Latest news with #Philippi
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Philippi honors Civil War legacy with Blue and Gray Reunion
PHILIPPI, (WBOY) — The 2025 Blue and Gray Reunion in Philippi concluded on Sunday with a staged reenactment of the Battle of Philippi, the first organized land engagement of the American Civil War. The event capped off a weekend filled with historical reflection, community celebration and cultural enrichment. Throughout the weekend, the town welcomed visitors with Civil War encampments, living history demonstrations and guided historical tours, offering a glimpse into the life and experiences of soldiers and civilians during the 1860s. During the reunion period reenactors, dressed in authentic military and civilian attire, brought the era to life with portrayals and battlefield demonstrations. Historic Washington Irving Middle School honored with farewell tour 'This is what started it all, so you know, once this was over, the battle was on and of course it got worse after that. You know, there wasn't a lot of injuries and stuff, people killed here but it was an important battle because it was indeed the first land battle of the Civil War,' a resident of Philippi and an impersonator of President Abraham Lincoln Carl Swick said. 'Our covered bridge was used to access the supplies to get to, you know, the North to the South.' Held annually, the Blue and Gray Reunion commemorates the Battle of Philippi, which occurred on June 3, 1861. Sometimes referred to as the 'Philippi Races' due to the hasty retreat of Confederate forces, the battle marked a significant early Union victory and helped solidify Federal control over western Virginia. 'The importance of being able to retell these events, and the stories, and the people who are in them, when you have a point of reference from where things started and where they've gone it helps you understand some of the reasons behind things, why things are the way they are,' a living history story teller of the life of James Robison who was a surgeon for the 16th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Chad Benson said. 'History teaches us where we've come from and a lot of times where we are headed. So, if you know what we intend to do, you have a good idea of what we're going to do, or what we should change.' The battle, though small in scale, reinforced Union morale and contributed to the eventual formation of the state of West Virginia in 1863. Spectators gathered in town to witness a recreation of the Union forces' pre-dawn surprise attack on Confederate troops, which was an operation led by Colonel Benjamin Kelley and Colonel Ebenezer Dumont. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Malay Mail
07-05-2025
- Malay Mail
Cape Town paramedics risk their lives to save others in gangland ‘Red Zones'
CAPE TOWN, May 7 — The call came in just after 7pm as the paramedics began the night shift: a man had been stabbed in the head with a glass bottle and was bleeding heavily. The medical crew and their ambulance from Cape Town's Emergency Medical Services (EMS) were only minutes away. But they could not respond until they had an armed police escort. The Cape Flats, low-lying townships outside Cape Town, are hotspots for murder and gang violence in a country already plagued by one of the highest crime rates in the world. The sprawling area of Philippi, where the wounded man lay bleeding in a shack, is among the most dangerous. It is one of nine Red Zones in Cape Town where the EMS refuses to allow its medical crews to move without security cover. 'If it was up to me, I would go straight there,' said paramedic Mawethu Ntintini, 52, pacing the sidewalk outside the Philippi police station in his green reflective uniform. 'But we have to go through the police.' Waiting inside the ambulance was Ntintini's partner, Ntombikayisi Joko, who has narrowly escaped ambush while on duty and was robbed in 2021 while waiting for directions to a call-out. 'Every time I'm going out, I have to pray,' the 42-year-old mother told AFP. 'If we were going there by ourselves, we would be robbed,' Ntintini admitted. They waited another 30 minutes before a police patrol car emerged to escort the ambulance 10 minutes down the road to a small shack of corrugated iron. The Cape Flats, low-lying townships outside Cape Town, are hotspots for murder and gang violence in a country already plagued by one of the highest crime rates in the crews are soft targets for criminals looking to steal phones, money or medical equipment. — AFP pic Too late Anguished family members crowded at the wounded man's bed were relieved to see the paramedics. 