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Spanish judge hears allegations of Franco-era police torture in a case rights groups say is a 1st

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:25 GMT

MADRID (AP) — A Spanish judge heard evidence Friday of alleged torture during the rule of the country’s late dictator Francisco Franco, in what rights groups said was the first case of its kind to be accepted for legal review.The hearing at a Madrid courthouse involved allegations against five former police officers. The lead witness, Julio Pacheco, told reporters outside that he had recounted to a judge how he was tortured by police in 1975, when he was a 19-year-old student. Pacheco said he hoped his testimony was a step toward “starting to break down the wall of silence and impunity” regarding abuses during Franco’s rule. His wife also testified.Previously, judges have refused to hear such cases because of a 1977 amnesty law that blocked the prosecution of Franco-era crimes. The law was part of Spain’s effort to put that period behind it and strengthen its fledgling democracy following Franco’s death two years earlier.With victims and human rights groups arguing that ...

Police arrest suspect in shooting death of Prince George’s Co. high school student

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:25 GMT

Police in Prince George’s County have arrested a suspect in connection with the shooting death of a 16-year-old girl outside of DuVal High School in Lanham on Monday.Update: PGPD’s Homicide Unit arrested a juvenile male for Jayda’s murder. Details will be released later today at a news conference. Approx time 12:30 pm. https://t.co/U6LzyHH2PX— PGPDNEWS (@PGPDNews) September 15, 2023Police have only described the suspect as a juvenile male and said more details would be released at a news conference Friday afternoon.Jayda Medrano-Moore, of Greenbelt, was walking on Palamar Drive after she left the school when there was a dispute between two groups of people. It was there were she was shot and later taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead.This story will be updated. Stay with WTOP for the latest.Source

Remains exhumed from a Tulsa cemetery as the search for 1921 Race Massacre victims has resumed

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:25 GMT

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Archaeologists have exhumed the remains of one person and plan to exhume a second set as the search for victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre resumes in a Tulsa cemetery. The remains are among 22 sets found during the current search in Oaklawn Cemetery, but are the only ones found in simple, wooden caskets as described by newspaper articles, death certificates and funeral home records, Oklahoma state archaeologist Kary Stackelbeck said Thursday.“That basically suggests that we had a number of adult male individuals that were supposed to be buried in simple, wood coffins,” Stackelbeck said.One set was taken to an onsite forensics laboratory Thursday and the second is to be excavated on Friday, Stackelbeck said. Both are of adults although the gender was not immediately known.The latest search began Sept. 5 and is the third such excavation in the search for remains of the estimated 75 to 300 Black people killed during the 1921 massacre at the hands of a white mo...

Top-rated Denver football snacks to bring to the watch party

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:25 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Need a fan-favorite dish to bring to a football watch party? Not every city is the same when it comes to football food. Denver is a particularly quirky city when it comes to football fans because many people come from all over the country. Poll: What is your favorite football snack? FOX31 asked viewers about their favorite football snack. As of Friday morning, 134 viewers chose between 14 of the most Google-searched football snacks in Colorado based on Google Trends. Here are the results.Top-rated football snacks1. Buffalo wingsUnsurprisingly, Buffalo wings are the fan favorite among Coloradans. Wings take up almost half the vote with 38% choosing the tangy treat over any other football snack.2. Loaded nachos OR chips and queso, salsa, guac, black beanBuffalo wings may already be taken for the potluck. If you're looking for the second-best option, try loaded nachos. Boulder, Fort Collins mayors bet beer on CU vs. CSU game You could also put together chips and di...

Caught on camera: Boca Raton Police officer saves choking man’s life

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:25 GMT

On Thursday, a Boca Raton Police officer sprang into action to rescue a choking man at a local car wash.According to a social media post, the incident unfolded during the victim’s lunch break when he began choking and rushed to Boca Raton Police Officer Bissoon for assistance. The officer quickly administered the Heimlich maneuver, saving the man’s life.The grateful gentleman expressed his profound appreciation for Officer Bissoon’s heroic intervention during his moment of dire need.

