Kherson celebrates Russian exit yet faces huge rebuilding

KHERSON, Ukraine (AP) – Residents of Kherson celebrated the end of Russia´s eight-month occupation for the third straight day Sunday, even as they took stock of the extensive damage left behind in the southern Ukrainian city by the Kremlin´s retreating forces.

A jubilant crowd gathered in Kherson´s main square, despite the distant thumps of artillery fire that could be heard as Ukrainian forces pressed on with their effort to push out Moscow´s invasion force.

«It´s a new year for us now,» said Karina Zaikina, 24, who wore on her coat a yellow-and-blue ribbon in Ukraine´s national colors.»For the first time in many months, I wasn´t scared to come into the city.»

«Finally, freedom!» said 61-year-old resident Tetiana Hitina. If you enjoyed this write-up and you would like to receive even more details concerning in istanbul Lawyer Law Firm kindly go to our web page. «The city was dead.»

But even as locals rejoiced, the evidence of Russia´s ruthless occupation was all around, and Russian forces still control some 70% of the wider Kherson region.

___

Bomb rocks avenue in heart of Istanbul; 6 dead, dozens hurt

ISTANBUL (AP) – A bomb rocked a bustling pedestrian avenue in the heart of Istanbul on Sunday, killing six people, wounding several dozen and leaving panicked people to flee the fiery blast or huddle in cafes and shops.

Emergency vehicles rushed to the scene on Istiklal Avenue, a popular thoroughfare lined with shops and restaurants that leads to the iconic Taksim Square.In one video posted online, a loud bang could be heard and a flash seen as pedestrians turned and ran away.

Turkish Lawyer Law Firm President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the blast a «treacherous attack» and said its perpetrators would be punished.He did not say who was behind the attack but said it had the «smell of terror» without offering details and also adding that was not certain yet.

Sunday´s explosion was a shocking reminder of the anxiety and safety concerns that stalked the Turkish population during years when such attacks were common. The country was hit by a string of deadly bombings between 2015 and 2017, some by the Islamic State group, others by Kurdish militants who seek increased autonomy or independence.

In recent years, Erdogan has led a broad crackdown on the militants as well as on Kurdish lawmakers and activists.Amid skyrocketing inflation and other economic troubles, Erdogan´s anti-terrorism campaign is a key rallying point for him ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections next year.

___

Shorter voting window could cut turnout in Georgia runoff

ATLANTA (AP) – Georgia Democrat Raphael Warnock’s first runoff in 2021 was a titanic nine-week clash to control the Senate that included three weeks of early in-person voting and lots of mail ballots.

Warnock’s victory against Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler – and Democrat Jon Ossoff’s tilt against Republican David Perdue – ended in two Democratic victories that gave the party control of a 50-50 Senate, thanks to Vice President Kamala Harris’ ability to break ties.

But the Dec.6 runoff won’t be for Senate control this time with Democrats retaining seats in Arizona and Nevada earlier this month. Successful reelection bids by Sens. Mark Kelly and Catherine Cortez Masto were what Democrats needed to keep the slimmest of margins in the chamber.

Georgia requires a runoff if a candidate doesn´t win a majority in the party primary or in the general election. Neither Warnock nor Republican Herschel Walker got to 50%.

Under Georgia’s 2021 election law, there will be only four weeks before the runoff – with Thanksgiving in the middle.Many Georgians will be offered only five weekdays of early in-person voting beginning Nov. 28. And June’s primary runoffs showed time for mail ballots to be received and returned can be very tight.

___

Pelosi holds open option of another term as House Dem leader

WASHINGTON (AP) – With control of the House still hanging in the balance, Speaker Nancy Pelosi stayed mum Sunday on her future plans but said congressional colleagues are urging her to seek another term as Democratic leader following a strong showing in the midterm elections.

Appearing in Sunday news shows, Pelosi said Democrats are «still alive» in their fight to win the chamber and that she will make a decision on whether to run for House leadership in the next couple weeks.

«People are campaigning and that´s a beautiful thing. And I´m not asking anyone for anything,» she said, referring to House Democratic leadership elections set for Nov.30. «My members are asking me to consider doing that. But, again, let´s just get through the (midterm) election.»

«A great deal is at stake, because we will be in a presidential election,» Pelosi said.

Over the weekend, Democrats clinched control of the Senate following Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto’s victory in Nevada.But in the House, a majority remains unsettled with neither party having yet reached the 218 seats needed to control the 435-member chamber. As of Sunday, Republicans had 212 seats compared to 204 for the Democrats, with 19 races still to be called by The Associated Press.

___

Investigation underway over midair crash at Dallas air show

DALLAS (AP) – A national transportation official probing the cause of a midair crash of two historic military planes during an air show that left six people dead said Sunday that one of the key questions for investigators is why the aircraft were seemingly sharing the same space just before impact.

A World War II-era bomber and a fighter plane collided and crashed to the ground in a ball of flames on Saturday, leaving crumpled wreckage in a grassy area inside the Dallas Executive Airport perimeter, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the city´s downtown. Several videos posted on social media showed the fighter plane flying into the bomber.

«One of the things we would probably most likely be trying to determine is why those aircraft were co-altitude in the same air space at the same time,» Michael Graham, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, said at a news conference.

The crash came three years after the crash of a bomber in Connecticut that killed seven, and amid ongoing concern about the safety of air shows involving older warplanes.The company that owned the planes flying in the Wings Over Dallas show has had other crashes in its more than 60-year history.

