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Burkina Faso suspends France 24 for interview with jihadi

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:59:07 GMT

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Burkina Faso’s military junta has suspended French broadcaster, France 24, for interviewing a top jihadi rebel, a government spokesman announced Monday. The broadcasting of France 24’s programs will be blocked throughout Burkina Faso because of an interview the outlet did with the leader of an al-Qaida aligned group, Jean-Emmanuel Ouedraogo said in a statement.“It is with regret that the government discovered two weeks ago an interview with the ‘chief of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb’ on France 24, part of the France Medias Monde group. Without contesting the freedom of the channel’s editorial choices, the government nevertheless questions the ethics that govern the professional practice of journalism on France 24,” he said.By describing the views of the head of the rebel group, France 24 had acted as a communication agency for the jihadis and gave them space to legitimize their actions, he said. On March 6, France 24 discussed on air, the e...

Greenland to stay in daylight saving time forever

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:59:07 GMT

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Residents of Greenland have switched to daylight saving time and moved their clocks one hour forward this weekend for the very last time.Unlike most of Europe, Greenlanders will leave their clocks untouched come autumn when daylight saving time ends. While Europe and the U.S. debates whether to stick to the twice-yearly practice, Greenland – a vast Danish semi-independent territory in the Arctic – has resolved to perennially remain only three hours behind Copenhagen and most other European countries instead of four. Greenland’s parliament, Inatsisartut, voted to stick to daylight saving time year-round on Nov. 24 last year. Officials say it will give Greenlanders another hour of daylight in the afternoons and more time to do business with Europe and farther afield.“The shift of time zone marks an exciting new beginning, an equal connection to North America and Europe, and an opportunity to slow down in a fast-paced world,” Visit Greenland...

More than 180 Rohingya refugees arrive on Indonesian beach

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:59:07 GMT

LHOKSEUMAWE, Indonesia (AP) — More than 180 disoriented Rohingya Muslims, some of whom needed medical attention, arrived in the early morning in Indonesia’s northernmost province of Aceh, an official said Monday.“From the information we received, the boat took them and told them that they have arrived at their destination and left them at the beach,” said Andy Rahmansyah, East Aceh police chief.He said the authorities are still collecting more information and giving medical aid to some of the refugees.Ali Hussein, one of the refugees, said the boat took them from Bangladesh before it fled and left them in the dark after the group disembarked to the beach.“It was difficult there. When we were gathered, we got offered a rate for the boat and we agreed to go to a far place, whether it is Indonesia or Malaysia,” Hussein said.The group of 184, including women and children, arrived by fishing boat at Kuala Matang Peulawi, a coastal area in Peureulak subdistrict in East Aceh.More than 700,...

UN expert advising IOC gives views on Russians at Olympics

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:59:07 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — Russian athletes who have actively served in the military invasion of Ukraine should be allowed to return to international sports if they did not take part in war crimes, according to a United Nations expert advising the International Olympic Committee.The U.N. special rapporteur for cultural rights, Alexandra Xanthaki, said late Sunday only Russian military members implicated in “allegations of war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity or propaganda for war” should be denied neutral status to compete in international sports ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics.Xanthaki angered Ukrainian athletes who took part in an IOC-hosted call to consult them ahead of an Olympic announcement due Tuesday to update guidance for sports bodies 16 months before the opening of the Paris Games.Ukrainian government and sports officials want the IOC to ban all Russians from the 2024 Games and claim most of the country’s recent Olympic medalists were affiliated with the military.Xanthaki wr...

Amid higher risk, Fairfax Co. firefighters receive early cancer screening

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:59:07 GMT

As if trying to extinguish a raging inferno wasn’t dangerous enough, firefighters face life-threatening risks even after the blaze is knocked down.Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department Capt. Barry Maham is living proof, two years after he was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer.Firefighters face a 9% increased risk of cancer, according to the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, and more than 14% higher than the general public, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Fairfax County’s fire department is offering free early cancer screenings to all of its members.More Fairfax County NewsMore Virginia NewsBattalion Chief Brian Edmonston said all current firefighters and those who retired within the last five years are eligible for the ultrasound scans after a $450,000 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.The diagnostic screening includes an echocardiogram, carotid Doppler, abdominal aorta, thyroid, live, gall bladder, sple...

