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96-year-old Korean War veteran still attempting to get Purple Heart medal after 7 decades

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 22:36:24 GMT

ST. PETER, Minn. (AP) — Earl Meyer remembers in vivid detail when his platoon came under heavy fire during the Korean War — he still has shrapnel embedded in his thigh.But over 70 years later, the 96-year-old is still waiting for the U.S. Army to recognize his injury and to award him a Purple Heart medal, which honors service members wounded or killed in combat.Meyer has provided the Army with documents to back up his assertion that he was wounded in combat in June 1951. Doctors at the Department of Veterans Affairs agreed that his account of the shrapnel coming from a mortar attack was probably true. But few men in his unit who would have witnessed the battle have survived, and he thinks the medic who treated him on the battlefield was killed before he could file the paperwork.An Army review board in April issued what it called a final rejection of Meyer’s request for a Purple Heart, citing insufficient documentation. His case highlights how it can be a struggle for wounded v...

San Francisco bidding to reverse image of a city in decline as host of APEC trade summit

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 22:36:24 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — World leaders, CEOs, protesters and thousands of others will soon descend on San Francisco for a global trade summit that could give the battered city a chance to reverse its image of an economic powerhouse now in decline. The annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ summit will be San Francisco’s largest international gathering since dignitaries gathered in 1945 to sign the charter creating the United Nations. The summit opens Saturday and runs through Friday, drawing an expected 20,000 people. Of particular note this year is a planned tete-a-tete between President Joe Biden and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the summit — their first direct engagement in a tension-filled year between the world’s two biggest economic powers.As host, San Francisco and the city’s partners are polishing sidewalks, scrubbing away graffiti and moving homeless people to accommodations indoors. Separately, Mayor London Breed has been promoting p...

Disputes over safety, cost swirl a year after California OK’d plan to keep last nuke plant running

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 22:36:24 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — More than a year after California endorsed a proposal to extend the lifespan of its last nuclear power plant, disputes continue to swirl about the safety of its decades-old reactors, whether more than $1 billion in public financing for the extension could be in jeopardy and even if the electricity is needed in the dawning age of renewables.Late last month, a state judge tentatively approved the blueprint to keep the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant operating for an additional five years, until 2030. The proposal, which could get finalized later this month, imposed several conditions, including that federal nuclear safety regulators greenlight the longer run and that a state loan supporting the extension is not canceled. The twin reactors, located midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, began operating in the mid-1980s. They supply up to 9% of the state’s electricity on any given day. Environmentalists argue California has adequate power without the reactors...

Clashes over Israel-Hamas war shatter students’ sense of safety on US college campuses

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 22:36:24 GMT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — As a Jewish student, Eden Roth, always has felt safe and welcome at Tulane University, where more than 40% of the students are Jewish. That has been tested by the aftermath of last month’s invasion of Israel by Hamas. Graffiti appeared on the New Orleans campus with the message “from the river to the sea,” a rallying cry for pro-Palestinian activists. Then came a clash between dueling demonstrations, where a melee led to three arrests and left a Jewish student with a broken nose. “I think that the shift of experience with Jews on campus was extremely shocking,” said Roth, who was in Israel last summer for a study-abroad program. “A lot of students come to Tulane because of the Jewish population — feeling like they’re supported, like a majority rather than a minority. And I think that’s definitely shifted.”Tulane isn’t alone. On other campuses, long-simmering tensions are erupting in violence and shattering the sense of safety that makes colleges hubs of free...

Palestinian soccer team prepares for World Cup qualifying games against a backdrop of war

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 22:36:24 GMT

Makram Daboub may be struggling to prepare his Palestinian team for the start of 2026 World Cup qualification but he takes some comfort, for now at least, that his players stuck in Gaza are safe.The national soccer team’s head coach wanted to include Ibrahim Abuimeir, Khaled Al-Nabris, and Ahmed Al-Kayed in a training camp in Jordan ahead of World Cup qualifying games against Lebanon next Thursday and Australia on Nov. 21.But they were unable to make it out of Gaza because of the Israel-Hamas war, now in its second month. “So far they are fine,” Daboub told The Associated Press. “Many of their relatives have died, however, as a result of the bombing.”Two players from Gaza, Egypt-based Mohamed Saleh and Mahmoud Wadi, are expected to join the Palestinian team in Jordan. Daboub, who is from Tunisia, acknowledged it will be difficult for players to focus on football while many have families in danger. “With the death and destruction in Gaza, the players are in a difficult psychological ...

