Pope Francis ushered in the New Year with a powerful message emphasizing the sanctity of life, calling for a "firm commitment" to respect and protect human life from conception to natural death. During a New Year's Day Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica on January 1, 2024, the pope dedicated his homily to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and prayed for a greater societal awareness to care for all forms of life.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has ordered an open investigation into the mayor of Coalcoman, Michoacan, after a controversial Christmas party where local government officials allegedly praised drug lords from the notorious Cartel Jalisco New Generation (CJNG). The party, attended by city officials and a high-ranking military officer, reportedly saw cartel members distributing gifts to children, with a banner later thanking the cartel’s leader, Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera, and his sons for their “generosity.”
On December 31, 2024, a San Diego police officer rescued a non-breathing one-year-old infant in Point Loma. Around 1:35 p.m., a woman frantically called police about a baby not breathing in the 1100 block of Sunset Cliffs Boulevard.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested a man who is believed to have the greatest number of explosive devices in the bureau's history. The FBI found "more than 150 apparent explosive devices on the property, preliminarily assessed as the largest seizure by number of finished explosive devices in FBI history," court documents say.
The state of Georgia was shaken by the tragic death of Effingham County Judge Stephen Yekel, who reportedly took his own life in his courtroom just before his scheduled retirement. At 74, Judge Yekel was discovered by a deputy around 10 a.m. on Tuesday, though he is believed to have died late Monday night or early Tuesday morning.
President-elect Donald Trump made a pointed remark about the Walt Disney Company during a recent event at Mar-a-Lago, where former Marvel Entertainment boss and billionaire Ike Perlmutter was in attendance. "The guy went from stone-cold broke to owning Disney," Trump told the crowd, referring to Perlmutter. "Then he got out of Disney because they went woke. He didn’t want woke Donald Duck."
Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser shared that her meeting with President-elect Donald Trump on Monday was "great." She stated that both she and Trump "want Washington, DC to be the best, most beautiful city in the world and we want the capital city to reflect the strength of our nation."
