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U.S. Chamber of Commerce Invites Trump Bête Noire Michael Morell to Speak at Major Gathering

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 17:55:52 GMT

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce hosted Michael Morell, former acting director of the CIA, at a major gathering for corporate executives on Monday, according to a copy of the agenda obtained by The Intercept. The invitation to Morell — who spoke at the Association Committee of 100 in conversation with a top Chamber executive — is another sign of the increasingly warm ties between the Chamber of Commerce and the network of Democratic-aligned opponents of Donald Trump that the former president maligns as the “deep state.”  Most Read Prigozhin and Putin: Dead Men Walking James Risen Kyrsten Sinema Moves to Slash Pilot Training After Taking Airline Cash ...

Trump heard in audio describing ‘highly confidential, secret’ documents

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 17:55:52 GMT

Former President Donald Trump can be heard in an audio recording apparently showing and discussing — “off the record,” he says — what he describes as “highly confidential, secret” documents with a writer and aides in 2021.“It is like highly confidential, secret. This is secret information. Look, look at this. You attack and….” Trump can be heard saying, before another person interrupts. The audio was first obtained by CNN, and has also been obtained by CBS News.The July 2021 recording of a meeting at Trump’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, was cited by special counsel Jack Smith in the indictment of Trump and an aide, Walt Nauta, on a combined 37 counts related to alleged mishandling of classified documents. Trump entered a not guilty plea to the charges on June 14, and Nauta is expected to plead not guilty at a hearing on Tuesday.It is not clear from the indictment if the documents referred to in the recording were recovered by investi...

Germany saw 2,480 antisemitic incidents in 2022, monitoring group says

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 17:55:52 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — A group tracking antisemitism in Germany said Tuesday that it documented 2,480 incidents in the country last year — just under seven incidents per day on average.In its annual report, the Department for Research and Information on Anti-Semitism, or RIAS, said that while it registered a slight decrease in antisemitic incidents in 2022, compared to the year before, there were nine incidents of extreme violence — the highest number of such cases since nationwide record keeping began in 2017.Those extremely violent crimes include a shooting at a former rabbi’s house next to an old synagogue in the western city of Essen last November. Germany’s federal prosecutor is now investigating the case along with two other violent antisemitic crimes on suspicion that they may have been carried out in cooperation with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.More often, however, “it is everyday situations in which Jews are confronted with antisemitism,” Benjamin Steinitz, t...

ANÁLISIS | Biden está presionando a Putin incluso a pesar de que Estados Unidos niegue su papel en la insurrección de Rusia

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 17:55:52 GMT

(CNN) — La insurrección de corta duración de Rusia le entregó a Joe Biden la versión más peligrosa hasta el momento de un dilema que ha confundido a los últimos cinco presidentes de Estados Unidos: cómo manejar a Vladimir Putin.Todos los comandantes en jefe de Estados Unidos, desde Bill Clinton, han buscado de alguna manera involucrar al exoficial de la KGB, cuya misión de restaurar la grandeza rusa surgió por su humillación debida a la caída de la antigua Unión Soviética. La mayoría buscó algún tipo de reinicio de las relaciones entre Estados Unidos y Rusia. Pero todo fracasó en evitar el deterioro de los lazos entre las dos superpotencias nucleares.El expresidente George W. Bush miró a Putin a los ojos y tuvo “una sensación” de su alma, solo para que Putin invadiera Georgia bajo su supervisión. Barack Obama inicialmente vio al líder ruso como un socio en una campaña para poner fin a la amenaza del Armagedón nuclear. Eso no impidió que Putin anexara a Crimea en 2014. Y Donald...

Fairfax Co. schools inching closer to adding stop-arm cameras to bus fleet

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 17:55:52 GMT

As soon as next spring, drivers caught on camera passing a school bus with its stop arms extended in Fairfax County, Virginia, may get a $250 fine sent to them.The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday is scheduled to vote on an agreement between the supervisors and county school board regarding a school bus stop-arm camera program.If approved, according to county documents, the state’s largest school system would contract with American Traffic Solutions, also known as Verra Mobility, to provide cameras for the bus fleet’s stop arms.The initiative, which has been years in the making, is one of several safety measures Fairfax County Public Schools is working to put in place. Thousands of door locks have been replaced, security vestibules are being built on campuses that don’t have them and the county is working to expand the use of external video cameras, Superintendent Michelle Reid confirmed in April.Fairfax County also placed cameras near eight schools t...

