'Superchef' Darnell Ferguson bests Top Chef winner in Tournament of Champions battle

Associated Press
Laos government pledges justice in mass alcohol poisoning case that has killed 6 tourists
The Laotian government on Saturday officially acknowledged the mass poisoning that has killed at least six tourists, promising it would bring perpetrators to justice. Two Australian teenagers and a British woman died from suspected methanol poisoning after drinking tainted alcohol in Laos. In a short statement released to the media, the Lao government said it was “profoundly saddened over the loss of lives of foreign tourists” in the town Vang Vieng and offered its condolences to the families of the victims.
Associated Press
Fighting between armed sectarian groups in restive northwestern Pakistan kills at least 33 people
Fighting between armed Sunni and Shiite groups in northwestern Pakistan killed at least 33 people and injured 25 others, a senior police officer from the region said Saturday. The overnight violence was the latest to rock Kurram, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and comes days after a deadly gun ambush killed 42 people. Shiite Muslims make up about 15% of the 240 million people in Sunni-majority Pakistan, which has a history of sectarian animosity between the communities.
USA TODAY
Puzzle solutions for Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024
Find answers to the latest online sudoku and crossword puzzles that were published in USA TODAY Network's local newspapers.
Associated Press
South Korea will not attend Sado mines memorial event in Japan amid lingering historical tensions
South Korea’s government said Saturday it will not attend a memorial service near Japan’s Sado Island Gold Mines due to unspecified disagreements with Tokyo over the event, which stirred longstanding tensions over the abuse of Korean forced laborers at the site before the end of World War II. The ministry didn’t specify what the disagreements were.
AFP
Philippine VP made 'active threat' on Marcos' life: palace
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos' security detail has been put on alert over what his office is calling an "active threat" against his life by Vice President Sara Duterte, the palace said Saturday.Hours later, the palace communications office said it had referred "this active threat to the Presidential Security Command for immediate proper action".
Associated Press
Japan will hold first memorial for 'all workers' at Sado gold mines but blurs WWII atrocity. Why?
Japan is holding a memorial ceremony on Sunday near the Sado Island Gold Mines, which were listed this summer as a UNESCO World Heritage site after the country settled years of historical disputes with South Korea and reluctantly acknowledged the mines' dark history. At these mines, hundreds of Koreans were forced to labor under abusive and brutal conditions during World War II, historians say. The Japanese government says Sunday’s ceremony will pay tribute to “all workers” who died at the mines, but without spelling out who they are — part of what critics call a persistent policy of whitewashing Japan's history of sexual and labor exploitation before and during the war.
AFP
Balkans women stage ancient Greek play to condemn women's suffering in war
Maja Mitic is Serbian.The tale needed two women to tell it, stressed Hoxha's co-director Mitic, a prominent figure in Serbian theatre since the 1990s.
AFP
Nvidia CEO says will balance compliance and tech advances under Trump
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said Saturday that his company will balance legal compliance and technological advances under the incoming administration of Donald Trump, and nothing will stop the global advancement of artificial intelligence."Whatever happens, we'll balance simultaneously compliance with laws and policies, continue to advance our technology, and support and serve customers all over the world," Huang told reporters on Saturday.
Associated Press
Key UN committee adopts resolution paving the way for a first-ever treaty on crimes against humanity
A key U.N. General Assembly committee adopted a resolution late Friday paving the way for negotiations on a first-ever treaty on preventing and punishing crimes against humanity after Russia dropped amendments that would have derailed the effort. The resolution was approved by consensus by the assembly’s legal committee, which includes all 193-member U.N. nations, after tense last-minute negotiations between its supporters and Russia that dragged through the day. There was loud applause when the chairman of the committee gaveled the resolution’s approval.
CNN
Italy’s working visas are notoriously hard to get. We spoke to Americans who managed it
In our roundup of travel news this week: the world’s best cheese of 2024, why the FAA might be slowing down Thanksgiving air traffic, plus the reported boom in wealthy Americans seeking a new life abroad.
