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Wildfires in Algeria kill at least 34 and injure hundreds but 80% now extinguished, officials say

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:13:59 GMT

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — Fires raging through forests, mountain villages and towns in northern Algeria have left at least 34 people dead, with 23 of them in the coastal region of Bejaia, according to authorities and a local radio station keeping track of the grim toll.The blazes were being drastically curtailed. The Interior Ministry said Tuesday that 80% of the fires, which started Sunday, had been put out, the daily El Watan newspaper reported. A ministry statement quoted by the paper credited uninterrupted mobilization of firefighters, the use of firefighting aircraft and a drop in wind and in temperatures. Among those killed in hard-hit Bejaia were 10 soldiers encircled by flames during an evacuation, the Defense Ministry reported Monday night.In neighboring Tunisia, the official TAP news agency reported one death, a school principal who died of asphyxiation from a fire in Nafza, in the northwest. That was one of several areas in Tunisia’s northwest where firefighters battl...

Marine veteran freed from Russia in 2022 prisoner swap is injured while fighting in Ukraine, US says

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:13:59 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A former U.S. Marine who was released from Russia in a prisoner swap last year has been injured while fighting in Ukraine, the State Department said Tuesday.Trevor Reed was injured several weeks ago, according to a person familiar with the matter, who was not authorized to discuss the matter by name and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. He has been taken to Germany for medical care, said State Department spokesman Vedant Patel.“I want to be explicitly clear about something. Mr. Reed was not engaged in any activities on behalf of the US government,” Patel said in a statement. “And as I indicated, we have been incredibly clear warning American citizens, American nationals, not to travel to Ukraine, let alone participate in fighting. As you know, we are not in a place to provide assistance to evacuate private US citizens from Ukraine, including those Americans who may decide to travel to Ukraine to participate in fighting.”Reed was r...

A judge blocks limits on asylum at US-Mexico border but gives Biden administration time to appeal

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:13:59 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday blocked a rule that allows immigration authorities to deny asylum to migrants who arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border without first applying online or seeking protection in a country they passed through. But the judge delayed his ruling from taking effect immediately to give the administration time to appeal. The order from U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar of the Northern District of California takes away a key enforcement tool set in place by the Biden administration as coronavirus-based restrictions on asylum expired in May. The use of a rule known as Title 42 allowed the U.S. to expel millions of people starting in early 2020 on the grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19.The new rule imposed severe limitations on migrants seeking asylum. It included room for exceptions and did not apply to children traveling alone. Tigar’s order will not take effect for two weeks.Immigrant rights groups that sued argued it was a violation of U.S....

Plane fighting Greek island wildfire crashes killing both pilots, as Italian blaze claims 2 lives

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:13:59 GMT

RHODES, Greece (AP) — A Greek air force water-dropping plane crashed while diving into a wildfire in southern Greece on Tuesday, killing both pilots, as authorities battled blazes that have been raging for days across the country amid a return of heat wave temperatures.Summer wildfires blamed on climate change have also struck other Mediterranean countries, leaving at least 34 people dead in Algeria and two people dead in southern Italy Tuesday.A state ERT TV video showed the bright yellow CL-215 aircraft releasing its load of water on the island of Evia before its wingtip apparently snagged in a tree branch. Moments later it disappeared into a deep fold in the ground from which a fireball erupted.The air force said the pilots, aged 34 and 27, both died in the crash. The plane had no ejection system.Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis cancelled a planned visit to Cyprus for Wednesday, and Greece’s armed forces declared three days of mourning.“They offered their lives to save lives,” ...

Jury delivers verdict over Brussels extremist attacks that killed 32

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:13:59 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — A jury on Tuesday found six people guilty of terrorist murder for extremist attacks in 2016 that killed 32 people, Belgium’s worst peacetime violence, according to Belgian media.Among those convicted was Salah Abdeslam, who is already serving a life sentence in France for his role in the 2015 attacks on Paris. Both the Brussels and Paris attacks were claimed by the Islamic State group.The verdict was reported by public broadcaster RTBF, newspaper Le Soir and news websites HLN and Nieuwsblad.The 12-person jury is reading out the verdict after nearly three weeks of deliberation. Terrorist murder was among various charges suspects were facing. Sentencing will be decided in a separate process, not before September. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. The following is AP’s previous story. A jury is expected to issue a verdict Tuesday over Belgium’s deadliest peacetime attack, suicide bombings at the Brussels airport and a busy subway station in 2016 that killed 32 peopl...

