Justin Abdelkader leaves Detroit Red Wings' AHL team to represent USA at Beijing Olympics

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.
AFP
Plane with 181 on board crashes in South Korea, killing 85
A Jeju Air plane carrying 181 people from Bangkok to South Korea crashed on arrival Sunday, killing at least 85, emergency services said, with a bird strike and adverse weather conditions cited as likely causes. "The cause of the accident is presumed to be a bird strike combined with adverse weather conditions.
CNN
At least 85 dead after South Korean jet crash-lands at airport
Dozens 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
One dead in Ecuador, Peru ports closed amid massive waves
Massive waves up to four meters (13 feet) high 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 four meters in Peru and 2.1 meters in Ecuador.
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.
CBS News
15 injured after Brightline train collides with Delray Beach fire engine
Delray Beach Police said on X the intersection of East Atlantic Avenue and Southeast 1st Avenue is closed due to the accident.
NBC News
Winning ticket for $1.22 billion Mega Millions jackpot sold in California
Santa came a little late, but he brought one person a $1.22 billion Mega Millions jackpot as a stocking stuffer.
Associated Press
Plane burst into flames after skidding off runway at an airport in South Korea, killing at least 85
A passenger plane burst into flames Sunday after it skid off a runway at a South Korean airport and slammed into a concrete fence when its front landing gear apparently failed to deploy, killing at least 85 people, officials said, in one of the country's worst aviation disasters. The National Fire Agency said rescuers raced to pull people from the Jeju Air passenger plane carrying 181 people at the airport in the town of Muan, about 290 kilometers (180 miles) south of Seoul.
NBC News
'Death by 1,000 paper cuts': How 2024 became such an exceptional year for tornadoes
Experts say 2024’s tornado outbreaks set it apart, even in a year full of extreme weather. The U.S. recorded the highest number of tornadoes in a decade.

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