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  • U.N. assembly approves resolution granting Palestine new rights

    U.N. assembly approves resolution granting Palestine new rights

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    The U.N. General Assembly voted by a wide margin on Friday to grant new “rights and privileges” to Palestine and called on the Security Council to favorably reconsider its request to become the 194th member of the United Nations.

    What You Need To Know

    • The U.N. General Assembly has voted by a wide margin to grant new “rights and privileges” to Palestine and has called on the Security Council to favorably reconsider its request to become the 194th member of the United Nations

    • The 193-member world body approved the Arab and Palestinian sponsored resolution on Friday by a vote of 143-9 with 25 abstentions

    • The United States vetoed a widely backed council resolution on April 18 that would have paved the way for full United Nations membership for Palestine, a goal the Palestinians have long sought and Israel has worked to prevent

    The 193-member world body approved the Arab and Palestinian-sponsored resolution by a vote of 143-9 with 25 abstentions.

    The United States vetoed a widely backed council resolution on April 18 that would have paved the way for full United Nations membership for Palestine, a goal the Palestinians have long sought and Israel has worked to prevent.

    U.S. deputy ambassador Robert Wood made clear on Thursday that the Biden administration opposed the assembly resolution. The United States was among the nine countries voting against it, along with Israel.

    “We’ve been very clear from the beginning there is a process for obtaining full membership in the United Nations, and this effort by some of the Arab countries and the Palestinians is to try to go around that,” Wood said Thursday. “We have said from the beginning the best way to ensure Palestinian full membership in the U.N. is to do that through negotiations with Israel. That remains our position.”

    Under the U.N. Charter, prospective members of the United Nations must be “peace-loving,” and the Security Council must recommend their admission to the General Assembly for final approval. Palestine became a U.N. non-member observer state in 2012.

    The resolution “determines” that a state of Palestine is qualified for membership — dropping the original language that in the General Assembly’s judgment it is “a peace-loving state.” It therefore recommends that the Security Council reconsider its request “favorably.”

    The renewed push for full Palestinian membership in the U.N. comes as the war in Gaza has put the more than 75-year-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict at center stage. At numerous council and assembly meetings, the humanitarian crisis facing the Palestinians in Gaza and the killing of more than 34,000 people in the territory, according to Gaza health officials, have generated outrage from many countries.

    The original draft of the assembly resolution was changed significantly to address concerns not only by the U.S. but also by Russia and China, according to three Western diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity because negotiations were private.

    The first draft would have conferred on Palestine “the rights and privileges necessary to ensure its full and effective participation” in the assembly’s sessions and U.N. conferences “on equal footing with member states.” It also made no reference to whether Palestine could vote in the General Assembly.

    According to the diplomats, Russia and China, which are strong supporters of Palestine’s U.N. membership, were concerned that granting the list of rights and privileges detailed in an annex to the resolution could set a precedent for other would-be U.N. members — with Russia concerned about Kosovo and China about Taiwan.

    Under longstanding legislation by the U.S. Congress, the United States is required to cut off funding to U.N. agencies that give full membership to a Palestinian state — which could mean a cutoff in dues and voluntary contributions to the U.N. from its largest contributor.

    The final draft drops the language that would put Palestine “on equal footing with member states.” And to address Chinese and Russian concerns, it would decide “on an exceptional basis and without setting a precedent” to adopt the rights and privileges in the annex.

    The draft also adds a provision in the annex on the issue of voting, stating categorically: “The state of Palestine, in its capacity as an observer state, does not have the right to vote in the General Assembly or to put forward its candidature to United Nations organs.”

    The final list of rights and privileges in the draft annex includes giving Palestine the right to speak on all issues not just those related to the Palestinians and Middle East, the right to propose agenda items and reply in debates, and the right to be elected as officers in the assembly’s main committees. It would give the Palestinians the right to participate in U.N. and international conferences convened by the United Nations — but it drops their “right to vote” which was in the original draft.

    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas first delivered the Palestinian Authority’s application for U.N. membership in 2011. It failed because the Palestinians didn’t get the required minimum support of nine of the Security Council’s 15 members.

    They went to the General Assembly and succeeded by more than a two-thirds majority in having their status raised from a U.N. observer to a non-member observer state. That opened the door for the Palestinian territories to join U.N. and other international organizations, including the International Criminal Court.

    In the Security Council vote on April 18, the Palestinians got much more support for full U.N. membership. The vote was 12 in favor, the United Kingdom and Switzerland abstaining, and the United States voting no and vetoing the resolution.

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    Associated Press

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  • Heavy fighting in Gaza’s Rafah keeps aid crossings closed

    Heavy fighting in Gaza’s Rafah keeps aid crossings closed

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    Heav(y fighting between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants on the outskirts of the southern Gaza city of Rafah has left crucial nearby aid crossings inaccessible and caused over 100,000 people to flee north, a United Nations official said Friday.

    What You Need To Know

    • A United Nations official says heavy fighting between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants on the outskirts of the southern Gaza city of Rafah has left crucial nearby aid crossings inaccessible and caused over 100,000 people to flee north

    • Israel’s plans for a full-scale invasion of Rafah appear to be on hold for now

    • The United States is deeply opposed to that and is stepping up pressure by threatening to withhold arms

    • But even the more limited incursion launched earlier this week threatens to worsen Gaza’s humanitarian catastrophe

    Israel’s plans for a full-scale invasion of Rafah appear to be on hold for now, with the United States deeply opposed and stepping up pressure by threatening to withhold arms. But even the more limited incursion launched earlier this week threatens to worsen Gaza’s humanitarian catastrophe.

    Heavy fighting was also underway in northern Gaza, where Hamas appeared to have once again regrouped in an area where Israel has already launched punishing assaults.

    Over a million Palestinians have fled to Rafah to escape fighting elsewhere, with many packed into U.N.-run shelters or squalid tent camps. The city on the border with Egypt is also a crucial hub for bringing in food, medicine, fuel and other goods.

    The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, known as OCHA, says about 110,000 people have fled Rafah and that food and fuel supplies in the city are critically low. Georgios Petropoulos, an OCHA official working in Rafah, said the two main crossings near the city remain closed, cutting off supplies and preventing medical evacuations and the movement of humanitarian staff.

    “Even if there were assurances to us being able to pass through a corridor, the proximity so close to a military involved in fighting is just not acceptable for something that has to be a humanitarian zone,” he said.

    The U.N.’s World Food Program will run out of food for distribution in southern Gaza by Saturday unless more aid arrives, Petropoulos said. He said about 30,000 people were leaving Rafah daily in search of safety, but that humanitarian workers had no supplies to help them set up camp in a new location.

    “We simply have no tents, we have no blankets, no bedding, none of the items that you would expect a population on the move to be able to get from the humanitarian system,” he said.

    Israeli troops captured the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing with Egypt on Tuesday, forcing it to shut down. Rafah was the main point of entry for fuel needed to power vehicles, as well as the generators on which hospitals and water treatment plants rely.

    Israel says the nearby Kerem Shalom crossing — Gaza’s main cargo terminal — is open on its side, but the U.N. says it remains inaccessible on the Gaza side because of ongoing fighting.

    Israeli troops are battling Palestinian militants in eastern Rafah, not far from the crossings. An Associated Press reporter in the city heard heavy artillery and gunfire throughout the night into Friday.

    The military said in a statement that it had located several tunnels and eliminated militants “during close-quarters combat and with an aerial strike.”

    Hamas’ military wing said it carried out a complex attack in which it struck a house where Israeli troops had taken up position, an armored personnel carrier and soldiers operating on foot. There was no comment from the Israeli military,

    It is not possible to independently confirm battlefield accounts from either side.

    Hamas also said it launched a number of mortar rounds at the Kerem Shalom crossing, close to where Israeli troops are operating. The military said it intercepted two launches. The crossing was initially closed after a Hamas rocket attack last weekend that killed four Israeli soldiers.

    Israel says Rafah is the last Hamas stronghold in Gaza and key to its goal of dismantling the group’s military and governing capabilities and returning scores of hostages captured in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war.

    But Hamas has repeatedly regrouped, even in the hardest-hit parts of Gaza.

    Heavy battles erupted this week in the Zeitoun area on the outskirts of Gaza City in the northern part of the territory. Northern Gaza was the first target of the ground offensive, and Israel said late last year that it had mostly dismantled Hamas there.

    The north remains largely isolated by Israeli troops, and the U.N. says the estimated 300,000 people there are experiencing “full-blown famine.”

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to proceed with the offensive with or without U.S. arms, saying “we will fight with our fingernails” if needed in a defiant statement late Thursday. The Israeli military says it has what it needs for the missions it has planned, including in Rafah.

    The war began with Hamas’ surprise attack into southern Israel last year, in which it killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took another 250 hostage. The militants are still holding some 100 captives and the remains of more than 30 after most of the rest were released during a cease-fire last year.

    The war has killed over 34,800 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its figures. Israel’s offensive, waged with U.S.-supplied munitions, has caused widespread devastation and forced some 80% of Gaza’s population to flee their homes.

    Israel’s surprise incursion into Rafah complicated what had been months of efforts by the U.S., Qatar and Egypt to broker a cease-fire and the release of hostages. Hamas this week said it had accepted an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal, but Israel says the plan does not meet its “core” demands. Several days of follow-up talks appeared to end inconclusively on Thursday.

    Hamas has demanded guarantees for an end to the war and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza as part of any deal — steps Israel has ruled out.

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    Associated Press

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  • Lower-income spenders are showing economic strain

    Lower-income spenders are showing economic strain

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    Cracks are showing in one of the main pillars keeping the economy out of a recession: resilient spending by U.S. households.

