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EU readies payout to Hungary to avoid Ukraine aid blockade

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:54:20 GMT

The European Commission is preparing to unfreeze around €13 billion in funds for Hungary to try to avoid Prime Minister Viktor Orbán vetoing EU aid for Ukraine, in a move likely to draw criticism from the European Parliament.The Commission needs the unanimous backing of the bloc’s 27 countries for an update to the EU’s long-term budget, which includes a €50 billion funding pot for Ukraine. Current EU aid for Kyiv runs out in December, and agreement by the 27 is all the more urgent given U.S. lawmakers’ decision to temporarily remove continued military funding and because of the election of Robert Fico in Slovakia, a pro-Russian critic of Europe’s Ukraine policy.Orbán has already said that Hungary won’t support further funding to Ukraine, citing concerns with Hungarian minorities in the country, demanding that a 2017 law on linguistic minorities be changed. The Commission hopes that releasing a large part of Hungary’s EU funds, which have been frozen since late ...

A ransom note, fingerprints and cell phone pings. How New York police tracked down a missing 9-year-old girl and the suspect in her disappearance

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:54:20 GMT

(CNN) — A ransom note dropped in the mailbox at the home of missing 9-year-old Charlotte Sena before dawn on Monday provided investigators an invaluable break in the case that ultimately led New York authorities to arrest a suspect and reunite the girl with her family after a frantic two-day search, state officials announced.Fingerprints left behind on the note were instrumental in identifying suspect Craig Nelson Ross, Jr., 47, and tracking him to a residence where law enforcement arrested him Monday evening and immediately found Charlotte hidden in a cabinet, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced in a news conference.The girl appeared “outwardly physically unharmed” and was taken to a hospital to be examined, the governor said.Ross was arraigned on a first-degree kidnapping charge and is being held and the Saratoga County Correctional Facility without bail, according to the New York State Police. Additional charges are expected, state police said in a news release.“...

Trio wins Nobel Prize in physics for split-second glimpse of superfast spinning world of electrons

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:54:20 GMT

By DAVID KEYTON, SETH BORENSTEIN and JOHN LEICESTER (Associated Press)STOCKHOLM (AP) — Three scientists won the Nobel Prize in physics on Tuesday for giving us the first split-second glimpse into the superfast world of spinning electrons, a field that could one day lead to better electronics or disease diagnoses.The award went to French-Swedish physicist Anne L’Huillier, French scientist Pierre Agostini and Hungarian-born Ferenc Krausz for their work with the tiny part of each atom that races around the center and that is fundamental to virtually everything: chemistry, physics, our bodies and our gadgets. Electrons move so fast that they have been out of reach of human efforts to isolate them, but by looking at the tiniest fraction of a second possible, scientists now have a “blurry” glimpse of them and that opens up whole new sciences, experts said.“The electrons are very fast, and the electrons are really the workforce in everywhere,” Nobe...

Foo Fighters coming to Petco Park

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:54:20 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- The Foo Fighters will be making a stop in San Diego next year.The 15-time Grammy Award winners will perform at Petco Park on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. They'll be joined by special guests The Hives and Alex G.Tickets will go on sale to the general public on Friday at 10 a.m. Presales will start as early as Tuesday at 10 a.m.The band will then head north to play two shows at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles on Aug. 9 and 11. Check out all of the tour dates on the Foo Fighters' website. Foo Fighters confirms band will be ‘different’ after Taylor Hawkins death, but vows to see fans ‘soon’ In May, the band named Josh Freese as their new drummer after longtime drummer Taylor Hawkins died in Colombia in March of 2022. Hawkins was 50 years old.

I-805 north connector to SR-15 reopens after fatal crash

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:54:20 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- The northbound Interstate 805 connector to northbound state Route 15 was closed for several hours Tuesday morning due to a fatal crash.Traffic was backed up to state Route 54.By 8 a.m., all lanes on the connector had reopened, Caltrans San Diego said. Campland on the Bay storage facility erupts in flames The crash was first reported around 4:38 a.m., according to California Highway Patrol's online incident log.

