Thomasville, Ledford in high school basketball conference races as season winds down

NBC News
Justice Department urges Supreme Court to reject Trump’s push to pause TikTok ban
The Justice Department on Friday urged the Supreme Court to reject President-elect Donald Trump’s request to delay the implementation of a law that would effectively ban TikTok in the U.S. or force its sale by its Chinese parent company by Jan. 19.
AFP
Austria's chancellor to step down after coalition talks collapse
Austria's conservative Chancellor Karl Nehammer said Saturday he would step down in the "coming days" after breaking off coalition talks with the Social Democrats over disagreements on key issues."After the break-off of the coalition talks I am going to do the following: I will step down both as chancellor and party chairman of the People's Party in the coming days and enable an orderly transition," he said.
CNN
On a long-dormant pad in Florida, a rocket that could challenge SpaceX’s dominance is poised to launch
Nearly 25 years after Jeff Bezos founded Blue Origin, the company is finally poised to send its first rocket to orbit. New Glenn could lift off as early as next week.
Associated Press
Drivers skid and crash as wintery mix grips central US then moves east
Road conditions were deteriorating Saturday in the central U.S. as a mix of snow, ice and plunging temperatures arrived, with forecasts calling for the dreaded combo to spread eastward in the coming days. “Winter returned,” declared Bob Oravec, lead forecaster at the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland. The polar vortex of ultra-cold air usually stays penned up around the North Pole, spinning like a top.
CNN
Sonny Smart, father of Georgia coach Kirby Smart, dies after a fall in New Orleans
ATHENS, Georgia. (AP) — Georgia coach Kirby Smart’s father, Sonny, died early Saturday of complications from hip surgery after falling in New Orleans ahead of the Sugar Bowl, the school announced.
AFP
Exiled Venezuelan opposition leader to speak with Biden, visit US
Venezuelan opposition politician Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who fled the country after a tumultuous election and subsequent police crackdown, said Saturday he has plans to speak with US President Joe Biden.Speaking in Argentina, where he met with President Javier Milei, Gonzalez Urrutia added that he was traveling to the United States on Sunday, though it was unclear when the conversation with Biden would take place.
Time
What We Know About the New Orleans Attack That Killed 15
"The FBI is leading the investigation to determine what happened," Biden said in a filmed address to the nation.
AFP
Elaborate military tunnel complex linked to Assad's palace
On the slopes of Mount Qasyun which overlooks Damascus, a network of tunnels links a military complex, tasked with defending the Syrian capital, to the presidential palace facing it."We found a vast network of tunnels which lead to the presidential palace" on a neighbouring hill, Salim said.
Reuters
Zelenskiy reports heavy Russian, N. Korean troop losses in Russia's Kursk
Ukrainian and Western assessments say that some 11,000 North Korean troops are deployed in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces occupy swathes of territory after staging a mass cross-border incursion in August. In his nightly video address, Zelenskiy quoted a report from top Ukrainian commander Oleksandr Syrskyi as saying that the battles had taken place near the village of Makhnovka, not far from the Ukrainian border.
CNN
Justice Department enters proposed consent decree over conditions at Georgia’s troubled Fulton County Jail
The US Justice Department has entered a court-enforceable agreement with Georgia’s Fulton County over jail conditions that federal investigators have described as inhumane, violent and unsanitary.
Associated Press
Austrian Chancellor Nehammer says he will resign after talks on forming a new government fail
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said Saturday he will resign in the coming days after talks on forming a new government failed a second time. The announcement came after the People’s Party and the Social Democrats on Saturday continued coalition talks a day after the liberal Neos party’s surprise withdrawal from discussions. “Unfortunately I have to tell you today that the negotiations have ended and will not be continued by the People’s Party,” Nehammer, from the conservative People’s Party, said in a statement on social media.
CNN
Johnson tells Republicans Trump wants one big policy bill as party charts course on agenda
House Speaker Mike Johnson informed Republicans at a closed-door meeting Saturday that Donald Trump favored moving his agenda as one sweeping package, according to sources in attendance — a key announcement fraught with risk but one that sets the stage for advancing the president-elect’s ambitious plans.
Politico
The fragile Israel-Hezbollah truce is holding so far, despite violations
The diminished Lebanese militant group has threatened to resume fighting if Israel does not withdraw its forces by the 60-day deadline.
NBC News
What we know about the victims of the New Orleans truck attack
A University of Alabama engineering student, a former wide receiver at Princeton University, a recent high school graduate, a doting father, a Brit with royal connections and a first-year college student were among the those who died on New Year's Day when a pickup truck barreled into crowds on Bourbon Street in New Orleans.
AFP
World's oldest person dies at 116 in Japan
The world's oldest person, Japanese woman Tomiko Itooka, has died at the age of 116, the city of Ashiya where she lived announced on Saturday.After Itooka's death, the world's oldest person is now 116-year-old Brazilian nun Inah Canabarro Lucas, who was born on June 8, 1908, according to the US Gerontological Research Group and LongeviQuest. hih/bjt/mlm
Popular Science
13 dramatic photos that capture the beauty of marine sanctuaries
A majestic humpback whale, dramatic coastlines, and a coral reef ecosystem shine in the NOAA and and National Marine Sanctuary Foundation’s ‘Get Into Your Sanctuary’ photo contest. The winning photos celebrate the National Marine Sanctuary System, which encompasses more than 629,000 square miles and includes 17 national marine sanctuaries and Papahānaumokuākea and Rose Atoll marine […]
Politico
Biden to block new offshore drilling along most US coastline
The move may complicate Republican efforts to speed lease sales for oil and gas exploration in federal waters.
AFP
Cartoonist quits Washington Post over rejected sketch mocking owner, Trump
An award-winning political cartoonist for The Washington Post has announced her resignation after a cartoon depicting the newspaper's billionaire owner groveling before Donald Trump was rejected.The cartoon -- which she included in her post -- depicts Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos, as well as Facebook and Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg and other media and tech moguls, kneeling and holding up bags of money before a massive Trump.
NBC News
Royal family pays tribute to New Orleans attack victim, stepson of nanny to Prince William and Harry
The royal family paid tribute Saturday to Alexander Pettifer, the British man killed in the New Orleans attack, whose stepmother Tiggy Legge-Bourke was a nanny to Prince William and Prince Harry.
CNN
Thousands without heating in Moldova’s breakaway Transnistria region, after Russian gas supplies cut
The head of Moldova’s breakaway region Transnistria has urged residents to burn firewood for heating and warned that blackouts cannot be avoided, after Moscow stopped supplying gas via Ukraine.

