AP News in Brief at 6:04 p.m. EST
Israel faces new calls for truce after killing of hostages raises alarm about its conduct in Gaza
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) - Israel's government faced calls for a cease-fire from some of its closest European allies on Sunday after a series of shootings, including the mistaken killing of three Israeli hostages, fueled global concerns about the conduct of the 10-week-old war in Gaza.
Israeli protesters are urging their government to renew negotiations with Gaza's Hamas rulers, whom Israel has vowed to destroy. Israel is also expected to face pressure to scale back major combat operations when U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visits Monday. Washington is expressing growing unease with civilian casualties even as it provides vital military and diplomatic support.
The war has flattened large parts of northern Gaza, killed thousands of civilians and driven most of the population to the southern part of the besieged territory, where many are in crowded shelters and tent camps. Some 1.9 million Palestinians - about 90% of Gaza´s population - have fled their homes.
They survive off a trickle of humanitarian aid. Dozens of desperate Palestinians surrounded aid trucks after they drove in through the Rafah crossing with Egypt, forcing some to stop before climbing aboard, pulling down boxes and carrying them off. Other trucks appeared to be guarded by masked people carrying sticks.
Israel said aid passed directly from Israel into Gaza for the first time Sunday, with 79 trucks entering from Kerem Shalom, where around 500 trucks entered daily before the war. Another 120 trucks entered via Rafah along with six trucks carrying fuel or cooking gas, said Wael Abu Omar, Palestinian Crossings Authority spokesman.
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Black American solidarity with Palestinians is rising and testing longstanding ties to Jewish allies
Cydney Wallace, a Black Jewish community activist, never felt compelled to travel to Israel, though "Next year in Jerusalem" was a constant refrain at her Chicago synagogue.
The 39-year-old said she had plenty to focus on at home, where she frequently gives talks on addressing anti-Black sentiment in the American Jewish community and dismantling white supremacy in the U.S.
"I know what I´m fighting for here," she said.
That all changed when she visited Israel and the West Bank at the invitation of a Palestinian American community organizer from Chicago's south side, along with two dozen other Black Americans and Muslim, Jewish and Christian faith leaders.
The trip, which began Sept. 26, enhanced Wallace´s understanding of the struggles of Palestinians living in the West Bank under Israeli military occupation. But, horrifyingly, it was cut short by the unprecedented Oct. 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas militants. In Israel´s ensuing bombardment of the Gaza Strip, shocking images of destruction and death seen around the world have mobilized activists in the U.S. and elsewhere.
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Florida Republican Party suspends chairman and demands his resignation amid rape investigation
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - The Republican Party of Florida suspended Chairman Christian Ziegler and demanded his resignation during an emergency meeting Sunday, adding to calls by Gov. Ron DeSantis and other top officials for him to step down as police investigate a rape accusation against him.
Ziegler is accused of raping a woman with whom he and his wife, Moms for Liberty co-founder Bridget Ziegler, had a prior consensual sexual relationship, according to police records.
"Christian Ziegler has engaged in conduct that renders him unfit for the office," the party´s motion to censure Ziegler said, according to a document posted on the social media platform X by Lee County GOP Chairman Michael Thomason.
Ziegler tried to defend himself during the closed-door meeting, but the party board quickly took the action against him, Thompson said.
"Ziegler on soap box trying to defend himself, not working," Thompson posted before confirming the votes.
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Senate border security talks grind on as Trump invokes Nazi-era 'blood' rhetoric against immigrants
WASHINGTON (AP) - White House and Senate negotiators dug in Sunday laboring to reach a U.S. border security deal that would unlock President Joe Biden´s request for billions of dollars worth of military aid for Ukraine and other national security needs before senators leave town for the holiday recess.
The Biden administration, which is becoming more deeply involved in the talks, is facing pressure from all sides over any deal. Negotiators had hoped to reach a framework by the weekend, but that's highly unlikely. Republican leaders signaled that without bill text, an upcoming procedural would likely fail.
The talks come as Donald Trump, the Republican presidential front-runner in 2024, delivered alarming anti-immigrant remarks about "blood" purity over the weekend, echoing Nazi slogans of World War II to cheers at a political rally.
"They're poisoning the blood of our country," Trump said about the record numbers of immigrants coming to the U.S. without immediate legal status.
Speaking in the early-voting state of New Hampshire, Trump, drew on words similar to Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kempf" as the former U.S. president berated Biden's team over the flow of migrants. "All over the world they´re pouring into our country," Trump said.
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Serbia's populists claim a sweeping victory in the country's parliamentary election
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) - Serbia´s governing populists claimed a sweeping victory Sunday in the country's parliamentary election, which was marred by reports of major irregularities both during a tense campaign and on voting day.
Acting Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said that with half the ballots counted, the governing Serbian Progressive Party's projections showed it won 47% percent of the vote and expected to hold around 130 seats in the 250-member assembly. The main opposition Serbia Against Violence group won around 23%, Brnabic said.
The main contest in the parliamentary and local elections was between President Aleksandar Vucic´s Serbian Progressives and the centrist coalition that sought to undermine the populists who have ruled the troubled Balkan state since 2012.
The Serbia Against Violence opposition coalition was expected to mount its biggest challenge for the city council in Belgrade, with analysts saying an opposition victory in the capital would seriously dent Vucic´s hardline rule in the country.
Vucic, however, said his party was also leading in the vote in the capital, though he added that post-election coalition negotiations would determine who governs in Belgrade.