San Diego Gun Show to return, but at a new venue

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:54:20 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego Gun Show is coming back to town after being turned away at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. Gov. Gavin Newsom prohibited all gun shows on state property, sending gun show organizers searching for alternative venues. “The fairgrounds were the perfect venue for a gun show, it is exactly the type of venue we needed,” said Michael Schwartz from the San Diego County Gun Owners Pac. Now, the San Diego Gun Show has headed off the coast. “We are having to be creative and improvise. We are out at a Masonic Temple out in the east side of the city of San Diego, they’ve been very welcoming,” Schwartz said. Campland on the Bay storage facility erupts in flames Gun control activists are unhappy with the new announcement. “It’s hard to negotiate with someone who doesn’t recognize the problem,” said Max Coston from the Safer California Pac. Activists believe if gun owners bought into safer storage, universal background checks and more gun training shootings could be curta...

Atlanta will pay $3.75M to family of Nebraska man who died after being handcuffed and held face down

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:54:20 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — The city of Atlanta will pay $3.75 million to the family of a Nebraska man who died after police handcuffed him face down.The City Council approved the settlement Monday, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported, after the Fulton County medical examiner determined that Ricardo Dorado Jr.’s death on Aug. 21, 2022 was a homicide.The medical examiner ruled that the death of the Lexington, Nebraska, resident was caused by prone restraint cardiac arrest. Complicating factors included Dorado having methamphetamine in his system, getting hit in the head by officers’ batons during his arrest and heart disease, according to the medical examiner’s report.“A review of the bodycam footage in this case clearly reflects that the egregious misconduct of several officers employed by the City of Atlanta Police Department caused Ricky’s untimely death,” Gabe Banks, an attorney for Dorado’s family, said in a statement. “Ricky was unarmed, and his death was completely preven...

2 Army soldiers killed, 12 injured in crash of military transport vehicle in Alaska

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:54:20 GMT

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Two U.S. Army soldiers were killed and 12 others injured after a military transport vehicle flipped on a dirt road leading to a training area in Alaska, officials said.The single-vehicle accident happened Monday as the soldiers headed to the Yukon Training Area near Salcha, or about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southeast of Fairbanks, the 11th Airborne Division said in a statement late Monday.Army spokesperson John Pennell told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the driver lost control of the vehicle on a dirt road going into the training area, causing the large transport vehicle to flip.There were 17 soldiers in the vehicle at the time.First responders extracted soldiers from the vehicle and provided on-scene treatment. The 12 injured soldiers were taken by ground ambulances and air to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital.Of those, the two with the most severe injuries were taken in air ambulances to Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage, Pennell said. Their c...

Canada offers to help UN military intervention in Haiti led by Kenya

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:54:20 GMT

OTTAWA — Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says Canada is determining how it can best help with an international military intervention in Haiti, leaving it unclear whether this will involve a military role for Canada.The United Nations Security Council approved a multinational force Monday to help combat violent gangs in Haiti, which Kenya has offered to lead.Joly says she’s spoken with her counterpart from Kenya as well as Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations, Bob Rae, on how Canada can be of help.Haiti’s unelected prime minister asked for an international intervention last year, and the idea has been divisive among Haitians though it is supported by the UN and Washington. Joly notes that Ottawa has always been involved in issues pertaining to Haiti, and says she expects Canada will do more, but isn’t specifying what kind of Canadian help has been offered.Haiti has faced a profound security crisis exacerbated by brazen criminal gangs since mid-2021,...

Donald Trump wants future Republican debates to be canceled after refusing to participate in them

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:54:20 GMT

Donald Trump ‘s campaign is calling on the Republican National Committee to cancel all remaining presidential primary debates, saying the RNC must instead “refocus its manpower” on defeating Joe Biden next year. In a statement late Monday, top Trump advisers also repeated debunked falsehoods about election fraud, claiming without evidence that Democrats are working to steal the 2024 election. Trump has maintained that the 2020 election was stolen, despite multiple legal cases, investigations and his own attorney general finding no fraud.In their statement, senior campaign advisers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita say the November debate in Miami and all future debates should be canceled.“Anything less, along with other reasons not to cancel, are an admission to the grassroots that their concerns about voter integrity are not taken seriously and national Republicans are more concerned about helping Joe Biden than ensuring a safe and secure election,” they said. The former preside...