Associated Press
Storm dumps record rain in Northern California, while US Northeast deals with winter storms
A major storm dropped more snow and record rain in California, causing small landslides and flooding some streets, while on the opposite side of the country blizzard or winter storm warnings were in effect Saturday for areas spanning from the Northeast to central Appalachia. Santa Rosa, California, saw its wettest three-day period on record with about 12.5 inches (32 centimeters) of rain falling by Friday evening, according to the National Weather Service in the Bay Area. Flooding closed part of scenic Highway 1, also known as the Pacific Coast Highway, in Mendocino County and there was no estimate for when it would reopen, according to the California Department of Transportation.
AFP
What forcing Google to sell Chrome could mean
US antitrust lawyers are calling on a judge to force the sale of Google's Chrome browser to limit the company's market clout in a move that would shake up the internet giant.Launched in 2008, Chrome dominates the browser market, dwarfing rivals Edge and Safari, developed by Microsoft and Apple, respectively.
Reuters
Philippine VP says she would have Marcos assassinated if she is killed
Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte said on Saturday she would have President Ferdinand Marcos Jr assassinated if she herself were killed, prompting Marcos' office to vow "immediate proper action". In a dramatic sign of a widening rift between the two most powerful political families in the Southeast Asian nation, Duterte told an early morning press conference that she had spoken to an assassin and instructed him to kill Marcos, his wife and the speaker of the Philippine House if she were to be killed.
NBC News
Trump picks Project 2025 co-author Russell Vought to lead budget office
President-elect Donald Trump named Russell Vought, a co-author of Project 2025 who served as a platform policy director for the Republican National Committee, as his pick to lead the to lead the Office of Management and Budget.
USA TODAY
Sebastian Gorka, firebrand commentator, to return to Trump White House as adviser
Donald Trump named Sebastian Gorka, a controversial firebrand commentator who served in his first administration, to a national security role.
NBC News
Trump’s mass deportations could split 4 million mixed-status families. How one is getting ready.
Migrant families and immigration advocacy groups are preparing for millions of families to potentially be separated from each other during the mass deportations planned by President-elect Donald Trump.
Associated Press
Orchestra conductor mourns childhood home's destruction in Israel's southern Lebanon offensive
The destruction of his childhood home in October came during Israel's offensive in Lebanon. The aim, Israel says, is to debilitate the Hezbollah militant group, push it away from the border and end more than a year of Hezbollah fire into northern Israel.
Associated Press
Hydrate. Make lists. Leave yourself time. And other tips for reducing holiday travel stress
“This can include essential packing items, as well as simple tasks like cleaning out old food from the fridge or watering the plants,” says Jess Feldman, special projects editor at Travel and Leisure magazine. Noise-canceling headphones can go a long way toward blocking out annoyances during travel, although if you use them you should keep an eye on display boards or your phone for any flight or gate changes. Spotify, YouTube and other sites offer music playlists with names like “Relaxing Chill Out Calming Music for Airports” and “Perfect — Music Travel Relax."
Associated Press
An influx of outsiders and money turns Montana Republican, culminating in a Senate triumph
Democrats' crushing loss in Montana's nationally important U.S. Senate race settled a fierce political debate over whether a surge of newcomers in the past decade favored Republicans — and if one of the new arrivals could even take high office. Voters answered both questions with an emphatic “yes” with Tim Sheehy's defeat of three-term Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, helping deliver a GOP Senate majority and laying bare a drastic cultural shift in a state that long prided itself on electing home-grown candidates based on personal qualifications, not party affiliation. It’s the first time in almost a century that one party totally dominates in Montana.
Associated Press
Voters rejected historic election reforms across the US, despite more than $100M push
Two weeks before Election Day, activists from across the country gathered for an online rally heralding the historic number of state ballot initiatives seeking to change the way people vote. Hopes were high that voters would ditch traditional partisan primaries and embrace ballots with more candidate choices. Instead, the election reform movement lost almost everywhere it appeared on a statewide ballot.

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