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Mainly cloudy with snow showers around this morning. Temps nearly steady in the mid 30s. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 90%..
Overcast. A few flurries or snow showers possible. Low 24F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.
Updated: December 16, 2022 @ 10:31 am
FILE – A Twitter logo hangs outside the company’s San Francisco offices on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2022. A German official who won a defamation case against Twitter this week has dedicated his legal victory to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert targeted by the microblogging site’s new owner, Elon Musk.
FILE – Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks during a press briefing at the White House, Nov. 22, 2022, in Washington. A German official who won a defamation case against Twitter this week has dedicated his legal victory to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert targeted by the microblogging site’s new owner, Elon Musk.
FILE – A Twitter logo hangs outside the company’s San Francisco offices on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2022. A German official who won a defamation case against Twitter this week has dedicated his legal victory to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert targeted by the microblogging site’s new owner, Elon Musk.
FILE – Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks during a press briefing at the White House, Nov. 22, 2022, in Washington. A German official who won a defamation case against Twitter this week has dedicated his legal victory to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert targeted by the microblogging site’s new owner, Elon Musk.
BERLIN (AP) — A German official who won a defamation case against Twitter this week dedicated his legal victory on Thursday to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert targeted by the microblogging site’s new owner, Elon Musk.
A Frankfurt regional court ruled Wednesday that Twitter has to remove false or defamatory tweets about Michael Blume, who is the southwest German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg’s commissioner against antisemitism. Crucially, the court made clear that the order applies not only to identical posts but also to any that are substantially similar.
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Angelina Jolie and the United Nations’ refugee agency are parting ways after more than two decades. In a joint statement issued Friday, the actress and the agency announced she was “moving on” from her role as the agency’s special envoy “to engage on a broader set of humanitarian and human rights issues.” She said refugees’ issues would remain in her advocacy portfolio and that she would “work differently” by directly engaging with refugees and local organizations. Jolie first started working with the U.N. refugee agency in 2001 and was appointed its special envoy in 2012.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has shared his wish list to create and revamp games and events under the soccer body’s control. They include a 32-team men’s Club World Cup in 2025, a new version of the tournament for women and national teams from different continents playing each other more often between World Cups. Some of the ideas are not new but the debate and announcement in Qatar two days before the World Cup final still caught soccer officials in Europe by surprise. Infantino says «we will now consult on all of these topics and then elaborate on all the details.»
Audiences watching “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever» have been greeted with an exhilarating new superhero in Namor, played by Tenoch Huerta. The role in one of the year’s biggest sequels has put the 41-year-old Mexican actor in the global conversation, and led to him being named one of The Associated Press’ nine Breakthrough Entertainers of 2022. Huerta is hardly a newcomer — he’s won the Mexican equivalent of the best actor Oscar — but “Wakanda Forever” gave him exposure like no other role. He’s using it to further his work on social justice issues, including advocating for darker skinned Mexicans who often face prejudice in his homeland.
Louisville and Cincinnati will resume their “Keg of Nails” rivalry in the Fenway Bowl. The schools are about 100 miles apart on the Ohio River. They first played in 1929, with the winner declared “tough as nails” and taking home the trophy. They haven’t met since 2013. Both teams will have interim coaches on the Fenway sidelines. Scott Satterfield left Louisville to take over in Cincinnati but he’ll stay away from the game. Former Patriots star Deion Branch will guide the Cardinals, and Kerry Coombs will lead the Bearcats.
German police say they have taken down three darknet sites used to distribute images and videos of child sexual abuse. Federal Criminal Police said Friday four men were arrested in connection with the sites, which had hundreds of thousands of registered users. Those arrested included a 21-year-old man from the eastern German state of Saxony alleged to have been the main administrator of the sites. Two other men, aged 44 and 45, were arrested in northern Germany in recent weeks. German police said a fourth man was arrested in Brazil and investigators are trying to identify the sites’ users. The Interior Minister called the bust “an important strike against the spread of horrific images of sexualized violence against children.”