    Consumer goods giants from PepsiCo to Kraft Heinz have described recently how the combination of high inflation and higher interest rates is hurting their lower-income customers.

    What You Need To Know

    • Lower-income consumers are feeling the weight of high inflation and higher interest rates

    • They are strategizing to make their budgets work

    • Customers are also shifting away from fine dining toward quick-service restaurants and cooking at home

    • McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski said after reporting his company’s latest quarterly results, “I think all consumers are looking for good value”

    It’s the culmination of everything getting more expensive amid high inflation, even if it’s not as bad as before, and the drag of higher interest rates because of more expensive credit-card and other payments.

    Remarkably resilient spending by U.S. consumers overall has been one of the main reasons the economy has avoided a recession, at least so far. Capitulation at the lower end of the spectrum could be the first crack for the economy.

    “The lower income consumer in the U.S. is stretched,” PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta said late last month when reporting better profit than expected, and “is strategizing a lot to make their budgets get to the end of the month. And that’s a consumer that is choosing what to buy, where to buy, and making a lot of choices.”

    At Tyson Foods, during a conference call to discuss its better-than-expected results for the latest quarter, one of the first questions asked by a Wall Street analyst was for executives of the company to describe how they see the state of the U.S. consumer.

    “As you know, the consumer is under pressure, especially the lower income households,” Chief Growth Officer Melanie Boulden said.

    She said the producer of beef, pork, chicken and prepared foods has seen customers shift away from fine dining and toward quick-service restaurants. It’s also seen customers drop down from those not-as-expensive restaurants to eating more at home.

    Kraft Heinz CEO Carlos Arturo Abrams-Rivera also said lower-income customers are pulling back from restaurants and convenience stores. That’s even as higher-income earners buy more Kraft Heinz products because they’re spending more on travel and entertainment.

    At Mondelez International, Chief Financial Officer Luca Zaramella recently told analysts that U.S. sales of some products particularly popular with lower-income households have been weakening, such as Chips Ahoy cookies.

    Much of the commentary recently has come from big food and drink companies, but several retailers will be joining them in upcoming weeks. Walmart, Dollar General and others will offer more evidence about how well or not lower-income Americans are faring.

    Of course, it’s not just the lowest-earning households bothered by higher prices for seemingly everything.

    “We’re in an environment where the consumer is being price discriminating and, again, that’s not just something that’s low income,” McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski said after reporting his company’s latest quarterly results. “I think all consumers are looking for good value, for good affordability, and so we’re focused on that action.”

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    Associated Press

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  • Attorney: Florida deputies who fatally shot airman burst into wrong apartment

    Attorney: Florida deputies who fatally shot airman burst into wrong apartment

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    Deputies responding to a disturbance call at a Florida apartment complex burst into the wrong unit and fatally shot a Black U.S. Air Force airman who was home alone when they saw he was armed with a gun, an attorney for the man’s family said Wednesday.

    What You Need To Know

    • A civil rights attorney says deputies responding to a disturbance call at a Florida apartment complex burst into the wrong unit and fatally shot a Black U.S. Air Force airman

    • Attorney Ben Crump says Senior Airman Roger Fortson was home alone Friday when deputies saw he was armed with a gun

    • Fortson died after the shooting at his off-base residence in Fort Walton Beach

    • The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office says a deputy responding to a disturbance call fired in self-defense after encountering an armed man

    Senior Airman Roger Fortson, 23, who was based at the Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field, was in his off-base apartment in Fort Walton Beach when the shooting happened on May 3.

    Civil rights attorney Ben Crump said in a statement that Fortson was on a Facetime call with a woman at the time of the encounter.

    According to Crump, the woman, whom Crump didn’t identify, said Fortson was alone in his apartment when he heard a knock at the door. He asked who was there but didn’t get a response. A few minutes later, Fortson heard a louder knock but didn’t see anyone when he looked through the peephole, Crump said, citing the woman’s account.

    The woman said Fortson was concerned and went to retrieve his gun, which Crump said was legally owned.

    As Fortson walked back through his living room, deputies burst through the door, saw that Fortson was armed and shot him six times, according to Crump’s statement. The woman said Fortson was on the ground, saying, “I can’t breathe,” after he was shot, Crump said.

    Fortson died at a hospital, officials said. The deputy involved in the shooting was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.

    The woman said Fortson wasn’t causing a disturbance during their Facetime call and believes that the deputies must have had the wrong apartment, Crump’s statement said.

    “The circumstances surrounding Roger’s death raise serious questions that demand immediate answers from authorities, especially considering the alarming witness statement that the police entered the wrong apartment,” Crump said.

    “We are calling for transparency in the investigation into Roger’s death and the immediate release of body cam video to the family,” Crump said. “His family and the public deserve to know what occurred in the moments leading up to this tragedy.”

    Crump is a nationally known attorney based in Tallahassee, Florida. He has been involved in multiple high-profile law enforcement shooting cases involving Black people, including those of Ahmaud Arbery, Trayvon Martin, Breonna Taylor, Tyre Nichols and George Floyd.

    Crump and Fortson’s family plan to speak at a news conference in Fort Walton Beach on Thursday morning.

    The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office didn’t immediately respond to an email or voicemail from The Associated Press seeking comment about Crump’s claims. But Sheriff Eric Aden posted a statement on Facebook Wednesday afternoon expressing sadness about the shooting.

    “At this time, we humbly ask for our community’s patience as we work to understand the facts that resulted in this tragic event,” Aden said.

    The sheriff’s office said in a statement last week that a deputy responding to a call of a disturbance in progress at the apartment complex reacted in self-defense after encountering an armed man. The office did not offer details on what kind of disturbance deputies were responding to or who called them.

    The sheriff’s office also declined to immediately identify the responding deputies or their races. Officials said earlier this week that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the local State Attorney’s Office will investigate the shooting.

    FDLE spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger told The Associated Press on Wednesday that it is highly unlikely the agency will have any further comment until the investigation is complete.

    Fortson was assigned to the 4th Special Operations Squadron as a special missions aviator, where one of his roles as a member of the squadron’s AC-130J Ghostrider aircrew was to load the gunship’s 30mm and 105mm cannons during missions.

    Fortson’s death draws striking similarities to other Black people killed in recent years by police in their homes, in circumstances that involved officers responding to the wrong address or responding to service calls with wanton uses of deadly force.

    In 2018, a white former Dallas police offer fatally shot Botham Jean, an unarmed Black man, after mistaking his apartment for her own. Amber Guyger, the former officer, was found guilty of murder the following year and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

    In 2019, a white former Fort Worth, Texas, officer fatally shot Atatiana Jefferson through a rear window of her home after responding to a nonemergency call reporting that Jefferson’s front door was open. Aaron Dean, the former officer, was found guilty of manslaughter in 2022 and was sentenced to nearly 12 years in prison.

    Crump has represented families in both cases as part of his ongoing effort to force accountability for the killings of Black people at the hands of police.

    “What I’m trying to do, as much as I can, even sometimes singlehandedly, is increase the value of Black life,” Crump told The Associated Press in 2021 following the conviction a former Minneapolis officer in the murder of George Floyd.

    Fort Walton Beach is between Panama City Beach and Pensacola in the Florida Panhandle.

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    Associated Press

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  • An American soldier was arrested in Russia and accused of stealing

    An American soldier was arrested in Russia and accused of stealing

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — An American soldier visiting a girlfriend in Russia’s port city of Vladivostok was arrested on charges of stealing from her and remains in custody, according to several U.S. officials.

    What You Need To Know

    • An American soldier visiting a girlfriend in Russia’s port city of Vladivostok was arrested on charges of stealing from her and remains in custody, according to several U.S. officials
    • The soldier, Staff Sgt. Gordon Black, 34, was stationed in South Korea and was in the process of returning home to Fort Cavazos in Texas

    • Officials also said that Black, an infantry soldier, did not tell his unit that he was going to Russia, and did not receive any authorization to go there. They said he was essentially on leave, as he left Korea to redeploy back home to Fort Cavazos

    • The arrest comes less than a year after American soldier Travis King sprinted into North Korea across the heavily fortified border between the Koreas. North Korea later announced that it would expel King, who was returned to the U.S. He was eventually charged with desertion

    U.S. officials said Monday the soldier, Staff Sgt. Gordon Black, 34, was stationed in South Korea and was in the process of returning home to Fort Cavazos in Texas. Instead, officials said that Black, who is married, traveled to Russia to see a longtime girlfriend. His arrest only further complicates U.S. relations with Russia, which have grown increasingly tense as the war in Ukraine drags on.

    The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel details.

    Cynthia Smith, Army spokeswoman, confirmed that a soldier was detained on Thursday in Vladivostok, a major military and commercial Pacific port, on charges of criminal misconduct. She said Russia notified the U.S. and the Army told the soldier’s family.

    “The U.S. Department of State is providing appropriate consular support to the soldier in Russia,” Smith said.

    According to Smith, on May 3 an official from the Russian Ministry of Interior informed the U.S. Embassy Moscow that Black was arrested on May 2. He is currently in a pre-trial detention facility and will stay in detention until his next hearing, pending determination.

    According to officials, the Russian woman had lived in South Korea, and last fall she and Black got into some type of domestic dispute or altercation. After that, she left South Korea. It isn’t clear if she was forced to leave or what, if any, role Korean authorities had in the matter.

    Officials also said that Black, an infantry soldier, did not tell his unit that he was going to Russia, and did not receive any authorization to go there. They said he was essentially on leave, as he left Korea to redeploy back home to Fort Cavazos.

    It’s unclear, however, if U.S. service members are specifically prohibited from traveling to Russia, although the State Department strongly advises U.S. citizens not to go.

