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Stay in Israel, or flee? Thai workers caught up in Hamas attack and war are faced with a dilemma

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:19:42 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — When Hamas militants stormed into Israeli villages and towns along the border of the blockaded Gaza Strip last month, many Thai migrant agricultural workers shared the fate of hundreds of Israelis who were killed, kidnapped or forced to run for their lives. Since that day nearly a month ago, more than 7,000 of some 30,000 Thais working in Israel have returned home on government evacuation flights. But many others have decided to stay, choosing to take the risk for the opportunity to earn wages far higher than at home.Thailand reports that at least 23 Thais are believed to have been abducted by Hamas, which rules Gaza. It’s the largest single group of foreigners held by the militant group. Many more may be missing and 32 have been reported killed. In a visceral illustration of the fate met by some, Israel’s U.N. envoy drew a rebuke from Thailand’s Foreign Ministry after showing the General Assembly a video last week of what he said was a Hamas fighter...

Migrant shelter conditions in Denver have some wanting to leave sooner

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:19:42 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Hundreds of migrants are being discharged from city-funded shelters in Denver, but many others are still living in them.Many migrants FOX31 has spoken to are desperate to get out on their own and earn a living without breaking the law. One mother, Abdiel Araujo, has a 10-month-old baby, and her family has days left in a shelter. Denver shutting down another migrant hotel shelter as crisis continues Araujo came to Denver with her husband and child. The three have been living in a shelter, but her experience has her wanting a new life — one that won't be easy to get."I would prefer to leave the shelter sooner rather than later," Araujo said.Abdiel Araujo stands next to tents where she and her family could soon be living after they are dismissed from city-funded shelters. (Rogelio Mares, KDVR)The other option is finding a job, earning a living and moving into a home, something Araujo and her family are eager to do."I'd love to move into an apartment or a house, but th...

Photos: Denver Nuggets drop new City Edition uniforms

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:19:42 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- Along with the new season comes new uniforms for the Denver Nuggets. The team left a special spot for the Mile High City this year.The Nuggets tweeted the new uniforms on Thursday morning. The uniform stays mostly navy, but the front of the jersey features "5280" across the chest. Photos: 40 years of Nuggets jerseys 2023-2024 Nuggets' uniforms (Courtesy of the Denver Nuggets)2023-2024 Nuggets' uniforms (Courtesy of the Denver Nuggets)2023-2024 Nuggets' uniforms (Courtesy of the Denver Nuggets)The "5280" is positioned where the numbers used to be. This year, the biggest number on the front is dedicated to Denver, with the individual player's number on the top right in a small format.Wrapping around the entire uniform is a silhouette of the mountains.The National Basketball Association attributed this uniform to the team, players and city being intertwined."5280 is more than a measurement – it is a number woven into the culture and fabric of Denver," wrote the NBA.I...

Behind the Badge: 3 Black female police chiefs from Miami-Dade share their stories

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:19:42 GMT

Miami-Dade County is the first in the state of Florida to have four Black female police chiefs. Now we’re meeting the women “Behind the Badge.” 7’s Karen Hensel has this special assignment report.They are all Black, all women, and they are all top cops — a triple combo that puts Miami-Dade County on the map.But who are the powerful women behind the badges? We sat down with three of them.Karen Hensel: “I’m curious, have you guys all met?”Interim Director Stephanie Daniels, Miami-Dade Police: “Oh, yeah, we are very good friends.”Meet Chief Cherise Gause of the North Miami Police Department.Karen Hensel: “So you’re the first Haitian American chief. In the country?”Chief Cherise Gause: “Yes, so we’re told, yes.”Chief Gause started her career as a dispatcher with the city of Miami.Chief Harvette Smith started as a secretary in the 90’s at the North Miami Beach Police Department, where sh...

Britain’s COVID-19 inquiry exposes the rot at the heart of Whitehall

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:19:42 GMT

LONDON — Everyone knew the British state had problems. This week revealed just how deep the rot goes.Britain’s public inquiry into the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic stepped up a gear this week, with a procession of key witnesses taking the stand who were at the heart of the U.K. government in 2020. The punchy oral testimony — and sweary WhatsApp messages — of Dominic Cummings, the former No. 10 Downing Street adviser turned arch enemy of Boris Johnson, grabbed all the headlines, as he attacked his old boss while struggling to account for his own crude and abusive language. But it was Cummings’ long, incisive written statement to the inquiry, along with the testimony of a former top civil servant, Helen MacNamara, which contained the starkest home truths for the British state.“I think we are absolutely fucked. I think the country is heading for a disaster. I think we are going to kill thousands,” MacNamara was revealed to have told colleagues in March 2020...

