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Papua New Guinea assesses damage after powerful earthquake

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 14:40:27 GMT

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Disaster relief workers in Papua New Guinea were assessing the extent of damage in a remote region Monday following a powerful magnitude 7.0 earthquake.Some buildings and homes were destroyed near the quake’s epicenter in the northern part of the Pacific nation, said Mathew Moihoi, the acting assistant director of the Port Moresby Geophysical Observatory. He said disaster relief workers were trying to verify whether there were any deaths or serious injuries.He said the region is marked by swamps and people tend to live subsistence lives hunting and fishing. He said that because of the region’s remoteness and patchy communications, it could take several days to figure out the extent of the damage. Moihoi said the quake was big enough to be felt in surrounding regions, including in the nation’s highlands. The quake struck just after 4 a.m. at Chambri Lake and the epicenter was relatively deep at 62 kilometers (38 miles), according to th...

Jury selection begins in Idaho trial of slain kids’ mother

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 14:40:27 GMT

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Hundreds of people are expected to gather at an Idaho courthouse Monday morning as attorneys begin selecting 18 potential jurors for the trial of a woman charged in what prosecutors say was a doomsday-focused plot. Prosecutors charged Lori Vallow Daybell and her husband, Chad Daybell, with conspiracy, murder and grand theft in connection with the deaths of Vallow Daybell’s two youngest children: 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and big sister Tylee Ryan, who was last seen a few days before her 17th birthday in 2019. Prosecutors also have charged the couple in connection with the October 2019 death of Chad Daybell’s late wife, Tammy Daybell. Both defendants have pleaded not guilty, but only Vallow Daybell’s trial begins Monday. The cases have been severed and Chad Daybell’s trial is still months away. Vallow Daybell faces up to life in prison if convicted. The investigation garnered worldwide attention and was closely followed in the rural eas...

Warriors go rogue and let game slip away in Denver

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 14:40:27 GMT

DENVER — The Warriors furiously cut a double-figure deficit down to two late in the fourth quarter Sunday but couldn’t get any closer in a 112-110 loss to the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena.Klay Thompson hit a 3-pointer from the corner to make it a two-point game with 20 seconds left.After the Nuggets inbounded, the Warriors smothered Bruce Brown near half-court, forcing a jump ball. Golden State won the tip with 10 seconds left.After Thompson missed a shot from the top of the key, he got his own rebound for another attempt at the go-ahead basket. But Jamal Murray got a hand on the ball and time expired, dropping the Warriors’ record away from home to 9-30.Thompson and Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 25 and 21 points, respectively, but only went a combined 7-for-30 from 3-point range.Meanwhile, the Nuggets were without MVP candidate Nikola Jokic for the third straight game as he continues to deal with right calf tightness. But Murray’s 26 points and game-se...

Track incursion by Australian GP fans sparks investigation

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 14:40:27 GMT

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australian Grand Prix organizers have launched an investigation to determine how a group of fans managed to break through security and get dangerously close to Formula One cars before the chaotic race that featured three red flags had ended on Sunday.Australian Grand Prix Corp. chief executive Andrew Westacott on Monday said the incursion onto the Albert Park circuit before the checkered flag could have resulted in serious injuries.“There’s a controlled allowance of people to come onto the track after the race has concluded and after the safety car passes,” Westacott told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. “Spectators had broken one of the lines, we don’t know how that’s occurred just yet.“Motorsport is dangerous … it could have been horrific.”Only 12 of the 20 starters finished the race, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen winning his first Australian GP title after a late rolling start behind a safety car.An event record 444,631 spectators attende...

This week: hiring, employment and services sector data

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 14:40:27 GMT

A look at some of the key business events and economic indicators upcoming this week:Still hiring?The U.S. government will release a closely watched report on job openings Tuesday.Economists expect the Labor Department’s data for job openings to dip slightly in February, which would mark a second straight decline. The data is being watched by investors and the Federal Reserve as a gauge of the broader employment market’s health amid rising interest rates and high inflation. The labor market has remained resilient while other parts of the economy have weakened.Job Openings by month (millions)September 10.69October 10.47November 10.75December 11.23January 10.82February (est.) 10.45Source: FactSet.Services assessmentThe Institute for Supply Management releases its latest report on the services sector on Wednesday.The sector employs most Americans and its health provides more insight into the broader economy. Economists expect the monthly index to show growth in March at a relatively st...

