News Wrap: German police believe man intentionally drove through crowd at Christmas market

Geoff Bennett:

And we start today's other headlines with an unfolding tragedy in Germany, where a car drove at high speed through a crowd of people at a Christmas market in the Northeastern city of Magdeburg. At least two people are dead and dozens are injured.

A German media outlet reports the death toll could be as high as 11. Officials believe this was a deliberate attack and the suspect, a 50-year-old Saudi doctor, has been arrested. Residents and visitors were in a state of shock and called the attack a dark day for the city so close to the holidays.

Dorin Steffen, Germany Resident:

We are shaking. We are full of sympathy for the relatives. Also, we hope that nothing has happened to our relatives, friends and acquaintances.

Geoff Bennett:

This week marks the anniversary of an attack on a Berlin Christmas market eight years ago, where an extremist drove a truck through a crowd and killed 13 people.

Ukraine and Russia traded deadly missile strikes today. A Russian official says Ukraine struck inside the Kursk border region with U.S.-supplied weapons, killing at least six people, including a child. Eyewitness video caught scenes of destruction and panic. Ukrainian soldiers have held part of Kursk ever since a surprise incursion earlier this year.

Meantime, in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, officials say one person was killed in a Russian missile attack during morning rush hour. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry also said Russia endangered other countries' diplomats.

Heorhii Tykhyi, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson (through interpreter):

As a result of the missile attack, several embassies were damaged. You can see a car with diplomatic plates that belongs to one of the diplomatic institutions.

Here's the interior of the embassy. All of these embassies are housed in the same building, which was heavily damaged by the Russian strike.

Geoff Bennett:

Moscow claimed its attack was retaliation for a Ukrainian strike on Russian soil earlier this week that used American-made weapons.

Back here at home, baristas at a handful of Starbucks stores went on a five-day strike today after contract negotiations reached an apparent standstill.

Protester:

No contract!

ProtesterS:

No coffee!

Geoff Bennett:

Union organizers said the walk-offs happened at about 10 stores in the Los Angeles, Seattle, and Chicago areas, and the strike could expand to hundreds of cafes by Christmas Eve. The coffee giant said in a statement that there would be no significant impact to its operations.

The Biden administration announced today that it would forgive another $4 billion in student loan debt for roughly 55,000 borrowers who work in public service. The relief is a result of fixes the Education Department made to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. The president has forgiven more student debt than any other president, waiving $180 billion for nearly five million people with student debt.

But Republican-led legal challenges have hindered the president's efforts at delivering wide-scale relief.

Party City, the once-popular party supply store, is closing its doors after nearly 40 years in business, according to CNN. The store's corporate employees were told today would be their last day as the company winds down operations. It comes as the discount store Big Lots also prepares to shut its doors amid its own bankruptcy. Both chains have struggled against online competitors like Amazon.

And, on Wall Street, stocks turned around what's been a dismal week of losses to end on a somewhat high note. The Dow Jones industrial average gained nearly 500 points on the day. The Nasdaq notched its own big gain of nearly 200 points, and the S&P also finished up by more than a percentage point.