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Turnout in Spain’s elections slows down

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:17 GMT

MADRID — Participation rates in Spain’s national elections appeared to decrease on Sunday afternoon, with 52.94 percent of registered voters having cast their ballots as of 6 p.m., nearly four percentage points below the turnout registered at the same hour during the elections in November 2019.Turnout was stronger during the first hours of the day, with some 40.48 percent of electors voting by 2 p.m., three percentage points ahead of the rate recorded at that hour in 2019. Given the extreme heat in Spain, participation was widely expected to slow during the hottest hours of the day. Pollsters believe voting rates will pick up in the later afternoon, when temperatures begin to cool down.The current turnout figure does not include mail-in ballots, which could boost the final figure substantially. Spaniards have opted to vote by mail in record numbers in these elections, the first to be held in the middle of summer, when over a quarter of registered electors are on holiday. Some...

Trump just qualified for first Republican debate. But will he show up?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:17 GMT

Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, Chris Christie and Tim Scott have all met the Republican National Committee’s polling and fundraising thresholds to earn invitations to the first primary debate next month, according to POLITICO’s tracking of the qualification process.Whether they all will show up is another question.Trump, in particular, has indicated he is not inclined to step foot on the stage, publicly waffling on whether he’ll make the trip to Milwaukee at the end of next month.“Ronald Reagan didn’t do it, and a lot of other people didn’t do it. When you have a big lead, you don’t do it,” the former president said during an interview on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” last weekend.It is a melodrama that could carry on for weeks: Candidates have until 48 hours before the Aug. 23 debate to indicate if they’ll participate.Trump’s potential lack of participation could completely redefine the first debate. If Trump shows, it’s the first real opportunity fo...

Man shot in East Village; suspects at large

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:17 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A man was shot Sunday morning in the East Village neighborhood, authorities said.According to the San Diego Police Department, a group of people were reportedly fighting in the area of at Park Boulevard and Broadway around 4:51 a.m. when a passerby interfered with the altercation. Man shot, killed in City Heights Police say the man was shot in the leg and the suspects fled the area. SDPD explained that a tourniquet, or a device used to apply pressure to a limb to stop bleeding, was used on the victim at the scene.The man was transported to a hospital. The nature of his injuries are unknown at this time. Police say there are no suspect descriptions available. An investigation into the shooting is ongoing.This is a developing story, Please check back for updates.

Empanadas eatery serving artisanal Argentinian pastries opens in North County

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:17 GMT

SAN MARCOS, Calif. -- What started as a booth at local farmers markets has now evolved into a brick-and-mortar empanadas eatery in North County.If you haven't sank your teeth into an artisanal Argentinian pastry made by Matias Bienati, the founder of Milonga Empanadas, then your opportunity to do so has arrived. It’s like an Airbnb for pools in San Diego County With influences from his Argentinian heritage and professional experience working in Michelin-star kitchens, Bienati is now serving handcrafted savory pastries at a storefront in San Marcos.Milonga Empanadas will occupy the space located at 251 N City Dr. Suite 128E, which most recently housed award- winning Wynston’s Ice Cream that moved to a larger location in the area last summer."We are excited to open the doors of our first brick-and-mortar location in North City," said Bienati. "The team at Sea Breeze Properties has been extremely welcoming and instrumental in supporting our expansion to our first permanent storefron...

Voters brave the heat as Spain holds election that could make it the latest EU member to veer right

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:17 GMT

MADRID (AP) — Voters in Spain braved soaring summer temperatures to cast ballots in a general election Sunday that could make the country the latest European Union member to swing to the political right.Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called the early election after his Spanish Socialist Workers Party and its far-left partner, Unidas Podemos, took a severe beating in local and regional elections in May. Sánchez has been Spain’s head of government since 2018.Polling stations for the 37 million voters close at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT). Near-final results were expected by midnight.Most opinion polls have put the right-wing Popular Party, which won the May vote, ahead of the Socialists but likely needing the support of the extreme right Vox party to form a government.Such a coalition would return a far-right force to the Spanish government for the first time since the country transitioned to democracy in the late 1970s following the nearly 40-year rule of dictator Francisco Franco. A PP-Vox...