Daily room cleanings underscores Las Vegas hotel workers contract fight for job safety and security

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 22:36:24 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Over seven months of tense negotiations, mandatory daily room cleanings underscored the big issues that Las Vegas union hotel workers were fighting to address in their first contracts since the pandemic: job security, better working conditions and safety while on the job.From the onset of bargaining, Ted Pappageorge, the chief contract negotiator for the Culinary Workers Union, had said tens of thousands of workers whose contracts expired earlier this year would be willing to go on strike to make daily room cleanings mandatory.“Las Vegas needs to be full service,” he said last month.It was a message that Pappageorge and the workers would repeat for months as negotiations ramped up and the union threatened to go on strike if they didn’t have contracts by first light on Friday with MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment and Wynn Resorts. But by dawn Thursday, after a combined 40 hours of negotiations, the union had secured tentative labor deals w...

The 2024 Grammy Award nominations are about to arrive. Here’s what to know

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 22:36:24 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Buckle up, music lovers! The nominations for the 2024 Grammy Awards will arrive Friday.Nominees will be announced during a video stream live on the Grammy website and the Recording Academy’s YouTube channel at 8 a.m. Pacific/11 a.m. Eastern.A host of talent is on deck to announce the nominees, including “Weird Al” Yankovic, Jimmy Jam, Jon Bon Jovi, Kim Petras, Samara Joy and Muni Long. Only recordings released between Oct. 1, 2022, through Sept. 15, 2023, are eligible, so don’t expect to see album nominations for the Rolling Stones, Bad Bunny, or Drake. (But Drake’s 2022 album with 21 Savage, “Her Loss”? That’s on the table.) And much to the chagrin of fans of Michelle Williams’ reading of Britney Spears’ memoir “The Woman in Me,” the actor will not be eligible in the best audio book, narration and storytelling recording category this cycle.The 2024 awards will feature a few changes, including one that inspired a lot of online chatter...

Ransomware attack on China’s biggest bank disrupts Treasury market trades, reports say

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 22:36:24 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — A financial services business of China’s biggest bank says it was it by a ransomware attack that reportedly disrupted trading in the U.S. Treasury market.Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Financial Services handles trades and other services for financial institutions. A statement on its website seen Friday said the ransomware attack this week disrupted some of its systems but that it had disconnected parts of the affected systems to limit the impact from the attack. The company, which is based in New York, said it was investigating and had reported the problem to law enforcement.All Treasury trades executed Wednesday and repo financing trades on Thursday were cleared, it said. It said ICBC’s banking, email and other systems were not affected. The company gave no further details but reports said the attack was by LockBit, a Russian-speaking ransomware syndicate that does not target former Soviet countries. It is one of the most efficient ransomware variants aroun...

Avalanche dealt first home loss by Kraken, loses Artturi Lehkonen to “unfortunate” play

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 22:36:24 GMT

Seattle’s Oliver Bjorkstand scored with 32 seconds left Thursday night to stun the Avalanche in a 4-3 victory at Ball Arena.It was Bjorkstand’s second goal of the game, and it led to Colorado’s first home loss of the season. It’s also the first time the Avs (8-4-0) have lost a game this season while scoring at least one goal. Beyond the team’s fourth loss in six games, the Avs also lost forward Artturi Lehkonen to injury after he took a hit along the boards.Multiple players and coach Jared Bednar were happy with the team’s overall effort despite the loss, but the focus of their concern postgame was with Lehkonen.He left the game in the second period after a collision with Jamie Oleksiak. The 6-foot-7 defenseman played the puck into the corner with one hand on his stick, and then Lehkonen took the worst of the hit, going face-first into the boards. There was no penalty on the play, and none of the Avs players on the ice confronted Oleksiak about th...

Police search for missing L.A. County woman

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 22:36:24 GMT

Police are searching for a woman who disappeared in Harbor City last week.Jaichana McCoy, 20, was last seen on Nov. 2 at her home on the 1600 block of 255th Street at around 9:30 a.m., according to the Los Angeles Police Department.Loved ones said she left the residence on foot after an argument with her family. McCoy is "diagnosed with an intellectual disability and her family is concerned for her safety," police said.She is described as standing 6 feet tall and weighing around 290 pounds. She was last seen wearing a cream-colored hoodie, black sweatpants and yellow Crocs shoes. She may also be carrying a maroon duffle bag.She is known to frequent a library located on the 24000 block of Western Avenue.Jaichana McCoy, 20, seen in photos from the Los Angeles Police Department.Anyone who has seen McCoy or knows of her whereabouts is asked to call Officer Hendrickson at 213-996-1800. The public can also call the LAPD at 1-877-527-3247. Anonymous tips can be submitted to L.A. Regional C...