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Czech Republic marks a day of mourning for the victims of its worst mass killing

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:21:46 GMT

PRAGUE (AP) — The Czech Republic came to a standstill at noon Saturday as people across the country observed a minute of silence for the victims of its worst mass killing that left 14 dead and questions about the shooter’s motive.National flags on public buildings flew at half-staff and bells tolled at noon. President Petr Pavel and speakers of both houses of Parliament attended a Mass for the victims at St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague, the country’s biggest, which was packed. “We’re all still in a shock in our own ways,” Prague Archbishop Jan Graubner said. “We need to clearly condemn what happened but we also need to look into the future.”“Nobody should be left alone in these tough moments,” Charles University rector Milena Kralickova said in her remarks toward the end of the Mass. The shooting occurred inside the university’s Faculty of Arts on Thursday. Twenty-five other people were wounded before the gunman killed himself. Police and prosecuto...

“No ayuda tratar a aquellos que vienen a nuestras fronteras como si fueran un ejército invasor”, dice el obispo de El Paso a CNN

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:21:46 GMT

(CNN) — El obispo de la Diócesis Católica de El Paso, Mark J. Seitz, dijo a Amara Walker de CNN este sábado por la mañana que la legislación firmada recientemente por el gobernador de Texas, Greg Abbott, puede obstaculizar los esfuerzos para abordar adecuadamente el aumento de inmigrantes en la frontera del estado con México, y agregó que “no es útil tratar a aquellos que vienen a nuestras fronteras como si fueran un ejército invasor”.Cuando se le preguntó si Abbott firmó la medida, el Proyecto de Ley Senatorial 4, que otorga a las autoridades locales el poder de arrestar a inmigrantes y otorga a los jueces la capacidad de emitir órdenes para expulsarlos a México, en un estado donde los latinos representan el 40% de la población, dijo: “Ciertamente, existe una gran preocupación por leyes como ésta”.Y añadió: “No ayuda que los Estados peleen con el Gobierno, el Gobierno federal, en este papel de recibir inmigrantes”.La nueva ley de inmigració...

Polish president vows to veto spending bill in massive clash with new government

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:21:46 GMT

Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Saturday he would veto the government’s amended 2024 spending bill and propose his own, in a challenge to new Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.In a post on the social media platform X, Duda cited the bill’s funding of public media, and said blocking it was appropriate “in view of the flagrant violation of the constitution.”On Wednesday, Poland’s new government moved to seize control of the country’s publicly owned television, radio and news agency from loyalists to the Law and Justice (PiS) party, which lost power following the October 15 parliamentary election. Duda was a PiS member and is still loyal to the party.Poland’s Culture Minister Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz fired the heads of TVP public television, Polish Radio, and the Polish Press Agency (PAP).“At the same time,” Duda wrote in a second post on X. “I would like to inform you that after Christmas, I will immediately submit my own project to the parliament, regarding, among other thi...

Wrestling preview, wrestlers to watch: MVC stacked once again

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:21:46 GMT

Wrestling coaches love to use the phrase “iron sharpens iron.”In the Merrimack Valley Conference no night is an easy night. A year ago, four teams from the MVC finished in the top 10 in the Div. 1 state tournament and virtually everyone thinks the league could be even better this time around.“I think the league is the best that it’s been in a long time,” said Central Catholic coach Jamie Durkin. “Haverhill has two returning New England finalists, Methuen has good balance up and down their lineup, Lowell had more than 70 kids come out, Chelmsford had more than 60. Then you get teams like Andover and Tewksbury who have good lineups and you can see that just about every team in the league is good.”New England champion Nate Blanchette (175 pounds) leads an impressive group of returnees which include Cole Glynn (106), Izaiah Santiago (113), Pablo Salas (144), Caden Chase (165), Jackson Meehan (190), Gianni Giuffrida (215) and Like Guifrida (285). If this wasn’t en...

Woman stabbed in San Marcos; suspect arrested

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:21:46 GMT

SAN MARCOS, Calif. -- A woman was stabbed Friday in San Marcos and a suspect was arrested, authorities said.Around 5:15 p.m., deputies responded to a report of an assault with a deadly weapon in the 1200 block of San Elijo Rd., Detective Natalie Rivera with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department (SDSO) said in a news release. First responders rescue man stuck under concrete on side of cliff in Ocean Beach The victim told deputies she had been stabbed by her 20-year-old daughter, SDSO said. The woman was found with stab wounds and taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.The suspect was located on a nearby hiking trail and was arrested, according to authorities.

