By SONYA GUGLIARA, US REPORTER

Published: 23:05 GMT, 30 December 2025 | Updated: 23:15 GMT, 30 December 2025

The federal government has ceased all child care payments to Minnesota amid the Democratic state’s ongoing daycare fraud scandal. 

Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Jim O’Neill announced on Thursday that funding has been frozen and demanded that Governor Tim Walz audit the centers allegedly involved. 

‘We have turned off the money spigot and we are finding the fraud,’ O’Neill declared in his statement. 

The move from the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), the division of the HHS that handles child care, comes after independent journalist Nick Shirley shared footage of an apparently empty Minnesota daycare.

The facility has reportedly received millions in taxpayer funds, leading Shirley to claim that Minnesota has allowed for the ‘largest fraud in US history’ to go unchecked.

‘You have probably read the serious allegations that the state of Minnesota has funneled millions of taxpayer dollars to fraudulent daycares across Minnesota over the past decade,’ O’Neill wrote. 

O’Neill said he has activated the ‘spend defend system for all ACF payments,’ meaning that all payments going forward across the country will require proof and reasoning before the money is allocated. 

He added that he and ACF Assistant Secretary Alex Adams have identified the people involved in the scheme that Shirley allegedly unveiled. 

Independent journalist Nick Shirley shared video from an apparently empty daycare in Minnesota

Footage of the facility, featuring a misspelled sign as ‘Quality Learing Center’, sparked outrage among lawmakers

The HHS has demanded that Governor Tim Walz (pictured with his wife, Gwen) audit the centers allegedly involved in the fraud scandal

In another effort to combat money funneling under the guise of childcare, a ‘fraud-reporting’ hotline and email address have been set up.

‘Whether you are a parent, provider, or member of the general public, we want to hear from you,’ O’Neill wrote. 

The Minneapolis facility that Shirley highlighted notably featured a misspelled sign, which the business named Quality ‘Learing’ Center instead of Quality ‘Learning’ Center.

This is a developing story… 

Share or comment on this article:
All child care payments to Minnesota are FROZEN amid daycare ‘fraud’ scandal as Tim Walz is targeted in huge crackdown

SOURCE PAGE

Justin Hood has reached the World Darts Championship quarter-finals after beating Josh Rock 4-0, earning £100,000 prize money and hinting he may finally open his dream Chinese restaurant

Justin Hood can achieve his dream of owning his own Chinese restaurant(Image: PA)

Breakout World Darts Champions star Justin Hood could realise his dream of owning a Chinese restaurant after netting £100,000. The 32-year-old has emerged as this year’s cult hero and is into the quarter-finals after cruising past Josh Rock.

Hood, currently ranked 86in the world, made history during an afternoon session when he became the first player to nail 11 consecutive doubles without missing, before finishing with 75 percent. His flawless performance led to a 4-0 victory over the Northern Irishman.

Now, with his place in the last-eight confirmed and a match against Gary Anderson on the horizon, Hood can finally afford to open his own Chinese restaurant.

READ MORE: Darts news: Luke Littler fires shot at Ally Pally crowd as star is left ‘heartbroken’READ MORE: Stephen Bunting slams abuse of his young son Toby and ‘negative comments’ from trolls

The 32-year-old was a long shot at 1,000/1 in the pre-tournament odds but has already bested Nick Kenny, sixth-seed Danny Noppert, Ryan Meikle and Rock. He is now just two wins away from the final, with his next challenge coming up on New Year’s Day.

Hood, who quit his job as a hotel porter to pursue his darting dream, only qualified for the Q School, where players eye a tour card, earlier this year.

However, for ‘Happy Feet’ , opening a Chinese restaurant has always been his dream.

He’s often joked about spending the record-breaking £1million prize money on his own eatery if he were to win.

But now, what once seemed like a far-fetched dream could soon become a reality.

When asked if the prize money at Ally Pally was life-changing, he responded with a nonchalant “Yes and no. I don’t live above my means.

It was an emotional moment for Justin Hood(Image: Getty Images)

“It’s nice to have it in the bank, but I just get up there to throw darts. The money’s a massive bonus – I want that trophy now.

“No timeline yet. You’ve got to pay double. We’ll look into it after the Worlds. Half price? Get in. Every game’s unknown for me. I’ll go back, probably have a Chinese – maybe two or three. But seriously, I’ll treat it the same as every other game: practise, eat good food, and get ready.”

Luke Littler, the current world number one, made his debut at the World Championships and quickly became a fan favourite due to his love of kebabs. The then 16 year old Warrington-born darts prodigy became a running joke, with fans expecting him to indulge in his favourite dish after each match during the 2024 tournament, where he eventually lost in the final to Luke Humphries.

Before his fourth-round triumph over Rocky, Hood said: “I haven’t looked into it (the finances) properly yet.

“We might be out of business in a week, the amount of food I eat. I wanted to stay in London over Christmas because the Chinese around here are top-notch. I love eating it all the time.”

