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Once starved by war, millions of Ethiopians go hungry again as US, UN pause aid after massive theft

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:21 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — An Orthodox Christian priest, Tesfa Kiros Meresfa begs door-to-door for food along with countless others recovering from a two-year war in northern Ethiopia that starved his people. To his dismay, urgently needed grain and oil have disappeared again for millions caught in a standoff between Ethiopia’s government, the United States and United Nations over what U.S. officials say may be the biggest theft of food aid on record.“I have no words to describe our suffering,” Tesfa said.As the U.S. and U.N. demand that Ethiopia’s government yield its control over the vast aid delivery system supporting one-sixth of the country’s population, they have taken the dramatic step of suspending their food aid to Africa’s second-most populous nation until they can be sure it won’t be stolen by Ethiopian officials and fighters.Almost three months have passed since the aid suspension in parts of the country, and reports are emerging of the first deaths fr...

‘She just wants a friend’: Families push for full school days for children with disabilities

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:21 GMT

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — One Thursday morning in May, instead of sitting at a desk in her sixth grade classroom in the Oregon mountains, Khloe Warne sat at a table in her mother’s bakery, doing her schoolwork on a laptop and watching her favorite clips of anime.Khloe, 12, loves drawing, writing and especially reading — in second grade, she was already reading at a sixth grade level. But she only goes to school one day a week for two hours. The district said she needed shorter school days last year when Khloe threw a desk and fought with students in outbursts her mother attributes to a failure to support her needs. Khloe, who has been diagnosed with autism, ADHD and an anxiety disorder, had no individualized education plan for her disability when she returned to in-person learning after the pandemic.Not being able to attend school regularly has saddened Khloe, stunted her education and isolated her from her peers, her mother says. It has also upended her family’s life. Her mother, Al...

Math scores plunge for 13-year-olds as pandemic setbacks persist

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:21 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Math and reading scores among America’s 13-year-olds fell to their lowest levels in decades, with math scores plunging by the largest margin ever recorded, according to the results of a test known as the nation’s report card.The results, released Wednesday, are the latest measure of the deep learning setbacks incurred during the pandemic. While earlier testing revealed the magnitude of America’s learning loss, the latest test casts light on the persistence of those setbacks, dimming hopes of swift academic recovery.More than two years after most students returned to in-person class, there are still “worrisome signs about student achievement,” said Peggy G. Carr, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, a branch of the federal Education Department.“The ‘green shoots’ of academic recovery that we had hoped to see have not materialized,” Carr said in a statement.In the national sample of 13-year-old students, average math scores fell by 9 po...

Once wrongly imprisoned for notorious rape, member of ‘Central Park Five’ is running for office

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:21 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Outside a Harlem subway station, Yusef Salaam, a candidate for New York City Council, hurriedly greeted voters streaming out along Malcolm X Boulevard. For some, no introductions were necessary. They knew his face, his name and his life story.But to the unfamiliar, Salaam needed only to introduce himself as one of the Central Park Five — one of the Black or Brown teenagers, ages 14 to 16, wrongly accused, convicted and imprisoned for the rape and beating of a white woman jogging in Central Park on April 19, 1989.Now 49, Salaam is hoping to join the power structure of a city that once worked to put him behind bars.“I’ve often said that those who have been close to the pain should have a seat at the table,” Salaam said during an interview at his campaign office.Salaam is one of three candidates in a competitive June 27 Democratic primary almost certain to decide who will represent a Harlem district unlikely to elect a Republican in November’s general election. With ear...

Powell to face Capitol Hill hearing at a time of rising uncertainty over Fed’s interest-rate plans

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:21 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will begin two days of hearings before Congress on Wednesday that will likely focus on the question that consumed the central bank last week: How far and how fast will the Fed raise its key interest rate from here? The hearings, beginning with the House Financial Services Committee, follow a Fed meeting last week that produced a muddled picture of its likely next steps. The 18 members of its policy committee predicted two more interest rate hikes this year — one more than analysts had expected — to fight inflation, which they now think will be higher next year than they previously forecast. Despite that dour forecast, the Fed’s policymakers agreed last week to forgo a rate hike for the first time in 11 meetings dating back to March 2022. And at a news conference, Powell explicitly said no decisions had been made about whether to raise the Fed’s benchmark rate at its next meeting in late July. Still, most economists in...

