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House Republicans drop Jim Jordan as their nominee for speaker, falling back to square one

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:37:53 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans dropped Rep. Jim Jordan on Friday as their nominee for House speaker, making the decision during a closed-door session after the hard-edged ally of Donald Trump failed badly on a third ballot for the gavel.The blocked-House impasse deepening, Republicans have no realistic or workable plan to unite the fractured GOP majority, elect a new speaker and return to the work of Congress that has been languishing since hard-liners ousted Kevin McCarthy at the start of the month.Majority Leader Steve Scalise said they’re going “come back and start over” on Monday.In all, Jordan lost 25 Republican colleagues in Friday’s vote, leaving him far from the majority needed, with next steps uncertain.Ahead of the vote, Jordan showed no signs of stepping aside, insisting at a Capitol press conference: “The American people are hungry for change.”Drawing on his Ohio roots, Jordan, who is popular with the GOP’s right-flank activist base of voters, posi...

Two American hostages are being released by Hamas, sources say

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:37:53 GMT

(CNN) — Two American hostages, a mother and her daughter, are being released by Hamas, according to a person familiar with the negotiations and a diplomatic source.The two have been handed over to the Red Cross and are “on their way out,” the source familiar with negotiations said.   The two are being released on “humanitarian grounds” because the mother is in poor health, the same source said.It is unclear whether they will leave Gaza into Egypt or Israel. This is the result of the negotiations between Qatar and Hamas that started after Hamas abducted around 200 people from Israel on October 7. In a statement, Hamas spokesperson Abu Obaida said: “In response to Qatari efforts, Al-Qassam Brigades released two American citizens (a mother and her daughter) for humanitarian reasons, and to prove to the American people and the world that the claims made by Biden and his fascist administration are false and baseless.” The White House has not commented. ...

Belgian justice minister resigns after Brussels attack

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:37:53 GMT

Belgian Minister of Justice Vincent Van Quickenborne announced his resignation late Friday following an attack in Brussels earlier this week that left two Swedish nationals dead. His resignation comes after media reported that Tunisia had requested that Belgium extradite the attacker, Abdesalam Lassoued, one of its nationals, in August 2022 — but that the request was not processed. Lassoued was later killed by police after the October 16 attack. Van Quickenborne said a magistrate had not complied with the extradition request drawn up for Lassoued. “I want to take political responsibility for this unacceptable mistake,” he said during a Friday press conference at his office.Van Quickenborne said he had informed the prime minister of his decision. “I sincerely want to apologize on behalf of justice to the victims and their loved ones. I would also like to apologize in the name of justice to the Swedish people and our Belgian fellow citizens,” he said, according...

Internal EU discontent grows at von der Leyen’s neglect of Palestinian statehood

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:37:53 GMT

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is infuriating the EU’s own foreign policy team by neglecting to mention the bloc’s support for Palestinian statehood in her public remarks on the Israel-Hamas war. Adding to the pressure on her, some 800 EU staff have also taken the unusual step of writing to protest she is showing unjustifiable bias toward Israel in the conflict. The latest flashpoint was a speech on Thursday at the Hudson Institute, a conservative think-tank in Washington, when she prioritized Israel’s right to defend itself after Hamas’ brutal assault on October 7 and neglected to mention the two-state solution that is a core part of the position of European countries. One senior EU official commenting on the speech accused her of airing her own personal views and presenting an unbalanced view of where the EU stood on the crisis in the Middle East. Foreign policy “is decided by member states, by the Council. The rest, with full respect, ...

Juveniles charged with dousing acid on western Mass. playground slides that injured 4 children

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:37:53 GMT

LONGMEADOW, Mass. (AP) — Two juveniles have been charged after several slides at a Massachusetts park were doused with acid in this summer and four children were injured, the Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni said.The juveniles, whose identities cannot be released due to their ages, have been charged with four counts of assault and battery on a child with injury and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon as well as vandalism, Gulluni said. His office did not say whether the pair have been arrested.“Our collective effort to charge those we believe are responsible should make clear that protecting this community’s children is among our highest priorities,” Gulluni said in a statement late Thursday. “Whether the threat and harm caused were intended as pranks or malicious acts, it will not be tolerated.”In June, police and firefighters responded to Bliss Park in Longmeadow for a report of a suspicious substance on the playground equipment. At about the same time, fire...

