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The death toll from a South Africa gas leak blamed on illegal gold processing has risen to 17

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:08 GMT

BOKSBURG, South Africa (AP) — The death toll from a toxic gas leak that authorities blamed on an illegal gold processing operation in South Africa rose to 17, including three children, as police removed canisters from a community of closely packed shacks and sifted through evidence Thursday.The leak of what authorities said was a toxic nitrate gas happened Wednesday night in the informal Angelo settlement in Boksburg, a city on the eastern outskirts of Johannesburg.The three children who died were ages 1, 6 and 15, police said. At least 10 people were hospitalized, including a 2-month-old baby, two 4 year olds and a 9 year old, according to Panyaza Lesufi, the premier of Gauteng province, who gave an update Thursday.A statement from South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office said it was a “devastating and tragic loss of innocent lives.”Bodies remained on the ground, some of them covered in sheets or blankets, for hours after the gas leak was reported around 8 p.m. Wednesday as...

Israeli court acquits border police officer charged with killing autistic Palestinian man

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:08 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — An Israeli court on Thursday acquitted a border police officer who was charged with reckless manslaughter in the deadly shooting of an autistic Palestinian man in Jerusalem’s Old City three years ago. The Jerusalem district court ruled that the officer was acting in self defense when he shot and killed 32-year old Eyad Hallaq. The case has drawn comparisons to the police killing of George Floyd in the United States. The court described the incident as a tragic mistake, noting that the officer made a split-second decision in dangerous situation. Taking risks, the court said, “is an integral part of military activity.”Palestinians and human rights groups have long accused Israel of whitewashing the crimes of its security forces.Hallaq, 32, was fatally shot just inside the Old City’s Lion’s Gate on May 30, 2020, as he was on his way to the special-needs institution that he attended. His family has criticized Israel’s investigation into the killing and had called for to...

One in five United Methodist congregations in the US have left the denomination over LGBTQ conflicts

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:08 GMT

More than 6,000 United Methodist congregations — a fifth of the U.S. total — have now received permission to leave the denomination amid a schism over theology and the role of LGBTQ people in the nation’s second-largest Protestant denomination.Those figures emerge following the close of regular meetings in June for the denomination’s regional bodies, known as annual conferences. The departures began with a trickle in 2019 — when the church created a four-year window of opportunity for U.S. congregations to depart over LGBTQ-related issues — and cascaded to its highest level this year.Church law forbids the marriage or ordination of “self-avowed, practicing homosexuals,” but many conservatives have chosen to leave amid a growing defiance of those bans in many U.S. churches and conferences.Many of the departing congregations are joining the Global Methodist Church, a denomination created last year by conservatives breaking from the UMC, while others are going independent o...

Large hail, gusty winds, tornadoes possible for these areas Thursday

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:08 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — It is going to be another stormy afternoon in Colorado. Thursday is a Pinpoint Weather Alert Day as severe storms could bring large hail and tornadoes to parts of the metro and southern Colorado.Thursday is starting off the morning with a dense fog advisory. Those along Interstate 25 could experience reduced visibility up until 9 a.m. Why you may be seeing more black widow spiders in Colorado this season After the fog moves out, temperatures will begin to heat up towards the 80s. But once the afternoon arrives that's when the storms really ramp up.Here is everything you need to know about Thursday's enhanced risk for severe storms.What to expect from an enhanced risk storm categoryAccording to the Pinpoint Weather team, Thursday's storms fall under an enhanced threat. The National Weather Service describes an enhanced risk category as an intense threat. This category isn’t common with the NWS describing it as a storm your area may only experience once or twice a ye...

Authorities need help locating missing juvenile from Hialeah

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:08 GMT

Authorities are requesting the public’s assistance in locating Alexandra Juan, a 15-year-old who went missing from her grandmother’s residence in Hialeah on June 23.The teenager left handwritten notes for her family, expressing her desire to be alone and telling them not to search for her. Juan, who has a history of running away from her mother’s home in Southwest Miami-Dade, has not been diagnosed with any mental or health conditions.Juan is described as being 5 feet, 9 inches and weighing approximately 190 lbs. She has brown hair with blue highlights, brown eyes, and a nose piercing.The Hialeah Police Department is leading the investigation into Alexandra’s disappearance and is urging anyone with information about her whereabouts to contact them at 305-687-2525.