'Sometimes we have to wait until the morning just because we live in a wrong place,' one said. As the team worked, the police car's flashing lights cast a blue glow on the dark street. The man's injuries, a deep cut to the arm and a bump on the head, were less severe than feared. Loaded into the ambulance, he arrived at the hospital at 8:45 pm, almost two hours after the call for help. Joko recalled a time the police, overstretched and overburdened, could only free up an escort more than an hour after an emergency was issued for a woman in labour. It was too late. 'It was a baby boy, he was so cute. The umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck,' she said. 'I was crying, because I knew that if I was there before, I would have helped that baby.' Four of South Africa's top five homicide hotspots last year were in the Cape Flats, according to police figures. The Western Cape — one of nine provinces — recorded more than 12 people murdered every day, with the national average hovering around 75 a day. The EMS demanded security escorts in 2015 when there was more than one assault a week on paramedics operating in the Cape Flats. Incidents peaked in 2017 when nearly 90 attacks were recorded, ranging from verbal abuse and theft to hijackings and stabbings. In 2023, the latest available figure, there were 44 incidents. A patrol car of the South African Police Service provides escort to an ambulance with the Southern Division paramedic at Mitchells Plain EMS base intervening during a night shift duty in the Philippi township, Cape Town, within the broader Cape Flats area, April 15, 2025. Cape Town's Emergency Medical Services (EMS) refuses to allow its medical crews to move without security cover when they operate in Red Zones. — AFP pic Soft targets Ambulance crews are soft targets for criminals looking to steal phones, money or medical equipment, said Pastor Craven Engel, who runs a gang violence prevention organisation called Ceasefire. He linked the violence to hardships imposed under apartheid, which espoused racial segregation and forced non-whites into bleak areas like Philippi, 20 kilometres from the city centre. 'It started with the urban displacement, uprooting people, putting them into areas where there's no economic development, no recreation, no sustainable livelihood,' Engel said. With high unemployment and rampant poverty, 'the resources are so depleted that people are now targeting the good guys,' he told AFP at his offices in Hanover Park, another Red Zone. Medical crews working to save lives sometimes know the criminals who threaten them and might also, one day, need their assistance, said 32-year-old paramedic Inathi Jacob. 'You get angry,' she said. 'But we don't let them get us to the core. There are a lot of people who really need the services of EMS.' Ntintini and Joko had just dropped off the bleeding man at a hospital when the second 'priority one' call of their night shift came in: an elderly man, recently recovered from a stroke, was unresponsive. Driving to his house would take only five minutes but the ambulance could only leave 40 minutes later, sirens blaring as a police car escorted them down narrow, dark alleyways. — AFP
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Yahoo
Concern for safety of woman, 48, reported missing in central Minnesota
An appeal has been issued to find a 48-year-old woman reported missing from St. Augusta in Stearns County. The local sheriff's office says Rebecca Philippi was reported missing by family members, who said she left the place she was staying on May 1, and they have been unable to reach her or located her since. "The family also communicated a concern for her welfare," the sheriff's office said, noting they Philippi reportedly doesn't have her medication with her. Stearns County Sheriff's Office Authorities in Stearns County and Morrison County and local police in Sartell, St. Cloud, and St. Joseph have checked "several locations" without success. She should be driving a white Chevrolet Impala displaying Minnesota License HBL 599. She is described as 5'4" tall, weighing 180 lbs., with blue eyes and brown hair. Her last known location was the Willmar area. Anyone with information should call 320-259-3700. Note: The details provided in this story are based on law enforcement's latest version of events, and may be subject to change.
