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Trump defends dictator comments amid NYC soiree filled with MAGA diehards

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:23:31 GMT

NEW YORK — The chairman of an Austrian political party founded by ex-Nazis, the conservative Twitter star behind the anti-trans Bud Light backlash and former President Donald Trump all walked into a bar.Seriously.On Saturday night in Manhattan, amid butler-delivered bellinis, sequined ball gowns and a five-course French service meal, characters from all corners of the Republican Party’s MAGA faction gathered for “a night of dinner, drinking, and love of country.”Donald Trump, the club’s 111th Annual Gala Keynote speaker, delivered.“We want to liberate America because we’re in a country that’s in a lot of pain right now, a lot of hurt,” Trump told the crowd, during his 80-minute long speech. “This campaign is on a righteous crusade to rescue our nation from a very corrupt political class.”On the heels of a reaffirmed gag order, a debate of largely deferential Republican opponents and near slam-dunk poll numbers for the Iowa caucuses just weeks away,...

Biden is making a big push for more mining in US. Here’s how it could disrupt health care.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:23:31 GMT

CARLIN, Nevada — As a mining family, the Paweleks worried little about their health care. Mike’s job as a gold miner provided the family with good insurance, and the medical clinic in town run by the mines was affordable. When Mike and Patty needed surgeries for bad knees, the mine paid for travel and lodging in Salt Lake City, 250 miles from their home.That was before Mike, 64, was diagnosed with cervical dystonia, a rare neurological condition that causes violent tremors, ending his 32-year career with Newmont Mining Corp. in 2019.The Paweleks lost their primary income. They also lost their health insurance — and the robust health care access it afforded. In other parts of the country, Mike’s disability insurance and Patty’s Obamacare plan could have easily gotten them a primary care doctor. But in mining communities like Elko County in northeastern Nevada, mine insurance is so important to the local health care infrastructure that many without it have to fight for basic care.“We ...

Austria signals softer stance on Romania, Bulgaria over air traffic

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:23:31 GMT

Austria’s interior minister indicated that the country’s objection to Romania and Bulgaria joining the Schengen area could be softened when it comes to air traffic. Multiple Austrian media outlets have reported that Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner is willing to remove barriers to intra-EU travel for Romanians and Bulgarians, while remaining against the two countries joining the Schengen area due to illegal migration concerns.Under his offer, passengers from Romania and Bulgaria wouldn’t need to go through passport control when flying within the EU. However, there are also a set of conditions for this to be allowed, including Bulgaria needing to agree to more Frontex operations and increased border controls in Romania and Bulgaria. Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu wrote on Facebook that the ice had been broken, saying the development means that “Romanians will no longer stand in endless queues when they fly within the European Union.” “After years of waiting, we ...

Army wins the 124th Army-Navy football game

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:23:31 GMT

(CNN) — The Army Black Knights defeated the Navy Midshipmen 17-11 Saturday at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.The win is Army’s second win in a row against Navy and sixth in the last eight contests.The Black Knights looked dominant for most of the game, scoring the game’s first points with a four-yard touchdown pass from Bryson Daily to Tyson Riley early in the second quarter.One of the game’s biggest plays came in the fourth quarter, when Army’s Kalib Fortner stripped the ball away from Navy quarterback Tai Lavatai and ran the ball 44 yards for a touchdown to put the Black Knights ahead 17-3 with less than five minutes remaining in the game.Trailing by two touchdowns, Navy’s offense suddenly came to life and drove the ball 59 yards, finding the end zone but missing its two-point conversion attempt to pull within eight.After a failed onside kick, Navy quickly forced Army to punt the ball, giving the Midshipmen one last chance to find a touchdown and a tw...

Biden’s focus on bashing Trump takes a page from the winning Obama and Bush reelection playbooks

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:23:31 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s campaign manager recently sent a fundraising email meant to reassure supporters worried about the Democrat’s reelection chances, urging them to take a “quick walk down memory lane.”Julie Chavez Rodriguez noted that many Democrats 12 years ago questioned whether President Barack Obama would win a second term. Biden was Obama’s vice president. “Flash forward to November 6, 2012. I think you may remember the day,” she wrote. Underneath was a photo of the Obamas and Bidens celebrating their election victory. More than a nostalgic message, that sentiment can increasingly be seen in Biden’s strategy for winning in 2024.Biden is trying to focus the campaign on former President Donald Trump’s comments and policy proposals, sometimes more than his own. It’s a time-worn strategy of White House incumbents to try to negatively define their rivals in the public’s eyes. In 2012, Obama and his allies did it with Republican...

