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Federal agents in Puerto Rico seize $35 million worth of cocaine, arrest 3 after boat runs aground

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:53:31 GMT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Federal agents seized an estimated $35 million worth of cocaine from a boat that ran aground a reef off Puerto Rico’s south coast, authorities said Thursday.Two men from the Dominican Republic and a man from Colombia were arrested and accused of transporting more than 3,300 pounds (1,500 kilos) of cocaine, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.Officials said the 30-foot (nine-meter) boat was traveling north toward Puerto Rico when it was spotted on Wednesday.It is one of the largest drug seizures in waters off Puerto Rico reported this year. A record $50 million worth of cocaine was seized in 2021 off the island’s southeast region.The U.S. territory is considered a transit point for drugs heading to the U.S. mainland and other countries.Source

South Carolina man pleads guilty to ambush that killed 2 officers and wounded 5

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:53:31 GMT

AIKEN, S.C. (AP) — A 79-year-old South Carolina man avoided a possible death sentence Thursday by agreeing to plead guilty to ambushing police officers coming to his home, killing two of the officers and wounding five others.Frederick Hopkins court appearance was unannounced and reporters following the widely publicized case were not in the courtroom in Aiken County, some 120 miles (169 kilometers) from where the October 2018 attack took place.Hopkins was charged with two counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder.Hopkins will be sentenced later, but his attorney Boyd Young told media outlets after the hearing that prosecutors agreed to take the death penalty off the table. Hopkins would face 30 years to life in prison for murder.Three Florence County deputies told Hopkins they were coming to his home in an upscale subdivision to execute a search warrant against his son for possible sexual abuse charges.Hopkins, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, armed himself in a upstairs ...

Business Highlights: US inflation eased slightly last month, Ford says it’s at the limit

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:53:31 GMT

___US inflation eased slightly last month as price increases extend slow descentWASHINGTON (AP) — Measures of U.S. inflation barely declined in September, evidence that consumer price increases are grinding lower at a gradual pace. Consumer prices rose 0.4% from August to September, below the previous month’s 0.6% pace. Year-over-year inflation was unchanged last month from a 3.7% rise in August. And underlying inflation declined a bit: So-called core prices, which exclude volatile food and energy costs, climbed 4.1% in September from a year earlier, down from a 4.3% pace in August. That is the smallest such increase in two years. Economists pay particularly close attention to core prices because they provide a good signal of inflation’s likely future path.___Social Security benefits will increase by 3.2% in 2024 as inflation moderatesWASHINGTON (AP) — The acting Social Security commissioner says a 3.2% increase in benefits next year “will help millions of people keep up with expens...

Ecuadorians are picking a new president, but their demands for safety will be hard to meet

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:53:31 GMT

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The contest comes Sunday, and whoever wins the prize — a job that starts on Christmas — will face a difficult, if not impossible, task. What awaits is a shorter-than-normal 15-month run as president of Ecuador, which is engulfed in a surge of violence tied to drug trafficking.The runoff election pits an heir to a banana empire, Daniel Noboa, and an attorney, Luisa González. In a different year or in another country, their business and lawyering experience might help them deliver on campaign promises. But all that Ecuadorians want is safety, and they are demanding to get it in a tiny fraction of the time that has taken other countries to address the issue.“There’s nothing that fails like success,” said Lowell Gustafson, a Latin American politics professor at Villanova University. “Whoever wins this election is going to have to deal with this … but I don’t know what can be expected from the president in that kind of short time with what sure look to be virtua...

At Colorado funeral home where 115 decaying bodies found, troubles went unnoticed by regulators

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:53:31 GMT

DENVER (AP) — As legal and financial troubles piled up at the Colorado funeral home where authorities last week discovered at least 115 decomposing bodies, the troubles went unnoticed by state officials who have long struggled to effectively oversee the industry.Colorado has some of the weakest rules for funeral homes in the nation with no routine inspections or qualification requirements for funeral home operators.The operators of the Return to Nature Funeral Home didn’t pay their taxes, got evicted from one of their properties and got sued for unpaid bills by a crematory that quit doing business with them almost a year ago, according to public records and interviews.None of the problems appeared to attract the attention of regulators, who hadn’t even checked on the company after November when its state registration expired. That registration allowed Return to Nature Funeral Home to operate in the small town of Penrose where the bodies were found.Stricter regulations might no...

