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Maui confronts challenge of finding those unaccounted for after deadly fire

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:23:45 GMT

LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — Two weeks after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century swept through the Maui community of Lahaina, authorities say more than 800 people remain unaccounted for — a staggering number that presents huge challenges for officials who are trying to determine how many of those perished and how many may have made it to safety but haven’t checked in.Something similar happened after a wildfire in 2018 that killed 85 people and destroyed the town of Paradise, California. Authorities in Butte County, home to Paradise, ultimately published a list of the missing in the local newspaper, a decision that helped identify scores of people who had made it out alive but were listed as missing. Within a month, the list dropped from 1,300 names to only a dozen.“I probably had, at any given time, 10 to 15 detectives who were assigned to nothing but trying to account for people who were unaccounted for,” Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said in a phone interview. “At...

A jailed Hong Kong student loses bid to reduce sentence over inciting secession in landmark ruling

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:23:45 GMT

HONG KONG (AP) — A jailed university student in Hong Kong lost his bid to reduce his five-year sentence for inciting secession in a landmark ruling by the city’s top court Tuesday that will have a far-reaching impact on other cases brought under a Beijing-imposed national security law. Lui Sai-yu pleaded guilty to breaching the sweeping security law in April 2022 and admitted that content on a Telegram channel he administered incited others to separate Hong Kong from China or alter the legal status of the city unlawfully. But his timely guilty plea did not get him a one-third reduction in the length of his imprisonment — like in many other cases under the city’s common law system — because the security law imposed minimum jail terms for serious offences. Lui is one of the some 260 people who were arrested under the security law as Beijing tried to crush dissidents following the massive protests in 2019. The ruling on his appeal is expected to set the bar for sentencings ...

Want to tune in for the first GOP presidential debate? Here’s how to watch

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:23:45 GMT

It’s almost time for the first debate among Republicans competing for their party’s 2024 presidential nomination.Here’s all of the information on how to watch:TUNING INThe two-hour debate will start at 9 p.m. ET on Wednesday. It’s being moderated by Fox News hosts Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum.Unlike some previous presidential debates, which have been simulcast across a number of major networks and cable channels, the first forum is airing exclusively on Fox News and the Fox Business Network as well as on Fox’s website and other streaming and digital platforms.In lieu of the network’s YouTube channel, the Republican National Committee has partnered with Rumble — a video sharing platform popular with some conservatives — to livestream the debate. Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said earlier this year this was a decision aimed toward “getting away from Big Tech.”Another debate partner is the Young America’s Foundation, a Wisconsin-based outfit hea...

Mass shootings spur divergent laws as states split between gun rights and control

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:23:45 GMT

Tennessee’s Republican-led Legislature is meeting in special session this week to consider a package of public safety proposals, including some stemming from a deadly shooting at a Nashville elementary school earlier this year. Though the session is not expected to result in any new firearms restrictions, it nonetheless highlights the widely divergent response among states to a spate of mass shootings across the U.S.More than half the states have enacted substantive new laws this year regarding gun policies or school safety measures — most often tightening firearm restrictions in Democratic-led states and loosening them in Republican-led ones. Some states also have pumped money into efforts to secure schools or to train teachers and staff how to respond in shootings.WHAT IS TENNESSEE DOING?Republican Gov. Bill Lee has outlined an 18-prong agenda for Tennessee lawmakers to consider during their special session. The proposal that has gotten the most public attention also appears...

Trump’s decision to back out of debate tests Fox News’ ability to pivot again

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:23:45 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — If 2023 has taught anything to the people running Fox News, it’s the importance of being able to pivot.The decision by former President Donald Trump to skip Wednesday’s first debate of the 2024 presidential primary season likely deprives Fox of a huge late-summer audience. Even worse for the network, Trump has talked of appearing in an online interview with former Fox star Tucker Carlson at the same time.Trump’s announcement on Sunday wasn’t necessarily a surprise. Fox debate moderators Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum had been preparing for two events — one if he were there and one if he wasn’t.Several Fox personalities this summer publicly urged Trump to attend the event, and Fox executives privately made the same argument to the former president. His former press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, called Trump’s decision a “huge political miscalculation” Monday on Fox.Despite Trump’s lead over other Republicans in polls, MacCallu...

