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Blast in eastern Afghanistan kills 3, wounds 7 at hotel frequented by Pakistani refugees

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:39:14 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — An explosion ripped through a hotel in Afghanistan’s eastern province of Khost on Monday, killing at least three people and wounding seven others, police said.The blast occurred at a city hotel frequented by Afghan people and refugees from Pakistan’s former militant stronghold of North Waziristan bordering Afghanistan, said Mustaghfir Gurbaz, a police spokesperson in Khost. He said officers were investigating to determine what caused the blast and who was behind it.There was no immediate claim of responsibility, though Afghanistan’s Taliban government has blamed the regional affiliate of the Islamic State group — known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province — for previous attacks. Gurbaz provided no information about the Pakistani refugees staying at the hotel. Authorities in Pakistan have said members of the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, are hiding in Khost and elsewhere in Afghanistan. TTP is a separate group b...

Hawaii mourns the dead in ferocious wildfires while officials warn the full toll is not yet known

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:39:14 GMT

LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — As Hawaii residents mourned those killed in ferocious wildfires, officials warned that the full human and environmental toll was not yet known and the recovery only just beginning.Twenty dogs and dozens of people will make their way through neighborhoods reduced to ash, searching burnt out cars and homes for the dead. With the toll at 96, this is already the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century. Two fires have not yet been completely contained, including the one that demolished the historic town of Lahaina, according to an update from Maui County late Sunday.Even where the fire has retreated, authorities have warned that toxic byproducts may remain, including in drinking water, after the flames spewed poisonous fumes. And many people simply have no home to return to — so authorities plan to house them in hotels and vacation rentals.The blaze that swept into centuries-old Lahaina on Tuesday destroyed nearly every building in the town of 13,000, leavin...

Sudan’s top army general accuses paramilitary of war crimes in televised speech

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:39:14 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — In a rare televised speech Monday, the head of Sudan’s military accused the rival paramilitary force of committing war crimes as all-out civil war threatens to engulf the northeast African country.Sudan was plunged into chaos in April when months of simmering tensions between the military, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, exploded into open fighting in Khartoum and elsewhere.In a speech broadcast on Sudan TV, Burhan accused the RSF and Dagalo of committing violations under the falsehood of promising to restore democracy.“How can you bring about democracy by committing war crimes?” he said, in a speech celebrating Sudan’s annual armed forces day. The rights organization Amnesty International has accused both warring parties of committing extensive war crimes, including deliberate killings of civilians and mass sexual assault. In its 56-page report, the group said almost all rape cases were bla...

The investigation into the 2010 kidnapping and killing of a German banker’s wife is closed

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:39:14 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — An investigation into the 2010 kidnapping and slaying of a German banker’s wife has been closed after failing to find a perpetrator in more than a decade, authorities said Monday.Maria Boegerl, who was 54, was taken from her home in Heidenheim in southwestern Germany on May 12, 2010. The kidnapper then contacted the woman’s husband, an executive with a local bank, and demanded a ransom of 300,000 euros ($328,000). Boegerl was able to briefly speak with her husband by phone, telling him that her life was in danger, but wasn’t heard from again.The ransom money was left at the side of a highway as requested, but was never picked up. On June 3, 2010, Boegerl’s body was found in a wooded area near where the ransom money was left. An autopsy concluded she had been stabbed to death.Prosecutors said in a joint statement with police that the investigation has been closed “after 13 years of the most intensive cooperation” in which more than 10,000 leads were evaluate...

Amazon is rolling out a generative AI feature that summarizes product reviews

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:39:14 GMT

Amazon is rolling out a new generative AI feature that summarizes product reviews for customers. The feature, which the company began testing earlier this year, is designed to help shoppers determine at a glance what other customers said about a product before they spend time reading through individual reviews. It will pick out common themes and summarize them in a short paragraph on the product detail page.The company wrote in a blog post published Monday that the AI-generated reviews are now available to a subset of mobile shoppers in the U.S. across a “broad” selection of products. And it may be expanded to more shoppers and additional categories of products in the “coming months” based on customer feedback, said Vaughn Schermerhorn, Amazon’s director of community shopping. The Seattle-based company has been looking for ways to integrate more artificial intelligence into its product offerings as the generative AI race heats up among tech companies. Amazon hasn’t released its own ...

