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Biden marks Memorial Day nearly 2 years after ending America's longest war, lauds troops' sacrifice

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 19:55:40 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden lauded the sacrifice of generations of U.S. troops who died fighting for their country as he marked Memorial Day with the traditional wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.Biden was joined by first lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and Harris’ husband, Douglas Emhoff, for the 155th National Memorial Day Observance. He had a moment of contemplation in front of the wreath, which was adorned with flowers and a red, white and blue bow, and then bowed his head in prayer.“We must never forget the price that was paid to protect our democracy,” Biden said later in an address at Memorial Amphitheater. "We must never forget the lives these flags, flowers and marble markers represent.””Every year we remember," he said. "And every year it never gets easier.”Monday's federal holiday honoring America's fallen service members came a day after Biden and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached final agreement on a deal that wo...

Goodwill Industries of South Florida empowers disabled individuals through flag-making operation

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 19:55:40 GMT

Goodwill Industries of South Florida, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing employment opportunities and skills training to individuals with disabilities or other barriers to work, offers a unique and inspiring tour of their flag-making operation. “People know us as Goodwill because of our stores and that’s great but we are so much more than our stores,” said Lourdes de la Mata-Little, chief marketing officer of Goodwill Industries of South Florida. “What you see here today are the flags that we manufacture here.”Located at their headquarters on 2125 N.W. 21st St., the facility is responsible for the production of 450 burial (or interment) flags daily, serving a vital role in honoring the service of those who have bravely served in the U.S. Armed Forces.“So once the person who served passes away, the flag that you see on the caskets are the flags that we produce right here,” said Mata-Little. “These flags are later folded int...

Greece heads to the polls again on June 25

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 19:55:40 GMT

ATHENS — Greece’s parliament was dissolved Monday, less than 24 hours after convening, paving the way for a new election on June 25.Under a decree signed by Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, caretaker Prime Minister Ioannis Sarmas and Cabinet ministers, the next parliament will convene on July 3.No party achieved an overall majority in the national election on May 21, which was held under a simple proportional representation system; there was no attempt to form a coalition.The conservative New Democracy party achieved a landslide victory, getting 40.79 percent of the vote — but that was not enough to form a single-party government.The next election will be contested under a different system that grants the winning party up to 50 bonus parliamentary seats; that gives the conservative New Democracy an edge to form a majority government.However, the number of parties that make it into parliament will be crucial to determining the makeup of the eventual majority. The more partie...

WATCH: Crews investigate ‘issue’ involving Deer Island wind turbine after object appears to fly off of blade

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 19:55:40 GMT

Public access to part of Deer Island was limited on Monday as crews responded to what officials are calling an “issue” involving a wind turbine.The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority said emergency crews and staff were on-site Monday morning, with pedestrian access to the area near the turbines being shut down “until the issue is resolved.”The announcement came after witnesses reached out to 7NEWS with footage of what appeared to be an object hanging off of a moving wind turbine blade that was later flung into the air. A witness said it was around 10:15 a.m. when they were travelling near the turbine and heard a noise that caused them to look up and see the object. The piece later flew off of the turbine, in what a witness described as a scene straight out of “Final Destination,” as they weren’t sure where it would land.No injuries were reported. Officials later taped off the public accessway that runs by the turbines as crews co...

Robbins: GOP’s race to the White House all about Trump

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 19:55:40 GMT

“If you can’t admire Joe Biden as a person,” Republican Senator Lindsay Graham once said, “you’ve got a problem. You need to do some self-evaluation, because what’s not to like? He’s as good a man as God ever created.”That was back when Lindsay Graham had credibility. Those were also the days when he described Donald Trump as a “nut job,” “a loser as a person” and “ill-suited to be president.”Graham was of course right about both Biden and Trump. But that was before his sad servility to Trump led him to assist Trump in trying to overthrow the 2020 Georgia election – assistance which may lead him to be indicted this August.Graham is far from the only national Republican to continue to cower before Trump, too intimidated by Mar-a-Lago’s Classified Document Collector-in-Chief to cross him and risk being insulted. As the 2024 election season gets underway, and the Republican case against Biden is that he has an arthritic spine, an occasional stutter and a son with a former addiction pro...