    Black enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2008 and was deployed to Iraq from October 2009 through September 2010, and to Afghanistan from June 2013 until March 2014, according to a statement from Smith.

    The arrest comes less than a year after American soldier Travis King sprinted into North Korea across the heavily fortified border between the Koreas. North Korea later announced that it would expel King, who was returned to the U.S. He was eventually charged with desertion.

    Russia is known to be holding a number of Americans in its jails, including corporate security executive Paul Whelan and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. The U.S. government has designated both as wrongfully detained and has been trying to negotiate for their release.

    Others detained include Travis Leake, a musician who had been living in Russia for years and was arrested last year on drug-related charges; Marc Fogel, a teacher in Moscow, who was sentenced to 14 years in prison, also on drug charges; and dual nationals Alsu Kurmasheva and Ksenia Khavana.

    The soldier’s arrest in Russia was first reported by NBC News.

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    Associated Press

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  • Multiple rounds of severe weather to impact millions this week

    Multiple rounds of severe weather to impact millions this week

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    A large storm system crossed the Rockies over the weekend. It produced rain and snow in parts of Wyoming and Montana. On Monday it pushed east toward the Plains as a cold front developed along it.

    This system will encounter a warm moist area in the center part of the country, helping to support thunderstorm development. Simultaneously, a low pressure will ride along this front, enhancing the storms.

    Heavy rain and flooding will be possible with already saturated grounds and swollen waterways. Several weather disturbances will rotate around this larger system this week, keeping severe weather chances in play. 

    What You Need To Know

    • The month of May sees a high number of tornadoes on average from the Midwest to the Plains


    • Severe threat moves to the Ohio River Valley for Tuesday

    • With unstable air in place on Wednesday, a large severe weather outbreak is possible along the Midwest


    With storm fuel in place and the advancing system, severe thunderstorms will be possible from the Plains to the Mississippi River Valley. This will not be a one-day event. Severe weather will be possible from Tuesday through Thursday.

     

     

    Severe weather potential this week

    The severe potential pushes east into Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio during the day on Tuesday. The region is under a level 3/5 for severe weather with all threats possible. Damaging wind, large hail, tornadoes and heavy rain. 

     

    Another low pressure develops along the frontal boundary on Wednesday, enhancing the threat for Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and eastern Texas. The Storm Prediction Center already categorized the threat as a level 3/5 with all impacts expected on Wednesday afternoon into the evening. Those impacts include tornadoes, damaging winds, hail and heavy rain. 

    With the system moving off to the south and east on Thursday, the front will trigger storms for areas from New Jersey south through North Carolina and east-central Texas. While the risk for severe storms exists on Thursday, the threat is lower. 

    However, there is still the potential for damaging winds, hail and isolated tornadoes in the highlighted regions. 

    Prepare for storms

    Make sure you have a plan for if you are at work or home. Even if you could be driving. 

    Here are five ways to prepare in case the sirens go off. 

    Have a way to stay updated on weather information, including a NOAA Weather Radio and making sure notifications are turned on for your weather and news apps.

    Our team of meteorologists dives deep into the science of weather and breaks down timely weather data and information. To view more weather and climate stories, check out our weather blogs section.

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    Meteorologist Stacy Lynn

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  • Some Planters nuts recalled in 5 states over potential listeria

    Some Planters nuts recalled in 5 states over potential listeria

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    Hormel Foods has voluntarily recalled two types of Planters nuts in five states over concerns about potential contamination from the bacteria listeria. 

    What You Need To Know

    • Hormel Foods has voluntarily recalled two types of Planters nuts in five states over concerns about potential contamination from the bacteria listeria

    • The food manufacturer is recalling some 4-ounce packages of honey roasted peanuts and 8.75-ounce cans of deluxe lightly salted mixed nuts

    • The recall only impacts products shipped to Publix supermarkets in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and North Carolina and to Dollar Tree stores in Georgia and South Carolina

    • Listeria infections can be serious and sometimes fatal in young children, elderly people and individuals with weakened immune systems and can cause miscarriages and stillbirths in pregnant women

    The food manufacturer is recalling some 4-ounce packages of honey roasted peanuts and 8.75-ounce cans of deluxe lightly salted mixed nuts.

    The recall only impacts products shipped to Publix supermarkets in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and North Carolina and to Dollar Tree stores in Georgia and South Carolina.

    The recalled honey roasted peanuts have a “best if used by date” of April 11, 2025, while the mixed nuts have a date of April 5, 2026.

    All of the potentially contaminated items were produced at one of Hormel’s facilities in April, the company said.

    There have been no reports of illnesses related to the products, Hormel said in a news release Friday.

    Listeria infections can be serious and sometimes fatal in young children, elderly people and individuals with weakened immune systems. In pregnant women, they can cause miscarriages, stillbirths, premature births and potentially fatal infections in newborns, according to the Mayo Clinic.

    The effects of listeria infections may be mitigated with prompt antibiotic treatment.

    Other people can be infected by listeria but rarely become seriously ill. Symptoms may include fever, chills, muscle aches, nausea and diarrhea. 

    Roughly 1,600 people are infected with listeria each year, with about 260 dying, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

    Hormel is advising customers who purchased the recalled products to discard them or exchange them at the store. 

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    Ryan Chatelain

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  • Multiple rounds of severe weather to impact millions this week

    Multiple rounds of severe weather to impact millions this week

    [ad_1]

    A large storm system crossed the Rockies over the weekend. It produced rain and snow in parts of Wyoming and Montana. On Monday it pushed east toward the Plains as a cold front developed along it.

    This system will encounter a warm moist area in the center part of the country, helping to support thunderstorm development. Simultaneously, a low pressure will ride along this front, enhancing the storms.

    Heavy rain and flooding will be possible with already saturated grounds and swollen waterways. Several weather disturbances will rotate around this larger system this week, keeping severe weather chances in play. 

    What You Need To Know

    • The month of May sees a high number of tornadoes on average from the Midwest to the Plains


    • Severe threat moves to the Ohio River Valley for Tuesday

    • With unstable air in place on Wednesday, a large severe weather outbreak is possible along the Midwest


    With storm fuel in place and the advancing system, severe thunderstorms will be possible from the Plains to the Mississippi River Valley. This will not be a one-day event. Severe weather will be possible from Tuesday through Thursday.

     

    Severe weather potential this week

    The severe potential pushes east into Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio during the day on Tuesday. The region is under a level 3/5 for severe weather with all threats possible. Damaging wind, large hail, tornadoes and heavy rain. 

    Another low pressure develops along the frontal boundary on Wednesday, enhancing the threat for Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and eastern Texas. The Storm Prediction Center already categorized the threat as a level 3/5 with all impacts expected on Wednesday afternoon into the evening. Those impacts include tornadoes, damaging winds, hail and heavy rain. 

    With the system moving off to the south and east on Thursday, the front will trigger storms for areas from New Jersey south through North Carolina and east-central Texas. While the risk for severe storms exists on Thursday, the threat is lower. 

    However, there is still the potential for damaging winds, hail and isolated tornadoes in the highlighted regions. 

    Prepare for storms

    Make sure you have a plan for if you are at work or home. Even if you could be driving. 

    Here are five ways to prepare in case the sirens go off. 

    Have a way to stay updated on weather information, including a NOAA Weather Radio and making sure notifications are turned on for your weather and news apps.

    Our team of meteorologists dives deep into the science of weather and breaks down timely weather data and information. To view more weather and climate stories, check out our weather blogs section.

    [ad_2]

    Meteorologist Stacy Lynn

    Source link

  • Columbia cancels university-wide graduation ceremony in wake of protests

    Columbia cancels university-wide graduation ceremony in wake of protests

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    Columbia University has canceled its university-wide graduation ceremony set for May 15 in the wake of pro-Palestinian protests that have spread across college campuses around the country.

    Instead, the university said it will hold ceremonies for individual schools, spanning across seven days from Friday, May 10 to Thursday, May 16.

    What You Need To Know

    • Columbia University said it has canceled its university-wide graduation ceremony set for May 15

    • Instead, the university said it will hold ceremonies for individual schools, spanning across seven days from Friday, May 10 to Thursday, May 16

    • The cancellation comes nearly a week after police cleared a pro-Palestinian protest encampment on the campus and arrested protesters who took over a school building

    “We are determined to give our students the celebration they deserve, and that they want. Our Deans and other colleagues who work directly with our students have been discussing plans with student leaders, and, most importantly, listening,” the university said in a statement Monday. “Based on their feedback, we have decided to make the centerpiece of our Commencement activities our Class Days and school-level ceremonies, where students are honored individually alongside their peers, rather than the University-wide ceremony that is scheduled for May 15.”

    According to the university, the school ceremonies will not be held on the South Lawn of its Morningside Heights campus. The majority of the events will be held at Columbia’s Baker Athletics Complex, the school said. 

    “These past few weeks have been incredibly difficult for our community. Just as we are focused on making our graduation experience truly special, we continue to solicit student feedback and are looking at the possibility of a festive event on May 15 to take the place of the large, formal ceremony. We are eager to all come together for our graduates and celebrate our fellow Columbians as they, and we, look ahead to the future. We will share more in the coming days,” the statement said.

    Anti-war protests began on the Ivy League university’s campus on April 17, when students set up an encampment on the South Lawn. The encampment emerged the same day Columbia president Minouche Shafik appeared before Congress to answer questions about concerns of antisemitism on campus.

    Shafik called on the NYPD to remove the protesters a day later, resulting in more than 100 arrests.

    Protesters rebuilt the encampment soon afterwards. It remained there until April 30, the day dozens of protesters from the encampment took over Columbia’s Hamilton Hall, saying they planned to remain there until the school agreed to divest from Israel.