Florida man’s wild excavator joyride ends in Walmart wreck

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:25 GMT

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WSVN) — A Florida man has been arrested after allegedly stealing a massive construction excavator and wreaking havoc in Gainesville. Police said 47-year-old Jesse Charles Smith hot-wired the excavator before embarking on a destructive journey that included knocking down power poles and plowing through the front of a Walmart store. Smith’s escapade of destruction caused $2 million in damages. Authorities said he was armed with a machete during his rampage but thankfully, no one was injured during the incident. Smith now faces many charges, including grand theft, trespassing, property damage, and criminal mischief. He now resides behind bars at the Alachua County jail.

‘Love at First Sight’ adds up to Netflix’s latest easy-to-like (not love) romance

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:25 GMT

(CNN) — Netflix spends a lot of money on prestigious Oscar bait, but its subscriber/viewership numbers probably owe as much to the light romances that the service spits out with regularity. Add “Love at First Sight” to that column, playing like a slightly darker fairy tale – rom without much com – about the odds against finding your soulmate, filtered through one of the young lovers’ preoccupation with math.The meet-very-cute premise involves Hadley (Haley Lu Richardson, fresh off her stay at “The White Lotus”) missing her flight from New York to London, leaving her with some time to kill in the airport when she meets Oliver (Ben Hardy, whose credits include “Bohemian Rhapsody”), also bound for the UK.While she’s heading not very enthusiastically to the wedding of her dad (Rob Delaney, in a role that ill fits him), he’s bound for a different kind of family gathering, the details of which he’s not eager to share.The improbabilities that go into meeting Mr. or Ms. Right, and being in ...

Alligator missing upper jaw rescued by Florida trappers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:25 GMT

An alligator with a missing upper jaw has been captured after weeks of searching and is set to be treated at a facility. Photos of the injured reptile circulated on social media after a Seminole County woman reached out to several wildlife departments to try to help the alligator after she spotted it at Wilson’s Landing Park in Sanford. Wildlife experts expressed concern after they discovered posts of the injured creature. Kimberly Titterington, a licensed wildlife rehabilitator with over three decades of experience, has encountered numerous alligators during her career but never one like this. She described the situation as “very extreme,” emphasizing that while it’s not uncommon to see alligators with various injuries, the extent of this particular damage is highly unusual.According to Bear Warriors United, a non-profit wildlife organization, alligator trappers Jerry and Chase Flynn captured the jaw-less creature, Thursday evening. Officials with the organization said the in...

Greens slam von der Leyen over plan to not run as MEP

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:25 GMT

BERLIN — The European Green Party on Friday sharply criticized Ursula von der Leyen for her plan to potentially stand for a second term as president of the European Commission without running for election in the European Parliament.POLITICO reported Thursday how von der Leyen told her local branch of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in the state of Lower Saxony that she won’t join a list of candidates running for a seat in the European Parliament in next year’s EU election. However, von der Leyen may nevertheless become the center right’s lead candidate, or Spitzenkandidat, for reelection as Commission president — a decision that she “has not made” yet, according to an official close to von der Leyen, granted anonymity as they are not authorized to speak publicly.In an emailed statement to POLITICO, the co-chairs of the European Green Party, which represents the pan-European grouping of national Green parties, lambasted von der Leyen for her decision.“It w...

Vestager cautions about defense, nuclear investments in EIB pitch

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:25 GMT

SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, Spain — The European Investment Bank should not become a “political fighting arena” for investments in nuclear energy or defense, said Margrethe Vestager, who’s trying to convince European Union finance ministers to pick her to head the powerful government-backed lender.Vestager, currently on leave as EU digital and antitrust chief, is one of the top candidates to take over from President Werner Hoyer next year and lead the bank that finances EU policies, from fighting climate change to rebuilding Ukraine.She stressed that a successful candidate needed broad support, including smaller countries, because “the bank is for everybody, big shareholders as well as small shareholders,” she told POLITICO on the sidelines of a finance ministers’ gathering in Santiago de Compostela.France and Germany, who together with Italy, account for nearly half of the bank’s capital, haven’t said who they will back. France has been pushing for a...