Headline News Weekend Edition for Dec 16, 2023 – Russia and Ukraine both reported numerous attempted drone attacks within the last day, following Hungary’s veto of 50 billion euros ($54.5 billion) in European Union funding to Ukraine.
Ukraine’s air force confirmed that it had successfully shot down 30 out of 31 drones launched overnight across 11 regions. Meanwhile, Russia claimed to have thwarted Ukrainian drone attacks, with its anti-aircraft units destroying 32 drones over the Crimean Peninsula, as announced by the Russian Defense Ministry on Telegram.
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The Israeli military acknowledged that three hostages held by Hamas in Gaza were mistakenly killed by friendly fire during combat operations in Shejaiya, a dense neighborhood in the Gaza City area. The hostages, waving a white flag and not wearing shirts, were tragically identified as a threat by Israeli troops.
The incident occurred “tens of meters from one of our forces’ positions,” leading to the mistaken firing upon the three hostages. The Israeli Defense Forces stated that two of them were killed immediately.
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In a landmark financial trial that exposed the Vatican’s internal affairs, a tribunal convicted Cardinal Angelo Becciu of embezzlement and sentenced him to 5 ½ years in prison. The trial resulted in several verdicts, reflecting nearly 50 charges brought against various defendants over a 2 ½ year period.
Cardinal Becciu, the first cardinal prosecuted by the Vatican criminal court, was found guilty of embezzlement while absolved of other charges. Nine other defendants received a mix of guilty verdicts and acquittals in this complex financial trial.
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Responding to a surge in illegal migrant crossings, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, has ordered National Guard troops to a remote area along the state’s border with Mexico.
The executive order aims to address the situation around the closed Lukeville Port of Entry in the Sonoran Desert, filling the void left by federal government inaction. The move has drawn criticism from Hobbs and Arizona’s U.S. senators, Mark Kelly (Democrat) and Kyrsten Sinema (independent).
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The Ohio Supreme Court has dismissed the state’s challenge to a judge’s order that blocked enforcement of Ohio’s near-ban on abortions for the past 14 months.
The ruling shifts the case back to Hamilton County Common Pleas, where abortion clinics requested the dismissal of the law after voters approved enshrining abortion rights in the state constitution. The high court stated the appeal was “dismissed due to a change in the law.”
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A Georgia teacher, Benjamin Reese, 51, faces charges of terroristic threats and cruelty to children for allegedly threatening a student offended by the Israeli flag in his classroom.
The Houston County Sheriff’s Office report indicates that Reese, a seventh-grade social studies teacher, was reported for yelling at students in a hallway on Dec. 7. The incident report details the teacher’s actions following a student’s expression of offense.
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With COVID-19 and flu hospitalizations rising across the U.S., federal data reveals that 17 states are experiencing “high” or “very high” levels of respiratory illness activity.
Weekly COVID-19 hospitalizations reached 23,432 for the week ending Dec. 9, marking the fifth consecutive week of increase. The numbers are now at levels not seen since the end of February, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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A significant recall of approximately 319,000 Power XL Dual Basket Air Fryers has been initiated due to a potential burn hazard, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Empower Brands issued the recall on Dec. 14, citing a faulty component in two models of the air fryer’s basket apparatus. The recall comes amid concerns of a burn risk associated with the affected air fryers, as reported by the CPSC and PowerXL’s website.