$1M to help with ‘vital’ Chesapeake Bay improvement

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:59:07 GMT

BISHOPS HEAD, MARYLAND — NOVEMBER 12: In this aerial view, Crab Point reaches out into the water where the Honga River empties into the Chesapeake Bay on Nov. 12, 2022 near Bishops Head, Maryland. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)The Chesapeake Bay Trust nonprofit based in Annapolis, Maryland, will receive over $1 million in funding from the federal government to strengthen tidal wetland restoration, public education and bolster green infrastructure projects.In a news release Friday, U.S. Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin and Congressman John Sarbanes announced that $1,129,063 in federal funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will go toward local projects to restore, preserve and protect the Chesapeake Bay.More Local NewsMore Maryland News“The health of the Chesapeake Bay is vital to the health of our communities and our regional economy,” said Van Hollen.“We fought to pass the infrastructure modernization law — and within it to boost resource...

Germany’s rebuilding hurt by Havertz, Schlotterbeck absences

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:59:07 GMT

COLOGNE, Germany (AP) — Germany coach Hansi Flick’s quest to rebuild has been hampered once again, this time by injuries to Kai Havertz and Nico Schlotterbeck.Flick had been hoping to establish some continuity among his key players to create a strong foundation for more important games to come, but Havertz and Schlotterbeck have dropped out of the squad for Tuesday’s friendly against Belgium after playing in the 2-0 win over Peru on Saturday.Schlotterbeck has muscular problems in his left thigh. West Ham defender Thilo Kehrer came on for the Borussia Dortmund defender toward the end of the game against Peru and is likely to start against Belgium in Cologne. AC Milan defender Malick Thiaw is the only other potential option in Flick’s squad.The Germany coach did not call up Real Madrid defender Antonio Rüdiger or Dortmund center back Niklas Süle for the two friendlies, while Southampton defender Armel Bella-Kotchap is out with a shoulder injury.Havertz, who is out with a cold, had pla...

MBTA riders concerned about safety after weekend stabbing at Jackson Square station

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:59:07 GMT

MBTA riders are concerned about safety on public transit following a stabbing at the Jackson Square MBTA station in Jamaica Plain late Saturday night.Officers responding to a reported stabbing around 9 p.m. found a man suffering from apparent stab wounds and assisted in transporting him to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.Many T riders were caught off guard after hearing about Saturday’s incident and are now saying they have concerns about crime, especially at night. “I only come here when the train comes, so I’m not here more than five minutes,” one rider told 7NEWS. “There’s a little bit of connotation to not come past a certain time,” she added. No suspects have been arrested as of Monday morning, according to police.

Cuban migrants fly into Key West airport on motorized hang glider

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:59:07 GMT

(CNN) — Two migrants from Cuba landed at Key West International Airport in Florida on Saturday via a motorized hang glider, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.The pair landed at about 10:30 a.m. local time, and were not seriously injured, the sheriff’s office announced on its website.Both men were turned over to the custody of the US Border Patrol.“There were no interruptions in service and operations continue as normal,” Richard Strickland, director of airports at Key West International Airport, said in a statement.Florida has experienced an influx of migrants from Cuba in the past months, many of them making treacherous journeys by sea. In January, the Coast Guard returned 273 migrants off the Florida coast to Cuba. In September, the Coast Guard told CNN that they had intercepted more migrants from Cuba in the past year than it had since the 1990s.While Cubans have been migrating to the United States for decades, immig...

Twitter: Parts of its source code leaked online

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:59:07 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Some parts of Twitter’s source code — the fundamental computer code on which the social network runs — were leaked online, the social media company said in a legal filing on Sunday that was first reported by The New York Times.According to the legal document, filed with the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California, Twitter had asked GitHub, an internet hosting service for software development, to take down the code where it was posted. The platform complied and said the content had been disabled, according to the filing. Twitter also asked the court to identify the alleged infringer or infringers who posted Twitter’s source code on systems operated by GitHub without Twitter’s authorization.Twitter, based in San Francisco, noted in the filing that the postings infringe copyrights held by Twitter.The leak creates more challenges for billionaire Elon Musk, who bought Twitter last October for $44 billion and took the company private. Sin...