Education Department opens investigation into Harvard’s legacy admissions

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:13:59 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — The U.S. Department of Education has opened an investigation into Harvard University’s policies on legacy admissions, which give an edge to applicants with family ties to alumni. Top colleges’ preferential treatment of children of alumni has been facing new scrutiny since the Supreme Court last month struck down the use of affirmative action as a tool to diversify college campuses. The department notified Lawyers for Civil Rights, a nonprofit based in Boston, on Monday that it was investigating the group’s claim that alleges the university “discriminates on the basis of race by using donor and legacy preferences in its undergraduate admissions process.”An Education Department spokesperson confirmed its Office for Civil Rights has opened an investigation at Harvard and declined further comment.The complaint was filed July 3 on behalf of Black and Latino community groups in New England. The group argued that students with legacy ties are up to seven tim...

School on South Dakota reservation that was founded in 1888 renamed in Lakota language

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:13:59 GMT

PINE RIDGE RESERVATION, S.D. (AP) — A parochial school on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota has been around for 135 years is being renamed in the Lakota language.Red Cloud Indian School will be renamed Maȟpíya Lúta –- a translation of Chief Red Cloud’s name, South Dakota Public Broadcasting reported Tuesday. The school was founded by Jesuits in 1888. It now has about 600 students.Jennifer Irving, vice president of communications and marketing, said the idea for the name change came from the school’s athletes, who wanted the Lakota language name on their team jerseys.“It inspired the rest of us to catch up with our young leadership here,” Irving said. “That’s really where that change happened.”Irving said the name change is about more than rebranding and “really about honoring Chief Red Cloud and really committing further to Lakota language revitalization.”The process of changing the name has begun and will continue through the 2023-24 school year.The Associated ...

Massachusetts rejects request to discharge radioactive water from closed nuclear plant into bay

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:13:59 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts environmental regulators have denied a request by the company dismantling a shuttered nuclear power plant to release more than 1 million gallons (3.8 million liters) of radioactive wastewater into Cape Cod Bay.The state Department of Environmental Protection’s draft decision issued Monday said it denied Holtec’s request for a permit modification because the discharge from Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth would violate a state law that designates the bay as an ocean sanctuary.The draft will not be finalized until after a public comment period that ends Aug. 25.Environmentalists and politicians praised the decision.Release of the treated wastewater would pose a threat to the bay’s environment, human health, the fishing and shellfishing industries, and the economy of the region, Andrew Gottlieb, executive director of the Association to Preserve Cape Cod, said in a statement.“Holtec sought to profit at the expense of the people, the envir...

Four ministers won’t seek re-election, cabinet shuffle expected as soon as Wednesday

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:13:59 GMT

OTTAWA — With Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expected to shuffle his cabinet as early as Wednesday,a string of Liberal ministers have confirmed they will not run in the next federal election. Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra, Public Services and Procurement Minister Helena Jaczek and Mental Health and Addictions Minister Carolyn Bennett all announced this week that they will not seek re-election. Trudeau has been holding private meetings in the capital this week, while several other ministers have cancelled public appearances — both signs of an impending shake-up.A government source with knowledge of the matter said the cabinet shuffle would happen as soon as Wednesday. They were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about it publicly.The last time Trudeau shuffled his cabinet in a significant way was in 2021. Experts say the expected adjustments this week will show who Trudeau wants with him on the battleground.“This is th...

UPS driver shot while delivering packages in West Humboldt Park

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:13:59 GMT

CHICAGO — A UPS driver was shot Tuesday morning while delivering packages in Chicago's West Humboldt Park neighborhood.According to police the UPS workers was in the 700 block of North Trumbull Avenue around 11 a.m. when shots were fired.Officials from the Chicago Fire Department said the driver suffered multiple graze wounds and was taken to the hospital in good condition.Police have not released any details about the shooting.Read more: Latest Chicago news headlinesPolice are investigating.No one is in custody.