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American citizen held hostage for 6 years in West Africa has been freed

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:24:08 GMT

(CNN) — An American aid worker who was kidnapped in Niger more than six years ago and held hostage by terrorists has been released, President Joe Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan tweeted on Monday.“I’m gratified & relieved to see the release of U.S. hostage Jeff Woodke after over 6 years in captivity. The U.S. thanks Niger for its help in bringing him home to all who miss & love him. I thank so many across our government who’ve worked tirelessly toward securing his freedom,” Sullivan tweeted.Jeffery Woodke is now being offered support and transport. “We are working closely with partners in the region and beyond to ensure safe transport and immediate access to the best medical and psychiatric support we can offer,” a senior administration official told reporters on Monday. “Where exactly Jeff chooses to go will be a bit up to him.”Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Niger earlier this month.̶...

Prosecutors rest in sedition case against Proud Boys leaders

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:24:08 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal prosecutors on Monday rested their seditious conspiracy case against former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and four lieutenants charged with plotting to stop the peaceful transfer of presidential power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden after the 2020 election.Jurors will hear testimony by defense witnesses before they begin deliberating in one of the most serious cases to come out of the Justice Department’s massive investigation of the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection.Defense attorneys have argued there is no evidence that Proud Boys plotted to attack the Capitol and stop Congress from certifying Biden’s electoral victory. Norm Pattis, an attorney for former Proud Boys leader Joseph Biggs, said the Proud Boys had no plan, “no understanding” and no “implicit conspiracy” for Jan. 6.“They did not come to your home to cause a riot,” Pattis told jurors on Monday.For over two months, the jury in Washington’s federal court has heard over 30 days of ...

Florida drunk driver crashes into sleeping child’s bedroom

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:24:08 GMT

(TMX) – A child escaped with minor injuries when an allegedly drunken driver crashed into his bedroom in Cape Coral, Fla., overnight Thursday, police said.Photos shared by neighbor Suzanne Stoker show a massive hole in the side of a home on Friday. Concrete, insulation, and other debris from the collapsed wall can be seen inside the home.The Cape Coral Police Department arrested the driver, identified as 64-year-old George Henry King. According to police, King backed out of a driveway across the street and continued in reverse, crashing into the house.Courtesy Suzanne Stoker / LOCAL NEWS X /TMX “He backed up with such force that he left skid marks in the road,” Stoker said. She said the 12-year-old boy sustained “cuts and bruises” when the wall collapsed, but that it could have been worse.“Previously, his brother had slept in a bed against the wall the man crashed through,” Stoker said.King was charged with driving under the influence, and two counts of DUI with injuries and p...

‘Good Burger’ sequel to reunite Keenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:24:08 GMT

(CNN) — The order is up for audiences who have been hungry for a “Good Burger” sequel.Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell have confirmed that “Good Burger 2” is coming.The pair broke the news recently with an appearance on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”In the show’s opening, Fallon greets Thompson before Mitchell appears in character as “Ed.” That causes Fallon to get in on the fun with a “Good Burger” costume before the three inform the audience to “Welcome to Good Burger 2.”During an interview with Fallon, the late-night host pointed out that it’s been more than 25 years since the original “Good Burger” film was released.The 1997 film was based on a comedy sketch about a fast food restaurant from Nickelodeon’s “All That,” with Thompson as Dexter and Mitchell as Ed.It’s such a blessing man. It’s unbelievable,” Thompson told Fallon. “...

EU to send Turkey €1 billion for quake reconstruction

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:24:08 GMT

The European Commission will provide Turkey with €1 billion to help with “post-earthquake reconstruction” following the deadly quakes that killed tens of thousands in February, Ursula von der Leyen said Monday.“No one can fill the void left by those who lost their lives, yet together we can reconstruct and rebuild,” the Commission president said ahead of a donors’ conference in Brussels.She called for “homes, schools and hospitals” destroyed in the earthquakes to be rebuilt “with the highest standards of seismic safety.”More than 50,000 people died in Turkey and Syria after a series of powerful earthquakes hit southeastern Turkey in February. The earthquakes destroyed tens of thousands of buildings, raising questions over the construction standards in the seismic region.The aid package also includes €108 million for humanitarian assistance to Syria, von der Leyen said.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Monday the cost of...

