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National Geographic announces 2024 ‘cool list’

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:31:18 GMT

(CNN) — National Geographic Traveller has published a roster of 30 places and experiences comprising its 2024 ‘cool list.’About half the list is in Europe, including areas as diverse as the ruins of Pompeii and the mountains of Albania, which the magazine dubs “Europe’s rising star.”But whether you prefer exploring a major world city, traveling for a sporting event or getting away from it all in a remote paradise, there’s a nice mix here for just about every kind of explorer.City breaksFor great food, museums and nightlife, head to some of the cities featured on National Geographic’s list.Among those getting recognition are Xi’an, China, which is best known for the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Terracotta Warriors and Lima, Peru, which has become one of the world’s most acclaimed food destinations.Meanwhile, Tainan, Taiwan’s original capital, will be marking its 400th anniversary in 2024, which provides a good excuse to check out its eel noodles, turkey rice, tofu pudding a...

Starbucks is handing out pay hikes and new benefits. But some are only for non-union workers

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:31:18 GMT

New York (CNN) — Starbucks employees are getting more pay and new benefits, but some are only going to baristas that haven’t unionized. A National Labor Relations Board judge previously found that similar moves by Starbucks violate federal labor law, with the company appealing the decision.The question of which workers get what perks and benefits has been one part of a bitter fight between Starbucks and union organizers across the country. Since the first location voted to unionize nearly two years ago, Starbucks has fought aggressively against the union drive. The NLRB has said that in some cases, the company engaged in illegal practices, with Starbucks refuting these claims.As of mid-October, nearly 360 stores had voted in favor of a union, with the results certified by the NLRB. About 70 voted against, with those results certified. There are roughly 9,300 company-operated Starbucks locations in the United States.The latest round of new benefits, including wage increases, was anno...

South Florida dentist convicted in 2014 slaying of his former brother-in-law, a prominent professor

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:31:18 GMT

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A jury on Monday convicted a South Florida dentist of murder in the shooting death of his former brother-in-law, a prominent professor outside his Tallahassee home in 2014 following a bitter custody battle with the dentist’s sister.The verdict signaled jurors believed the prosecutors’ contentions that the defendant, Charles Adelson, paid to have Florida State University law professor Dan Markel killed that year.Adelson was convicted of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and solicitation of first-degree murder, The Tallahassee Democrat reported after jurors returned their verdict Monday afternoon.Markel’s parents, Ruth and Phil Markel, and his sister, Shelly Markel, attended much of the trial and spoke to a group of reporters after Monday’s verdict.“This has been a really long and terrible ordeal for all of us,” Shelly Markel said. “It’s taken a long toll on our lives. And there’s a real sense of relief today.”Adelson’s sister...

Portuguese PM António Costa resigns amid corruption probe

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:31:18 GMT

Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa submitted his resignation Tuesday after police raided his official residence and the country’s attorney general confirmed he was being investigated under a corruption probe. During a televised news conference, Costa said he was “surprised” to learn that “a criminal case has already been or will be initiated against me,” and insisted he’d had nothing to do with any “illicit or reprehensible act.”Costa said the gravity of the charges driving his investigation are “incompatible with the dignity of the office of prime minister,” making it impossible for him to continue in the post. Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa will now have to decide whether to dissolve parliament and call new elections, or choose a new prime minister from Costa’s Socialist Party. The office of the presidency confirmed that party leaders will be summoned to meet Wednesday, with the Council of State, ...

So much for strategic autonomy: EU pays Elon Musk €180M to launch its satellites

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:31:18 GMT

SEVILLE, Spain — The European Commission keeps banging on about strategic autonomy, but it’s had to sign a €180 million deal with SpaceX to get its satellites into orbit because Europe’s own rocket program has stalled.Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton told POLITICO he agreed to turn to Elon Musk’s space company — with whom he’s recently sparred on digital policy due to his ownership of X (formerly Twitter) — because Europe’s Ariane 6 launcher is very delayed.“We have four satellites to launch next year,” Breton said on the sidelines of a ministerial meeting in Seville on Tuesday. “And given that Ariane 6 is still not going to be available, I accepted a proposal from the European Space Agency to use SpaceX.”The launches are tentatively scheduled to take place in April and July, with each one carrying two Galileo geo-navigation satellites into orbit, he said.As POLITICO first reported in April, the Commission has been lookin...