Local Germany
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Local Germany
How German ministers want to boost skilled migration and integration
At a time when populism and anti-migrant sentiment is on the rise in Germany, the Conference of Integration Ministers (IMK) sought to reaffirm the importance of immigration in German society. Following the two-day meeting in Göttingen on Wednesday and Thursday, the ministers unanimously adopted a motion titled "Living Together, Working Together" to demonstrate their commitment to diversity. In it, the state leaders emphasise that everyone - regardless of their background - should be able live together in peace and security and participate in society. According to the ministers, active participation in working life is a key part of this goal. The immigration of skilled workers should be promoted just as much as the education and utilisation of the domestic workforce, argued Lower Saxony's integration minister and conference chair Dr. Andreas Philippi. 'In order for this to succeed, advisory and support structures for the immigration and recruitment of skilled workers must be strengthened,' he said. READ ALSO: Where to get free immigration advice in Germany Here are some of the key policies set forward at this year's conference. Recognising the value of immigration Due to demographic changes - and particularly the aging population - the IMK motion highlights the importance of foreign workers within the German economy. 'Unfortunately, the current public debate focuses on the challenges of migration," said Philippi. "This one-sided perspective leads to an increase in resentment toward people with a migration background and undermines their trust in our state and society. Yet we depend on migration if we want to defend our prosperity.' Advertisement According to Philippi, the public discussion should be more pragmatic and instead focus on the "opportunities of immigration". The conference also pledged to recognise the contribution made by guest workers from countries like Turkey, Spain, Italy and Greece as part of Germany's immigration history. More women in the labour force In future, the ministers want to see a much higher proportion of migrant women participating in the workforce. 'In all measures, the specific needs and competencies of immigrant women must be taken into account structurally, as their employment rate remains significantly lower than that of immigrant men even after several years of residence," said Stefanie Drese, the integration minister for Mecklenburg Western-Pomerania. 'We need new formats of job placement, stronger cooperation with businesses, and better integration management.' A doctor reaches for a scalpel during an operation at a hospital in Hamburg. Germany is trying to attract skilled workers intot the country. Photo: picture alliance / dpa | Daniel Reinhardt Drese also highlighted the importance of services such as regional 'Welcome Centres' , which help foreigners get set up on arrival in the country. A number of these have already been set up in cities like Berlin, Hamburg, Freiburg, Essen, Stuttgart, Heildelberg and Munich. READ ALSO: How Munich wants to make settling in Germany easier for non-EU skilled workers Stable funding from the federal government With a new CDU/CSU and SPD coalition entering office on May 6th, state ministers are calling on the government to stump up more financial support. "At the very least, however, there must be no more debates about financial cuts, as was the case in the past," said Philippi. "The federal states and local authorities need planning security here." However, the ministers also state in their resolution that integration is a joint responsibility between the national government, states, local districts, businesses and civil society. Advertisement Better integration services for foreigners To ensure a smoother journey for internationals moving to Germany, the conference is eyeing a number of improvements to integration services. One proposal is for needs-based funding for migration counselling, allowing foreigners easier access to advice and personalised support. READ ALSO: The organisations in Germany that are helpful for foreign residents The ministers are also keen to improve access to the labour market and boost the provision of language courses for foreigners. The ministers also celebrated a number of successes in immigration policy over the past year, including the introduction of Germany's dual nationality law, lower residence requirements for naturalisation, and the opportunity for people on temporary permits to take part in integration courses.
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Yahoo
AP WAS THERE: In Philippine drug war, family struggles to stay safe from Duterte's brutal crackdown
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Eds Note: This story previously moved on Oct. 19, 2016. The AP is republishing it after the arrest of former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte. ___ The bodies terrified Betchie Salvador, because she always knew her husband could be next. They had begun turning up in cities all over the Philippines ever since President Rodrigo Duterte launched a controversial war on drugs this year — so many that one local newspaper had to create a 'Kill List' just to keep track. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. Dealers and addicts were being shot by police or slain by unidentified gunmen in mysterious, gangland-style murders. Their bodies ended up dumped on highways in the rain, curled in pools of blood in the slums. Some were found tied up, with masking tape plastered across their faces. Some were draped with cardboard signs that warned, 'I'm a pusher. Don't Be Like Me.' With each new death, Betchie imagined losing the man she had loved for a decade — a proud father of three who was also an addict. 