UN climate report shows world is flying blind into the storm

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:24:08 GMT

TL;DR, global warming is bad and getting worse. But a sprawling assessment of tens of thousands of scientific papers on the state of the planet, released Monday, pointed to another unsettling truth: Scientists still don’t have answers to many of the questions that will define how well the world copes with the worst of climate change.In its latest report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) describes a world of long-foreseen impacts arriving now with shocking power. Human suffering — especially among the poor — will increase rapidly in the coming decades. The symbolic limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius will almost certainly be breached. There is still an opportunity to avert the very bleakest scenarios, with the shift toward clean energy moving faster than expected, the report also notes.But in many critical areas, IPCC scientists say the world is flying blind into the storm. By the time they publish their next report — at the end of this decade — there will be ...

Lawyers for former Wellesley College cardinal accused of sexual abuse to appear in court

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:24:08 GMT

Lawyers for the former Wellesley College cardinal accused of sexual abuse are expected to appear in court Monday.Former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick’s attorneys filed a motion last month to withdraw the charges against the 92 year old. McCarrick’s attorneys argue he has dementia and can’t stand trial.The state said it would get a second opinion. The former cardinal pleaded not guilty in 2021. He is accused of sexually abusing a boy at Wellesley College in June 1974.

No Longer ‘Gun Shy,’ Willie Calhoun Makes His Case for the Yankees’ Roster

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:24:08 GMT

TAMPA – After a few injury-plagued and unproductive seasons, Willie Calhoun knew he needed to hit the ground running this spring.The Yankees’ non-roster invitee typically gets off to a slow start in camp, but that wasn’t an option if he wanted to make the Bombers’ Opening Day lineup. So Calhoun began his offseason swinging program a month earlier than usual this past winter.“I kind of wanted to just get back to my old self,” the corner outfielder told The Daily News. “I was banged up a lot the last three years, and it was my first offseason where I could really focus on being healthy and making sure that I put myself in a good position offensively to get back to where I want to be. Because I know I can provide a lot of value.”Calhoun has flexed some of that value over 38 plate appearances this spring, taking a .344 average, .947 OPS, two doubles, one home run, three RBI and six walks into Monday’s off day. Per Baseball Reference&...

Putin welcomes China’s Xi to Kremlin amid Ukraine war

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:24:08 GMT

MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin warmly welcomed Chinese leader Xi Jinping to the Kremlin on Monday, a visit that sent a powerful message to Western leaders allied with Ukraine that their efforts to isolate Moscow have fallen short.Xi’s trip showed off Beijing’s new diplomatic swagger and gave a political lift to Putin just days after an international arrest warrant was issued for the Kremlin leader on war crimes charges related to Ukraine.The two major powers have described Xi’s three-day trip as an opportunity to deepen their “no-limits friendship.” China looks to Russia as a source of oil and gas for its energy-hungry economy, and as a partner in standing up to what both see as U.S. domination of global affairs. The two countries, which are among the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, also have held joint military drills.Putin shook hands with Xi before they sat down to make a brief statement at the start of their meeting, calling each other...

Credit Suisse shares fall, but UBS deal raises hope on banks

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:24:08 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Credit Suisse shares plunged Monday after Swiss authorities cut a deal with its bigger rival UBS to acquire the troubled bank at a marked-down price. But European bank stocks and the wider market gained as investors watch whether moves to shore up banks will stem further upheaval in the global banking system. Shares of Credit Suisse, whose woes stem from questions over its internal controls, fell 60% a day after UBS said it would buy the fellow Swiss bank for a lowball price of 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.25 billion). The shares are now trading at about the level that they are valued at by the deal. Swiss regulators orchestrated the purchase in a bid to stop more turmoil after the collapse of two U.S. banks. In an indication of the frantic, behind-the-scenes deal-making by Swiss authorities to resolve the issue before markets opened, the acquisition was announced late Sunday.There is still uncertainty over how the deal will play out for the combined bank. Analysts say s...