5 hours Ago By AP
Government funding bill clears Congress and heads to President Biden, averting a shutdown WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has rushed through final passage of a bipartisan plan to fund federal operations and prevent a government shutdown. It now goes to President Joe Biden, who is expected to quickly sign it into law. The House passed the package late Friday in an overwhelming vote.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer pushed into the night to finish early Saturday, just after the midnight deadline. The bill would temporarily fund federal operations and disaster aid, but drops President-elect Donald Trump's demands for a debt limit increase into the new year. Speaker Mike Johnson had insisted Congress would “meet our obligations” and not allow federal operations to shutter ahead of the Christmas holiday season.
He also says Trump is happy with the outcome. Senate passes Social Security benefits boost for many public service retirees WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has passed legislation to boost Social Security payments for millions of people. The bill is a longtime priority for former public employees.
The bipartisan bill next heads to President Joe Biden. It will eliminate longtime reductions to Social Security benefits for nearly 3 million people who receive pensions because they worked in federal, state and local government, or public service jobs like teachers, firefighters and police officers. Advocates say the Social Security Fairness Act rights a decades-old disparity, though it will also further strain Social Security Trust Funds at a time when the program is approaching insolvency.
Government funding difficulties create gloom for federal workers before Christmas ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Johnny Zuagar says he’s tried to hide his worries about a potential government shutdown from his three boys as he weighs how much to spend on Christmas presents. The statistician at the U.
S. Census Bureau said Friday he's trying to shield his family from the worries about a potential furlough or other consequences. Like thousands of federal workers, Zuagar is navigating the holidays with the spirit of the season overtaken by an air of gloom and uncertainty.
The turbulent efforts in Congress to reach an agreement on funding the federal government have cast a cloud over the holidays for many federal workers. Musk helped kill a congressional spending bill. But much of what he spread was misinformation President Donald Trump’s billionaire ally Elon Musk used his outsize influence on X to help kill a bipartisan funding proposal that would have prevented a government shutdown, spreading multiple false claims in the process.
The X owner, an unelected figure, played a key role in swaying Congress without regard for the facts -- a preview of the role he could play in government over the next four years. Death toll in attack on Christmas market in Germany rises to 5, with more than 200 injured MAGDEBURG, Germany (AP) — The death toll in the attack on a busy Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg has risen to five, the state governor said Saturday. Saxony-Anhalt Gov.
Reiner Haseloff also said that more than 200 people in total were injured, many seriously, when a Saudi doctor intentionally drove a black BMW into the market on Friday evening. The man, who was detained, has lived in Germany for nearly two decades, practicing medicine. Several German media outlets identified him as Taleb A.
Describing himself as a former Muslim, he shared dozens of posts daily focusing on anti-Islam themes. Sectarian violence in Syria has been less intense than feared since Assad's ouster DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — The toppling of Bashar Assad has raised tentative hopes that Syrians might live peacefully and as equals after a half century of authoritarian rule. While there have been bursts of deadly sectarian violence in the days since Assad was ousted, it’s nothing close to what was feared after nearly 14 years of civil war.
Much credit for the relative calm is being given to the Islamic militant group that led the insurgency against Assad and is helping to rebuild the country and unite its many factions. The group — Hayat Tahrir al-Sham — had ties to al-Qaida, but it has vowed not to discriminate against any religion or ethnicity, and it has denounced revenge killings. Still, many Syrians fear the country could become a theocracy.
What will Syria's future look like? The answer could lie in other Arab countries' recent pasts CAIRO (AP) — Even with hopes running high, so much can go wrong when a country ousts a longtime dictator and tries to start anew. The Middle Eastern and North African nations that attempted to transition to democracy in recent years can attest to that. Now it’s Syria’s turn to try to get it right.
It’s hard to draw lessons from the experiences of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Sudan since the wave of Arab Spring uprisings that began in 2011. But there are common themes. In some cases, “the Revolution” was lost when armed factions battled it out for power or an ambitious would-be strongman emerged.
In others, the miliary refused to cede control to civilians or foreign powers backed opposing sides. Amazon and Starbucks workers are on strike. Trump might have something to do with it Amazon delivery drivers and Starbucks baristas are on strike in a handful of U.
S. cities as they seek to exert pressure on the two major companies to recognize them as unionized employees or to meet demands for an inaugural labor contract. Strikes during busy periods like the holidays can help unions exercise leverage during negotiations or garner support from sympathetic consumers.
One expert says he thinks workers at both companies are “desperate” to make progress before President-elect Donald Trump can appoint a Republican majority to the National Labor Relations Board. Workers at Starbucks, Amazon and some other prominent consumer brands are fighting for their first contracts after several locations voted to unionize. Indonesians mark 2 decades since the tragic tsunami that killed hundreds of thousands BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) — Two decades after a catastrophic tsunami destroyed her village, Tria Asnani still cries when she recalls how she lost her mother while trying to escape the giant waves and her father to the sea.
On Dec. 26, 2004, a powerful 9.1-magnitude earthquake off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra triggered a tsunami that killed around 230,000 people across a dozen countries, reaching as far as East Africa.
Indonesia’s Aceh province, located closest to the earthquake’s epicenter, bore the brunt of the disaster, with more than half of the total death toll. NORAD's Santa tracker was a Cold War morale boost. Now it attracts millions of kids NORAD’s Santa tracker is a Christmas tradition that’s become nearly global in scope.
Each year, at least 100,000 kids call into the North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado. And they ask for Santa’s location as he delivers presents around the world. Millions more follow online.
NORAD typically scans the heavens for potential threats, such as last year’s Chinese spy balloon. But on Christmas Eve, volunteers in Colorado are fielding questions like, “When is Santa coming to my house?” For those interested in tracking Santa this year, the phone number is 1-877-HI-NORAD. The agency also has an app as well as a website, www.
noradsanta.org ..
