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Guatemalans rally on behalf of president-elect, demonstrating a will to defend democracy

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:33 GMT

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Protests by thousands of Guatemalans this week supporting President-elect Bernardo Arévalo suggest that the efforts by some officials to derail his presidency have awakened a new will among many citizens to defend democracy.Public displays rejecting machinations by the attorney general’s office had been modest in the month since Arévalo’s resounding victory. But on Monday, thousands marched peacefully through the capital’s streets and on Tuesday protesters blocked major highways across the country.Historically, Guatemala has scored among the lowest in Latin American countries in its support for democracy, according to the AmericasBarometer survey, which has been measuring attitudes there for three decades. Over the past 15 years, measured support for democracy as the best form of government reached as high as 62.9% in 2014 and as low as 48.4% in 2017. Even as recently as the weeks before this year’s election, only 48% of those surveyed said democracy was ...

Wave of migrants that halted trains in Mexico started with migrant smuggling industry in Darien Gap

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:33 GMT

HUEHUETOCA, Mexico (AP) — Thousands of migrants riding atop railway cars in Mexico this week or waiting in mile-long lines by the tracks to hitch a ride to the U.S. have triggered the closure of one U.S. border crossing and forced Mexico’s largest railroad to suspend dozens of freight trains.But the upsurge has also revealed a much larger phenomenon — an almost unbroken chain of migrants being shuffled from Colombia through the Darien Gap jungle into Panama on an industrial scale that could approach 500,000 this year.Those migrants are then moving steadily without interruption up through Central America into Mexico and on to the U.S. border.“Behind us, there are thousands more. It’s continuous,” Juan Carlos Leal, a Venezuelan migrant who was waiting Wednesday with his 5-year-old son beside railroad tracks about 35 miles north of Mexico City.He and other migrants waiting to hop passing trains — some while still running — in the Mexican town of Huehuetoca said 3,500 migrants are...

No Labels push in closely divided Arizona fuels Democratic anxiety about a Biden spoiler

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:33 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — More than 15,000 people in Arizona have registered to join a new political party floating a possible bipartisan “unity ticket” against Joe Biden and Donald Trump. While that’s less than the population of each of the state’s 40 largest cities, it’s still a number big enough to tip the presidential election in a critical swing state. And that is alarming people trying to stop Trump from winning the White House again.The very existence of the No Labels group is fanning Democratic anxiety about Trump’s chances against an incumbent president facing questions about his age and record. While it hasn’t committed to running candidates for president and vice president, No Labels has already secured ballot access in Arizona and 10 other states. Its organizers say they are on track to reach 20 states by the end of this year and all 50 states by Election Day.“If they have someone on the ballot who is designed to bring the country together, that clearly draws vote...

A grandmother seeks justice for Native Americans after thousands of unsolved deaths, disappearances

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:33 GMT

HARDIN, Mont. (AP) — Yolanda Fraser is back near a ragged chain-link fence, blinking through tears as she tidies up flowers and ribbons and a pinwheel twirls in the breeze at a makeshift roadside memorial in a small Montana town.This is where the badly decomposed body of her granddaughter Kaysera Stops Pretty Places was found a few days after the 18-year-old went missing from a Native American reservation border town. Four years later, there are still no answers about how the Native American teenager was killed. No named suspects. No arrests.Fraser’s grief is a common tale among Native Americans whose loved ones went missing, and she’s turned her fight for justice into a leading role with other families working to highlight missing and slain Indigenous peoples’ cases across the U.S. Despite some early success from a new U.S. government program aimed at the problem, most cases remain unsolved and federal officials have closed more than 300 potential cases due to jurisdict...

More rain on the way for Chicago; warmer than normal weather across the nation's mid-section (and Chicago area) as we close September and begin the new month of October

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:33 GMT

More rain is on the way later Thursday into Friday morning in the wake of Wednesday' showers and thundery rains that concentrated on the far west/northwest suburbs. Heaviest area totals. Note: While no official observations exist, it's quite possible some areas in De Kalb County received 3"+ FRIDAY SEVERE OUTLOOKStrong or severe thunderstorms are expected to develop in sections of the Plains later Friday with all severe hazards possible Valid Friday Sept. 22-Saturday Sept. 23Odds strongly favoring warmer than normal weather across the nation's mid-section (and Chicago area) as we close September and begin the new month of October6-10 and 8-14 day temp outlooks:

