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Venezuela’s opposition is holding primary to pick challenger for Maduro in 2024 presidential rival

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:09:38 GMT

VALENCIA, Venezuela (AP) — Josselyz Essa and a friend, two 9-year-olds with a budding interest in politics as Venezuela starts toward its next presidential election, bubbled with eagerness waiting for the campaign rally to start. Then a thunderous noise spread over the crowd in the streets of the northern city of Valencia. The girls stretched up on their tiptoes and joined in the uproar, screaming as loud as they could: “María Corina! María Corina!” — that is María Corina Machado, the opposition politician they want to be president.Machado, a free-market firebrand, is the frontrunner in a primary election Sunday organized by the opposition to pick a challenger to President Nicolás Maduro. It is the first of its kind since 2012 in the troubled South American country. But even if Machado wins, it remains unclear if she would be allowed to run in 2024. While Maduro’s government agreed in principle this week to allow the opposition to choose its candidate, it also has already barr...

Swiss elect their parliament on Sunday with worries about environment and migration high in minds

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:09:38 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — Swiss voters this weekend elect a parliament that could reshape Switzerland’s executive branch at a time when key concerns include migration, rising healthcare costs and climate change, which has shrunk the country’s Alpine glaciers. Final ballots will be collected Sunday morning after the vast majority of Swiss made their choices by mail-in voting. Up for grabs are both houses of parliament.The main stakes, if pollsters turn out to be right, are whether two Green parties fare worse than they did in the last election in 2019, and whether the country’s centrist party might land more seats in parliament’s lower house than the free-market party — boosting their position in the executive branch.Polls suggest that the Swiss have three main preoccupations in mind: Rising fees for the obligatory, free market-based health insurance system; climate change, which has eroded Switzerland’s numerous glaciers; and worries about migrants and immigration.The vote cou...

Evacuees live nomadic life after Maui wildfire as housing shortage intensifies and tourists return

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:09:38 GMT

LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — Charles Nahale spent a restless night trying to sleep in the back seat of his pickup truck after a wildfire destroyed his home and the town of Lahaina. The next two nights weren’t much better: The singer and guitarist put his feet on one chair and sat in another as he squatted in an evacuated hotel where he once performed for guests.Nahale eventually found a timeshare condo with a bed, shower and kitchen — lodging he was able to keep until Friday, when, yet again, he had to move, this time with officials setting him up in a different hotel condo.He is one of many whose lives have become transient since the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century left at least 99 people dead. The blaze destroyed thousands of buildings and unmoored residents who now face myriad challenges posed by Maui’s location and status as a vacation hub.“It’s hard to begin the healing process when you’re worried about the essentials,” Nahale said.Some are bouncing from hotel ro...

Houston’s next mayor has big city problems to fix. Familiar faces want the job

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:09:38 GMT

HOUSTON (AP) — The challenges facing Houston’s next mayor are familiar to many big cities: crime, crumbling infrastructure, budget shortfalls and a lack of affordable housing.But in November’s marquee mayoral election in the U.S., the top candidates promising to turn Houston around are two Democrats who have held power in the city longer than almost anyone, leaving outsiders scrambling to get a foothold as early voting is set to begin Monday. U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee took office in 1995, about two decades after state Sen. John Whitmire started in the Texas Legislature. Both have commanded the spotlight and money in the race to lead America’s fourth-largest city, where booming growth has caused municipal headaches but also turned the Houston area into an expanding stronghold for Texas Democrats. “This (new) mayor comes along at a time when the city is doing well, though the city faces issues,” said Bob Harvey, president and CEO of the Greater Houston Partnership, a local business...

Texas high school football scores for Friday, Oct. 20

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:09:38 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Dripping Springs took out Lake Travis 24-6 in Class 6A action Friday while Vandegrift won big 58-0 over Cedar Ridge.Bowie ran away with a 56-7 win over Akins and Westlake pummeled Austin High 65-14 at House Park. Hutto picked up a 38-33 win over Copperas Cove while Vista Ridge reigned supreme 36-16 over Manor.REPORT YOUR SCORE: We'd love to post your team's score on our website, but we need your help to do it. Email the score of your game to [email protected] and we'll get it on our websiteWestwood drew closer to a playoff bid with a 49-20 win over Stony Point. Wimberley topped Geronimo Navarro 48-20.Check out the rest of the scores from around the viewing area as well as the State of Texas Scores from around the KXAN viewing areaA&M Consolidated 59, East View 14Bay Area Christian 35, Brentwood 28Blanco 55, Llano 24Bowie 56, Akins 7Burnet 45, Canyon Lake 20Cedar Park 17, Glenn 13College Station 63, Georgetown 21Concordia 54, Round Rock Christian 36Connally 45, Kill...

