3 days agoUSA UpdateComments Off on Moment ‘doctor in his 50s from Saudi Arabia’ is arrested after BMW ‘drives into crowd’ at German Christmas Market
THIS is the moment a Saudi doctor who allegedly drove into a crowd of people at a Christmas market is arrested.
Cops are understood to have found an explosive device in the BMW SUV following the horror incident this evening in Magdeburg, central Germany.
A man is arrested after a car drove into people at a Christmas marketGettyEmergency crews at the scene[/caption]
RexAt least two people have died[/caption]
APArmed officers at the market[/caption]
At least two people are dead, including a small child, and up to 80 are injured – with some in critical condition.
The suspect – reported to be aged 50 – was not known to German authorities as an Islamic extremist, the country’s DPA news agency said.
The car is described having been driven 400m across the market area at just after 7pm, having smashed through protective barriers.
State leader Reiner Haselhoff said the arrested man is a Saudi doctor who works in Saxony-Anhalt.
In video footage of the suspect’s arrest, he is seen with his hands up before he lays down on the ground.
Other graphic clips appear to show the dark car careening into the dense crowd, leaving dozens of people on the ground.
Saxony-Anhalt’s Prime Minister Reiner Erich Haseloff confirmed two people have died, including a child.
In a initial report, cops said: “Extensive police operations are currently taking place at the Magdeburg Christmas market.
“The Christmas market in the city center is closed. Further reports will be made.”
Police are not yet sure whether the incident was carried out by a lone perpetrator.
The Christmas market posted to Instagram to ask people to stay away.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said reports “suggest something terrible is to come”.
He said in a post on X: “My thoughts are with the victims and their families. We stand by their side and by the side of the people of Magdeburg.
“My thanks go to the dedicated rescue workers in these anxious hours.”
Matthias Schuppe, a government spokesman in the province of Saxony-Anholt, said it was an “attack” in comments to local media.
A spokesperson for local police said: “We do not yet know exactly what happened.”
Eight years ago, a truck driven by a failed Tunisian asylum seeker with Islamist links, crashed into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people and injuring dozens of others.
APThe market has been closed[/caption]
AFPPolice and ambulances work next to the Christmas market[/caption]
APReiner Haseloff makes a statement[/caption]
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3 days agoUSA UpdateComments Off on Party City CEO says he did ‘everything possible’ to avoid closure after revealing chain will shut down after 40 years
PARTY City CEO Barry Litwin says the company did “everything possible” to avoid shutting the business down after almost 40 years in operation.
In a video conference to employees obtained by CNN, Litwin said the decision was “without question the most difficult message that I’ve ever had to deliver.”
GettyParty CEO Barry Litwin delivered the message to employees on Friday[/caption]
Litwin, who only took on the role four months ago, assured staff members that senior management tried their best to avoid a full scale shutdown.
“It’s really important for you to know that we’ve done everything possible that we could to try to avoid this outcome,” Litwin said.
“Unfortunately, it’s necessary to commence a winddown process immediately.”
With the news arriving just days before the holiday season, Litwin said that Party City’s “very best efforts have not been enough to overcome” its financial challenges.
The U.S. Sun contacted various Party City stores at the time of writing.
Party City’s Paramus store in New Jersey said the location would remain open until February to late March 2025, depending on what product was available.
The U.S. Sun understands Party City employees were first informed of the store closures on Thursday this week.
Employees told The U.S. Sun they would be filling balloon orders until New Year’s Eve and could not guarantee staffing in the new year.
Party City, which is the largest party supply store in the US, exited bankruptcy in September 2023.
The move canceled nearly $1 billion in debt and kept the majority of its over 800 US stores open.
However, the retailer had closed more than 80 stores between the end of 2022 to August 2024.
The retailer first declared bankruptcy in January 2023 and was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.
PARTY’S OVER
According to the Party City website, the retailer has been in business since 1986.
“We’ve been in the business for more than thirty years, growing from a single location to a national chain with stores in most states,” the website said.
“Our superstores are a one-stop shops for party supplies from A to Z, many of them exclusive to Party City.”
RETAIL APOCALYPSE
The U.S. Sun reports on all things retail, including a raft of store closures that have occurred in 2024.
The U.S. Sun this week revealed confirmation it had no plans to shut down its flagship Manhattan store.
The future of its Herald Square location, which first opened 102 years ago, was up in the air amid an investor push to hive it off.
According to an exclusive statement obtained by The U.S. Sun, the retailer signaled it had no plans to shut down the Herald Square operation.
A number of major retailers are suffering as the sector grapples with changing consumer behavior, the rise of e-commerce, and inflationary pressures sparked by the pandemic.
With a raft of chains, including Walmart, winding back their retail footprint, experts say retailers are in financial strife due to increased borrowing costs and consumers tightening their wallets amid ongoing cost of living pressures.