After Anderson’s 4-1 victory over Van Gerwen, Hood is set to face the former world champion on New Year’s Day, hoping to secure a spot in the semi-final.

SOURCE PAGE

NewsFeed

The UAE says it’s withdrawing all ‘counterterrorism’ units from Yemen after a Saudi-led coalition launched air strikes on a port in southern Yemen. Riyadh has accused the Emiratis of shipping weapons and military vehicles to aid Yemen’s separatist movement, an accusation Abu Dhabi denies.

Published On 30 Dec 202530 Dec 2025

Click here to share on social media

share2

Share

SOURCE PAGE

A man and two of his companions are dead after high winds prevented rescue crews from responding to a report of an injured hiker near a southern California mountain trail, the San Bernardino county sheriff’s department announced on Monday.

The three bodies were discovered Monday evening along the Devil’s Backbone trail at Mount Baldy, which rises more than 10,000ft and sits just east of Los Angeles, according to a statement from the San Bernardino county sheriff’s department.

The deaths occurred near where actor Julian Sands died three years ago. Sands, who starred in A Room With a View and Leaving Las Vegas, was reported missing after setting off on a solo hike in January 2023. His body was found five months later.

And in January 2023, the same month Sands went missing, another 15 hikers either got lost, were injured or died on the mountain.

The department said it received a call at about 11.30am on Monday from someone reporting that their 19-year-old friend had tumbled 500ft (150 meters) down a remote mountainside. The caller had hiked to an area with cellular service and provided GPS coordinates to rescuers.

A helicopter crew spotted the injured hiker and two other people but strong winds prevented the aircraft from landing. A second landing attempt hours later was also unsuccessful because of winds.

A medic was eventually hoisted down from a helicopter and found all three people dead at about 7.30pm, the sheriff’s statement said. Their identities were not released as of Tuesday and the cause of the deaths wasn’t immediately known.

That same day, the San Bernardino sheriff’s department announced that it rescued two other hikers – two men, ages 18 and 31 – from another trail on Mount Baldy. One of the hikers was hurt after falling more than 100ft from the trail.

In October, three hikers were rescued near the same trail where the deceased hikers were found. The San Bernardino sheriff’s department said that three 20-year-old men were hiking near the Devil’s Backbone when they took a wrong turn, got lost and were unable to keep moving on the mountain. All were rescued without any injuries.

SOURCE PAGE

Germany’s perennial debate over safety has flared up once again as fireworks sales resume ahead of New Year. Meanwhile, a spate of black ice has caused numerous accidents across the country. Follow our updates.



SOURCE PAGE

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox

Get our free Inside Washington email

Get our free Inside Washington email

Tatiana Schlossberg, a Kennedy scion and granddaughter of the late president John F. Kennedy, has died at the age of 35, just weeks after announcing her terminal cancer diagnosis.

The JFK Library Foundation announced Schlossberg’s death in a statement Tuesday afternoon.

“Our beautiful Tatiana passed away this morning. She will always be in our hearts,” the statement reads. The post was signed “George, Edwin and Josephine Moran, Ed, Caroline, Jack, Rose and Rory.”

Schlossberg is survived by her husband, George Moran, their three-year-old son and their one-year-old daughter. She’s also survived by her parents, Caroline Kennedy and Edwin Schlossberg, her brother Jack Schlossberg, and her sister Rose Schlossberg, who is married to Rory McAuliffe.

The environmental journalist revealed she had been diagnosed with a rare type of acute myeloid leukemia, a blood cancer, in a New Yorker essay published November 22, the 62nd anniversary of her grandfather’s assassination.

open image in gallery

The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation announced that Tatiana Schlossberg died Tuesday (Getty)

In the essay, the 35-year-old recounted her disbelief. The disease is mostly seen in older people, she said.

“I did not—could not—believe that they were talking about me. I had swum a mile in the pool the day before, nine months pregnant. I wasn’t sick. I didn’t feel sick,” Schlossberg wrote.

Schlossberg was diagnosed shortly after giving birth to her daughter in May 2024. Her doctors noticed her white blood cell count was elevated just hours after she delivered her daughter.

“Everyone thought it was something to do with the pregnancy or the delivery. After a few hours, my doctors thought it was leukemia,” she wrote.

She recalled feeling worried that her young children would not remember her after her death.

open image in gallery

Tatiana Schlossberg with her parents, Caroline Kennedy and Edwin Schlossberg, and her brother, Jack Schlossberg (AP)

“During the latest clinical trial, my doctor told me that he could keep me alive for a year, maybe. My first thought was that my kids, whose faces live permanently on the inside of my eyelids, wouldn’t remember me,” Schlossberg wrote.

“My son might have a few memories, but he’ll probably start confusing them with pictures he sees or stories he hears. I didn’t ever really get to take care of my daughter—I couldn’t change her diaper or give her a bath or feed her, all because of the risk of infection after my transplants,” she added.

