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Photo gallery: 2023 in review

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:03:03 GMT

As 2023 comes to a close and before 2024 is upon us, we look back at the year in photos.Construction workers climb onto the roof of a destroyed church in the village of Bohorodychne, Donetsk region on January 4, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Bohorodychne came under heavy attack by Russian forces in June 2022. On August 17, 2022, the Russian forces captured the village. The Armed Forces of Ukraine announced on September 12, 2022, that they took back the control over the village. A few residents came back to restore their destroyed houses. (Photo by DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP via Getty Images)Supporters of Brazilian former President Jair Bolsonaro invade Planalto Presidential Palace while clashing with security forces in Brasilia on January 8, 2023. Hundreds of supporters of Brazil’s far-right ex-president Jair Bolsonaro broke through police barricades and stormed Congress, the presidential palace and the Supreme Court, in a dramatic protest against President Luiz Inacio ...

Beloved Ocean Beach ice cream shop temporarily closed after fire

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:03:03 GMT

SAN DIEGO — A long-standing Ocean Beach ice cream shop is working to reopen after a fire ravaged the inside of its storefront last month.Lighthouse Ice Cream — located just steps from the beach — has been a fixture in the coastal San Diego community for nearly three decades. Over the years, the shop has become known for its freshly made waffle cones, and their smell that wafts through the air towards the shore.The family-run business was established by Carol Ladiges and her late husband Richard in June 1997. Selling ice cream was nothing new for the couple, as Richard was the original owner of a since-closed scoop stand in Ocean Beach, Big Olaf's, when it opened in the 1980s."We loved Ocean Beach, that's actually where we met and we love the people," Ladiges told FOX5SanDiego.com. "We had an opportunity to open up Lighthouse Ice Cream and it was great."Not much had changed over the decades since Lighthouse Ice Cream first opened its doors except the shop's photo boards, which were m...

Santee Drive-in set its final day in business. Catch a film before its gone

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:03:03 GMT

SANTEE, Calif. — It's end credits for the Santee Drive-In Theatre and Swap Meet: after more than half a century in business, the beloved venue is gearing up for its last-ever movie screenings.The East County outdoor cinema announced on Instagram Wednesday that its final day in operation will be on Dec. 31, 2023."We want to thank the Santee community for many years of support and ask for your understanding of our family's decision," the post read. "We hope you will come visit us one last time!"Over the next few weeks, the drive-in will be showing seven feature films on its two massive screens, including "Wonka," "Trolls: Band Together," "The Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" and "The Marvels." Def Leppard, Journey, and Steve Miller Band coming to Petco Park The drive-in will continue on its regular schedule of four showings — two on each screen — every night starting at 6:30 p.m. Showtimes at the drive-in can be found here. Tickets, which are purchased upon entrance to ...

Indiana judge rules in favor of US Senate candidate seeking GOP nomination

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:03:03 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — An Indiana county judge ruled Thursday a contested state law that stipulates voting requirements for candidates’ party affiliation is unconstitutional, dealing a win to a U.S. Senate hopeful who is seeking to run as a Republican in the primary. The Marion County judge granted the injunction sought by John Rust, former chair of the egg supplier Rose Acre Farms who is running to replace Sen. Mike Braun. Rust filed a lawsuit in September against Secretary of State Diego Morales, the Indiana Election Commission and Jackson County Republican Party Chair Amanda Lowery to challenge the law and ensure the possibility of his place on the ballot. The law in question says a candidate’s past two primary elections must be cast with the party the candidate is affiliated with or a county party chair must approve the candidacy. In court documents, Rust argued that this statute “should be struck down as being unconstitutionally vague and overly broad.”“It is a spectacular v...

Journalists’ rights group counts 94 media workers killed worldwide, most at an alarming rate in Gaza

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:03:03 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — A leading organization representing journalists worldwide expressed deep concern Friday at the number of media professionals killed around the globe doing their jobs in 2023, with Israel’s war with Hamas claiming more journalists than any conflict in over 30 years.In its annual count of media worker deaths, the International Federation of Journalists said 94 journalists had been killed so far this year and almost 400 others had been imprisoned.The group called for better protection for media workers and for their attackers to be held to account.“The imperative for a new global standard for the protection of journalists and effective international enforcement has never been greater,” IFJ President Dominique Pradalié said.The group said 68 journalists had been killed covering the Israeli-Hamas war since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7 — more than one a day and 72% of all media deaths worldwide. It said the overwhelming majority of them were Palestinian journalists in t...

