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UK spy agency releases annual Christmas puzzle challenge for students: Can you solve it?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:14 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – Are you smarter than a British fifth-through-twelfth-grader?The U.K.’s Government Communication Headquarters (GCHQ) has published the 2023 edition of its annual “GCHQ Christmas Challenge,” which tasks students throughout the country with cracking a series of holiday-themed codes.The GCGQ — the U.K’s leading intelligence agency — had already sent the brainteasers to more than 1,000 schools before revealing the puzzles to the general public on Thursday, The Guardian reported. The idea, according to GCHQ Director Anne Keast-Butler, is to promote disciplines including problem-solving and teamwork.“Puzzles have been at the heart of GCHQ from the start. These skills represent our historic roots in cryptography and encryption and continue to be important to our modern-day mission to keep the country safe,” Keast-Butler said in a statement included with a Thursday news release. ‘Griswold House’ in Kansas is decked out with over 100,000 Christmas lights This year’s puzzles, pre...

New York jewelry store robbery suspect found in suburbs with guns, $90K necklace

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:14 GMT

OAK BROOK, Ill. — Earlier this week, Oak Brook police officer spotted a car wanted in connection to the armed robbery of a jewelry store in New York and gave chase. When the pursuit ended on Chicago’s Northwest Side, police say they found one man wearing a $90,000 necklace reported stolen in the East Coast robbery along with several weapons.The 18-mile, high-speed pursuit on Wednesday included several suburban police departments as well as the Chicago police helicopter. The car’s three occupants bailed near 6400 West Higgins in Chicago and were arrested soon after.  “Officers found a loaded Glock 29 with a laser, an extended magazine and a switch that converts the weapon into a fully automatic machine gun and a loaded Glock 19 with a fifty-round drum magazine and a defaced serial number,” said a release from DuPage County state’s attorney Bob Berlin’s office.  Jeremiah DawsonIsaiah DukesTravon GarlandThe men are now facing several felony charges including one count of being an ...

WATCH: Wild gun battle caught on camera in Cleveland

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:14 GMT

CLEVELAND (WJW) -- Video recently released captured people running from wild gunfire, and now folks living there are demanding action from Cleveland City Hall to protect their neighborhood.A home security camera recorded dozens of gunshots and people running. The gunfire even went into homes. One shot went through a front door. Declared missing as a child, British teenager lives off-grid for 6 years, then pops up in France Happened last weekend at 3:30 in the morning in Cleveland’s North Collinwood neighborhood. Specifically, the East Shore Park Club section.Traditionally, that’s been a pretty quiet area. But residents say it’s changing, and that it’s time to fight back.One woman spoke out, telling us, "We're holding the mayor directly responsible for what's happening as far as safety in our neighborhood is concerned. And we expect him to do something about it. We want cameras installed in critical intersections. And we want more police."The neighbor...

White House initiative to lower prescription drug prices

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:14 GMT

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) - Consumer groups say the president is slowly but surely following through on his promise to reduce the cost of prescription drugs."This administration is stepping up its pressure on the pharmaceutical industry," said Peter Maybarduk of Public Citizen. Thursday President Joe Biden announced starting January 1st, Medicare patients will see the price of 48 drugs go down."It's about giving folks a little breathing room," he said.White House Advisor Christen Linke Young says they are targeting medications whose prices are rising higher than inflation."Consumers who need that drug take it once a month and they're now going to save $300 dollars on their monthly dose," said Linke Young.The new policy is part of the president's Inflation Reduction Act passed by Congress last year. "We've been working to negotiate prices for prescription drugs in the Medicare program for the first time, those negotiations are underway and you should expect to continue hearing from the fe...

Rudy Giuliani ordered to pay $148M in damages to Georgia election workers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:14 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A jury awarded $148 million in damages on Friday to two former Georgia election workers who sued Rudy Giuliani for defamation over lies he spread about them in 2020 that upended their lives with racist threats and harassment.The damages verdict follows emotional testimony from Wandrea “Shaye” Moss and her mother, Ruby Freeman, who tearfully described becoming the target of a false conspiracy theory pushed by Giuliani and other Republicans as they tried to keep then-President Donald Trump in power after he lost the 2020 election.Giuliani had already been found liable in the case and previously conceded in court documents that he falsely accused the women of ballot fraud. Even so, the former New York City mayor continued to repeat his baseless allegations about the women in comments to reporters outside the Washington, D.C., courthouse this week.Giuliani’s lawyer acknowledged that his client was wrong but insisted that Giuliani...