In her essay, Schlossberg also criticized her cousin, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was sworn into his post in February after he was nominated by President Donald Trump.

“I watched from my hospital bed as Bobby, in the face of logic and common sense, was confirmed for the position, despite never having worked in medicine, public health, or the government,” she wrote.

She decried his cuts to research funding, particularly for “mRNA vaccines, technology that could be used against certain cancers.”

open image in gallery

Tatianna Schlossberg, Jack Schlossberg and Caroline Kennedy meet with Prince William in 2022 (AFP via Getty Images)

Other members of the family have also criticized the Department of Health and Human Services leader, including Caroline Kennedy and Jack Schlossberg, who announced plans to run for Congress as a Democrat in New York last month.

Maria Shriver, a journalist and the former first lady of California, praised her cousin’s New Yorker essay last month.

“If you can only read one thing today, please make/take the time for this extraordinary piece of writing by my cousin Caroline’s extraordinary daughter Tatiana,” Shriver wrote. “Tatiana is a beautiful writer, journalist, wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend.”

Schlossberg was born May 5, 1990, in New York City. Her mother, the daughter of the 35th president and first lady Jackie Kennedy, has served as U.S. Ambassador to Japan and Australia. Her father is a designer and artist.

Schlossberg earned her bachelor’s degree in history at Yale University before attending the University of Oxford, where she earned a master’s degree in American history.

She interned for The New York Times in 2014, before she was hired as a staff writer for the outlet’s metro section, and later its science section. Henry Fountain, a long-time climate reporter and editor for The New York Times, told The Washington Post Schlossberg was a “total delight” who “just researched her butt off on stories.”

open image in gallery

Jack Schlossberg and Tatiana Schlossberg watch as their mother, Caroline Kennedy, testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 2012 (AFP via Getty Images)

Schlossberg went on to work as a freelance environmental journalist, focusing on the impacts of climate change. She published several stories in The Washington Post, including an investigation into the impacts of climate change on cranberry farmers.

In 2019, Schlossberg also published Inconspicuous Consumption: The Environmental Impact You Don’t Know You Have.

The work earned her the Rachel Carson Environment Book Award. The award’s judges wrote that Schlossberg’s readers “will find solace, humor and a route to feeling empowered with possibilities for positive change, rather than drained by an accumulation of bad news.”

In her New Yorker essay, Schlossberg said she has told her son about her love of writing.

“My son knows that I am a writer and that I write about our planet. Since I’ve been sick, I remind him a lot, so that he will know that I was not just a sick person,” she wrote.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul honored Schlossberg in a statement Tuesday.

“My heart goes out to the Kennedy family. I will never forget the images of Caroline Kennedy as a child in the White House before she lost her father. To now lose her own daughter to this terrible disease is unspeakable. I’m praying for all who knew and loved her,” she wrote on X.

SOURCE PAGE

NEED TO KNOW

• Emma Thompson opened up about which movie with Hugh Grant he called their ‘most psychotic’
• Thompson said she’s working with Grant more than any other actor, including in Sense and Sensibility, Love Actually and The Remains of the Day
• Thompson said time has shown Grant’s comment missed the mark

Hugh Grant and Emma Thompson have made a lot of movies together, but there’s one that Grant thought might be their “most psychotic.”

Thompson, 66, opened up about her career in a video for GQ, published Dec. 9. In it, she looked back at Love Actually, the 2003 holiday ensemble film directed by Richard Curtis. Thompson played Karen, who’s married to Alan Rickman’s Harry. She’s also the sister of Grant’s David, the new British Prime Minister. 

“It’s the ultimate ensemble, isn’t it?” the Oscar winner said of the movie. “We did sort of get flung into our pieces, one by one.”

Then she remembered the conversation she had with Grant, 65, about it. “I do remember opening it in New York, and I’d just done Wit with Mike Nichols, which is not a romcom at all, and something very serious, you know, and sad,” she said. In that film, Thompson plays a woman battling ovarian cancer. 

From left: Martine McCutcheon, Hugh Grant and Emma Thompson in ‘Love Actually’.

Universal/Dna/Working Title/Kobal/Shutterstock 

“And I went to the opening of that and then the opening of Love Actually, and Hugh Grant came up behind me and said, ‘Is that the most psychotic thing we’ve ever made?’ ” Thompson remembered and laughed. “And I said, ‘Well, you know, time will tell. Time will tell.’ ”

She admitted, “And time has told. It holds up because it’s so full of Richard’s deep love for humanity.” Though often debated, Love Actually has remained for many people a yearly Christmas watch, though Grant has admitted he doesn’t know why it’s “so popular.”

Thompson told GQ that she “worked it out” and thinks she’s starred in more things with Grant than anyone else. “He’s been my brother, my lover, my sort of husband person, somebody I’ve served as a servant in The Remains of the Day,” she said. “We’ve done so many things together. . . . And it’s always been a completely different relationship.” In 1995’s Sense and Sensibility, they played lovers. They both also appeared in 2025’s Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy. 

