Parents convicted in 2009 ‘balloon boy’ hoax pardoned

DEC 24, 2020 @ 1700 GMT | FILE – In this Jan. 11, 2010, file photo, Richard Heene, right, and his wife, Mayumi, arrive at the Laramie County Detention Center in Fort Collins, Colo. The couple convicted of criminal charges in the so-called balloon boy hoax that fascinated the country more than a decade ago was pardoned Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2020, by the governor of Colorado. (AP File Photo)

DENVER (AP) — A couple convicted of criminal charges in the so-called balloon boy hoax that fascinated the country more than a decade ago were pardoned Wednesday by the governor of Colorado.

Richard and Mayumi Heene reported their 6-year-old son had floated away in an homemade UFO-shaped silver helium balloon in 2009.

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Man dressed as Santa rescued from power lines in California

DEC 21, 2020 @ 1400 GMT | In this photo provided by the California Highway Patrol, a man dressed as Santa Claus who was flying on a powered parachute on his way to deliver candy canes to children is seen stuck on power lines in Rio Linda, Calif., on Sunday, Dec. 20, 2020. The man was rescued uninjured. The incident happened shortly after the man took off near a school in Rio Linda and then hit and became suspended in power lines, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman told KCRA-TV. (California Highway Patrol via AP)

RIO LINDA, Calif. (AP) — Santa found himself a little more tied up than usual this time of year.

A Northern California man impersonating Santa Claus and flying on a powered parachute was rescued Sunday after he became entangled in power lines, authorities said.

The incident happened shortly after the man took off near a school in Rio Linda to deliver candy canes to children in his community. He flew into a maze of power lines and wound up suspended in them, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman told KCRA-TV.

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Motorist rescued after 10 hours in car buried by snow plow

DEC 19, 2020 @ 1500 GMT | This photo, provided by the New York State Police, shows a car, in Owego, NY, from which a New York State Police sergeant rescued Kevin Kresen, 58, of Candor, NY, stranded for 10 hours, covered by nearly 4 feet of snow thrown by a plow during this week’s storm. Authorities say the New York State Police sergeant rescued Kresen stranded for hours in a car covered by nearly 4 feet of snow thrown by a plow during this week’s storm. The 58-year-old Candor man drove off the road and got plowed in by a truck. (New York State Police via AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — A man who drove off the road in this week’s snowstorm spent 10 hours trapped in his car after a passing plow and rapidly accumulating snow buried it, finally managing to get a 911 call through and being rescued in the nick of time by a New York state trooper.

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Prague zoo’s month-old Sumatran orangutan finally has a name

DEC 16, 2020 @ 1145 GMT | Kawi, a newly born baby of critically endangered Sumatran orangutan, holds on to his mother Mawar at their enclosure at the zoo in Prague, Czech Republic, Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020. Kawi was born on Nov. 17. 2020. (AP Photo)

PRAGUE (AP) — He’s called Pustakawan, or Kawi, if you wish.
Prague’s zoo said on Wednesday it has finally completed the process of naming a critically endangered Sumatran orangutan baby born on its premises on Nov 17.

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US B-52H bombers fly to Middle East in mission to deter Iran

DEC 10, 2020 @ 1800 GMT | FILE – In this May 21, 2019 photo provided by the U.S. Air Force, a U.S. B-52H Stratofortress, prepares to fly over Southwest Asia. Two American bomber aircraft have flown over a swath of the Middle East, sending what U.S. officials say is a message of deterrence to Iran. The flight of the two massive B-52H Stratofortress bombers over the region on Thursday was the second such mission in less than a month. It was designed to underscore America’s continuing commitment to the Middle East even as President Donald Trump’s administration withdraws thousands of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. (U.S. Air Force via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a new show of military might, two American bomber aircraft flew from the United States to the Middle East on Thursday, in a round-trip mission that U.S. officials said covered a wide swath of the region and was a direct message of deterrence to Iran.

