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Fort Lauderdale firefighters gave family Christmas surprise after home catches on fire

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:22:57 GMT

After losing nearly everything in a house fire, a South Florida family received a holiday surprise. Firefighters did everything they could to save their Christmas On Monday, the family from Fort Lauderdale didn’t hold back their tears after receiving a sweet gesture from firefighters.“You’re not gonna make me cry,” said a family member. “The fire department just felt that it was just something that they had the ability to take care of and they did,” Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Kimberly Wells said. The fire broke out just before 8 a.m. towards the back of the home, which left two adults and three children in a bad spot on Christmas day.Hours after they responded to the house fire, they returned with gifts and food for the family.“So when something this catastrophic happens to a family on a day like today, it’s not even a second thought to some of these people to go above and beyond,” Wells said. “It’s j...

Drones are changing warfare — the EU needs to catch up

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:22:57 GMT

Federico Borsari is a Leonardo Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) and a NATO 2030 global fellow. Gordon B. “Skip” Davis Jr. is a non-resident senior fellow at CEPA and served as NATO’s deputy assistant secretary-general for defense investment.Drones have rapidly evolved from playing a supporting role in military operations to becoming an essential component of modern warfare — and they are in high demand across the globe.Thus, to ensure their own security, European governments need to start paying attention and learn from the use of drones in the Ukraine war and other recent conflicts, including Gaza.Drones enable widespread real-time situational awareness, improved targeting, and the suppression and destruction of adversary air and missile defenses. Today, small to large drones are being employed — and destroyed — in great numbers, and they are challenging concealment and survivability on the battlefield. Meanwhile, counter-drone capabilities have become equal...

What is the idea (or word) that will define 2024?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:22:57 GMT

Ivo Daalder: IsolationismThe next year will be marked by a profound debate within the U.S. about America’s future global role, and its outcome will be watched with great trepidation by the rest of the world. For 80 years now, the U.S. has embraced its role as global leader with little debate. But while the direction — and often the purpose — of its leadership and engagement was much discussed, its need was questioned by only a few. Presidents from both political parties believed U.S. security, prosperity and freedom depended on strong security alliances, a commitment to free and open trade and the defense of democracy and human rights. President Joe Biden epitomizes this approach. For the first time since the end of World War II, however, a growing majority of Republicans are turning against this traditional role. For the first time in 50 years of polling, more believe the U.S. should stay out of world affairs, reflecting the view of the party’s leading candidate for presi...

POLITICO’s 2023 Backhanded Awards

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:22:57 GMT

Best performance by a German pretending to be president of Europe.Winner: Ursula von der LeyenFrederick Florin/AFP via Getty ImagesPoor Ursula von der Leyen.Try as she might not just to project power, but to wield it, the European Commission president runs into a brick wall. Whenever a juicy foreign policy crisis hits, Josep Borrell tries to butt in and hog it. In October, she discovered she couldn’t even hoist the Israeli flag at the Berlaymont without half the EU27 getting on her case. And then there’s the hated “le Belge,” a.k.a. European Council President Charles Michel, who has the gall to act like he’s the president of Europe. A visit to the White House in October should have been von der Leyen’s moment in the sun. She’s America’s favorite, after all. But then Michel had to tag along (at least he didn’t wear that weird turtleneck). And what’s up with the media? Constantly trying to get their grubby hands on the texts she sent to Pfizer’s CEO while negotiating for vaccines dur...

Need a late Christmas present? Try Westminster’s worst political merch

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:22:57 GMT

LONDON – Christmas! A time for giving.But what do you get the political nerd who has everything? Take POLITICO by the hand and see what delights you too could be scrabbling around for days after the main event in a bid to prove you definitely, 100 percent care about and understand that total dweeb who keeps banging on about something called “Playbook.”In Liz We Truss shirt“In Liz We Truss,” says this fetching T-shirt, which presumably will last you a bit longer than the 49 days Britain’s disaster-prone Conservative former prime minister managed. Far be it from us to suggest Tory HQ are offloading these on eBay en masse.“In Liz We Truss” T-shirt | ebay.co.ukSparkle with Starmer shirtHey guys, we’re not a humorless, technocratic political party led by a man Boris Johnson once described as a “human bollard.” You see, we took an embarrassing party conference protest and turned it into a T-shirt, thereby owning the joke! It’s funny! We did a funny! VOTE FOR US....