Thompson also opened up about one of her biggest scenes in Love Actually: when Karen realizes her husband bought jewelry for another woman and gives her just a Joni Mitchell CD. She hides her heartbreak, trying not to ruin the holiday. 

Hugh Grant (left) and Emma Thompson in ‘Sense and Sensibility’.

Moviestore/Shutterstock 

“It was easy really to do,” she admitted. “I knew what being heartbroken felt like. So, it wasn’t difficult.”  She said they did “four or five” takes and that Curtis was “sniveling in the corner” the whole time, which was “very funny.” 

“It was just that thing of that I so understand of people crying and then but not wanting to cry and then having to cover it up,” she said. She added that there’s “no woman that doesn’t know what that’s like, especially if they’ve got kids.”

Back in 2022, Thompson admitted she is not one of the people who rewatches Love Actually.

“No, it was 20 years ago,” she told Jimmy Fallon when he askled about it during an episode of The Tonight Show. The host asked if it was fun to look back and reminisce, but she joked, “Not really. No, you’re just saying, ‘I don’t think I was very well paid for that. That was that terrible trailer with the loo that really stank and had that sort of….’ That’s the things you remember, not the good ones.”

She also confirmed that countless fans have sent her Mitchell CDs. “I have a separate house for those,” she joked.

SOURCE PAGE

Scottish wind farms have been paid an astonishing £347million to not generate electricity – helping to rack up a Britain-wide bill of more than £1.45billion for wasted wind power in a single year.

Operators north of the Border have been handed the millions in so-called wind constraint payments, in order not to generate power.

But in total, wasted renewables have cost Britain a massive ten-figure sum with the cash spent on switching off wind turbines and firing up alternative power sources.

In constraint payments alone, wind farms in Scotland have been paid a remarkable £346,847,461 to stand idle.

All but five local authority areas in Scotland have wind turbines within them, laying bare the scale of how the power projects have taken over the country.

Politicians and campaigners alike have sounded the alarm about the scale of the constraint payments, which are ultimately borne by households and businesses through their bills.

MSP Douglas Lumsden, Scottish Conservative energy spokesman, said: ‘Hard-pressed Scots will rightly be questioning these soaring payments.

‘At a time when they are facing rising energy bills, they will wonder why they are footing an ever-increasing bill for turbines to be turned off.

In constraint payments alone, wind farms in Scotland have been paid a remarkable £346,847,461 to stand idle

‘Rural communities are being overwhelmed by the number of wind farms spreading across the country.

‘Labour and the SNP are riding roughshod over local community concerns.

‘While the right balance must be struck on our energy needs, delivering value for money for taxpayers must be a top priority at all times.’

And campaigner Denise Davis, of Communities B4 Power Companies, said: ‘The whole of the UK is having to pay for this. Every single time they get a bill, they’re paying.’

The Highlands has the most onshore wind turbines with 862 built, latest figures have revealed. It is followed by South Lanarkshire, where there are 518, and Dumfries and Galloway, where there are 512.

But there are also huge wind farms offshore, developments which includes Scotland’s largest, named Seagreen, which is around 17 miles off the coast of Angus in the North Sea.

An astonishing £1,457,263,000 has been spent turning off wind turbines and paying gas plants to switch on in Britain so far this year, data from the Wasted Wind tracker website showed, jumping from £1.23bn the year before.

And separate figures from the Renewable Energy Foundation show that, as of December 15, wind farms in Scotland have been paid £346,847,461 in constraint payments alone.

So far this is the second highest on record, slightly down on the 2024 high of £393,492,798, with two weeks of the year left.

Constraint payments are dished out when the grid is congested and cannot transport power from wind farms in remote areas, often in Scotland, to where it is needed most.

But to keep the lights on in those areas grid operators must call on gas plants to step in to power up Britain often at great expense.

A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesman said: ‘We are reversing decades of underinvestment and delivering the biggest upgrade to the grid, which will minimise constraint costs, meet the capacity needed to deliver clean power by 2030, and help bring down bills for households for good.

‘The more renewables on the system, the cheaper the wholesale price of electricity, which is why the only answer for Britain is our mission to get us off the rollercoaster of fossil fuel prices and onto clean, homegrown power we control.’

Gillian Martin, Holyrood’s energy secretary, said: ‘The current UK energy system is not fit for purpose – in an energy rich country like Scotland, nobody should be struggling to pay their bills or living in fuel poverty. 

‘Despite UK Government promises to cut energy bills by £300, they are now more than £150 higher. We have consistently called for reform of the electricity market so that Scottish households can benefit from the green electricity produced in our country.

‘Scotland’s vast renewable potential is one of our greatest economic opportunities and can deliver thousands of well-paid, sustainable jobs across Scotland, as well as securing lasting benefits for communities.’

