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Flash floods kill 21 people in South Africa’s coastal province of KwaZulu-Natal, police say

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:42:32 GMT

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Flash floods killed over a dozen people in the small town of Ladysmith in KwaZulu-Natal province, South African officials said Saturday.“As of Friday, 29 December 2023, a total of 21 bodies have been recovered,” said police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda.The floods hit the town on Christmas Day, destroying about 1400 homes, with the death toll expected to rise as an unconfirmed number of people are still missing, he said. Search and rescue teams have been scouring rivers to recover bodies, Netshiunda added. The operation is expected to continue throughout the weekend.Tragedy hit one family in Ladysmith set to bury seven of its members who were killed when floods swept their vehicle into the river. Rescue teams recovered the bodies of Vincent Msimango, his wife, two children, brother and niece, and nephew earlier this week, local news outlet Eyewitness News reported on Saturday.KwaZulu-Nata province has witnessed devastating floods lately. In June, heavy r...

Ask Amy: Reader goes round the bend at roller rink

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:42:32 GMT

Dear Amy: Every year, with the help of my husband and six children, I throw myself a birthday party at a local roller rink.It’s all I want: to party and rollerblade with my family and friends like I’m still young.We rent out the entire venue and invite many families. We serve a handful of refreshments and play fun music. It’s a blast and I usually look forward to it every year, except this year.I’m dreading it because one family (neighbors of ours) are just terrible guests. They bring extra people without asking, their four kids come blazing down the middle of the rink and have actually knocked people down before, and last year they took the water bottles from the refreshment table and were throwing them down the stairs to the front entrance, where they would burst open.The parents never do anything about it and never offer to help clean up the mess their kids leave.The problem is, they know I have this party every year.How do I avoid inviting them when I kno...

Jarvis: What got lost in a year of hype about obesity drugs

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:42:32 GMT

This year, the incredible potential of obesity medicines like Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound started to come into view. The drugs work so well for so many that it’s starting to look like they could change the literal and metaphorical shape of society — starting with our waistlines and extending to our overall health and our habits around food and alcohol.And yet the way we talk about these drugs remains stuck in frustrating binaries. The drugs are either a panacea or an overpriced Band-Aid; they will either solve one of the biggest problems in health care or burden the system with hundreds of billions of dollars in unjustified cost. The extremes keep us from honestly addressing some fundamental questions about these drugs. Most pressingly: What role should they play in addressing a sicker, fatter society?There are many obstacles to starting to address that necessary question. One is the still-widespread attitude that the drugs make weight loss too e...

New hybrid work schedule means a move back to Bay Area

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:42:32 GMT

Question: About your October 21, 2023, column titled “Parents step back on selling now in the Bay Area; is that a smart move?” on The Mercury News and East Bay Times websites:  During the pandemic, we swapped the bustling Bay Area for a serene resort town and embraced remote work. It was a dream come true — until last week. We must soon follow our Bay Area employer’s three-day, in-office mandate in a housing catch-22. Selling our mountain home will be challenging, as will navigating the ridiculous Bay Area market. Our dilemma boils down to two questions: Bay Area homes for sale: With interest rates expected to fall, will 2024 finally bring the housing inventory increase everyone’s been predicting? Or will it remain a seller’s paradise, leaving homebuyers like us in multiple bidding wars? Resort market ripple effect? Will resort towns like ours follow suit if the Bay Area housing inventory increases? Or will these havens retain their pandemic-fueled appeal, keeping housing inventory ...

1-2-3 … Walk (down the aisle)! Couples race to get married in Las Vegas this numerical New Year’s Eve

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:42:32 GMT

Decorations adorn The Wedding Chapel at Vegas Weddings on December 19 in Las Vegas. Decorations adorn The Wedding Chapel at Vegas Weddings on December 19 in Las Vegas. (CNN) — Getting hitched in Las Vegas is famous for being as easy as 1-2-3. Now, the nation’s top wedding destination is prepping for an influx of couples hoping to embrace that simplicity by marrying on New Year’s Eve, when the date will be: 12/31/23 – alternately, 1-2-3 1-2-3.“Magic dates” long have been among the most coveted days for tying the knot. “Lucky 7s” day – 7/7/2007 – stands as the most popular wedding date in Las Vegas history, with 4,492 couples married, the clerk of Clark County, Nevada, said in news release. The most recent popular “...