US braces for '45,000 store closures'
Some 45,000 bricks-and-mortar stores could close in the next five years, experts have warned.
Several major retailers have announced store closures or gone out of business altogether in recent years.
Chains such as Foot Locker, Sally Beauty, Tuesday Morning, Shore City, Z Gallerie, and Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams have all gone out of business.
Bed Bath & Beyond has closed all of its brick-and-mortar stores and is now an online-only retailer.
The most affected retailers have been clothing, consumer electronics, sporting goods, hobby, book, music, and home furnishing stores since the start of 2019.
UBS has predicted the total number of retail stores will drop by 45k from 958k to 913k.
Despite that, the report says that certain stores should thrive while others decline.
It said retailers such as Walmart, Costco, Home Depot, and Target, could be among the winners.
3 days agoUSA UpdateComments Off on Sulking Prince Andrew so dejected by fall from grace after spy scandal he is refusing to walk the late Queen’s corgis
SULKING Prince Andrew is so dejected by his fall from grace he is refusing to walk the late Queen’s corgis.
Gary StonePrince Andrew is so dejected by his fall from grace he is refusing to walk the late Queen’s corgis[/caption]
Jon BondThe disgraced Duke of York gets flunkies to take the beloved pets out into the grounds at Windsor instead[/caption]
It comes after he was snubbed by royals amid links to an alleged Chinese spy.
He is now expected to spend a lonely Christmas at Royal Lodge with his ex-wife Sarah.
He was humiliated by two big-budget TV shows dramatising his car-crash Newsnight interview and links to dead billionaire paedophile friend Jeffrey Epstein.
Fresh embarrassment was then recently heaped on the Royal Family after he was linked to a so-called Chinese spy, who has since been banned from the UK on national security grounds.
Two corgis belonging to Queen Elizabeth II were given to AndrewRexInstagramSarah Ferguson was also gifted the dog’s after the monarch’s death in September 2022[/caption]
MI5 is also said to be investigating allegations that Andrew received money from China.
Fergie has been credited with persuading her ex not to attend Thursday’s family lunch at Buckingham Palace or the Christmas Day festivities at Sandringham.
She also shed light on her domestic arrangements with “sad” Andrew in an interview.
Fergie told how she “became a carer for dad” when her sister Jane left for Australia.
She added: “I was left to look after a sad man, which is sort of what I’m doing now.”
The two were given to the late Queen by Andrew to cheer her up during the Covid lockdown.
‘Dukes of Hazard’
The monarch — who owned more than 30 corgis and dorgis throughout her life — was often joined by Fergie on walks around the grounds of Windsor Castle towards the end of her reign.
Meanwhile, Andrew faced further embarrassment last night when it emerged that he and Prince Harry are known as the “Dukes of Hazard” by Palace courtiers.
It comes after an avalanche of negative publicity surrounding the pair.
Amazon and Netflix have this year aired dramas about Andrew being accused of sexual assault by Virginia Giuffre, and the subsequent Newsnight interview he gave protesting his innocence.
Andrew has also steadfastly refused the King’s offer to move into nearby Frogmore Cottage, while his annual handout has been removed by his older brother.
This week, as the Chinese spy crisis intensified, Andrew cancelled an appearance with his family at a pre-Christmas lunch at the Palace on Thursday. He will also not be joining them at Sandringham on December 25.
Hurled barbs
It was also claimed last night that Prince Harry — the other “Duke of Hazard” — has had no contact with his father Charles or stepmother Queen Camilla.
Harry has repeatedly hurled barbs at the royals since he and wife Meghan quit royal duties for a life in the US.
But, according to reports, the main reason for his father’s reluctance to get in touch is Harry’s court case against the Home Office for stripping his taxpayer-funded, round-the-clock armed security.
Harry is challenging the decision by Ravec, a committee including members of the Royal Household, and the King is reluctant to speak to his son until the case is completed.
There are fears within royal circles that if the prince speaks to his father about it and relays a conversation in court there would be “serious legal jeopardy” and it could collapse.
Charles gave his son just 30 minutes of his time when Harry flew to London after the King announced he had cancer this year.
Harry was then refused a bed at Sandringham because aides feared “they’d never get rid of him”.
Around 43 royals will gather at Sandringham for Christmas Day The Yorks are staying away while Harry and Meghan are said to be spending the festive season in California.
3 days agoUSA UpdateComments Off on ‘Stranger Things’: What We Know About the Final Season
Breaking down the fifth and final run for the Upside Down saga — from new and returning castmembers to what chaos Vecna might bring to the Hawkins crew in the hit Netflix series.
3 days agoUSA UpdateComments Off on Trailer Drops for New ‘The Curious Case of…’ Season That Probes Bam Margera’s Conservatorship
The former 'Jackass' star's legal guardianship is examined in Investigation Discovery's hit series, which features interviews with his former co-star, Steve-O.
