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Three major Louisiana statewide offices to be decided by voters Saturday

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:09:13 GMT

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — In Louisiana, where there has been a Democratic governor for eight years and Donald Trump won the past two presidential elections, runoffs on Saturday will decide whether Republicans control all five of the Deep South state’s top executive branch positions. The gubernatorial election was decided in October when Jeff Landry, a Republican backed by former President Trump, won outright and avoided a runoff. Voters will cast ballots this weekend to determine the winners of a slew of other races, including three vacant, statewide offices: attorney general, secretary of state and treasurer. The election will shape Louisiana’s executive branch of government, where most incumbents didn’t seek reelection and opened the door for new leadership in some of the state’s most powerful positions. Democrats hope to gain a statewide office in the reliably red state as the GOP tries to retain its current offices. No matter the winners, the state will hav...

The world’s attention is on Gaza, and Ukrainians worry war fatigue will hurt their cause

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:09:13 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — When Tymofii Postoiuk and his friends set up an online fundraising effort for Ukraine, donations poured in from around the globe, helping to purchase essential equipment for Ukrainian armed forces.As the fighting with Russia wore on and war fatigue set in, the donations slowed down, but money continued to come in steadily. Then the Israel-Hamas war broke out on Oct. 7.With the start of another major conflict, social media networks including X, formerly known as Twitter, were flooded with news from the Middle East. “Our fundraising posts and updates simply get lost in between those tweets,” Postoiuk said.The result has been a broad shift in the world’s attention away from Ukraine to the fighting in Gaza — a trend that worries many Ukrainians. They fear that a combination of global fatigue, competing political agendas and limited resources will result in less aid for their military, hurting the country’s ability to sustain its confrontation with Russia...

Officials stock up on overdose antidote naloxone after fentanyl-laced letters disrupt vote counting

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:09:13 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — The suspicious letters sent to vote centers and government buildings in six states this month were undeniably scary, some containing traces of fentanyl or white powder, accompanied by not-so-veiled threats and dubious political symbols.Harkening back to the anthrax attacks that killed five people in 2001, the mailings are prompting elections officials already frustrated with ongoing harassment and threats to reach out to local police, fire and health departments for help stocking up on the overdose reversal medication naloxone.Even if there’s little risk from incidental contact with the synthetic opioid, having the antidote on hand isn’t a bad idea amid an addiction epidemic that is killing more than 100,000 people in the U.S. every year — and it can provide some assurance for stressed ballot workers, election managers say.“My team is usually in the direct fire just because we’re opening up thousands or millions of ballots depending on the election,” said Eldon ...

Censored art from around the world finds a second opportunity at a Barcelona museum for banned works

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:09:13 GMT

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — A drawing of a nude Donald Trump. A punching bag sculpture shaped like a woman’s torso. A display of women’s party shoes standing proudly on prayer rugs. All are pieces of contemporary art that have provoked debate and, sometimes, violent reactions.These pieces and dozens more that were subjected to some sort of censorship have found a home in Spain at Barcelona’s Museum of Forbidden Art, or “Museu de l’Art Prohibit” in Catalan. The collection of over 200 works, including ones by well-known creators such as American photographer Robert Mapplethorpe and Spain’s own Pablo Picasso, is intended to challenge visitors and question the limits imposed on artists in an increasingly polarized world. Director Rosa Rodrigo said the museum is the only one in the world dedicated exclusively to art that faced petitions — often successful ones — for their removal from public view on moral, political, religious, sexual or commercial grounds. “The museum give...

How the US strikes a delicate balance in responding to attacks on its forces by Iran-backed militias

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:09:13 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Iranian-backed militants in Iraq and Syria have long battled with U.S. and coalition forces, launching sporadic attacks against bases in the region where troops are deployed to fight Islamic State group insurgents. But since Oct. 17, as civilian deaths in Israel’s war against Hamas began to skyrocket, there has been a dramatic spike in attacks by Iran’s proxies, operating under the umbrella name of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq. While most of the more than five dozen attacks have been largely ineffective, at least 60 U.S. personnel have reported minor injuries. Most often those have been traumatic brain injuries from the explosions, and all troops have returned to duty, according to the Pentagon.In response to the attacks, the U.S. has walked a delicate line. The U.S. military has struck back just three times as the Biden administration balances efforts to deter the militants without triggering a broader Middle East conflict. A look at the attacks and ...

