High school football matchups to watch on the final night of regular season play in St. Cloud

Associated Press
Belgium will ban sales of disposable e-cigarettes in a first for the EU
Belgium will ban the sale of disposable electronic cigarettes as of Jan. 1 on health and environmental grounds in a groundbreaking move for European Union nations. Health minister Frank Vandenbroucke said the inexpensive e-cigarettes had turned into a health threat since they are an easy way for teenagers to be drawn into smoking and get hooked on nicotine. “Disposable e-cigarettes is a new product simply designed to attract new consumers,” he said in an interview.
Associated Press
Bolivia's former leader Evo Morales seeks a political comeback from his stronghold in the tropics
LAUCA Ñ, Bolivia (AP) — Bolivia's former leader Evo Morales has a campaign pitch for 2025 that has worked elsewhere: Other politicians of recent years have brought you nothing but misery. The country's first Indigenous president, Morales is credited with spreading the wealth of a commodities boom and ushering in a rare stretch of social and economic stability during his nearly 14 years in office. A bitter political battle is looming between Morales, 65, and his former economy minister and once-protégé, President Luis Arce, over who will lead their long-dominant leftist Movement Toward Socialism, or MAS, into the August 2025 election.
AFP
Plane with 181 on board crashes in South Korea, killing 96
A Jeju Air plane carrying 181 people from Bangkok to South Korea crashed on arrival Sunday, colliding with a barrier and bursting into flames, with only two survivors rescued so far and 96 confirmed dead."So far, two people rescued -- both are flight attendants -- 96 dead," the fire department said, revising an earlier statement that said one of the survivors was a passenger.
NBC News
Utah authorities seek those responsible for damaging panel of ancient outdoor engravings
Authorities this week said they want to find anyone involved in the installation of climbing bolts at the site of an ancient outdoor engraving in northeastern Utah.
AFP
One dead in Ecuador, Peru ports closed amid massive waves
Massive waves of up to 13 feet (four meters) are pummeling the coasts of Ecuador and Peru, leaving scores of ports closed and at least one person dead on Saturday, authorities said.Waves were hitting 13 feet in Peru and nearly seven feet in Ecuador.
AFP
North Korea calls for 'toughest' US strategy at party meeting
North Korea will launch its "toughest" ever strategy to counter the United States, state media said Sunday, reporting on a key year-end party meeting overseen by leader Kim Jong Un. The nuclear-armed state held a five-day party meeting last week as part of a drive to chart the country's course for 2025, the official Korean Central News Agency reported in a lengthy English dispatch."The US is the most reactionary state that regards anti-communism as its invariable state policy," the report said.
Associated Press
2024 was a year of triumphs and setbacks for Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Here's how it unfolded
In 2024, President Vladimir Putin further cemented his grip on power and sought to counter Russia's isolation from the West over the war in Ukraine. Putin ran for a fifth term in office with his top opponents either jailed or exiled abroad.
AFP
Trump sides with Musk in right-wing row over worker visas
Donald Trump weighed in Saturday in a bitter debate dividing his traditional supporters and tech barons like Elon Musk, saying that he backs a special visa program that helps highly skilled workers enter the country.But tech entrepreneurs like Tesla's Musk -- as well as Vivek Ramaswamy, who is set to join Musk in co-chairing a government cost-cutting panel -- say the United States produces too few highly skilled graduates, and they fervently champion the H1-B program.
CNN
At least 122 dead after South Korean jet crash-lands at airport
Scores of people were killed on Sunday when a passenger jet crash-landed at an airport in southwestern South Korea, with the aircraft careening down the runway on its belly before bursting into flames.
CNN
At least 2 dead after severe weather moved through Mississippi and eastern Texas, officials say
At least two people have died as severe storms and tornadoes tore through parts of Texas and Mississippi on Saturday, officials said, while a parade of atmospheric river-fueled storms batters the West.
TODAY
‘Shocking’ bodycam video released of New York officers fatally beating prisoner
The office of New York’s attorney general released body camera footage showing the fatal beating of a state prisoner by correctional officers.
AFP
Salome Zurabishvili: defiant champion of Georgia's EU dream
Salome Zurabishvili was a French diplomat before entering the turbulent politics of her ancestral homeland, where she was elected Georgia's first woman leader in 2018 and became the beacon of Tbilisi's EU aspirations.In her 2006 book "A Woman for Two Countries", she wrote: "Now, I have to engage in a political battle, which has never attracted me, which I never practised, which is being imposed on me." im/sbk/dhc
AFP
Georgia set to inaugurate disputed president amid political crisis
Georgia is set to inaugurate on Sunday a ruling party loyalist as president, after his election was declared "illegitimate" by the outgoing leader and the pro-Western opposition.Opposition parties have refused to enter the newly elected parliament, while Zurabishvili has declared the legislature, the government and president-elect "illegitimate".
AFP
Japan's Wajima craftmakers see hope in disaster-hit region
Lacquerware maker Takaho Shoji hunches over his desk in the disaster-hit city of Wajima in central Japan, applying another layer of coating to a dark, wooden box.- Uncertain future - Among Kirimoto's staff artisans is Shoji, a specialist in coating.
AFP
UNESCO-listed musical instrument stifled in Afghanistan
Wood shavings littered the floor of Sakhi's cramped workshop in the Afghan city of Herat as another rubab, the national musical instrument of his homeland, took shape under his deft hands.He repaired it the best he could, and still regularly tends to his "dear rubab", he said, gently running his hands over the instrument.
TODAY
Raccoon attacks infant inside his Idaho home
A raccoon attacked an infant inside an Idaho home this week as the baby boy was in a carrier, the state wildlife department said Friday.
AFP
For German 'sick leave detective', business is booming
Rising sick leave rates may be bad news for German companies at a time the economy is already ailing -- but for private eye Marcus Lentz, it has been a boon for his business.From auto titans to fertiliser producers, companies are ringing the alarm about the impact of high rates of sick leave on Europe's biggest economy.
Reuters
Chinese Salt Typhoon cyberespionage targets AT&T, Verizon but networks secure, carriers say
(Reuters) -The Chinese-linked Salt Typhoon cyberespionage operation targeted AT&T and Verizon's systems, but the wireless carriers' U.S. networks are now secure as they work with law enforcement and government officials, the companies said on Saturday in their first acknowledgment of the attacks. While only a few cases of compromised information were identified, AT&T was monitoring and remediating its networks to protect customers data, and continues to work with authorities to assess and mitigate the threat, the spokesperson said. "We have not detected threat actor activity in Verizon's network for some time, and after considerable work addressing this incident, we can report that Verizon has contained the activities associated with this particular incident," Verizon's Chief Legal Officer said in a statement.
TODAY
Here’s what to do if you win the Mega Millions jackpot
There are so many things to do if you ever win the Mega Millions jackpot. Here are a list of tips on how to handle all that cash if it ever comes your way.
CNN
The oldest living survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor dies at 105
Warren “Red” Upton, the 105-year-old World War II US veteran who was the oldest living survivor of the 1941 Japanese surprise bombing of Pearl Harbor, died on Christmas Day, according to Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors, a veteran’s organization.

