A storm brings strong winds to northern Europe, killing 2 people and disrupting transport

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:53:27 GMT

A storm brings strong winds to northern Europe, killing 2 people and disrupting transport BERLIN (AP) — A storm brought heavy rain and strong winds across northern Europe overnight and into Friday, bringing down trees and prompting warnings of flooding on the North Sea coast. A woman in Belgium was fatally injured by a falling Christmas tree, while another tree killed a person in the Netherlands. The 20-meter (65-foot) Christmas tree collapsed onto three people at a busy market in Oudenaarde in western Belgium late Thursday, killing a 63-year-old woman and injuring two other people. The Christmas market was immediately canceled.A woman who was struck by a falling tree on Thursday in the eastern Dutch town of Wilp later died of her injuries, her employer said.Pre-Christmas rail travelers in parts of Germany faced disruption. National railway operator Deutsche Bahn said Friday there were cancellations on routes from Hamburg and Hannover to Frankfurt and Munich, while long-distance services from Hamburg northward to Kiel and Flensburg weren’t running, among other disr...

Live updates | UN says 500,000+ starving in Gaza. EU ‘deeply shocked’ over food insecurity risk

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:53:27 GMT

Live updates | UN says 500,000+ starving in Gaza. EU ‘deeply shocked’ over food insecurity risk The United Nations says more than a half-million people are starving in Gaza because not enough food has entered the besieged territory as Israel keeps up its blistering campaign of airstrikes and ground operations.Palestinian officials said Friday that the death toll has now exceeded 20,000 — around 1% of the territory’s prewar population.The Health Ministry in Gaza does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths. Israel says more than 130 of its soldiers have died in its ground offensive after Hamas raided southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and taking about 240 hostages. Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians are crammed into shelters and tent camps as winter descends, raising fears about the spread of disease. The U.N. Security Council has again delayed a vote on a new resolution to halt the fighting in some way, which would allow for an increase in humanitarian aid deliveries. Currently: — At least 5 US-funded proje...

Messi descansa en Rosario antes de comenzar con su cargada agenda 2024

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:53:27 GMT

Messi descansa en Rosario antes de comenzar con su cargada agenda 2024 (CNN Español) — Y un día Lionel Messi descansó. La máxima figura de la Major League Soccer (MLS), terminaba de ganar el octavo balón de oro a finales de octubre, y reconocía el nuevo escenario que tenía por delante: “Hablaba con compañeros, de lo difícil que va a ser este tiempo sin jugar. Nunca estuve tanto tiempo de vacaciones y quizás es el momento más difícil, después de haberme ido de Europa, de haber elegido Miami”, afirmó en París tras la premiación que lo tuvo como estrella principal.En estas vacaciones Messi eligió descansar con su esposa Antonela Roccuzzo y sus hijos Thiago, Mateo y Ciro, como cada fin de año, en Funes, una ciudad ubicada a 15 km de su Rosario natal. Allí llegó a horas de cumplirse el primer aniversario del mayor logro de su carrera. La Copa del Mundo conquistada en Qatar con la selección argentina, no solo le dio la coronación con el título tanto bregó durante toda su carrera, sino que lo posicionó en el panteón de los futbolistas más ic...

Dec. 22-25: Things to do around Denver this weekend

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:53:27 GMT

Dec. 22-25: Things to do around Denver this weekend DENVER (KDVR) — Friday marks the last warm day of the week before the cold moves in,. Some parts of Colorado would wake up to a white Christmas.Since it's Christmas weekend, there are not a lot of individual events around Denver, but you can always check out neighborhoods across the Front Range with the best Christmas light displays or holiday pop-up bars that are going on until the end of December. 2023 New Year’s Eve fireworks in Colorado But of course, it's Denver, and even with the holiday weekend, there are always things to do.Elf in Concert - Dec. 22-23One of the best Christmas movies will be playing at Boettcher Concert Hall, except instead of the normal music in "Elf," this movie will be played with a live symphony in the background. Ugly Sweater Singalong - Dec. 22-23 Watch two dueling pianos at Fortissimo. You can enjoy holiday music, libations and a full show. Ugly sweaters and elf costumes aren't required, but they are encouraged.Colorado Avalanche vs. Arizona Coyotes ...

Homeless man arrested after fire crews find man dead inside truck at Cutler Bay shopping center

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:53:27 GMT

Homeless man arrested after fire crews find man dead inside truck at Cutler Bay shopping center On Friday morning, authorities apprehended 35-year-old Randall Lautzenheiser, a homeless man, on charges of first-degree murder after firefighters who responded to a truck fire in Cutler Bay made a disturbing discovery. According to Miami-Dade Police, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue units responded to the scene of the blaze at a shopping center near Southwest 92nd Avenue and Old Cutler Road, at around 1:45 p.m., Thursday.Witnesses captured the aftermath on their cellphones and shared what they saw.“I saw that the guy inside was burnt,” said one man. “Right away when everybody started seeing it, they started covering him up.”When crews put out the flames, police said, firefighters found a man’s body in the driver’s seat of the pickup truck.Officers shut down a wide swath of the parking lot where the burning vehicle was located.7News cameras captured a second scene near a Bank of America branch. Crime scene investigators were seen standing over somethi...