LAS VEGAS — The Colorado River’s largest reservoirs stand nearly three-quarters empty, and federal officials now say there is a real danger the reservoirs could drop so low that water would no longer flow past Hoover Dam in two years.
Today in Sports History-Terrell Owens catches an NFL-record 20 passes for 283 yards and a touchdown in San Francisco’s 17-0 victory over Chicago.
Newly hired Colorado coach Deion Sanders will try to leave Jackson State as a winner against North Carolina Central in the Celebration Bowl, regarded as the championship game for the nation’s historically black colleges and universities. Sanders’ Tigers are 12-0 and will try to complete their first undefeated season by winning their first HBCU championship since 1996. North Carolina Central is led by quarterback Davis Richard. The Eagles are playing to win their first HBCU national championship since 2006 and become the third team in school history to win 10 or more games. Jackson State lost to South Carolina State in last year’s Celebration Bowl.
Musical artist Kelly Clarkson will host the 12th annual NFL Honors awards show Feb. 9 in Phoenix, recognizing the league’s best players, performances and plays from the 2022 season. A spokesperson said Friday that the Emmy and Grammy-award winning artist Clarkson will be the first woman to host the show. The NFL Honors show debuted in 2012 and features the announcement of The Associated Press’ annual awards, the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award and the newest Pro Football Hall of Fame class.
President Joe Biden is in Delaware to talk about expanded veterans benefits under legislation that he signed in August. The law, known as the PACT Act, helps veterans get screened and treated for exposure to toxins. Those could include Agent Orange, which was used for deforestation during the Vietnam War, or burn pits, where trash was destroyed on military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. Biden will visit a Delaware National Guard facility named after his late son, Beau Biden, who served as a major in Iraq and later died of brain cancer.
Simone Ashley was already a working actor with credits including “Broadchurch” and “Sex Education” when she won the role of Kate Sharma, a fiercely independent woman who wins the heart of Anthony Bridgerton in its second season. Her charm and grace make her one of The Associated Press’ breakthrough entertainers of 2022. Ashley says the experience has opened doors for her and she’s going into 2023 with projects on the horizon that she’s both excited about and can’t speak about yet. She’s also making sure to enjoy the ride by attending events including the Met Gala, Grand Prix and BAFTA’s where she met activist Malala Yousafzai.
Former soccer player and coach Siniša Mihajlović has died at 53 after a long battle with leukemia. Mihajlović’s family announced Friday that he died in a Rome hospital. The Serbian had most recently coached Serie A club Bologna for 3 ½ years. He became a sentimental favorite of fans and players alike for his desire to remain on the job even after he was diagnosed with leukemia in 2019. Players sometimes gathered under Mihajlović’s hospital window when the coach was receiving treatment.
LOS ANGELES — After Twitter suspended an account that had been providing publicly available flight data for Elon Musk’s private jet, the social media platform’s new owner and chief executive suggested that the page put him and his family in danger.
As the Biden administration prepares to end the use of a Trump-era border measure that restricts access to asylum, most Americans continue to support protections for immigrants who are fleeing persecution and torture abroad.
Croatian lawmakers have rejected a government bid to help train Ukrainian soldiers in Croatia as part of a European Union mission. The vote in parliament on Friday was held after Croatia’s president previously also had refused to sign off on the bid, saying it was not in accordance with the law. President Zoran Milanovic has been an outspoken critic of Western policies in Ukraine. He has advocated that Croatia offer only humanitarian aid to Ukraine. The European Union Assistance Mission Ukraine was established in October, envisaging that the 27-nation block’s countries offer various forms of support and training to Ukraine.
Beijing’s rapidly spreading COVID outbreak has turned the Chinese capital of 22 million people into a virtual ghost town as stores close and restaurants empty, underscoring the cost of President Xi Jinping’s sudden pivot away from COVID zero.
A salvo of more at least 76 Russian missiles knocked out power and water across Ukraine as President Vladimir Putin’s forces continued their campaign of attacking infrastructure.