SOURCE PAGE

Multiple passengers have been injured and hundreds of tourists have been left stranded after the terrifying crash on the route to Machu Pichu in Peru



SOURCE PAGE

University students in Iran have joined shopkeepers and bazaar merchants in protests over the country’s soaring cost of living.

Footage showed scores of people marching along a street in the capital Tehran, chanting “rest in peace Reza Shah”, a reference to the founder of the royal dynasty ousted in the 1979 Islamic revolution.

The semi-official Fars News Agency said hundreds of students held protests at four universities in Tehran on Tuesday.

Video from Monday showed people gathering in central Tehran and chanting slogans.

Image:
Protesters march in Tehran. Pic: Fars News Agency/AP

Iran‘s currency, the rial, has lost nearly half its value against the US dollar in 2025, with inflation reaching 42.5% in December and the price of food rising as much as 72% as the country bears US sanctions and threats of Israeli strikes.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said he had asked the interior minister to listen to the “legitimate demands” of the protesters.

A spokesperson for the government said a dialogue mechanism would be set up and would include talks with protest leaders.

“We officially recognise the protests,” they said on Tuesday. “We hear ​their voices and we know that this originates from natural pressure arising from the pressure on people’s livelihoods.”

The demonstrations are the first major protests since Israeli and US strikes on Iran in June, which prompted outpourings of patriotic solidarity.

Read more from Sky News:
Review ordered in case of British-Egyptian activist
China fires rockets into waters off Taiwan

Image:
Pic: Fars News Agency/AP

Iran’s economy has been suffering for years after Donald Trump reimposed US sanctions during his first term as president in 2018 and ended an international deal over the country’s nuclear programme. United Nations sanctions on the country were also reimposed in September.

Inflation is currently pushing many prices beyond the means of most people.

Iran faced protests across the country in 2022 over price hikes, including for bread.

The country’s clerical rulers were rocked by the boldest unrest yet in years over the same period and into 2023 after the death of a young Iranian Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, in the custody of the morality police, who enforce strict dress codes.

The country is still under intense international pressure, with Mr Trump on Monday saying he might back another round of Israeli airstrikes if Tehran resumes work on ballistic missiles or a nuclear weapons programme.

The US and Israel conducted airstrikes on Iran’s military and nuclear installations over 12 days in June, aimed at stopping what they said were efforts to develop the means to build an atomic weapon.

Iran has said its nuclear energy programme is entirely peaceful and claimed it has not tried to build a nuclear bomb.

SOURCE PAGE

NewsFeed

Footage shows a massive hole in the vault of Sparkasse Bank in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, where thieves made off with valuables estimated to be worth between 10 and 90 million euros ($11.7 to 105.7 million), police said. Angry customers assembled outside the bank on Tuesday demanding answers.

Published On 30 Dec 202530 Dec 2025

Click here to share on social media

share2

Share

SOURCE PAGE

The man accused of planting pipe bombs outside the headquarters of both the Democratic and Republican national committees the night before the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol appeared at a federal detention hearing before a magistrate judge on Tuesday.

Earlier this month, authorities arrested Brian Cole Jr of Woodbridge, Virginia. He has yet to enter a plea. Cole’s lawyers argued that he should be released while he awaits trial, as he does not present any danger. They also noted that Cole had agreed to home detention enforced by GPS monitoring, and would live under the supervision of a relative. The defense rebuked federal prosecutors who pushed for the suspect to remain in custody.

Cole’s lawyers argued Tuesday that their client is on the autism spectrum, and has been diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder. In a recent court filing, they also wrote that Cole has “zero criminal history”, and there is “zero evidence that he will flee”. They argue that no one was “actually harmed” as a result of the crimes Cole has been charged with, since neither of the bombs exploded.

However, according to a recent justice department memo, Cole allegedly confessed to his crimes after he was arrested by law enforcement. At the time, his home was also searched and several bomb-making components were found on the premises. The FBI also obtained Cole’s credit card statements, which, they note, showed the purchase of several materials used to make the bombs.

The documents state that in a video interview with authorities, Cole, 30, said that he was in Washington DC to protest against the outcome of the 2020 election on 5 January. He initially maintained that he did not plant the pipe bombs, and was not the person pictured in surveillance footage on the evening of the attempted attacks.

However, after the interviewing agents “reminded the defendant that lying to them was an additional criminal offense” and asked him again whether he was the individual in the video, he “paused for approximately fifteen seconds, placed his head face down on the table, and answered, ‘yes’”.

The filing goes on to note that “the defendant walked the interviewing agents in detail through his construction, transportation, and planting of the pipe bombs”.

According to the papers, when agents pressed Cole on his motive, he said that “something just snapped” after “watching everything, just everything getting worse”.

Cole said that he wanted to do something “to the parties” because “they were in charge”. When asked about his decision to place the bombs at the RNC and DNC headquarters, the defendant reportedly responded: “I really don’t like either party at this point.”