A woman is charged with manslaughter after 2 sets of young twins were killed in a 2021 London fire

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:23:31 GMT

LONDON (AP) — A woman has been charged with four counts of manslaughter after two sets of young twins were killed in a fire that ripped through a London home in 2021.Deveca Rose, 29, has also been charged with child abandonment, London’s Metropolitan Police Service said in a statement. She is scheduled to appear at Croydon Magistrates Court on Monday.The four children — Leyton and Logan Hoath, 3, and Kyson and Bryson Hoath, 4 — died after fire engulfed the home in the Sutton area of south London at about 7 p.m. on Dec. 16, 2021.“Officers understand the significant impact on the local community following this devastating incident, and they would like to reassure people that this extremely complex investigation continues, supported by partner agencies including the Crown Prosecution Service and London Fire Brigade,’’ police said in a statement.The Associated Press

At UN climate talks, cameras are everywhere. Many belong to Emirati company with a murky history

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:23:31 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — At the United Nations’ COP28 climate summit in Dubai, surveillance cameras seem to be everywhere you turn. And that has some worried.It’s unclear how the United Arab Emirates, an autocratic federation of seven sheikhdoms, uses the footage it gathers across its extensive network. However, the country already has deployed facial recognition at immigration gates at Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest for international travel. Surveillance cameras increasingly are a part of modern life. However, experts believe the UAE has one of the highest per capita concentrations of such cameras on Earth — allowing authorities to potentially track a visitor throughout their trip to a country without the civil liberty protections of Western nations.“We’ve just assumed at every point in this conference that someone is watching, someone is listening,” said Joey Shea, a researcher at Human Rights Watch focused on the Emirates. She and other act...

Wireless companies’ spectrum gains could have lasting effect on 5G quality, pricing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:23:31 GMT

As an underdog in Canada’s recent spectrum auction, Execulink Telecom Inc. CEO Ian Stevens acknowledged that “inexperience and budget” were working against his company compared with some of the bigger players.The event, which spanned a month, featured 22 telecom providers bidding on licences for wireless spectrum, the electromagnetic frequencies that enable smartphone communications.When it wrapped up late last month, Canadian wireless companies had collectively spent about $2.1 billion on chunks of 5G bandwidth in the federal government’s most recent spectrum auction. Though cellphone owners don’t often think about these technicalities, experts say the results could affect future prices and the quality of their mobile phone and internet plans.“Make no mistake, the cost of your cellular service includes the cost of the spectrum that has been purchased over the years for the service provider that you choose,” said Stevens, whose Woodstock, Ont.-based pro...

Massive fire at historic, abandoned Emerson High School in Gary

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:23:31 GMT

GARY, Ind. -- Firefighters battled a fire at the former historic Emerson High School in Gary Saturday night. This would be the second time the abandoned school caught fire in the past six months.The fire broke out at the school near 7th Avenue and Carolina Street just before 10 p.m. Saturday night. Firefighters said smoke could be seen miles away.The building roof collapsed due to flames, yet firefighters said they do not believe anyone was in the building at the time of the fire.Firefighters from multiple northwest Indiana communities including Merryville and Munster fought the flames until 3 a.m. Sunday morning.A fire broke out at the same abandoned school June 14 and the school is on the national register of historic places. Residents still waiting to move back into apartments nearly 1 year after South Side high-rise fire The school was known for a 1927 boycott after 18 African American students were transferred to the school that led to a strike against desegregation and a st...

Much of the week cooler than normal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:23:31 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Today will be the first day this month with high temperatures below normal. On a day where the normal high is 65° today's afternoon maximums will peak in the middle to upper 50s.The air is dry with morning dew points in the teens and 20s. The dry air will combine with lower wind speeds overnight and the clear sky to send lows Monday morning to the upper 20s to low 30s. The forecast low at Camp Mabry is 32°. If this happens it will be the first time this season where the low at Camp Mabry has dropped to freezing.First freeze forecast at Camp MabrySoutherly wind will warm the air to the lower half of the 60s Monday.Peak wind gusts after Saturday's cold front averaged 25 mph to 32 mph. Austin-Bergstrom International Airport had a peak of 37 mph, Camp Mabry 32 mph.Wind gusts will rise to 20 to 25 mph in some areas early this afternoon before lowering late.Gusty winds will subside after 4 p.m. Those strong wind did cause an increase in the cedar count. Cedar is in medium...