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Once-a-week nightmare: US mass killings on a record pace

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:09:00 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The U.S. is setting a record pace for mass killings in 2023, replaying the horror on a loop roughly once a week so far this year.The carnage has taken 88 lives in 17 mass killings over 111 days. Each time, the killers wielded firearms.Children at a Nashville grade school, gunned down on an ordinary Monday. Farmworkers in Northern California, sprayed with bullets over a workplace grudge. Dancers at a ballroom outside Los Angeles, massacred as they celebrated the Lunar New Year.In just the last week, four partygoers were slain and 32 injured in Dadeville, Alabama, when bullets rained down on a Sweet 16 celebration. And a man just released from prison fatally shot four people, including his parents, in Bowdoin, Maine, before opening fire on motorists traveling a busy interstate highway. “Nobody should be shocked,” said Fred Guttenberg, whose 14-year-old daughter Jaime was one of 17 people killed at a Parkland, Florida, high school in 2018. “I visit my daughter in a c...

4 million apply for tickets for Paris Olympics in lottery

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:09:00 GMT

PARIS (AP) — Four million applications were received for an online lottery where winners get to buy tickets for next year’s Paris Olympics, the local organizing committee said Friday.They hope to sell 1.3 million tickets for the 2024 Games as a result of the latest draw.Applications ended Thursday evening and winners will know early next month if they have been successful. They can start buying from May 11 and have a 48-hour timeslot to do so. They’ll be told 48 hours beforehand when their slot is.Figures on which countries the 4 million lottery applications came from, and whether more men or women applied, were not available. The five countries who bought the most tickets, and other statistics, will be made known after the sale has finished in June.By then, organizers expect that about half of the 10 million tickets for the Paris Games will have been sold.A total of 3.2 million tickets were sold from the first phase of sales, featuring packages, with the top buyers coming fro...

Barenboim made Berlin citizen of honor after long tenure

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:09:00 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Daniel Barenboim was made a citizen of honor of Berlin on Friday, months after he ended his three-decade tenure as the general musical director of the Berlin State Opera for health reasons.Mayor Franziska Giffey paid tribute to Barenboim’s musical talent and his commitment to communication between Israelis and Palestinians in a ceremony at city hall. Giffey said that Barenboim “demonstrates incomparable mastery both at the grand piano and at the conductor’s stand,” German news agency dpa reported. She told him that “as an artist and as a person, you are truly a figure of the century.”Barenboim, 80, was born in Argentina and raised there and in Israel. He has had long associations with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and with the Berlin State Opera, or Staatsoper, which he led from 1992 until early this year. He also co-founded the the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, which united musicians from Israel and the Arab world. Giving up the Berlin post in January, he...

Burkina Faso investigates alleged abuses by security forces

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:09:00 GMT

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Burkina Faso’s government has opened investigations into allegations of human rights abuses by its security forces after a video surfaced that appeared to show the extrajudicial killing of seven children in the country’s north.“The conclusions of the said investigations will lead, if the facts are established, to legal proceedings against the persons responsible for these acts,” government spokesperson Jean-Emmanuel Ouedraogo said in a statement issued Thursday. “There will be no impunity for the proven perpetrators of human rights violations in Burkina Faso.” The announcement was in response to calls from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to investigate the video, which circulated on chat groups starting in mid-February.The Associated Press this month published its own findings about the video. AP’s investigation determined that Burkina Faso’s security forces killed the children in a military base outside the town of...

Russia's air force accidentally bombs own city of Belgorod

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:09:00 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia's military acknowledged that a bomb accidentally dropped by one of its warplanes caused a powerful blast in a Russian city not far from Ukraine's border, injuring two and scaring local residents.Belgorod, a city of 340,000 located about 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of the Russia-Ukraine border, has faced regular drone attacks during Russia's current military operation in Ukraine. Russian authorities blamed the earlier strikes on the Ukrainian military, which refrained from directly claiming responsibility for the attacks.The explosion late Thursday was far more powerful than anything Belgorod residents had experienced before. Witnesses reported a low hissing sound followed by a blast that made nearby apartment buildings tremble and shattered their windows.It left a 20-meter (66-foot) -wide crater in the middle of a tree-lined boulevard flanked by apartments, damaged several cars and threw one vehicle onto a store roof. Two people were injured, and a third perso...

