December 26, 2020

The first case of a particularly infectious coronavirus variant (click here) that recently emerged in Britain has been confirmed in France, the health ministry said on Friday.

The first case of a particularly infectious coronavirus variant that recently emerged in Britain has been confirmed in France, the health ministry said on Friday....

December 26, 2020

India crossed the 1-crore mark (click here) (10 million) for coronavirus infections as the country witnessed a substantial drop in daily Covid-19 cases and deaths in the past few weeks. The country continues to be the second-worst hit nation in the world after the first posit...

78,194,947 confirmed cases globally

1,736,752 global deaths

33,878,565 confirmed cases in the Americas leading the world

18,311,405 confirmed cases in the USA leading the world

The USA is 23.4 percent of cases in the world.

The USA has 323,527 deaths which are 18.6 percent of global deaths.

They found body parts near the explosion.

It was probably started remotely. I find it odd that Ms. Williams was on the phone to 911 over rapid gunfire when the bomb started, as if the bomb maker was listening to a police scanner.

December 25, 2020
By Yihyun Jeong, Brinley Hinema, Joshua Bote, ane Jessica Flores

...Betsy Williams, (click here) the owner of The Melting Pot, a restaurant across the street from the explosion, told The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network, that guests reported the RV was stationed there since Thursday night.

Williams, who lives in a loft apartment on the third floor of the restaurant building, said she heard the sound of loud, rapid-fire gunshots at about 4:30 a.m. After multiple rounds of gunshot sounds, Williams said she called 911. Then, she said, she heard a repeated warning she said came from the RV parked outside her building.

“Evacuate now. There is a bomb. A bomb is in this vehicle and will explode,” she remembers the recorded warning saying. Then, she said, the voice started a 15-minute countdown.

Her family headed to Nissan Stadium, about a half-mile away and waited. When they didn’t hear an explosion, they headed back. That was when they saw a fireball fly over the AT&T building on Second Avenue....

December 23, 2020
By Winter Keefer

Leon Mize is ready for home.

Flint - After serving 21 months in jail, (click here) a Genesee County inmate will walk free next week with a job and certification that will put his resume at the top of the pile at any food service workplace.

The Genesee County Sheriff’s Office held a graduation Wednesday, Dec. 23 for Leon Mize who received a ServSafe certification and IN2WORK certificate during his time in the jail.

The five-year certification required the completion of a test and is issued through the National Restaurant Association....

Pope Francis is calling for compassion to the world's populous as we produce vaccine and distribute it.

The World Health Organization needs to be sure there are sufficient deep cold freezers in order to facilitate the transportation and administration of the vaccine.

December 25, 2020
By Elisabetta Povoledo and Marc Santora

Rome - Pope Francis on Friday called on world leaders, (click here) businesses and international organizations to help ensure that the most vulnerable and needy have access to newly developed coronavirus vaccines.

Instead of speaking to the tens of thousands usually gathered on St. Peter’s Square, Francis made his annual Christmas address from a grandiose hall inside the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican.

In a year in which the pandemic plunged the world into economic and social uncertainty, the pope was only one of many Christian leaders and pastors around the globe who issued big, weighty messages to small, in-person audiences.

Francis used his traditional Christmas address to argue that widespread suffering should compel people to reflect on their common humanity, and apply those principles to how vaccine rollouts are handled....

December 25, 2020
By Sarah Rahel

Detroit - Two children have died and a family is hospitalized after a fire blazed a home on the city's east side Friday morning, fire officials said.

A 4-year-old and 6-year-old were found in the front room of the scorched two-story home, Detroit Fire Cpt. Dave Fornell said....

...They also saw a 30-year-old woman who jumped out of the second-floor window with a 3-year-old in her arms. They did not appear to be critically injured, Fornell said.

Two other children also made it out of the home, an 8-year-old girl with third-degree burns on her hands and face, and a 10-year-old boy who suffered smoke inhalation.

The three children were transferred to Children's Hospital. The eldest children are in critical condition, Fornell said.

For cryin' out loud, on Christmas?

Ah, see, the compassionate bomber, save as many lives as possible and just destroy the brick and mortar. I haven't made up my mind yet, could be Russians or a domestic terrorist. The Muslims are not allowed into the country anymore, so it can't be them.

I don't know what the bomber is hoping to achieve. They have a long way to go to match the death toll of Trump.

Any robberies in the area? Banks, jewelry store. An explosion would act as a distraction from other crimes. "Too Tall Bandit" (click here) is still on the lose and has been robbing backs from NC to Tennessee.

He seems to be in North Carolina this year, though.

November 06, 2020, First Bank, 2 Market St, Brevard, NC
November 27, 2020, United Community Bank, 50 United Bank Dr, Etowah, NC

It may be a religious attack of some kind. Look, people want to start a civil war in the USA. This is probably an attempt at that. Who were the gunmen? What was the license plate on the van?

I think it was staged as an attack by leftists against the right. The right stereotypically are country music fans. An attack on “Church” St. on Christmas. 

I really think there is a possibility it is the Russians. It is to “thematic” to ignore. Nashville isn’t usually connected to this kind of issue. 

I think it was staged to make people angry with each other. Like a spark to a larger fire. There were some odd characters involved in the violence around the country when the protests were occurring, too.

Any other day besides Christmas there would be a lot of people in that area unless they were on lock down for the virus.

This was staged. Some one or ones are trying to get an effect from it. It was to make the right more and more violent. It was as much an attack on culture as it was on brick and mortar.

I would expect to find inflammatory propaganda connected to it on the social media sites. There maybe a thread between that propaganda and the event. 

December 25, 2020
By Yihyun Jeong, Brinley Hineman, and Joshua Bote

Damage near the scene of the explosion on Friday, in a photo from the Nashville Fire Department.

Nashville - The FBI was leading an investigation Friday (click here) into an explosion that erupted in downtown early Christmas morning, an incident that rattled residents for miles and is being called "intentional" by authorities.

Police were responding to reports of shots fired near Second Avenue and Commerce Street before 6 a.m. when they saw a suspicious RV outside a nearby AT&T building.

Officers alerted the department's bomb squad, which was en route, when a "significant explosion" happened about 30 minutes later, Metro police spokesperson Don Aaron said. The force of the explosion knocked an officer to the ground.

Betsy Williams, the owner of The Melting Pot, a restaurant across the street from the explosion, told The Tennessean that guests reported the RV was stationed there since Thursday night....