General news

• FDA approves weight loss drug Zepbound for sleep apnea

  20-12-2024 23:53 via nbcnews.com
  
  Zepbound, Eli Lilly’s weight loss drug, can now be used to treat obstructive sleep apnea in adults with obesity, the FDA said.
  
  Read more

• MAGA activists push 'hyperpartisanship' and reject compromise: 'Trump is in charge!'

  20-12-2024 23:22 via nbcnews.com
  
  As Congress struggles over a deal to keep the government open, the message coming from the beating heart of Trump world is clear-cut: Don’t compromise.
  
  Read more

• International court rules against El Salvador in key abortion rights case

  20-12-2024 23:14 via theguardian.com
  
  Court finds Central American country violated rights of a pregnant woman who was denied an abortion in 2013The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) has ruled that El Salvador violated the human rights of a Salvadoran woman who was denied an abortion despite her high-risk pregnancy in 2013.The court has ordered the Central American country to adopt “all necessary regulatory measures” so that doctors are authorised to terminate “pregnancies that pose a risk to the woman&r
  
  Read more

• Could the spending bill fiasco spell the end of Trump’s hold on Republicans?

  20-12-2024 23:02 via theguardian.com
  
  President-elect, yet to take office, faces internal rebellion, with the specter of ‘President Musk’ looming largeDonald Trump is still a month away from returning to the White House and already his relationship with Republicans on Capitol Hill is fraying, signalling trouble ahead for both sides.The president-elect’s inability to intimidate members of his own party in the House to back a spending resolution just to keep the government open ahead of a midnight shutdown surely has
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Palestinian Americans trapped in Gaza sue Biden administration

  20-12-2024 22:39 via theguardian.com
  
  Group of nine plaintiffs allege administration has abandoned them and their familiesA group of Palestinian Americans trapped in Gaza have sued the Biden administration, alleging it has abandoned them and their families, leaving them trapped in a war zone despite rescuing “similarly situated Americans of different national origins”.The plaintiffs – Khalid Mourtaga, Salsabeel ElHelou, Sahar Harara, Sawsan Kahil, Marowa Abusharia, Mohanad Alnajjar, Mariam Alrayes, Heba Enayeh and
  
  Read more

• CFPB sues America's largest banks for 'allowing fraud to fester' on Zelle

  20-12-2024 21:59 via nbcnews.com
  
  The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is suing America's three largest banks, accusing the institutions of failing to protect customers from fraud on Zelle, the payment platform they co-own.
  
  Read more

• Biden missing in action as Turkey inches closer to full-blown war against US-allied Kurds in Syria

  20-12-2024 21:57 via foxnews.com
  
  JERUSALEM — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan could be on the brink of engulfing Syria in a new war with his slated invasion of the country’s north in an effort to decimate the U.S.-allied Syrian Kurds who helped President-elect Trump defeat the Islamic State in 2019.The White House-brokered cease-fire between Turkey and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has been largely ignored by pro-Turkey forces and Erdoğan, according to Fox News information from
  
  Read more

• Party City to close all of its stores, report says

  20-12-2024 21:47 via nbcnews.com
  
  Party City on Friday announced it will close all of its stores and has initiated corporate layoffs effective immediately, according to a CNN report.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Eight convicted over beheading of teacher Samuel Paty in Paris

  20-12-2024 21:47 via theguardian.com
  
  Paty, 47, was killed outside his school days after showing his class cartoons of the prophet MuhammadEight people have been convicted in a French anti-terrorism court of involvement in the beheading of teacher Samuel Paty outside his school four years ago.Paty, 47, was killed outside his school near Paris on 16 October 2020, days after showing his class cartoons of the prophet Muhammad during a debate on free expression. The assailant, an 18-year-old Russian of Chechen origin, was shot to death
  
  Read more

• Italian deputy PM acquitted of charges over refusal to let migrant ship dock

  20-12-2024 21:29 via theguardian.com
  
  Charges of kidnapping and dereliction of duty were brought against Matteo Salvini after he blocked a rescue boat in 2019Judges in Sicily have acquitted Italy’s deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini of charges of kidnapping and dereliction of duty after he refused to let a Spanish migrant rescue ship dock in an Italian port in 2019, keeping the people onboard at sea for days.The case dates back to a time when Salvini, head of the far-right political party Lega, served as the interior ministe
  
  Read more

• Trudeau running out of road even as he announces cabinet reshuffle

  20-12-2024 21:05 via theguardian.com
  
  Canada’s PM races to infuse fresh blood into cabinet while New Democratic party announces withdrawal of supportJustin Trudeau has carried out a major reshuffle of his cabinet, changing a third of his senior team – even as a series of blows seemed to guarantee the end of his term as prime minister and a spring election for Canada.The move on Friday came at the end of a disastrous week that saw the shock resignation of his deputy, calls for his resignation from within his own party and
  