El joven israelíestadounidense que sobrevivió a un disparo en el ataque de Hamas, en el que murieron sus padres, dice a CNN que guardará la bala

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:53:31 GMT

(CNN) — “Mamá y papá sacrificaron sus vidas para salvarme”, expresó Rotem Matias, joven israelíestadounidense de 16 años, en una conversación con CNN este jueves.Los padres de Rotem, Deborah y Shlomi Matias, fueron asesinados por combatientes de Hamas en Israel. La madre de Rotem murió mientras intentaba protegerlo. A él le dispararon pero sobrevivió al ataque.“Ahora puedo caminar. Hace unos días, ni siquiera podía mantenerme de pie”, le relató Rotem a Poppy Harlow, de CNN. “Me extrajeron la bala del estómago mediante una cirugía y me encuentro mucho, mucho mejor”.Rotem aseguró que piensa conservar esa bala.Jóvenes israelíes de todo el mundo regresan a casa tras ataque de Hamas: “En realidad no hay otra opción”“Quería simplemente guardarla como un recuerdo para no olvidarlos nunca y acordarme de que, aunque fue el momento más duro y bajo de mi vida, encontré… alguna esperanza de que tal vez podría vivir y compartir lo...

Spain wins 25th straight qualifier at home to keep Scotland from clinching spot in Euro 2024

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:53:31 GMT

MADRID (AP) — Spain kept Scotland from becoming the first team to secure a place at the 2024 European Championship by beating the visitors 2-0 Thursday for its 25th consecutive home win in qualifiers.Scotland only needed a draw to clinch a spot at its second straight Euros and was still level at 0-0 after more than 70 minutes. But two late goals for Spain in Seville ended Scotland’s perfect qualifying record and kept first place in Group A up for grabs.Scotland still leads the group with 15 points, three more than Spain and five more than Norway, which won 4-0 at Cyprus with two goals by Erling Haaland. The top two from each group will qualify automatically for Euro 2024 in Germany.Israel was supposed to host Switzerland in Group I on Thursday, but its match was postponed until November because of the war with Hamas. Israel’s game at Kosovo scheduled for Sunday was also postponed. Israel is now due to play three qualifiers in the one-week international break next month designe...

Wales daring Argentina to beat them in Rugby World Cup quarterfinal

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:53:31 GMT

Every team came to the Rugby World Cup with a lofty goal.Some were overly ambitious — Australia.Some wanted respect — Italy.Some wanted to say they’re here — Chile.Every team stated they wanted to win one game at least.Except Wales.Wales came to France not with a determination to win, but a determination not to lose. The Welsh mantra is: We want to be hard to beat.Four teams have tried to beat them and four teams have failed. Next up is Argentina in the quarterfinals on Saturday in Marseille.Wales coach Warren Gatland says confidently, “We’re not ready to go home yet.”Most thought they would be home by now. Wales was in turmoil from the start of the year. Female employees accused the union of sexism and discrimination. Players threatened to strike over contracts. Wales won just once in the Six Nations. Alun Wyn Jones, Justin Tipuric and Rhys Webb retired unexpectedly. Team captain Ken Owens withdrew with another sore back. Gatland said if he’d known about all of th...

1 officer found guilty of homicide in Elijah McClain case, 2nd officer acquitted

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:53:31 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- A jury has returned a split verdict in the case against two Aurora police officers charged with Elijah McClain's death in 2019. One officer, Randy Roedema, was found guilty of criminally negligent reckless homicide and third-degree assault. The other officer, Jason Rosenblatt, was acquitted of all charges.The two were charged, along with three others, in 2021 after protests over the death of George Floyd spurred Gov. Jared Polis to direct the state's attorney general, Philip Weiser, to open a new investigation into McClain's death.BackgroundOn Aug. 24, 2019, officers stopped McClain while he was walking home from a convenience store. A 911 caller reported McClain, who was wearing a runner's mask and jacket and listening to music, and said he seemed "sketchy."Three officers approached McClain after he left the store and the situation quickly escalated. McClain was put in a neck hold by officers and pinned to the ground before he was injected with the sedative ketamin...

Denver weather: Pinpoint Weather Alert Day Friday for freeze watch

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:53:31 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Snow is falling in the high country on Thursday, and on Friday in the Denver weather forecast, the metro and eastern Colorado are on a freeze watch. Friday will be a Pinpoint Weather Alert Day with temperatures to drop below freezing at night.Prepare to protect your plants and pipes.Weather today: Cloudy, cooler, breezy, and mountain snowDenver and the Front Range will see cloudy skies and below-average highs in the upper 50s for most of Thursday. Colorado weather: Where will it snow this week? Light showers are possible after sunset and there might even be a few flakes in the city closer to midnight.Pinpoint Weather: Daily forecast on Oct. 12 Snow will continue to fall in the high country with brisk winds. A winter weather advisory is in effect through 6 a.m. Friday. Some 4 to 14 inches of snow accumulation and wind gusts up to 60 mph are possible.Pinpoint Weather: Advisories on Oct. 12 Weather tonight: Breezy as precipitation exitsAfter an early shower, rain and...