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Guatemala prepares to vote after a tumultuous presidential campaign

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:40 GMT

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — This has been one of the most turbulent election seasons in Guatemala’s modern history.Some of the most popular aspirants will be on the sidelines in Sunday’s voting because electoral authorities and courts blocked some from running and cancelled the candidacies of others who were initially allowed to enter the race. There is no re-election in Guatemala, so President Alejandro Giammattei is not among the 22 permitted presidential candidates. Guatemalans will also elect all members of congress and hundreds of mayors across the country.HOW ARE GUATEMALA’S ELECTIONS CONDUCTED?Guatemalans age 18 and older can vote in elections held every four years, and some 9.2 million are registered — more than half of them women. Voting is not compulsory.At polling places, voters will receive five ballots covering the various races in their districts.In the presidential contest, the ballot will feature the faces of the presidential and vice presidential candidates on...

Mobile home fire kills 5 in North Carolina, including a couple, their friend and his boys

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:40 GMT

BROADWAY, N.C. (AP) — Authorities have identified five people who died in a mobile home fire in a rural North Carolina town Sunday as a husband and wife, a family friend and his two young sons.The Harnett County Sheriff’s Office identified the victims as homeowners Michael Breymeyer, 74, and his wife, Tammy Breymeyer, 58; Daniel Garner, 39, and Garner’s two sons. Their names and ages weren’t immediately released.Kayla Gonzalez, who works in town, said the deaths will have a impact in the close-knit community, where everyone knows each other.Tammy Breymeyer “was there for anybody if you needed it. She always had something positive to say and a good outlook on what’s to come,” Gonzalez told WTVD-TV. “It happened so unexpectedly. Life is precious and time is really short.”The sheriff’s office told news outlets that the fire marshal’s office has joined its investigation into the cause of the fire in the Broadway community, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) southwest of Raleigh....

Search underway for sub missing near Titanic wreck off Newfoundland

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:40 GMT

HALIFAX — A search is underway off the coast of Newfoundland for a small submersible reported missing near the wreck of the Titanic.The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax says a research submarine was reported overdue around 9:13 p.m. Sunday, about 700 kilometres south of St. John’s, N.L.Lt.-Cmdr. Len Hickey says an Aurora military aircraft and the Canadian Coast Guard vessel Kopit Hopson are assisting the search effort, which is being led by the U.S. Coast Guard in Boston.Chief Mi’sel Joe, who is head of the Newfoundland and Labrador Mi’kmaq band that owns the ship from which the small submarine is launched, confirms it is operated by OceanGate Expeditions.Joe couldn’t say how many people were on board the submersible, which can seat up to five people.Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey tweeted that he is thinking of those affected and hopes the U.S. Coast Guard finds “the sub and those on it very soon.”This report by The Canadian Press w...

UN calls on Middle East and European nations to raise money for the humanitarian crisis in Sudan

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:40 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — The United Nations called on countries in the Middle East and Europe on Monday to ramp up aid efforts in Sudan to address the deepening humanitarian crisis.Sudan has been rocked by fighting for more than two months as the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces battle for control of the country. Sudan’s Health Ministry said Saturday that more than 3,000 have been killed in the conflict, which has decimated the country’s fragile infrastructure and sparked ethnic violence in the western Darfur region.“The scale and speed of Sudan’s descent into death and destruction is unprecedented,” U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said at the opening of a U.N.-sponsored meeting co-hosted by Egypt, Germany, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the African Union in the Swiss city of Geneva.Guterres said the organization’s emergency aid program launched after the war broke out on April 15 has received less than 17% of the required $3 billion in aid.As the meeting progressed, nu...

Power outages continue across southern US; triple-digit heat wave grips Texas

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:40 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — More than 100,000 customers in the southern U.S. remained without power Monday following damaging storms, leaving residents searching for relief as sweltering temperatures continued to scorch the region.Power outages for some customers in the piney woods of Texas could stretch late into this week as crews scrambled to make repairs. In some parts of Louisiana and Mississippi, the heat wave has been accompanied by heavy rain, punishing winds, thunderstorms and hail.In Louisiana, officials closed nearly two dozen state offices Monday because of the risks of severe weather. “It’s been unbearable,” Leigh Johnson, a resident of Mount Vernon, Texas, told Dallas television station KXAS. She had not had power for about three days.“It’s been horrible because it’s like, the heat index has been so bad that literally, we’re having to sit in the cold baths to cool ourselves down. Our animals as well, we’re having to stick them in the bathtub just to keep them from having a he...

