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Small tornado hits northwestern Puerto Rico, downing trees and power lines

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:07:49 GMT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A small and rare tornado swept briefly through a town in northwestern Puerto Rico, damaging homes and causing at least one landslide, officials said Monday. No injuries were reported.The tornado touched down in the coastal town of Aguada on Sunday afternoon, according to the U.S. National Weather Service. The agency said it would analyze the damage to determine the tornado’s classification.Government officials told reporters that the short-lived tornado downed trees and power lines and tore off the roof of at least one home before it moved out to sea. Videos posted on social media show palm trees bending in heavy winds as debris swirls in the air as people are heard yelling in the background.A total of 24 tornadoes, including the one reported Sunday, have hit Puerto Rico since record-keeping began in 1950, according to a database by the U.S. National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration.“The majority of them don’t even cause any damage,” said Emanuel Rod...

China criticizes the upcoming US visit of Taiwan’s ‘separatist’ presidential front-runner

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:07:49 GMT

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China has criticized an upcoming stopover in the United States by Taiwan’s vice president and presidential front-runner William Lai as a challenge to its territorial integrity, while Taiwan says it’s merely a transit stop.China regards Taiwan as a breakaway province to be retaken by force if necessary and prohibits its diplomatic partners – including the U.S. – from having formal ties with Taipei. While not recognizing Taiwan as a country, Washington maintains robust unofficial ties and has pledged to help Taiwan defend itself in case of an invasion.A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman told a briefing in Beijing that China had lodged formal protests with the U.S. over Lai’s visit next month. “China is firmly opposed to any form of official exchanges between the United States and Taiwan,” spokeswoman Mao Ning said. “We firmly reject Taiwan independence separatists visiting the U.S. under any name and for any reason, as well as any form of the U.S. conniv...

Hong Kong schools and stock market are shuttered as Typhoon Talim sweeps to the south, toward China

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:07:49 GMT

HONG KONG (AP) — Schools and the stock market were closed in Hong Kong on Monday as Typhoon Talim sideswiped the city and headed toward landfall on the Chinese mainland and the island province of Hainan. Safety alerts were issued for residents and tourists who flock to the region’s beaches during the summer, calling on them to stay in safe places away from the threat of floods or landslides. State broadcaster CCTV showed footage of typhoon-swept winds and waves hitting an oil platform about 200 kilometers (124 miles) offshore. More than 9,800 workers have been evacuated from such facilities as of noon on Monday, CCTV said.In Macao, across the Pearl River estuary from Hong Kong, schools suspended classes and public transport was shut down, CCTV said.In a sign of the typhoon’s power and range, residents outside the city of Fuzhou in Fujian province to the north were trapped in high waters as heavy rain fell, CCTV reported. About 1,000 villagers were affected and more than 50 nee...

Elton John backs Kevin Spacey’s testimony at the actor’s sexual assault trial

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:07:49 GMT

Elton John briefly testified Monday for the defense at Kevin Spacey ‘s sexual assault trial as the actor’s lawyer attempted to discredit a man who claimed the Oscar winner aggressively grabbed his crotch while driving to the singer’s summer ball.John appeared in the London court by video link from Monaco after his husband, David Furnish, testified that Spacey did not attend the annual party at their Windsor home the year the accuser said he was attacked.One of the alleged victims said he was driving Spacey to the White Tie & Tiara Ball in 2004 or 2005 when the actor grabbed him so forcefully he almost ran off the road.Furnish supported Spacey’s own testimony that he only attended the event in 2001. Furnish said he had reviewed photographs taken at the party from 2001 to 2005 and Spacey only appeared in images that one year. He said all guests were photographed each year.John said the actor attended the party in the early 2000s and arrived after flying in ...

Stock market today: As earnings season kicks off, global markets retreat on weak China growth

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:07:49 GMT

BANGKOK — With earnings season ready to kick into high gear this week, Wall Street ticked lower early Monday after China reported weaker growth than forecast in the last quarter. Future for the S&P 500 inched down 0.2%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3%. Wall Street’s expectations are low yet again heading into earnings season. Analysts are forecasting the worst drop in earnings per share for S&P 500 companies since the spring of 2020. That would mark a third straight quarter where profits sank.Such expectations are key for financial markets, because one of the biggest factors behind a stock’s price is how much profit the company earns. Wall Street nevertheless rallied hard this week thanks to rising optimism about the other major lever that sets stock prices: how much investors are willing to pay for each $1 of corporate profits.Coming up this week are results from Bank of America, Netflix, Tesla and airlines United and American. A retail sales report from th...