Later in the interview, Cole apparently explained that the idea to use pipe bombs came from “his interest in history”, specifically the Troubles in Northern Ireland. “The defendant denied that his actions were directed toward Congress or related to the proceedings scheduled to take place on January 6,” according to the court documents. He was also “pretty relieved” that the devices did not detonate, and told agents that he planted the bombs at night because he did not want to kill people, according to the filing.

Cole’s lawyers have requested that the judge order the release of any video or written “statements, confessions or admissions” from the defendant to his legal team.

Meanwhile, federal prosecutors argue that since Cole is charged with transporting explosives across state lines and maliciously attempting to use those explosives to damage or destroy property – the latter of which comes with a prison sentence of up to 20 years – he “poses an intolerable risk of danger to the community if released”.

According to CBS News, Judge Martin J Sharbaugh said that he would not decide Tuesday on whether to release Cole from custody, but noted that he would issue an “expeditious” ruling.

Cole’s arrest was the biggest development in a case that had long stumped law enforcement officials and inspired myriad conspiracy theories throughout the years of searching for the perpetrator.

SOURCE PAGE

In the early hours of Monday [December 29], residents in the state of Thuringia called the police out to a local supermarket, warning that thieves were trying to break in. But when the police arrived, the group of young men, armed with hot tea and blankets, just wanted to be first in line when the supermarket opened. December 29 is the start of the three-day window in Germany when fireworks can be sold, to adults over the age of 18, to celebrate New Year’s Eve.

All over the country, undeterred by the cold and dark, people line up and wait every year for fireworks to go on sale. The coveted products have names like Giftzwerg (“poison dwarf”), Hysteria, Hurricane Force. The fireworks come in brightly colored packages of various sizes, with a fuse sticking out.

Some people spend hundreds of euros on fireworks for New Year’s Eve in GermanyImage: Frank Hammerschmidt/dpa/picture alliance

When the fuse is lit, they shoot up into the air. Black powder produces loud explosions, while colorful effects are created by metal powder, in combination with other chemicals.

Only a minority let off private fireworks

Germany has a long tradition of people letting off their own fireworks on New Year’s Eve. For the manufacturers, it’s a profitable and steadily growing business. The German Pyrotechnic Industry Association calculates that in 2024 its turnover was €197 million ($232 million) — a record high, up from €180 million the previous year. The association estimates that 10% to 15% more goods will be on sale in 2025.

Yet only 22% of people living in Germany want to see in the New Year with a private fireworks display. These were the findings of a representative survey of 2,500 people over the age of 18 by the opinion research institute Civey. The survey was commissioned by Germany’s Association of Technical Inspection Agencies (TÜV).

“It’s only a minority of people who set off their own firecrackers, rockets, or other fireworks on New Year’s Eve,” says Joachim Bühler, the CEO of the TÜV association. He explains that the tradition is most popular among younger people and families with children.

More and more people seriously injured

But while some regard fireworks as colorful, exciting, and fun, the rockets and firecrackers have serious downsides. In addition to creating an enormous amount of trash, the Federal Environment Agency records that burning fireworks to ring in the new year generates more than 2,000 metric tons of fine particulates, which constitute a risk to health. 2,000 tons is around 1% of Germany’s entire annual particulate pollution.

Illegal fireworks from the black market are a danger to life and limbImage: Andreas Arnold/dpa/picture alliance

The most serious concern, however, is that injuries and damage to property are increasing year on year, especially in big cities. Firecrackers can cause serious injuries like acoustic trauma, burns and the loss of body parts, such as fingers or an entire hand.

More and more often, injuries are caused by fireworks that have been purchased illegally on black markets in Poland, Czechia and the Netherlands, and have considerably more explosive power. According to the police, they’re comparable to bombs and grenades. In 2024, two young men died in Germany after handling so-called spherical bombs that contained more than 600 grams of black powder. A doctor described one of the men as having been “ripped to shreds.”

This year, fireworks have been banned for the first time in large parts of Czechia. Starting in 2026, the Netherlands is banning private fireworks altogether. The hope is that this will stop the two countries being used as key transshipment points for home-made firecrackers and goods smuggled in from China.

German customs officials report that in 2024 they seized more than seven tons of pyrotechnics that were not authorized for use in Germany. That’s considerably more than in all three of the previous years put together.

“For many people, ordinary fireworks aren’t enough anymore,” warned Jochen Kopelke, the chair of the federal German Police Union. “They want them to be more and more powerful, with big explosions and lots of fire.”

Many organizations want firecrackers banned

There has also been an increase in the deliberate use of pyrotechnics as a weapon, including against police officers, firefighters and paramedics. Aggression and violence tend to break out on New Year’s Eve, especially in the bigger cities. Some neighborhoods almost resemble a war zone.

Sometimes, police officers are attacked with fireworks on New Year’s EveImage: Julius Schreiner/dpa/picture alliance

This is why the security services are calling for a blanket ban on all fireworks. A petition to this effect, launched by the police trade union (GdP) in Berlin, has already been signed by almost 2.5 million people.