Thomasville, Ledford in high school basketball conference races as season winds down

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Latest Stories

Justice Department urges Supreme Court to reject Trump’s push to pause TikTok ban

Austria's chancellor to step down after coalition talks collapse

On a long-dormant pad in Florida, a rocket that could challenge SpaceX’s dominance is poised to launch

Drivers skid and crash as wintery mix grips central US then moves east

Sonny Smart, father of Georgia coach Kirby Smart, dies after a fall in New Orleans

Exiled Venezuelan opposition leader to speak with Biden, visit US

What We Know About the New Orleans Attack That Killed 15

Elaborate military tunnel complex linked to Assad's palace

Zelenskiy reports heavy Russian, N. Korean troop losses in Russia's Kursk

Justice Department enters proposed consent decree over conditions at Georgia’s troubled Fulton County Jail

Austrian Chancellor Nehammer says he will resign after talks on forming a new government fail

Johnson tells Republicans Trump wants one big policy bill as party charts course on agenda

The fragile Israel-Hezbollah truce is holding so far, despite violations

What we know about the victims of the New Orleans truck attack

World's oldest person dies at 116 in Japan

13 dramatic photos that capture the beauty of marine sanctuaries

Biden to block new offshore drilling along most US coastline

Cartoonist quits Washington Post over rejected sketch mocking owner, Trump

Royal family pays tribute to New Orleans attack victim, stepson of nanny to Prince William and Harry

Thousands without heating in Moldova’s breakaway Transnistria region, after Russian gas supplies cut