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Powerful illegal drugs are inundating Europe and sending corruption and violence soaring, EU says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:53 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — New harmful illicit drugs are inundating a flourishing market for traffickers amid violence and corruption hurting local communities across Europe, the EU’s agency monitoring drugs and addiction said Friday.The grim finding was part of the agency’s annual report. It also said that drug users in Europe are now exposed to a wider range of substances of high purity as drug trafficking and use across the region have quickly returned to pre-COVID 19 pandemic levels.Cannabis remains the most-used illicit substance in Europe, the agency found, with some 22.6 million Europeans over the age of 15 having used it in the last year. Cocaine seizures are “historically high” and new synthetic drugs whose effects on health are not well documented are worrying officials.In 2022, 41 new drugs were reported for the first time by the agency.“I summarize this with the phrase: ‘everywhere, everything, everyone,’” said European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction Dir...

‘The Full Monty’ returns 25 years on, with its politics laid bare

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:53 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The Sheffield strippers of “The Full Monty” return 25 years on, in a new TV series that wears its politics on its sleeve.In the much-loved original movie, a group of unemployed men from the north of England decide to form a striptease act in a desperate attempt to raise money after the local steelworks closed down. A new comedy-drama TV series from the same writer, Simon Beaufoy, and producer, Uberto Pasolini, returns to those characters more than two decades later in a compelling portrait of contemporary Britain. After the dismantling of heavy industry, the area has been subjected to an erosion of public services and the welfare safety net.“The politics are in there,” actor Steve Huison told The Associated Press recently. “You don’t have to be slammed in the face with them but hopefully people will see it and realize, ‘Oh, you know, that’s where I’m at at the moment.’”The original movie was a surprise international hit, earning nearly $260 million and even spawning a ...

'Jeopardy!' fans stunned after Lord's Prayer question stumps all 3 contestants

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:53 GMT

(WFLA) – Fans of the game show "Jeopardy!" were left reeling after a seemingly easy question about the most commonly recited Christian prayer stumped all three contestants. The perturbing puzzle popped up during Tuesday night's episode. The $200 clue — typically considered the easiest in its category — read, “Matthew 6:9 says, ‘Our Father, which art in heaven,’ This ‘be thy name.’”The three contestants — Suresh Krishnan, Laura Blyler and Joe Seibert — did not attempt to solve the puzzle. Host Mayim Bialik revealed the answer was “hallowed" and it didn't take long for the clip to go viral. ‘It was worth it’: Florida man who blocked Trump motorcade speaks after release from jail “None of them even took a guess," one Twitter user wrote. "I’m really surprised — I thought that would be an easy one!”Some fans of the quiz show found the unanswered question distressing. “Not one contestant on Jeopardy last night knew the answer to this. Are you waking up yet?" read one Twitter post...

Juneteenth: The story behind the federal holiday

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:53 GMT

Americans will soon celebrate Juneteenth, marking the day when the last enslaved people in the United States learned they were free.For generations, Black Americans have recognized the end of one of the darkest chapters in U.S. history with joy, in the form of parades, street festivals, musical performances or cookouts.The U.S. government was slow to embrace the occasion — it was only in 2021 that President Joe Biden signed a bill passed by Congress to set aside Juneteenth, or June 19th, as a federal holiday.And just as many people learn what Juneteenth is all about, the holiday’s traditions are facing new pressures — political rhetoric condemning efforts to teach Americans about the nation's racial history, companies using the holiday as a marketing event, people partying without understanding why.Here is a look at the origins of Juneteenth, how it became a federal holiday and more about its history.HOW DID JUNETEENTH START?The celebrations began with enslaved people in Galveston, ...

Here are the top allegations that led to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:53 GMT

AUSTIN (Texas Tribune) — On a late-September Wednesday in 2020, several of Attorney General Ken Paxton’s highest-ranking deputies walked into the FBI’s Austin office to make an explosive accusation: Their boss, one of the state’s most influential Republicans, appeared to be dirty.Paxton, they said, had personally directed his powerful agency to take unusual and probably illegal actions to help a friend and campaign donor, Austin real estate investor Nate Paul, who was under federal investigation for fraud.Paxton’s interest in Paul’s plight was bizarre, obsessive and so far beyond normal operations at the attorney general’s office that the agency’s top officials struggled to convey their concerns during the hourslong meeting with two FBI agents.In addition to obstruction of justice, harassment and abuse of office, they added, Paxton had apparently accepted bribes from Paul.Back in the office the next day, seven of the agency’s top-ranking officials sent Paxton a text message saying t...

