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Prince William Co. supervisors consider lifting tax-break moratorium for nonprofits

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:38:18 GMT

This article was written by WTOP’s news partner, InsideNoVa.com, and republished with permission. Sign up for InsideNoVa.com’s free email subscription today.The Prince William Board of County Supervisors is considering expanding the use of property tax exemptions for certain nonprofits, a move that would reverse a moratorium put in place on new tax-exempt designations.On Tuesday, the board issued a directive to county staff to “research and make recommendations for lifting the moratorium on tax exemptions by designation.” The moratorium has been in place since 2011.The broad language used in Democratic Woodbridge Supervisor Margaret Franklin’s directive followed an earlier proposal from Republican Gainesville Supervisor Bob Weir to consider granting new tax-exempt status specifically to the Willing Warriors charitable organization in Haymarket.Between Tuesday’s meeting and the April 25 meeting that preceded it, Republicans and Democrats on the board went back and forth on Weir’s pro...

NBA Playoffs: Warriors, Knicks win Game 5 to stay alive in their series

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:38:18 GMT

The champs are still alive. The Knicks aren’t done yet, either.Golden State and New York staved off elimination from the NBA playoffs on Wednesday night, both coming up with home wins in Game 5s. The defending champion Warriors beat the Los Angeles Lakers 121-106, while the Knicks topped the Miami Heat 112-103.Teams are now 7-8 in this year’s playoffs when facing elimination. That stat will change Thursday night when Boston (at Philadelphia) and Phoenix (at home against Denver) will try to extend their seasons with wins in Game 6 of those matchups.The top two finishers in the MVP race — Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid and Denver’s Nikola Jokic — could get to the conference finals. That hasn’t happened since 2018, when MVP James Harden led Houston to the Western Conference finals and runner-up LeBron James guided Cleveland to the Eastern Conference finals.WHAT’S NEXT?Thursday’s schedule has those two Game 6 matchups — Boston at Philadelphia (76ers lead ...

US authorities takes down 13 Hezbollah-affiliated web domains

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:38:18 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — U.S. authorities seized over a dozen website domains used by sanctioned associates, businesses, and charities of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, the Department of Justice announced Thursday.Washington has listed the Iran-backed group as a terrorist organization, and has slapped sanctions on its members, associates, and affiliated businesses and charities over the years.The 13 seized website domains include multiple domains for the group’s al-Manar television, as well as URLs for top officials, deputy secretary general Naim Kassem, senior officials Ibrahim al-Sayed and Ali Damush, as well as affiliated charities the Martyrs’ Foundation and the Emdad Committee for Islamic Charity.The websites are no longer accessible, and only an image from American authorities announcing that they have taken the domain name appears. Al-Manar’s main web address, a Lebanese domain, is still operating.“This seizure demonstrates the FBI’s persistence in using all of our...

EU parliament calls on Belarus to stop mistreating imprisoned political hopeful

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:38:18 GMT

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — The European Parliament demanded Thursday that authorities in Belarus stop the mistreatment of a former presidential hopeful imprisoned for standing up to the country’s authoritarian leader and immediately release him and other political prisoners.Viktar Babaryka was handed a 14-year prison sentence in 2021 on charges that he rejected as political punishment for launching a bid to challenge Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in a 2020 presidential election.The European Parliament said that Babaryka was hospitalized in April with traces of beatings that required surgery. Babaryka’s supporters said that the authorities haven’t released any information about his condition and barred his lawyer from visiting him.The European Parliament urged Belarusian authorities to release Babaryka and other political prisoners. It strongly condemned the “inhumane treatment of political prisoners and their family members” in Belarus.Belarus was shaken b...

Unanimous Supreme Court gives transgender woman from Guatemala new chance to fight deportation

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:38:18 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled Thursday in favor of a transgender Guatemalan woman who is fighting deportation on the grounds that she would face persecution if returned to her native country.The court’s unanimous decision in favor of Estrella Santos-Zacaria gives her another chance to argue that immigration officials were wrong to reject her bid to remain in the United States.Lawyers for Santos-Zacaria, now in her mid-30s, said she first fled to the United States after being raped as a young teenager and threatened with death because of her gender identity in a country that has targeted the LGBTQ community. But a U.S. immigration judge found that she did not make a strong enough case that she would face persecution if sent back to Guatemala.The issue at the Supreme Court was more technical, whether federal immigration law was flexible enough to allow her another day in court. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled against her on that point, but other appel...