DC man arrested, charged in fatal Southeast shooting

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:42:32 GMT

A D.C. man has been arrested and charged in a shooting that claimed the life of a 22-year-old man last month.Tremon Jackson, 20, of Southeast D.C., was arrested Thursday and charged with second degree murder while armed, according to a release from D.C. police.Around 3:45 p.m. on Nov. 4, officers responded to the 1400 block of L Street in Southeast for a report of a shooting. There, they found Charles Towles, of Southeast D.C., suffering from gunshot wounds, police said.D.C. Fire and EMS personnel were called, but police said “all lifesaving efforts failed,” and Towles was pronounced dead at the scene.Jackson is expected in court for a preliminary hearing on Jan. 16.WTOP’s Matt Small contributed to this report. Source

Envía tu nombre a Europa, la luna de Júpiter, antes de que acabe el año

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:42:32 GMT

(CNN) — Aunque todavía no es posible que los humanos se aventuren a los intrigantes mundos oceánicos de nuestro sistema solar, la NASA enviará un mensaje cósmico en una botella a la luna Europa de Júpiter que llevará más de dos millones de nombres.Y tu nombre puede ser uno de ellos si te apuntas antes de que acabe el año.El lanzamiento de la nave espacial Europa Clipper de la NASA es una de las misiones más esperadas de 2024. Se espera que la sonda despegue del Centro Espacial Kennedy en octubre y emprenda un viaje de 2.900 millones de kilómetros hasta la luna Europa de Júpiter.Tras entrar en órbita en 2030, Europa Clipper pasará los próximos años sobrevolando la luna cubierta de hielo para ver si el océano que hay bajo ella puede albergar vida. Europa es una de las lunas oceánicas consideradas como uno de los mejores lugares para buscar vida más allá de la Tierra.Además de un conjunto de nueve instrumentos científicos, Europa Clipper llevará un poema escrito por Ada Limón, po...

How long does it take to form a habit?

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:42:32 GMT

Embarking on a difficult workout may sound like a great way to see progress fast, but research has shown incorporating a fun element will help you stick with it.(Samo Trebizan - stock.adobe.com) Embarking on a difficult workout may sound like a great way to see progress fast, but research has shown incorporating a fun element will help you stick with it.(Samo Trebizan - stock.adobe.com) (CNN) — As you’re drafting your New Year’s resolutions, you may think that it takes 21 days of repeating an action for that action to become a habit. So, you set out to go to the gym for 21 days, thinking that by day 22 heading to the gym will feel automatic — maybe even fun. It can be daunting to think about going to the gym...

Liz Truss sparks outrage with resignation honors for allies

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:42:32 GMT

Liz Truss, Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister, has handed out peerages and other honors to 11 political allies despite staying in office for only 49 days, sparking a backlash. Her resignation honors list rewards a key Brexit architect and a major donor to the Conservative Party with seats in the House of Lords. Former prime ministers are entitled to gift knighthoods, peerages and other honors to colleagues and allies upon leaving office. But current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faced calls to block Truss from submitting a list, given that she served such a short and controversial tenure, which ended with her resignation in October 2022 after a tax-cutting budget proposal sent markets into meltdown. Nevertheless, Truss was permitted to send three close allies to the House of Lords — Matthew Elliott, the chief executive of the Vote Leave campaign for Brexit; Jon Moynihan, a Tory donor and Vote Leave chairman; and her former deputy chief of staff Ruth Porter. She also nomina...

Patriots-Bills preview: Can Bill Belichick upset Josh Allen and Co. again?

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:42:32 GMT

A year ago, the Patriots’ season ended with a painful trip to Buffalo.In their shared regular-season finale, the Bills pulled away with a 12-point win that killed the Pats’ playoff hopes and punctuated a season defined by dysfunction. Almost 12 months later, the Pats are again headed to Buffalo with a ball-and-chain offense. But now, there’s nothing to lose.Their postseason dreams died weeks ago. The team has rallied around a new quarterback with a few road wins, most recently upsetting the Broncos in Denver. A repeat of that performance won’t be good enough to beat the Bills, but might the Bailey Zappe Patriots be building to something?Will they play like a team with nothing to lose? Here’s what to watch for in Orchard Park:When the Patriots runLast Sunday’s win at Denver marked a severe step back for what had been one of the most consistent run games in the league all season.Ezekiel Elliott averaged 2.3 yards per carry, while the Patriots failed...