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Few Republicans have confidence in elections. It’s a long road for one group trying to change that

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:49:59 GMT

SUAMICO, Wis. (AP) — Kim Pytleski could barely sleep the night before. She replayed the PowerPoint slides in her head, packed her notebook and took a deep breath.The clerk from a rural Wisconsin county north of Green Bay was preparing for a public meeting to explain the election process to residents. She didn’t know who she would encounter. Would some in the audience deny the results of the last presidential election? Would the conversation get combative? Most importantly, would she get through to anyone?They were questions Pytleski never expected to ask herself when she started the job in Oconto County more than 14 years ago. But since then, election conspiracy theories have taken root in the rural, heavily Republican county in northeastern Wisconsin. It’s among large swaths of the country where distrust of voting and ballot-counting, fanned by former President Donald Trump’s false claims of a stolen election, maintains a stubborn grasp.Pytleski, who was born and raised in the coun...

European Union leaders to hold a summit with Western Balkans nations to discuss joining the bloc

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:49:59 GMT

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Leaders from the European Union and the Western Balkans will hold a summit in Albania’s capital on Monday to discuss the path to membership in the bloc for the six countries of the region.The main topics at the annual talks — called the Berlin Process — are integrating the Western Balkans into a single market and supporting their green and digital transformation. The nations in the region are Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. The senior EU officials attending the summit in Tirana are European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Charles Michel. They will be joined by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron.The six Western Balkan countries are at different stages of integration into the bloc. Serbia and Montenegro were the first Western Balkan countries to launch membership negotiations a few years ago, followed by Albania and Macedonia last year, while Bosnia and K...

Urban battle from past Gaza war offers glimpse of what an Israeli ground offensive might look like

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:49:59 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — A battle that killed dozens of civilians and more than a dozen Israeli soldiers nearly a decade ago offers a glimpse of the type of fighting that could lie ahead if Israeli forces roll into Gaza as expected to punish Hamas for its rampage across southern Israel last week.It was July 19, 2014, during Israel’s third war against Hamas. The target was Shijaiyah, a densely populated neighborhood of Gaza City that the army said Hamas had transformed into a “terrorist fortress,” filled with tunnels, rocket launchers and booby traps. The battle came on the third day of a ground offensive that had been preceded by a 10-day air campaign. Then, as now, Palestinian civilians had been told to leave the neighborhood, Then, as now, many stayed, either because Hamas told them to or because they had nowhere else to go.As Israeli forces pushed into Shijaiyah, a jumble of squat concrete buildings and narrow alleys, militants unleashed a withering barrage of automatic gunfire, an...

Jim Jordan’s rapid rise has been cheered by Trump and the far right. Could it soon make him speaker?

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:49:59 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Jim Jordan has such a reputation as a political brawler that former House Speaker John Boehner once said he had never met someone “who spent more time tearing things apart.”Now, nearly a decade after Boehner stepped down in the face a conservative revolt, it is Jordan who is trying to bring the Republican Party together to win the speaker’s gavel.He is a favorite of former President Donald Trump and a darling of the party’s rabble-rousing base. But his path to the U.S. government’s third-highest office is by no means certain in a House Republican conference riven by conflict following the ouster two weeks ago of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.To win, Jordan, R-Ohio, will need support from nearly every House Republican. There are few votes to spare in a chamber they only narrowly control. Should Jordan succeed, it would help cement the far right’s takeover of the Republican Party and trigger fresh conflict with Democrats over the size ...

Many frustrated Argentines pinning hopes on firebrand populist Javier Milei in presidential race

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:49:59 GMT

SALTA, Argentina (AP) — Javier Milei, a right-wing populist who admires Donald Trump and made a name for himself by shouting against Argentina’s “political caste” on television, finds himself the front-runner for this month’s presidential election.If he emerges as Argentina’s next president, it will be in large part thanks to support from people like Paola Aguirre, a mother of two young girls who lives in a makeshift wooden shack near a landfill in the northern province of Salta.Like many Argentines, Aguirre has been overwhelmed by years of ever worsening economic woes that has her struggling to feed her family and made it impossible to afford the room they used to rent. Just over 40% of the country’s 46 million people live in poverty, a big jump from a little nore than 30% in the seocnd half of 2016, according to Argentina’s INDEC statistics agency.Aguirre sees hope in Milei, a firebrand economist-turned-lawmaker who describes himself as an anarcho-capitalis...

