Lafayette Parish School System announces Principals of the Year

AFP
Salome Zurabishvili: outgoing Georgian leader defying the government
Salome Zurabishvili has vowed to stay on as the president of Georgia, becoming an icon to thousands of pro-EU protesters during a bitter political showdown and decrying a new party loyalist's inauguration to the presidency as "illegitimate." She has vowed to stand by pro-EU protesters staging daily mass rallies since November 28, when Georgian Dream made its shock announcement that it will shelve EU accession talks until 2028.
USA TODAY
Uncrewed lunar missions and 1st private space station among 2025 space launches
From uncrewed lunar missions to the launch of the first private space station, here's a sneak peak at the space missions that may define 2025.
NBC News
'The first to sue': Opposing Trump's desire to end birthright citizenship is personal for this attorney general
WASHINGTON — For Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge to end birthright citizenship is more than just a provocative anti-immigrant policy likely to be blocked by courts.
AFP
Georgia's new president sworn in amid political showdown
Georgia inaugurated a far-right governing party loyalist as president Sunday, escalating a political showdown moments after his pro-EU predecessor declared herself the "only legitimate president".Opposition parties have refused to enter parliament after the October elections, and Zurabishvili has declared the newly elected legislature, the government and president-elect "illegitimate".
Yahoo Finance
Stock market enters final stretch of 2024: What to know this week
Stocks will look to rebound from a sluggish start to the "Santa Claus" rally in the final trading days of 2024.
Associated Press
Kansas once required voters to prove citizenship. That didn't work out so well
Republicans made claims about illegal voting by noncitizens a centerpiece of their 2024 campaign messaging and plan to push legislation in the new Congress requiring voters to provide proof of U.S. citizenship. Kansas imposed a proof-of-citizenship requirement over a decade ago that grew into one of the biggest political fiascos in the state in recent memory. Federal courts ultimately declared the law an unconstitutional burden on voting rights, and it hasn't been enforced since 2018.
AFP
Gaza rescuers say Israeli strike on hospital kills 7
Gaza's civil defence agency said an air strike hit a hospital Sunday, killing at least seven people, while Israel said it had targeted militants at the no longer functioning facility."Seven martyrs and several injured people, including critical cases, have been recovered following the Israeli strike on the upper floor of Al-Wafaa Hospital in central Gaza City," a civil defence agency statement said.
AFP
Croatia elects president as incumbent looks favourite
Croatians cast their votes Sunday to elect a new president, with the outspoken incumbent Zoran Milanovic appearing set to come out on top according to opinion polls.Milanovic, backed by the left-wing Social Democrats party, is supported by 37 percent of the electorate while Primorac has 20 percent, according to an opinion poll released Friday.
Reuters
Turkey announces $14 billion regional development plan for Kurdish southeast
Turkey announced on Sunday a $14 billion regional development plan that aims to reduce the economic gap between its mainly Kurdish southeast region and the rest of the country. The announcement comes amid increased hopes for an end to a decades-long insurgency waged by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in southeast Turkey as well as the advent of a new leadership in neighbouring Syria with cordial ties to Ankara. The eastern and southeastern provinces of Turkey have long lagged behind other regions of the country in most economic indicators including gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, partly as a result of the insurgency.
Associated Press
Azerbaijan's president says crashed jetliner was shot down by Russia unintentionally
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev said Sunday that the Azerbaijani airliner that crashed last week was shot down by Russia, albeit unintentionally, and criticized Moscow for trying to “hush up” the issue for days. Aliyev said that the airliner, which crashed Wednesday in Kazakhstan, was hit by fire from the ground over Russia and “rendered uncontrollable by electronic warfare." Aliyev accused Russia of trying to “hush up” the issue for several days, saying he was “upset and surprised” by versions of events put forward by Russian officials.
CNN
Severe weather threat moves east after tornado-spawning storms pummel Texas and Mississippi, leaving at least 2 dead
A severe weather threat is moving to the Southeast and East Coast on Sunday after deadly tornado-spawning storms pummeled Texas and Mississippi, tearing through homes and leaving at least two people dead.
CNN
She was set on fire and no one knows her name. How homelessness, crime and a broken immigration system met in a subway car
It’s been a week since a woman died in a New York City subway car, set on fire by a homeless, undocumented man. She has yet to be identified and the man charged with her murder says he doesn’t even remember being there.
AFP
At least 177 dead in South Korea's worst plane crash
A Jeju Air plane carrying 181 people from Thailand to South Korea crashed on arrival Sunday, smashing into a barrier and bursting into flames, leaving all but two feared dead.Only two people were rescued, both flight attendants, and 177 people were confirmed dead by Sunday evening, the fire department said.
Associated Press
Syria's dwindling Jewish community can visit one of the world's oldest synagogues again
In this Damascus suburb, the handful of remaining Jews in Syria can again make pilgrimages to one of the world’s oldest synagogues where people from throughout the region once came to pray. Syria’s 13-year civil war left the synagogue partially destroyed. Since insurgents overthrew President Bashar Assad in early December, people have been able to safely visit the widely destroyed Jobar suburb that was pounded for years by government forces while in the hands of opposition fighters.
NBC News
Death toll rises to 127 after plane crashes at South Korean airport
At least 124 people died when a commercial airplane crashed Sunday at South Korea's Muan International Airport, officials said.
Reuters
Experts question bird strike as cause of deadly South Korean plane crash
(Reuters) -Uncertainties surround the deadliest crash on South Korean soil, experts said on Sunday, questioning initial suggestions that a bird strike might have brought down the Jeju Air flight. The apparent absence of landing gear, the timing of the twin-engine Boeing 737-800's belly-landing at Muan International Airport and the reports of a possible bird strike all raised questions that could not yet be answered. The single-aisle aircraft was seen in video broadcast on local media skidding down the runway with no visible landing gear before slamming into a wall in an explosion of flame and debris.
Reuters
Chad holds parliamentary election likely to cement president's grip on power
N'DJAMENA (Reuters) - Chadians were voting on Sunday in a parliamentary election boycotted by the opposition that will likely consolidate President Mahamat Idriss Deby's power and complete the oil-producing nation's transition towards constitutional rule. Deby was elected in a disputed vote in May, three years after seizing power and declaring himself interim leader when rebels killed his father, President Idriss Deby, on the battlefield. Opposition leader Succes Masra's Transformateurs party and several other parties boycotted Sunday's legislative election, the country's first in over a decade.
Politico
Is the Democratic brand toxic? A growing number of Dems wonder if going ‘independent’ will help them win
After devastating losses across the map, some Democrats are thinking about a serious rebrand.
AFP
Chad votes in triple elections after three years of army rule
Chad began voting on Sunday in a general election that is presented by the government as a key step towards ending military rule but has been boycotted by the opposition.The government has presented the elections as the final stage in the transition to democracy.
CNN
More than 170 killed after South Korean jet crash-lands at airport. Here’s what we know
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.

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