Warriors take on Spurs top pick Victor Wembanyama in first preseason loss

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:09:38 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO — The Warriors’ best shooters need only a second of daylight to get their shots off. San Antonio Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama’s eight-foot wingspan closed any and all gaps in a Warriors’ 122-117 loss in the preseason finale on Friday night at Chase Center. The Warriors finish 4-1 in the preseason.A few Warriors tried to shoot over the 7-foot-4 rookie with little success. He blocked Andrew Wiggins twice, first swatting a 3-point attempt then batting away his jumper after Wiggins tried to take him to the rim one-on-one. He blocked Klay Thompson’s 3-pointer, leading to a transition dunk in which Wembanyama waited a beat under the basket with the ball to let gunning defenders fly by him before barely lifting his feet to slam the ball.Jonathan Kuminga had some relative success going at Wembanyama, at the start of the second half taking him one-on-one on a drive to the basket for a layup. Earlier, he rainbow-ed a jumper over Wembanyama’s...

Highway 1 blocked in Montara after driver hits pedestrian

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:09:38 GMT

MONTARA – All lanes of Highway 1 in Montara were blocked Friday night after a driver hit a pedestrian, authorities said.Related ArticlesCrashes and Disasters | Missing hiker found dead on Mount Whitney Crashes and Disasters | Former 49ers WR Terrell Owens hit by car following argument, LA sheriff’s department says Crashes and Disasters | “Not for beginners!”: Santa Cruz’s big swell collides with high tide Crashes and Disasters | 2 Northern California women rescued on Oregon’s Mt. Hood with limited survival ‘essentials’ Crashes and Disasters | Berkeley man found dead after disappearing on mountain bike trip in Sierra The collision happened around 7:25 p.m. near 2nd Street, said California Highway Patrol Officer Sophie Lu.The pedestrian was hit by a driver in a Mazda and suffered major injuries, Lu said.Additional details about the crash were not immediately available.Highway 1 remained c...

San Jose cop injured in August shooting released from hospital

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:09:38 GMT

SAN JOSE – A San Jose police officer who was shot and critically injured while responding to a family disturbance call in mid-August has been released from the hospital, police said.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Victim, suspect identified in Sunnyvale double shooting Crime and Public Safety | San Jose man charged in fentanyl death of 3-month-old child Crime and Public Safety | Two arrests made in connection to South San Jose armed robbery Crime and Public Safety | Attempted robbery under investigation in Palo Alto Crime and Public Safety | Silicon Valley tech CEO sentenced to 8 years in prison following COVID and allergy test fraud scandal The officer spent a total of nine weeks in the hospital and underwent half a dozen major surgeries, the San Jose Police Department said in a social media post Friday afternoon.A 45-second video attached to the post showed the officer being wheeled out of th...

The Diamondbacks and SF Giants were tied on Sept. 1. Now Arizona is within two wins of the World Series

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:09:38 GMT

PHOENIX — Alek Thomas hit a tying, two-run homer in a three-run eighth inning, Gabriel Moreno followed with a go-ahead single and the Arizona Diamondbacks stunned the Philadelphia Phillies with a 6-5 victory on Friday night that tied the NL Championship Series at two games apiece.Arizona trailed 5-2 before Orion Kerkering’s bases-loaded walk to Christian Walker with two outs in the seventh.Lourdes Gurriel Jr. doubled leading off the eighth against Craig Kimbrel, who gave up Ketel Marte’s game-ending single in Game 3. Thomas, pinch-hitting for Emmanuel Rivera with one out, sent a full-count fastball splashing into the right-center field swimming pool to tie the score 5-5 as a sellout crowd at Chase Field roared.“That play is definitely something you see in your dreams,” the 23-year-old Thomas said. “So for it to come in real life, for it to happen to me, it’s awesome. Just so grateful to have that moment.”Marte singled with two outs, Corbin Carroll was hit by a pitc...

How an app is helping Alexandria address absenteeism

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:09:38 GMT

Alexandria City Public Schools is using an app to notify parents in the Virginia school system when their students aren’t in class.The app, called ParentSquare, sends families three notifications a day if their student is absent. Seventy percent of families have a registered ParentSquare account, school system spokeswoman Julia Burgos said in a statement, but all families get the notifications regardless of whether they use the app.Use of the app is a part of the school district’s plan to combat a rise in chronic absenteeism — the number of students who miss 10% or more of required school days. In Alexandria, over 2,500 students (16%) were chronically absent last year, according to the latest state data.“It makes communication very easy between the school staff and the family,” said Hope Murphy, Alexandria’s attendance and truancy outreach specialist. “When school staff send a text, it is received in the family’s language. And when they respond, they can respond in their language.”A...