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Forget wildfires in Greece and Italy. Enjoy your holiday, say tourism chiefs

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:36:25 GMT

Politicians have a message for tourists who might be freaked out over roasting temperatures and hellish landscapes of roaring forest fires: Swallow your fears and keep enjoying your holiday.In Greece, 20,000 people were evacuated from Rhodes over the weekend as fires engulfed parts of the island, and British Foreign Office Minister Andrew Mitchell said he “wouldn’t” travel there at the moment. But Greece’s Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni talked down the threat, stressing that only a “small part” of the island had been affected. “There has been no disruption in the airport, and … [only] 10 to 20 percent of the total area of the island [was affected by fire],” she told the BBC’s Today program. “When it comes to hotel accommodation, it’s 15 percent of the total capacity of the island [that was affected].”Her soothing takeaway? “Everybody is safe.” In Italy, where Rome hit a record 46 degrees Celsius in recent days while the north of the country saw floods of ic...

‘A cop’s cop’: Former Littleton Police chief remembered for commitment to community

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:36:25 GMT

LITTLETON — When Matt King was named Littleton’s next police chief, his appointment drew a crowd and a standing ovation.“We couldn’t have a better cop to run this town,” Select Board member James Karr said at the time.After devoting close to four decades serving Littleton and its residents — as an officer, sergeant, lieutenant, deputy chief and chief — King passed away after a battle with cancer on July 3. He was 63 years old.King’s career in law enforcement began in York, Maine, as a patrolman before he came to Littleton in the early 1980s. After serving 12 years as deputy chief, King took over for then-Chief John Kelly, leading the department from September 2014 until his retirement July 1, 2018.Prior to joining the Littleton force, current Chief Matt Pinard worked as a police officer in Ayer for eight years, often running into King while he was a patrol officer.Pinard succeeded King in 2018, but the two worked together for more than a decade, with King as the deputy chief in char...

World’s largest rodents born at San Diego Zoo

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:36:25 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- The world's largest breed of rodents -- the capybara -- has brought life to four new pups at the San Diego Zoo.Born to second-time mother Rosalina and first-time father Bowie on Sunday, these youngsters are related to guinea pigs, hamsters and mice. Video: Charging sea lion startles tourists at La Jolla Cove Zoo officials say they are already nursing and following their mom because they are precocial, meaning they are more mature and mobile at birth.The scientific name of this breed is Hydrochoerus, which zoo officials say means “water hog.” The world's largest rodents are found in Central and South America. In these continents, they can be found roaming in swampy, grassy regions bordering rivers, ponds, streams and lakes.According to the zoo, the capybara is not currently classified as an endangered species. However, wildlife experts say the breed is threatened by deforestation, habitat destruction and illegal poaching. More information on these large rodents can be ...

Stock market today: Wall Street opens mixed ahead of Fed decision on rates

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:36:25 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are opening mixed as Wall Street waits to hear what the Federal Reserve will do with interest rates later in the afternoon. The S&P 500 was down 0.2% early Wednesday, coming off its best closing level in more than 15 months. The Dow was just barely higher and the Nasdaq composite was down 0.4%. Microsoft lost 3.9% despite reporting stronger profit and revenue than analysts expected. Google’s parent company, Alphabet, helped to limit the market’s losses with a gain of 5.4% after beating analysts’ forecasts by a wider margin than Microsoft did. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.Wall Street ticked modestly lower Wednesday after hitting a 15-month high ahead of what traders hope will be the Federal Reserve’s final increase in this interest rate cycle.Futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were each about 0.1% lower before the bell.Later Wednesday, investors expect the Fed to raise its key lending r...

Rudy Giuliani is not disputing that he made false statements about Georgia election workers

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:36:25 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Rudy Giuliani is not disputing that he made public comments about two Georgia election workers that were false, but contends his words are constitutionally protected statements, according to a court filing.That assertion by Giuliani, who as part of Donald Trump’s legal team tried to overturn 2020 presidential election results in battleground states, came Tuesday in a lawsuit by Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss. The lawsuit accused the former New York City mayor of defaming them by falsely stating that they had engaged in election fraud while counting ballots at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. The lawsuit says Giuliani repeatedly pushed debunked claims that Freeman and Moss — mother and daughter — pulled out suitcases of illegal ballots and committed other acts of fraud to try to alter the outcome of the race.Though Giuliani acknowledges in the filing that the statements were false, he does not concede that they caused any damage to Freeman or Moss. That distinction ...

