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Spring break travel: Expect crowded beaches, uptick in international trips

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:12 GMT

Students from all D.C. area school systems will get a well-deserved spring break in April. If you plan on taking your kids for a trip, expect busy airports and packed beaches.Unsurprisingly, shorelines will be mobbed as beaches in Florida and Hawaii are the top domestic destination for the 50 million students that are traveling for spring break across the country according to the U.S. Travel Association.More Lifestyle NewsMore Travel NewsMany Americans will also take their kids on more urban sightseeing trips. New Orleans, Nashville, New York City — and even the gambling mecca of Las Vegas — are trending as destinations this year. (That trip will likely be more for the parents than the kids.)Parents are also looking to take advantage of the U.S. dollar and bring new cultures to their kids. International travel is seeing increased demand, which comes amid decreased health concerns and significantly reduced pandemic-era restrictions.Wherever your travel to, it will not be cheap becaus...

Arrestan a una madre que habría secuestrado a sus hijas en escuela de Stafford

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:12 GMT

Una madre está bajo custodia después de secuestrar a sus dos hijas de 6 años el martes de una escuela primaria del condado de Stafford, Virginia, informaron las autoridades.Las niñas fueron encontradas a salvo, indicó la oficina del alguacil del condado Stafford el miércoles temprano.La Policía Estatal de Virginia emitió una Alerta Amber el martes por la tarde después de que Rosa Lecretia Gregg recogiera a las niñas de la Escuela Primaria Stafford, a pesar de una orden de protección activa. Sin embargo, la escuela afirmó que no tenían conocimiento de la orden de protección.Las niñas se enfrentaron a un peligro extremo, según la Policía Estatal de Virginia. Gregg fue buscada por dos cargos de secuestro parental.Las autoridades creían que el trío viajaba hacia Rocky Mount, Carolina del Norte, en un Chevrolet Camaro negro con placas de Virginia.No está claro dónde o cómo fueron ubicados.La Oficina del Alguacil del Condado Stafford dice que proporcionará más actualizaciones más tarde el...

Doherty High School closes after deadly crash involving student

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:12 GMT

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KXRM) — Doherty High School will be closed for the rest of the day Wednesday and parents are asked to pick up students at the east lot after a deadly crash on Barnes Road involved a student, according to Devra Ashby, the chief communications officer for Colorado Springs School District 11.D11 released a statement just before 9 a.m. on Wednesday stating, "It is with great sadness we relay that one student was hit on Barnes Road and has passed away." Suspect at large after attempting to run over deputy, patrol cars The statement continued to read that the impact of the news may be difficult for some students and that crisis counselors would be available for the rest of the week to help students and staff members.The Colorado Springs Police Department tweeted about the crash just after 8 a.m. and stated that the eastbound lanes of Barnes Road were closed at Austin Bluffs Parkway due to a crash investigation. CSPD also confirmed to FOX21 that the closure was d...

Police: 5 dead, including three kids, at South Carolina home

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:12 GMT

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A former soldier shot and killed an active duty member of the U.S. Army and three children at a home in South Carolina before killing himself, officials said Wednesday.Two U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing criminal investigation, confirmed the information on the military affiliation of the two dead men.The three children and two men were found shot and killed on White Trail Circle in Sumter around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sumter police said in a news release. One of the men was believed to be the shooter, police said. There was no apparent threat to the public and police continued to investigate, police said.The deaths were four killings and a suicide, Sumter County Coroner Robbie Baker said Wednesday morning. A witness to shootings was able to tell investigators what happened, Baker said.It may be Thursday before the names of all the people killed are released because at least one involved is in the military, Baker said.“It w...

Macron digs in despite protests, stands by ‘no-alternative’ pensions reform

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:12 GMT

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron stood by his deeply unpopular pensions reform in his first TV appearance since a controversial decision last week to force through the legislation.“Some don’t want to face reality, it’s not a luxury, it’s not a pleasure, [the reform] is a necessity for our country. Some gloss over it and don’t want to face the constraints of reality,” he told France 2 and TF1 TV channels Wednesday.The French president also lashed out at opposition parties who he said would rather create more deficits as a “magic formula” to avoid taking tough decisions. Macron wants to raise the retirement age to 64 from 62, and extend contributions to get a full pension, in a bid to balance the books. According to projections from France’s Council of Pensions Planning, the finances of the pensions system are balanced in the short term but will go into deficit in the long term.The French government is under fire from opposition parties, trad...

