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Palestinian President Abbas begins China visit as Beijing seeks larger role in Mideast

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:32:30 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas began a visit to China on Tuesday that comes as Beijing is seeking a larger role in Middle East politics and competing for energy resources. In announcing the visit, China’s Foreign Ministry said China was willing to help broker relations between the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli government that have deteriorated to the lowest level in recent years. The ministry did not say who Abbas would meet in Beijing or give other details of his four-day visit.Increased fighting over the last year between Israel and the Palestinians in the West Bank has resulted in the deadliest period of violence between the sides in years in that territory. The visit also comes after China hosted talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia that resulted in the two restoring diplomatic relations. That development was seen as representing a diplomatic victory for China as Gulf Arab states perceive the United States slowly withdrawing from the wider region. But ...

US military says helicopter accident in north Syria left 22 troops injured

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:32:30 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — A helicopter “mishap” in northeast Syria over the weekend left 22 United States service members injured, the U.S. military said Tuesday, adding that the cause of the accident was under investigation.The military statement said the service members were receiving treatment and 10 have been moved to “higher care facilities” outside the region. It said that “a helicopter mishap in northeastern Syria resulted in the injuries of various degrees of 22 U.S. service members,” and the accident occurred Sunday and is under investigation, “although no enemy fire was reported.”On any given day there are at least 900 U.S. forces in Syria, along with an undisclosed number of contractors. U.S. forces advise and assist the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in the fight against the Islamic State group. The Associated Press

Walt Nauta is the latest Trump loyalist to face potential jail time after working for him

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:32:30 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — When former President Donald Trump appears in federal court Tuesday, he will be joined at the defense table by a man well-practiced in standing by his side: his valet turned alleged co-conspirator, Walt Nauta.Nauta, a Navy veteran who fetched Trump’s Diet Cokes as his valet at the White House before joining him as a personal aide at Mar-a-Lago, now finds himself in legal jeopardy alongside the former president. He is accused of moving boxes from the White House at Trump’s direction and then lying about it to investigators.Nauta is the latest in a series of Trump loyalists to face potential jail time after his work for the former president. Michael Cohen, Trump’s longtime fixer and attorney, spent more than 13 months in prison over payouts he helped arrange during the 2016 presidential race to keep women from going public about alleged sexual encounters with Trump. Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer at the Trump Organization, just finished serving t...

Trump will face judge in historic court appearance over charges he mishandled secret documents

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:32:30 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — Donald Trump was set to make his first court appearance Tuesday in a historic criminal case charging the former president with hoarding top secret government documents, boastfully displaying them to visitors and trying to hide them from investigators who demanded them back.Trump approached his Miami court date with characteristic bravado, insisting as he has done through years of legal woes that he has done nothing wrong and was being persecuted for political purposes. But the gravity of the moment is unmistakable as he answers to 37 felony counts that accuse him of willfully retaining classified records that prosecutors say could have jeopardized national security if exposed.The case is laden with political implications for Trump, who currently holds the dominant spot in the early days of the 2024 Republican presidential primary. But it also poses profound legal consequences given the prospect of a years-long prison sentence. Even for a defendant whose post-presidentia...

Often sidelined at Pride, transgender and nonbinary people move front and center

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:32:30 GMT

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Kara Murphy, a transgender woman helping to organize the Union County Pride in a suburb of Charlotte, North Carolina, is heartened to see Pride celebrations across the country, big and small, shining a spotlight on transgender rights this year. “When we look and see who’s standing up for us, it kind of signals the strength of the movement,” she said. Whether it’s transgender grand marshals at the massive New York City Pride parade or a photo display of transgender victims of violence at the much smaller festival in Hastings, Nebraska, many celebrations this June are taking a public stand against state legislation targeting transgender people.Some Prides are putting transgender people front and center at events where they’ve often been sidelined because of a historical emphasis on gay and lesbian rights, along with the same sorts of prejudice and misinformation held by many straight, cisgender people about trans lives.The growing number of new laws ...