'We talked about it a lot,' she said. 'I told him, 'Please don't go out at night.'' 'Don't worry,' Marcelo always told her. 'It's gonna' be OK.' ___ MARCH 15: 'When I become president, I'll order the police and the military to find these people and kill them. The funeral parlors will be packed.' — Duterte at a rally in the northern city of Lingayen, detailing plans to fight the drug trade. ____ The lure of shabu Marcelo's addiction began when he was working as a driver in the eastern province of Bicol. And all it took was one hit. A colleague introduced him to a potent methamphetamine known in the Philippines as 'shabu,' saying it helped him stay awake at night. The drug was ubiquitous and easy to get. It could also be smoked, snorted, or injected for as little as one dollar. When the couple moved to Manila last year, hoping for better work prospects, they settled in a busy central district called Las Pinas. Marcelo found a new job driving a 'tricycle' — a rickshaw with a motorcycle attached that is used as a taxi. He earned about $10 per day ferrying customers around the city, just enough to support their two boys, ages 6 and 7, and a newborn baby girl. He also found a new group of friends who were into shabu, and his year-old drug habit did not let up. Shortly after Marcelo arrived, a police officer caught him with methamphetamines. But there would be no jail time or court case to face, no drug rehabilitation program to go through. Marcelo bribed the officer to destroy his case file and let him go. ___ MAY 7: 'All of you who are into drugs, you sons of bitches, I will really kill you. I have no patience, I have no middle ground.' — Duterte on the final day of campaigning for presidential elections. ___ The punisher Duterte called it a life-or-death threat to the nation, and the nation believed him. The Philippines was at risk of becoming a 'narco state,' he said. And a weary electorate, exasperated by decades of crime and corruption, agreed. Something had to be done. It didn't matter that statistics from the government's Dangerous Drugs Board showed the estimated rate of methamphetamine use had dropped from 6.7 million in 2004 to 1.7 million today. It didn't matter that this rate — an estimated 2 percent of Filipinos — was no higher than that of other countries like the United States or Australia in recent years, according to United Nations figures. It didn't matter that drug wars mounted in countries like Thailand or Colombia or America had miserably failed. What mattered was that drugs were still a problem, and this was a cause the nation could rally around. With prisons already crowded and a justice system so broken that drug cases could take a decade, Duterte argued successfully for another, quicker way. It was modeled in part on a brutal anti-crime campaign he spearheaded while mayor of the southern city of Davao, where he rode a Harley-Davidson and cultivated a New Sheriff in Town image that earned him nicknames like 'Duterte Harry' and 'The Punisher.' The campaign was fought not just by state security forces, but by motorcycle-riding assassins known as the 'Davao Death Squads' who massacred more than 1,000 people. Human Rights Watch says the grim wave of extrajudicial killing was directed by active duty police and former officers. Only a handful of perpetrators were convicted. After Duterte was sworn into office June 30, he directed police to launch a massive new anti-drug operation nationwide. It was called 'Double Barrel.' ___ JUNE 30: 'They say that my methods are unorthodox and verge on the illegal ... The fight will be relentless and it will be sustained.' — Duterte speaking about the impending drug war during his inauguration speech. ___ 'Please don't go out at night' In Marcelo's neighborhood, the mood shifted quickly. While security forces carried out raids and rounded up drug suspects, police drew up 'watch-lists' of suspected addicts and dealers, aided by local officials, civil society leaders and vigilant residents. Drug suspects were called out. Just a couple hundred meters (yards) from Marcelo's home, residents demanded authorities evict a couple they accused of selling drugs. On July 12, the pair was found murdered in their rickshaw, where they had apparently tried to spend the night after being chased from their house, according to Filipino media. On July 18, another body turned up in Las Pinas, this time of a man with his neck slashed, found beside a placard labeling him an addict and a thief. By then, Marcelo's mother, Betty Soriano, had decided to start accompanying her son on his nightly tricycle shifts. The family believed he would be safer, and her presence would discourage him from spending time with the drug users he always ran across. Marcelo then made his wife an extraordinary promise: He was quitting shabu. It had become too dangerous. Betchie felt he had to do more, and convinced him to work day shifts. But the competition was too tough, the money too little, and Marcelo reverted to working nights. He told Betchie she didn't have to worry 'because I'm not using drugs anymore.' At one point, a government official approached Marcelo at his tricycle stand, and told him he needed to turn himself in, a process called 'surrendering' that has drawn about 700,000 drug users so far. Most have been released after acknowledging their crimes, giving up the names of others involved in the narcotics trade, and pledging never to use again. Marcelo waved the man off, saying it wasn't necessary. He had already quit. ___ AUG. 6: 'My order is shoot to kill you. I don't care about human rights, you better believe me.' — Duterte warning drug dealers during a press conference in Davao City