Paul Geoffrey Dies: Actor In ‘Excalibur’ Was 68

AFP
Jailed PKK leader says 'ready' to support Turkey peace drive
Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), is "ready to make a call" to back a new initiative by the Turkish government to end decades of conflict, Turkey's pro-Kurd party said Sunday."In light of this, I am ready to take the necessary positive steps and make the call."
Associated Press
Netanyahu is getting his prostate removed as he faces crises on multiple fronts
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is having his prostate removed on Sunday, his office said, a procedure that comes as he manages multiple crises at once, including the ongoing war in Gaza and his own trial for alleged corruption. Netanyahu, 75, is among a cohort of older world leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, 82, and President-elect Donald Trump, 78, whose health and physical fitness are under deep scrutiny both at home and abroad because of their advanced age and the effect that could have on their leadership. Netanyahu, who has had a string of health issues in recent years, has gone to great lengths to bolster a public image of himself as a fully healthy, energetic leader.
USA TODAY
Puzzle solutions for Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024
Find answers to the latest online sudoku and crossword puzzles that were published in USA TODAY Network's local newspapers.
USA TODAY
Sunday marks date of 'cold-blooded massacre,' but military review is still unresolved
134 years ago, hundreds of Lakota were massacred at South Dakota's Wounded Knee Creek. The U.S. is reviewing medals awarded to soldiers who took part.
Associated Press
Kavelashvili is inaugurated as Georgia's president, complicating its path toward EU
Former soccer player Mikheil Kavelashvili was formally inaugurated as president of Georgia on Sunday, cementing the ruling party's grip in what the opposition calls a blow to the country’s EU aspirations and a victory for former imperial ruler Russia. Outgoing pro-Western Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili said Sunday morning that she would vacate her residence at the Orbeliani Palace in Tbilisi, but insisted she was still the legitimate office holder. ... This presidential residence was a symbol as long as there was a president here who was legitimate.
Reuters
Turkey's jailed PKK leader is reported to suggest he might be ready to end insurgency
The jailed leader of Turkey's outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan, has been quoted as indicating he may be prepared to call for militants to lay down arms, after a key ally of President Tayyip Erdogan urged him to end the group's decades-old insurgency. DEM requested the visit after a key Erdogan ally expanded on a proposal to end the 40-year-old conflict between the state and Ocalan's PKK. Ocalan did not specify what the call would be but his comments came after the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party, Devlet Bahceli, said Ocalan should make a call for the militants to lay down arms.
Associated Press
North Korea's Kim vows the toughest anti-US policy before Trump takes office
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to implement the “toughest” anti-U.S. policy, state media reported Sunday, less than a month before Donald Trump takes office as U.S. president. During his first term, Trump met Kim three times for talks on the North's nuclear program. Many experts however say a quick resumption of Kim-Trump summitry is unlikely as Trump would first focus on conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.
AFP
Three die in clandestine Channel crossing attempt
Three migrants died Sunday in an attempt to cross the English Channel from France to Britain, a local mayor told AFP. The deaths take this year's casualty toll from failed clandestine crossings to a confirmed 76.Favourable winds since last weekend have encouraged migrants to attempt the crossing, with around 1,500 migrants making it in small boats to English waters between Wednesday and Saturday, according to British authorities.
CNN
Human composting is rising in popularity as an earth-friendly life after death
Human composting is and is emerging as an alternative to cremation and burial that is friendlier to the climate and the Earth.
AFP
Georgia's new president sworn in amid political showdown
Georgia inaugurated a ruling party loyalist as president in the midst of a political showdown on Sunday, moments after Tbilisi's outgoing pro-EU leader declared herself the "only legitimate president". Outgoing head of state Salome Zurabishvili and protesters have declared Kavelashvili "illegitimate", demanding a re-run of the October general elections that they say the ruling Georgian Dream party rigged.
AFP
All but two feared dead after South Korea plane crashes with 181 aboard
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.Video showed the Jeju Air plane from Bangkok landing on its belly at Muan International Airport, skidding off the runway as smoke streamed out from the engines, before crashing into a wall and exploding in flames.
Reuters
New Georgian president sworn in; predecessor says he is not legitimate leader
TBILISI (Reuters) -Mikheil Kavelashvili, a hardline critic of the West, was sworn in as president of Georgia on Sunday amid a political crisis after the government froze European Union application talks in a move that sparked major protests. Outgoing President Salome Zourabichvili, a pro-EU opponent of the ruling party, said in a defiant speech to supporters outside the presidential palace that she was leaving the residence, but that Kavelashvili had no legitimacy as president, which is a mostly ceremonial position. Zourabichvili says that Kavelashvili was not duly picked, as the lawmakers who chose him were elected in an October parliamentary election that she says was marked by fraud.
Associated Press
Croatia holds a presidential election with the incumbent NATO and EU critic considered favorite
Croatia’s left-leaning president, an outspoken critic of Western military support for Ukraine in its war against Russia, is running for reelection in the Adriatic Sea state, but is unlikely to get an outright majority in the first round of voting on Sunday. President Zoran Milanović, who is often compared to Donald Trump for his combative style of communication with political opponents, faces seven other contenders, including Dragan Primorac, the candidate of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union. The two are expected to face off in the second round on Jan. 12 if no contender gets more than 50% of the vote, according to pre-election polls.
CNN
More than 100 dead 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.
Associated Press
A suicide bomber kills a police officer and wounds another in southern Iran
A suicide bomber killed a local police officer and wounded another in a southern Iranian port city, home to a large Sunni Muslim community, local media said Sunday. The hard-line Javan Daily, a newspaper close to the country's powerful Revolutionary Guard, said the attacker stopped Capt. Mojtaba Shahid’s car Saturday evening in Bandar Lengeh in the province of Hormozgan before detonating his vest. The city, some 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) south of the capital Tehran, has no recent history of militancy.
CNN
Severe weather threat moves east after tornado-spawning storms pummel Texas and Mississippi, leaving at least 2 dead
The severe weather threat is moving to the Southeast and East Coast after fierce tornado-spawning storms pummeled Texas and Mississippi, tearing through homes and leaving at least two people dead.
AFP
Croatia elects president as incumbent looks favourite
Croatians went to the polls Sunday to elect a new president, with the outspoken incumbent Zoran Milanovic appearing to be the favourite in opinion polls.Milanovic is backed by 37 percent of the electorate while Primorac had the support of 20 percent, according to an opinion poll released Friday.
CBS News
Maria Muñoz murder case: A look at the evidence
The evidence presented at Joel Pellot's murder trial tells a different story from what he told police happened the day his wife Maria died.
CBS News
How a Texas mom became a witness in her own death investigation
Prosecutors believed Maria Muñoz's death was suspicious, but they weren't sure if she had died by suicide, from an accidental overdose or if she had been murdered.
CBS News
Prosecutors vow to seek justice after Texas wife's suspicious death
The women, who dubbed themselves "Maria's Team," were convinced the young Laredo wife and mother's death was not an accident.

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