Worker dies of injuries after electrocution in Cambridge

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:31:18 GMT

Police in Cambridge say a worker died of their injuries Tuesday morning after an incident involving an electrocution.The Cambridge Police Department said its officers found the worker while responding to Bent Street, after responding to the AT&T building for a “call involving an electrocution,” according to a department spokesperson.“CPR was performed and the patient was transported to a hospital and did not survive their injuries,” the official stated in a news release.This is a developing story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest updates.

At least 7 civilians killed and 20 others wounded after a minibus exploded in the Afghan capital

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:31:18 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A minibus exploded in a mostly Shiite Muslim neighborhood in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, killing at least seven civilians and wounding 20 others, authorities said Tuesday.Police spokesman, Khalid Zadran, said the blast took place in the west part of the city in Dashti Barchi area.The cause of the explosion remained unknown, but police has launched an investigation, Zadran said.No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but affiliates of the Islamic State group have targeted in the past Shiite schools, hospitals and mosques in the same area.IS and other militant groups have been waging a campaign of violence since the Taliban took power in August 2021.The Associated Press

Migration experts say Italy’s deal to have Albania house asylum-seekers violates international law

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:31:18 GMT

MILAN (AP) — Migration experts and activists on Tuesday panned an agreement between Italy and Albania that would direct thousands of migrants to the Balkan nation while their asylum applications are under review, arguing the deal would potentially violate international law. The exact workings of the arrangement announced Monday as Albania’s leader visited Rome were still unknown, but it recalls a similar move by Denmark to locate asylum-seekers in Africa that was later put on hold. The European Commission, which supervises the application of European Union laws, suggested the deal could prove problematic if Italy sends migrants found in the EU’s territorial waters to a non-EU nation. It left a door open for the agreement if it is applied to migrants who were picked up in international waters.“If you have a vessel within the territory, then you have the asylum procedure recommendation, which applies,’’ European Commission spokesperson Anitta Hipper told reporters in Brussels. T...

Kidal mayor says 14 people dead in northern Mali after series of drone strikes near rebel stronghold

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:31:18 GMT

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — A series of drone strikes around the town of Kidal in northern Mali have killed at least 14 people in the rebel stronghold, the town’s mayor said Tuesday.Kidal Mayor Arbakane Ag Abzayack told The Associated Press that the town’s deputy mayor and a local councillor were among the victims.Residents say victims of the first drone strike Tuesday included children who had gathered in front of the former U.N. peacekeeping camp that was vacated a week ago. A second strike hit near an auction site. The Malian army has not commented on the attacks, but a few days ago it announced that it had used drones to target terrorist positions in the former U.N. base in Kidal.Violence is again spiking between ethnic Tuareg rebels and Mali’s military, prompting the U.N. to move up its departure once planned for mid-November.Analysts say the violence signals the breakdown of a 2015 peace agreement signed between the government and the rebels. That deal was signed after Tua...

Voters are heading to polling places in the Maine city where 18 were killed

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:31:18 GMT

LEWISTON, Maine (AP) — Less than two weeks after 18 people were killed by a gunman in their small New England city, residents headed gingerly to polling places Tuesday.The mood was somber as several shooting survivors remained hospitalized and funerals were being held this week for those who died in the attack.Citing civic duty and a quest to return the community to normal life, Lewiston residents turned out to vote in several high-profile referendums and local races.“This is a necessity. We have to do this. So we can’t neglect it even though we’ve been through a terrible tragedy,” said James Scribner, 79, a retired teacher and Marine veteran, who was joined by his wife at local school that was transformed into a polling place.The shootings on Oct. 25 at a bar and a bowling alley in Lewiston forced tens of thousands of residents to shelter in place for several days. Grocery stores, gas stations and restaurants were closed. The gunman was later found dead from a self-inflicted gunsho...