Gobierno de El Salvador dice que alcanzó 365 días sin homicidios

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:38:18 GMT

(CNN Español) — El Gobierno de El Salvador aseguró este jueves que ha logrado que no haya homicidios en 365 días (no continuos), contados desde que Nayib Bukele asumió la presidencia el 1 de junio de 2019.“Cerramos el 10 de mayo de 2023 con 0 homicidios a nivel nacional. Con este son 365 días sin homicidios, todo un año”, escribió el presidente Nayib Bukele en su cuenta de Twitter. En el mensaje, el mandatario agregó un video en el que se considera que la cifra no tiene precedentes y la compara con 2015, cuando El Salvador alcanzó los 6.665 homicidios.Los datos sobre homicidios no pueden ser verificadas de manera independiente con otras instituciones porque el gobierno de El Salvador las ha declarado bajo reserva con el argumento de que divulgar más detalles pone en riesgo la seguridad nacional.El Gobierno de Honduras dice que no busca imitar las medidas de Bukele en El Salvador para controlar sus centros penalesEn 2015, El Salvador registró una tasa de 105 muertos por cada 10...

Norway takes over presidency of Arctic Council from Russia

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:38:18 GMT

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Norway took over the Arctic Council’s rotating presidency from Russia on Thursday amid concerns that the work of the eight-country intergovernmental body on protecting the sensitive environment is at risk because of suspension of cooperation with Moscow over the war in Ukraine.In March 2022, seven western members of the Arctic Council which doesn’t deal with security issues but makes binding agreements on environmental protection and gives a voice to the Indigenous peoples of the Arctic region, suspended their participation in the intergovernmental body in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a month earlier.The countries — Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and the United States — said that they wouldn’t send representatives to the council’s meetings in Russia — the world’s largest Arctic state — although they remained convinced of the value of Arctic cooperation.Research involving Russia, ranging from climate work to mappin...

Timeline: Extradition of prime suspect in Natalee Holloway disappearance

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:38:18 GMT

LIMA, Peru (AP) — The prime suspect in the 2005 disappearance of American student Natalee Holloway on a Dutch Caribbean island is now facing extradition to face criminal charges in the United States.Peru’s government on Wednesday issued an executive order allowing the temporary extradition of Joran van der Sloot. The Dutchman will be prosecuted for alleged extortion and wire fraud charges involving promises to lead Holloway’s family to her body, which was never found. She was later declared dead by a U.S. judge.Van der Sloot has never been charged in connection with her disappearance.A 2001 treaty between Peru and the U.S. allows a suspect to be temporarily extradited to face trial in the other country. It requires that the prisoner “be returned” after judicial proceedings have concluded.Here’s a look at van der Sloot’s history:___MAY 2005Holloway, 18, of Mountain Brook, Alabama, a wealthy Birmingham suburb, vanishes while on a high school graduation trip to ...

Stunning mosaic of baby star clusters created from 1 million telescope shots

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:38:18 GMT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Astronomers have created a stunning mosaic of baby star clusters hiding in our galactic backyard. The montage, published Thursday, reveals five vast stellar nurseries less than 1,500 light-years away. A light-year is nearly 6 trillion miles (9.7 trillion kilometers).To come up with their atlas, scientists pieced together more than 1 million images taken over five years by the European Southern Observatory in Chile. The observatory’s infrared survey telescope was able to peer through clouds of dust and discern infant stars.“We can detect even the faintest sources of light, like stars far less massive than the sun, revealing objects that no one has ever seen before,” University of Vienna’s Stefan Meingast, the lead author, said in a statement.The observations, conducted from 2017 to 2022, will help researchers better understand how stars evolve from dust, Meingast said. The findings, appearing in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics, complemen...

Broncos single-game tickets on sale after schedule announcement

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:38:18 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- The Denver Broncos will release the schedule for the upcoming 2023 season on Thursday night and a limited number of single-game tickets will go on sale shortly after the announcement.The complete NFL schedule will be announced at 6 p.m. MT on Thursday but some teasers have already been revealed. Rocky Mountain National Park ranked among best According to the Broncos, the team will host the Chiefs, Chargers, Raiders, Packers, Vikings, Patriots, Jets, Browns and Commanders during the regular season. Denver will visit the Chiefs, Chargers, Raiders, Bears, Lions, Bills, Dolphins and Texans.If you're interested in getting a notification as soon as tickets go on sale, you can sign up for an email alert from the team. A limited number of mostly single-seat tickets will be available at full price starting at $30 as well as ADA seating and club seating. The Broncos have sold out 410 consecutive regular-season games dating back to 1970, according to the team.