And the cocaine consumption capital of Europe is … Antwerp

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:12 GMT

Antwerp is flush with cocaine — at least, according to its toilet water. People living in Belgium’s second city top the table for cocaine consumption in Europe, according to an analysis published on Wednesday by the EU drugs agency (EMCDDA) and SCORE group, which evaluated wastewater from around 54 million people last year in over 100 participating European cities.The volume of cocaine residue was highest on Mondays, reflecting that — in Antwerp at least — the drug is most heavily used on Sundays and Mondays. Since 2018, cocaine use has shown a steep upward trend in the city, only interrupted by a slight dip in 2020, and more than doubling in the last two years.And, at an average of 2,381 milligrams detected per 1,000 people per day, it far outstrips the next two heaviest-use cities: Tarragona, at 1,610 mg and Amsterdam, at 1,142 mg.But in Antwerp, cocaine is an issue both in what’s left in its port-a-potties and in its port. Last year, Belgian authorities seized a ...

Normally bustling Brussels stills to mark terrorist attacks

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:12 GMT

BRUSSELS — Silence fell over the typically noisy and crowded European quarter.Replacing the usual routine of busy Eurocrats rushing to and fro through the Schuman neighborhood, a litany of chrysanthemums, black hats and plastic umbrellas formed a solemn procession for about half and hour, laying wreaths on the memorial of the 32 victims of the Brussels terror attacks. Silence during the ceremony was punctuated by the drab sound of a boiler in a nearby garage and an accompanying orchestra playing classical symphonies, including the Belgian anthem and the European one.On Tuesday, Brussels commemorated the victims of the coordinated terror attacks at the Zaventem international airport and the Maelbeek metro station, which claimed 32 lives on March 22, 2016.To mark the seventh anniversary, the Belgian government brought together those who will never forget that day.“I try not to think about that day, in my mind it is like a closed drawer which I rarely open,” said a firefighter who was ...

MPs pass key part of Rishi Sunak’s Northern Ireland Brexit deal amid Tory rebellion

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:12 GMT

LONDON — A key part of Rishi Sunak’s Northern Ireland Brexit deal has sailed through the House of Commons despite a small Conservative rebellion.The House of Commons voted 515 to 29 in favor of the plan, after the opposition Labour, Scottish National Party and Liberal Democrats also voted to support the so-called Stormont Brake — a part of the U.K.-EU Windsor Framework that aims to fix issues with the post-Brexit Northern Ireland protocol.Twenty-two Conservative MPs — including former prime ministers Liz Truss and Boris Johnson — voted against the proposal. However, Commons records show 48 other Tories either abstained or were excused from the vote.The Stormont Brake is intended to allow the currently-deadlocked Northern Ireland Assembly to object to new EU regulations set to apply in the region — a key concern for Northern Irish unionists who do not want to be separated further from the rest of the U.K.The eight MPs from Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) also...

Two people taken to hospital after fire in senior housing complex in Maynard

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:12 GMT

At least two people were taken to the hospital Wednesday after a fire broke out in a senior public housing complex in Maynard.Officials said approximately eight residents were also displaced.The fire started at the complex on Powder Mill Road around 6:30 a.m., according to a statement from Maynard Fire Chief Angela Lawless.Lawless said crews soon arrived at the scene to find heavy smoke and fire coming from the second floor of the complex. The fire eventually grew to three alarms, prompting mutual aid from multiple area emergency departments.Firefighters were able to confine the fire to one side of the building, Lawless said, before bringing it under control around 7:40 a.m.Police initially asked drivers to avoid nearby Powder Mill Road. Police later announced the road had reopened just after 9 a.m.Lawless said one resident was taken to an area hospital with what appeared to be non-life-threatening injuries. A Maynard firefighter was also taken to the hospital, according to Lawless,...

Ukraine: Russia hits apartments and dorm, killing civilians

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:12 GMT

By HANNA ARHIROVA (Associated Press)KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia stepped up its missile and drone attacks against Ukraine on Wednesday, killing students and other civilians, in a violent follow-up to dueling high-level diplomatic missions aimed at bringing peace after 13 months of war.“Russia is shelling the city with bestial savagery,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote in a Telegram post accompanying video showing what he said was a Russian missile striking a nine-story apartment building on a busy road in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia. “Residential areas where ordinary people and children live are being fired at.”At least one person was killed in the attack shown in the Zaporizhzhia video, apparently recorded by closed circuit TV cameras. Elsewhere, Moscow’s forces launched exploding drones before dawn, killing seven people in or near a student dormitory near Kyiv.Ukrainian media showed charred apartments and flames billowing on several...