Biden gives message to grieving families on Memorial Day

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 19:55:40 GMT

The nation must never forget the price members of the military paid to protect the United States’ democracy, President Joe Biden said at his Memorial Day Address Monday morning.These remarks came after Biden participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington, Virginia.“We must never forget the lives these flags, flowers and marble markers represent,” Biden said. “A mother, a father, a son, a daughter, a sister, a spouse, a friend and American. Every year we remember, and every year it never gets easier.”Biden’s late son, Beau, was a major at an Army National Guard unit deployed to Iraq in 2008. On Tuesday, the day after Memorial Day, it will be eight years since Beau Biden's death from cancer. Although Biden acknowledged in his speech that his son did not die on the battlefield, the president said he and first lady Jill Biden take pride in Beau Biden's service.  A shattered soldier’s last act was protecting those he loved “I can stil...

Woman, 26, suspected of DUI in head-on crash

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 19:55:40 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A 26-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence Sunday in Sorrento Valley after a head-on crash left another person with life-threatening injuries, police say.Shortly before 9 p.m., the woman was driving a Ford Transit van eastbound in the westbound lanes of Mira Mesa Boulevard and collided with a Honda Civic, San Diego police said. The woman had internal injuries and police arrested her on a felony DUI charge, police said. 3-year-old fatally struck by car in Chula Vista The other driver, a 42-year-old man, suffered minor cuts on his arms and complained of hip and back pain. His passenger, a 44-year-old woman, suffered a punctured liver, stomach bleeding and multiple rib fractures. Her injuries were considered life-threatening.SDPD's traffic division was investigating the crash.

Pledged fund to support Rohingya refugees is grossly insufficient, U.N. says

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 19:55:40 GMT

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh should not bear the burden of more than 1 million Rohingya refugees alone while the agencies of the United Nations are facing challenges to feed them, an official of the United Nations said Monday.Olivier De Schutter, a U.N. special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, made the statement after ending a 12-day trip to Bangladesh, where he visited camps sheltering the refugees from Myanmar. He said the response from the international community to support the refugees against the fund needed is “grossly insufficient.”About $876 million are needed to support the community for a year, but only 17% of that has been pledged to date, he said, calling it “scandalous” at a news conference in Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka.“Bangladesh should not be left to shoulder the burden of the presence of the refugees on its own. These (U.N.) agencies should be much better supported in their work,” De Schutter said.He said the World Food Program has been forced...

More than half of GTA condo investors losing money on properties: report

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 19:55:40 GMT

TORONTO — Last year marked the first time that more than half of investors in newly-completed Greater Toronto Area condos were losing money on their rental properties, and authors of the report that reached that conclusion expect the trend to persist. The research from the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and real estate research firm Urbanation found 48 per cent of leveraged condo investors who bought pre-construction units to rent out were cash flow positive in 2022.For the majority of investors, rent generated by newly-completed units was lower than mortgage costs, condo fees and property taxes.“This marks a meaningful shift that may potentially signal that a change in investor behaviour is on the horizon,” CIBC’s Benjamin Tal and Urbanation’s Shaun Hildebrand said in their report released Monday.They say they expect the shift toward negative cash flow to worsen in the years ahead as increasingly expensive new condos presold to investors in the past few ...

Poland imposes sanctions on 365 Belarusians over ‘draconian’ verdict against journalist

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 19:55:40 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland imposed sanctions Monday on 365 Belarusian citizens and froze the financial assets of 20 entities and 16 other people associated with Russian capital in reaction to what it condemned as a “draconian” verdict against a journalist. Under the sanctions announced by Poland’s Interior Ministry, the 365 Belarusians will be barred from entering the Schengen area, an area of visa-free travel in Europe. The group includes lawmakers, judges, prosecutors, members of state media, athletes and people working for state enterprises.The move is the latest development amid a tense relationship between Poland, a member of NATO and the European Union, and Belarus, a country on its northeastern border that is allied with Russia and led by an authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko, who has held power since 1994.“These people promoted the Belarusian regime and were also involved in legitimizing and supporting the repressive policy of the authorities in Minsk. The...