s most populous nation. Instead on Saturday, Narendra Modi traveled to eastern Odisha state to deal with one of the country’s worst train disasters that left over 280 dead and hundreds injured. The massive derailment on Friday night involving two passenger trains is a stark reminder of safety issues that continue to challenge the vast railway system that transports nearly 22 million passengers each day. India, a country of 1.42 billion people, has one of the world’s most extensive and complicated railways built during the British colonial era: more than 40,000 miles (64,000 kilometers) of tracks, 14,000 passenger trains and 8,000 stations. Spread across the country from the Himalayas in the north to the beaches in the south, it is also a sy...

Man wanted in unprovoked violent attack aboard TTC bus in Scarborough

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:49:48 GMT

Police are searching for a man in connection with a violent assault aboard a TTC bus in Scarborough.Investigators say just after 7:30 a.m. on June 2 the victim was travelling eastbound on the 85 Sheppard East bus, standing by the front doors as the bus approached Kennedy Road. It’s then that police allege a man who had been sitting by the back door exit came up to the front and attacked the victim without provocation, putting them in a choke hold. The man then got off the bus and fled south on Kennedy Road. He’s described as being between 30 and 40 years of age with a black beard. He was last seen wearing a white tank top, khaki cargo shorts and black shoes.

Trump-appointed federal judge rejects Tennessee’s anti-drag law as too broad, too vague

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:49:48 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A federal judge says Tennessee’s first-in-the-nation law designed to place strict limits on drag shows is unconstitutional. In a 70-page ruling handed down late Friday night, U.S. District Judge Thomas Parker wrote that the law was both “unconstitutionally vague and substantially overbroad.” He also added that the statute encouraged “discriminatory enforcement.”“There is no question that obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment. But there is a difference between material that is ‘obscene’ in the vernacular, and material that is ‘obscene’ under the law,” stated Parker, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump. “Simply put, no majority of the Supreme Court has held that sexually explicit — but not obscene — speech receives less protection than political, artistic, or scientific speech.”The Memphis-based Friends of George’s filed the complaint in March, saying the law would negatively impact them because they produce “drag-centric perfor...

Inuit, environmental groups praise cruises for agreeing to avoid Eclipse Sound

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:49:48 GMT

POND INLET, Nunavut — A marine conservation charity and Inuit hunters are praising cruise operators for agreeing to avoid a Nunavut waterway where thousands of narwhal migrate each summer. The Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators recently said its members’ ships would not travel through Eclipse Sound this summer and instead go through the Pond Inlet strait. Oceans North and the Mittimatalik Hunters and Trappers Organization had requested the move as numbers of summering narwhal in the area off the northeastern coast of Baffin Island have decreased, which they say is due to increased shipping traffic. “Narwhal continue to decline in our area and have not bounced back to historical numbers as we had hoped,” David Qamaniq, chair of the hunters and trappers organization, said in a news release. “We thank the cruise ship operators for working with us this year to protect the animals that remain.”Aerial surveys have shown a drop in the number of narwha...

Which states buy the most American cars?

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:49:48 GMT

(iSeeCars) -- Buying an American car has long been considered an act of patriotism, although the definition of buying American has become increasingly blurred. There are cars with American nameplates like Buick that are manufactured overseas, while some Volkswagens and Toyotas are assembled in the United States. However, buying a domestic brand versus a foreign one can still signal a sense of pride among proud Americans, even if being made in America isn’t exclusive to American brands.To determine which states favor domestic auto brands, iSeeCars analyzed 200,000 car sales to rank each state by their percentage share of cars with domestic nameplates.States with the Most American VehiclesRankState% American1Michigan76.6%2North Dakota69.4%3Wyoming69.3%4South Dakota68.6%5Iowa66.6%6Montana63.9%7Wisconsin60.1%8Nebraska59.7%9Kansas58.2%10Alaska56.5%11Indiana56.2%12Arkansas56.2%13Missouri55.4%14West Virginia54.9%15Kentucky54.6%16Minnesota54.4%17Ohio53.4%18Idaho53.3%19Maine52.6%20New Mexico...

Military, tech experts raise concerns about AI weaponization: 'We have to be very concerned'

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:49:48 GMT

(NewsNation) – The speed at which artificial intelligence (AI) is developing and its vast array of capabilities have legislators wondering how much the advanced tech is capable of doing. “It really takes me back to the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, and nuclear physics. We knew right away nuclear physics could build energy," said Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., who serves on the Homeland Security Committee. “But we also knew it could turn into atom bombs.” ‘Pivotal moment’: Department of Homeland Security launches AI task force Marshall is one of many lawmakers to tell NewsNation that rapid development of AI technology is inevitable but that Congress should put guardrails in place to ensure it is not misused. “We have to be very concerned with what we talked about, which is the unintended consequences,” said retired Air Force Maj. Gen. William Enyart. The voices of caution come as reports have surfaced of the military dabbling with the idea of scenarios in which AI-powered drones are weaponize...

Weekend Break at Urban Pooch on NW side

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:49:48 GMT

Check out Marcella Raymond in this episode of Weekend Break where she visits a canine life center, Urban Pooch, on the Northwest Side.Love the WGN Morning News? We love you, too. And you can have all the hijinks delivered to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign up and subscribe to our WGN Morning News newsletter.

Giants player makes history with 100th 'Splash Hit' home run

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:49:48 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – It took 23 seasons, but the San Francisco Giants recorded their 100th "Splash Hit" home run on Friday. Giants first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr. homered on the first pitch of the bottom of the first inning against the Baltimore Orioles, sending the ball over the right field wall and squarely into McCovey Cove, in the San Francisco Bay. It was the 100th time a Giant earned a so-called "Splash Hit" over the last few decades.Despite the historic homer, the Giants lost to the Orioles 3-2 on Friday. No charges against Rendon for altercation with A’s fan Since the opening of Oracle Park in 2000, it has been a tradition for fans and kayakers to hang out in McCovey Cove, hoping to get lucky and go home with a ball. The lucky fan who secured Friday's Splash Hit obviously made the broadcast, appearing overwhelmed as he sat in his kayak.Boaters and fans congregate in McCovey Cove during a game on October 27, 2010, at the then-AT&T Park in San Francisco, California. (P...