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How Belgium’s PM lobbied to save his F1 grand prix from being cut

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:29:25 GMT

STAVELOT, Belgium — As American greenbacks and Gulf petrodollars pour into Formula 1, little Belgium is fighting to save its iconic motor race.This Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix at the historic Spa-Francorchamps circuit in the dense Walloon forest — scene of numerous legendary F1 moments — could be one of the last as new owners, moneymen and TV executives steer the traditionally European sport in a new direction.Luckily for underdog Belgium, it’s got an ace lobbyist: Prime Minister Alexander De Croo. De Croo has personally made Belgium’s case with the head of Formula 1 twice since 2022, bidding to keep the country’s grand prix on the annual calendar in part to drive the flagging Walloon economy. Next year, as the sport grows globally, F1 will go from 22 to 24 races, but the number of events in Europe will stagnate — pitting the Continent’s historic rallies against countries with deeper pockets.On May 31 this year, De Croo sent F1 chief Stefano Domenicali a hand-signed...

Arizona teen missing for nearly four years shows up safe at Montana police station

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:29:25 GMT

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — An Arizona teenager who vanished without a trace nearly four years ago is safe after walking into a police station in Montana, authorities said Wednesday.Alicia Navarro, 18, of Glendale showed up alone this week in a small town about 40 miles (64 kilometers) from the Canadian border and identified herself, according to police in Glendale, a Phoenix suburb. Her disappearance sparked a massive search that included the FBI. Santiago said over the years, police had received thousands of tips.Her mother, Jessica Nunez, raised concerns that Navarro, who was diagnosed as high-functioning on the autism spectrum, may have been lured away by someone she met online.The name of the town wasn’t immediately disclosed but Montana is more than 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometers) from Arizona.“She is by all accounts safe, she is by all accounts healthy, and she is by all accounts happy,” police spokesman Jose Santiago said at a news conference.Investigators were trying to det...

Church sex abuse is the elephant in the room as Pope Francis visits scandal-hit Portugal

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:29:25 GMT

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — When a panel of experts read aloud some of the harrowing accounts they had collected from recently discovered victims of child sex abuse in the Portuguese Catholic Church, the country’s senior bishops squirmed in the auditorium’s front-row seats.During a live television broadcast, the experts reported in February that at least 4,815 boys and girls had been abused since 1950, most aged 10-14. Before the stunning findings, senior Portuguese church officials had maintained there had been only a handful of cases of clergy sex abuse. They lost even more credibility with a response so clumsy and hesitant that victims were inspired to form Portugal’s first survivor advocacy group to press for compensation.Pope Francis will wade into the quagmire of Portugal’s reckoning with its legacy of clergy abuse and cover-up when he arrives in Lisbon next Wednesday to participate in World Youth Day, the international Catholic youth rally. While there is no mention o...

Coastal Chinese city joins parts of Taiwan in shutting down schools and offices for Typhoon Doksuri

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:29:25 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — The coastal Chinese city of Shantou on Thursday joined parts of Taiwan in shutting down schools and offices as Typhoon Doksuri brings heavy wind and rain to the Taiwan Strait and surrounding areas.Doksuri weakened further on Thursday, with sustained winds of 155 kph (96 mph) and gusts of up to 190 kph (118 mph), according to Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau. The typhoon’s center will not hit Taiwan’s mainland, but its outlying bands will still bring stronger winds and rains Thursday afternoon. Shantou, which lies on the border between Guangdong and Fujian provinces, will remain largely shut through the end of Friday, the local government said on social media. Images from the area on public news broadcasts showed fishing ships tied up in port as heavy waves broke along the seawall. Apart from an occasional squall, there was no sign of heavy rain as of early Thursday afternoon, reports said.The Taiwan Strait is one of the world’s busiest routes for internatio...

Rescuers in Indonesia try to reach 8 workers trapped in an illegal mining hole

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:29:25 GMT

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian rescuers upped their efforts Thursday to save eight miners who have been trapped in a pit at an illegal mining area since late Tuesday evening.The joint search and rescue team was racing against time as they brought in six larger submersible water pump machines to suck the water out from the hole, and tried to close off openings where water seeped in from the groundwater basin. Smaller pumps used Wednesday failed to lower the water level.“We will do further assessment when the water entry points have been closed and the puddles are dry,” Adah Sudarsa, head of the local search and rescue office, said in a statement.The eight workers were trapped in a 60-meter (196-foot) -deep mining hole on Indonesia’s main island, Java, after water suddenly inundated the mining area in the hours just after they entered the pit. A miner who was outside the pit in Banyumas district saw water building up in a pit nearby and asked the eight workers to get out. ...

