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Poland summons Russian ambassador over assassination comment

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 23:34:13 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The Polish Foreign Ministry summoned the Russian ambassador in protest Friday after a former Russian official suggested that it would be acceptable to assassinate Poland’s ambassador to Russia.Pavel Astakhov, Russia’s children’s ombudsman from 2009 to 2016, spoke on a television program hosted by Russian propagandist Vladimir Solovyov. He was being interviewed after Polish authorities took over a school building in Warsaw on Saturday that was serving the children of Russian diplomats and the military.Astakhov argued that murdering an ambassador in retaliation “for unfriendly actions … is within the framework of international law,” adding: “I was taught this well at the KGB school at the counter-intelligence faculty.”That school takeover was the latest of several incidents which have added to tensions between Russia and Poland, an ally of Kyiv which has been supplying Ukraine’s military with weapons.In the interview with Solov...

12-year-old fatally shot, man wounded at Florida gas station

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 23:34:13 GMT

DANIA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A man fatally shot a 12-year-old boy and wounded another man before turning the gun on himself inside a South Florida gas station, sheriff’s officials said Friday.Broward Sheriff’s deputies responded to reports of gunfire at a 7-Eleven in Dania Beach just after 11 p.m. Thursday, according to a news release.The boy and the shooter both died at the scene, investigators said. A third person was taken to a hospital for treatment of gunshot wounds, the release said. A condition report was not immediately available.Investigators said witnesses told them the man fired shots at a man in a vehicle that was parked outside the gas station. He then went inside the station and shot the boy, and then himself, the release said.The names of the suspected shooter and the victims have not been released. An investigation is continuing and police are asking anyone with information to come forward.Dania Beach is just south of Fort Lauderdale on Florida’s Atlant...

No place like road: Visiting teams thriving in NHL playoffs

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 23:34:13 GMT

When the Vegas Golden Knights went on the road to face the Winnipeg Jets in the first round of the NHL playoffs, they got a chilly welcome — and that was inside.“They had no hot water at the Fairmont Hotel last week in Winnipeg, which I really didn’t like at all,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “Great hotel, by the way: great service, nice people, just no damn hot water.”And no home cooking. Vegas beat the Jets twice on the road and won the series in five games.The Golden Knights are not alone in what Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper declared “the year of the road team.” Visiting teams have matched the best start in league history with 34 wins through 56 games; the .607 winning percentage is by far the highest of any playoff year dating to 1966, not counting 2020 when games were played at neutral sites with no fans.Coaches point to better preparation and more roster depth as well as parity leaguewide that has evened out the differences among teams playing for the Stanley Cup. Matchups that use...

1st lunar eclipse of 2023 dims full moon ever so slightly

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 23:34:13 GMT

Stargazers in Asia and Australia had the best seats for the year’s first lunar eclipse.The four-hour eclipse got underway late Friday or early Saturday, depending on the location, as the moon slipped into the fringes of Earth’s shadow.In what’s known as a penumbral lunar eclipse, the full moon passed within the outer part of Earth’s shadow, causing the moon to dim only slightly. Such an eclipse isn’t as dramatic as a partial lunar eclipse or a total lunar eclipse when the moon, Earth and sun are perfectly aligned. The eclipse was visible from beginning to end, weather permitting, as far west as Saudi Arabia and Africa’s western coast, as far east as Japan and New Zealand’s South Island, and from the South Pole to Siberia. Almost all of Europe also got in on some of the action.The Virtual Telescope Project planned to livestream the moon rising over the countryside in Tuscany, Italy. “Even subtle astronomical events like this one make me excited and happy to share th...

Judge sets a deadline to put Lake Erie on pollution diet

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 23:34:13 GMT

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Ohio’s environmental regulators will have until the end of June to finish a plan to aimed at combating toxic algae blooms that have flourished in Lake Erie since the late 1990s.The deadline is part of settlement agreement a federal judge approved Thursday. The consent decree also calls for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to either approve the plan within 90 days or come up with its plan own if the federal agency determines the state’s proposal isn’t strong enough. The agreement brings an end to a lawsuit seeking to force mandatory pollution rules for the lake.Algae outbreaks have fouled drinking water twice since 2013 and are a threat to fish and wildlife.Nearly all of the phosphorus that fuels the blooms comes from farm fertilizer and livestock manure, researchers have found.Ohio already has been working for months to develop the pollution plan that would set “total maximum daily loads” and impose specific limits on phosphorus that flo...

