Meet the community leaders who won 2023 Spirit of Manatee awards

AFP
'World on fire': UN seeks $47 bn for aid in 2025
The UN on Wednesday appealed for more than $47 billion to deliver vital aid next year in a world ravaged by surging conflicts and the climate crisis, but warned many in need would not be reached. "We are dealing with a poly-crisis right now globally, and it is the most vulnerable people in the world who are paying the price," Fletcher said, warning that swelling inequality combined with the convergence of conflict and climate change had created a "perfect storm" of needs.
Associated Press
Zealous tourists are unfazed by South Korea's sudden martial law turmoil
Many tourists in Seoul seemed largely unfazed by the political turmoil unfolding in the capital as they flocked Wednesday to the city’s largest palace, local landmarks and shopping streets. Yoon abruptly imposed emergency martial law, vowing to eliminate “anti-state” forces after he struggled to push forward his agenda in the opposition-dominated parliament.
AFP
Second major Myanmar rebel group calls for talks with junta
A second major Myanmar ethnic rebel group has said it is ready for Beijing-mediated talks with the junta to end more than a year of renewed fighting that has ravaged areas along the Chinese border.- China pressure - China is a major ally and arms supplier of the junta but also maintains ties with ethnic rebel groups that hold territory near its border.
Associated Press
Middle East latest: Jewish settlers attack Palestinian towns and clash with Israeli troops
Jewish settlers mounted a string of attacks on Palestinian towns in the occupied West Bank overnight, burning homes and clashing with Israeli troops. There were no immediate reports of any Palestinian casualties. The Israeli military said Jewish settlers attacked the village of Beit Furik after troops arrived in the area to dismantle an unauthorized farming outpost they had built nearby.
AFP
OECD warns of protectionism weeks before Trump return
The OECD warned Wednesday that protectionist trade measures pose a major risk to disrupting the world economy, just weeks before Donald Trump is set to return to the White House.- 'Major shocks' - Trump is far from the only risk in terms of protectionist measures.
Reuters
Russia says it's watching 'tragic' situation in South Korea with concern
Russia is following events in South Korea with concern after the president briefly declared martial law, but there are no threats to Russian citizens there, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday. Moscow has deepened ties with Seoul's neighbour North Korea since the start of its war in Ukraine, drawing concern from Western countries.
USA TODAY
South Korean lawmakers push to impeach president after martial law decree
Six South Korean opposition parties later submitted a bill to parliament to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol, with voting set for Friday or Saturday.
CNN
Before DOGE, Ramaswamy spent years attacking Musk for ties to China
Vivek Ramaswamy, the co-chair of the proposed Department of Government Efficiency alongside billionaire Elon Musk, has a lengthy history of attacking his partner’s ties to China, frequently referring to Musk as a “circus monkey” and a puppet for the Chinese Communist Party.
Associated Press
Japanese court convicts Australian who says she was tricked into smuggling drugs
A Japanese court on Wednesday sentenced an Australian woman who says she was tricked amphetamines into the country to six years in prison, despite accepting her testimony that she was the victim of an online romance scam. The Chiba District Court said it found Donna Nelson from Perth, Australia, guilty of violating the stimulants control and customs laws. It ordered her to pay a fine of 1 million yen ($6,671) in addition to serving a prison term.
Associated Press
Relatives hunt for the missing after Guinea stadium crush amid fears official death toll is too low
A distraught Kambaly Kouroumah is searching for his teenage brother, Adama, at a local morgue in southern Guinea’s Nzerekore city, where dozens of people died at a crowded stadium after chaos erupted during a soccer game. Kouroumah is one of many bereaved people searching hospitals and mortuaries for missing relatives following Sunday's tragic events during the final of a national tournament honoring military leader Mamadi Doumbouya. Official estimates say 56 people died in the crush, but the unofficial death toll is at least 135, according to the Collective of Human Rights Organizations of the Nzerekore region.