    Hundreds of NYPD officers in riot gear breached the building that night at Shafik’s behest, clearing the encampment and arresting more than 100 people. Shafik has requested an NYPD presence on campus through at least May 17 to keep students from setting up another protest encampment.

    A full lineup of Columbia University graduation ceremonies is below:

    School Ceremonies Schedule

    Friday, May 10

    • 8:30 a.m. – Professional Studies, Morning Ceremony | Baker Athletics Complex

    • 12:30 p.m. – Professional Studies, Afternoon Ceremony | Baker Athletics Complex

    • 4:30 p.m. – Social Work | Baker Athletics Complex

    • 5:30 p.m. – Columbia Climate School | The Forum

    Saturday, May 11

    • 8:00 a.m. – Business School, EMBA & PhD Candidates | Baker Athletics Complex

    • 11:30 a.m. – Business School, MBA | Baker Athletics Complex

    • Architecture, Planning and Preservation | St. Paul’s Chapel

    • Your school will communicate the time and further details

    Sunday, May 12

    • 8:00 a.m. – Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, PhD | Baker Athletics Complex

    • 10:00 a.m. – Baccalaureate Service | St. Paul’s Chapel

    • 11:00 a.m. – Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, MA | Baker Athletics Complex

    • 3:00 p.m. – The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, Graduate Ceremony | Baker Athletics Complex

     Monday, May 13

    • 8:00 a.m. – Columbia School of General Studies | Baker Athletics Complex

    • 11:45 a.m. –  The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, Undergraduate Ceremony | Baker Athletics Complex

    • 3:30 p.m. – Law School | Baker Athletics Complex

    • 7:30 p.m. – International and Public Affairs | Baker Athletics Complex

    Tuesday, May 14

    • 9:30 a.m. – Columbia College | Baker Athletics Complex

    • 10:00 a.m. – School of Nursing | The Armory

    • 10:00 a.m. – Physical Therapy | Alumni Auditorium, CUIMC

    • 3:30 p.m. – Genetic Counseling | VEC 201, CUIMC

    • 4:00 p.m. – Mailman School of Public Health | The Armory

    • 5:00 p.m. – Business School, MS | David Geffen Hall, Manhattanville Campus

    • Teachers College | United Palace Theatre

    • Varying times

    Wednesday, May 15

    • 12:00 p.m. – Journalism School | Roone Arledge Auditorium, Lerner Hall

    • 2:00 p.m. – Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons | The Armory

    • 4:00 p.m. – Barnard College | Radio City Music Hall

    • 7:00 p.m. – School of the Arts | Roone Arledge Auditorium, Lerner Hall

    • Teachers College | United Palace Theatre

    • Varying times

    Thursday, May 16

    • 10:00 a.m. – Occupational Therapy | Alumni Auditorium, CUIMC

    • 10:30 a.m. – Dental Medicine, Predoctoral | The Armory

    • 2:00 p.m. – Institute of Human Nutrition | Alumni Auditorium, CUIMC • 4:00 p.m. – Dental Medicine, Postdoctoral | The Armory

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  • Netanyahu’s Cabinet votes to close Al Jazeera offices in Israel

    Netanyahu’s Cabinet votes to close Al Jazeera offices in Israel

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    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that his government has voted unanimously to shut down the local offices of Qatar-owned broadcaster Al Jazeera, escalating Israel’s long-running feud with the channel at a time when cease-fire negotiations with Hamas — mediated by Qatar — are gaining steam.

    What You Need To Know

    • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his government has voted unanimously to shutter the offices of the Qatar-owned broadcaster Al Jazeera in Israel
    • Details on when it would go into effect or whether it was permanent or temporary were not immediately clear
    • The vote comes amid deeply strained ties between Israel and the channel, which have worsened during the war against Hamas
    • It also comes as Qatar is helping to broker a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas in the war in Gaza

    According to a statement from Netanyahu’s office, the decision goes into effect immediately. It could include closing the channel’s offices in Israel, confiscating broadcast equipment, preventing the broadcast of the channel’s reports and blocking its websites, among other measures, the statement said.

    Israeli media said the vote allows Israel to block the channel from operating in the country for 45 days, according to the decision.

    “Al Jazeera reporters harmed Israel’s security and incited against soldiers,” Netanyahu said in the statement. “It’s time to remove the Hamas mouthpiece from our country.”

    The extraordinary move is believed to be the first time Israel has ever shuttered a foreign news outlet, although its government has taken action against individual reporters in the past. The statement from Netanyahu’s office said that under a law passed last month, the government can take action against a foreign channel seen as “harming the country.”

    There was no immediate comment from Al Jazeera headquarters in the Qatari capital of Doha. But several Al Jazeera correspondents went on air to give their understanding of how the decision would affect the channel.

    An Al Jazeera correspondent on its Arabic service said the order would affect the broadcaster’s operations in Israel and in east Jerusalem, where it has been doing live shots for months since the Oct. 7 attack that sparked the war in Gaza.

    It would not affect Al Jazeera’s operations in the Palestinian territories, the correspondent said.

    Another correspondent, on Al Jazeera’s English channel, said the order barred the channel from “holding offices or operating them” in Israel. He said the broadcaster’s websites would be blocked, though they were still accessible by Sunday afternoon in Jerusalem.

    The decision threatens to heighten tensions with Qatar at a time when the Doha government is playing a key role in mediation efforts to halt the war in Gaza, along with Egypt and the United States.

    Qatar has had strained ties with Netanyahu in particular since he made comments suggesting that Qatar is not exerting enough pressure on Hamas to prompt it to relent in its terms for a truce deal. Qatar hosts Hamas leaders in exile.

    The sides appear to be close to striking a deal, but multiple previous rounds of talks have ended with no agreement.

    Shortly after the government’s decision, Cabinet members from the National Unity party criticized its timing, saying it “may sabotage the efforts to finalize the negotiations and stems from political considerations.” The party said that in general, it supported the decision.

    Israel has long had a rocky relationship with Al Jazeera, accusing it of bias. Relations took a major downturn nearly two years ago when Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh was killed during an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank.

    Those relations further deteriorated following the outbreak of Israel’s war against Hamas on Oct. 7, when the militant group carried out a cross-border attack in southern Israel that killed 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage.

    In December, an Israeli strike killed an Al Jazeera cameraman as he reported on the war in southern Gaza. The channel’s bureau chief in Gaza, Wael Dahdouh, was injured in the same attack.

    In 2017, Israel threatened to revoke an Al Jazeera reporter’s credentials after an interview surfaced in which the reporter expressed support for Palestinian “resistance.”

    An order barring a broadcaster is seen as an extraordinary measure by the Israeli government, which broadly allows media outlets to operate in the country. However, the government has in the past revoked press cards issued to individual correspondents over their coverage.

    The country has a critical and outspoken local media scene, though Israel views some international outlets as harboring bias against it.

    Al Jazeera is one of the few international media outlets to remain in Gaza throughout the war, broadcasting bloody scenes of airstrikes and overcrowded hospitals and accusing Israel of massacres. Israel accuses Al Jazeera of collaborating with Hamas.

    Al Jazeera, which is funded by Qatar’s government, did not immediately respond to a request from The Associated Press for comment.

    While Al Jazeera’s English operation often resembles the programming found on other major broadcast networks, its Arabic arm often publishes verbatim video statements from Hamas and other militant groups in the region. It similarly came under harsh U.S. criticism during America’s occupation of Iraq after its 2003 invasion toppled dictator Saddam Hussein.

    Al Jazeera has been closed or blocked by other Mideast governments. Those include Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain during a yearslong boycott of Doha by the countries amid a yearslong political dispute that ended in 2021.

    Sunday’s development immediately recalled Egypt’s shutdown of Al Jazeera after the country’s 2013 military takeover following mass protests against President Mohammed Morsi, a member of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood group. The channel covered many of the Brotherhood’s protests live, to the anger of Egypt’s military government. At the time, Egyptian security forces raided a luxury hotel the channel operated out of, arresting its correspondents.

    Australian Peter Greste, Egyptian-Canadian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed received 10-year prison sentences, but were later released in 2015 amid widespread international criticism.

    Egypt considers the Brotherhood a terrorist group and accused both Qatar and Al Jazeera of supporting it.

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  • Ukraine marks its third Easter at war under fire from Russian drones and troops

    Ukraine marks its third Easter at war under fire from Russian drones and troops

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    As Ukraine marked its third Easter at war, Russia on Sunday launched a barrage of drones concentrated in Ukraine’s east, wounding more than a dozen people, and claimed its troops took control of a village they had been targeting.

    What You Need To Know

    • Russia has launched a barrage of drones on eastern Ukraine and claimed its troops took control of a village they had been targeting as Ukraine marks its third Easter at war
    • President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Ukrainians in an Easter address to be “united in one common prayer” and called God an “ally” in the war with Russia
    • Ukraine’s air force said Sunday that Russia had launched 24 Shahed drones, of which 23 were shot down. At least 16 people, including a child, were wounded in the Kharkiv region
    • Russia said its troops took control of the village of Ocheretyne in the Donetsk region

    Ukraine’s air force said that Russia had launched 24 Shahed drones overnight, of which 23 were shot down.

    Six people, including a child, were wounded in a drone strike in the eastern Kharkiv region, regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said. Ten more were wounded in an airstrike Sunday afternoon on the Kharkiv regional capital, also called Kharkiv, Syniehubov said, adding the city was attacked by an aerial bomb.

    Fires broke out when debris from drones that were shot down fell on buildings in the neighboring Dnipropetrovsk region. No casualties were reported.

    The Russian Ministry of Defense announced Sunday that its troops had taken control of the village of Ocheretyne, which has been in the crosshairs of Russian forces in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. Drone footage obtained by The Associated press showed the village battered by fighting. Not a single person is seen in the footage obtained late Friday, and no building in Ocheretyne appears to have been left untouched by the fighting.

