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The UN and its partners ramp up their appeal for peace and aid at the 4-month mark of Sudan’s war

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:24 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — Twenty United Nations and other international organizations on Tuesday called for peace, access to humanitarian support and respect for human rights in Sudan at the four-month mark of a war that has led to food shortages, death and injury, and sexual violence, among other troubles.Spokeswoman Margaret Harris of the World Health Organization appealed to the global community to do more, saying at a U.N. briefing in Geneva: “The world is ignoring the dire needs.”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. Since then, the U.N and rights groups have accused both the military and the RSF of numerous human rights violations, although both forces have rejected these accusations.In Darfur, the scene of genocidal war in the early 2000s, the fighting has morphed into ethnic viol...

A $500 million deal to restore Gabon’s coast reignites climate finance debate

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:24 GMT

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Gabon will use a controversial financial move to ease its debt burden and restore its oceans at the same time, a leading conservation group said Tuesday.It’s the second-largest deal of its kind to date, and the first on mainland Africa, according to a press release by The Nature Conservancy, the global environmental nonprofit that helped broker the deal.Gabon, an oil-rich Central African nation known for its biodiversity, hosts the world’s largest population of leatherback turtles and myriad other endangered species. By refinancing $500 million of its foreign debt, TNC estimates, Gabon will free up $163 million to expand its protected coastal areas and combat illegal overfishing.“It’s a really interesting way of slightly reducing our debt repayments and also generating money for conservation,” said Lee White, Gabon’s minister of water, forests, sea, and environment. He collaborated with TNC, Bank of America and others to negotiate lower interest rates on Gabon’...

Man in 20s dead, another in critical condition after Mississauga crash

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:24 GMT

A man in his 20s is dead and another is fighting for his life in hospital after an early morning crash in Mississauga.Emergency crews were called to Derry Road between Mavis and McLaughlin roads around 5:30 a.m. for reports of a multi-vehicle collision.Paramedics tell CityNews two vehicles were involved and a man in his 20s was pronounced dead at the scene. A second man was rushed to hospital in life-threatening condition.Images from the scene show a black car and a white car with significant front end damage.Eastbound Derry is blocked at Mavis for the investigation. Police are asking motorists to avoid the area.This is a developing story. More to come.

Migrant boat sinks off Tunisian coast, leaving 5 dead and 7 missing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:24 GMT

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — A migrant boat sank off Tunisia’s port city of Sfax, leaving five people dead and seven others missing, officials said Tuesday. The dead included a child.Sfax is the starting point for most attempts to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Italy.Twenty-three migrants were rescued out of 35 people on board, most of them Tunisians and a “small number of sub-Saharan nationals,” said Faouzi Masmoudi, a Sfax court spokesperson.The boat sank on Monday shortly after leaving from the Sfax area, Masmoudi said.The Sfax court opened an investigation to determine the cause of the accident, which occurred two days after another migrant boat sank off Gabes, a port in southeastern Tunisia, about 150 kilometers (93 miles) from Sfax, killing a child and a 20-year-old man. Five other people remain missing.A number of boats have capsized, shipwrecked or otherwise been in distress in recent days off the North African coast and near Italian shores. Tens of thousands of migrants have...

Some athletes with a fear of flying are leaning on greater resources than their predecessors

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:24 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco Giants star Joc Pederson is scared to fly. Outfielder Seth Brown of the Oakland Athletics, too.They are hardly the only ones. Longtime manager Dusty Baker would bet that anxiety in the air has shortened more than a few careers. He recalls watching terrified teammates and coaches cling tightly to photos of their loved ones during bumpy flights.“There’s no helping them,” Baker said. “A lot of times they have a couple drinks more than they should on the plane. I’ve had guys I played with, they had like four or five kids, and the plane was having turbulence and they would start kissing their kids, like they were kissing them goodbye, like it was the last time they would see their kids.”In big-time sports, there’s no getting around regular flying. Major League Baseball players might crisscross the country several times in a single week. NBA and NHL teams frequently play on consecutive nights in different cities and time zones. Even 300-plus-pound ...

