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Americans’ fun road trip to Mexico became days of horror

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:25:55 GMT

LAKE CITY, S.C. (AP) — It was supposed to be a fun road trip to Mexico, a post-pandemic adventure for a group of childhood friends.One was treating herself to cosmetic surgery after having six children. It was a 34th birthday celebration for another. They rented a white van in South Carolina and set out on the nearly 22-hour trip, shooting silly videos and driving straight through to Brownsville, on the tip of Texas.“Good morning America!” Eric Williams said into the camera in the early morning hours after the all-night drive. “Mexico, here we come.”But once they got to Mexico, the trip took a terrible turn. Two members of the group would never make it home, victims of the ruthless Gulf Cartel, a drug gang tied to brutal killings and kidnappings in the violent border city of Matamoros, a city of a half a million people that has long been a stronghold of the powerful cartel.There could hardly be a worse border town to pick for a fun adventure.It all started when Latavia McGee, booked...

Ukrainian firefighters on risky mission to save lives, homes

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:25:55 GMT

KOSTIANTINIVKA, Ukraine (AP) — Thick grey smoke pours from the roof as the firefighters arrive at the brick house, one of several homes hit by Russian shelling in a residential neighborhood of Kostiantinivka. The city in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk province has come under intense bombardment in recent days amid a Russian push to capture nearby Bakhmut, where Ukrainian forces have held on during a grinding battle that started last summer.Ukrainian authorities say Russian forces are attacking Kostiantinivka with cluster bombs and missiles. Pavlo Kyrylenko, the governor of Donetsk province, said one person was killed and at least three civilians wounded after several rounds of Russian shelling on Saturday.An attack on the city a day earlier injured eight people and destroyed or damaged more than a dozen houses. The barrages have overwhelmed local firefighters, who take great risks putting out fires in buildings and cars even as the shelling continues. The air is heavy with smoke an...

Whatever happened to Ontario’s plan to ditch time changes?

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:25:55 GMT

Remember all that talk about doing away with time changes? Well, here we go again. The clocks are springing forward on Sunday morning at 2 a.m. even though Ontario passed a bill back in 2020 to permanently stay on Daylight Saving Time. So why has nothing happened? The legislation passed in Ontario included a very important caveat – both Quebec and New York State had to make the move at the same time. The Ford government tells CityNews despite the legislation, nothing’s changed and they’re not willing to go it alone. And in a rare move, this is one issue that opposition leaders are actually in agreement with.“We voted for it, if New York does it, then we’re going to do it,” said Interim Ontario Liberal Leader John Fraser. “As long as we’re all on the same page with it, that’s what works.”“My personal preference is that we do not change the clocks in the spring and the fall,” Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schrei...

An anti-government protest in Czech capital draws thousands

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:25:55 GMT

PRAGUE (AP) — Thousands of people in the Czech Republic rallied against the government Saturday, protesting high inflation and demanding an end to the country’s military support for Ukraine.A new political group, PRO, organized the rally at Prague’s Wenceslas Square as an anti-poverty event. As participants called on the coalition government to resign, party leader Jindrich Rajchl said they want “a government to care first of all about the interests of the Czech citizens.”His group, whose name translates in English to Law, Respect, Expertise, blames the European Union for soaring energy prices. Inflation slightly dropped to 16.7% in Czechia in February from 17.5% a month earlier. PRO also wants the Czech government to stop taking actions that are intended to reduce misinformation and fake news.Ukraine was a key issue at Saturday’s demonstration, where the crowd called for a peaceful solution to the war. Some people had the letter “Z,” a symbol of the Russian milita...

Human hand found by man walking dog in NYC; investigators find out who it belonged to

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:25:55 GMT

PLEASANT PLAINS, Staten Island (WPIX) — A man walking his dog in New York found a human hand on Thursday, but police have since determined where it came from.The unnerving find was made on Staten Island, in a wooded area near the North Mount Loretto State Forest in Pleasant Plains around 2:30 p.m. Thursday, the NYPD said.Officials from the city medical examiner’s office responded and confirmed the body part to be a right hand. Jogger in NYC’s Central Park finds skeletal remains On Saturday morning, officials with the NYPD's Public Information office confirmed that investigators identified the severed hand's fingerprints and determined it had belonged to a 63-year-old woman who died in 2011.The woman had been buried at Resurrection Cemetery, about a mile's drive from where the hand was found. Police said a plot next to hers had recently been excavated on Feb. 27 for a new burial. It is believed the equipment used to remove the soil from the plot severed the deceased's hand, and tha...

