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Reactionaries and Progressives Jointly Call For U.S. Military to Leave Somalia

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:30:59 GMT

A measure to withdraw most U.S. troops from Somalia, just months after the Biden administration sent them back there, is expected to garner support from far-right Republicans and members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus when it comes up for a scheduled vote on Thursday.The author of the War Powers Resolution, Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, tweeted this week that Somalia, in the horn of Africa, “is not a vital national security concern.” Reps. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., and Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. — the chair and deputy chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, which is comprised of more than 100 members of Congress — have confirmed they will vote yes on the measure, according to sources familiar with their thinking. “Members of Progressive Caucus leadership will all vote for the Somalia war powers resolution,” said a congressional staffer. “House progressives remain principled in their commitment to upholding the constitutional authority of Congress’s sole powers o...

Prosecutors: Man charged with killing wife suspected affair

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:30:59 GMT

The husband of a Massachusetts woman who has been missing since New Year’s Day suspected she was having an affair and persuaded his mother to hire a private investigator to prove it, according to prosecution documents released Thursday. In December, Brian Walshe “would repeatedly access the Instagram page” of one of Ana Walshe’s male friends from Washington, D.C., where she was working, prosecutors said. His mother hired the investigator on Dec. 26 “with his input and direction” to conduct surveillance and, the next day, his oldest child’s iPad was used for an internet search on “divorce.”Walshe, 47, has been charged with first-degree murder as well as misleading a police investigation/obstruction of justice and improper conveyance of a human body. A first-degree murder conviction in Massachusetts carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.Walshe is accused of killing Ana Walshe, dismembering her and disposing of her body. He pleaded not guilty Thursda...

Pirates star Dick Groat, who also played in NBA, dies at 92

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:30:59 GMT

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Dick Groat, a two-sport star who went from All-American guard in basketball to a brief stint in the NBA to ultimately an All-Star shortstop and the 1960 National League MVP while playing baseball for his hometown Pittsburgh Pirates, died Thursday. He was 92.Groat’s family said in a statement that he died at UMPC Presbyterian Hospital from complications of a stroke.“We are deeply saddened by the loss of such a beloved member of the Pirates family and Pittsburgh community,” Pirates Chairman Bob Nutting said in a statement, calling Groat “a great player and an even better person.”Groat, who was from the Swissvale neighborhood just east of Pittsburgh’s downtown, starred at Duke in basketball and baseball in the early 1950s, earning All-American honors in both. His No. 10 jersey hangs in Cameron Indoor Stadium; the program retired his number following the end of his senior season in 1952.Groat attempted to play both baseball and basketball professionally, si...

Juan Guaidó, sobre Petro: “Se puso del lado de la dictadura” de Maduro

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:30:59 GMT

(CNN Español) — El opositor venezolano Juan Guaidó dijo este jueves que el presidente de Colombia, Gustavo Petro, “se puso del lado de la dictadura”, en referencia al Gobierno del cuestionado presidente de Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro.Tras una semana marcada por polémicas entre Guaidó y el Gobierno de Colombia en el marco de la Conferencia Internacional sobre el Proceso Político en Venezuela, el opositor venezolano llegó este martes a Miami y este jueves habló de Petro, del canciller ruso Sergey Lavrov y de otros temas.¿Qué pasó con Juan Guaidó y su polémico viaje a Colombia?“(Petro) se puso del lado de la dictadura, no de los perseguidos políticos, de los que han violado derechos humanos. Y eso lo marca su agenda: cada vez que ha ido a Venezuela, y ha ido varias veces a Venezuela, no ha tenido un minuto en la agenda para reunirse con, por ejemplo, indígenas desplazados por destrucción del Amazonas (…), no ha tenido un minuto en la agenda para víctimas de ...

Alabama governor defends dismissal of cabinet member

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:30:59 GMT

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama’s governor replaced a Cabinet member who oversaw the state’s award-winning prekindergarten program because of a teacher training book with language about inclusion and combatting structural racism, she said Thursday. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey defended her decision announced last week to remove Secretary of the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education Barbara Cooper over the use of the training guide, saying that she thought teachers need to “focus on basics.” “The teacher resource book that I looked at had all those references to different kind of lifestyles and equity and this and that and the other,” Ivey told reporters Thursday. “That’s not teaching English. That’s not teaching writing. That’s not teaching reading. We need to focus on the basics y’all and get this right.”She was referring to The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Developmentally Appropriate Practice Book, 4th edition, which i...