Man in custody after woman found dead in west end

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:49:59 GMT

A man is in custody after a woman’s body was discovered in the city’s west end Sunday night. Police were called to the area of Davenport Road and Uxbridge Avenue, south of St. Clair Avenue West, just before 10:30 p.m. for reports of a man with a knife. When they arrived they discovered a woman, who was pronounced dead at the scene. A man was taken into custody but no further details were provided. It’s uncertain what the relationship is between the man and woman.

Takeaways from Nuggets’ lone home preseason game of 2023: Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray give Ball Arena a treat

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:49:59 GMT

In their lone home preseason game of 2023-24, the Nuggets defeated the Chicago Bulls 116-102 on Sunday night at Ball Arena. Here are three takeaways from the win.NBA’s top two-man game? Officially backIn case it wasn’t enough that Nikola Jokic broke out the Sombor Shuffle on Denver’s first possession at Ball Arena since the Finals, he and Jamal Murray proceeded to remind an admirable preseason crowd of the magic they made here four months ago when the world was watching.This was almost an off night for them. Interim coach David Adelman wants to get the starters a breather in one of the remaining preseason games, but a hectic week of cross-country travel left him feeling as though the team was slightly behind, especially in terms of conditioning. So instead, the starters played into the second half for the first time. “This is kind of that practice that they missed,” Adelman said.Denver’s first 23 points were all scored or assisted by Jokic and/or ...

Train derails north of Pueblo, killing truck driver and closing I-25

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:49:59 GMT

A train derailed and spilled rail cars and coal across Interstate 25 north of Pueblo on Sunday afternoon, forcing an extended closure of the major north-south arterial.Gary Cutler, spokesperson for the Colorado State Patrol, said the railroad bridge over the highway collapsed as the train derailed, but officials aren’t sure what caused the derailment yet.The Colorado State Patrol told 9News Sunday night that the driver of a semitrailer caught under the bridge when it collapsed was killed.The interstate was closed in both directions between exits 104 and 106, CSP announced Sunday around 4 p.m. on X, the social media platform previously known as Twitter.I 25 mile post 106 northbound and southbound near PUEBLO is closed due to train derailment. Expect extended closure in the area due to train cars and coal on the interstate.— Colorado State Patrol (@CSP_News) October 15, 2023Officials expect an extended closure to remove the train cars and coal from the roadway, Cutler said...

Motorcyclist dead after crash in Long Beach

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:49:59 GMT

Police in Long Beach are investigating a deadly crash between a 63-year-old man and a motorcyclist that occurred over the weekend, authorities announced.  Officers with the Long Beach Police Department responded to reports of the collision at the intersection of Willow Street and Palo Verde Avenue at around 5:35 p.m. Saturday.  At the scene, police found an unconscious male adult motorcyclist suffering from serious injuries after a collision with the driver of a 2019 Nissan Sentra, according to a LBPD news release.  The motorcyclist, who was riding a 2021 Harley Davidson, had been traveling westbound on Willow Street when he collided with the Nissan driven by the 63-year-old and was thrown from his vehicle. Paramedics with the Long Beach Fire Department responded and took him to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. Police said the preliminary investigation revealed that the driver of the Nissan, a resident of Long Beach, failed to yield as he turn...

Oakland: Fruitvale Ave on-ramp crash leaves one dead

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:49:59 GMT

A 67-year-old woman died Sunday evening after her Volkswagen Beetle collided with the back of a pick-up truck in Oakland, according to California Highway PatrolThe woman was driving on the I-580 Fruitvale Avenue westbound on-ramp when the crash occurred. California Highway Patrol said the truck that she rear-ended, a Chevrolet, was stopped due to heavy traffic.Related ArticlesCrashes and Disasters | Teen girl killed, two others injured after speeding car flies off the road in Santa Rosa Crashes and Disasters | Wrong-way collision on Highway 680 killed one, hospitalized two Saturday morning Crashes and Disasters | Driver arrested, passenger killed in 100-foot cliff crash at Pescadero State Beach Crashes and Disasters | Interstate 880 crash involving at least 6 cars in Hayward leaves one dead Crashes and Disasters | San Jose motorcyclist killed in crash Wednesday night A preliminary investigation showed th...