Coinbase CEO says Canadian crypto regulations encouraging

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:39:14 GMT

TORONTO — Coinbase is rolling out Interac e-transfer integration as part of its Canadian offerings as it says it’s encouraged by the regulatory approach in the country.The added feature, which will make it easier to move money in and out of Coinbase accounts, comes after the company hired Lucas Matheson as country director and ramped up its staff to over 200 engineers in its Toronto and Vancouver offices in the past year. The company says the moves signal its commitment to Canada, and come at a time when other trading platforms including Binance, the world’s largest crypto platform, have said they were pulling out of the country.Binance, along with Bybit and others, said in May their departure was related to tightening regulations around cryptocurrencies as the Canadian Securities Administrators looks to increase oversight in the sector.The CSA rolled out rules earlier this year requiring crypto-trading platforms to agree to numerous terms as their registration applicati...

Legal challenges to Biden's student loan plans have borrowers anxious ahead of payment restart

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:39:14 GMT

(The Hill) - The Biden administration has found more of its student loan policies entangled in legal battles, raising anxiety for borrowers as repayments are set to start in the fall.The most recent challenges threaten student loan forgiveness for 800,000 borrowers and changes to the borrower defense student debt relief program that would make it easier for those defrauded by their colleges to receive forgiveness.Borrowers are having to navigate what the legal developments mean for their loans while also losing faith in receiving more help from the administration before they have to begin repaying their debts in October. “I believe even though the specificities of the various lawsuits that are being challenged [...] I think the question that is on a lot of people's minds, specifically the 40 million borrowers, even if it doesn't directly affect them, is when does the line end? When do the challenges end?” said Dorien Rogers, president of the Maryland Youth & College Divisio...

Officials, scientists warn that after Maui flames flicker out, toxic particles will remain

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:39:14 GMT

LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — When flames swept through western Maui, engulfing the town of Lahaina, residents saw toxic fumes spewing into the air as burning homes, pipes and cars combusted, transforming rubber, metal and plastic into poisonous, particulate matter-filled smoke.Retired mailman and Vietnam veteran Thomas Leonard heard a boom as a propane tank at a nearby home exploded, leaving a cloud that looked like “a gigantic mushroom” in its wake. Fatalities from Hawaii fires climb to 96, Gov. says it will ‘continue to rise’ Thirty-seven year old Mike Cicchino, who grew up on Maui, said he could tell how close the flames were based on how far away cars sounded as their gas tanks erupted. He and his family sought refuge in the ocean across a knee-high sea wall and as he helped others onto the rocks, his rib cage ached, his eyes were nearly swollen shut and he vomited.“It was like a war,” Cicchino said.Makalea Ahhee, left, tears up while her husband, JP Mayoga, right, a chef ...

Maui fire death toll rises to 96 with estimated loss of $5.6 billion

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:39:14 GMT

HONOLULU (NEXSTAR) - The Maui Police Department updated the number of confirmed deaths to 96 around 9 p.m. Sunday, Maui County said in a statement.In a video update released earlier on Sunday, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said more than 2,700 structures were destroyed in Lahaina and “an estimated value of $5.6 billion has gone away.” Can Lahaina’s famed banyan tree really survive? Green said the response has been “comprehensive” in the past several days: “We are bringing the full force of government to try to do all we can to alleviate suffering.”FEMA is overseeing the federal response in Hawaii with 416 personnel including FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell.“We’ve had a lot of time to discuss how we will ultimately rebuild Lahaina and support Maui,” Green said.Green said President Joe Biden has “authorized the full force of the federal government in support of us.” $5.52 billion estimated cost to rebuild Lahaina after fire A federal urban search and rescue team will be accompani...

What's changed with Austin ISD ahead of new school year?

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:39:14 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- School is back in session for Austin Independent School District so KXAN sat down with AISD Interim Superintendent Matias Segura to talk about the upcoming year. Segura was named the interim superintendent in December 2022 after the previous interim Anthony Mays left the district for a permanent role in Houston. Segura is a product of AISD schools. NEXT: Set for School Segura gave KXAN's Nabil Remadna several updates on the district, including pay increases and teacher retention. Austin ISD increased its starting salary by 7%.This interview has been edited for clarity.Q&A with Austin ISD interim superintendentRemadna: "Recently [Austin ISD] increased salaries [and] compensation, but the state did not give the funding to the district that you were looking for, how did that impact AISD?"Segura: "It is always a timing issue for us, you know our fiscal year ends June 30, so we have to adopt a budget before then. Our board is the body that does that, so we spend a ...