A Lebanese court has upheld the death sentence for an Uber driver convicted of killing a British woman who worked for the U.K. Embassy in Beirut five years ago. The British Embassy said in a statement on Friday that Lebanon’s Court of Cassation rejected an appeal by Tariq Houshieh and affirmed his conviction in the killing of Rebecca Dykes. Houshieh was sentenced to death in 2019, although there is a de facto moratorium on capital punishment in Lebanon, and no executions have been carried out since 2004. Dykes was found dead on Dec. 16, 2017, on the side of a road, strangled and showing signs of sexual assault.
Britain’s royal family is staying silent over the second half of Prince Harry and Meghan’s documentary series, which made hard-hitting claims against Harry’s brother, Prince William. In three hour-long episodes released Thursday, Harry claimed William screamed at him during a family meeting and accused palace officials of lying to protect his elder sibling, who is now heir to the throne. Meghan talked about wanting to end her life as she struggled to cope with toxic press coverage. The royal palace has not commented on the series. King Charles III, William, his wife Kate and other senior royals put on a show of unity after the series aired, attending a Christmas charity concert in London on Thursday evening.
From 12/8/22 – 12/14/22, Brooks’ holiday giveback campaign matches purchases on brooksrunning.com with gear donations to Back on My Feet members and alumni.
Slovakia’s president has formally dismissed the country’s government a day after it lost a parliamentary no-confidence vote and set the framework for holding an early election by mid-2023. President Zuzana Caputova has given Parliament a deadline to amend the Constitution by the end of January to make a snap election possible. Caputova said Friday that the ballot should then take place in the first half of next year. Slovakia’s coalition minority government led by Prime Minister Eduard Heger fell Thursday after losing the no-confidence vote called by the opposition following months of political crisis.
The Republican National Committee is currently consumed by an increasingly nasty leadership fight as the GOP navigates election losses and its delicate relationship with Donald Trump. Ronna McDaniel, the former president’s hand-picked choice back in 2017 and the niece of Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, is running to lead the RNC for a fourth term. She’s facing California attorney Harmeet Dhillon, who has tapped into a rising wave of discontent from Trump’s own allies. The public feud may get worse before it gets better. The official vote to decide the next RNC chair is not scheduled until late January. Longtime RNC member Ron Kaufman said, ““It’ll be ugly as hell for a while.”
One of Mexico’s best-known journalists says two gunmen on a motorcycle tried to kill him in a late-night attack on a Mexico City street. Radio and television reporter Ciro Gómez Leyva posted a description of the attack and photos of his bullet-ridden vehicle on social media. He said Friday that he was saved by the fact his SUV had bullet-proofing. This year has been the deadliest ever for Mexican media workers, with 15 killed so far. But all the killings and almost all the attacks have targeted journalists in provincial towns. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who verbally spars with Gómez Leyva, condemned the attack.
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)
DUBLIN–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Dec 16, 2022–
After generations of being overlooked and sidelined in the job market, Americans with disabilities are enjoying an unprecedented employment boom — thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Germany’s foreign minister will personally take 20 artifacts looted by Europeans during colonial times back to Nigeria when she visits Africa’s most populous country next week. The symbolic gesture follows an agreement earlier this year between Berlin and Abuja that will see all 514 so-called Benin Bronzes held in German museums handed back to Nigeria. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock’s spokesman said Friday that her trip Sunday shows how “serious Germany is about working through its colonial history.” The bronzes were stolen in 1897 by a British colonial expedition from the royal palace of the Kingdom of Benin, in what is now southwestern Nigeria. The objects, including numerous bas-reliefs and other sculptures, later found their way to collections around Europe.
The return of Brittney Griner to the United States in a dramatic prisoner swap with Russia marked the culmination of a 10-month ordeal that captivated world attention, a saga that landed at the intersection of sports, politics, race and gender identity — and wartime diplomacy. Griner had for years been known to fans of women’s basketball, college player of the year, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and WNBA all-star who dominated her sport. But her arrest on drug-related charges at a Moscow airport in February elevated her profile in ways neither she nor her supporters would have ever hoped for, making her by far the most high-profile American to be jailed abroad.
