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Gabon’s opposition candidate alleges the ousted president’s family is behind a plot to retain power

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:24 GMT

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Gabon’s opposition leader accused the family of the recently ousted president of engineering his removal from power in order to retain their control in the oil-rich Central African nation.Speaking to French media outlet TV5 Monde Thursday, Albert Ondo Ossa said the junta who ousted Gabon’s president on Wednesday did not engage in a coup but rather a “palace revolution” in order to continue their family’s reign.Soldiers toppled President Ali Bongo Ondimba and put him under house arrest, accusing him of irresponsible governance that risked leading the country into chaos. They then put Bongo’s cousin Gen. Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, head of the elite republican guard, in charge. He is expected to be sworn into office on Monday September 4 before the constitutional court. Ossa lost the presidential election in August to Bongo by more than 30 percentage points. The vote was widely criticized by locals and the international community for irregularities and a lack o...

Russia’s Putin and Turkey’s Erdogan set to meet amid efforts to repair Ukraine grain deal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:24 GMT

Russian President Vladimir Putin will host Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan for talks next week, the Kremlin announced Friday, just over six weeks after Moscow broke off a deal brokered by Ankara and the U.N. that allowed Ukrainian grain to reach world markets safely despite the 18-month war.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin and Erdogan would meet Monday in Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi.The announcement ended weeks of speculation about when and where the two leaders might meet next as international efforts continue to patch up the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which got agrain and other food to parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia where hunger is a growing threat.Ukraine and Russia are both major global suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other commodities that developing nations rely on. Turkey, together with the United Nations, brokered the deal in July 2022 that allowed Ukraine to resume shipping foodstuffs from three Black Sea ports. Under the initi...

Rising tensions between employers and employees have put the labor back in this year’s Labor Day

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:24 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Labor Day is right around the corner, along with the big sales and barbecues that come with it. But the activist roots of the holiday are especially visible this year as unions challenge how workers are treated — from Hollywood to the auto production lines of Detroit.The early-September tribute to workers has been an official holiday for almost 130 years — but an emboldened labor movement has created an environment closer to the era from which Labor Day was born. Like the late 1800s, workers are facing rapid economic transformation — and a growing gap in pay between themselves and new billionaire leaders of industry, mirroring the stark inequalities seen more than a century ago. “There’s a lot of historical rhyming between the period of the origins of Labor Day and today,” Todd Vachon, an assistant professor in the Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations, told The Associated Press. “Then, they had the Carnegies and the Rockefellers. Today, we have the Musks ...

Stock market today: Wall Street points to gains at open ahead of a key US jobs report

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:24 GMT

TOKYO — Wall Street followed global markets higher Friday with strong U.S. jobs data boosting shares. Futures for the Dow and S&P 500 each rose about 0.4% before the bell.US employers added a solid 187,000 jobs in August, showing how resilient the U.S. labor market is despite an extended campaign by the U.S. Federal Reserve to cool hiring and inflation. The strong job market, along with consumer spending, has so far helped thwart a recession that analysts expected at some point in 2023. But they also made the Federal Reserve’s task of taming inflation more difficult by fueling wage and price increases.Market jitters over the possibility that the Federal Reserve might have to keep interest rates higher for longer — following reports showing the U.S. economy remains remarkably resilient — led to the market’s pullback in August after what had been a banner year. The central bank has raised its main interest rate aggressively since 2022 to the highest level since 2001. The goal has ...

Greece: Firefighters rescue 25 migrants trapped in forest as massive wildfire approached

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:24 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek firefighters rescued a group of 25 migrants trapped in a forest in northeastern Greece Friday as flames from a massive wildfire burning for two weeks approached, authorities said.The fire department said the group became trapped in the forest between two villages in the Evros region, near the border with Turkey. No injuries were reported. There was no immediate information on their nationalities.The blaze, burning for the 14th day Friday, has already been blamed for the deaths of 20 people whose bodies were found last week. All are believed to have been migrants who had recently crossed the border. Greece’s Disaster Victim Identification Team has been tasked with identifying the remains.A multinational force of more than 580 firefighters backed by six planes and two helicopters is battling the wildfire that began on Aug. 19 and within days had joined with other blazes to form the largest single wildfire in a European Union country since records began in 2...

Dean's Reviews: 'The Equalizer 3'

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:24 GMT

Check out Dean's reviews for the new 'The Equalizer 3,' starring Denzel Washington.Get Dean's reviews and A-List interviews delivered right to your inbox. Sign up for Dean's Downloads weekly newsletter. You'll also get his Dean Cooks recipes too!

Interest on student loans is back: Here's what to know

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:24 GMT

(The Hill) - After more than three years, interest on student loans is back on beginning Friday as part of the Biden administration’s "on-ramp" repayment plan.The start of September brings the return of interest on the loans, which unlike other types of debt accrues daily instead of monthly. Like payments on the loans, the interest had been on a pause that began at the start of the coronavirus pandemic and was renewed several times.While payments themselves don’t resume until October, here is what borrowers need to know as interest resumes:How student loan interest works“I think practically the most important thing about interest on a student loan is that because of how it accumulates it can cause the value of your loan, the overall amount that you have to pay back, to increase pretty significantly,” said Jacob Channel, senior economist and student loan repayment expert at Lending Tree. The interest rate of a student loan is set when a borrower takes the money out, so it w...

FEMA is running out of money, but these strategies can help survivors of Hurricane Idalia and the Maui fires get aid faster

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:24 GMT

(The Conversation) - As questions loom over the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s ability to fund disaster recovery efforts, people who lost homes to recent wildfires and storms are trying to make their way through the difficult process of securing financial aid.Residents in communities hit by Hurricane Idalia, the Maui fires or other recent disasters have a long, tough journey ahead. How well the initial disaster response meets their needs has far-reaching consequences for community resilience, especially for vulnerable residents, as we saw after Hurricanes Katrina and Maria.I am a law professor who focuses on disaster recovery and preparedness and has created several legal clinics to assist survivors. Here’s what anyone facing losses after a federally declared disaster needs to know.Declaring a disasterThe road to recovery starts with state and federal governments identifying damages – both property damage and economic damage. These asse...

Manor ISD school bus with students on board involved in crash Friday morning; no injuries reported

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:24 GMT

MANOR (KXAN) -- A Manor Independent School District bus was involved in a crash with a dump truck Friday morning, according to first responders. No injuries were reported. It happened just before 7 a.m. on Hwy 290, near its intersection with FM 973, according to the Travis County Sheriff's Office. TCSO said a dump truck ran into the bus. The highway was not shut down, and no injuries were reported, TCSO said. Austin-Travis County EMS said paramedics were on scene but said they did not hear of anyone injured. KXAN has reached out to Manor Police and Manor ISD. This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

As Texas’ dead suspect loophole closes, bill author predicts future fight

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:24 GMT

Editor's Note: The above video shows KXAN's top headlines for Sept. 1. Watch Josh Hinkle's investigation tonight at 10 on KXAN.AUSTIN (KXAN) – Texas police no longer have discretion to withhold records when someone dies in their custody. A new law took effect Friday, closing the state’s dead suspect loophole – an “unintended consequence” of an exception to the Public Information Act initially meant to protect the privacy of suspects who never go through the court process.Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, filed legislation each session since 2017 to end the loophole, which KXAN investigators revealed has been used widely by police across the state for years to keep certain details about deaths – including audio and video – secret. In the most recent regular session, the measure received renewed, bipartisan support following the deadly mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde. EXPLORE 'DENIED' SERIES: KXAN investigates the impact of the 'dead suspect loophole' While it faced a late-...