Mother of Virginia 1st grader who shot teacher gets 2 years in prison

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:14 GMT

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) — The mother of a child who was 6 years old when he shot his teacher at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia was sentenced Friday. Deja Taylor was given two years to serve in prison, for felony child neglect. Taylor won't be able to make contact with her child until he's 18 years old, according to Nexstar's WAVY. The boy is currently 7. Deja Taylor was sentenced to five years behind bars, with three years suspended. This leaves her with two years to serve. Prosecutors had recommended a plea deal with a much lighter sentence of six months.Taylor was also sentenced in November to 21 months in federal prison for using marijuana while owning a gun, which is illegal under U.S. law. Investigators found nearly an ounce of marijuana in Taylor’s bedroom following the shooting. She later pleaded guilty. In light of the latest sentencing, she will now serve two additional years following the end of her 21 months. Taylor also pleaded guilt...

Rain through early evening, but sunshine this weekend

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:14 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Showers have moved through the Hill Country and are currently working their way through the Austin Metro Counties. CENTRAL TEXAS RADAR Rain is most likely:Austin area: Now - Until 7 p.m.Eastern Counties: 4 p.m. - 9 p.m.Additional rainfall totals will generally range between 0.25"-0.75" with isolated pockets of higher amounts.Additional rain from 3 p.m. until midnight. RAINFALL REPORTS FROM CENTRAL TEXAS Left in the wake of this cold front will be gusty winds and dry air. Sunshine and seasonable temperatures can be expected this weekend, with Sunday likely to be a few degrees warmer.Weekend forecastDry weather with chilly mornings and pleasant afternoons look to continue through the middle of next week.By the end of next week we're watching the return of a wetter pattern that may be more long-lasting than our "damp" weather this week.Rain chances for the next 7 daysThe extended outlook through Christmas do continue to favor wetter than normal. Winter Weather Ou...

Williamson Co. jury finds Round Rock man guilty of indecency with a child

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:14 GMT

WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) -- Earlier this week, a Williamson County jury found a Round Rock man guilty of indecency with a child by sexual contact, according to a Williamson County District Attorney news release.John Frank Scheer, 42, was sentenced to 10 years confinement in a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison and was also fined $10,000. However, there was a recommendation that the prison time be suspended and Scheer be placed on community supervision, according to the DA's office.Scheer will be formally sentenced on Feb. 24, 2024, the release said.According to the DA's office, Scheer was accused of molesting a 15-year-old transgender teenager in September 2021 in a Round Rock home. He was known to the victim and "was in a position of trust for the child," the release said.On Sept. 2, 2021, the victim called a teen crisis hotline to report the crime. Then, the crisis hotline contacted Child Protective Services to further investigate.Scheer was arrested by the Round R...

Texas' Julien Alfred captures Bowerman award as NCAA's top female track and field athlete

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:14 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas Longhorns sprinter Julien Alfred is the best college track and field athlete in America.Alfred was named the winner of The Bowerman, the highest honor in collegiate track and field akin to football's Heisman Trophy. Alfred had one of the best years in both indoor and outdoor track in NCAA history en route to claiming the award. She's the second Texas woman to win the award and the first since Courtney Okolo did it in 2016, and the St. Lucia native is the first international woman to win the award. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Texas sprinter Julien Alfred on a quest to become the fast woman alive Nobody could beat her in the 60-meter dash during the indoor season, and she broke the NCAA record six times shaving her time down to 6.86 seconds on her way to the national championship in the event. She completed the sprint double during the indoor season with a win in the 200 meters, becoming the first woman from the Big 12 Conference to accomplish the feat and the second wo...

Nonprofit's 2024 housing predictions: A new era in real estate?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:14 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A new report from the non-profit Urban Land Institute (ULI) claims that the real estate sector will need a "new era of thinking" in 2024, and can no longer relay on metrics that were once relied upon.What's in the report?The report "Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2024" is an annual publication by ULI in its 45th year. Previous reports, according to a ULI spokesperson, ranked Austin in the top 10 for overall prospects since 2010. This year's report ranks the city as fifth in that list and as the top for homebuilding prospectus (financial security of the industry).These results are the topic of a Dec. 5 luncheon held by the local ULI branch. A report co-author reviewed the report, and a panel discussion covered the local market's place in the data.ULI Programs Committee Chair Lance Copeland attended the meeting and shared his takeaways in a December 8 interview."The report was perhaps more somber than reports of past. Everybody being pretty realistic about the impact o...