Putin critica a los “traidores” mientras Prigozhin, del grupo Wagner, afirma que la rebelión mercenaria fue solo una “protesta”

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 17:55:52 GMT

(CNN) — El presidente de Rusia, Vladimir Putin, y el jefe del grupo Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, rompieron su silencio luego de que la insurrección caótica y de corta duración del grupo paramilitar este fin de semana sumiera al país en la incertidumbre, en lo que el líder ruso describió como una traición al país.En un breve discurso a la nación este lunes, Putin dijo que los combatientes del grupo Wagner tomaron la “decisión correcta” al detener su avance, y agregó que “la rebelión armada habría sido reprimida de todos modos”.Esas fuerzas ahora tendrían la oportunidad de firmar un contrato con el Ministerio de Defensa de Rusia “u otras agencias de aplicación de la ley, o regresar con su familia y amigos”, dijo. Agregó que los combatientes también podrían optar por ir a Belarús, donde también se espera que vaya Prigozhin según un acuerdo aparentemente negociado por el presidente de Belarús, Alexander Lukashenko.Putin no mencionó a Prigozhin por su nombre, pero acusó a “los organi...

Deliberations continue in the trial of the ex-school resource officer who stayed outside during Parkland shooting

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 17:55:52 GMT

(CNN) — Deliberations are continuing for a second day Tuesday in the trial of Scot Peterson, a former school resource officer who stayed outside during the February 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.Prosecutors say Peterson, 60, ignored his training and common sense and chose to do nothing while students and adults at the Parkland, Florida, school were shot. Seventeen people died – 14 of them students.“His job was to go and investigate and make his presence known, and that simply did not happen,” Assistant State Attorney Christopher Killoran said in closing rebuttal arguments Monday.Peterson is accused of failing to confront the gunman according to his active shooter training, instead taking cover for more than 45 minutes outside the school’s three-story 1200 building during the deadliest high school shooting in US history.“In that moment, while he stood at those doors, every student and every teacher on the third floor was still alive,” Assistant State Atto...

Curious whale follows kayak as Australia revels in bumper annual humpback count

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 17:55:52 GMT

(CNN) — Nearly 5,000 humpback whales have been spotted in Australian waters during a record annual migration census, a conservation group said, with one curious cetacean seen following a kayaker just off Sydney’s famed Bondi beach.Each year, experts and members of the public head to the coast of New South Wales to conduct an annual count and Sunday’s census resulted in a highest ever 4,792 whales, adding to a rare “megapod” sighting in 2021 that previously enthralled whale watchers.Many of the whales were spotted just yards from the shoreline, according to Steve Trikoulis, vice president of the Organization for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans (ORRCA) .“They were traveling to Queensland and Hervey Bay to make babies,” he told CNN. “It was exciting for people (on shore) to see them… jumping around.”Better weather and cleaner water were just some factors that contributed to the rise in the number of whales this year, he added.“The numbers are healthy and have definitely increased,...

FBI and Homeland Security ignored ‘massive amount’ of intelligence before Jan. 6, Senate report says

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 17:55:52 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security downplayed or ignored “a massive amount of intelligence information” ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S Capitol, according to the chairman of a Senate panel that on Tuesday is releasing a new report on the intelligence failures ahead of the insurrection.The report details how the agencies failed to recognize and warn of the potential for violence as some of then-President Donald Trump’s supporters openly planned the siege in messages and forums online.Among the multitude of intelligence that was overlooked was a December 2020 tip to the FBI that members of the far-right extremist group Proud Boys planned to be in Washington, D.C., for the certification of Joe Biden’s victory and their “plan is to literally kill people,” the report said. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee said the agencies were also aware of many social media posts that foreshadowed viol...

Jordan Westburg records first MLB hit in debut as Orioles top Reds, 10-3, in rain-delayed game: ‘It was really cool’

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 17:55:52 GMT

Brandon Hyde said he doesn’t have words of wisdom for young players making their major league debuts.Instead, the Orioles manager wants to be “relaxed,” hoping that energy rubs off on the player achieving a lifelong goal.Either that strategy worked Monday, or Jordan Westburg, who brings a consistent and even-keeled reputation to Baltimore along with his talent as a top 100 prospect, didn’t need to be calmed down, as the 24-year-old looked plenty relaxed in his debut Monday.Westburg did a little bit of everything to help lead the Orioles to a 10-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds in a game twice delayed because of rain.“Just soak it in,” Westburg said about his approach. “Tried to really block out as many emotions as I could and just try to lock in and focus on the game. But at the same time, I just wanted to kind of look around, take in the atmosphere, the environment, the people. This is something I’ve never been a part of before, so ...