How Trump’s attacks on prosecutors build on history of using racist language and stereotypes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:23:45 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s aggressive response to his fourth criminal indictment in five months follows a strategy he has long used against legal and political opponents: relentless attacks, often infused with language that is either overtly racist or is coded in ways that appeal to racists.The early Republican presidential front-runner has used terms such as “animal” and “rabid” to describe Black district attorneys. He has accused Black prosecutors of being “racist.” He has made unsupported claims about their personal lives. And on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump has deployed terms that rhyme with racial slurs as some of his supporters post racist screeds about the same targets. The rhetoric is a reminder of Trump’s tendency to use coded racial messaging as a signal to supporters, an approach he has deployed over several decades as he evolved from a New York City real estate tycoon to a reality television star and, eventually, the president. Even if he does...

Inside KCON LA 2023, an extravagant microcosm of K-pop’s macro influence

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:23:45 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hours before doors would open, thousands of K-pop fans lined up in downtown Los Angeles, stretching long city blocks in the warm August sun. In pleated skirts and platform shoes, toting the clear bags that have become arena staples, they danced and traded homemade stickers, banners, bracelets and photocards. Inside was their paradise: an IRL space to commune over their URL passions. If anything, the 2023 LA KCON was a microcosm of K-pop’s macro influence on the music industry as a whole.Held from Friday to Sunday at the Los Angeles Convention Center and adjacent Crypto.com Arena, an estimated 140,000 fans from all over the world celebrated their favorite K-pop idols across three days of panels, premium meet-and-greets, interviews, dance breaks, concerts, and more. Inside the convention center, fans carried lightsticks of their favorite groups, showed off DIY shirts with simple, direct slogans like “I HEART MINGI”, collected sticker books and K-beauty products, and...

Austin's I-35 expansion clears final hurdle before construction start

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:23:45 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The Texas Department of Transportation is poised to begin construction on its Interstate 35 Capital Expression Central project near downtown Austin, following approval of the project announced Monday.TxDOT released a final environmental impact statement and record of decision, marking completion of environmental clearance as part of the National Environmental Policy Act. With that decision delivered, TxDOT's I-35 Central project is slated to move into its final design and review phase before construction is anticipated to begin in mid-2024. Tucker Ferguson, TxDOT's Austin district engineer, told KXAN Monday the state agency is eyeing a project launch in either March or April.The I-35 Central project is an eight-mile project track running from U.S. Hwy. 290 East to SH 71 and Ben White Boulevard. AUSTIN NEWS: APD Chief Joseph Chacon to retire; chief of staff named as interim police chief Project components include the addition of two non-tolled high-occupancy vehic...

Suspected gunman in Pasadena taken into custody after hours-long barricade

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:23:45 GMT

After an hours-long standoff, authorities have arrested a man suspected of shooting and killing a woman Monday in Pasadena. Around 10:30 a.m. Monday, Pasadena police responded to the 200 block of South Raymond Avenue, where a woman was found unresponsive after reports of several shots fired.The suspected gunman was eventually tracked down to an apartment complex near the intersection of Del Mar Boulevard and Raymond Avenue.Authorities were unable to contact the suspect at first, which led to a sweep of the building. They eventually located the apartment where the suspect was believed to be located and negotiations began.The relationship between the suspect and the victim are unclear at this time, police said.The Pasadena Police Department is being assisted by the Glendale Police Department and a SWAT Team.Video from the scene showed at least two armored vehicles and several heavily armed law enforcement officers surrounding the apartment building, which was located near a Metro stat...

A’s slugger made sure he could attend Oakland Arena concert before it ended

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:23:45 GMT

OAKLAND — Brent Rooker hit a two-run home run off Dylan Coleman in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Oakland Athletics a 6-4 win over the Kansas City Royals on Monday night in a matchup of teams with the worst records in the major leagues.Zack Gelof, Jordan Diaz, and Shea Langeliers also went deep for the MLB-worst Athletics (35-90), who snapped a three-game skid and won for the second time in 10 games.The A’s led most of the game, but squandered a 4-2 lead in the eighth when the Royals scored twice off Lucas Erceg, tying the game.Kansas City had another runner in scoring position when Michael Massey singled and appeared to steal second with two outs. Massey was initially ruled safe, but the call was overturned after a video replay, ending the inning.Ryan Noda, just activated off the disabled list, led off the ninth and was hit by a pitch from Coleman (0-2). Rooker then slammed a 2-0 slider into the seats in left field for his second game-ending homer of the season.As...