Four people hospitalized after truck driver slams into vehicles, bank in South Yarmouth

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:37:53 GMT

Authorities in Yarmouth say four people were injured after a pickup truck driver appeared to go off road and crash into several vehicles and a business Friday morning.The Yarmouth Police Department said both officers and firefighters were called to the TD Bank off Route 28 where a truck was found embedded in the side of the building around 11:30 a.m.Investigators found the crash appeared to happen after the truck left the roadway and “became airborne after hitting a median,” striking a sign in the process which, in turn, hit and injured a bystander.Two parked cars were also struck as the truck barreled in the direction of the bank and eventually plowed into a brick wall.All four people injured, including the driver, suffered what were described as minor injuries.Why the truck initially left the road and the crash itself remains under investigation.

Native lands lack clean water protections, but more tribes are taking charge

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:37:53 GMT

Alex Brown | (TNS) Stateline.orgAcross the roughly 1,300 square miles of the White Earth Indian Reservation in northwest Minnesota, tribal members harvest wild rice in waters that have sustained them for generations. They’ve been working for decades to restore sturgeon, a culturally important fish, and they harvest minnows and leeches to supply bait for anglers across the country.But the White Earth Band can no longer depend on the clean, abundant waters that make those activities possible. Droughts brought on by climate change and irrigation for agriculture have threatened the reservation’s rivers and lakes. Manure runoff from factory farms could poison the water that’s left.Last year, the tribal government passed an ordinance to restrict withdrawals of water from the reservation and adjacent lands that share an aquifer. Under the statute, farms and other businesses seeking to withdraw more than 1 million gallons per year must obtain a permit from the tribe.“White Earth firmly beli...

Chicago Bears Week 7 storylines: Tyson Bagent’s underdog charm, Justin Fields’ unclear prognosis and a possible defensive resurgence

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:37:53 GMT

At 1-5, the Chicago Bears have a lot to sort through as they ready to face the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday at Soldier Field.Offensive line uncertainty. Defensive inconsistency. An undrafted rookie likely to make his first NFL start. It’s another complicated puzzle that Matt Eberflus and his coaching staff need to put together.In advance of the game, here’s the inside slant on three notable storylines.‘Nothing to lose’All aboard who’s coming aboard.That amplified and familiar whistle you’ve been hearing this week has been coming from Chicago Bears headquarters in Lake Forest, where Desperation Station has sent the latest hope-and-hype train on its way.The Tyson Bagent Express is out on the tracks with a couple of opportunities to board before it barrels into Soldier Field for Sunday’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders.For the “Let’s see what we’ve got in the kid” crowd, this is an exciting and intriguing moment, a cha...

Can psilocybin help ease existential despair in patients with advanced cancer? Researchers hope to find out.

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:37:53 GMT

A new study in Colorado is trying to answer definitively whether psychedelics help at least some patients dealing with distress over advanced cancer.Dr. Stacy Fischer, co-leader of cancer prevention and control at the University of Colorado Cancer Center, said several small studies have found that psychedelic drugs may help patients who are experiencing demoralization or despair because of their impending mortality. The study CU is part of will have a larger and more diverse group of people, which hopefully will produce more conclusive evidence of whether there’s a benefit, she said.“There’s so much science that needs to be done in this space,” Fischer said.Psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, is still a Schedule 1 drug, meaning the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration determined it has high potential for misuse and no accepted medical use.But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration also released guidance earlier this year for trials involving psilocybin and some othe...

Belgian minister quits as ‘monumental error’ sees Tunisian shooter slip through extradition net

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:37:53 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — Belgium’s justice minister resigned on Friday after it was discovered that Tunisia was seeking the extradition last year of an Islamic extremist who shot dead two Swedes and wounded a third this week.Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne said that he and his services had been searching for details to understand how Abdesalem Lassoued had disappeared off the map two years ago after being denied asylum and ordered by Belgian authorities to be deported to Tunisia.On Monday night, Lassoued gunned down two Swedish men and wounded a third with a semiautomatic rifle. The attack forced the lockdown of more than 35,000 people in a soccer stadium where they had gathered to watch Belgium play Sweden.In a video posted online he claimed to be inspired by the Islamic State group. Police shot him dead on Tuesday morning in a Brussels cafe.“This morning at nine o’clock, I remarked the following elements: On Aug. 15, 2022, there was an extradition demand b...