Portugal is starting the atoning process for clergy sex abuse. Here’s what other countries have done

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:29:25 GMT

VATICAN CITY (AP) — While the Catholic Church in the U.S., Australia and some other countries began coming to terms with their clergy sexual abuse legacies years ago and set up mechanisms to compensate victims, the hierarchy in Portugal has only recently offered an account and bungled its initial response to victims. Pope Francis will meet with abuse survivors during his upcoming trip to Lisbon for World Youth Day, and will likely hear complaints that the Portuguese hierarchy initially refused to entertain compensation options for victims outside court. Here’s a look at the countries that have articulated plans for providing financial reparations to victims beyond legal judgments or settlements.GERMANYThe German church has been making voluntary payments to abuse survivors for over a decade, though the amounts offered haven’t satisfied groups representing victims. A system that took effect in 2021 provided for payments of up to 50,000 euros ($55.400) per victim — replacing a previous...

US State Dept aware former Marine injured while fighting in Ukraine

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:29:25 GMT

The US State Department is aware that Trevor Reed (pictured), a former US Marine who was detained in Russia and then freed in a prisoner swap last year, was injured while fighting in Ukraine, State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said on Tuesday (25 July)."Mr. Reed was not engaged in any activities on behalf of the US government," Patel told reporters, adding that he was not aware of any communication offered to the US government on Reed's travel plans to Ukraine.Reed was transported with the help of an NGO to Germany for medical care, Patel said.The United States has repeatedly warned Americans not to travel to Ukraine or participate in the fighting, and the State Department's travel advisory for Ukraine warns that there are reports of Russian singling out U.S. citizens in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine for detention, interrogation, or harassment."We have been incredibly clear that traveling to Ukraine, choosing to participate in the fighting there, has a very real r...

Russia talks of retaliation after 'Ukrainian drone strike' near Moscow army HQ

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:29:25 GMT

Russia spoke of taking harsh retaliatory measures against Ukraine after two drones damaged buildings in Moscow early on Monday (24 July), including one close to the Defence Ministry's headquarters, in what it called a brazen act of terror.Nobody was hurt in the attack, of which a senior Ukrainian official said there would be more, but one drone struck close to the Moscow building where the Russian military holds briefings on what it calls its "special military operation", a symbolic blow which underscored the reach of such drones.Roads nearby were temporarily closed, windows on the top two floors of an office building struck by a second drone in another Moscow district were blown out, and debris was scattered on the ground, a Reuters reporter who saw the aftermath of the incident said."I was asleep and was woken up by a blast, everything started shaking," Polina, a young woman who lives near the high-rise building, said.A third "helicopter-type drone" which was not carrying explosiv...

Nonprofit aims to financially support Hollywood actors and writers on picket lines

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:29:25 GMT

As the ongoing strike between Holywood actors and writers approaches its third week, there appears to be no end in sight to the industry shutdown.Actors under SAG-AFTRA voted to strike on July 14 and writers with the Writers Guild of America went on strike on May 2.The concurrent strike from both unions marks the first in over six decades, shutting down the entertainment industry with huge consequences for the foreseeable future.Since the actor’s strike began, many big-name celebrities have joined the picket lines alongside strikers outside studios and corporate offices.“Show up and help and support because we are all one,” said “The Office” actor Kate Flannery.But without steady work or a paycheck, many are struggling to pay rent or afford groceries while also unable to receive unemployment insurance benefits.Jack Black walks on a picket line outside Paramount studios on Monday, July 24, 2023, in Los Angeles. The actors strike comes more than two months after screenwriters began st...

Don’t mess with Lindsey: US ekes out 1-1 draw in Women’s World Cup after Horan revenge goal

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:29:25 GMT

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — When the United States were desperate for a spark, Lindsey Horan channeled her anger into a much-needed goal to keep the Americans unbeaten at the Women’s World Cup.Horan was fuming after she was knocked over by Danielle Van de Donk in the second half of Thursday’s rematch of the 2019 women’s final, when the United States beat the Netherlands to win their second consecutive World Cup title. She got her revenge minutes after the tackle in a sequence that included Horan cursing about Van de Donk before shoving her, as well. The two trash-talked and were separated by a referee before Horan scored the game-saving goal for the United States. Horan scored on a header off a corner kick from Rose Lavelle in the 62nd minute to silence the Dutch and give the Americans the score they needed to sneak out a 1-1 draw with the Netherlands. The United States remained unbeaten in 19 consecutive matches. “I don’t think you ever want to get me mad because I d...