U.S. Navy warship shoots down drone launched by Houthis from Yemen, official says

WASHINGTON — A U.S. Navy warship sailing near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait shot down a drone launched from Yemen, a U.S. official said Wednesday, in the latest in a string of threats from Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. The official said according to initial reports, USS Carney, a Navy destroyer, deemed the drone — an Iranian-made KAS-04 — to be a threat and shot it down over water...

Read More

Biden admin won’t impose conditions on Israel aid, officials say

President Joe Biden suggested that conditioning future military aid to Israel was a “worthwhile thought.” But days later, administration officials are shutting down any talk of that happening. Senior U.S. officials hit the Sunday shows to rule out the proposal, hinting — but not outright saying — there wouldn’t be a shift in the administration’s Israel policy. Now three U.S....

Read More

Koch-backed super PAC endorses Nikki Haley as a Trump alternative

An influential super PAC backed by the Koch brothers announced it is endorsing Nikki Haley in the 2024 presidential primary, giving her a significant financial boost ahead of the upcoming Iowa caucuses. In a memo released on Tuesday morning, Americans for Prosperity Action said it planned to commit its extensive grassroots organization to helping Haley, and it will launch...

Read More

Leonard Leo firm received $21M from Leo-linked group

Conservative judicial activist Leonard Leo’s consulting firm received $21 million in 2022 from a group that is a pillar of Leo’s aligned nonprofit network, according to a new tax filing. That group, The 85 Fund, is part of an umbrella of nonprofits under investigation by the Washington, D.C. attorney general for potentially violating tax laws. The tax filing, obtained by...

Read More

Putin hijacks Israel-Gaza war to fuel tensions in the West

Kremlin-backed propaganda has fused the Middle East and Ukraine wars together online. Real-world attacks, in France and elsewhere, are starting to follow. from Politics, Policy, Political News Top Stories https://ift.tt/3MN0sY4 via IFT...

Read More

Rosalynn Carter tributes highlight her reach as first lady and humanitarian

AMERICUS, Ga. — Hundreds turned out to salute Rosalynn Carter on Monday with the former U.S. first lady and global humanitarian’s final journey from her rural hometown to the Jimmy Carter Presidential Center in Atlanta as her family began three days of memorials following her death at age 96. The former president, who is 99 and has spent the past 10 months in home hospice...

Read More

Elon Musk battle: UK’s Rishi Sunak says antisemitism ‘wrong in all its forms’

British PM distances himself from tech billionaire's controversial social media post. from Politics, Policy, Political News Top Stories https://ift.tt/tIdFmjv via IFT...

Read More

Eric Adams dismisses Cuomo for mayor talk

NEW YORK — Eric Adams threw cold water on the prospect of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo running for mayor of New York City. Adams in a radio interview Monday dismissed talk of Cuomo seeking his job, though acknowledged the three-term former governor is considering some sort of comeback to politics following his 2021 resignation. “We talk often,” Adams told La Mega 97.9. “I don’t...

Read More

Pentagon: Suspected Somali pirates behind cargo ship attack in the Middle East

The five armed individuals who attacked a commercial vessel in the Gulf of Aden over the weekend were from Somalia, a Pentagon spokesperson said Monday, citing initial assessments. The incident was “clearly … piracy-related,” Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder told reporters. The Defense Department is still assessing whether the attackers have any ties to the Houthi rebels in Yemen,...

Read More

China says surge in respiratory illnesses caused by flu and other known pathogens

BEIJING — A surge in respiratory illnesses across China that has drawn the attention of the World Health Organization is caused by the flu and other known pathogens and not by a novel virus, the country’s health ministry said Sunday. Recent clusters of respiratory infections are caused by an overlap of common viruses such as the influenza virus, rhinoviruses, the respiratory...

Read More

3 men of Palestinian descent are shot and wounded in Vermont

Three men of Palestinian descent were shot and wounded on Saturday evening in Burlington, Vermont, according to police, in an attack that authorities say may have been a hate crime. The three men, all 20 years old, were shot near the University of Vermont campus around 6:25 p.m. Saturday evening, Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad said on Sunday. Two of the victims were in...

Read More

Ken Buck blasts his party's hardliners for ‘lying to America’

Republican Rep. Ken Buck laid into his own party Sunday, blasting those who continue to propagate the lie that the 2020 election was stolen for “lying to America.” “Everybody who thinks that the election was stolen or talks about the election being stolen is lying to America,” the Colorado Republican said during an interview in CBS’ “Face the Nation.” Buck didn’t stop there. “Everyone...

Read More

Derek Chauvin’s family has received no updates after prison stabbing, attorney says

MINNEAPOLIS — An attorney for Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd, said Saturday that Chauvin’s family has been kept in the dark by federal prison officials after he was stabbed in prison. The lawyer, Gregory M. Erickson, slammed the lack of transparency by the Federal Bureau of Prisons a day after his client was stabbed...

Read More

Trump draws cheers in Haley's backyard at Clemson-South Carolina football game

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Donald Trump used college football rivalry weekend to bask among his supporters in a state and region that are key to his presidential fortunes, while trying to upstage his Republican opponent Nikki Haley on her home turf at the Clemson-South Carolina football game. The former president and current front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination arrived at...

Read More

Mediators: Gaza hostage releases to resume after Israel-Hamas dispute

A second group of Gaza hostages is set to be released later Saturday after a delay that followed a dispute between Israel and Hamas over the terms of a truce agreement, according to Qatari government officials. Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Dr. Majid bin Mohammed Al Ansari confirmed that the hostage transfer would resume. “After a delay, obstacles to release of prisoners...

Read More

Ex-officer Derek Chauvin, convicted in George Floyd's killing, stabbed in prison, AP source says

Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd, was stabbed by another inmate and seriously injured Friday at a federal prison in Arizona, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. The attack happened at the Federal Correctional Institution, Tucson, a medium-security prison that has been plagued by security lapses...

Read More

Biden hails first hostage releases under Israel-Hamas deal, warns of challenges ahead

President Joe Biden on Friday framed Hamas’ initial release of two dozen women and children as a sign of progress but emphasized that the deal was just the beginning of a challenging road ahead as the U.S. works to free the remaining hostages, including American citizens. “Today has been a product of a lot of hard work and weeks of personal engagement,” Biden said, speaking...

Read More

Trudeau blames ‘MAGA influence’ for stirring debate on Ukraine

Justin Trudeau is blaming the MAGA movement and Republican ideology for eroding support for Ukraine. The Canadian prime minister used a press conference with visiting European leaders to connect a gambit by his Conservative rivals in Ottawa to hard-right rhetoric in the United States and Europe, which he said is “starting to parrot Russian disinformation and misinformation...

Read More

Medicare Advantage plans under Congress’ microscope for care denials

Enrollment in Medicare’s private-sector alternative is surging — and so are the complaints to Congress. More than 30 million older Americans are enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans, wooed by lower premiums and more benefits than traditional Medicare offers. But a bipartisan group of lawmakers is increasingly concerned that insurance companies are preying on seniors, and,...

Read More