Holiday Helping: Polikseni Manxhari’s Petulla

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:22:57 GMT

7News Holiday Helping is back! In this edition, Polikseni Manxhari is making her Petulla.Order new 2023 recipes from the 7News team to get all of their favorite holiday recipes! Your donation will help Project Bread feed hungry families right here in Massachusetts.Check out other Holiday Helping recipes from the 7News team.

Study seems to confirm secret ingredient for better coffee

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:22:57 GMT

(CNN) — Coffee connoisseurs have long held the belief that adding a little water to the beans before grinding them could make a difference. A new study by researchers at the University of Oregon seems to confirm exactly why.The research explored how the technique, which started as an attempt to address the often messy coffee-making process, also affected flavor.“When you grind coffee, it goes everywhere,” said study coauthor Christopher Hendon, an associate professor of computational materials chemistry at the University of Oregon. “Dust comes out of the grinder, it’s like a plume that covers everything. But if you add a little water, it seems to not go everywhere. It’s cleaner. That was the primary reason people did it.”The mess is caused by static electricity, which is created by friction when the beans are smashed together. This static charge then makes the particles of ground coffee repel each other — like magnets of the same polarity — sending them off in ev...

King Charles III calls for compassion in Christmas address

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:22:57 GMT

London (CNN) — Britain’s King Charles III has used his second Christmas broadcast as monarch to call for compassion in the face of world conflict, as the war between Israel and Hamas rages in Gaza and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues.The Christmas message – a royal tradition which goes back over 90 years – was filmed in the Centre Room in Buckingham Palace, which leads onto its famous balcony overlooking the Queen Victoria Memorial and The Mall.As the King reflected on the past 12 months, he leaned on the core element of the Christian faith of treating others as you would want to be treated.“At a time of increasingly tragic conflict around the world, I pray that we can also do all in our power to protect each other,” Charles said. “The words of Jesus seem more than ever relevant: ‘do to others as you would have them do to you.’”The 75-year-old sovereign, who has been a passionate advocate of green issues for much of his life and recently spoke at ...

One hurt after MTS bus crashes into multiple parked cars

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:22:57 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- One person was hurt Monday in a San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) bus crash in the Sherman Heights neighborhood, authorities said.The collision occurred around 5:18 p.m. at 21st and Market St., the San Diego Police Department (SDPD) confirmed with FOX 5.The MTS bus crashed into multiple parked cars, resulting in one person being taken to the hospital with an open fracture, according to police. Woman hit, killed in crash near Coronado Holiday Parade identified It is unknown what caused the crash and how many cars were involved at this time.Authorities are at the scene investigating the collision.Check back for updates on this developing story.

Biden orders strike on Iranian-aligned group after 3 US troops injured in drone attack in Iraq

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:22:57 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden ordered the U.S. military to carry out retaliatory strikes against Iranian-backed militia groups after three U.S. servicemembers were injured in a drone attack in Northern Iraq.National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said one of the U.S. troops suffered critical injuries in the attack that occurred earlier Monday. The Iranian-backed militia Kataib Hezbollah and affiliated groups, under an umbrella of Iranian-backed militants, claimed credit for the attack.Biden, who is spending Christmas at the presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland, was briefed on the attack. and ordered the Pentagon to prepare response options.Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Biden’s national security team quickly drew up plans and presented him with options in a call and Biden directed strikes against three locations utilized by Kataib Hezbollah and affiliated groups. The U.S. strikes were carried out at about 4:45 a.m. on Tuesday in Iraq.“Th...