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Storm drenches Florida and South Carolina while heading up East Coast
GEORGETOWN, S.C. (AP) - A late-year storm unleashed heavy rain and gusty winds as it barreled up the East Coast on Sunday, forcing water rescues from flooded streets and the cancelation of some holiday celebrations.
Authorities rescued dozens of motorists stranded by floodwaters in South Carolina's waterfront community of Georgetown, according to Jackie Broach, public information officer for Georgetown County, situated between Charleston and Myrtle Beach. More than 9 inches (22.9 centimeters) of rain fell in the area since late Saturday.
"It´s not just the areas that we normally see flooding, that are flood-prone," Broach said. "It´s areas that we´re not really expecting to have flooding issues."
Water rescues also took place on Kiawah and Seabrook islands, according to media outlets.
There were numerous road closures across South Carolina's Lowcountry as the storm dumped heavy rain. The tide gauge at Charleston swelled to reach the city's highest nontropical tide on record and the fourth-highest tide of all time, media outlets reported. Charleston was soaked by about 4 inches (10 centimeters) of rain that tapered off by afternoon. Dozens of roads were closed, while stranded cars littered streets.
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The jungle between Colombia and Panama becomes a highway for migrants from around the world
MEXICO CITY (AP) - Once nearly impenetrable for migrants heading north from Latin America, the jungle between Colombia and Panama this year became a speedy but still treacherous highway for hundreds of thousands of people from around the world.
Driven by economic crises, government repression and violence, migrants from China to Haiti decided to risk three days of deep mud, rushing rivers and bandits. Enterprising locals offered guides and porters, set up campsites and sold supplies to migrants, using color-coded wristbands to track who had paid for what.
Enabled by social media and Colombian organized crime, more than 506,000 migrants - nearly two-thirds Venezuelans - had crossed the Darien jungle by mid-December, double the 248,000 who set a record the previous year. Before last year, the record was barely 30,000 in 2016.
Dana Graber Ladek, the Mexico chief for the United Nation´s International Organization for Migration, said migration flows through the region this year were "historic numbers that we have never seen."
It wasn´t only in Latin America.
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As 2023 holidays dawn, face masks have settled in as an occasional feature of the American landscape
NEW YORK (AP) - The scene: A crowded shopping center in the weeks before Christmas. Or a warehouse store. Or maybe a packed airport terminal or a commuter train station or another place where large groups gather.
There are people - lots of people. But look around, and it's clear one thing is largely absent these days: face masks.
Yes, there's the odd one here and there, but nothing like it was three years ago at the dawn of the COVID pandemic's first winter holidays - an American moment of contentiousness, accusation and scorn on both sides of the mask debate.
As 2023 draws to an end, with promises of holiday parties and crowds and lots of inadvertent exchanges of shared air, mask-wearing is much more off than on around the country even as COVID's long tail lingers. The days of anything approaching a widespread mask mandate would be like the Ghost of Christmas Past, a glimpse into what was.
Look at it a different way, though: These days, mask-wearing has become just another thing that simply happens in America. In a country where the mention of a mask prior to the pandemic usually meant Halloween or a costume party, it´s a new way of being that hasn´t gone away even if most people aren´t doing it regularly.
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Convent-made delicacies, a Christmas favorite, help monks and nuns win fans and pay the bills
MEXICO CITY (AP) - It´s the fortnight before Christmas and all through the world´s Catholic convents, nuns and monks are extra busy preparing the traditional delicacies they sell to a loyal fan base even in rapidly secularizing countries.
For many monastic communities, especially those devoted to contemplative life and with vows of poverty, producing cookies, fruitcakes, even beer for sale is the only means to keep the lights on.
But it´s also an enticing way to strengthen their ties with lay people who flock to their doors - and in some cases their websites - in the holiday season.
"Our kitchen is a witness to God´s love to those outside," said Sister Abigail, one of the 10 cloistered nuns of the Perpetual Adorers of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Mexico City.
"We are in the Lord´s presence, and we´re always thinking that it will make someone happy, the person who will eat this, or they will gift it and someone will receive it with joy," added the sister, whose convent makes sweets, eggnog and its bestseller, tamales.
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'Wonka' waltzes to $39 million opening, propelled by Chalamet's starring role
NEW YORK (AP) - "Wonka" debuted with $39 million in box office sales in U.S. and Canadian theaters over the weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. That made it a strong start for the Timothée Chalamet -starring Willy Wonka musical that underscored the young star's draw.
Musicals have been tough sells in theaters in recent years, so much so that Warner Bros. downplayed the song and dance elements of "Wonka" in trailers. Instead, the studio emphasized Chalamet, the 27-year-old actor who, with "Wonka," notched his second No. 1 movie following 2021´s "Dune." The earlier film recorded a $41 million opening.
While "Dune" was a sprawling and star-studded sci-fi adventure, "Wonka" relies chiefly on Chalamet´s charisma.
"Wonka," which cost about $125 million to produce and played at 4,203 locations, was also the first big Hollywood release to launch following the end of the SAG-AFTRA actors' strike. Chalamet hosted "Saturday Night Live" just days after the strike ended. In his opening monologue, he sang to the tune of "Pure Imagination" about "returning to this magical world where actors can promote their projects."
"It shows you the power of a star, and it also shows you the power of a star going out and working a movie," said Jeffrey Goldstein, distribution chief for Warner Bros. "Having him out there after the strikes were over was a win for him and a win for the movie."
