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Bangladesh, Myanmar bracing as Cyclone Mocha set to make landfall

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 16:00:17 GMT

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh and Myanmar were bracing Sunday as an extremely severe cyclone was set to hit their coastal areas, and authorities told thousands of people in both countries to seek shelter.U.N. agencies and aid workers prepositioned tons of dry food and dozens of ambulances with mobile medical teams in sprawling refugee camps in Bangladesh with more than 1 million Rohingya who fled persecution in Myanmar.The camps at Cox’s Bazar are in the path of Cyclone Mocha, which was closing in on the coast of southeastern Bangladesh and Myanmar with wind speeds of up to 220 kilometers (135 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 240 kph (150 mph), the Indian Meteorological Department said late Saturday. It’s projected to make landfall between Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh and Kyaukpyu in Myanmar.Bangladesh, with more than 160 million people, has prepared more than 1,500 cyclone shelters. The navy said it’s keeping ready 21 ships, maritime patrol aircraft and helic...

Cannes Film Festival readies a blockbuster edition, with Indy, ‘Flower Moon,’ Depp and more

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 16:00:17 GMT

The Cannes Film Festival, which will kick off Tuesday, is such a colossal extravaganza that taking measure of its ups and downs is notoriously difficult. It’s a showcase of the world’s best cinema. It’s a red-carpet spectacular. It’s a French Riviera hive of dealmaking.But by at least some metrics, Cannes — following a canceled 2020 festival, a much-diminished 2021 edition and a triumphant 2022 return — is finally all the way back.“Let’s just say it’s gotten very hard to get restaurant reservations again,” says Christine Vachon, the veteran producer and longtime collaborator of Todd Haynes.When the 76th Cannes Film Festival opens Tuesday with the premiere of “Jeanne du Barry,” a historical drama by Maïwenn starring Johnny Depp, the gleaming Cote d’Azur pageant can feel confident that it has weathered the storms of the pandemic and the perceived threat of streaming. (Netflix and Cannes remain at an impasse.)Last year’s festival, a banner one by most judgments, produced three Oscar be...

Turkey’s elections for presidency, parliament set to begin

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 16:00:17 GMT

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Voters in Turkey are heading to the polls on Sunday for pivotal parliamentary and presidential elections that are expected to be tightly contested and could be the biggest challenge Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan faces in his two decades in power.The vote will either grant the increasingly authoritarian Erdogan a new five-year term in office or set the NATO-member country on what his principal opponent calls a more democratic path.For the first time in his 20 years in office, opinion polls indicate that the populist Erdogan, 69, is entering a race trailing behind an opponent. Opinion surveys have given a slight lead to Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the 74-year-old leader of the center-left, pro-secular Republican People’s Party, or CHP, and the joint candidate of a united opposition alliance. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the votes, the presidential race will go to a run-off on May 28.More than 64 million people, including 3.4 million overseas voters,...

A year after mass shooting at Buffalo supermarket, bells to toll for victims

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 16:00:17 GMT

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The city of Buffalo will pause Sunday to mark the passing of one year since a gunman killed 10 people and injured three others in a racist attack that targeted Black people at a city supermarket.A moment of silence followed by the chiming of church bells at 2:28 p.m. will honor victims of the massacre at the Tops Friendly Market on May 14, 2022. “The racially motivated mass shooting shook our community to its core. It was the day the unthinkable happened,” Mayor Byron Brown said in announcing plans for the commemoration, to be held at the now-reopened supermarket.Earlier in the week, panelists discussed ways to combat racism and social media radicalization and residents were invited to reflect at an outdoor community gathering.In the year since the shooting, relatives of the victims have spoken before Congress about white supremacy and gun reform and organized events to address food insecurity that worsened when the neighborhood’s only grocery store was inaccess...

Ukraine’s Zelenskyy arrives in Berlin to meet German leaders, discuss arms deliveries

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 16:00:17 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Berlin early Sunday for talks with German leaders about further arms deliveries to help his country fend off the Russian invasion and rebuild what’s been destroyed by more than a year of devastating conflict.A Luftwaffe jet flew Zelenskyy to the German capital from Rome, where he had met Saturday with Pope Francis and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni.On the eve of his arrival — which took place amid tight security — the German government announced a new package of military aid for Ukraine with aid worth more than 2.7 billion euros ($3 billion), including tanks, anti-aircraft systems and ammunition.“Already in Berlin. Weapons. Powerful package. Air defense. Reconstruction. EU. NATO. Security,” Zelenskyy tweeted Sunday, in an apparent reference to the key priorities of his trip.After initially hesitating to provide Ukraine with lethal weapons, Germany has become one of the biggest suppliers of arms to Ukraine, includ...

