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A US pine species thrives when burnt. Southerners are rekindling a ‘fire culture’ to boost its range

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 19:26:16 GMT

WEST END, N.C. (AP) — Jesse Wimberley burns the woods with neighbors.Using new tools to revive an old communal tradition, they set fire to wiregrasses and forest debris with a drip torch, corralling embers with leaf blowers. Wimberley, 65, gathers groups across eight North Carolina counties to starve future wildfires by lighting leaf litter ablaze. The burns clear space for longleaf pine, a tree species whose seeds won’t sprout on undergrowth blocking bare soil. Since 2016, the fourth-generation burner has fueled a burgeoning movement to formalize these volunteer ranks.Prescribed burn associations are proving key to conservationists’ efforts to restore a longleaf pine range forming the backbone of forest ecology in the American Southeast. Volunteer teams, many working private land where participants reside or make a living, are filling service and knowledge gaps one blaze at a time.Prescribed fire, the intentional burning replicating natural fires crucial for forest health, re...

How the US keeps funding Ukraine’s military – even as it says it’s out of money

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 19:26:16 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House has been increasingly pressuring Congress to pass stalled legislation to support Ukraine’s war against Russia, saying that funding has run out.On Tuesday, however, President Joe Biden touted a new military aid package worth $200 million for Ukraine.Money is dwindling. But the announcement of more weapons being sent to Kyiv just underscores the complexity of the funding. So has the money run out? Or are there still a few billion dollars floating around?It’s complicated. Store credit …In a Nov. 4 letter to Congress, White House budget director Shalanda Young said flatly: “We are out of money to support Ukraine in this fight. This isn’t a next year problem. The time to help a democratic Ukraine fight against Russian aggression is right now.”Since then, the U.S. has announced three more aid packages totaling $475 million. That may seem contradictory, but it’s due to the complex programs used to send aid to Ukraine. There are two pots o...

An appeals court will hear arguments over whether Meadows’ Georgia charges can move to federal court

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 19:26:16 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — A federal appeals court will hear arguments Friday over whether the election interference charges filed against Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows should be moved from a state court to federal court.Meadows, who is charged alongside former President Donald Trump and 17 others, is accused of scheming to keep the Republican in power after Democrat Joe Biden won Georgia in 2020. Meadows testified at a hearing in August that the actions detailed in the sweeping indictment were taken as part of his job.U.S. District Judge Steve Jones ruled in September that Meadows did not meet the threshold to move his case to federal court. The evidence presented showed the actions were taken “on behalf of the Trump campaign with an ultimate goal of affecting state election activities and procedures,” he wrote.Meadows appealed Jones’ ruling to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which set oral arguments in the case for Friday. It is to be heard by a three-judge panel...

Why more women live in major East Coast counties while men outnumber them in the West

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 19:26:16 GMT

Anyone who has suspected that there are more women than men where they live, or vice versa, will find fodder for their suspicions in new data from the U.S. Census Bureau.Whether it refutes or confirms their suspicions likely depends on where they live.Women outnumber men in the largest urban counties east of the Mississippi River, along the Eastern Seaboard and in the Deep South, while the West skews male, according to data released last week from the 2022 American Community Survey 5-year estimates, the most comprehensive source of data on American life. Those numbers were also backed up by age and sex figures from the 2020 census released earlier this year.There are limitations to what can be concluded from the data. Still, Nancy Averbach, 57, doesn’t find the numbers surprising. She lost her husband eight years ago, and has since found it hard to meet a compatible partner. Across the U.S. in 2022, the most recent year that figures are available, there were 96.6 adult men for...

The Vatican’s ‘trial of the century,’ a Pandora’s box of unintended revelations, explained

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 19:26:16 GMT

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Verdicts are expected Saturday for a cardinal and nine other defendants in the most complicated financial trial in the Vatican’s modern history: a case featuring a Hollywood-worthy cast of characters, unseemly revelations about the Holy See and questions about Pope Francis ’ own role in the deals.The trial had initially been seen as a showcase for Francis’ reforms and his willingness to crack down on alleged financial misdeeds in the Vatican, which long had a reputation as an offshore tax haven.But after 2 1/2 years of hearings, no real smoking gun emerged to support the prosecution’s hypothesis of a grand conspiracy to defraud the pope of millions of euros (dollars) in charitable donations.Even if some convictions are handed down, the overall impression is that the “trial of the century” turned into something of a Pandora’s box of unintended revelations about Vatican vendettas, incompetence and even ransom payments that ultimately cost the Holy See reputat...

