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Report: 43,000 estimated dead in Somalia drought last year

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:48 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A new report says an estimated 43,000 people died amid the longest drought on record in Somalia last year and half of them likely were children.It is the first official death toll announced in the drought withering large parts of the Horn of Africa.At least 18,000 people are forecast to die in the first six months of this year.“The current crisis is far from over,” says the report released Monday by the World Health Organization and the United Nations children’s agency and carried out by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.Somalia and neighboring Ethiopia and Kenya are facing a sixth consecutive failed rainy season.The U.N. and partners earlier this year said they were no longer forecasting a formal famine declaration for Somalia but called the situation “extremely critical” with more than 6 million people hungry in that country alone.Cara Anna, The Associated Press

Israeli govt drives ahead with judicial plan despite outcry

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:48 GMT

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A firebrand Israeli minister claimed there’s “no such thing” as a Palestinian people as Israel’s new coalition government, its most hard-line ever, plowed ahead on Monday with a part of its plan to overhaul the judiciary. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition said it was pushing a key part of the overhaul — which would give the coalition control over who becomes a justice or a judge — before the parliament takes a monthlong holiday break next week.The development came a day after an Israeli and Palestinian delegation at a meeting in Egypt, mediated by Egyptian, Jordanian and U.S. officials, pledged to take steps to lower tensions roiling the region ahead of a sensitive holiday season.It reflected the limited influence the Biden administration appears to have over Israel’s new far-right government and raised questions about attempts to lower tensions, both inside Israel and with the Palestinians, ahead of a sensitive holiday season.As the negotia...

Biden’s appeals court nominee faces rare Democratic scrutiny

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:48 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — One of President Joe Biden’s nominees to a federal appeals court has generated rare concern from some Democrats and outside groups over his signature on a legal brief defending a parental notification law in New Hampshire, injecting the issue of abortion into his confirmation fight from an unexpected flank.Michael Delaney, nominated for the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Boston, said in written testimony to senators that he did not write the 2005 brief and otherwise had “extremely limited involvement” in the case that was brought while he was deputy attorney general in New Hampshire. But the signing of the brief, along with 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, is complicating a confirmation fight in which the White House has little room for error. The close attention on an abortion case also shows how stakes are ever-higher in a pos...

Report: 3 people dead, suspect detained in Georgia shooting

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:48 GMT

CONYERS, Ga. (AP) — Three people are dead in what authorities said was a shooting in an Atlanta-area home early Monday, according to a news report.The Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office received a report of gunshots at 12:10 a.m. in the Honey Creek Country Club neighborhood of Conyers, Georgia, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) east of Atlanta, WSB-TV reported.Deputies arrived and found three people who had been shot. The victims, who were not immediately identified, were pronounced dead at the scene.A suspect who was not immediately identified was in custody and an investigation was ongoing early Monday, WSB-TV reported.The Associated Press

Credit Suisse, UBS shares plunge after takeover announcement

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:48 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — Shares of Credit Suisse plunged 63% in early trading Monday after the announcement that banking giant UBS would buy its troubled rival for almost $3.25 billion in a deal orchestrated by regulators to stave off further market-shaking turmoil in the global banking system. UBS shares were down 14% in early trading on the Swiss stock exchange.Swiss authorities urged UBS to take over its smaller rival after a plan for Credit Suisse to borrow up to 50 billion francs ($54 billion) failed to reassure investors and the bank’s customers. Shares of Credit Suisse and other banks plunged after the failure of two banks in the U.S. raised questions about other potentially shaky global financial institutions. Credit Suisse is among 30 financial institutions known as globally systemically important banks, and authorities worried about the fallout if it were to fail.The deal was “one of great breadth for the stability of international finance,” Swiss President Alain Berset said as...

Thai Parliament dissolved, general election set for May

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:48 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s Parliament was dissolved Monday by a government decree, setting the stage for a May general election, which has the potential to lessen the military’s influence in politics.The dissolution, just a few days before the end of the four-year term of the House of Representatives, was initiated by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who is seeking a fresh mandate in the vote provisionally set for May 7. The election will pit the heavily favored opposition Pheu Thai party, backed by billionaire populist Thaksin Shinawatra, against parties representing the conservative establishment, spearheaded by the military.The leading Pheu Thai candidate is Thaksin’s daughter, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who is heavily favored in opinion polls. If elected, she would be the third member of the Shinawatra family to be prime minister in the past two decades. Her father held office in 2001-2006, and Thaksin’s sister Yingluck in 2011-2014. Both of them were toppled by military coup...

Australia won’t promise to side with US in Taiwan conflict

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:48 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The Australian defense minister says his country has made no promises to the United States that Australia would support its ally in any future conflict over Taiwan in exchange for American nuclear-powered submarines.U.S. President Joe Biden and the leaders of Australia and the United Kingdom announced in San Diego last week that Australia would purchase nuclear-powered attack submarines from the U.S. to modernize its fleet amid growing concern about China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific.Australian critics of the deal argue that the United States would not hand over as many as five of its Virginia-class submarines without assurances that they would be made available in the event of a conflict with China over Taiwan. Beijing says the self-ruled island democracy, which split with China in 1949 after a civil war, is obliged to unite with the mainland, by force if necessary. But Defense Minister Richard Marles said his government had given the United States no ...

Trump's call for protests sees muted reaction from supporters

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:48 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump’s calls for protests ahead of his anticipated indictment in New York have generated mostly muted reactions from supporters, with even some of his most ardent loyalists dismissing the idea as a waste of time or a law enforcement trap.The ambivalence raises questions about whether Trump, though a leading Republican contender in the 2024 presidential race who retains a devoted following, still has the power to mobilize far-right supporters the way he did more than two years ago before the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. It also suggests that the hundreds of arrests that followed the Capitol riot, not to mention the convictions and long prison sentences, may have dampened the desire for repeat mass unrest. Cohen: Trump will ‘absolutely’ take mugshot, be fingerprinted if arrested Still, law enforcement in New York is continuing to closely monitor online chatter warning of protests and violence if Trump is arreste...

APD opens homicide investigation after man found following house fire

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:48 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin Police launched a homicide investigation Sunday night after a man died following a Sunday night house fire.According to APD, 911 got a call at 10:53 p.m. about someone trapped in a house that was on fire in the 9000 block of Meridian Oaks Lane. That is just east of Interstate 35 and west of Slaughter Lane. APD says police and fire crews arrived at 11 p.m. and were able to put the fire out. While searching the home, APD says AFD crews found a man in his 30s with "obvious signs of trauma incompatible with life" and was pronounced dead at the scene. Austin Police say another man was inside the home at the time of the fire. APD says that man called 911. Police believe the second man is a witness and they say he is not in custody. According to police, that man is doing okay and is talking to investigators.APD is investigating this as Austin's 18th homicide of the year.

GasBuddy: Albany prices drop after slight increase

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:48 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Average gasoline prices in Albany have fallen 3.0 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.46/g on Monday, March 20, according to GasBuddy's survey of 546 stations in Albany. Prices in Albany are 5.7 cents per gallon lower than a month ago and stand 83.7 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has fallen 5.6 cents in the last week and stands at $4.25 per gallon. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! According to GasBuddy price reports, the cheapest station in Albany was priced at $3.03/g on Sunday while the most expensive was $3.71/g, a difference of 68.0 cents per gallon. The lowest price in the state Sunday was $2.34/g while the highest was $4.29/g, a difference of $1.95/g.The national average price of gasoline has fallen 4.2 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.40/g on Monday. The national average is up 4.3 cents per gallon from a month ago and st...