The Philadelphia Phillies finalized their deal with Taijuan Walker, agreeing to a $72 million, four-year contract with the right-hander. The 30-year-old Walker went 12-5 with a 3.49 ERA in 29 starts this season for the New York Mets, one of Philadelphia’s biggest NL East rivals. He slots into a rotation fronted by Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola. The 6-foot-4 Walker made the All-Star team for the first time in 2021, putting together a fast start before fading to a 7-11 record with a 4.47 ERA in 30 games, 29 starts.
Virginia State Police say three people have died following a crash that involved a commercial bus carrying 22 people and a tractor trailer on Interstate 64. State police say in a news release that the crash occurred just after 1:30 a.m. Friday in York County near Williamsburg. All 22 passengers on the bus were unrestrained. The drivers of both vehicles and the remaining passengers have suffered various levels of injuries. They were taken to local hospitals.
Rapa Nui, the Chilean territory widely known as Easter Island, is one of the most remote inhabited places on Earth. Its tourist-based economy — and the core of its Indigenous culture — revolve around the Pacific Island’s nearly 1,000 moai. Those are massive, human-like statues carved many centuries ago. So it was a profound blow when scores of the moai were damaged in a recent fire. Many of them were blackened by soot, though the extent of damage to the stone remains undetermined. Each moai represents an ancestor of the Rapanui community. Said one elder, recalling his reaction to the fire, “It was like my grandparents were burned.”
The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court says he is closing investigations in Georgia and the Central African Republic. The announcements Friday mark the first time the prosecution office has wrapped up probes in the court’s 20-year history. The closures come as the court investigates atrocities around the world, including a major investigation in the ongoing war in Ukraine that is stretching its resources. Prosecutor Karim Khan says that taking the decisions to close cases “are an essential part of articulating and implementing an effective prosecutorial strategy.”
Rapa Nui, the Chilean territory widely known as Easter Island, is one of the most remote inhabited places on Earth. Its tourist-based economy — and the core of its Indigenous culture — revolve around the Pacific Island’s nearly 1,000 moai. Those are massive, human-like statues carved many centuries ago. So it was a profound blow when scores of the moai were damaged in a recent fire. Many of them were blackened by soot, though the extent of damage to the stone remains undetermined. Each moai represents an ancestor of the Rapanui community. Said one elder, recalling his reaction to the fire, “It was like my grandparents were burned.”
The European Union says its latest round of sanctions will hit Russia’s military-industrial complex, as well as people and groups that are attacking Ukrainian civilians or kidnapping children. Valdis Dombrovskis, a European Commission vice-president, said Friday the package will deal a blow to 168 “entities” — companies or state organizations — as well as some two dozen individuals. The ninth package of EU punitive measures against Russia for its war in Ukraine was approved by EU leaders at a summit Thursday. It was formally adopted Friday by written procedure.
The International Energy Agency says coal use across the world is set to reach a new record this year amid persistently high demand for the heavily polluting fossil fuel. The Paris-based agency said in a report published Friday that while coal use grew by only 1.2% in 2022, the increase pushed it to an all-time high of more than 8 billion metric tons, beating the previous record set in 2013. The report notes that “robust demand” in emerging Asian economies would offset declining use in mature markets. Experts say the use of coal and other fossil fuels needs to be drastically cut to cap global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) this century.
Dutch colonizers kidnapped men, women and children and enslaved them on plantations growing sugar, coffee and other goods that built wealth at the price of misery. On Monday, the Netherlands is expected to become one of the few nations to apologize for its role in slavery. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte plans to speak in the Netherlands as members of his Cabinet give speeches in seven former Caribbean colonies, including Suriname. Symbolism around crimes against humanity is controversial everywhere and debates over Monday’s ceremonies are roiling Suriname and other Caribbean countries.
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DUBLIN–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Dec 16, 2022–