The branch leader of the GdP in Berlin, Stephan Weh, believes politicians have to do something.

“All that’s happened in the last few years has been the imposition of localized bans on firecrackers, guns and knives, in specific zones. But these make no difference to the excesses of violence,” he says. “We don’t want to wait until one of our colleagues loses their life in this wild, senseless firecracker frenzy.”

More than 50 civil society organizations have also come together to call for a ban on private New Year’s Eve fireworks, under the hashtag #böllerciao (“Bye-bye, firecrackers”). Medical associations, Environmental Action Germany, animal welfare organizations, and the German Children’s Fund are among those supporting the initiative. Around 750,000 people have signed their petition.

One in three against a ban on fireworks

Increased aggression on New Year’s Eve also affects people’s perception of security. The TÜV survey found that almost one in three — women in particular — do not feel safe in public if there are firecrackers around. 32% of those surveyed and 45% of women surveyed said they didn’t feel safe outside on New Year’s Eve because of fireworks.

Pets like dogs are scared by the loud noises and flashing lights of fireworksImage: Patrick Pleul/dpa/picture alliance

More and more people would welcome restrictions on private fireworks. Almost half are in favor of a total ban, with only the smallest fireworks excepted, such as sparklers or table fireworks. 22% would like to see a ban on firecrackers, both large and small.

However, there are also people — 33%, according to the survey — who reject any sort of ban, citing tradition and personal freedom.

There is no prospect of a nationwide ban on private fireworks any time soon, as Germany’s state and federal interior ministers have not been able to reach agreement on this. The state premier of Lower Saxony, Olaf Lies, is relying on local decision-making instead.

“Lots of local authorities stipulate areas where people are not allowed to set off fireworks,” he says.

It’s true that more and more prohibited zones have been established in Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Munich and other big cities, particularly in the town centers. And it’s completely forbidden all over Germany to let off fireworks in the vicinity of hospitals, churches, children’s homes, old people’s homes and airports.

This article has been translated from German.

SOURCE PAGE

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox

Get our free Inside Washington email

Get our free Inside Washington email

George Clooney has said that the United States would be in a better place if ABC and CBS had told Donald Trump to “go f*** yourself” rather than settle his defamation lawsuits.

Railing against Bari Weiss, the “anti-woke” founder of The Free Press recently installed by Paramount chief David Ellison to lead CBS News, the Oscar-winning actor also warned that she is “dismantling” the Tiffany Network.

“I’m worried about how we inform ourselves and how we’re going to discern reality without a functioning press,” Clooney told Variety in a wide-ranging interview.

The Independent has contacted CBS News and ABC News for comment.

While promoting his new movie Jay Kelly and floating the idea of reviving the Ocean’s heist film franchise, Clooney – who recently became a French citizen after moving his family to France in 2021 – related his Broadway turn in Good Night, and Good Luck to the state of American media today.

open image in gallery

George Clooney expressed concern about the state of American media under President Donald Trump, saying it would be better if ABC and CBS didn’t settle their lawsuits. (Getty Images for BFI)

In the play, adapted from the 2005 film of the same name which the actor directed and starred in, Clooney portrays legendary CBS News anchor Edward R. Murrow when he stood up to Joseph McCarthy. At the time the film was released, Clooney – whose father was a longtime TV news anchorman – said he “intended to draw parallels between Murrow and how the media was covering the lead-up to the Iraq War.”

Twenty years later, the story resonates differently now that Trump is back in office and hitting news organizations with billion-dollar lawsuits while threatening to pull their broadcast licenses.

“When Clooney played Murrow last spring, CBS News was settling a frivolous lawsuit with Trump so that he’d approve the sale of its parent company, Paramount, to Skydance,” Variety’s Brent Lang noted. “That enraged Clooney, as did ABC News’ similar settlement with the president over a defamation claim.”

Weeks before the president’s second inauguration, Disney – the parent company of ABC News – paid Trump $15 million to settle his complaint after anchor George Stephanopoulos incorrectly claimed on-air that Trump had been found “liable for rape” in the E. Jean Carroll civil case. (Trump was actually found liable for sexually abusing and defaming Carroll.)

While legal analysts told The Independent at the time that the “case against ABC would have been a close call” if it went to trial, First Amendment experts warned that the settlement would have a “chilling effect” on the media going forward. “Many in free press circles are holding their breath,” one stated. “There is concern that we are embarking on some scary times.”

Months later, amid a politically-fraught $8.4 billion merger with Ellison’s Skydance Media, Paramount agreed to pay Trump $16 million to settle his defamation lawsuit over a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris, despite CBS News lawyers calling the complaint “meritless.”

Though Paramount’s leadership insisted that the settlement was unrelated to the Skydance deal, the merger was approved weeks later by the Trump administration. House Democrats have since launched an investigation into whether the settlement constituted a “bribe” to the president in order to secure the deal.