Loons suffer complete collapse in 4-3 loss to L.A. Galaxy

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:33 GMT

Minnesota United did choreographed goal celebrations in the first half and internally combusted in the second half Wednesday.After taking a 3-1 lead, the Loons allowed Los Angeles Galaxy to score three second-half goals for 4-3 meltdown loss at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif.Entering the final stretch of the season, eight-place MNUFC (9-10-10, 37 points) fell apart against the 13th-place Galaxy (8-11-9, 33 points).The Loons allowed Billy Sharp to log a hat trick.Minutes later, young left back Ethan Bristow was sent off for a second yellow card in the 74th minute. He tugged on Tyler Boyd’s shirt in the second half after kicking the ball away for his initial booking in the first half. When the red card was flashed, he appeared to not know why.Instead of bring on a defender to solidify things on the back end, manager Adrian Heath brought on two attacking substitutions in the 77th minute. Emanuel Reynoso had come off at halftime. Without a natural left back filling in...

Zelenskyy returns to Washington to face growing dissent among Republicans to US spending for Ukraine

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:33 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy returns to Washington on Thursday for a whirlwind one-day visit, this time to face the Republicans now questioning the flow of American dollars that for 19 months has kept his troops in the fight against Russian forces. Zelenskyy will meet with President Joe Biden at the White House, speak with U.S. military leaders at the Pentagon and stop at Capitol Hill to talk privately with Republican and Democratic leaders of the House and Senate as the world is watching Western support for Kyiv.It is Zelenskyy’s second visit to Washington since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and comes as Biden’s request to Congress for an additional $24 billion for Ukraine’s military and humanitarian needs is hanging in the balance.National Security Council spokesman John Kirby called the Ukrainian president “our best messenger” in persuading U.S. lawmakers to keep vital U.S. money and weapons coming. “It’s really important for mem...

Canada gets muted allied support after alleging India may have been involved in killing of Canadian

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:33 GMT

TORONTO (AP) — When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stood up in Parliament and said India may have been involved in the killing of a Canadian citizen, the muted international response offered a lesson in modern geopolitics.India, it seems, may be too powerful to alienate.None of Canada’s most important allies — not the U.S., Britain, Australia or New Zealand, all knitted tightly together in the “Five Eyes” intelligence-sharing alliance — echoed Trudeau’s allegations.They’ve declared their concern. They’ve urged full investigations. But none have stepped up to condemn India for its alleged involvement in the June slaying on Canadian soil of a Sikh separatist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar.Why? Mainly there’s China, and the priority among the allies to bolster ties with India as a counterweight to Beijing’s rising power and assertiveness. But it’s more than that. Modern India has a fast-growing economy that many analysts believe will overtake Japan and Germany to become the world’s third-l...

Today in History: September 21, Senate confirms O’Connor as first female Supreme Court justice

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:33 GMT

Today in HistoryToday is Thursday, Sept. 21, the 264th day of 2023. There are 101 days left in the year.Today’s Highlights in History: On Sept. 21, 1981, the Senate unanimously confirmed the nomination of Sandra Day O’Connor to become the first female justice on the Supreme Court. On this date: In 1792, the French National Convention voted to abolish the monarchy. In 1937, “The Hobbit,” by J.R.R. Tolkien, was first published by George Allen & Unwin, Ltd. of London. In 1938, a hurricane struck parts of New York and New England, causing widespread damage and claiming some 700 lives. In 1957, the legal mystery-drama “Perry Mason,” starring Raymond Burr, premiered on CBS. In 1961, the first Boeing CH-47 Chinook military helicopter made its first hovering flight. In 1973, the Senate confirmed Henry Kissinger to be Secretary of State.In 1982, National Football League players began a 57-day strike, their first regular-season walkout ever. In 1985, in North Korea and South Korea, relati...

Yankees manager Aaron Boone ejected for 7th time this season, tied for most in majors

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:33 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Yankees manager Aaron Boone didn’t last very long on the bench Wednesday night.Boone was ejected in the second inning by plate umpire Lance Barrett for arguing balls and strikes against the Toronto Blue Jays.“I thought he called a lot of pitches (that were) low and I let him know that and I got thrown out,” Boone said following New York’s 6-1 loss.It was the seventh ejection this year for Boone, tied with David Bell of the Cincinnati Reds for most among major league managers. Boone has been tossed 33 times in six seasons as a big league skipper, all with the Yankees.Barrett had a wide strike zone from the start, according to the strike zone box displayed on YES Network. From the dugout, Boone almost immediately began voicing his displeasure with several pitches by Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman that were called strikes.Barrett warned Boone and the Yankees to knock it off. But when strike one was called against Oswald Peraza on a pitch that appeared off t...