after visiting a police officer who had been shot in the chest. ___ An unprecedented surge of killings The police statistics show an astounding rise in the number of drug suspects shot dead by security forces: just 68 in the first half of the year, compared to 1,578 since Duterte took office. Vigilantes, though, appear to have killed significantly more: as many as 2,151 murders police have either linked to the drug trade or classified as 'unexplained.' At least 864 of them were carried out by motorcycle-riding gunmen — a favored tactic employed by vigilantes against drug suspects. Jose Luis Martin 'Chito' Gascon, director of the independent Commission on Human Rights, described them as extrajudicial killings, and said the phenomenon has plagued the country at least since late dictator Ferdinand Marcos was ousted in a 'people power' revolt in 1986. The latest upsurge is 'unprecedented,' he said, 'because of the scale, the large number ... over a fairly short period of time.' There is no shortage of theories about who the vigilantes are: drug syndicates killing their own, rogue police offing informants, state-sponsored death squads like the ones in Davao. Regardless, human rights groups say Duterte bears much of the blame. In nationally televised speeches and press conferences he has repeatedly encouraged both the police and the public to eliminate drug suspects, dismissing the need for due process. The rhetoric is ironic in a country that banned the death penalty a decade ago, and it has left many aghast. 'What I don't understand is, how can — it boggles my mind — how can you actually propose that to address the problem of injustice, you perpetuate more injustice?' Gascon said. One reason may be that many Filipinos feel there is no other way to fight drugs beyond brute force. Another may be that Duterte's campaign has had an immediate effect. Police say crime has fallen in some areas by nearly half, and neighborhoods once overrun with drug dealers are safer than they've been in years. ___ AUG. 26: 'I'd like to be frank with you, are they (drug users) humans? What is your definition of a human being? Tell me.' — Duterte addressing soldiers at an army camp on Aug. 26. ___ Gunshots in the dark On the night of Sept. 5, Marcelo parked his rickshaw at a small roadside kiosk, where he had stopped to buy essentials for the morning — coffee for his family, chocolate drinking powder for his kids. When Malvin Balingatan, who worked at the shop, leaned forward to hand him change, shots rang out, according to a copy of the police report obtained by The Associated Press. It was 10:05 p.m. As Balingatan ducked out of the way, he caught a glimpse of the killers receding into the darkness: two men in black on a motorcycle, helmets covering their faces. Marcelo managed to run 10 or 15 meters (yards) to the corner, where more shots were fired before he collapsed on the pavement. His mother, who had dutifully accompanied him that night and was cowering in the back of the tricycle, screamed out. 'My son! My son!' At their family home, a five-minute walk away, Soriano broke the news to Betchie. Marcelo's children appeared, woken by the chaos and the crying. 'Where's Daddy?' one of them asked. 'Where's Daddy?' 'He's gone,' Betchie replied, tears streaming down her cheeks. By the time Betchie got to the scene, Marcelo — her Marcelo — was sprawled face-down in a pool of blood, his body lit by a halo of light from a bank of television cameras. A crowd had gathered, held back just behind a strip of yellow police tape that blocked the road. They stared silently at Marcelo's closed eyes, the blood stain on the back of his yellow shirt, the 13 numbered signs investigators had placed in the road beside each spent bullet. Just beside Marcelo's limp fingertips was a small translucent packet of white methamphetamines. ___ SEPT. 5: 'Everybody has a terrible record of extrajudicial killings. Why make an issue about fighting crime?' — Duterte at a press briefing in Davao City. ___ 'We don't want any trouble' Three days after the shooting, Betchie's boys are home playing video games on a cellphone beside the open casket that holds Marcelo. Betchie is thinking about their life together. She is trying not to cry. 'I keep wondering what will happen to me, to my children,' she says, explaining that her 39-year-old husband was their family's sole breadwinner. 'All we can do now is pray.' Her mother-in-law insists the drugs found at Marcelo's fingertips weren't his — and weren't there when he died. She doesn't know who put them there, or why. Everything he had been holding — the coffee, the chocolate powder — had scattered across the ground when the first shots rang out. If he was running for his life, how could he have held on to shabu, she asks, but dropped the rest? She won't bring it up with the police, though, because 'we don't want any trouble,' she says. 'What's the point? What for?' There is a certain shame that hangs over the families of slain drug users here, and most don't know where to turn for help. Few trust the country's notoriously corrupt police. Pointing fingers at killers who are still at large would also carry great risk. Betchie says she still hopes they find who did this. But her voice is tinged with resignation. She is looking down, eyes half closed. The vast majority of vigilante murders in the Philippines remain unsolved, and police say this case is no different. They have no leads. Outside on the street, Marcelo's rickshaw is parked on the curb, empty and quiet. A pair of red and blue wrist bands are wrapped around its headlight and speedometer, propaganda from the election campaign. Each is inscribed with seven white letters: D U T E R T E. ___ AP journalists Teresa Cerojano and Aaron Favila contributed to this report.