    Officials in Kyiv urged residents to follow Orthodox Easter services online due to safety concerns. Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv city administration, warned that “even on such bright days of celebration, we can expect evil deeds from the aggressor.”

    In his Easter address, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on Ukrainians to be “united in one common prayer.”

    In a video filmed in front of Kyiv’s Saint Sophia Cathedral, wearing a traditional Vyshyvanka embroidered shirt, Zelenskyy said that God “has a chevron with the Ukrainian flag on his shoulder.” With “such an ally,” Zelenskyy said, “life will definitely win over death.”

    A majority of Ukrainians identify as Orthodox Christians, though the church is divided. Many belong to the independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine. The rival Ukrainian Orthodox Church was loyal to the patriarch in Moscow until splitting from Russia after the 2022 invasion and is viewed with suspicion by many Ukrainians.

    In Moscow, worshippers including President Vladimir Putin packed Moscow’s landmark Christ the Savior Cathedral late Saturday for a nighttime Easter service led by Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church and an outspoken supporter of the Kremlin.

    Eastern Orthodox Christians usually celebrate Easter later than Catholic and Protestant churches, because they use a different method of calculating the date for the holy day that marks Christ’s resurrection.

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  • Boeing locks out its private firefighters around Seattle over pay dispute

    Boeing locks out its private firefighters around Seattle over pay dispute

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    Boeing has locked out its private force of firefighters who protect its aircraft-manufacturing plants in the Seattle area and brought in replacements after the latest round of negotiations with the firefighters’ union failed to deliver an agreement on wages.

    The company said Saturday that it locked out about 125 firefighters and a facility about 170 miles away in central Washington. The firefighters serve as first responders to fires and medical emergencies and can call in help from local fire departments.

    What You Need To Know

    • Boeing has locked out its private force of firefighters who protect its aircraft-manufacturing plants in the Seattle area and brought in replacements after the latest round of negotiations with the firefighters’ union failed to deliver an agreement on wages

    • The company said Saturday that it locked out about 125 firefighters and a facility about 170 miles away in central Washington

    • The firefighters serve as first responders to fires and medical emergencies and can call in help from local departments

    • Boeing says its firefighters were paid $91,000 on average last year, though the International Association of Fire Fighters says they are paid far less than crews at local fire departments in the Seattle area

     

    “Despite extensive discussions through an impartial federal mediator, we did not reach an agreement with the union,” Boeing said in a statement. “We have now locked out members of the bargaining unit and fully implemented our contingency plan with highly qualified firefighters performing the work of (union) members.”

    In a statement Saturday, the International Association of Firefighters union said Boeing’s lockout is intended to “punish, intimidate and coerce its firefighters into accepting a contract that undervalues their work.”

    “Putting corporate greed over safety, Boeing has decided to lockout our members and the safety of the Washington facilities has been needlessly put at risk,” said Edward Kelly, the IAFF’s general president.

    Boeing stressed that the lockout will have “no impact” on its operations.

    The labor dispute comes as Boeing navigates mounting losses — more than $24 billion since the start of 2019 — and renewed scrutiny over quality and safety in its manufacturing since a door plug blew out of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max flying over Oregon in January.

    Boeing and the union remain far apart in their negotiations, which have been going on for 2 1/2 months. Each side accuses the other of bad-faith negotiating.

    The company, which is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, said Saturday that its latest offer includes general annual wage increases and a new compensation structure for firefighters on a 24-hour shift schedule that would result in an average wage increase of about $21,000 a year. Boeing says firefighters were paid $91,000 on average last year.

    The union, which argues Boeing has saved billions in insurance costs by employing its own on-site firefighters, has said it’s seeking raises of 40% to 50%. Boeing’s proposed pay increase would still leave crews earning 20% to 30% less than firefighters in the cities where Boeing plants are located, the union said.

    A major sticking point is Boeing’s demand to make firefighters wait 19 years to hit top pay scale, up from 14 years. The union is proposing five years.

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  • Biden expands 2 national monuments in California

    Biden expands 2 national monuments in California

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    President Joe Biden on Thursday expanded two national monuments in California following calls from tribal nations, Indigenous community leaders and others for the permanent protection of nearly 120,000 acres of important cultural and environmental land.

    What You Need To Know

    • President Joe Biden has expanded two culturally significant California landscapes: the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument in Southern California and Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument in Northern California

    • The move follows calls from tribal nations, Indigenous community leaders and others for the permanent protection of nearly 120,000 acres of important cultural and environmental land

    • The designations are part of the Democratic president’s “America the Beautiful” initiative, launched in 2021 in line with Biden’s campaign promises, and builds on the Great American Outdoors Act

    • Some Republicans and other critics of the president’s initiative say it unnecessarily ties up resources that could be crucial for agriculture and other uses


    The designations are part of the Democratic president’s “America the Beautiful” initiative, launched in 2021 in line with Biden’s campaign promises, and builds on the Great American Outdoors Act. The designations are aimed at honoring tribal heritage, meeting federal goals to conserve 30% of public lands and waters by 2030 and addressing climate change, the White House said in a news release.

    Against the backdrop of Biden’s reelection campaign, the White House emphasized the role of Vice President Kamala Harris in ensuring protections in her home state. The state of California also has conservation targets.

    “These expansions will increase access to nature, boost our outdoor economy, and honor areas of significance to Tribal Nations and Indigenous peoples as we continue to safeguard our public lands for all Americans and for generations to come,” Harris said in a written statement.

    Some Republicans and other critics of the president’s initiative say it unnecessarily ties up resources that could be crucial for agriculture and other uses. In some cases, they allege he has exceeded his legal authority. Some of the president’s past actions have included restoring monuments or conservation land that former Republican President Donald Trump had canceled.

    In Pasadena, Southern California, Biden expanded the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument, driven by calls from Indigenous peoples including the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians and the Gabrieleno San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians. Both are the original stewards of the culturally rich and diverse lands, advocates noted in a separate news release.

    The president also expanded Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument in Sacramento in Northern California, to include Molok Luyuk, or Condor Ridge. The newly renamed ridgeline has been significant to tribal nations such as the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation for thousands of years. It is a central site for religious ceremonies and was once important to key trading routes, advocates said.

    Expansion of both sites makes nature more accessible for Californians, while protecting a number of species, including black bears, mountain lions and tule elk, the White House release said.

    Californians are calling on the Biden administration to make a total of five monument designations this year. The other three include the designation of a new Chuckwalla National Monument, new Kw’tsán National Monument and a call to protect and name Sáttítla, known as the Medicine Lake Highlands, as a national monument.

    Expansion and designation efforts are made under the Antiquities Act of 1906, which authorizes the president to “provide general legal protection of cultural and natural resources of historic or scientific interest on Federal lands,” according to the Department of the Interior.

    Across the nation, coalitions of tribes and conservation groups have urged Biden to make a number of other designations over the past three years. With Thursday’s news, the administration has established or expanded seven national monuments, restored protections for three more and taken other measures, the White House said.

    Biden signed a national monument designation outside Grand Canyon National Park called Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni last August, a move which the top two Republicans in Arizona’s Legislature are currently challenging.

    In 2021, Biden restored two sprawling national monuments in Utah and a marine conservation area in New England where environmental protections had been cut by Trump. The move was also challenged in court.

    Avi Kwa Ame National Monument, sacred to Native Americans in southern Nevada, was designated in 2023 along with the Castner Range in El Paso, Texas.

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  • Man who said he ‘fed’ officer to mob on Jan. 6 gets 5 years in prison

    Man who said he ‘fed’ officer to mob on Jan. 6 gets 5 years in prison

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    A Georgia business owner who bragged that he “fed” a police officer to a mob of rioters storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was sentenced on Thursday to nearly five years in prison for his repeated attacks on law enforcement during the insurrection.

    What You Need To Know

    • Jack Wade Whitton, a Georgia business owner who bragged that he “fed” a police officer to a mob of rioters storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was sentenced to nearly five years in prison

    • Whitton struck an officer with a metal crutch and dragged him — head first and face down — into the crowd on the Capitol’s Lower West Terrace

    • Roughly 20 minutes later, Whitton tried to pull a second officer into the crowd, prosecutors say

    • More than 1,350 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the Capitol riot; over 850 of them have been sentenced


    Jack Wade Whitton struck an officer with a metal crutch and dragged him — head first and face down — into the crowd on the Capitol’s Lower West Terrace. Whitton later boasted in a text message that he “fed him to the people.”

    Roughly 20 minutes later, Whitton tried to pull a second officer into the crowd, prosecutors say. He also kicked at, threatened and threw a construction pylon at officers trying to hold off the mob of then-President Donald Trump’s supporters.

    “You’re gonna die tonight!” he shouted at police after striking an officer’s riot shield.

    Whitton, of Locust Grove, Georgia, expressed remorse for his “horrible” actions on Jan. 6 before U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras sentenced him to four years and nine months in prison. The 33-year-old will get credit for the three years that he has been jailed since his arrest.

    “I tell you with confidence: I have changed,” Whitton told the judge.

    Whitton, who pleaded guilty to an assault charge last year, told the judge that he has never been a “political person.”

    “I’ve never been a troublemaker. I’ve always been a hard worker and a law-abiding citizen,” he said.

    The judge said the videos of Whitton attacking police are “gruesome.”

    “You really were out of control,” the judge told him.

    Prosecutors recommended a prison sentence of eight years and one month for Whitton, who owned and operated his own fence building company before his April 2021 arrest.

    “Whitton looked for opportunities to attack: In his three documented assaults, he was either a leader or a solitary actor,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing.