Freight train derails in southeast Pennsylvania, but no known injuries or hazards

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:07:49 GMT

WHITEMARSH TOWNSHIP, Pa. (AP) — A freight train derailment in southeast Pennsylvania early Monday spurred precautionary evacuations, but officials said no injuries were reported and there was no known hazard to the public.The 40-car CSX train, which was operating on tracks owned by Norfolk Southern, derailed around 4:50 a.m. in Whitemarsh Township. More than a dozen cars appeared to be off the tracks.Silicone pellets were leaking from at least one train car, Whitemarsh police said, but they posed no risk to the public. It wasn’t immediately known what was inside the other derailed cars, and hazmat teams were at the site.The cause of the derailment was under investigation.Norfolk Southern — and the entire rail industry — has been under intense scrutiny since one of its trains derailed and caught fire in February in Ohio, creating towering black smoke, forcing evacuations and raising environmental worries.The Associated Press

Northeast starts to dry out after flash flooding claims at least 5 lives in Pennsylvania

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:07:49 GMT

WASHINGTON CROSSING, Pa. (AP) — An already saturated Northeast began drying out Monday after a second round of heavy rain in a week, including a flash flood in Pennsylvania that claimed at least five lives over the weekend. A 9-month-old boy and his 2-year-old sister remained missing in Upper Makefield Township in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, which is along the Delaware River, after they were swept away late Saturday afternoon while traveling in a vehicle. Fire Chief Tim Brewer said the area got about 6 1/2 to 7 inches of rain (about 18 centimeters) in 45 minutes.The children are part of a Charleston, South Carolina, family visiting family and friends. They were on their way to a barbecue when their vehicle got stuck in the flash flood, Brewer said.“As they tried to escape the fierce floodwaters, Dad took his 4-year-old son while the mother and the grandmother grabbed the two additional children,” he said. The father and son were “miraculously” able to get to safety. “However the gra...

Key Russian bridge to Crimea is attacked again, with Moscow blaming Ukraine for blast that kills 2

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:07:49 GMT

TALLINN, Estonia — An attack before dawn Monday damaged part of a bridge linking Russia to Moscow-annexed Crimea that is a key supply route for Kremlin forces in the war with Ukraine, forcing the span’s temporary closure for a second time in less than a year. Two people were killed and their daughter was injured. Vehicle traffic on the Kerch Bridge came to a standstill, while rail traffic across the 19-kilometer (12-mile) span also was halted for about six hours.The strike was carried out by two Ukrainian maritime drones, Russia’s National Anti-Terrorist Committee said.Ukrainian officials were coy about taking responsibility, as they have been in past strikes. But in what appeared to be a tacit acknowledgment, Ukrainian Security Service spokesman Artem Degtyarenko said in a statement that his agency would reveal details of how the “bang” was organized after Kyiv has won the war.The bridge previously was attacked in October, when a truck bomb blew up two of its sections and required ...

The bridge that links Russia to Crimea is key to supplying the Ukraine war and for asserting control

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:07:49 GMT

The bridge connecting Russia-annexed Crimea and Russia carries heavy significance for Moscow both logistically and psychologically, as a key artery for Russian military and civilian supplies bound for Crimea and as an assertion of Russia’s control of the peninsula.An explosion that hit the bridge before dawn on Monday, killing a couple and seriously injuring their daughter, left a span of the roadway hanging perilously. The damage initially appeared to be less severe than that caused by a blast in October, but highlighted the bridge’s vulnerability. Russia blamed Ukraine for both Monday’s blast and the October explosion. A spokesman for the Ukrainian Security Service on Monday did not directly acknowledge responsibility but said the service would reveal details about organizing the blast once Ukraine achieves victory in the war.A CRITICAL CONNECTIONThe Crimean peninsula extends south from Ukraine’s mainland, with road connections on two isthmuses, one of which is less that two kilom...

Child star Mia Armstrong is working on a picture book about her experiences with Down syndrome

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:07:49 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Child star and activist Mia Armstrong has a picture book coming out next year about her experiences with Down syndrome, what her publisher calls “all the joys and challenges.”Random House Children’s Books announced Monday that Armstrong’s “I Am a Masterpiece!” will be released next January. Illustrated by Alexandra Thompson and co-written by Armstrong and author Marissa Moss, the book is Armstrong’s way of helping kids see the world as she sees it.Armstrong has spoken often about Down syndrome, and has called it her “superpower.” “I wrote this story because I want to inspire other people to love their own stories and be proud of who they are,” the 12-year-old Armstrong said in a statement. “Down syndrome does not define me and is just one small part of who I am. I’m also an actress, a model, a voiceover artist, a rock climber, a thrill seeker, a daughter, a sister, and a friend. My dream is for ‘I Am a Masterpiece!” to help kids everywhere re...