One dies after fight breaks out at mall
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A long-standing dispute sparked a shooting at a crowded North Carolina shopping mall on Christmas Eve, police said, and an off-duty officer fatally shot an armed person who pointed a gun in his direction.
Police said no one else was shot and there were no other reports of injuries. The shooting was not a random act but rather the result of a feud among people who knew each other, though officials don’t think it was gang-related, Chief Kerr Putney of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said.
During the fight, a weapon was brandished and shots were fired about 2 p.m. at Northlake Mall in Charlotte, Putney said. Shoppers who were crowding the mall for last-minute gifts hid in stores and locked themselves inside, officials said.
U.S. planning raids on illegal immigrants
WASHINGTON – The Homeland Security Department is planning nationwide raids aimed at deporting adults and children who have already been ordered removed by an immigration judge.
The Washington Post reported in Thursday’s editions that the operation from Immigration and Customs Enforcement would begin as soon as next month and would likely affect hundreds of immigrants who fled violence in Central America since the start of 2014.
ICE spokeswoman Gillian Christensen said that as part of civil enforcement priorities announced by DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson in November 2014, the agency will focus on individuals “who pose a threat to national security, public safety and border security.”
Rome, Milan to restrict auto use
ROME – Rome and Milan have ordered no-car days next week to combat pollution, which has hit unhealthy levels for weeks mainly because no rain has fallen to wash away the smog.
A six-hour ban on cars this Monday and Tuesday was announced by Rome on Thursday, while Milan’s anti-pollution measure sees six-hour bans daily from Monday to Wednesday.
In Rome, home heating is blamed along with heavy traffic for the eye-stinging, throat-irritating air. Until air quality improves, thermostat settings in Rome’s homes and offices cannot exceed 64 degrees Fahrenheit. The total daily hours that furnaces can run is being reduced from 12 to eight, except for schools and hospitals.
Violence mars Bethlehem festivities
BETHLEHEM, West Bank – Christian faithful from around the world on Thursday descended on the biblical city of Bethlehem for Christmas Eve celebrations at the traditional birthplace of Jesus, trying to lift spirits on a holiday dampened by months of Israeli-Palestinian violence.
The fighting cast a pall over the celebrations. Crowds were thin and hotel rooms were empty. While the annual festivities in Bethlehem’s Manger Square went on, other celebrations in the city were canceled or toned down.
“There’s lights, there’s carols, but there’s an underlying sense of tension,” said Paul Haines of Cornwall, England, who arrived in Bethlehem following a four-month trek from Rome.
The city was quiet on Thursday, although violence raged elsewhere in the West Bank. Israeli authorities said three Palestinian assailants were killed as they carried out or tried to carry out stabbing or car-ramming attacks against Israeli security personnel, and a fourth Palestinian was killed in clashes with Israeli troops, a Palestinian hospital official said. Two Israeli security guards and a soldier were wounded.
Associated Press
