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US Supreme Court justice defends ‘family trips’ with Republican megadonor

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 17:24:03 GMT

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas on Friday defended the luxury vacations that he accepted from a Republican megadonor for more than two decades and kept secret from the public. His brief statement came in response to a ProPublica report that revealed the lavish trips that Thomas took with Harlan Crow, a Texas real estate billionaire.“Early in my tenure at the Court, I sought guidance from my colleagues and others in the judiciary, and was advised that this sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the Court, was not reportable,” Thomas said in the statement. “I have endeavored to follow that counsel throughout my tenure, and have always sought to comply with the disclosure guidelines.”Thomas said he and his wife have joined Crow and his wife “on a number of family trips during the more than quarter century we have known them.”He also pointed to recent changes that tightened the regulations governing judges’ annual finan...

Leaked military documents on Ukraine battlefield operations circulated as early as March

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 17:24:03 GMT

A tranche of leaked documents that detail plans about Ukraine’s spring military offensive circulated online as early as March — a month earlier than previously reported, according to researchers with Bellingcat and a review of social media postings.The batch includes more pages than originally known and also outlines sensitive information about other global hotspots.The Ukraine-specific documents, photographed and distributed on myriad social media sites, outline everything from Ukraine’s readiness and training capabilities to death tolls on the battlefield. They date from the end of February to the end of March — around the same time as senior American generals hosted the Ukrainian military at a U.S. base in Germany to wargame the spring operation.The materials that circulated in early March were uploaded on a Discord, an encrypted messaging app. They appear to be photos of slide deck printouts that were folded up and then smoothed out again. They have since been pos...

Iraq, Syria’s Kurdish leader condemn attack on airport

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 17:24:03 GMT

BAGHDAD (AP) — The commander of the main U.S.-backed force in Syria and Iraq’s presidency Saturday condemned what they say was a Turkish attack on an airport in northern Iraq. Iraq’s presidency called the late Friday explosion in northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region a “flagrant aggression against Iraq and its sovereignty” in the area. It called on Turkey to issue a formal apology, saying it should not continue “terrorizing” Iraqis in the north. There was no immediate comment from Turkish officials. Turkey has spent years fighting Kurdish militants in its east and large Kurdish communities also live in neighboring Iraq and Syria, where they have a degree of self-rule.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based opposition war monitor, and some local media reported Friday that the explosion next to the Suleimaniyah International Airport was a Turkish drone attack targeting Mazloum Abdi, the leader of the Syrian Democratic Forces. The blast came days after Turkey clo...

Nuggets journal: Kevin Durant sees something special in Peyton Watson. “He has everything right now.”

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 17:24:03 GMT

PHOENIX – It was a mistake Peyton Watson probably won’t make in a year or two. But at this stage in his nascent career, it could be considered a growing pain.Ultimately, it was a valuable one.The Nuggets held an improbable 107-106 lead with barely four minutes left Thursday night at Phoenix. Down all five starters, Denver’s deep reserves had momentarily become its bench, and its bench had transformed into its starters. That placed Watson, whose recent emergence has made the final stretch of regular season games bearable, on the floor, in crunch time, against his mentor, Kevin Durant.As Suns guard Chris Paul rolled down a screen on the right side of the lane, Watson shaded over to defend the weak side. In doing so, Watson left one of the game’s greatest scorers unattended. Paul found Durant waiting in the corner. What followed was the inevitable splash.Watson, the long, rangy, 6-foot-7 ball of clay Denver drafted late in the first round a year ago, was trying to help. But it was a me...

With final games before Women’s World Cup around the corner, Coloradans prepare for pressure, new era

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 17:24:03 GMT

While the pressure on the Coloradans of the United States Women’s National Team is zeroing in, Windsor native Sophia Smith is more than happy to admit it’s a new era.Smith spoke earlier this week ahead of USWNT’s final tune-up matches with a pair of games against fellow World Cup qualifiers Republic of Ireland Saturday at Q2 Stadium in Austin, as the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup kicks off in July in Australia and New Zealand. A second game against the Irish will be held Tuesday, April 11 at the new CITYPARK in downtown St. Louis.“I don’t know if I’d refer to it as a villain era as I’m a sweet, happy person,” Smith started her answer Wednesday. “I think on the field, yeah, I don’t play games. I don’t step on a field to do anything but win and I take a lot of pride in that.“So, I think I guess this era is just winning. And doing everything I can to do that to help my team.”Smith has missed the last two ...