Forte, Derma Sotogake among Kentucky Derby horses to watch

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 23:34:13 GMT

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky Derby is up for grabs.The starting gate will contain 19 horses vying to wear the garland of red roses.Most of the 3-year-olds will be running 1 1/4 miles for the first time on Saturday. Besides the distance, the traffic-choked conditions typically eliminate half the field in the opening quarter-mile.Here are some horses to watch: FORTEComes into the Derby on a five-race winning streak and is the early 3-1 favorite. Rallied in the Florida Derby to win by a length after being ninth in the early going. Lost just once in seven career races, as a 2-year-old. He’s trying to become just the fourth 2-year-old champion since 1980 to go on and win the Derby. Forte is one of three horses in the race trained by Todd Pletcher, a two-time Derby winner. Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. knows the colt well, having ridden him in all of his races. Forte is co-owned by Mike Repole, whose Uncle Mo was the early favorite for the 2011 Derby but scratched the day before because of...

Broncos owner Lewis Hamilton protesting Florida's anti-LGBTQ law

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 23:34:13 GMT

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Seven-time Formula One champion and part-owner of the Denver Broncos Lewis Hamilton lashed out Thursday at anti-LGBTQ measures enacted by Florida lawmakers and ripped the state's controversial “Don’t Say Gay” law with a reference to oppression seen in Saudi Arabia.“It’s not good at all,” Hamilton said ahead of F1’s highly anticipated race in suburban Miami this weekend. “I stand by those within the community here. I hope they continue to stand firm and push back. I’ll have the rainbow on my helmet. It’s no different to when we were in Saudi.”Hamilton, F1’s only Black driver, regularly uses his platform to speak on issues of social justice and race, human rights and protection of the LGBTQ community. The 38-year-old Briton speaks out while racing in countries with questionable human rights records – including Saudi Arabia -- or when an issue arises in which he feels his voice can lend support. One Championship lands in Broomfield with debut US show The co...

Nurse honored by American Red Cross after saving teacher who had heart attack in 2021

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 23:34:13 GMT

A school nurse is credited with taking life-saving action after a teacher suffered a heart attack. She kept her alive until paramedics arrived and were able to rush her to the hospital. The school nurse when above and beyond her job. She trusted her gut and continued doing CPR even after police officers around her told her to stop. Due to her heroic actions, Bethany Simmons-Little was honored by the American Red Cross, Friday. For Simmons-Little, she was just her doing her job.“I was just trusting my training,” Simmons-Little said. “I was just trusting my training.”But her colleagues at Leisure City K-8 Center had a different response. “Truly an angel and a hero that moves among us on a daily basis,” said Walter hall, principal at Leisure City K-8 Center.“I witnessed it first hand and what you did was nothing short of a miracle,” a teacher said. Two years ago, a fellow teacher, Lisa Thelwell, suffered a heart attack in the middle of a ...

CDC’s Rochelle Walensky resigns, citing pandemic transition

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 23:34:13 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, submitted her resignation Friday, saying the waning of the COVID-19 pandemic was a good time to make a transition.Walensky’s last day will be June 30, CDC officials said, and an interim director wasn’t immediately named. She sent a resignation letter to President Joe Biden and announced the decision at a CDC staff meeting.Walensky, 54, has been the agency’s director for a little over two years. In her letter to Biden, she expressed “mixed feelings” about the decision and didn’t say exactly why she was stepping down, but said the nation is at a moment of transition as emergency declarations come to an end.“I have never been prouder of anything I have done in my professional career,” she wrote.The World Health Organization said Friday that COVID-19 no longer qualifies as a global emergency, and the U.S. public health emergency declaration will expire next week. Dea...

Despite TikTok ban threat, influencers are flocking to a new app from its parent company

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 23:34:13 GMT

 (CNN) — In the days after TikTok’s CEO was grilled by Congress for the first time, many TikTok users began posting about an alternative platform called Lemon8, sometimes with eerily similar language.Multiple creators described the app as being like “if Pinterest and Instagram had a baby, with TikTok’s algorithm.” Some compared it to TikTok circa 2020 and encouraged other influencers to join the app before it grows. They also asked followers to share their Lemon8 usernames in the comments.As it turned out, the app wasn’t just a random alternative to TikTok. Lemon8 is a social media platform launched in the United States earlier this year by TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance amid federal and state efforts to ban or restrict TikTok in the country over national security concerns.The similarities in the videos comparing the new service to Instagram and Pinterest, which were posted by both English and Spanish-speaking creators, raised que...