Lawsuit pits young climate change activists against a fossil fuel-friendly state at trial

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:32:30 GMT

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Young people challenging Montana officials over inaction on climate change are expected back in state court on Tuesday in a first-of-a kind trial of a lawsuit that environmentalists hope will spur changes in the fossil fuel-friendly state.State officials have sought to downplay Montana’s contributions to global warming as the trial that opened Monday is being closely watched for possible legal precedents even though the scope of the lawsuit has been narrowed in earlier rulings.The trial is scheduled to last two weeks with 16 young plaintiffs and their attorneys seeking to persuade District Judge Kathy Seeley that the state’s allegiance to fossil fuels endangers their health and livelihoods and threatens future generations.Grace Gibson-Snyder, 19, of Missoula, Montana — one of the plaintiffs — told the court that smoke from wildfires has gotten worse with climate change and become a “defining experience” of playing soccer in high school. The smoke reg...

US inflation may have eased in May, but underlying price measures likely remained high

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:32:30 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumer price increases in the United States likely slowed sharply last month, extending a steady easing of inflation over the past year. But a gauge of underlying prices may still reflect persistent inflation pressures.Prices are forecast to have risen 4.2% in May from a year earlier, well below the 4.9% year-over-year increase in April, according to a survey of economists by the data provider FactSet. And measured from April to May, prices are expected to have increased only 0.1%, compared with the previous month’s 0.4% increase. Yet any slowdown in inflation is unlikely to convince the Federal Reserve’s policymakers that they’re close to curbing the high inflation that has gripped the nation for two years. The Fed tends to focus on “core” prices, which exclude volatile food and energy costs and generally provide a clearer view of inflation. And the data that the government will release Tuesday will likely show much less improvement in core pri...

Fly ball lost in twilight gives Stanford berth in Men's College World Series, ends Texas' season

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:32:30 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — In a game that deserved extra innings, a high fly ball that Texas outfielders lost in the Bay Area twilight kept the game from getting there.Stanford topped Texas 7-6 to win Game 3 of the Stanford super regional Monday, and the run that sent the Longhorns back to Austin came home on what appeared to be a routine pop-up to shallow right-center field.Texas pitcher Tanner Witt throws against Stanford in the first inning of an NCAA college baseball tournament super regional game in Stanford, Calif., Monday, June 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)Stanford's Saborn Campbell, bottom, slides into home plate to score a run on a wild pitch by Texas pitcher Zane Morehouse (37) during the second inning of an NCAA college baseball tournament super regional game in Stanford, Calif., Monday, June 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)Texas' Jalin Flores (1), Eric Kennedy (30) and Mitchell Daly, left, celebrate after scoring on a double by Jack O'Dowd against Stanford in the fourth inning o...

Denver Nuggets’ run to championship among most dominant in modern NBA history

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:32:30 GMT

It’s been 20 years since the NBA expanded the playoffs to four best-of-seven series.With Monday night’s 94-89 win over the Miami Heat, the Nuggets tied the 2007 San Antonio Spurs as the second-fastest to win a championship after steamrolling through the playoffs with a 16-4 record.The only team that lifted the Larry O’Brien Trophy in fewer games? The notoriously stacked Golden State Warriors of Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, who lost just one game (16-1) en route to the 2017 title. Here’s a look at each of the champions over that period:YearTeamRecordNBA Finals2017Golden State16-14-1 over Cleveland2023Denver16-44-1 over Miami2007San Antonio16-44-0 over Cleveland2020L.A. Lakers16-54-2 over Miami2018Golden State16-54-0 over Cleveland2016Cleveland16-54-3 over Golden State2015Golden State16-54-2 over Cleveland2011Dallas16-54-2 over Miami2022Golden State16-74-2 over Boston2021Milwaukee16-74-2 over Phoenix2014San Antonio16-74-1 over Mi...

Michael Porter Jr.’s double-double more than offsets poor shooting night: “I could have scored zero points, I don’t care. We won a championship.” 

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:32:30 GMT

Michael Porter Jr. knew he’d broken through a barrier, and even still he couldn’t quite bring himself to fully get past it.Hat backward, champagne bottle as his postgame podium companion, Porter reveled in his newfound title as a world champion and couldn’t quite shake the lifelong mentality of a scorer.“I didn’t think I really played that good of a game,” he said.A funny thing about that: Porter played exactly the kind of game Denver needed from him in a grind-it-out, 84-89 Game 5 clincher against Miami.He brought energy from the start, scoring seven points and pulling down seven rebounds in the first quarter alone as the Nuggets played like a team straining too hard against history in pursuit of their first title.He sparked Denver in transition in the third quarter, finding Jamal Murray for a rare 3-pointer — the Nuggets made just 5-of-28 from beyond the arc — and then finishing himself on a rollicking, between-the-legs sojourn through traffic to the hoop.The final line: 16 ...