As the Middle East strains, fears of extremism rise

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:19:42 GMT

Jamie Dettmer is opinion editor at POLITICO Europe.Here we go again. From London to Berlin, Rome to Paris, security agencies are on edge, warning Europe’s governments to get ready for a resurgence of Islamist terrorism.Turmoil in the Middle East routinely heralds a jump in extremist activity across the Continent, and counterterrorism bosses are busy ramping up surveillance and increasing precautionary measures as fears of a possible wave of future attacks start to rise.FBI Director Christopher Wray joined in a chorus of alarm coming from security chiefs this week, telling a United States Senate committee that the terror threat has been raised to a “whole other level” because of ongoing conflict in the region. “We assess that the actions of Hamas and its allies will serve as an inspiration, the likes of which we haven’t seen since ISIS launched its so-called caliphate several years ago,” he said.And according to security analysts POLITICO spoke to, the biggest threat curr...

Great British ideas: Chocolate as a weapon, curing COVID with a hairdryer — and eating camel penis

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:19:42 GMT

Welcome to Declassified, a weekly humor column.So much for Swiss neutrality.This week a man in Scotland used a personalized Toblerone bar to beat someone over the head during a robbery linked to the theft of £1.2 million worth of cryptocurrency (remember crypto? It was huge in 2021 among all the worst people).I’m not a criminal mastermind (honest, officer) but pretty sure that having a weapon with your name on it isn’t the greatest move when trying to commit a violent robbery. You could, however, eat the evidence.Many people would describe Boris Johnson’s time as British prime minister as criminal, but calling him a mastermind feels a step too far. This week there were several explosive revelations about Johnson during the U.K.’s coronavirus inquiry, including that he asked scientists if COVID-19 could be killed by blowing a hairdryer up your nose. Britain’s chief medical officer, Vidal Sassoon, was unavailable for comment.The claim about Johnson was ma...

Ukrainian politicians urge Europe to stick with them after Meloni alleges war fatigue

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:19:42 GMT

Senior Ukrainian politicians appealed to Europe to not abandon the country after the Italian prime minister unintentionally disclosed during a prank call that European leaders were growing weary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine after the country’s unconvincing counteroffensive. “I see that there is a lot of fatigue … from all the sides,” Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said to two Russian comedians, pretending to be the president of the African Union in a hoax call, which was made public on Wednesday. “We [are] near the moment in which everybody understands that we need a way out.” Ukrainian politicians told POLITICO its soldiers are fighting for European values and warned of appeasing Russia. Oleksandr Merezhko, сhairman of the Ukrainian parliamentary committee on foreign policy, said that he was aware of some who support making concessions to Russian President Vladimir Putin and are waiting to speak about it at the right moment.Abandoning Ukraine, he said, “would cos...

Sunak the influencer: How the UK’s AI summit surprised the skeptics

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:19:42 GMT

BLETCHLEY PARK, England — As Rishi Sunak lined up for a photo-op at Bletchley Park on Thursday alongside world leaders and tech execs while the sky drizzled outside, you could forgive him for feeling smug.In the weeks and months leading up to the summit, the British PM had faced a barrage of criticism over the event: Rights campaigners didn’t like the laser focus on unrealized catastrophic risks; diplomats grumbled it risked taking away from existing initiatives, like at the G7.But as the curtain closed on the two-day summit at Bletchley Park, the home of the U.K.’s World War II codebreakers, it was difficult to see this as anything other than a coup for Britain’s under-fire leader.By the time proceedings were wrapping up on a drab Thursday evening, he’d managed to get almost 30 countries — including the U.S. and China — to sign a shared communiqué outlining the risks, set up a new global network of AI researchers, and secured a landmark agreement to allow governments to get under t...

North Korea sends Putin tons of ammo. Europe can’t do the same for Ukraine

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:19:42 GMT

In the race to arm allies, North Korea has beaten the EU to a million artillery shells.Despite pledging to support Ukraine with a million rounds of ammunition within a year to help it beat back Russia’s invasion, the EU’s weapons manufacturers are nowhere near the kind of output needed to hit that target by March.“I’m also very worried about the production of ammunition,” Estonia’s Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, who first proposed the target, said on the sidelines of last week’s EU leaders summit. “The promise that we have given to Ukraine to deliver 1 million artillery rounds … this is behind.”Meanwhile, North Korea is shipping vast amounts of ammunition to Russia; a South Korean lawmaker reckons Pyongyang has already sent a million shells. South Korea’s National Intelligence Service told lawmakers at a closed-door parliamentary audit on Wednesday that North Korea had made at least 10 arms transfers to Russia since August.​​“North ...