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As Republicans split over who will be House speaker, McCarthy positions himself as a de facto leader

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:29:50 GMT

By LISA MASCARO and KEVIN FREKING (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans have no clear idea who to elect U.S. House speaker, leaving an unprecedented power vacuum in Congress and severely limiting America’s ability to quickly respond to the crisis in Israel — or any number of other problems at home or abroad.On Monday, the ousted former speaker, Kevin McCarthy, quickly jumped into the void, bitterly criticizing President Joe Biden’s administration over the strength of its defense of Israel and positioning himself as a de facto Republican leader even though his colleagues toppled him from power.But it’s not at all clear if McCarthy could seriously make a comeback — or if any other Republicans seeking the gavel, Steve Scalise or Jim Jordan — can be elected speaker as their majority dissembles into infighting. House Republicans are scheduled to meet behind closed doors Monday evening to try to regain control of their majority ahead...

In a drying West, every drop counts. A new tool could help farmers care for their crops — and themselves

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:29:50 GMT

SAN LUIS — When the water is flowing down from the mountains, Joe Lobato wakes up most mornings and drives from his home in San Luis to his fields spread across the valley where his family has farmed for more than 100 years.During spring and summer runoff, Lobato uses a series of ditches to direct water to the fields where he grows alfalfa, mixed grains and Timothy grass. He strategically opens and closes a series of gates and places tarps in the ditches to direct the water to flood his fields at the right time.But driving all over Costilla County and manually opening and closing gates or placing tarps to direct water is time intensive — especially since Lobato and his family all work other full-time jobs in addition to farming.“You have to work a day job to afford to farm or ranch,” he said.The Lobatos are one of the first farming families in the state to try a new, Colorado-grown technology aimed at reducing farmers’ workload and managing Colorado’s shrinking water supply more eff...

Editorial: Israel will prevail

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:29:50 GMT

Saturday’s Hamas terror onslaught from their stronghold in Gaza into Israel, murdering hundreds, was a sneak attack, just like the sneak attack by Egypt and Syria on Israel on Yom Kippur exactly 50 years ago. 9/11 was a sneak attack, as was Pearl Harbor and Hitler’s surprise invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941.The targets, be it Israel or the United States or the Russians, are caught off guard by their enemies, stunned, suffering major psychological damage and loss of human life. But then comes the response and the counteroffensive.Those earlier sneak attacks failed. Hopefully, this one will also. We pray it does.Hamas claims that its fighters are soldiers, but soldiers don’t kidnap civilians from their homes to seize them as hostages, as Hamas did in launching raids into Israel in addition to their barrage of thousands of rockets fired at civilian population centers, including Tel Aviv.Both of those are acts of terrorism, which makes perfect sense, as Hamas is a terror group...

Olympics set to tackle flag football at Los Angeles Olympics in 2028

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:29:50 GMT

By EDDIE PELLS (AP National Writer)First, Taylor Swift. Next, the Olympics.The NFL’s ongoing push for worldwide exposure got another boost Monday when organizers for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics delivered a proposal to put flag football on the program when the Summer Games return to the United States for the first time in 32 years.The International Olympic Committee will vote on the proposal at meetings in Mumbai, India, that begin later this week. Also on the LA proposal were baseball and softball, which have been bouncing on and off the program for decades; lacrosse; squash; and cricket — a fitting contrast to flag football in that it is virtually unknown in the United States but immensely popular over wide swaths of the globe.LA chairman Casey Wasserman said the new sports are “relevant, innovative and community-based, played in backyards, schoolyards, community centers, stadiums and parks across the U.S. and the globe.”Though participation numbers hav...

EU reverses earlier announcement that it was suspending development aid to Palestinians

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:29:50 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union late Monday reversed an earlier announcement by an EU commissioner that the bloc was “immediately” suspending development aid for Palestinian authorities and instead said it would urgently review such assistance in the wake of the attacks on Israel by Hamas to make sure no money was misused.“There will be no suspension of payments” at the moment, a terse European Commission statement said late Monday, five hours after EU Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi had said that all payments from the development program for Palestinians would be “immediately suspended. All projects put under review. All new budget proposals … postponed until further notice.”No immediate explanation for the reversal was given. A full European Commission statement always trumps a statement from an EU commissioner, but the reversal on a 691 million-euro ($730 million) program capped an embarrassing day at the EU’s executive at a time of extreme geopolitical sensitivities. Since Satur...