Avalanche journal: Avs have climbed all the way back from sixth place in division, but two recent wins could loom over them — in a bad way

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 17:24:03 GMT

Trying to put the Avalanche’s 2022-23 season into perspective is more daunting and nuanced than it was a year ago.Has something felt off, like consistency is harder to come by? Is that just the residue of high expectations after a dominant championship run combined with a high injury rate? Are the Avs about to repeat? Are they doomed to an early playoff ending?Winning a Stanley Cup can naturally make sorting through the labels of a successful vs. unsuccessful season more challenging, especially a season as bumpy as this one. The perception has changed in Denver. So has the roster.What hasn’t changed is that the Avalanche are one of the top teams in the West as they prepare for a sixth consecutive year of playoff hockey. They’ve come a long way to get to the point where they’re playing for something more than a playoff spot. But weirdly enough, two wins could loom over them in the final week — in a bad way.How did the Avs get to this point? After losing ...

Barabak: Donald Trump throws himself a Mar-a-Lago pity party

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 17:24:03 GMT

Donald Trump, once the most powerful man on Earth, threw himself a pity party Tuesday night.Indicted, booked and fingerprinted, the former president scurried home to his safe space at Mar-a-Lago, where surrounded by sycophants and other grasping hangers-on, he whined.He lied about the conduct of the 2020 election. He lied about his efforts to overturn the result.He lied about his mishandling of classified documents. He lied about Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney who brought the criminal charges he faces in New York City.“I never thought anything like this could happen in America,” Trump waxed morosely. “The only crime that I have committed is to vigorously defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it.”It was a remarkable spectacle, capping an unprecedented day in American history.It also underscored how the utterly self-absorbed Trump has become ever more disconnected from the lives of those he claims to represent and the needs of a nation ...

Opinion: Pence-Trump divide defines today’s Republican Party conundrum

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 17:24:03 GMT

Maybe it is because I am preparing to launch one of my children off to college, but I have been thinking a lot about inflection points in life. The Republican Party is also at one of those points. The party, like my daughter, needs to decide what it wants to be and whether it wants to win. But unlike my daughter, I am afraid there will be no turning back for the GOP once it chooses its fate.This critical juncture provides an opportunity for Republican primary voters. While voters may love Donald Trump and feel he is being politically persecuted, they should consider two things and one other person; three GOP election-cycle losses, potential exhaustion from the electorate if Trump’s legal woes continue, and former Vice President Mike Pence.While Pence has yet to enter the race, he has been in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina offering a vision for the country and the party based on values and policies, all the while strategically not attacking the former president or demeaning h...

Guardiola says Walker cannot play in City’s current system

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 17:24:03 GMT

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Kyle Walker is set to have only limited game time at Manchester City for the rest of the season because manager Pep Guardiola said the England right back is ill-equipped to play in the team’s new system.Guardiola has been playing a three-man defense, pushing one of the full backs in a central-midfield role alongside Rodri. That has been John Stones in recent weeks, meaning Walker — who isn’t as technically strong on the ball — has mostly been a substitute despite being a key member of City’s success in recent years.“He cannot do it,” Guardiola said of Walker playing as an inverted full back. “He will always have pace. He will be the fastest in this room at 60 years old. To play inside, you have to make some educated movements. He has other characteristics.“He has played as a full back coming inside in the past with four in the back, with Joao (Cancelo) or Aleks (Zinchenko) in that position, and Kyle has done it really well. But with this shape ...

Última hora y noticias de la guerra de Rusia en Ucrania del 8 de abril de 2023

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 17:24:03 GMT

Un soldado ucraniano patrulla en un tanque las calles de Bakhmut.Haz clic aquí para ver las actualizaciones más recientes.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.Source