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Fire in Vietnam’s capital kills at least 56 when it engulfs an apartment building

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:01:56 GMT

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — A fire in a nine-story apartment building in Vietnam’s capital killed at least 56 people, including at least four children, and injured at least 37, authorities said WednesdayThe fire started just before midnight Tuesday in a building housing about 150 residents. Firefighters contained the blaze, but the building’s location at end of a narrow alley made rescue operations difficult. Dozens of people remained trapped in the building until after dawn, state media reports said. Of the 56 people confirmed dead, the police have identified 39 victims, the state-owned Viet Nam News said Wednesday evening, citing Hanoi police. State-owned national television channel VTV said four children were among those killed. Initial reports about the death toll were unclear since the injured and dead were taken to different hospitals across the city.Many of the dozens being treated at hospitals suffered from smoke inhalation and injuries sustained during desperate attempts to...

Woman with whom Texas AG Ken Paxton is said to have had an affair expected to testify at impeachment

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:01:56 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A woman with whom Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s staff say he carried on an extramarital affair is expected to testify in the Republican’s impeachment trial Wednesday.The bipartisan group of lawmakers prosecuting Paxton’s impeachment called the woman, Laura Olson, on Wednesday morning. But Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who is acting as the judge over the trial in the Texas Senate, said she cannot testify until the afternoon because of the procedural rules.Paxton’s affair has taken a central role in the historic proceeding, with several of his former senior employees testifying they believed it explained why Paxton was using his office to aid a wealthy donor who employed the woman.Olsen will take the witness stand in the Texas Senate across from Paxton’s wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, who is attending the trial but is not allowed to vote on whether her husband should be removed from office. Ken Paxton, however, has not attended most of the proceed...

Extortion trial against Joran van der Sloot, suspect in Natalee Holloway disappearance, is delayed

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:01:56 GMT

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — A federal judge agreed to delay Joran van der Sloot’s trial on extortion charges until later this year in order to give his defense more time to prepare.Van der Sloot, the chief suspect in the 2005 disappearance of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway, is charged with trying to extort money from the missing teen’s mother in exchange for revealing where to find her daughter’s remains.U.S. Magistrate Judge Gray Borden on Tuesday granted van der Sloot’s request to postpone the trial, which will now occur sometime after Dec. 4.Van der Sloot’s attorney Kevin Butler had asked for the continuance from the October trial docket to give more time to “review the discovery, investigate this case, and prepare for trial.” Federal prosecutors did not oppose the request. The trial date will be set by a separate order by a district judge.“Given the defendant’s need to adequately prepare his defense and to make an informed decision on whether to enter a guilty plea or...

iPhone 12 emits too much radiation and Apple must take it off the market, French agency says

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:01:56 GMT

A government watchdog agency in France has ordered Apple to withdraw the iPhone 12 from the French market, saying it emits levels of electromagnetic radiation that are too high.The National Frequency Agency, which oversees radio-electric frequencies as well as public exposure to electromagnetic radiation, called on Apple in a statement Tuesday to “implement all available means to rapidly fix this malfunction” for phones already being used.Corrective updates to the iPhone 12 will be monitored by the agency, and if they don’t work, “Apple will have to recall” phones that have already been sold, according to the French regulator’s statement.Apple disputed the findings and said the device complies with all regulations governing radiation.The agency, which is known by the French acronym ANFR, said it recently checked 141 cellphones, including the iPhone 12, for electromagnetic waves capable of being absorbed by the body.It said it found a level of elec...

HBCU coalition receives $124M gift from nonprofit funder Blue Meridian Partners

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:01:56 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The HBCU Transformation Project, a coalition of 40 historically Black colleges and universities, on Wednesday announced a $124 million gift from philanthropic funders Blue Meridian Partners to increase enrollment, graduation rates and employment rates for the schools’ graduates. Michael Lomax, president and CEO of UNCF, which is acting as an intermediary overseeing the funding, called the donation a vote of confidence in the coalition, which includes public and private schools. “This very significantly scaled grant from them signals to the philanthropic community that this is a really good investment to make,” he said of the Blue Meridian gift.The donation will expand the work of the project, which has already received $75 million from Blue Meridian Partners since 2020. Part of those funds arrived at the start of the pandemic to help participating HBCUs cover their operating costs when the schools had to close. UNCF, the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF), a...