Fire situation eases slightly, but risks remain as more than 400 wildfires still burn

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:40 GMT

OTTAWA — More than 200 wildfires are still burning out of control in Canada this morning as the country’s record-setting forest fire season continues to raze thousands of square kilometres every day.Rain helped ease the fire situation in parts of Alberta and Quebec over the weekend, but the fire risk remains high in most of the country.As of this morning, 420 fires were burning in nine provinces and two territories, and 207 of those are still considered to be out of control.More than 58,000 square kilometres has burned so far this year, or an area almost twice the size of Vancouver Island.Environment Canada says the air quality is good in most areas, though pockets of moderate risk remain in and around Edmonton and Toronto and in some parts of northeastern British Columbia.The Donnie Creek fire north of Fort St. John, B.C., is now the largest fire that province has ever recorded and is still burning out of control more than a month after it started.This report by The Canadian ...

Trump faces questions about whether he’ll drag down the Republican Party after his indictments

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:40 GMT

Donald Trump’s grip on the Republican faithful was evident from the moment he left the federal courthouse in Miami last week.Fresh off becoming the first former president to face criminal charges levied by the government he once oversaw, Trump’s motorcade moved through a crowd of hundreds of mostly adoring fans. He met more supporters at a Cuban restaurant in Little Havana, a Miami neighborhood that, like much of south Florida, has swung toward Republicans in recent years. A federal indictment on charges of mishandling the nation’s most sensitive national security secrets would doom any other White House hopeful. But Trump’s reception in Miami — and the more than $7 million he raised after the indictment — was a reminder of the central tension coursing through the Republican Party as the 2024 presidential primary gets underway.For now, no one comes close to Trump in his command of the voters who will decide the GOP’s nominee next year. But Trump’s...

Higher airfares are likely upshot of Sunwing-WestJet integration, experts say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:40 GMT

Experts say WestJet’s decision to shut down Sunwing Airlines and fold it into its main operations will mean less service and higher fares — particularly in Western Canada and smaller cities across the country.Sunwing told employees it was being absorbed by its new owner on Wednesday, less than a week after WestJet announced plans to shutter discount subsidiary Swoop.John Gradek, who teaches at McGill University’s aviation management program, says the latest move is bad news for consumers looking to head to warmer destinations, given the narrower flight options and pricier tickets likely to result from a merger of former competitors.Aviation consultant Rick Erickson says Air Transat and Air Canada will ensure a healthy mix of competition for sun destinations, but that travellers in smaller markets ranging from Saskatoon to St. John’s, N.L., may well have to shell out more.In a report from October, the Competition Bureau said WestJet and Sunwing comprise 37 per cent ...

Fatality ID'd in shooting at Juneteenth celebration in Willowbrook that left 22 others injured

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:40 GMT

DUPAGE COUNTY, Ill. — A man who was shot and killed in a shooting that left 22 others injured in Willowbrook Township after a celebration for Juneteenth has been identified.The deceased victim was identified as 31-year-old Reginald Meadows from Willowbrook. He suffered a gunshot wound to the abdomen, the DuPage County Coroner's Office said.A group of people were peacefully gathering around 12:30 a.m. near Route 83 and Honeysuckle Rose Lane when shots were fired. An unknown number of individuals fired shots from multiple weapons in the crowd, the sheriff's office said.According to Battalion Chief Joe Ostrander with the Tri-State Fire Protection District, 12 ambulances were brought to the scene. In total, 10 people were transported from the scene to area hospitals, with injuries ranging from graze wounds to more serious gunshot wounds.On Sunday afternoon, the sheriff's office said at least 22 were injured were shot and one person was fatally wounded. The identities and conditions of ...

NASCAR makes more Chicago Street Race announcements - including a new food option at the event

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:40 GMT

CHICAGO — As the event gets closer, NASCAR continues to finish up a few details when it comes to their first street race in Chicago. That includes the addition of a few well-known food items in the city. Those who like Lou Malnati’s, Garrett’s Popcorn, and Vienna Beef will be able to get all three inside NASCAR’s Chicago Street Race grounds on July 1 & 2. @WGNNews pic.twitter.com/IDwmESO7nH— Larry Hawley (@HawleySports) June 15, 2023Ahead of the Chicago Street Race on June 1 and 2, NASCAR announced that they've come to deals with Lou Malnati's, Garrett Popcorn Shops, and Vienna Beef to sell during the event.Food from all three of the vendors will be available at concession stands that will be located around the 2.2-mile oval that includes both grandstands and suites. Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants was named the official food and beverage partner of the Chicago Street Races back in May. Food from a number of their establishments, including the RPM restaurants, will be se...