NORAD Santa Tracker gets help from local company with adding new language translation

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:21:46 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- The famous North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) online Santa Tracker has added a new language to its site that is visited by millions of people every Christmas Eve.With the help of Interpreters Unlimited, a language services company with an office in Miramar, NORAD’s Santa tracker has added Korean to its list of languages. The Santa Tracker now has nine languages for visitors.  “What started off really just being a few languages has now expanded,” said Shamus Sayed, Interpreters Unlimited Vice President.  Millions of kids across the world will now be able to track Santa online in nine languages, some include English, Spanish, French, plus the newly added Korean language.  “You’re doing it for the fun of doing it for the kids,” Sayed said. The Santa tracker is ran by NORAD. NORAD has been partnering with Interpreters Unlimited for more than a decade for the online translations. Interpreters Unlimited also does the voice over translations for the NORAD Sa...

London police investigate the alleged theft of a Banksy stop sign decorated with military drones

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:21:46 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Detectives are investigating the alleged theft of a Banksy work of art after witnesses shot photos and video of a man removing a red stop sign adorned with three military drones, London police said Saturday.The sign was taken less than an hour after the elusive street artist posted a photo of the work on his Instagram page Friday.Video showed a man with bolt cutters climbing up on a bicycle to remove the work from a sign post on a street corner in the Peckham area of south London while another man steadied the bike. The man who cut the sign free then ran off with it in his hand.A voice on a video of the incident could be heard saying, “it makes me so annoyed,” as the man ran away. A witness who only wanted to be called Alex told the PA news agency that the small crowd of people that had shown up to view the work stood around watching as the scene unfolded. “We said, ‘What are you doing? But no one really knew what to do, we sort of just watched it happen,” Alex s...

Americans beg for help getting family out of Gaza. “I just want to see my mother again,’ a son says

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:21:46 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fadi Sckak has already lost his father to the violence in Gaza. He wants to help his mother escape that fate.“I just want to see my mother again, that’s the goal,” said Sckak, a university student in Sunnyvale, California. The 25-year-old is one of the Palestinian couple’s three American sons, including an active-duty U.S. soldier serving in South Korea. “Being able to hold her again. I can’t bear to lose her.” His mother, Zahra Sckak, 44, was holed up Saturday with an older, ailing American relative in a Gaza City building along with 100 others. She is among what the State Department says are 300 American citizens, permanent legal residents or their parents and young children still trapped by the fighting between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza.Relatives in the United States and other advocates are pleading for the Biden administration and Congress to help them flee.Gaza’s Health Ministry has reported more than 20,000 deaths in the fighting and more than ...

Leaders of two Quebec teachers unions approve partial deal with provincial government

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:21:46 GMT

QUEBEC — Two Quebec teachers unions say their leadership has approved a partial agreement with the government after weeks of participating in larger public sector strikes.The Fédération des syndicats de l’enseignement and Quebec Provincial Association of Teachers, which together represent over 100,000 educators, say they won’t make the details of the proposal public until their members have a chance to voice their opinions.But the unions do make clear the tentative deal doesn’t cover teacher salaries.That and other issues are still the subject of the unions’ joint negotiations with the government under a broader alliance of labour groups known as the common front, which represents hundreds of thousands of Quebec public sector workers.The common front has already carried out several multi-day strikes in the last two months and has threatened an unlimited strike next year if it’s unable to reach an agreement with the provincial government.A separate union repre...

Want to get through airport security faster? Avoid these 3 common mistakes

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:21:46 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – Going through airport security can be a frustrating yet unavoidable part of traveling, especially during the holidays.The Transportation Security Administration said Wednesday that this holiday season is shaping up to be one of its busiest on record. While large airport crowds are far beyond your control, you can help ease slowdowns by avoiding some common mistakes.A recent study from USA TODAY Blueprint, the news outlet’s financial team, identified the top three mishaps people experience at TSA checkpoints. Experts surveyed 5,000 Americans in October 2023 who have traveled by air within the past five years. The holiday rush to airports and highways is underway Passengers forgetting to take off their belts or shoes at security checkpoints is considered the most common mistake, with 28% of survey respondents admitting this, according to the study. The second common mistake? About 28% of respondents also confessed to going through a metal detector with a phone, jewelry,...