Tom of Finland exhibit celebrates Nordic country’s gay icon

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:30:59 GMT

HELSINKI (AP) — A new exhibition showing the works of Touko Laaksonen, better known by his pseudonym Tom of Finland, adds a personal touch to the late Finnish artist whose homoerotic drawings of muscular men gained a following in the gay community from the 1950s.“Tom of Finland — Bold Journey,” which opens Friday at the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma in Helsinki, features Laaksonen’s drawings, archive material, personal clothing items as well as memorabilia, letters, publications, magazines and films.Laaksonen’s cheerful, sexually explicit works made an impact in the art world at a time when homosexuality was illegal or classified as a disease in countries around the world, including his native Finland. The Nordic country has since embraced the artist, who died in 1991, as a national icon.“Tom is one of our national heroes who deserves to be seen as one of the most well-known Finnish artists of the 20th century,” said Kiasma museum director Leevi Haapala.He said Tom o...

Man freed from prison after murder conviction sues police

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:30:59 GMT

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A man who was freed from prison last year after his murder conviction was set aside alleges in a lawsuit that Kansas City police framed him in the killing. Keith Carnes, 53, was released from prison in April 2022 after serving 18 years of a life sentence for first-degree murder and armed criminal action. In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, Carnes alleges police and former Jackson County assistant prosecutor Amy McGowan coerced witnesses and issued fraudulent reports that led to his conviction in the 2003 shooting death of 24-year-old Larry White, in a Kansas City parking garage.The Kansas City police department said it does not generally respond to ongoing lawsuits “to ensure fairness to all involved.”The Missouri Supreme Court set aside Carnes’ conviction in 2022, in part because because an eyewitness account from a confidential informant that might have led to his exoneration was not given to Carnes’ defense team. The Jackson County Prosecutor’s offic...

Police searching for car allegedly involved in deadly shooting from Jan. 2022

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:30:59 GMT

AURORA, Colo. (KDVR) -- Police are looking for a vehicle believed to be involved in a deadly shooting from January of last year. A dark gray, possibly Mercedes C Class stopped in front of the home on Jan. 30, 2022, and an undisclosed number of people got out of the vehicle and shot at the residence, police said. Documents show rock-throwing suspect said they were ‘blood brothers’ after spree Two people inside the house located in the 1500 block of Dallas Street were hit by gunfire and one man died, the Aurora Police Department reported after the shooting.Police are asking anyone with information on the vehicle or anyone who was at the party to contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867.

Fishing friends find happiness

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:30:59 GMT

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) — Fishing friends Davis James and Rachel Therkildsen have known each other for about four years now. Both share a passion for fly fishing.“I had the opportunity to cast a fly rod. There was sort of that natural transition, just really enjoyed the motion of the cast,“ said James. “I just needed something to do. I needed a hobby. Soccer and school were over so I just needed something to be outdoors. So I just picked up a fly rod and ran with it,“ said Therkildsen. Gold fever alive and well in Centennial State They like spending time together, but at the water's edge of the South Platte River, James and Therkildsen scatter like tadpoles. “This time of year, the water is really low and when it is, you are looking for really deep pools of water where it’s nice and slow for the fish when they are lethargic this time of year,“ said Therkildsen.The sound of a gently rolling stream is like nothing else. It is mesmerizing and relaxing. It is nature's medicine....

Grain debacle makes mockery of EU support for Ukraine

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:30:59 GMT

BRUSSELS — Nearly two weeks after its Eastern front-line member countries banned imports of Ukrainian grain, the European Union is still struggling to come up with a plan to clear a massive and disruptive supply glut, in a debacle that threatens to make a mockery of Europe’s declared solidarity with its war-torn neighbor.Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Commission’s top trade official, has been holding video conferences all week with ministers from Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania on finding ways to clear the surplus and to compensate hard-pressed farmers — so far to no avail. EU ambassadors will meet again on Friday but, without a deal with the five Eastern European countries, such a step would make little sense.At stake is a delayed decision on whether to extend the tariff-free status for imports of Ukrainian produce, originally granted last June for 12 months in a gesture of solidarity following Russia’s full-scale invasion. “It’s strange that...