  Read more

• Justin Trudeau looks set to lose power after key ally vows to topple him

  20-12-2024 21:04 via foxnews.com
  
  Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday looked set to lose power early next year after a key ally said he would move to bring down the minority Liberal government and trigger an election.New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh, who has been helping keep Trudeau in office, said he would present a formal motion of no-confidence after the House of Commons elected chamber returns from a winter break on Jan. 27.NEWT GINGRICH SAYS TRUMP MAY HAVE 'BROKEN' TRUDEAU GOVERNMENT DURING HISTORIC T
  
  Read more

• Richard Allen sentenced to 130 years in Delphi murders

  20-12-2024 20:59 via nbcnews.com
  
  Richard Allen, the Indiana man convicted of killing two middle school girls in 2017, was sentenced to 130 years in prison on Friday, almost eight years after the children's bodies were found near a hiking trail.
  
  Read more

• Met apologises to black community leader detained by officer who has faced three misconduct proceedings

  20-12-2024 20:59 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: Jason Matthews alleges Connor Jones used unnecessary force on him and pushed him to the groundThe Metropolitan police has apologised to a black man who was detained by an officer who has faced three misconduct proceedings for excessive force within the past two years.Jason Matthews, 54, a well-known community leader, was attending Hackney carnival in 2019 when he was detained, and stopped and searched by PC Connor Jones. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Beaumont to be interim RFU chair as Ilube steps down

  20-12-2024 20:57 via bbc.com
  
  Tom Ilube steps down as Rugby Football Union chairman amid an executive pay row, with Sir Bill Beaumont appointed as interim chair.
  
  Read more

• Car drives into crowd at German Christmas market

  20-12-2024 20:53 via nbcnews.com
  A person is in custody after driving a vehicle into a crowded Christmas market in the German town of Magdeburg, injuring several people.
  
  Read more

• Trump adviser calls new UK ambassador Lord Mandelson a 'moron'

  20-12-2024 20:49 via bbc.com
  
  Lord Peter Mandelson will be the UK's next ambassador to the US, an appointment he describes as "a great honour".
  
  Read more

• Los Angeles zoo welcomes two perentie lizards, the first to be bred there

  20-12-2024 20:38 via theguardian.com
  
  The lizard species, one of the world’s largest, is native to Australia and is rarely seen outside that countryTwo new baby lizards have hatched at the Los Angeles zoo, the first of their species to be bred there, zoo officials said on Thursday.Perentie lizards, or Varanus giganteus, are native to Australia and are among the world’s largest lizards, dwarfed only by the Komodo dragon and a few others. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• 5 dead, many injured after man drives into German Christmas market in suspected terror attack: report

  20-12-2024 20:27 via foxnews.com
  
  A festive Christmas market in Eastern Germany erupted into chaos after a car was driven into a group of people in the city of Magdeburg on Friday in a suspected terrorist attack. Five people were reportedly killed and more than 200 were injured in the incident, according to reports. Officials continue to investigate the incident, according to a spokesperson for the local rescue service, as reported by AFP.Several of the injured are said to be in critical condition.U.S. State Department spok
  
  Read more

• Met police officer who slapped face of boy, 16, found guilty of assault

  20-12-2024 20:14 via theguardian.com
  
  PC Sevda Gonen hit the boy ‘multiple times’ in the back of a police van as he was being taken to hospitalA police officer who slapped a 16-year-old boy with mental health difficulties “multiple times in the face” as he was being transported to a hospital in London has been found guilty of assault.The judge, Briony Clarke, found Metropolitan police constable Sevda Gonen guilty of assault for striking the boy “multiple times in the face with an open palm” after
  
  Read more

• Ros Atkins On... Four reasons why the relationship between the UK and China is strained

  20-12-2024 20:07 via bbc.com
  
  The BBC's Analysis Editor Ros Atkins looks at how relations between the UK and China became so strained.
  
  Read more

• US lifts $10m bounty on HTS leader after talks in Syrian capital

  20-12-2024 20:04 via theguardian.com
  
  In face-to-face meeting, Ahmed al-Sharaa gave assurances IS would not be allowed to operate in Syria, US official saysThe US has lifted a $10m bounty on Ahmed al-Sharaa, the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the strongest force to emerge in Syria after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, after the first face-to-face meeting between American diplomats and the HTS leadership.Barbara Leaf, the state department’s senior diplomat for the Middle East, said Sharaa had given assurances
  
  Read more

• US scraps $10m bounty for arrest of Syria's new leader Sharaa

  20-12-2024 19:58 via bbc.com
  
  It follows meetings between top US diplomats and representatives of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in Damascus.
  