NEWS10 helping local communities on Founder's Day

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:53 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Today, NEWS10 will join the rest of the Nexstar Media Group for the 27th annual Founder's Day of Caring. Founder's Day is held to celebrate June 17, 1996, the founding of Nexstar. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! Employees from Nexstar's television markets across the country will volunteer with non-profit organizations and public service agencies in the communities they cover. Image taken by Ben MitchellImage taken by Ben MitchellImage taken by Ben MitchellImage taken by Ben MitchellImage of sports reporter Brandon Williams at a Founder's Day event. Image via Christine KimballImage via Christine KimballImage via Christine KimballImage via Christine KimballImage via Christine KimballImage via Christine KimballNEWS10 employees will be setting out to work with local organizations such as Things of Our Very Own in Schenectady, Northeast Regional Food Bank in Latham, as well as in the Town of Clifton Park...

Pedestrian hit and killed by vehicle in Southeast Denver crash

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:53 GMT

A pedestrian is dead following a crash in southeast Denver.Denver police on Friday were investigating what happened in the crash Thursday night near the 7100 Block of East Mississippi Avenue, according to a post on Twitter.The identity of the victim wasn’t released. Police said the driver of the vehicle remained at the scene. Expect delays in the area#TRAFFIC: #DPD is investigating a traffic crash between a motorist and a pedestrian near the 7100 Block of E Mississippi. As this is a fatality, the Medical Examiner will release the identity of the victim. The motorist remained at the scene. Expect delays in the area. #Denver pic.twitter.com/VmsHr1BJKc— Denver Police Dept. (@DenverPolice) June 16, 2023 

Denver weather: Heavy rain expected, raising flood risks from mountain foothills across saturated cities to the plains

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:53 GMT

The foggy, humid weather reducing visibility Friday morning in metro Denver will shift in the afternoons and evenings to stormier conditions, bringing waves of potentially intense rain and raising flood risks as saturated soil cannot easily absorb more water — a pattern expected to persist Saturday before a warming trend kicks in Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.Weather service officials issued a flood watch, effective from noon through 10 p.m., covering metro Denver and most of Colorado’s Front Range along with the southeastern high plains. Rivers and streams were running high and fast as rain adds to flows from melting mountain snowpack.The rain storms developing over the mountains Friday morning mean elevated flood risks in the canyons and foothills northwest of Denver where the Cameron Peak and East Troublesom fires ravaged vegetation, creating scars prone to erosion. Exceptionally heavy rain was expected in the Palmer Divide area between Denver and ...

No need to wait for Casa Bonita: 6 spots around town to get your sopapilla fix

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:53 GMT

Casa Bonita’s sopapillas aren’t the only doughy treasures in Denver deserving of praise.The classic dessert — which originated in New Mexico — is simply fried dough drizzled with honey and dusted with sugar. Casa Bonita’s version were beloved partly because many customers said they were the best thing on the menu. Of course, that was before “South Park” creators and new Casa Bonita owners Trey Parker and Matt Stone hired award-winning local Chef Dana Rodriguez to shake things up. (But don’t fret: The sopapillas are still on the menu.)So while you wait for the reopening of Casa Bonita, check out these six spots in and around Denver to get your sopapilla fix:Rosita’s Mexican RestaurantRosita’s has moved and changed several times since it began dishing up authentic New Mexican eats in 1963. Now located in Westminster, its puffy sopapillas are classic, deep-fried and served with powdered sugar and honey, to deliver the taste in the way this city knows them best.8050 Fe...

California artists, chefs find creative ways to confront destructive 'superbloom' of wild mustard

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:53 GMT

While ripping out yellow blooms blanketing hillsides in Los Angeles, Max Kingery has been questioned about his fervor for killing flowers.But the clothing designer who used the plants to dye his spring and summer lines said he takes no offense at being accused of pillaging this part of California’s “superbloom.” Instead, he sees it as an opportunity to raise awareness about a destructive flower that proliferated in the state following an unusually wet winter: wild black mustard.Mustard was among the most prominent of wild flowering plants that seemingly popped up everywhere in California this spring. As temperatures warm it is starting to die, making it tinder for wildfires in a state that has been ravaged by blazes. Its stalks can act as fire ladders, causing flames to climb.Visitors walk on a pathway amid fields of blooming flowers at the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, Monday, April 10, 2023, in Lancaster, Calif.Mustard also smothers native plants, transforming the land...