UN to hold emergency meeting at Guyana’s request on Venezuelan claim to a vast oil-rich region

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:03:03 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency closed meeting Friday at the request of Guyana following Venezuela’s weekend referendum claiming the vast oil- and mineral-rich Essequibo region that makes up a large part of its neighbor.In a letter to the council president, Guyana’s foreign minister, Hugh Hilton Todd, accused Venezuela of violating the U.N. Charter by attempting to take its territory.The letter recounted the arbitration between then-British Guiana and Venezuela in 1899 and the formal demarcation of their border in a 1905 agreement. For over 60 years, he said, Venezuela accepted the boundary, but in 1962 it challenged the 1899 arbitration that set the border. The diplomatic fight over the Essequibo region has flared since then, but it intensified in 2015 after ExxonMobil announced it had found vast amounts of oil off its coast. The dispute escalated as Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro held a referendum Sunday in which Venezuelans approved his...

National Chief Woodhouse thanks family, teachings for getting her to top job

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:03:03 GMT

Cindy Woodhouse, the new national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, says her relatives were her role models.The 40-year-old mother of three has said she grew up hearing the Anishinaabe language at home on Pinaymootang First Nation, north of Winnipeg, from her large family.Her father, Garnet Woodhouse, was chief of the First Nation for over four decades.“Our people are suffering out there, and I’ve seen it first-hand growing up right since I was born,” Cindy Woodhouse said after she was voted national chief Thursday.“People would be at our house and Dad would always make sure that nobody went hungry.”With her father standing nearby, Woodhouse delivered her victory speech draped with a white buckskin cape and dress, buttons made out of antlers, and long fringe that almost reaches the floor.She said she was raised by her family to work with all people in a good way, which is what she hopes will guide her in working with the federal government.“...

Death toll rises to five in cantaloupe salmonella outbreak

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:03:03 GMT

The Public Health Agency of Canada says the death toll has risen to five in a salmonella outbreak linked to Malichita and Rudy brand cantaloupes.It says 129 people have been confirmed with salmonella linked to the outbreak, almost double the number at the last update on Dec. 1, when a single death had been recorded.The agency provided no details on the deaths in its latest update on Thursday, but cases have risen sharply in Quebec, with 91 confirmed infections compared to 35 last week.There are also 17 cases in Ontario, 15 in British Columbia, and 2 each in Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador. The agency issued food recall warnings three times in November for Malichita cantaloupes sold between Oct. 11 and Nov. 14.On Nov. 24, it updated its warning to include Rudy brand cantaloupes sold between Oct. 10 and Nov. 24.

'He's the ball of sunshine': Mom provides update on Cooper Roberts

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:03:03 GMT

HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. — Life is now drastically different for Cooper Roberts and his family, but his mom said Cooper is happy and making positive strides, while learning to reflect on his situation differently than he has before."He's the ball of sunshine, funny, caring kids and that's still the same. That hasn't changed," said Keely Roberts, Cooper's mom. "I think probably the biggest change with Cooper is he's reflecting on himself in a different way."Life changed dramatically for the family on July 4, 2022, when Keely, Cooper and his twin, Luke, were among dozens injured during a deadly mass shooting at Highland Park’s Independence Day Parade. After extensive medical care, which continues just about daily, Cooper remains paralyzed from the waist down in a wheelchair."He's maneuvering this really well. I think he's learning to, first and foremost, consider himself fortunate to be alive," Roberts said.Roberts said Cooper absolutely loves sports — including wheelchair basketball and s...

Images of war along Mag Mile call attention to the Israel and Hamas conflict

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:03:03 GMT

CHICAGO — Exactly two months after the start of the Israel and Hamas war, organizers put together a visual display in Water Tower Park to continue to call attention to the humanitarian crisis. "The last two months have been a nightmare we can’t wake up from," said Chicago resident Tarek Kishawi, who revealed more than 30 members of his extended family have been killed in Gaza.For Kishawi, a temporary display showing people walking by images from the war sends the message that the crisis did not start on Oct. 7. Strikes on Gaza’s southern edge sow fear in one of the last areas to which people can flee "Our people in Palestine have been undergoing a slow genocide for generations, starting from my grandparents in 1948, who were exiled from their homes and never allowed to return," he said. Two months after Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis in surprise attacks and took more than 200 hostages, the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry says more than 17,000 Palestinians - primarily women and childre...