Protest ahead of San Fermin bull-running festival

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:08 GMT

PAMPLONA, Spain (AP) — Tens of thousands of people packed the town hall square in the northern Spanish city of Pamplona on Thursday to celebrate the traditional “chupinazo” firework blast that starts the San Fermín bull-running festival. Others were also present to protest against the event. Demonstrators from PETA and other groups put on bull horns and draped themselves in red veils outside Pamplona’s city hall on Wednesday, ahead of the annual festival.Nearly everyone, including many tourists, was dressed in the traditional garb of white trousers and shirt with red sash and neckerchief as they sang and shouted.As the rocket was fired, many doused each other with red or sparkling wine.The highlight of the nine-day festival is the early morning “encierros,” or bull runs, starting on Friday, when thousands of daredevils race to avoid six bulls charging along a winding cobblestoned route to the city’s bullring.Spectators watch from balconies and wooden barricades set up along th...

Police chase ends in Medley after car crashes into tree

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:08 GMT

A police chase ended when a car crashed into a tree in Medley, Thursday morning. According to Medley Police, a police officer from Doral requested help in capturing the driver of a stolen vehicle after a chase began in Doral just before 7:30 a.m.When the criminal fled the scene, they nearly hit the Doral officer. The crash finally came to an end on Northwest 116th Way and 102nd Avenue after the driver collided with a tree on the median of the street. No injuries have been reported.Officials said the Medley Police Department is investigating the crash while the Doral Police Department is investigating the incident prior to the collision. It remains unknown if the driver was arrested. Please check back on WSVN.com and 7News for more details on this developing story.

Kingmaker liberals pitch compromise deal on EU nature law

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:08 GMT

The European Parliament’s liberal Renew group is pitching itself as an honest broker to resolve a standoff on highly controversial new EU nature rules, which face a key vote in the plenary next week.The proposed legislation — aimed at restoring key ecosystems across the bloc by the end of the decade — has come under heavy fire from conservative lawmakers, who claim the new rules endanger the livelihoods of farmers and risk undermining food security.The European People’s Party, which has led the charge against the bill, failed to kill the legislation outright, but managed to rally enough MEPs to vote down the text in the Parliament’s agriculture, fisheries and environment committees. The Renew group — which has been split on the issue, with some of its MEPs voting to reject the legislation — is now betting it can convince a majority of the Parliament’s lawmakers, including its own group, to back a new compromise ahead of the plenary vote next week. I...

Glyphosate is safe to use in agriculture, says EU food safety watchdog

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:08 GMT

Europe’s food safety regulator found on Thursday that glyphosate, the controversial weedkiller, is safe to use in farming, in a win for the pesticide industry lobby that sparked outrage among green campaigners.In a long-awaited verdict, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) found no “critical areas of concern” for human, animal and environmental health from the use of glyphosate in agriculture.That could herald a new lease on life for the herbicide that was invented by Monsanto, now part of Bayer, and has been the target of class-action litigation in the United States that has already cost the German chemicals-to-crops giant upward of €11 billion.The chemical weedkiller is the most widely used pesticide in the world, but critics say it has been linked to cancer and can be harmful to wildlife. It was last approved for use in the EU in a highly controversial process in 2017, and the five-year license was extended for another 12 months last December.Environmental groups denoun...

Driver faces charges after car slams into home in Hanover

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:08 GMT

A driver is facing charges after his car slammed into a house in Hanover early Thursday morning, police said. Hanover police said a homeowner on Circuit Street in town first called 911 shortly after 3 a.m. saying they believed a car had just driven into the side of their home. While on the phone, police said, the homeowner found the car stuck, indeed, stuck in a dining room area. Police said emergency crews arriving at the scene found the car appeared to have left Circuit Street and crashed into the home after driving through the side yard. While paramedics provided first aid to the driver, police said officers “could immediately detect a strong odor of alcohol.”Police identified the driver as a 22-year-old man and said he was taken to a hospital. Fire officials separately described the driver’s injuries as non-life-threatening. Police said the driver is facing multiple charges including OUI liquor. He is expected to be arraigned at a time to be determined.&...