    Videos show that contemporaneous attacks on police by Whitton and a co-defendant, Justin Jersey, “ignited the rageful onslaught of violence that followed” on the Lower West Terrace, prosecutors said.

    “As Whitton and Jersey commenced their assaults, the tenor of the crowd audibly changed,” they wrote. “Other rioters surged towards the Archway and joined the attack, throwing objects at the officers and striking at them with makeshift weapons such as a hockey stick, a pieces of wood, a flagpole, and a police riot shield.”

    Whitton was among nine defendants charged in the same attack. Two co-defendants, Logan Barnhart and Jeffrey Sabol, helped Whitton drag an officer into the crowd before other rioters beat the officer with a flagpole and a stolen police baton.

    That evening, Whitton texted somebody images of his bloodied hands.

    “This is from a bad cop,” he wrote. “Yea I fed him to the people. (I don’t know) his status. And don’t care (to be honest).”

    Defense attorney Komron Jon Maknoon said Whitton traveled to Washington to support his girlfriend because she wanted to “witness an historic event” on Jan. 6, when Trump, a Republican, held a rally as Congress was about to certify his 2020 presidential election loss to Joe Biden, a Democrat.

    “While his motives were not politically driven, he does possess a genuine love for his country and shares the desire for a free and fair election, much like any other citizen,” Maknoon wrote.

    The judge previously sentenced seven of Whitton’s co-defendants to prison terms ranging from two years and six months to five years and 10 months.

    More than 1,350 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the Capitol riot. Over 850 of them have been sentenced, with roughly two-thirds receiving a term of imprisonment ranging from a few days to 22 years.

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  • Blinken pushes Hamas to agree on Gaza cease-fire

    Blinken pushes Hamas to agree on Gaza cease-fire

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    Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Israel on Wednesday to press for a cease-fire deal in the Israel-Hamas war, saying “the time is now” and warning that Hamas would bear the blame for any failure to reach an agreement to halt the war in Gaza.

    Blinken greeted the families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza who were protesting outside a meeting between him and Israel’s president, telling them that setting their loved ones free was “at the heart of everything we’re trying to do.”

    What You Need To Know

    • Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli leaders on Wednesday in his push for a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas

    • Blinken, saying “the time is now” for an agreement that would free hostages and pause fighting, contended that Hamas would bear the blame for any failure to achieve a deal

    • A truce could avert an Israeli incursion into the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are sheltering

    • The current round of talks appears to be serious, but the sides remain far apart on whether the war should end as part of an emerging deal
    • Blinken said the deal would also allow much needed food, medicine and water to get into Gaza


    Blinken is on his seventh visit to the region since the war erupted in October, aiming to secure what’s been an elusive deal between Israel and Hamas that could avert an Israeli incursion into the southern Gaza town of Rafah, where some 1.4 million Palestinians are sheltering.

    The current round of talks appears to be serious, but the sides remain far apart on one key issue — whether the war should end as part of an emerging deal.

    Before agreeing to an initial, short-term cease-fire and partial hostage release, Hamas wants assurances that the eventual freeing of all the hostages will bring the end of Israel’s offensive and its full withdrawal from Gaza. Israel has offered only a pause after which it would resume its offensives until Hamas is destroyed. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated his determination to attack Rafah in talks with Blinken on Wednesday.

    Blinken put pressure on Hamas, saying it would bear the blame for any failure to get a deal. Hamas said in a statement it would likely reply to the latest proposal on Thursday.

    “We are determined to get a cease-fire that brings the hostages home and to get it now, and the only reason that that wouldn’t be achieved is because of Hamas,” Blinken told Israel’s ceremonial President Isaac Herzog at a meeting in Tel Aviv.

    “There is a proposal on the table, and as we’ve said, no delays, no excuses. The time is now,” he said.

    Blinken said the deal would also allow much needed food, medicine and water to get into Gaza, where the war has sparked a humanitarian crisis and displaced much of the territory’s population.

    Blinken later Wednesday visited the Port of Ashdod, located south of Tel Aviv, where American flour — enough for one-and-a-half million Palestinians — arrived to be transported to Gaza. The United States’ top diplomat hailed the “real, demonstrable progress” made in getting increased aid to the people of Gaza, but said that “given the immense need in Gaza, it needs to be accelerated” and “sustained.”

    But Netanyahu’s vow to carry out a military operation in Rafah, which Israel says is the last major Hamas stronghold showed the remaining challenges in the talks.

    “The operation in Rafah doesn’t depend on anything. The prime minister made this clear to Secretary Blinken,” Netanyahu’s office said after the two met Wednesday. A day earlier, Netanyahu pledged to move on Rafah “with or without” a cease-fire deal.

    The United States has staunchly supported Israel’s campaign of bombardment and ground offensives in Gaza since Hamas’ unprecedented attack on Oct. 7 into southern Israel. But it has grown increasingly critical of the staggering toll borne by Palestinian civilians and has been outspoken against an assault on Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million has packed in and around the town after fleeing fighting elsewhere in the territory.

    Washington says it opposes a major offensive but that if Israel conducts one it must first evacuate civilians.

    In Rafah, Palestinians terrified of a potential Israeli invasion clung to hope that, after months of reported near-deals, this time a cease-fire would be sealed. Hundreds of thousands are living in vast tent camps filling the once empty areas around Rafah

    Salwa Abu Hatab, a woman who fled Khan Younis, said she wants to go home. “Do you think we like life in tents? We are tired and suffering,” she said. “Every day they say there is a truce and negotiations, and in the end it fails. We hope they will succeed this time.”

    “If the invasion happens, we do not know where to go,” said Enas Syam, a woman from Gaza City carrying her child in the camp. “There is no safe place left.”

    In his talks with Netanyahu, Blinken urged him to build on what he said has been the “improvement” in the delivery of aid to Gaza over the past month. Bowing to U.S. pressure to increase aid deliveries, Israel re-opened its Erez crossing into the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday for the first time since it was damaged in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.

    Throughout his regional visit, with previous stops in Saudi Arabia and Jordan, Blinken urged Hamas to accept the latest cease-fire proposal, calling it “extraordinarily generous” on Israel’s part.

    The proposal — brokered by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar — would put a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza up for discussion, according to leaked details confirmed by an Egyptian official and a Hamas official.

    The proposal lays out three stages of six to seven weeks each with a detailed timetable of steps. The first phase would bring a pause during which Hamas would release some hostages, particularly civilian women, in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

    Israeli troops would withdraw from a coastal road in Gaza to facilitate passage of aid and the return of displaced people to the north, then the troops would withdraw from central Gaza. In the meantime, talks would start on restoring “a permanent calm,” the Egyptian official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the internal negotiations.

    The next stage would bring implementation of the calm, including Hamas’ release of all remaining hostages – soldiers and civilians – and a withdrawal of Israeli forces out of Gaza.

    The last stage would see the release of bodies of dead hostages and the start of a five-year reconstruction plan. The plan says that Hamas would agree not to rebuild its military arsenal. The details were first reported in the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, which is close to Hamas and the Lebanese Hezbollah militant group.

    The Egyptian official said Hamas wanted the language of the second phase to be strengthened to specify a “complete Israeli withdrawal from the entire Gaza Strip” to avoid different interpretations. It also wants clearer terms for the unconditional return of displaced people to the north of Gaza, since the current outline didn’t fully explain who would be allowed back, the official said.

    Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes in Gaza continued. Late Tuesday, a strike hit a house in Rafah — where strikes have been continual despite the masses of Palestinians taking refuge there — killing at least two children, according to hospital authorities. An Associated Press journalist saw the children’s bodies at Abu Yousef al-Najjar hospital as their relatives mourned the deaths.

    On Wednesday, Israel’s military said it was operating in central Gaza, where it said jets struck militants, including one said to be setting up explosives.

    The Israel-Hamas war was sparked by the unprecedented Oct. 7 raid into southern Israel in which militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250 hostages. Israel says the militants are still holding around 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others.

    The war in Gaza has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials. The war has driven around 80% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million from their homes, caused vast destruction in several towns and cities and pushed northern Gaza to the brink of famine.

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  • Anger may increase the risk of heart disease, stroke

    Anger may increase the risk of heart disease, stroke

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    Being angry is bad for your health. Even a brief amount of anger could negatively impact blood vessels, increasing the risk of stroke and heart disease, according to a new study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

    What You Need To Know

    • A brief episode of anger may negatively impact blood vessels

    • Blood vessels’ inability to relax increases the risk of stroke and heart disease, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association

    • The new study bolsters an AHA finding that mental well-being can positively or negatively affect a person’s health

    • Anxiety and sadness have also been linked with heart attack risk

    “Observational studies have linked feelings of negative emotions with having a heart attack or other cardiovascular disease events,” Columbia University Irving Medical Center Dr. Daichi Shimbo said in the journal article accompanying the study results. “The most common negative emotion studied is anger, and there are fewer studies on anxiety and sadness, which have also been linked to heart attack risk.”

    For the study, researchers randomly assigned 280 adults to one of four emotional tasks for eight minutes. They either had to recall a personal memory that made them angry, a personal memory that made them anxious or read a series of depressing sentences that evoked sadness or count repeatedly to induce a state of emotional neutrality.

    The researchers then assessed the cells lining their blood vessels both before and after the assigned task to determine if the vessels’ ability to dilate was impaired or if it increased cell injury or the cells’ capacity to repair.

    The only one of the four tasks that caused impairment to blood vessel dilation was recalling a personal memory of being angry.

    “We saw that evoking an angered state led to blood vessel dysfunction, though we don’t yet understand what may cause these changes,” Shimbo said.

