Rescuers reach a stranded hiker in Slovenia but another is missing during a Balkans snowstorm

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — A snowstorm across the Balkans brought traffic chaos, closed schools and left thousands of homes without electricity in Croatia and Bosnia on Monday, while the weather hampered efforts in Slovenia to reach two hikers stranded in the Alps.

The hikers from Hungary — a man and a woman — got lost Sunday in poor weather in the mountains north of the capital, Ljubljana, the STA news agency reported. One has a broken leg, it said.

The report said a rescue mission that was suspended overnight due to high winds and avalanche risk resumed Monday, but a helicopter could not take off in bad weather to reach the pair at an altitude of 1,700 meters (5,600 feet), officials and media said.

Rescuers by mid-afternoon reached the woman but were unable to immediately locate the injured man, said Jernej Lanišek, who leads the rescue mission.

In Bosnia, a Turkish woman and her daughter got their car stuck in snow on Prenj mountain in the south and were pulled out by a mountain rescue team.

In Croatia, traffic was banned on most roads in the central Lika region and along some sections of motorways. Storms along the Adriatic Sea coastline shut down ferries to the islands and halted traffic on roads toward central areas.

All bus departures from the coastal town of Split toward the capital, Zagreb, were cancelled Monday, regional N1 television reported.

Authorities in Croatia and Bosnia urged citizens to avoid travel.

Bosnia's government suspended classes Monday in schools in the northwest due to heavy snow. Nearly 200,000 homes faced power outages, while trucks and other heavy vehicles were banned from roads in many areas.

The snowstorm is forecast to move to Serbia, where meteorologists warned people in the west to avoid travel and prepare for possible power cuts.

An aerial view of traffic and parked cars during heavy snowfall in Alipasino Polje neighborhood of Sarajevo, Bosnia, Monday, Dec. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

A man shovels snow from the street during heavy snowfall in Bihac, Bosnia, Monday, Dec. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Edvin Zulic)

A man shovels snow from the street during heavy snowfall in Bihac, Bosnia, Monday, Dec. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Edvin Zulic)

Cars are seen covered with snow during heavy snowfall in Bihac, Bosnia, Monday, Dec. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Edvin Zulic)

A car drives down the street during heavy snowfall in Bihac, Bosnia, Monday, Dec. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Edvin Zulic)

A man shovels snow from the street during heavy snowfall in Bihac, Bosnia, Monday, Dec. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Edvin Zulic)

A man clears snow from a tent during heavy snowfall in Bihac, Bosnia, Monday, Dec. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Edvin Zulic)

Tourists feed pigeons during heavy snowfall in downtown Sarajevo, Bosnia, Monday, Dec. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

Teddy bears are seen covered with snow outside a cafe in downtown Sarajevo, Bosnia, Monday, Dec. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

People walk in the street during heavy snowfall in downtown Sarajevo, Bosnia, Monday, Dec. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Ethics Committee on Monday accused Matt Gaetz of “regularly” paying women, including a 17-year-old girl, for sex and purchasing and using illicit drugs all while the Florida Republican was a member of Congress.

The 37-page report by the bipartisan panel includes explicit details of sex-filled parties and vacations that Gaetz, now 42, took part in while representing Florida's western panhandle. The findings conclude that he violated multiple state laws related to sexual misconduct while in office.

“The Committee determined there is substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz violated House Rules and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, impermissible gifts, special favors or privileges, and obstruction of Congress,” the report states.

The report brings to a close a nearly five-year investigation into Gaetz. Its release comes after at least one Republican joined all five Democrats on the panel earlier this month in a secret vote to release the report about their former colleague despite initial opposition from GOP lawmakers, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, to publishing findings about a former member of Congress.

While ethics reports have previously been released after a member’s resignation, it is extremely rare. Gaetz has repeatedly denied all wrongdoing, saying last week that he would have “no opportunity to debate or rebut” the findings as a former member of the House.

On Monday, Gaetz filed a lawsuit seeking to block the report’s release, saying it contains “untruthful and defamatory information” that would “significantly damage” his “standing and reputation in the community.” Gaetz’s complaint argues he’s no longer under the committee’s jurisdiction since he resigned from Congress.

“The Committee’s position that it may nonetheless publish potentially defamatory findings about a private citizen over whom it claims no jurisdiction represents an unprecedented expansion of Congressional power that threatens fundamental constitutional rights and established procedural protections,” Gaetz’s lawyers wrote in their request for a temporary restraining order.

The often secretive, bipartisan panel has investigated claims against Gaetz since 2021. However, its work became more urgent last month when President-elect Donald Trump picked Gaetz as his attorney general nominee. Gaetz resigned from Congress that same day, putting him outside the purview of the Ethics Committee's jurisdiction.

But Democrats had pressed to make the report public even after Gaetz was no longer a member and had withdrawn as Trump’s pick to lead the Justice Department. A vote on the House floor this month to force the report’s release failed; all but one Republican voted against it.

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R- Fla., speaks at AmericaFest, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)