“If CBS and ABC had challenged those lawsuits and said, ‘Go f*** yourself,’ we wouldn’t be where we are in the country,” Clooney told Variety. “That’s simply the truth.”

open image in gallery

‘Bari Weiss is dismantling CBS News as we speak,” George Clooney said in a recent interview (Getty)

Clooney went on to express concerns over the “MAGA-friendly” direction of CBS News under Ellison and Weiss, who was hired in October. She has recently come under fire for spiking a 60 Minutes story at the last minute about the Trump administration sending Venezuelan migrants to the notorious El Salvador CECOT prison.

“Bari Weiss is dismantling CBS News as we speak,” he said. “I’m worried about how we inform ourselves and how we’re going to discern reality without a functioning press.”

He also grew more “animated” over his belief that some journalists and news outlets have abandoned their “mission to hold the powerful to account,” prompting him to reference a quote of Murrow’s from the film and play.

“‘Let’s not confuse dissent with disloyalty,’” Clooney said. “I mean, what a beautiful, important statement about who we are at our best. But all too often we fall short.”

While extremely worried about the state of the country and the free press under a Trump White House, calling it a “very trying time,” Clooney – one of Hollywood’s most outspoken liberals – also revealed that there was once a time when he was pals with the celebrity game show host turned president.

“I knew him very well,” the Michael Clayton star proclaimed. “He used to call me a lot, and he tried to help me get into a hospital once to see a back surgeon. I’d see him out at clubs and at restaurants. He’s a big goofball. Well, he was. That all changed.”

SOURCE PAGE

NEED TO KNOW

• Researchers are working to save stingless bees by urging lawmakers to grant the insects rights
• Scientists believe the rare species in the Peruvian Amazon has medicinal properties in its honey that can cure diseases
• Ordinances to protect the insects have passed in two Peruvian regions

A Peruvian scientist and her team are working together to make sure stingless bees are around for generations to come. 

Rosa Vásquez Espinoza, founder of Amazon Research Internacional, and Constanza Prieto, Latin American director at the Earth Law Center, have been working together to make sure stingless bees in the Amazon have the right to exist, according to The Guardian and CNN.

Espinoza, who refers to the insects as “the most efficient pollinator,” told CNN in a recent interview that the bees are keeping the important ecosystems of the Peruvian Amazon alive and regenerating. 

However, deforestation, along with climate change and pesticides, are some of the many challenges the insect species faces. 

stingless bees nest.

Sunbird Images/imageBROKER/Shutterstock 

“Globally, we have around 600 documented species of stingless bees. In Peru, we know we have at least 175 species. That positions Peru as such a biodiversity hotspot for stingless bees, which means we need to be driving the change and the actions to help bring back the stingless bee,” she said. 

Espinoza, along with others like Prieto, is advocating for legal protections for the stingless bee due to its contributions to the surrounding environment.

“Some of our world’s most important pollinators are under threat, but now a gentle revolution is buzzing: Peru could grant stingless bees legal #NatureRights to exist and flourish, setting an example for other countries to follow! Indigenous communities are leading the charge — let’s rise with them,” she captioned a Dec. 12 Instagram post.

Her efforts have paid off. In the past few months, ordinances were passed in two Peruvian regions to protect bees and support their growth, marking some of the first legal rights for insects worldwide, according to The Guardian.

“This ordinance marks a turning point in our relationship with nature: it makes stingless bees visible, recognises them as rights-bearing subjects, and affirms their essential role in preserving ecosystems,” Prieto told the outlet. 

Despite their name, stingless bees do have stingers; however, they are not designed for defense. 

In research shared by Espinoza and colleague Cesar Delgado in December 2023, the pair said, “Stingless bee honey has a long history of traditional use in medicine, food, religion, and cultural activities worldwide. In the Peruvian Amazon, indigenous and non-indigenous communities have utilized this honey for centuries to treat various diseases.”

At least 14 diseases were said to be treated using stingless bee honey. 

“I was seeing hundreds of medicinal molecules, like molecules that are known to have some sort of biological medicinal property,” Espinoza said of their research, per The Guardian. “And the variety was also really wild – these molecules have been known to have anti-inflammatory effects or antiviral, antibacterial, antioxidant, even anti-cancer.”

stingless bees in the Pacaya Samiria National Park, Amazon, Peru.

Alamy

Apu Cesar Ramos, president of EcoAshaninka of the Ashaninka Communal Reserve, added, “Within the stingless bee lives Indigenous traditional knowledge, passed down since the time of our grandparents.”

“The stingless bee has existed since time immemorial and reflects our coexistence with the rainforest,” Ramos said.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

In December 2024, Congress approved a bill by María Acuña Peralta that protected stingless bees and promoted beekeeping in Peru.

Satipo became the first municipality to pass an ordinance granting legal rights to stingless bees in October, per The Guardian.

SOURCE PAGE