    Blood vessels’ ability to relax is important for proper blood flow, according to the American Heart Association. Impaired blood vessels may increase the risk of atherosclerosis, of cholesterol building up in the artery walls, which may increase the risk of stroke and heart attack.

    The new study bolsters an AHA report from in 2021 that found mental well-being can positively or negatively affect a person’s health.

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    Susan Carpenter

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  • Trump says it’s up to states if they want to prosecute women for abortions

    Trump says it’s up to states if they want to prosecute women for abortions

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    Former President Donald Trump, the 2024 GOP presumptive presidential nominee, said in an interview with TIME magazine he would defer to individual states if they want to enforce abortion laws by monitoring women’s pregnancies and prosecuting them if they get abortions.

    What You Need To Know

    • Former President Donald Trump told Time magazine he would defer to individual states if they want to enforce abortion laws by monitoring women’s pregnancies and prosecuting them if they get abortions

    • When asked if states “should monitor women’s pregnancies so they can know if they’ve gotten an abortion after the ban,” Trump said. “I think they might do that”

    • He wouldn’t say if he believed the federal government should ban the shipping of abortion drugs across state lines

    • On a House GOP proposal to grant full legal rights to embryos, Trump said “I’m leaving everything up to the states. The states are going to be different. Some will say yes. Some will say no”

    “It’s irrelevant whether I’m comfortable or not. It’s totally irrelevant, because the states are going to make those decisions,” Trump said when asked if he would be comfortable with states criminally charging women for getting abortions. “And by the way, Texas is going to be different than Ohio. And Ohio is going to be different than Michigan.”

    Trump has proudly taken credit for appointing three of the six judges who authored the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, which undid the 50-year precedent of Roe v. Wade and allowed states to implement abortion bans, but has tempered his enthusiasm for the most severe state laws and proposals, arguing they can be political liabilities as he seeks to return to the White House. 

    But in the TIME interview published Tuesday and conducted over the course of two conversations this month, Trump said his personal level of comfort did not matter and he would leave those decisions up to the states if he were elected president again.

    On a proposal by the Republican Study Committee — which includes around 80% of House Republican lawmakers, including Speaker Mike Jorhnson, R-La. — to grant full legal rights to embryos, Trump said “I’m leaving everything up to the states. The states are going to be different. Some will say yes. Some will say no.” He did not say he would veto federal legislation if it reached his desk, arguing again it would be left up to state governments.

    When asked if states “should monitor women’s pregnancies so they can know if they’ve gotten an abortion after the ban,” Trump said. “I think they might do that” before launching into an aside where he falsely claimed “every legal scholar, Democrat, Republican and other” wanted the question of abortion’s legality sent back to statehouses and state courts.

    Trump described his adopted home state of Florida’s six-week ban, which is set to take effect on Wednesday, as “too severe,” but wouldn’t say how he would vote on a state referendum in November that would undo the ban by codifying abortion rights in the state constitution. He also wouldn’t say if he believed the federal government should ban the shipping of abortion drugs across state lines, telling TIME he would have an announcement on his views within two weeks (and then delaying it another week or two as of Saturday). And he refused to entertain a hypothetical national abortion ban, pushed by many Washington Republicans, by arguing his party would “never” have the 60 votes in the Senate required to pass that kind of legislation.

    “It’s all about the states, it’s about state rights. States’ rights. States are going to make their own determination,” Trump insisted. “And you know what? That’s taken tremendous pressure off everybody… it was ill-defined. And to be honest, the Republicans, a lot of Republicans, didn’t know how to talk about the issue. That issue never affected me.”

    Despite his unwillingness to publicly offer his own distinct opinions on a national abortion ban or  the prosecutions of women who have abortions, Democrats were not willing to let him off the hook on Tuesday morning.

    “All of this cruelty and chaos can be traced back to Donald Trump,” Florida Democratic Party chair Nikki Fried said on a pre-scheduled Democratic National Committee press call. “He repeatedly refused to rule out a national abortion, ban endorsed the prosecution of women and doctors and left the door open to legislation that could rip away access to” in-vitro fertilization.”

    Vice President Kamala Harris will be in Jacksonville, Fla., on Wednesday for a rally focused on the fight for abortion rights. The Biden campaign said she will be there to “continue to make the case that Donald Trump did this.”

    Biden, Harris and Democrats across the country are campaigning against abortion restrictions in the hopes of repeating their electoral successes since Roe v. Wade was overturned in June 2022. A stronger-than-expected showing congressional Democrats that fall and in federal and local special elections since, as well as a successful series of statewide referendums protecting abortion rights in states like Ohio and Kansas, has encouraged them that the issue can be a winner for them this year.

    Biden, a devout Catholic who has long held personal objections to abortion, has said he would work to restore Roe v. Wade as the law of the land.

    “Donald Trump’s latest comments leave little doubt: if elected he’ll sign a national abortion ban, allow women who have an abortion to be prosecuted and punished, allow the government to invade women’s privacy to monitor their pregnancies, and put IVF and contraception in jeopardy nationwide,” Biden’s campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a statement. “The horrific and devastating stories in states like Florida, Texas and Arizona with extreme abortion bans unleashed by Trump overturning Roe are just the beginning if he wins.”

    “Simply put: November’s election will determine whether women in the United States have reproductive freedom, or whether Trump’s new government will continue its assault to control women’s health care decisions,” she added.

    Polling suggests most Americans agree with Biden and Democrats on the issues, even as the president runs about even with Trump in national polls and lags behind him in key swing states. 

    Two-thirds of Americans, including 67% of independents, would support a federal law codifying the right to an abortion, according to a February poll from the health policy nonprofit KFF. Nearly 60% of respondents said they oppose a 16-week abortion ban. And 41% of women said they trusted Biden more to “move abortion policy in the right direction,” compared to 25% for Trump and 22% who said neither. 

    Last month, Fox News’ polling outfit found a record high number of voters — 59% —  believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases. Compared to April 2022, the poll found double-digit increases in support for the legal right to an abortion among voters 65 and older, conservatives, Republicans and white evangelical Christians. Majorities opposed six-week and 15-week abortion bans.

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    Joseph Konig

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  • House Democratic leaders say they’ll oppose motion to oust Johnson

    House Democratic leaders say they’ll oppose motion to oust Johnson

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    House Democratic leadership announced Tuesday that their conference will intervene to oppose far-right Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s motion to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., if put up for a vote.

    What You Need To Know

    • House Democratic leadership said they will vote to kill an effort to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., if put up for a vote

    • Democrats had previously indicated that they could come to Johnson’s rescue should the Louisiana Republican put forward a long-stalled bill to provide aid to Ukraine

    • The effort, led by far-right Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, has the support of just two other Republican lawmakers; some in the House GOP appear to be lukewarm about the pospect of plunging the House into the chaos that ensued last year after the ouster of Kevin McCarthy
    • Greene filed her motion last month after Johnson put forward a bill to fund the government and avert a shutdown


    “We will vote to table Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Motion to Vacate the Chair,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., said in a statement. “If she invokes the motion, it will not succeed.”

    In a press conference shortly after the release of the statement announcing the decision, Aguilar argued there was a “distinction” between voting in favor of Johnson and voting to table the motion to oust him. 

    “None of the discussion that we had in caucus was about saving Mike Johnson,” Aguilar told reporters. “The underlying motion to vacate was not discussed, the motion to table was.” 

    Aguilar noted that each member of the House Democratic caucus should “vote their district and their conscience.”

    Democrats had previously indicated that they could come to Johnson’s rescue should the Louisiana Republican put forward a long-stalled bill to provide aid to Ukraine. Given the House’s passage of the bill earlier this month and signature into law by President Joe Biden after quick Senate action, their intervention appeared all but assured.

    “At this moment, upon completion of our national security work, the time has come to turn the page on this chapter of Pro-Putin Republican obstruction,” the Democratic leaders wrote in their statement on Tuesday.

    Greene filed her motion last month after Johnson put forward a bill to fund the government and avert a shutdown. In the weeks since, two other hardline Republican lawmakers — Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie and Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar — have joined Greene’s effort, citing the agreements Johnson has negotiated on foreign aid, federal spending and government surveillance.

    In a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Greene called the decision by House Democratic leadership to table the motion against Johnson an “official endorsement of his Speakership.”

    “Mike Johnson is officially the Democrat Speaker of the House,” Greene wrote, going on to question whether he made a “deal” to get their support. 

    The Georgia Republican went on to say Johnson should “resign” and “switch parties.” 

    Republicans have largely appeared lukewarm on the prospect of plunging the chamber into the chaos that engulfed the House last year after a group of GOP lawmakers rebelled against then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy and forced his ouster over a deal he cut with Democrats and Biden to avert a shutdown. 

    “She is a legislative arsonist and she is holding the gas tank and Kevin McCarthy allowed that to happen – that’s not lost on anybody,” Aguilar said on Tuesday of Greene. “What we are saying is we don’t need to be a part of that. Let’s turn the page.” 

    In his quest to win the speakership in Jan. 2023, McCarthy yielded to demands of members of the party’s right flank to allow just one member to force a vote to oust the speaker.   

    Greene, in her post on X on Tuesday, added she was a “big believer” in recorded votes so that Americans can see what every member of Congress decides. 

    “If the Democrats want to elect him Speaker (and some Republicans want to support the Democrats’ chosen Speaker), I’ll give them the chance to do it,” Greene wrote, indicating she will not drop her bid to force a vote on ousting Johnson. 

    Greene has threatened to force a vote on the matter for weeks but has yet to say when she will act. 

    Johnson on Tuesday said he has not spoken to Jeffries about the prospect of saving his speakership.

    “I have to do my job,” Johnson told reporters at a press conference. “We have to do what we believe to be the right thing. What the country needs right now is a functioning Congress.”