Palestinian politicians lash out at renowned academics who denounced president’s antisemitic remarks

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:01:56 GMT

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Palestinian politicians on Wednesday raged against dozens of Palestinian academics who had criticized President Mahmoud Abbas’ recent remarks on the Holocaust that drew widespread accusations of antisemitism.They lambasted the open letter signed earlier this week by over a hundred Palestinian academics, activists and artists based around the world as “the statement of shame.” The well-respected writers and thinkers had released the letter after footage surfaced that showed Abbas asserting European Jews were persecuted by Hitler because of what he described as their “social functions” and predatory lending practices, rather than their religion or ethnicity.“Their statement is consistent with the Zionist narrative and its signatories give credence to the enemies of the Palestinian people,” said the secular nationalist Fatah party that runs the Palestinian Authority. Fatah officials called the signatories “mouthpieces for the occupatio...

Escaped murderer Danelo Cavalcante has been arrested after 2 weeks on the run in Pennsylvania

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:01:56 GMT

POTTSTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Escaped murderer Danelo Souza Cavalcante was captured Wednesday after eluding hundreds of searchers for two weeks, a conclusion that relieved residents of southeastern Pennsylvania who had endured sleepless nights as he hid in the woods, broke into suburban homes for food, changed his appearance, and fled under gunfire with a rifle pilfered from a garage, authorities said.Cavalcante’s heat signal was picked up around 1 a.m. from an aircraft, but storms prevented teams from continuing to track him until the morning, Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens said. In the meantime, tactical teams secured the area, and later moved in with search dogs, Bivens said at a news conference.“The were able to move in very quietly. They had the element of surprise,” Bivens said. “Cavalcante did not realize he was surrounded until that had occurred.”Cavalcante — still armed with the rifle — tried to escape by crawling through thick underbrush, Bivens said, and h...

Rwanda will host a company’s 1st small-scale nuclear reactor testing carbon-free energy approach

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:01:56 GMT

KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — Rwanda’s atomic energy board says it has signed a deal with a Canadian-German company to build its first small-scale nuclear reactor to test what the company asserts is a new nuclear fission approach in one of the world’s most densely populated countries.Rwandan officials said Tuesday that the reactor won’t produce any electricity for the country’s grid. Instead, it will explore the technology developed by Dual Fluid Energy Inc. to address the need for cleaner sources of energy.If all goes well, officials said, Rwanda and the company could set up a production line of such reactors in the central African nation as the country turns to nuclear power to help meet growing energy needs and adapt to climate change. Much of the country’s electricity comes from hydropower and diesel plants, according to the Rwanda Energy Group, and only about 68% of people have access to electricity.Dual Fluid Energy, founded in Canada in 2021, is one of more than 20 small ...

WATCH LIVE | AJ Freund death, DCFS workers trial day 3

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:01:56 GMT

MCHENRY COUNTY, Ill. — The trial for two former Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) workers accused of child endangerment enters its third day Wednesday.The multiple felony charges filed in Sept. 2020 against Andrew Polovin and Carlos Acosta stem from the April 2019 death of five-year-old Andrew “AJ” Freund of Crystal Lake. They are accused of having known Freund’s life was in danger four months earlier yet not taking action. Previous Coverage: Nearly 20 police reports can be used in AJ Freund DCFS trial The bench trial began on Monday with the McHenry County State’s Attorney providing an opening statement for the prosecution, and separate attorneys providing statements for each of the defendants. Tuesday's proceedings were occupied entirely by the state's fourth witness, Carol Ruzicka. Ruzicka is a retired DCFS regional administrator who testified for the prosecution as an expert in regard to DCFS procedures.Ruzicka will return to the stand Wednesday ...

Chicago police investigate string of burglaries at smoke shops, dispensary

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:01:56 GMT

CHICAGO — Chicago police are searching for the suspects who targeted smoke shops and a dispensary during a string of burglaries on the West and Northwest sides.According to authorities, the offenders were traveling in a white Kia SUV.Police said the first burglary happened just after 11 p.m. Tuesday on the 5600 block of West Roosevelt. Three males exited a Kia SUV and shattered a glass door to enter a retail shop. The suspects got away with a cash drawer and merchandise.Another incident happened just before 1 a.m. Wednesday on the 600 block of West Roosevelt at a dispensary. Police said two males got out of a Kia SUV and broke into the building and stole merchandise. Around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, police said three offenders targeted another retail shop on the 2400 block of North Milwaukee Avenue. Surveillance video captures the suspects stealing a cash drawer and a safe, wearing hoodies and exiting a white Kia SUV. 2 men stabbed multiple times, 1 fatally, inside apartment on Northwe...