Trump returns to Iowa for another rally and needles the state’s governor for endorsing DeSantis

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:09:13 GMT

FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) — Former President Donald Trump will campaign Saturday in west-central Iowa as part of his fall push to sign up supporters and volunteers ahead of the state’s leadoff caucuses, now less than two months away. Trump is expected to headline an organizing rally in Fort Dodge, a GOP-leaning hub, the latest in a series of targeted regional stops aimed at seizing on the large crowds the former president draws to press attendees to commit to voting for him on Jan. 15. The midday event set for Fort Dodge High School would be Trump’s sixth Iowa visit since late September. While Trump has led Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley comfortably in polls of likely caucus participants, Trump’s campaign has been more aggressive in Iowa than any of the other early-voting states in the Republican presidential nominating calendar. Speaking on a radio show Thursday to promote his appearance, Trump ripped DeSantis as “doing very...

El Salvador’s Miss Universe pageant drawing attention at crucial moment for president

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:09:13 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Video montages of sash-clad pageant contestants strolling beaches in El Salvador, snapping selfies in front of fireworks and wandering the streets of downtown San Salvador speckled social media this week as celebrations for the Miss Universe 2023 pageant kicked off in the Central American country.“As President (Nayib) Bukele said, El Salvador is changing,” R’Bonney Gabriel, Miss Universe 2022, said in a speech before this year’s contestants. “While we’re here, we hope to shine a light on this country for the rest of the world to see.”The competition on Saturday night is the latest spectacle touted by Bukele in his effort to change the reputation of his historically violence-torn nation. But opponents and analysts say such displays are also being used by the populist leader to distract from human rights abuses in his crackdown on gangs and steps he has taken to curb criticism. Constitutional scholars and critics warn that he is slowly withering the coun...

Milei echoes Trump with fraud claims that inject uncertainty into Argentina’s presidential runoff

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:09:13 GMT

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — This may sound familiar: A self-styled outsider aims to win the presidency and purge the political establishment so he can restore order to a broken nation — if only he can overcome a system rigged against him. But this isn’t former President Donald Trump, or even happening in the U.S. It’s Argentine presidential candidate Javier Milei, the latest politician to follow Trump’s playbook and claim that election results are dubious and that gatekeepers may deprive him of the nation’s top job. Analysts say it is a tactic to fire up Milei’s base and promote vigilance at polling stations, or set the stage for refusing to concede a loss.The right-wing economist rose to fame blasting the political class on television and has welcomed comparisons to Trump. His message that a corrupt elite has left the country behind resonates with Argentines coping with rising poverty and 142% annual inflation. Milei represents upheaval, and casting doubt on the electoral ...

South Dakota tribe to declare state of emergency due to rampant crime on reservation

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:09:13 GMT

The leader of a South Dakota tribe is expected to declare an emergency on the state’s largest Native American reservation because of rampant crime that he said hasn’t been curbed due to the U.S. government’s inadequate funding for law enforcement.The state of emergency declaration planned for Saturday on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation comes nearly six months after a federal judge ruled the U.S. government has a treaty obligation to support law enforcement on the reservation, but declined to determine whether the Oglala Sioux Tribe is entitled to the full funding amount requested.Oglala Sioux President Frank Star Comes Out said in an interview Friday that conditions on the reservation have worsened since the ruling, prompting him to sign the emergency proclamation. The U.S. government and its agencies — namely the Interior Department and the Bureau of Indian Affairs — are primarily responsible for the breakdown of law and order on the reservation and negotiations between the gover...

Texas high school football playoff scores for Friday, Nov. 17

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:09:13 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Lake Travis throttled San Antonio Johnson 48-21 to advance to the third round of the Texas high school football playoffs Friday at Bobcat Stadium in San Marcos. The Cavaliers led 41-7 at halftime and returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown. Cavs running back Nico Hamilton scored three rushing touchdowns in the first half.REPORT YOUR SCORE: We'd love to post your team's score on our website, but we need your help to do it. Email the score of your game to [email protected] and we'll get it on our websiteCedar Park picked up a 21-3 win over Angleton and Wimberley blasted Orange Grove 49-7. Westlake rolled to a 45-28 win over San Antonio Reagan.Dripping Springs takes on Converse Judson at 2 p.m., Saturday at Rutledge Stadium in Converse.Check out the rest of the scores from the area playoff round below.Scores from around the KXAN viewing areaAlice 49, Lampasas 35 Blanco 55, London 24Cedar Park 21, Angleton 3Cibolo Steele 42, McNeil 21Huntsville 54, LBJ 28Lake Travis 4...