Jurors can’t reach unanimous verdict in Kevin Spacey’s sexual assault trial in London

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:36:25 GMT

LONDON (AP) — A judge told jurors in Kevin Spacey ’s sexual assault trial that they could reach verdicts without unanimous decisions after they said they were deadlocked on some counts.Justice Mark Wall told the panel of nine men and three women that it could reach verdicts if at least 10 of 12 jurors agree.Spacey, who turned 64 on Wednesday, has pleaded not guilty to nine charges, including multiple counts of sexual assault and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.The jury retired without a verdict Tuesday after about seven hours of deliberations over two days. Wall told them at the time that they should go home to rest for the night and return with a “fresh perspective.”He gave the instruction allowing a 10-2 verdict after jurors asked him to remind them of the testimony of a man who called Spacey a “slippery, snaky” predator who had grabbed his crotch so forcefully while he was driving to Elton John’s gala ball that he almost ran ...

Issa Rae offers aspiring female directors a chance to shine on rebooted ‘Project Greenlight’ series

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:36:25 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — From Issa Rae’s perspective, there’s plenty of talented female filmmakers willing to work. However, she knows most haven’t been afforded the same support as their male counterparts.Now, Rae feels compelled to create a supportive platform for aspiring women directors through the reboot series “Project Greenlight: A New Generation,” which premiered this month on Max. She brought back the Ben Affleck and Matt Damon series that debuted in 2001 on HBO about unproven filmmakers directing a feature-length movie. It was canceled 14 years later after a controversial fourth season, which included a heated discussion between Damon and producer Effie Brown over diversity.This time, Rae puts a spotlight on the next generation of women who are tasked to direct a full-length film too. “The series shows that there are a lot of women out there who are interested. With proper resources and given a chance, they can absolutely deliver,” Rae said in interview before the actor’s strike...

On their own front line, Ukrainian surgeons treat waves of soldiers since the counteroffensive began

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:36:25 GMT

DNIPRO, Ukraine (AP) — The horrors of war arrive through the night at a hospital in eastern Ukraine, a procession of stretchers bearing limp bodies whisked from the front line.The soldiers come with bandaged limbs soaked in blood, faces blackened with shrapnel fragments and stunned eyes fixed on the ceiling, frozen in shock. Lately, they’ve been coming with ever-greater frequency.“Pain!” shrieks a serviceman with a gaping thigh wound as medical workers move him to a surgical gurney.Evacuated from trenches in the east, forests in the north and the open fields of the south, wounded soldiers begin showing up at the Mechnikov Hospital in late afternoon, and dozens more in desperate need of surgery are wheeled in before the sun rises the next day.The surge of wounded soldiers coincides with the major counteroffensive Ukraine launched in June to try to recapture its land, nearly one-fifth of which is now under Russian control. Surgeons at Mechnikov are busier now than perhaps at any other...

Biden’s son Hunter arrives at a Delaware court where he’s expected to plead guilty to tax crimes

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:36:25 GMT

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — President Joe Biden’s son Hunter arrived Wednesday at a federal court where he is expected to plead guilty to two tax crimes and admit possessing a gun as a drug user in a deal with the Justice Department that’s likely to spare him time behind bars. U.S. District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika, who was appointed by then-President Donald Trump, will preside over the hearing and must sign off on the deal, in which prosecutors are recommending two years of probation. Hunter Biden is not expected to be sentenced on Wednesday. The deal, announced last month, comes after a yearslong Justice Department investigation into the taxes and foreign business dealings of the Democratic president’s second son, who has acknowledged struggling with addiction following the 2015 death of his brother, Beau Biden. While legally this will clear the air for Hunter Biden and avert a trial that would have generated weeks or months of distracting headlines, the politics rema...

Ghana votes to abolish the death penalty 30 years after last execution

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:36:25 GMT

ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — Ghana’s parliament has voted to abolish the death penalty for all crimes except high treason, formalizing what has been a de facto moratorium on executions for the past three decades.Lawmakers endorsed the proposed amendment to the country’s criminal offense law during a televised session of parliament on Tuesday, in a vote praised by rights advocates. The measure goes now to the president who is expected to sign the bill into law.Under the change, the sentences of 176 death row inmates, including six women would be commuted to life imprisonment.“Ghana is upholding the constitutional and fundamental human right of everyone,” said Enoch Jengre, program officer of Ghana’s Legal Resource Center. “No human being or institution should have the right to take the life of another.”Capital punishment is becoming less common on the African continent. According to the advocacy group World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, 26 African countries had outlawed the practice ou...