Freed Egyptian human rights campaigner arrives in Italy, which championed his case

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:17 GMT

MILAN (AP) — A high-profile Egyptian activist who was recently released from prison landed Sunday in Italy, where the government championed his case. Patrick George Zaki was greeted by applause and a throng of video and still cameras as he emerged into the arrivals hall at Milan’s Malpensa Airport after traveling on a commercial flight. He was then continuing to Bologna, where he had been living and studying before being detained in Cairo on in 2020. “This is the most important day of my life,’’ Zaki, 32, told reporters as he made is way through the Milan airport.Zaki’s case has echoed in Italy, reminding many of the tragic fate of Italian student Giulio Regeni who was abducted and killed in Cairo in 2016. The Italian government had repeatedly called for Zaki’s release since his arrest in 2020.Zaki was pardoned last week, just days after an Egyptian court convicted him of a charge of disseminating false news, stemming from an article he wrote in 2019 about alleged discrimination aga...

Final suspect arrested in March stabbing that left one man dead in Moss Park

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:17 GMT

The final suspect has been arrested following a fatal stabbing in the Moss Park neighbourhood that happened in March.On Monday, July 17, Surrey B.C. RCMP arrested the last outstanding suspect wanted for the death of 55-year-old Jeffrey Munro.Hussein Ibrohim, 28, of Toronto, was arrested and charged with second degree murder.He was transported back to Toronto and remotely attended the Toronto Regional Bail Court on Saturday where he was remanded into custody.Just before 1 a.m. on March 6, in the area of Sherbourne Street and Queen Street East, police say Munro was attacked by a group of people.During the course of the attack, Munro was stabbed. He was taken to a trauma centre in life-threatening condition but later died of his injuries.Four men were arrested in connection with the stabbing that investigators told CityNews was not believed to be a random attack and said there was some sort of conflict prior to the incident.On Friday, March 17, police arrested 36-year-old Hussen Elmi a...

The results of ‘Barbenheimer’ weekend are in. Here’s who took the box office crown

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:17 GMT

“ Barbenheimer ” didn’t just work – it spun box office gold. The social media-fueled fusion of Greta Gerwig’s “ Barbie ” and Christopher Nolan’s “ Oppenheimer ” brought moviegoers back to the theaters in record numbers this weekend, vastly outperforming projections and giving a glimmer of hope to the lagging exhibition business, amid the sobering backdrop of strikes.Warner Bros.’ “Barbie” claimed the top spot with a massive $155 million in ticket sales from North American theaters from 4,243 locations, surpassing “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” (as well as every Marvel movie this year) as the biggest opening of the year and breaking the first weekend record for a film directed by a woman. Universal’s “Oppenheimer” also soared past expectations, taking in $80.5 million from 3,610 theaters in the U.S. and Canada, marking Nolan’s biggest non-Batman debut and one of the best-ever starts for an R-rated biographical drama.It’s also the first time that one movie opened to more than $10...

Woman in hospital in critical condition after house fire in Oshawa

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:17 GMT

A woman is in critical condition in hospital after a suspicious house fire in Oshawa.On Saturday, Durham police responded to a call at approximately 12:30 a.m. at 250 McNaughton Avenue in Oshawa for a working house fire.Two people were inside the home at the time of the fire, with both able to get out of the home, however, a 67-year-old woman suffered smoke inhalation and was transported to hospital in life-threatening condition. Her condition has since been upgraded to critical.The Ontario Fire Marshal attended the scene of the fire and has deemed the fire to be suspicious.Durham police are asking anyone in the area at the time of the incident with any video surveillance or information is to contact investigators. 

Congolese soldier kills 13 civilians, including wife, after son is buried without him, officials say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:17 GMT

GOMA, Congo (AP) — A soldier in northeastern Congo opened fire on family members and others who had buried his son before he could arrive home to attend the ceremony, killing 13 people, including 10 children, officials said Sunday. The attack late Saturday left the soldier’s wife, in-laws and two of his children dead, before he turned his weapon on other civilians, said Lt. Jules Ngongo, a spokesman for the army in Ituri province, where the killings took place.The soldier was not identified.The soldier arrived home from his post at another village in the province to find family and community members gathered in mourning for his son, who died Thursday of natural causes, said Baraka Muguwa Oscar, the local village chief. “This soldier did not like the fact that his son … was buried without his approval and in his absence,” Oscar said. Elements of the Congolese army were dispatched to apprehend the soldier, a member of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo, or FARD...