Retirees face $17,400 hit in Social Security if fund isn't bolstered: analysis

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:24 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – The average retired couple would see a $17,400 Social Security cut in 2033 if the program is allowed to continue on its current path, according to a new report from the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB).The CRFB's analysis found that politicians' promises not to touch the program would actually ensure a reduction in benefits across the board when the trust fund behind Social Security goes insolvent in a decade.That fund, the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) trust fund, is set to run through its reserves by 2033, just when people who are currently 57 years old retire at 72. Odds of a ‘strong’ El Niño grow again: Will you feel it locally? According to the analysis, once the OASI becomes insolvent, it will only be able to pay out an amount equivalent to what it receives in funding, meaning a 23% drop in Social Security benefits.That would mean an annual $17,400 loss for the typical dual-income couple and a $13,100 reduction for those with...

How a law associated with mobsters is central to the latest charges against Trump

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:24 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis opened her investigation into Donald Trump after the release of a recording of a January 2021 phone call between Trump and Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger.Trump suggested during the call that Raffensperger, a Republican and the state’s top elections official, could help “find” the votes needed to overturn his narrow loss to Democrat Joe Biden. Meet the co-conspirators charged with Trump in the Georgia indictment More than two years later, the indictment brought Monday by a grand jury went far beyond that phone call, alleging a web of crimes committed by Trump and others. Willis used Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO, law to charge Trump and 18 associates for allegedly participating in a wide-ranging conspiracy to overturn the state's 2020 election results.She told reporters late Monday that she intended to try all 19 defendants together and noted her pros...

What San Marcos CISD wants parents to know about school marshals on campus

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:24 GMT

SAN MARCOS, Texas (KXAN) -- In the middle of San Marcos CISD's Miller Middle School sits the library, the busiest area in the school.“The library is the literacy hub,” SMCISD Superintendent Dr. Michael Cardona said. NEXT: Set for School KXAN met Cardona in the open space library as he greeted incoming sixth-grade students transitioning from elementary school to middle school.“We want kids to check out books. We want kids to read. We want kids to be active learners. We want them to be self directed," Cardona said.When it comes to school safety, San Marcos CISD is doing something new this school year. Every elementary school will have a school marshal on campus.“At the end of the day, I want parents to understand we are not arming teachers, that was never in the discussion here in San Marcos,” Cardona said. “We are pretty confident we have some exceptional individuals that have the law enforcement background that will benefit not only the kids but the staff and the greater San Marco...

Round Rock ISD superintendent may ask voters to pay for teacher raises

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:24 GMT

ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) -- The Round Rock Independent School District is exploring a new way to retain teachers and give them a pay raise.“We'll go to our voters,” RRISD Superintendent Dr. Hafedh Azaiez said. NEXT: Set for School Round Rock ISD will ask the school board to consider a voter-approved tax rate election in November.Leander and Pflugerville ISD asked the same of its residents in November 2022.“If they approve it, that will add three golden pennies, three extra pennies that will allow us to raise about $21 million. That is not subject for recapture. We don't have to send it back to the state,” Azaiez said.Details are still being ironed out with the proposed tax rate but, Azaiez said, if voters approve the measure, the money would go directly toward pay raises for RRISD teachers.“Our raises for our teachers will go from 3% to 6%,” Azaiez said.“The last legislative session, unfortunately, there was no pay increase,” the superintendent said about public education funding....

Round Rock ISD to start school day 5 minutes earlier in 2023-24

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:24 GMT

ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) – The Round Rock Independent School District said all elementary, middle and high schools will begin five minutes earlier in the 2023-24 school year. According to a July 17 district announcement, the instructional times will be: Elementary School – 7:35 a.m. to 2:55 p.m. Middle School – 8:15 a.m. to 3:35 p.m. High School – 9:00 a.m. to 4:20 p.m. Elementary Disciplinary Alternative Education Program (EDAEP) – 7:10 a.m. to 2:25 p.m.Round Rock Opportunity Center (RROC) – 7:25 a.m. to 2:35 p.m. GOALS Learning Center – 8:35 a.m. to 3:55 p.m. Start times for Pear and Apple Sessions, VISTA, Together We Can (TWC), Child Development Center(CDC) and Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) will not change, according to the district.Updated bus route information for the 2023-2024 school year can be found on SMART Tag and the Transportation website, the district said.The schedule changes came after the Round Rock Board of Trustees voted in March to add five instructiona...