  Read more

• Reeves says economic turnaround will take time and Farage ‘hasn’t got a clue’

  20-12-2024 19:51 via theguardian.com
  
  Chancellor pledges renewed focus on growth after Bank of England warning that Britain is on brink of stagnationRachel Reeves insists she won’t “gaslight” working people over her plans to turn round the economy as she launched a scathing attack on Reform’s offer to voters, saying Nigel Farage “hasn’t got a clue”.With many people still struggling with the cost of living, the chancellor defended her approach which has so far focused on economic stability, a
  
  Read more

• Workers in Saudi Arabia say Amazon failed to compensate them for labor abuses: ‘They played a game against me’

  20-12-2024 19:41 via theguardian.com
  
  Thirty-three of 44 current and former contract workers who paid large recruiting fees say they didn’t receive refunds after working within the company’s Saudi operations In February, one of the world’s richest employers, Amazon, announced it had refunded nearly $2m to more than 700 overseas workers who had been forced to pay big recruiting fees to get work at the company’s warehouses in Saudi Arabia.It was a rare win for migrant laborers, a class of vulnerable workers who
  
  Read more

• Outrage as Elon Musk claims ‘only AfD can save Germany’

  20-12-2024 19:08 via theguardian.com
  
  German health minister calls US billionaire’s intervention weeks before election ‘undignified and problematic’ Elon Musk has caused outrage in Berlin after appearing to endorse the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative für Deutschland.Musk, who has been named by Donald Trump to co-lead a commission aimed at reducing the size of the US federal government, wrote on his social media platform X: “Only the AfD can save Germany.” Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Wham are Christmas number one for a second time

  20-12-2024 18:46 via bbc.com
  
  Last Christmas tops the festive chart for a second year running, but Band Aid misses the top 10.
  
  Read more

• Six killed in strike on Russia's Kursk after deadly missile attack on Kyiv

  20-12-2024 18:45 via bbc.com
  
  A reported attack on a Russian town comes after Ukraine said Moscow had launched a new attack on Kyiv.
  
  Read more

• Suspected 'witchdoctors' arrested over attempt to 'bewitch' Zambia's president

  20-12-2024 18:14 via bbc.com
  
  The pair were found with magic charms, including a live chameleon, the police say.
  
  Read more

• Libyan PM resists Russia’s move to reinforce military bases in country

  20-12-2024 17:45 via theguardian.com
  
  Abdul Hamid Dabaiba says country must not be a platform for settling international scores after fall of Assad in SyriaRussia’s move to reinforce its military base in eastern Libya after the toppling of the Assad regime in Syria is facing resistance from the country’s UN-backed government.The prime minister of the Tripoli-based government, Abdul Hamid Dabaiba, said he rejected any attempt to turn Libya into a centre for major-power conflicts, stressing that the country would not be a
  
  Read more

• Sue Gray among 30 new Labour peers appointed to House of Lords

  20-12-2024 17:29 via bbc.com
  
  Sue Gray will join the Houe of Lords two months after she left her role as the PM's chief of staff.
  
  Read more

• Brothers charged over airport fight with police

  20-12-2024 17:28 via bbc.com
  
  Two men are charged after an incident at Manchester Airport, but no officers will face charges.
  
  Read more

• Macron swears amid furious exchange with cyclone-hit Mayotte islanders

  20-12-2024 17:24 via theguardian.com
  
  French president makes remark when confronted by residents still without water after huge storm last weekEmmanuel Macron swore during a furious exchange with residents of the cyclone-hit islands of Mayotte on Thursday night, telling a jeering crowd in the French territory: “If it wasn’t for France, you’d be 10,000 times deeper in shit.”Cyclone Chido swept through Mayotte, which lies between Madagascar and Mozambique, on 14 December, destroying vital infrastructure and fla
  
  Read more

• Man abandons haircut to help officer under attack

  20-12-2024 17:21 via bbc.com
  
  Kyle Whiting ran to a police officer's aid with the barber's cape still draped over his shoulders.
  
  Read more

• What is a US government shutdown and who does it affect?

  20-12-2024 17:17 via bbc.com
  
  Here's how the US got to the brink of yet another funding lapse and what it means for Americans - and Trump.
  
  Read more

• E-bike battery fire destroys family home

  20-12-2024 17:07 via bbc.com
  
  One occupant escaped through the front door and two others were forced to climb on to the roof.
  
