Eight hospitalized after attempted balloon drop at Peabody family fun center knocked over display, which fell about 12ft
Ten people were injured when a Lego display collapsed on to a crowd at an arcade center in Massachusetts, police said.
Peabody police said the incident took place on Tuesday at the In the Game family fun center when “a display was pulled down by balloons attached to it, causing it to fall”.
Continue reading...It took nine days to identify Debrina Kawam, 61, of Toms River, New Jersey, after she burned to death in Brooklyn
The woman who was set on fire in a subway car in New York on 22 December, horrifying New Yorkers and renewing a debate over city safety, has been identified as 61-year-old Debrina Kawam, of Toms River, New Jersey.
The victim’s identity, released by the New York police department, came nine days after the fatal incident. Investigators had previously said they were using forensics and video surveillance to identify the victim.
Continue reading...Despite Donald Trump’s endorsement, Johnson is facing criticism for his handling of the government budget battle
A senior Texas Republican congressman has said that the House speaker, Mike Johnson, does not yet have the votes to be re-elected to the speakership ahead of an election to be held later this week.
Representative Chip Roy told Fox Business’s Varney & Co that he was undecided on supporting the Louisiana Republican, despite Donald Trump issuing a full-throated endorsement of Johnson on Monday.
Continue reading...Nearly one in four doctors say the practice of prior authorization has led to serious issues for patients
In the wake of the killing of Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, and the outpouring of frustration about insurance coverage, prior authorizations have emerged as a particular roadblock in healthcare.
Prior authorization requires medical providers to get an insurer’s approval before patients receive healthcare or medications.
Continue reading...Company’s share price has risen twentyfold after it changed its strategy to become first ‘bitcoin treasury company’
In the summer of 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic upended economies around the world, an obscure US software firm decided to diversify. MicroStrategy, whose head office is situated next to a shopping mall and metro station in Tysons Corner, Virginia, had decided the steady business of “software as a service” was not racy enough.
Instead, it would branch out by investing up to $250m in alternative assets – “stocks, bonds, commodities such as gold, digital assets such as bitcoin or other asset types”.
Continue reading...Claims a Chinese state-sponsored actor was behind breach this month are ‘groundless’, says foreign ministry
Beijing has hit back at accusations that a China state-sponsored actor was behind a cyber breach at the US treasury department, calling the claims “groundless”.
The breach was orchestrated via a third-party cybersecurity service provider. Hackers were able to gain access to a key used by the vendor to override certain parts of the system, according to a letter the treasury department sent to lawmakers on Monday.
Continue reading...A senior US official said the president needed a ‘dose of reality’ to deal with Iraqi insurgents, documents reveal
Tony Blair’s advisers privately questioned if the US had “proper political control” of military operations in Iraq after a senior US official confided that George W Bush believed he was on a “mission from God” against Iraqi insurgents, newly released documents reveal.
Blair needed to “deliver some difficult messages” to the then US president for a “more measured approach” in April 2004, following a US military operation to suppress a major uprising in the city of Falluja, according to papers released to the National Archives in Kew, west London.
Continue reading...Aubrey Vanlandingham charged with animal cruelty after reportedly confessing to force-feeding pesticide to goat
A Texas teenager has been charged with animal cruelty after she was accused of using pesticide to poison and kill a rival’s competition show goat.
Authorities allege that Aubrey Vanlandingham, 17, used a drench gun to force-feed toxic pesticide to the goat, named Willie, at a barn at the Vista Ridge high school in Cedar Park in October.
Continue reading...State funeral to be held for former president on national day of mourning before he is buried next to wife in Plains
Jimmy Carter, the former US president who died at age 100 on Sunday, will be honored with a state funeral before being laid to rest in his hometown of Plains, Georgia, next to his wife, Rosalynn.
The state funeral for Carter will be held in Washington DC on Thursday, 9 January. The date has also been declared a national day of mourning in the United States.
Continue reading...Letter allegedly written by US official shows contradictions in how government handled mysterious health incidents
A leaked letter purportedly written by a senior US military official and published on social media on Monday highlights stark contradictions in the government’s approach to victims of Havana syndrome – a mysterious series of health incidents affecting personnel at embassies and consulates overseas.
The letter, dated 24 March 2024 and signed by air force Brig Gen Shannon O’Harren, reassures victims of the “anomalous health incidents” (AHIs) that the defense department believed that their experiences and symptoms were real while promising them quality healthcare that never came.
Continue reading...Ian Cramer, 43, son of North Dakota senator Kevin Cramer, sentenced over incident last year in which he fled hospital
The adult son of the Republican North Dakota US senator Kevin Cramer has been sentenced to serve 28 years in prison in connection with a wild chase in which he fled from a hospital and drove into a deputy’s vehicle, killing the deputy.
