The Stranger's morning news roundup. by Hannah Krieg I’m so sorry: If you have to go back to work today, allow me to offer my sincerest condolences. And if you never got a break over the holidays at all, I’m even more sorry. That’s not because I think the world should stop for a Christian holiday or anything, I just think we should all work a lot less. Love you! Not much holiday cheer in Bethlehem: Bethlehem, a town in the West Bank that’s cited as Jesus’s original birth place, cancelled their Christmas festivities once again this year as Israel continues its genocide in Gaza. Since Oct. 7, 2023, Israel has displaced millions and killed tens of thousands in a death toll the media has basically stopped updating as we probably won't truly understand the scale of the carnage until after a ceasefire. In just the last 24 hours, as many across the world celebrate Christmas, Israel has killed 38 people in Gaza and injured more than 100 others. Not only that, but Israel’s ramped up its violence against Palestinians in the West Bank as well.  Protect journalists: Quds Today, a Palestinian TV station, says Israel targeted and killed five of their journalists outside of a hospital where one of the journalists' wife was giving birth. The victims include Ibrahim Jamal Ibrahim Al-Sheikh Ali; Faisal Abdallah Muhammad Abu Qamsan; Mohammed Ayad Khamis al-Ladaa; Ayman Nihad Abd Alrahman Jadi; and Fadi Ihab Muhammad Ramadan Hassouna. They are among 133 Palestinian journalists killed by Israel since Oct 7. 2023. Israel claims the five people were actually “Islamic Jihad operatives posing as journalists,” according to the BBC.  There’s not an appropriate holiday pun for this: It’s just awful. On Christmas Eve, ICE is deporting 31 people on a flight from Seattle’s Boeing Field to El Paso, Texas. Volunteers with @ResistenciaNW observe flights in and out of the airport every week, monitoring the agency’s deportation activities. pic.twitter.com/g6stkxKlXl — Guy Oron (@GuyOron) December 24, 2024 Weather: That was some rain yesterday, huh? Well, today should be drier! By the time you’re reading this, the showers should have stopped and by noon we’ll even see some sunshine. As for temperature, expect things to hover around the high 40s and low 50s. If you’re a fiend for sunshine, take advantage of whatever rays we get this afternoon because the clouds and rain will roll back in tomorrow! For the full weather report, check here or whatever weather source you trust most—and if that’s just this blog, you are probably very hot, but very chaotic. We should be friends.  Whoooooosh: We're not out of the woods in terms of wind until about 1pm today. But wind doesn't have to be all bad: Discovery Park this morning. So cool to watch. #wawx pic.twitter.com/bDBWro2wUn — Tina Shepard (she/her) 🏔🏃🏻‍♀️🟧 (@shepard_tina) December 24, 2024 Edmonds is not defunding the police: Right-wing media made a big stink about the City of Edmonds considering a proposal to shut down its police department in the face of a $13 million budget deficit. I'm totally into tightening up bloated cop budgets instead of making like the mayor of Seattle and cutting hundreds of millions from more preventative spending like affordable housing. But that's not what's happening. Edmonds is considering, among other options, closing the department and contracting with a county sheriffs department—possibly Snohomish County or King County—which many small towns do to save money. The Seattle Times has more.  Azerbaijan airplane down: An Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashed Wednesday in Kazakhstan, killing 38 people on board. Another 32 people survived the crash, but have been hospitalized. Many remain in critical condition. So far, it’s unclear what lead to the tragic crash—theories include an “emergency situation” onboard after a bird strike, according to Russia’s aviation watchdog on Telegram, as well as as bad weather conditions along their route, and a Russian missile. The Azerbaijani president, Ilham Aliye cautioned against speculation: “There are videos of the plane crash available in the media and on social networks, and everyone can watch them. However, the reasons for the crash are not yet known to us. There are various theories, but I believe it is premature to discuss them.”  Six days til sex with robots: Expect a huge cultural shift very shortly! REVEALED: Women will be having more sex with ROBOTS than men by 2025 https://t.co/TO87mbCAHw pic.twitter.com/qKrTIIuAFP — The Sun (@TheSun) June 30, 2016 Ukraine update: President Joe Biden denounced Russia’s Christmas Day attack on Ukraine, which he said aimed to cut off Ukrainians access to heat in the winter and jeopardize the country’s safety grid. He promised to continue sending guns to Ukraine in the wake of the attack. But Biden’s only president for a few more weeks and it seems President-elect Donald Trump may be kinder to Russia. Trump’s choice for special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, also denounced Russia’s attack, but added that the world is “closely watching actions on both sides” and committed to peace vaguely enough that he could mean total capitulation to Russia. Just sayin’! Christmas should be a time of peace, yet Ukraine was brutally attacked on Christmas Day. Launching large-scale missile and drone attacks on the day of the Lord’s birth is wrong. The world is closely watching actions on both sides. The U.S. is more resolved than ever to bring… — Keith Kellogg (@generalkellogg) December 25, 2024 PSA: Hey, cat owners. Northwest Naturals, a pet food company based in Portland, has recalled a batch of its Feline Turkey Recipe cat food after it tested positive for bird flu and killed a house cat. So if you have a two-pound plastic bag of the food with “best if used by” dates of May 21, 2026, and June 23, 2026, throw that shit away.  You gotta hear this: I played this track earlier this week when asked about my favorite Christmas song and I have amazing taste if I do say so myself.