Newborns in NICU celebrate first Christmas with festive photo shoot

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:53:27 GMT

Newborns in NICU celebrate first Christmas with festive photo shoot Newborn babies in the newborn intensive care units at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Mass General for Children might not be home for the holidays, but the hospital is making sure their first Christmas is festive and bright. Brigham and Women’s littlest patients were dressed in Santa Claus and elf costumes for photos, a tradition that began years ago to make keepsakes for families. At Mass General for Children, infant patients donned party dresses and cozy hats to meet Santa Claus, with Dr. Kevin Raskin, chief of the Orthopedic Oncology Service at Massachusetts General Hospital trading his scrubs for red velvet to play the part.

Federal Reserve’s favored inflation gauge tumbles in November as price pressures continue to ease

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:53:27 GMT

Federal Reserve’s favored inflation gauge tumbles in November as price pressures continue to ease By PAUL WISEMAN (AP Economics Writer)WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation fell last month in another sign that price pressures easing in the face of the central bank’s interest rate hikes.Friday’s report from the Commerce Department showed that U.S. consumer prices slid 0.1% last month from October and rose 2.6% from November 2022. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core inflation last month rose 0.1% from October and 3.2% from a year earlier.All the numbers show somewhat more progress against inflation than economists had expected.After nearly two years of Fed rate hikes — 11 since March 2022 — inflation has come down from the four-decade highs it hit last year. The Labor Department’s closely watched consumer price index was up 3.1% last month from November 2022, down from a 9.1% year-over-year increase in June 2022.Encouraged by the progress, the Fed has decided not to raise rates at each of its last three meetings.Despite widesp...

Biden pardons thousands convicted of marijuana charges on federal lands and in Washington

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:53:27 GMT

Biden pardons thousands convicted of marijuana charges on federal lands and in Washington By ZEKE MLLER (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is pardoning thousands of people who were convicted of use and simple possession of marijuana on federal lands and in the District of Columbia, the White House said Friday, in his latest round of executive clemencies meant to rectify racial disparities in the justice system.Biden is also granting clemency to 11 people serving what the White House called “disproportionately long” sentences for nonviolent drug offenses.Biden said his actions would help make the “promise of equal justice a reality.”“Criminal records for marijuana use and possession have imposed needless barriers to employment, housing, and educational opportunities,” Biden said. “Too many lives have been upended because of our failed approach to marijuana. It’s time that we right these wrongs.”The categorical pardon issued Friday builds on his categorical pardon issued just before the 2022 midterm elections that made thousands convicted of simple pos...

Grieving and often overlooked, Palestinian Christians prepare for a somber Christmas amid war

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:53:27 GMT

Grieving and often overlooked, Palestinian Christians prepare for a somber Christmas amid war By MARIAM FAM (Associated Press)It’s normally a moment of pure joy for the Rev. Khader Khalilia: the excitement, the giggles, the kisses, as his young daughters — in their Christmas pajamas — open their gifts. But this year, just the thought of it fills Khalilia with guilt.“I’m struggling,” said the Palestinian American pastor of Redeemer-St. John’s Lutheran Church in New York. “How can I do it while the Palestinian children are suffering, have no shelter or a place to lay their heads?”Thousands of miles away, near Jesus’ biblical birthplace of Bethlehem, Suzan Sahori has been working with artisans to bring olive wood Christmas ornaments into homes in Australia, Europe and North America. But Sahori is in no mood for festivities: “We’re broken, looking at all these children, all this killing.”In a traditional season of merriment, many Palestinian Christians — in Bethlehem and beyond — are gripped with helplessness, pain and worry amid the Israel-Hamas war. Some are mourning, lobbying...

Patriots mailbag: What’s Trent Brown’s future with Patriots?

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:53:27 GMT

Patriots mailbag: What’s Trent Brown’s future with Patriots? The Patriots will have plenty of money to throw around this offseason as they look to construct an almost entirely new offseason.They’re third in projected salary-cap space, per OverTheCap.com, with over $70 million in available funds.One question on Patriots fans’ minds as the offseason nears is what happens with starting left tackle Trent Brown? We’ll answer that and more in this week’s mailbag.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Callahan: Handing out 7 holiday gifts to the Patriots New England Patriots | Injuries should force these Patriots players to step up Week 16 vs. Broncos New England Patriots | Patriots running back Kevin Harris ready for bigger opportunity on 53-man roster New England Patriots | QB Nathan Rourke unsure of Patriots plan but excited for opportunity New England Patriots | Callahan: How much of this Patriots season can be blamed on injuries? @carloslucio...