Summer Solstice Wednesday. Air Quality Alert Issued. Heat Building for The Weekend

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:21 GMT

SUMMER SOLSTICE—the astronomical beginning of summer—occurs at 9:57 a.m. Wednesday.  On this day, the sun appears at its highest altitude, casting the least amount of shadow at noon. It's our longest day of the year with 15 hours, 13 minutes and 41 seconds of possible sunshine. Wednesday picks up one second more daylight (compared to Tuesday)—then we start losing daylight—BUT VERY SLOWLY. We'll lose only 2/100's of second of daylight the day after tomorrow (Thursday) and another 6/100s of a second Friday. Park an air mass over the area for a week and trap it in an atmospheric blocking pattern while producing a temp inversion each day with cooler breezes off Lake Michigan and you're bound to develop air quality issues. It's just such a weather set-up which has led to the AIR QUALITY ALERT issued for the Greater Chicago area by the Illinois EPA and agencies in surrounding states as well.WIDER VIEW of AIR QUALITY predicted WednesdayAIR QUALITY FORECAST Wednesday. An AIR QUALITY ALERT h...

'Underwater noises' detected in search for missing sub

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:21 GMT

BOSTON (NewsNation) — The five people onboard a missing submersible that was headed for the Titanic shipwreck on Sunday have approximately "40 hours of breathable air left," the U.S. Coast Guard estimated Tuesday afternoon.So far, search and rescue teams have been unable to find the vessel, which is believed to be about 900 miles east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. "You're dealing with a surface search and a subsurface search and frankly that makes it an incredibly complex operation," Capt. Jamie Frederick with the First Coast Guard District said at a news conference Tuesday. How many times have submarine rescues succeeded? Now, rescuers are in a serious race against time. As of 1 p.m. Eastern Tuesday, the five people in the sub have about 40 hours before they run out of air.Late Tuesday night, the U.S. Coast Guard said "underwater noises" were detected by a Canadian P-3 aircraft. Remotely-operated vehicles were relocated to investigate, but nothing was found.Finding the sub is just ...

Napheesa Collier powers Lynx to another win over Sparks

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:21 GMT

Napheesa Collier continues to be the best player on the court.She continued her dominating stretch of play with 26 points and 14 rebounds and the Lynx beat Los Angeles 67-61 Tuesday night.It’s the third time in five games Collier has at least 25 points.Three of those led to wins over the Sparks in a 10-day span. The wins were by a combined 16 points. It marked the ninth time in 10 games Minnesota has topped the Sparks, including five straight in Los Angeles.Up by one, Collier scored on a jumper with 1:26 left for a 64-61 lead. The bucket came after an offensive rebound by Tiffany Mitchell. Nikolina Milić forced a bad Los Angeles shot at the other end, but Collier missed in the lane with 25 seconds to play, giving the Sparks a chance.Mitchell made a steal with 15 seconds left — Minnesota’s fifth straight defensive stop — and Collier iced the game with a free throw with 8.7 ticks to go. Los Angeles did not score in the final 2:47.Mitchell finished with five of Minnesota’s season-high ...

Juvenile arrested in connection with homicide in Greeley

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:21 GMT

Greeley police made an arrest after a juvenile died in a shooting on Friday afternoon.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Judge sees “reasonable belief” that Denver school board’s closed-door meeting violated law, will review recording Crime and Public Safety | Police shoot and kill man who fired at officers in Windsor, investigation launched Crime and Public Safety | Club Q survivors among the grand marshals for Denver Pride Parade Crime and Public Safety | Family of 14-year-old killed by Aurora police calls for answers, chief’s resignation Crime and Public Safety | Denver school board’s closed-door meeting after East High shooting did not violate law, DPS tells judge On Friday at 3:44 p.m., officers with the Greeley Police Department responded to a home along the 400 block of 35th Avenue after receiving a report of a shooting.When officers arrived at the scene, they ...

Video captures looters ransacking McDonald's in South Los Angeles

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:21 GMT

Video shows chaos breaking out as a group of looters overtook a McDonald’s store in South Los Angeles.On Monday night, Los Angeles police officers responded to reports of shots fired on the 4200 block of Crenshaw Boulevard shortly around 8 p.m.A group of looters was captured on camera overrunning the fast food restaurant as terrified workers ran into a back room for safety, with some using chairs as a shield against the hostile crowd. Video shows chaos breaking out as a group of looters overtook a McDonald’s store in South Los Angeles on June 19, 2023. (@zyerahhhhh_)Looters were seen running around and destroying furniture before workers behind the main cash register were eventually confronted.Stolen food and products were being thrown at the workers while a glass display case was knocked down, shattering into pieces. Some looters stood on top of counters while more workers retreated to the back for safety.Loud screams and yelling were heard throughout the restaurant when at one poi...