Mikaela Shiffrin breaks Alpine skiing record for World Cup victories

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:25:55 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) – American skier Mikaela Shiffrin earned her 87th World Cup win on Saturday, surpassing the previous record of 86 career World Cup wins set by Swedish athlete Ingemar Stenmark.Shiffrin, 27, had tied Stenmark's record on Friday during what has been an already historic season. Earlier this year, she tied and then broke the women’s record of 82 World Cup victories before gaining ground on the all-time record and ultimately besting it on Saturday during a slalom event in Åre, Sweden. Mikaela Shiffrin ties record for most World Cup wins by any man, woman Shiffrin's first appearance on a FIS World Cup podium came in 2011 when she finished third in the slalom at Lienz, Austria. Less than a year later, in December 2012, she was on top of the podium for the first time after winning the slalom, also in Åre.That makes this win all the more special. Her 86th and 87th victories came at the same mountain where she claimed her first.Slalom, which accounted for 52 of her 86 wins goi...

How expensive are groceries in 2023? These 5 graphs show prices skyrocket

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:25:55 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – You've probably felt your grocery bill growing over the past year, but seeing the numbers really puts it into perspective. The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis tracks every type of economics metric you can think of, from exchange rates to crude oil prices. They also use federal data to keep close tabs on the cost of grocery staples, like bananas, coffee, cereal, and anything else you might throw in your cart. The prices of all those items (and more) haven't just crept up over the past year – they've shot up. The cost of groceries jumped up 11.3% across the board over the last year, according to the most recently available Consumer Price Index calculations. To take a closer look at what that means for the average shopper, we picked five breakfast grocery items and searched the St. Louis Fed for answers on how much more expensive they've grown in recent years. Layoffs but low unemployment: What is going on in this strange economy? Each of the charts below shows the cha...

"Women Talking," the final best picture review

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:25:55 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Adapted from the novel by the same name, “Women Talking,” is nominated for two academy awards this year, best picture and best-adapted screenplay. This is not director Sarah Polley’s first adapted screenplay nomination as she was nominated previously in 2008 for “Away From Her.” The film follows the women of a religious colony as they plan their course of action. "Women Talking," displays topics of rape, motherhood, female rage, religion, and the tribulations of being a woman. “Triangle of Sadness,” a satirical look into society “Women Talking,” captures exactly what the title describes. We watch as a group of women gather and speak of the colony’s future in a barn for the majority of the story. The hour and forty-five-minute film highlights atrocities at the hands of men that the women of the colony have faced. Powerful writing and acting specifically by Claire Foy show the pain the women have endured. A collected and inquisitive approach to their misfort...

Barrage of storms continues; threats of mudslides, flooding increase

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:25:55 GMT

More storms are to come for Southern California after Saturday’s rainfall, according to the National Weather Service. The first storm, expected to last throughout the day on Saturday, will bring at least half an inch of rain to most L.A. coastal and mountain communities. High snow levels are expected above 8,000 feet with a risk of significant avalanche danger above 6,000 feet. Another round of rain is forecasted for the area beginning on Monday night and lasting into Wednesday, with 1 to 3 inches expected throughout most of Southern California. About 15 million Californians are under flood watches as of Saturday morning, with the advisories stretching from Redding to San Bernardino. Significant road and small stream flooding is possible, the NWS said, adding that tree damage, power outages and roof collapses may also occur. These storms follow the historic winter weather that California saw in January and February and bring more rainfall to many areas that ...

Drama in Antioch: City spokesperson fired amid political firestorm involving police, City Hall

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:25:55 GMT

ANTIOCH — When a burglar busted through the front window of a local restaurant and ransacked the place last month, few could have predicted it would create a political firestorm that would lead to the firing of the city’s spokesman.But that’s exactly what happened — and the drama is far from over.In the three weeks since the break-in at Hillcrest Restaurant and Taphouse, tensions brewing between Antioch’s police department and City Hall have boiled over, as complaints about the slow police response to the burglary devolved into a game of finger-pointing. The city spokesman, Rolando Bonilla, was sacked over a provocative quote falsely attributed to the city’s police chief, which has led to calls for an investigation and a scathing memo by the chief demanding answers.The chief has also accused the city’s mayor, Lamar Thorpe, of muzzling the department’s attempts to spread good news. And all this has come as eight officers — or about 10% of the police forc...