Six Flags Great America opening for 2023 season with park improvements and new events

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:09:00 GMT

Six Flags Great America kicks off its 2023 season this Saturday. We were in Gurnee earlier this week to see firsthand all of the work being done throughout the park. Crews have been repainting and remodeling many of the buildings, facades and structures throughout the park. We spoke with Rachel Kendziora, a communications specialist at Six Flags, about everything the park is working on for the new season. You can see our full report in the player above. Additions, changes and improvements you will see at Great America this year include:Events and Festivals"Flavors of the World Festival" including food items from around the world, happening in June and July"Neon Nights Festival" night parade happening select dates in June, July and August."Viva La Fiesta Festival" happening select days in August.New Food ItemsLoaded nachos at Macho Nacho featuring steak, chicken, brisket or vegetarian.Chicken and waffles served with warm syrup.Bubble Tea Station featuring bubble tea beverages and smo...

Friday Forecast: Temps in low 60s with partly sunny conditions

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:09:00 GMT

CHICAGO — Temperatures in the mid 60s Friday with partly sunny conditions. Winds: SW 5-15 mph. High: 63. Interactive Radar: Track showers and storm here Partly cloudy tonight and colder conditions with temperatures in 30s. Winds: West 5-10 mph. Low: 38.Saturday Forecast: Scattered showers with temperatures in upper 40s. High: 47.Full forecast details at the WGN Weather Center

Dean's Reviews: 'Guy Ritchie's The Covenant'

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:09:00 GMT

CHICAGO — For the second time in 2023, director and screenwriter Guy Ritchie is releasing a film, this time tackling one of the subjects in the war in Afghanistan. "The Covenant" stars Jake Gyllenhaal as U.S. Army sergeant John Kinley, who returns to the country to rescue an Afghan interpreter who saved his life years before. After talking with both Guy & Jake earlier this week in "Dean's A-List Interview," Dean Richards reviewed the film as part of "Dean's Reviews" this week.He also took a look at the latest installment in the "Evil Dead" film series - "Evil Dead Rise" - as he gives his thoughts on the supernatural horror film.You can watch both of these reviews from Dean from April 21's WGN Morning News in the video above.Get Dean's reviews and A-List interviews delivered right to your inbox. Sign up for Dean's Downloads weekly newsletter. You'll also get his Dean Cooks recipes too!

New York City's longest-serving doorman set to retire after 60 years of service

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:09:00 GMT

NEW YORK (WPIX) — New York City’s longest-serving doorman is about to hang up the uniform. Manny Teixeira has worked at the same condo on East 90th Street and Lexington Avenue in Manhattan for six decades.“Someone called me the Governor of 90th Street,” he said. Teixeira started working at the building — Trafalgar House Condominiums on the Upper East Side — in the 1960s, just after it opened.For six decades, Teixeira has stood there with a smile, a hello, and some advice, if requested. “I always say if you want to have a job like this, you have to like people,” Teixeira said. Oldest police officer in Arkansas retires Building manager Manuel Claudio added that Teixeira is beloved by tenants because he's always respectful and he anticipates their needs.Now, those tenants are getting ready to say one final goodbye. “We will miss him a lot,” said neighbor Gil Winnik. Another tenant, Kenneth Schwartz, called Teixeira the “personification of the building.” They're also planning him a r...

BLOG: Recap, aftermath of Thursday storms in Central Texas

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:09:00 GMT

(KXAN) -- Severe weather and hail hit Central Texas Thursday afternoon and evening.According to the KXAN First Warning Weather team, a complex of severe thunderstorms brought flash flooding and water rescues in north Austin, large hail to many communities, and Tornado Warnings in several counties. Storms continued south of Austin overnight, but will clear the area Friday after a quick early-morning sprinkle. KXAN First Warning Weather forecast All of Central Texas was under a Severe Thunderstorm Watch until 10 p.m. Thursday, which meant conditions are favorable for the development of storms. Some areas experienced Severe Thunderstorm Warnings and Tornado Warnings as well. Read the details in our weather recap and live blog below. Weather ResourcesHow to talk to your kids about severe weatherWatches vs Warnings: Understanding how a storm is madeTraffic mapLive Central Texas radarCentral Texas rainfall totalsDownload KXAN Weather AppSign up for KXAN daily forecast newsletter and sev...