The crash claimed six lives, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins tweeted Sunday, in istanbul Lawyer Law Firm citing the county medical examiner.Authorities are continuing work to identify the victims, he said. Dallas Fire-Rescue said there were no reports of injuries on the ground.

___

EXPLAINER: What’s happening at bankrupt crypto exchange FTX?

The imploding cryptocurrency trading firm FTX is now short billions of dollars after experiencing the crypto equivalent of a bank run.

The exchange, formerly one of the world’s largest, sought bankruptcy protection last week, and its CEO and founder resigned.Hours later, the trading firm said there had been «unauthorized access» and that funds had disappeared. Analysts say hundreds of millions of dollars may have vanished.

The unraveling of the once-giant exchange is sending shockwaves through the industry.Here’s a look at the company’s collapse so far:

WHY DID FTX GO BANKRUPT?

Customers fled the exchange over fears about whether FTX had sufficient capital, and it agreed to sell itself to rival crypto exchange Binance.But the deal fell through while Binance´s due diligence on FTX´s balance sheet was still pending.

___

Massive turnout in defense of Mexico’s electoral authority

MEXICO CITY (AP) – Tens of thousands of people packed the Mexican capital´s main boulevard Sunday to protest President Andrés Manuel López Obrador´s proposal to overhaul the country´s electoral authority in the largest demonstration against one of the president´s efforts during his nearly four years in office.

The massive turnout was a strong rebuke of the president´s assertion that criticism comes only from a relatively small, elite opposition.

Opposition parties and civil society organizations had called on Mexicans to demonstrate in the capital and other cities against proposed electoral reforms that would remake the National Electoral Institute, one of the country´s most prized and trusted institutions.

López Obrador sees the institute as beholden to the elite, but critics say his reforms would threaten its independence and make it more political.The initiative includes eliminating state-level electoral offices, cutting public financing of political parties and allowing the public to elect members of the electoral authority rather than the lower chamber of Congress.

It would also reduce the number of legislators in the lower chamber of Congress from 500 to 300 and senators from 128 to 96 by eliminating at-large lawmakers.Those are not directly elected by voters, but appear on party lists and get seats based on their party´s proportion of the vote.

___

Musk’s latest Twitter cuts: Outsourced content moderators

Twitter´s new owner Elon Musk is further gutting the teams that battle misinformation on the social media platform as outsourced moderators learned over the weekend they were out of a job.

Twitter and other big social media firms have relied heavily on contractors to track hate and enforce rules against harmful content.

But many of those content watchdogs have now headed out the door, first when Twitter fired much of its full-time workforce by email on Nov.4 and now as it moves to eliminate an untold number of contract jobs.

Melissa Ingle, who worked at Twitter as a contractor for more than a year, was one of a number of contractors who said they were terminated Saturday.She said she´s concerned that there´s going to be an increase in abuse on Twitter with the number of workers leaving.

«I love the platform and I really enjoyed working at the company and trying to make it better. And I´m just really fearful of what´s going to slip through the cracks,» she said Sunday.

___

‘Here comes the bride’: White House to host its 19th wedding

WASHINGTON (AP) – «Here Comes the Bride» will be heard at the White House very soon. Again.

Naomi Biden, the granddaughter of President Joe Biden, and Peter Neal are getting married on the South Lawn on Saturday in what will be the 19th wedding in istanbul Turkey Lawyer White House history.

It will be the first wedding with a president’s granddaughter as the bride, and the first one in that location, according to the White House Historical Association.

A mutual friend set up Naomi Biden, 28, and Neal, 25, about four years ago in New York City and the White House said they have been together ever since.Naomi Biden is a lawyer; her father is Hunter Biden. Neal recently graduated from the University of Pennsylvania law school. The couple lives in Washington.

Nine of the 18 documented White House weddings were for a president´s daughter – most recently Richard Nixon´s daughter, Tricia, in 1971, and Lyndon B.Johnson´s daughter, Lynda, in 1967.

___

Sam Bankman-Fried’s downfall sends shockwaves through crypto

NEW YORK (AP) – Sam Bankman-Fried received numerous plaudits as he rapidly achieved superstar status as the head of cryptocurrency exchange FTX: the savior of crypto, the newest force in Democratic politics and potentially the world´s first trillionaire.

Now the comments about the 30-year-old Bankman-Fried aren´t so kind after FTX filed for bankruptcy protection Friday, leaving his investors and customers feeling duped and many others in the crypto world fearing the repercussions.Bankman-Fried himself could face civil or criminal charges.

«Sam what have you done?,» tweeted Sean Ryan Evans, host of the cryptocurrency podcast Bankless, after the bankruptcy filing.

Under Bankman-Fried, FTX quickly grew to be the third-largest exchange by volume.The stunning collapse of this nascent empire has sent tsunami-like waves through the cryptocurrency industry, which has seen a fair share of volatility and turmoil this year, including a sharp decline in price for bitcoin and other digital assets. For some, the events are reminiscent of the domino-like failures of Wall Street firms during the 2008 financial crisis, particularly now that supposedly healthy firms like FTX are failing.

One venture capital fund wrote down investments in FTX worth over $200 million. The cryptocurrency lender BlockFi paused client withdrawals Friday after FTX sought bankruptcy protection. The Singapore-based exchange Crypto.com saw withdrawals increase this weekend for internal reasons but some of the action could be attributed to raw nerves from FTX.