Ian Cramer, 43, pleaded guilty in September to all of the charges against him, including homicide while fleeing a peace officer, preventing arrest, reckless endangerment, fleeing an officer and drug- and driving-related offenses. Those charges related to the chase and crash in December last year that killed the Mercer county sheriff’s deputy Paul Martin, 53.
Continue reading...President-elect gives ‘total endorsement’ amid discontent among fellow Republicans with speaker’s leadership
Donald Trump has endorsed Mike Johnson for another term as speaker of the House of Representatives, following intense speculation that the Louisiana congressman could face a challenge amid unhappiness with his leadership among fellow Republicans.
The president-elect – whose own continued support had appeared uncertain – trumpeted his backing in a social media post that appeared to assure Johnson’s re-election speaker after the new Congress is sworn in on Friday.
Continue reading...After death of former US president at age 100, leaders from the UK, Ukraine, Australia, Egypt and France have spoken of his enduring commitment to peace
World leaders have reacted to news that former US President Jimmy Carter, who as president brokered peace between Israel and Egypt and later received the Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian work, has died at age 100.
As politicians inside the US remembered a giant, UN secretary general António Guterres said “he played a key role in conflict mediation, election monitoring, the promotion of democracy, and disease prevention and eradication. These and other efforts earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 and helped advance the work of the United Nations.”
Continue reading...The ex-president died as Biden, a fellow one-term president heads for the door and chaos agent Trump returns to power
Early in Mike Bartlett’s 2022 stage play, The 47th, the funeral of former US president Jimmy Carter is held at Washington National Cathedral. Joe Biden, Barack Obama, George W Bush and Bill Clinton are all in attendance. Donald Trump is not invited but turns up anyway – and late. “He’s here to pay his disrespects, and use / A funeral for self-promotion,” Kamala Harris observes.
Life – or rather death – is about to imitate art as Washington prepares to bid farewell to Carter, who died at home in Georgia on Sunday at the age of 100. He was the longest-lived president in US history and the first Democratic president to die since Lyndon Johnson more than half a century ago.
Continue reading...Democrats and Republicans commemorate former US president after his death at age of 100
After news broke that Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States, died on Sunday at 100 years old, many fellow politicians, friends, and family members spoke out in remembrance of the longest-lived president in US history.
Chip Carter, the former president’s son, called his father a “hero, not only to me but to everyone who believes in peace, human rights, and unselfish love”, in a statement.
Continue reading...Team from NTSB, FAA and manufacturer Boeing to assist investigation of Jeju Air crash that killed 179
The US is sending air accident investigators to South Korea to help determine what went wrong with the Jeju Air plane that crash-landed at Muan airport and skidded into a barrier early on Sunday, killing 179.
The team of investigators includes the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Boeing, which manufactured the 17-year-old aircraft.
Continue reading...Mike Lawler says Mike Johnson should remain speaker as cracks appear between Trump’s team and far right
The US House member Mike Lawler attempted on Sunday to tease out two pressing issues facing the new Congress beginning in 2025, telling an American political talkshow that this was not the moment for his fellow Republicans to have a “food fight” over leadership in Capitol Hill and that the country “needs an immigration system that works”.
Both issues have dominated political headlines in recent days, as potential policy splits become apparent between far-right congressional Republicans and the executive team being assembled for their party leader Donald Trump’s second presidency beginning in January.
Continue reading...Firetruck drove around rail crossing arms after waiting for earlier train to pass, according to person briefed on details
Three firefighters and a dozen passengers were injured in Florida on Saturday after a firetruck drove around rail crossing arms and into the path of a high-speed passenger train after having waited for a previous train to pass, according to a person briefed on what happened.
The crash happened at 10.45am in crowded downtown Delray Beach, multiple news outlets reported. In the aftermath, the Brightline train was stopped on the tracks, its front destroyed, about a block away from the Delray Beach fire rescue truck. Its ladder was ripped off and landed in the grass several yards away, the Sun Sentinel reported.
Continue reading...Circle K in Cottonwood, California, where ticket was sold celebrates $1m bonus as winner remains unknown
The new year will ring in brightly for a lucky Mega Millions winner in California: after three months of the top lottery prize rolling over, a ticket worth $1.22bn matched all six numbers in Friday night’s drawing, according to the lottery’s website.
The winning ticket was sold at the Circle K in Cottonwood, a rural town of about 6,000 people roughly 145 miles (233km) north of Sacramento just off Interstate 5 in Shasta county. The winning numbers, including the Mega, were 3, 7, 37, 49, 55 and 6.
Continue reading...Remarks follow social media posts from Tesla and SpaceX CEO, who vowed to go to ‘war’ to defend program
Donald Trump on Saturday sided with Elon Musk, a key supporter and billionaire tech CEO, in a public dispute over the use of the H-1B visa, saying he fully backs the program for foreign tech workers opposed by some of his supporters.
Trump’s remarks followed a series of social media posts from Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, who vowed late Friday to go to “war” to defend the visa program for foreign tech workers.
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