Ted Schwinden, who served two terms as Montana governor, dies at age 98

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:29:50 GMT

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Ted Schwinden, a wheat farmer and Word War II veteran who gained national attention for keeping his home phone number listed during two terms as Montana’s governor, has died. He was 98.Schwinden died Saturday in Phoenix at his daughter’s home, son Dore Schwinden said Monday. The cause of death was “old age,” his son said: “He went to sleep in the afternoon and didn’t wake up.”Ted Schwinden was a Democrat who served as Montana’s 19th governor from 1981 and 1989. He and his wife, Jean, opened the governor’s mansion to the public for the first time and often welcomed the public tours in person.The governor periodically drew national attention because he answered his own, listed telephone. Radio talk shows throughout the nation would call him at home for impromptu interviews.“When Ted was on the phone, it was impossible to tell if he was talking to the governor of Oregon or a custodian at the Capitol. Every caller warranted his respect and full a...

19-year-old Minten earns spot on Maple Leafs’ opening night roster

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:29:50 GMT

The Toronto Maple Leafs are giving Fraser Minten a chance to show what he can do as the rookie forward will start the season in the NHL.Minten broke the news himself while speaking to reporters on Monday. The 19-year-old said general manager Brad Treliving called him on Sunday to say that he would be starting the season in the NHL after an impressive showing during training camp.“It means everything,” the 19-year-old said. “It’s been a dream of mine for as long as I’ve been alive and playing hockey to be in a position like this.”"It means everything, it's been a dream of mine." ????Toronto Maple Leafs 2022 second-round pick Fraser Minten talks about what it means to make the Maple Leafs roster ahead of their season opener against the Montreal Canadiens. pic.twitter.com/AYQz3FFVSl— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 9, 2023Minten was skating on a line with Matthew Knies and Calle Jarnkrok at practice on Monday.Toronto traded forward...

Live updates | Israel’s Netanyahu says offensive against Hamas will ‘reverberate’ for generations

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:29:50 GMT

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Monday that Israel’s fierce offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip has “only started.” Netanyahu delivered the pronouncement in a nationally televised address as Israel pressed ahead with a third day of heavy airstrikes in Gaza following Hamas’ unprecedented and deadly incursion into Israel.“We have only started striking Hamas,” he said. “What we will do to our enemies in the coming days will reverberate with them for generations.”Israel formally declared war on Sunday. The hostilities so far have killed around 900 people in Israel and more than 680 people in Gaza, according to authorities on each side. EUROPEAN UNION REVERSES SUSPENSION OF AID TO PALESTINIAN AUTHORITIESThe European Union late Monday reversed an earlier announcement by an EU commissioner that the bloc was immediately suspending aid for Palestinian authorities and instead said it would urgently review such assistance in the wake of the attacks on Is...

‘Frasier’ returns to TV but you don’t need to be a superfan of the original to laugh at its jokes

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:29:50 GMT

You could say Joe Cristalli tweeted his role as co-executive producer and co-showrunner on the new “Frasier” sitcom into existence. About 10 years ago as a fledgling TV writer and “Frasier” super fan, Cristalli started a Twitter account with “random jokes” about the show and character made famous by Kelsey Grammer in the sitcoms “Cheers” and “Frasier.”“It was stupid and nobody cared about it. I think I had maybe 3,000 followers at its height,” he recalled in a recent interview.At this point, “Frasier” had been off the air for 10 years, but Cristalli used it as “an outlet to practice writing because I was such a super fan and I just loved the style of joke-telling, so I would work on it.”A few years later, Cristalli read that Grammer was interested in reviving the character. He had his agent send a sample script and examples from his “Frasier”-centric Twitter feed to Grammer’s team. He was eventually hired alongside “How I Met Your Mother” writer Chris Harris ...

Afghans reel from the earthquake that killed thousands

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:29:50 GMT

ZINDA JAN, Afghanistan (AP) — People dug through the rubble of the quake in western Afghanistan for their few possessions but the material losses seemed unimportant.Saturday’s 6.3 magnitude quake killed and injured thousands when it leveled an untold number of homes in Herat province. Picking through the rubble on Monday, Asadullah Khan paused to think about a future marred by grief. Khan lost three daughters, his mother and his sister-in-law. Five members of his uncle’s family have died. His neighbors are grief-stricken, too.“We have lost 23 people in this village,” Khan said.Mounds of rubble flank the road winding through Zinda Jan district. Some door frames remain standing. There were few people in sight on Monday.The Taliban-appointed deputy prime minister for economic affairs, Abdul Ghani Baradar, and his team visited the quake-affected region Monday to deliver “immediate relief assistance” and ensure “equitable and accurate distribution of aid,” authorities said.Top U.N offici...