Trump asegura recibir el apoyo más grande en la historia de su carrera tras su acusación

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 14:40:27 GMT

El expresidente Donald Trump, imputado por el pago irregular a la actriz porno Stormy Daniels y que debe comparecer el próximo martes ante el juez de Nueva York que lleva el caso, presumió este domingo de “no haber tenido nunca tanto apoyo y amor como ahora”.En su red Truth Social, Trump escribió que ese apoyo es en realidad “contra los radicales de izquierda, revoltosos, extorsionadores, políticos sinvergüenzas y matones que están destrozando nuestro país”.Anteriormente, había posteado otra petición más para recaudar fondos en la campaña para su reelección, una petición dirigida expresamente a los ricos: “Si te ha ido bien, lo cual fue posible gracias a las grandes políticas de la Administración Trump -dice, en tercera persona- envía tu contribución a donaldjtrump.com”, escribe. Se espera que Trump comparezca en corte el martes; aumentan las medidas de seguridad Campaña de Trump recauda más de $5 millones ...

Big Tech lobbyists get stuck in to UK’s landmark competition bill

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 14:40:27 GMT

LONDON — As the U.K. prepares to overhaul its competition regime, a fierce lobbying battle has broken out between the world’s largest tech companies and their challengers.Ministers are gearing up to publish new competition legislation in late-April, giving regulators more power to stop a handful of companies dominating digital markets.But concern over the U.S. tech giants’ influence in Westminster has prompted ministers close to the bill to warn that the new legislation could be watered down.Two ministers have expressed concerns that Big Tech firms are seeking to weaken the process for appealing decisions made by the country’s beefed-up competition regulator, according to multiple people who were either present at those discussions or whose organizations were represented there. They requested anonymity to discuss private meetings.One MP said a minister had also approached them to raise concerns, while at an industry roundtable, two ministers spoke of worry about Big Tech firms...

Analysis: Saudi prince pivots to peace after years of war

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 14:40:27 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — In the years since Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman catapulted to power, it has been hard to find a controversy in the Middle East that doesn’t somehow involve the 37-year-old heir to the throne. Now he’s pivoting to his next audacious plan: Giving peace a chance.The moves toward reaching a détente with Iran, reestablishing ties to Syria and ending the kingdom’s yearslong war in Yemen could extricate Prince Mohammed from some of the thorniest regional issues he faces. Whether it succeeds will have profound impacts on the wider Middle East and on his expansive plans to reshape the kingdom away from oil and further into his image. Failure threatens not only his impending rule over a nation crucial to global energy supplies, but a wider region shaken by years of tensions, inflamed in part by his decisions. Prince Mohammed’s rise accelerated in 2015 after his father, King Salman, appointed him as deputy crown prince. That ...

Kosovo ex-president Hashim Thaci stands trial in The Hague

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 14:40:27 GMT

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The trial of Kosovo’s ex-president and three other former high-ranking members of the Kosovo Liberation Army charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity opens Monday.Hashim Thaci resigned from office in 2020 to defend himself against charges including murder, torture and persecution allegedly committed during his country’s war for independence from Serbia.The case has stirred an outpouring of support from across the political spectrum in Kosovo. On Sunday, thousands of people took to the streets to show their support for the defendants. Many Kosovars consider the Netherlands-based court an injustice and view it as an attempt to rewrite the history of their struggle for independence.The trial is taking place at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, which is based in the Netherlands but is part of Kosovo’s legal system.Thaci is standing trial along with Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi for offenses allegedly committed across Ko...

Lone suspect in 1980 Paris synagogue bombing goes on trial

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 14:40:27 GMT

PARIS (AP) — A Lebanese-Canadian academic who is the lone suspect in a 1980 bombing outside a Paris synagogue will go on trial Monday, nearly 43 years after four people were killed and 46 wounded in the unclaimed attack.French authorities identified Hassan Diab as a suspect in 1999. They accuse him of planting the bomb on the evening of Oct. 3, 1980, outside the synagogue where 320 worshipers had gathered to mark the end of a Jewish holiday. Diab, 69, has denied involvement in the attack and said he was at a university in Beirut at the time of the western Paris bombing. His supporters and lawyers in France and Canada claim Diab has been wrongly pursued by the French judicial authorities as a victim of a mistaken identity. French investigators attributed the synagogue attack to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-Special Operations. Canada authorized Diab’s extradition to France at the end of 2014. He spent three years in pretrial detention but anti-terrorism judges the...