Shooting of Palestinian college students came amid spike in gun violence in Vermont

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 19:26:16 GMT

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — The recent shootings of three college students of Palestinian descent in Vermont’s largest city come as the small rural state, often ranked as one of the nation’s safest, is grappling with a spike in gun violence.Two days after the students were shot and seriously wounded during their Thanksgiving break, Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger said it “was one of the most shocking and disturbing events in this city’s history.”Statewide, Vermont has had 10 homicides and one suspicious death since October, including a double homicide in Burlington, Weinberger said. Burlington has seen 16 gunfire incidents so far this year, he said, adding that Vermont’s largest city is not alone.“Many communities are experiencing an alarming rise in gun violence with recent shootings happening in Newport, Danville, St. Johnsbury, Brattleboro, Castleton, Leicester, Brookfield,” Weinberger said at the time.Overall the country had a 6% decrease in national firearms homicides between...

Trump loves the UFC. His campaign hopes viral videos of his appearances will help him pummel rivals

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 19:26:16 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — After Donald Trump attended South Carolina’s annual Palmetto Bowl, video of the crowd chanting “We want Trump!” as the former president arrived at Williams-Brice Stadium spread across conservative social media.It was much the same two weeks earlier when the GOP front-runner attended an Ultimate Fighting Championship event in New York, fist-bumping and waving to the crowd as he entered Madison Square Garden like he was one of the fighters, with an entourage that included the musician Kid Rock, UFC president Dana White and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.While Trump has spent less time campaigning in early-voting states than many of his Republican primary rivals, his campaign has been filling his schedule with appearances at major sporting events including Saturday’s UFC fight in Las Vegas. Videos of his appearances routinely rack up hundreds of thousands of views across social media, particularly on non-political outlets, including popular online sport...

Serbia’s Vucic seeks to reassert populist dominance in elections this weekend

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 19:26:16 GMT

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic is pushing hard to reassert his populist party’s dominance in this weekend’s early parliamentary and local elections that observers say are being held in an atmosphere of intimidation and media bias.The vote in the troubled eastern European country on Sunday pits Vucic’s governing Serbian Progressive Party, or SNS, against a pro-Western opposition coalition which is trying to undermine the firm grip on power the populists have maintained since 2012. Though he is not formally a candidate, the Serbian president has campaigned relentlessly for the SNS and its list of candidates, which appears on the ballot under the name “Aleksandar Vucic — Serbia must not stop!” The main opposition Serbia Against Violence bloc gathers parties that were behind months of street protests this year triggered by two back-to-back mass shootings in May. Campaign monitors have reported pressure on voters and fearmongering and a...

Americans agree that the 2024 election will be pivotal for democracy, but for different reasons

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 19:26:16 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a politically polarized nation, Americans seem to agree on one issue underlying the 2024 elections — a worry over the state of democracy and how the outcome of the presidential contest will affect its future.They just disagree over who poses the threat.A poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 62% of adults say democracy in the U.S. could be at risk depending on who wins next fall. Majorities of Democrats (72%) and Republicans (55%) feel the same way, but for different reasons.President Joe Biden has attempted to paint a dystopian future if GOP front-runner and former President Donald Trump returns to the White House after promising to seek retribution against opponents and declining to rule out that he would abuse the powers of the office. The former president has tried to flip the narrative lately, saying the election subversion and documents cases against him show Biden has weaponized the federal government to prosecu...

What’s streaming now: ‘Barbie,’ Taylor Swift in your home, Cody Johnson and the return of ‘Reacher’

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 19:26:16 GMT

“Barbie” makes her way onto the Max streaming service and the second season of Prime Video’s “Reacher” starring Alan Ritchson are some of the new television, movies and music headed to a device near you.Also among the streaming offerings worth your time as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists are the reuniting of early cast members of “The Real Housewives of New York” for a new Bravo series, a Christmas TV special from country star Cody Johnson and Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour” concert movie lands in homes on premium on-demand.NEW MOVIES TO STREAM— “Barbie.” The blockbuster of the year (and leading Golden Globes nominee ) is finally making its streaming debut, just in time for the holidays. Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” premieres Friday on Max (formerly HBO Max) after its pink-festooned $1.4 billion bonanza in theaters. (The film also remains available on video-on-demand.) So prepare your Mojo Dojo Casa House now for the hit of 2023.— After a tour through North Ame...