Associated Press
EU pushes back deforestation law by a year after outcry from global producers
The European Union agreed to delay by a year the introduction of new rules to ban the sale of products that lead to massive deforestation, caving in to demands from several producer nations from across the globe and domestic opposition within the 27-nation bloc. Officials said Wednesday that the EU member states, the EU parliament and the executive Commission reached an agreement in principle following weeks of haggling whether the initial rules would have to be watered down even further than the simple delay by one year. The deforestation law is aimed at preserving forests on a global scale by only allowing forest-related products that are sustainable and do not involve the degradation of forests.
Reuters
Exclusive-World Food Program’s troubles in Sudan hurt hunger relief, alienated donors - internal report
Serious problems in the United Nations World Food Program’s response to the Sudan crisis are hampering the organization’s ability to alleviate hunger in the war-torn country and damaging its reputation with donors, according to a recent internal report seen by Reuters. The U.N.’s main food-aid distributor, the WFP is struggling to feed millions of people in the African country, which is suffering one of the world’s worst hunger crises. The report identifies a range of problems in the WFP’s Sudan response, including an inability to scale up its operations, missed funding opportunities and what it describes as “anti-fraud challenges.”
AFP
French government risks falling in no-confidence vote
France's government on Wednesday faces no-confidence votes that could spell the end of the short-lived administration of Prime Minister Michel Barnier, plunging the country into uncharted waters of political chaos.The lifespan of Barnier's government would also be the shortest of any administration of France's Fifth Republic, which began in 1958.
AFP
Seoul stocks sink amid S. Korea drama as Asian markets mixed
South Korean stocks sank Wednesday while the won rebounded from earlier losses after President Yoon Suk Yeol dramatically declared martial law overnight before reversing the decision hours later.The Kospi index ended down more than one percent, having shed as much as 2.3 percent at the open, as traders fretted over the impact of Yoon declaring South Korea's first martial law in more than four decades.
USA TODAY
11 children worked 'dangerous' night shift at Iowa pork plant, investigators say
For the second time, the U.S. Department of Labor has found children working for a sanitation contractor at an Iowa meatpacker.
Reuters
Defendant in shock Italian femicide case sentenced to life
A man who confessed to killing his former girlfriend last year, in a notorious femicide case that shocked Italy and triggered a national debate on violence against women, was on Tuesday found guilty and sentenced to life. The body of Giulia Cecchettin, a 22-year-old university student from near Venice, was found dumped near a lake, with multiple stab wounds, in November 2023. Turetta, who had fled by car to Germany, confessed to the murder after his arrest and extradition to Italy.
CNN
The troubled history of martial law, coups and toppled presidents many hoped South Korea had left behind
Last year, a blockbuster movie gripped South Korea with a dramatization of a painful memory from its authoritarian past, when the assassination of President Park Chung-hee in 1979 led to a military coup and plunged the country into the iron grip of martial law.
Reuters
Daily life in Seoul ticks on, but in shock, after six hour martial law drama
South Koreans went to offices, businesses and schools as usual on Wednesday with scarcely any visible signs in the capital Seoul that six hours of surprise martial law and high political drama overnight had spilled into everyday life. The city of 9 million started the day normally with the usual morning rush hour in trains and on the streets after President Yoon Suk Yeol lifted his abortive attempt at banning political activities and censoring news media just before dawn. But many were in shock at such a sudden turn of events, which pushed stocks down and South Korea's currency to multi-year lows during a time of already faltering economic growth.
AFP
Gunman held after failed attack on Sikh leader in India
A gunman who attempted to shoot a Sikh political leader at the faith's holiest shrine in India was arrested Wednesday after the thwarted attack, police said.The assailant entered the Golden Temple in northwestern Amritsar city as a visitor and attempted to shoot Sukhbir Singh Badal, the president of a Sikh political party.
Associated Press
Activists file second impeachment complaint against embattled Philippine Vice President Duterte
A group led by left-wing activists filed a second impeachment complaint against the Philippine vice president on Wednesday over her alleged misuse of government funds and demanded that she be permanently barred from holding public office. The impeachment complaint filed by at least 74 activists, including human rights, labor and student leaders, before the House of Representatives reflects the extent of the political hostilities faced by Vice President Sara Duterte. Duterte, a 46-year-old lawyer, is the daughter of also-controversial former President Rodrigo Duterte, who oversaw a bloody anti-drug crackdown while in office.

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