  Read more

• Middle East crisis: mediators push on with Gaza ceasefire talks amid fresh strikes – as it happened

  20-12-2024 17:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Talks in Egypt and Qatar are focused on forging a deal to pause the 14-month-old war and release Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisonersSee all our Middle East coverageIsraelis in the West Bank have set fire to the Bar Al-Walidain mosque in the village of Marda, north of Salfit, reports Al Jazeera.The Palestinian Foreign Ministry urged the United Nations to “activate the international protection system”. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• At least 30 children die from drug shortages in Pakistan after sectarian violence

  20-12-2024 17:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Key roads closed in Kurram, a hotbed of sectarian violence between Shia and Sunni Muslims for decadesAt least 30 children have died due to drug shortages in part of north-west Pakistan after the regional government closed key roads in and out of the district in an attempt to quell an outbreak of deadly sectarian violence.The district of Kurram, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, has been a hotbed of sectarian violence between Shia and Sunni Muslims for decades, and since July
  
  Read more

• Tesla recalls nearly 700,000 vehicles over tire pressure light issue

  20-12-2024 16:51 via nbcnews.com
  
  Tesla has issued a recall for nearly 700,000 vehicles due to a tire pressure light issue.
  
  Read more

• Countdown crowns first female winner since 1998

  20-12-2024 16:30 via bbc.com
  
  Fiona Wood, from Kinross, won after correctly identifying "lassitude" as the final conundrum.
  
  Read more

• Amateur footballer in court charged with murdering goalkeeper

  20-12-2024 15:53 via bbc.com
  
  Mckenzie Dicicco, 22, is charged with murder and affray following the death of James Hitchcock.
  
  Read more

• Warning signs for Trump as Republican rebels defiant

  20-12-2024 15:51 via bbc.com
  
  Trump has shown he can kill legislation, but can he rally the support to get his proposals over the finish line?
  
  Read more

• Knife attack in Croatian school leaves 7-year-old dead, 6 people wounded, police say

  20-12-2024 15:32 via foxnews.com
  
  ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — A knife-wielding teenager walked into a school in Croatia’s capital Zagreb on Friday, killing a 7-year-old student and injuring three more children and a teacher, authorities said.Authorities said the knife attack happened at 9:50 a.m. at the Precko Elementary School in the neighborhood of the same name. They described the attacker as a 19-year-old male and said he had been detained after inflicting injuries to himself.Croatian Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic
  
  Read more

• Xi Jinping urges Macau to diversify economy away from casinos

  20-12-2024 15:02 via theguardian.com
  
  Chinese president calls for city to ‘focus on cultivating new industries’ as he attends inauguration of new leaderChina’s president, Xi Jinping, has urged the gambling hub of Macau to diversify away from casinos, as he addressed the Chinese territory at the inauguration of its new leader.Xi was in Macau to mark the 25th anniversary of its return from Portuguese to Chinese rule on 20 December 1999. In the quarter-century since then, Macau has been run as a special administrative
  
  Read more

• Man City's Dias ruled out for 'three or four weeks'

  20-12-2024 15:00 via bbc.com
  
  Manchester City suffer a fresh injury blow as defender Ruben Dias is ruled out for "three or four weeks" with a muscle injury.
  
  Read more

• Major Trump donors who complained of immigrant ‘invasion’ used Mexican workers illegally, sources allege

  20-12-2024 15:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: Experts believe the alleged ‘shuttle support’ program used by Uline – a company owned by billionaires Liz and Dick Uihlein – is likely illegal and exploitative of workersA company owned by two of Donald Trump’s top mega-donors has routinely brought dozens of its workers from Mexico to staff its warehouses in Wisconsin and other locations even though they do not appear to have permission to work in the US, according to a Guardian investigation.Uline &ndash
  
  Read more

• Climate 200 puts Coalition in crosshairs, with only one Labor seat on election hitlist

  20-12-2024 15:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: Fundraising body backing candidates in suburbs and regions, particularly in Victoria and south-east QueenslandGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastClimate 200 is once again on a collision course with the Coalition, backing community independent campaigns in at least 22 seats but only one currently held by Labor.The climate-focused fundraising body has revealed that Bean, held by David Smith, is the only Labor-held electorate on its initial list of targets, which
  
  Read more

• Peter Mandelson: How the 'Prince of Darkness' became His Excellency

  20-12-2024 14:47 via bbc.com
  
  Lord Mandelson - set to be the UK's ambassador to the US - revels in his image as a behind-the-scenes fixer.
  
  Read more

• Italian artisans make around 100K bulbs for the signature light display at Singapore's Christmas Wonderland

  20-12-2024 14:26 via foxnews.com
  
  Singapore's Christmas Wonderland at Gardens by the Bay is an annual event filled with holiday spirit. This year marks the 11th edition of the event with dazzling light installations that are sure to impress. There are plenty of light displays that will leave visitors in awe at Christmas Wonderland, but there is one that is exceptionally impressive. HOW TO SAY ‘MERRY CHRISTMAS’ IN 10 LANGUAGES TO FRIENDS AROUND THE WORLDThis is the Spalliera light display that extends 2
  
  Read more

• Malaysia approves new search for flight MH370, 10 years after it disappeared

  20-12-2024 14:07 via bbc.com
  
  The Boeing 777 carrying 239 people vanished 10 years ago in one of aviation's greatest mysteries.
  
  Read more

Follow @newslock_news on Twitter!