The flight of the two massive B-52H Stratofortress bombers, the second such mission in less than a month, was designed to underscore America’s continuing commitment to the Middle East even as President Donald Trump’s administration withdraws thousands of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Europe to revive international night train links

DEC 7, 2020 @ 2100 GMT | FILE – In this Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018 file photo a train leaves at night the main train station in Frankfurt, Germany. Four European rail companies announced Tuesday they plan to boost the continent’s network of night train connections by reviving routes that were dropped several years ago for cost reasons. (AP Photo)

BERLIN (AP) — Four European rail companies announced Tuesday they plan to boost the continent’s network of night train connections by reviving routes that were dropped several years ago for cost reasons.

German rail company Deutsche Bahn and the main national train operators in France, Switzerland and Austria said the routes from Vienna to Paris, via Munich, and Zurich to Amsterdam, via Cologne, will be re-established starting next December.

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Israel urges citizens to avoid Gulf, cites Iran threat

DEC 4, 2020 @ 1700 GMT | Israelis prepare to fly to Dubai at the Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Dec. 3, 2020. The Israeli government is urging its citizens to avoid travel to the Gulf states of the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, citing threats of Iranian attacks. Thursday’s travel advisory comes as Iran is threatening to attack Israeli targets following the assassination of its top nuclear scientist last Friday. (AP Photo)

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli government on Thursday urged its citizens to avoid travel to the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, citing threats of Iranian attacks.

Iran has been threatening to attack Israeli targets since its chief nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, was assassinated last Friday near Tehran. It accuses Israel, which has been suspected in previous killings of Iranian nuclear scientists, of being behind the shooting.

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Sweden: Mother suspected of locking up her son for 28 years

DEC 1, 2020 @ 1245 GMT | Police at the scene of an apartment where a woman is suspected of locking up her son, in Haninge, south of Stockholm, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020. Police in Stockholm are investigating a woman in her 70s for locking up her son for 28 years in an apartment south of the Swedish capital, investigators said Tuesday. Prosecutor Emma Olsson, who heads the preliminary investigation, said the woman who was arrested Monday, was held on suspicion of unlawful deprivation of liberty and grievous bodily harm. (TT via AP)

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Police in Stockholm are investigating a woman in her 70s suspected of having kept her son locked up — reportedly for 28 years — in an apartment south of the Swedish capital, investigators said Tuesday.

Prosecutor Emma Olsson, who heads the preliminary investigation, said the woman who was held on suspicion of unlawful deprivation of liberty and grievous bodily harm.

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Rough rescue: Storms, broken plane force layover for turtles

NOV 28, 2020 @ 1800 GMT | Rescued Kemp’s ridley sea turtles receive care at Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, Tenn., on Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2020. Thirty endangered sea turtles rescued from the beaches of Cape Cod are now safe in New Orleans after their Thanksgiving travel plans went awry. They were being taken to a Louisiana rehabilitation center when bad weather and damage to a propeller grounded their plane in Chattanooga. Wildlife experts scrambled to find overnight homes for the turtles. They were then driven to New Orleans on Thanksgiving. (Tennessee Aquarium via AP)

BOSTON (AP) — They might have gotten there faster by walking, but at any rate, these endangered turtles had a lot to be thankful for on Thanksgiving.

Bad weather, a damaged propeller and an unscheduled stop in Tennessee complicated the rescue of 30 critically endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtles that were among hundreds recently found on the beaches of Cape Cod, stunned and almost killed by falling ocean temperatures.

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Video shows Florida man rescue puppy from alligator

NOV 24, 2020 @ 1500 GMT | A sign posted near the home of Richard and Louise Wilbanks warns residents about dangerous wildlife that lurk in the retention pond near their Estero, Fla., home on Monday, Nov. 23, 2020. The Wilbanks’ dog Gunner was recently saved by his owner, Richard Wilbanks, after he was grabbed by an alligator while they went for a walk near a retention pond located near their home. (AP Photo)

ESTERO, USA (AP) — A 74-year-old man leaped into a Florida pond and wrestled open the jaws of an alligator that lunged from the water to attack his 3-month-old puppy.

The rescue last month was captured on video by cameras placed in the area to document wildlife. Florida Wildlife Federation workers discovered the attack when they checked the camera’s memory card last week, according to the agency’s regional policy director, Meredith Budd.

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