    “I have to do what I believe is right every day and let the chips fall where they may,” the Louisiana Republican said. “We shouldn’t be playing politics and engaging in the chaos that looks like palace intrigue here.”

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    Justin Tasolides

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  • Biden tries humor on the campaign trail

    Biden tries humor on the campaign trail

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    President Joe Biden is out to win votes by scoring some laughs at the expense of Donald Trump, unleashing mockery with the goal of getting under the former president’s thin skin and reminding the country of his blunders.

    What You Need To Know

    • In recent campaign stops, President Joe Biden has used mockery with the goal of getting under the skin of former President Donald Trump, his prospective opponent in November’s election

    • Biden has been testing and expanding his jokes over the past few weeks; it started with jabs about his Republican opponent’s financial problems, now Biden regularly jeers Trump’s coiffed hair, his pampered upbringing and much more

    • The jokes are the latest attempt to crack the code on how to clap back at Trump, whose own schtick has redrawn the boundaries of what’s acceptable in modern politics

    • The Republican’s campaign said the insults will only intensify as Biden tries to give them a taste of their own medicine


    Like a comic honing his routine, the Democratic president has been testing and expanding his jokes over the past few weeks. It started with jabs about his Republican opponent’s financial problems, and now Biden regularly pokes fun at Trump’s coiffed hair, his pampered upbringing and his attempt to make a few extra bucks by selling a special edition of the Bible.

    The jokes are the latest attempt to crack the code on how to clap back at Trump, whose own insult comedy schtick has redrawn the boundaries of what is acceptable in modern politics. Few have had much luck, whether they try to take the high road or get down and dirty with Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president.

    “This is a constant challenge,” said Eric Schultz, a senior adviser to former President Barack Obama. Trump is “not someone who plays by the rules. So it’s up to Biden to figure out how to adapt and play by new rules of engagement.”

    So far, Biden has been trying to thread a delicate needle to boost his chances of a second term. He uses humor to paint Trump as a buffoon unworthy of the Oval Office, but the president stops short of turning the election into a laughing matter.

    Sometimes he finds that a few jokes can energize an audience even more than a major policy victory and draw precious attention away from an opponent who otherwise commands the spotlight even while stuck in a New York courtroom for his first criminal trial.

    The latest example came at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Saturday night. After years of Trump constantly needling Biden as “sleepy” and mocking his age (Biden is 81, Trump is 77), Biden lobbed the insult back after Trump appeared to doze off in court. Trump’s campaign disputed that he was asleep, and with no video camera in place and trained on him there’s no way of knowing for sure.

    Still, Biden nicknamed his rival “Sleepy Don,” adding, “I kind of like that. I may use it again.”

    “Of course the 2024 election’s in full swing and, yes, age is an issue,” he said. “I’m a grown man running against a 6-year-old.”

    Trump didn’t seem to appreciate the ribbing, posting on his social media platform that the dinner was “really bad” and Biden was “an absolute disaster.”

    But jokes at the annual black-tie affair, which also features a professional comedian (this year it was Colin Jost of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live”), are nothing new. The real meat of Biden’s routine comes during campaign speeches in which he devotes a few moments to taking digs at Trump in between recitations of policy proposals and legislative accomplishments.

    “Remember when he was trying to deal with COVID? He suggested: Inject a little bleach in your vein,” Biden said Wednesday to a labor union, describing Trump’s guidance from the White House during the pandemic. “He missed. It all went to his hair.”

    In Tampa, Florida, the day before, he assailed Trump for the Supreme Court’s ruling that overturned abortion protections — with three justices nominated by Trump voting in the majority of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization — and then pivoted to the former president’s hawking of a $60 “God Bless the USA” Bible.

    “He described the Dobbs decision as a ‘miracle,’” Biden said of Trump. “Maybe it’s coming from that Bible he’s trying to sell. Whoa. I almost wanted to buy one just to see what the hell is in it.”

    Biden rarely references Trump’s court cases, but jokes about financial problems that began soon after the former president was ordered to pay $454 million in a civil case in New York.

    “Just the other day,” Biden said at a fundraiser in Dallas last month, “a defeated-looking guy came up to me and said, ‘Mr. President, I need your help. I’m being crushed with debt. I’m completely wiped out.’ I had to say, ‘Donald, I can’t help you.’”

    Even when Biden tries his hand at humor, he rarely strays far from talking about policies. He likes to note that he signed a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law — after his opponent failed to do so despite repeatedly holding White House events to drum up support for an idea that never materialized.

    “He promised ‘Infrastructure Week’ every week for four years and never built a damn thing,” Biden said this month to a group of laughing union members.

    The dilemma is that Trump, who tells voters the whole American political system is hopelessly corrupt, can get away with name-calling that would backfire on other candidates. During his rallies, Trump imitates Biden as a feeble old man who cannot find the stairs after giving a brief speech, and he calls the president “crooked” and “a demented tyrant.”

    The Republican’s campaign said the insults will only intensify as Biden tries to give them a taste of their own medicine.

    Steven Cheung, a Trump campaign spokesman, said Biden is “shuffling his feet like a short-circuited Roomba,” referring to the robot vacuum, while failing to address the “out-of-control border” and “runaway inflation.”

    Rick Tyler, who worked on the presidential campaign of Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in 2016, said voters have a double standard because expectations are different for Trump, who first became famous as a real estate developer and the star of the reality TV show “The Apprentice.”

    “Celebrities don’t really have standards, and Trump is in that lane,” Tyler said. For a politician going up against Trump, “it’s like trying to play a sport with the wrong equipment.”

    Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., found that out the hard way in the Republican primary in 2016. After Rubio joked about Trump having “small hands” — suggesting that another part of him was small, too — Trump swung back by saying, “I guarantee you there’s no problem.”

    “Nobody has ever beaten Trump by getting in the ring with him,” said Alex Conant, communications director for Rubio’s campaign.

    Karen Finney, who advised Democrat Hillary Clinton in her 2016 White House run, said Trump can bait opponents into “communicating on his terms, not your terms.”

    “It’s the kind of thing where you have to have a balance,” she said. “You could spend all day just responding.”

    But if Trump’s humor is blunt, Biden sometimes tries to get the most mileage by staying subtle. During a Pittsburgh stop earlier this month, Biden spoke elliptically about Trump’s trial, betting his audience was already in on the joke.

    Trump, he said, is “a little busy right now.”

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    Associated Press

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  • Dozens in Italy give a fascist salute on anniversary of Mussolini’s execution

    Dozens in Italy give a fascist salute on anniversary of Mussolini’s execution

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    Dozens of people raised their arms in the fascist salute and shouted a fascist chant during ceremonies Sunday to honor Italian dictator Benito Mussolini on the 79th anniversary of his execution.

    Dressed in black, these nostalgics marched through northern Italian towns where Mussolini was arrested and executed at the end of World War II, and also in Predappio, Mussolini’s birthplace and final resting place.

    What You Need To Know

    • Dozens of people in northern Italy have raised their arms in the fascist salute to honor Italian dictator Benito Mussolini on the 79th anniversary of his execution
    • Dressed in black, the neo-fascist supporters marched through northern Italian towns where Mussolini was arrested and executed at the end of World War II
    • The anniversary Sunday fell on the same day that Premier Giorgia Meloni was leading her far-right Brothers of Italy party in an election rally in the city of Pescara
    • Brothers of Italy traces its roots to the Italian Social Movement, which was founded in 1946 by a chief of staff in Mussolini’s last government and drew fascist sympathizers and officials into its ranks


    Mussolini was stopped by anti-fascist partisans in Dongo, on the shores of Lake Como, on April 27, 1945, as he tried to escape with his lover, Clara Petacci, following the Allied liberation of Italy.

    On Sunday, a group of his supporters marched through Dongo and placed 15 roses in the lake in memory of the ministers and officials from the Mussolini government who were killed there, according to video of the event by LaPresse news agency.

    The partisans executed Mussolini and Petacci the following day in the nearby lakeside town of Mezzegra-Giulino, where commemorations were also held Sunday. After a rendition of Taps, the leader of the commemorations shouted “Comrad Benito Mussolini,” and the crowd responded with a stiff-armed fascist salute and chant of “present.”

    Several police trucks separated the demonstrators in Dongo from hundreds of protesters who sang the famous partisan song “Bella Ciao” during the ceremony.

    The anniversary of Mussolini’s execution fell on the same day that Premier Giorgia Meloni was leading her far-right Brothers of Italy party in an election rally in the city of Pescara. Brothers of Italy traces its roots to the Italian Social Movement, which was founded in 1946 by a chief of staff in Mussolini’s last government and drew fascist sympathizers and officials into its ranks after Mussolini’s fall.

    Meloni, who joined the MSI’s youth branch as a teenager, has tried to distance her party from its neo-fascist roots. She has condemned fascism’s suppression of democracy and insisted that the Italian right handed fascism over to history decades ago. On Sunday, Meloni accused the left of being more of a totalitarian threat to Italy today.

    She noted that Communist Party members had made a formal complaint about the tent structures built on the Pescara beachfront to host the Brothers of Italy rally, during which Meloni announced she would head the party’s campaign ahead of European Parliament elections in June.

    “I note that the Communist Party still exists, and I say so to show where the nostalgics for totalitarianism are in Italy today,” she said.

    She earned rounds of applause as she listed her government’s accomplishments since coming to power in 2022, and drew cheers when she reaffirmed her working-class roots.

    “If you still believe in me, just write ‘Giorgia’ on the ballot, because I am and always will be one of you,” she said.

    The message recalled one of her most famous campaign slogans, “I am Giorgia,” which emphasized her Christian nationalistic messaging and went onto become a viral meme and the title of her memoir.

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