NYC converts hotels to shelters as pressure mounts to accommodate asylum seekers

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 16:00:17 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The historic Roosevelt Hotel in midtown Manhattan shuttered three years ago, but it will soon be bustling again — reopening to accommodate an anticipated influx of asylum seekers just as other New York City hotels are being converted to emergency shelters.Mayor Eric Adams announced Saturday that the city will use the Roosevelt to eventually provide as many as 1,000 rooms for migrants who are expected to arrive in coming weeks because of the expiration of pandemic-era rules, known collectively as Title 42, that had allowed federal officials to turn away asylum seekers from the U.S. border with Mexico.Across the city, hotels like the Roosevelt that served tourists just a few years ago are being transformed into emergency shelters, many of them in prime locations within walking distance from Times Square, the World Trade Center memorial site and the Empire State Building. A legal mandate requires the city to provide shelter to anyone who needs it.Even so, Adams says the...

Off-grid solar brings light, time and income to remotest villages

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 16:00:17 GMT

LAINDEHA, Indonesia (AP) — As Tamar Ana Jawa wove a red sarong in the fading sunlight, her neighbor switched on a light bulb dangling from the sloping tin roof. It was just one bulb powered by a small solar panel, but in this remote village that means a lot. In some of the world’s most remote places, off-grid solar systems are bringing villagers like Jawa more hours in the day, more money and more social gatherings.Before electricity came to the village a bit less than two years ago, the day ended when the sun went down. Villagers in Laindeha, on the island of Sumba in eastern Indonesia, would set aside the mats they were weaving or coffee they were sorting to sell at the market as the light faded. A few families who could afford them would start noisy generators that rumbled into the night, emitting plumes of smoke. Some people wired lightbulbs to old car batteries, which would quickly die or burn out appliances, as they had no regulator. Children sometimes studied by makeshi...

Stained glass window shows Jesus Christ with dark skin, stirring questions about race in New England

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 16:00:17 GMT

WARREN, R.I. (AP) — A nearly 150-year-old stained-glass church window that depicts a dark-skinned Jesus Christ interacting with women in New Testament scenes has stirred up questions about race, Rhode Island’s role in the slave trade and the place of women in 19th century New England society.The window installed at the long-closed St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Warren in 1878 is the oldest known public example of stained glass on which Christ is depicted as a person of color that one expert has seen.“This window is unique and highly unusual,” said Virginia Raguin, a professor of humanities emerita at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, and an expert on the history of stained-glass art. “I have never seen this iconography for that time.”The 12-foot tall, 5-foot wide (3.7 meters by 1.5 meters) window depicts two biblical passages in which women, also painted with dark skin, appear as equals to Christ. One shows Christ in conversation with Martha and Mary, ...

Concert review: Luke Combs lacked in stage presence, but delivered the hits at U.S. Bank Stadium

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 16:00:17 GMT

No one is more surprised by Luke Combs’ rapid rise to the top of country music than Combs himself.The 33-year-old from North Carolina filled U.S. Bank Stadium Saturday night and turned in what’s likely the least assuming performance the Vikings stadium has ever seen.Before Combs took the stage with “Lovin’ on You,” the large screens showed a brief video of Combs, his friends and family all earnestly explaining the many reasons Combs shouldn’t have made it and marveling at the fact he did.Combs introduced “Houston, We Got a Problem” with a story about growing up in a poor family. He took an airplane for the first time in 2015 and, the following year, a visit to Texas inspired the song. “Here we are eight years later,” he said, gesturing out to the stadium crowd. “This is unbelievable.”I’m sure he tells a variation of that tale every night, but he sure sounded like he meant it. Combs repeatedly thanked the audience and seemed overwhelmed by the adoration....

Rapids give up second-half goal in 2-1 loss to Philadelphia Union, remain winless at home in MLS play

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 16:00:17 GMT

COMMERCE CITY — In a week that started off so well for the Colorado Rapids, it all boiled over late Saturday night at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.A 2-1 loss to the Philadelphia Union took a turn in stoppage time, with a shoving match between both teams breaking out after Michael Barrios sprinted for a ball that went out-of-bounds for a goal kick and pushed Union goalkeeper Andre Blake to the ground. Even Rapids goalkeeper William Yarbrough joined the fray from the other end of the field.It ended in a red card for Braian Galván and, not long after, another home loss for the Rapids — just days after they won at Sacramento Republic FC in the U.S. Open Cup Round of 32.Colorado (2-4-6, 12 points) is winless in MLS play at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park this season, with the only win at home this season coming in the second-round of the U.S. Open Cup.It was the first time Colorado played since midfielder Max Alves was removed from team activities after he was implicated in an...