High school football matchups to watch on the final night of regular season play in St. Cloud

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Latest Stories

Belgium will ban sales of disposable e-cigarettes in a first for the EU

Bolivia's former leader Evo Morales seeks a political comeback from his stronghold in the tropics

Plane with 181 on board crashes in South Korea, killing 96

Utah authorities seek those responsible for damaging panel of ancient outdoor engravings

One dead in Ecuador, Peru ports closed amid massive waves

North Korea calls for 'toughest' US strategy at party meeting

2024 was a year of triumphs and setbacks for Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Here's how it unfolded

Trump sides with Musk in right-wing row over worker visas

At least 122 dead after South Korean jet crash-lands at airport

At least 2 dead after severe weather moved through Mississippi and eastern Texas, officials say

‘Shocking’ bodycam video released of New York officers fatally beating prisoner

Salome Zurabishvili: defiant champion of Georgia's EU dream

Georgia set to inaugurate disputed president amid political crisis

Japan's Wajima craftmakers see hope in disaster-hit region

UNESCO-listed musical instrument stifled in Afghanistan

Raccoon attacks infant inside his Idaho home

For German 'sick leave detective', business is booming

Chinese Salt Typhoon cyberespionage targets AT&T, Verizon but networks secure, carriers say

Here’s what to do if you win the Mega Millions jackpot

The oldest living survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor dies at 105