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US helicopter raid in Syria kills Islamic State leader

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:18:59 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — A helicopter raid by U.S. forces in northern Syria early on Monday killed a senior leader of the militant Islamic State group, the U.S. military said. The U.S. Central Command said in a statement that the IS leader, Abd-al-Hadi Mahmud al-Haji Ali, was “responsible for planning terror attacks in the Middle East and Europe.” Two other alleged IS members, were killed along with al-Haji Ali who was the target of the raid, CENTCOM said. The statement said no civilians or U.S. troops were hurt in the operation.It said the raid was launched after intelligence uncovered a plan by IS to “kidnap officials abroad as leverage for (IS) initiatives.”Syria’s White Helmets, a civil defense group operating in opposition-held areas of northern Syria, said it transported two people wounded during the raid to a local hospital, which later said they had died. A third person was killed when the U.S. forces landed for the raid, the White Helmets said.The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic F...

Macron says he hears people anger but pension law was needed

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:18:59 GMT

PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday that he heard people’s anger over raising the retirement age from 62 to 64, but insisted that it was needed to keep the pension system afloat as the population ages.In many cities, opponents to the pension law took to the streets to bang pots and pans during Macron’s televised address to the nation, with the rallying cry: “Macron won’t listen to us? We won’t listen to him!”In Paris, the gatherings quickly turned into spontaneous demonstrations in several neighborhoods, with some people setting fire to trash cans as police attempted to disperse the crowd. Hundreds of people also started marching in the western cities of Rennes and Nantes.In many other places across France, the protests remained peaceful, with people chanting and dancing in front of city halls to the sound of pots and pans used as drums. Many are rejecting the changes as unfair, arguing the government could have raised taxes on the wealthy or employers in...

Wall Street drifts as earnings season kicks into gear

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:18:59 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks on Wall Street are drifting Monday at the start of the first full week of earnings reporting season. The S&P 500 was 0.1% higher in its first trading after squeezing out its fourth winning week in the last five. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 45 points, or 0.1%, at 33,931, as of 3:05 p.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was virtually unchanged. All three swayed between small gains and losses through the day. Several financial companies reported a mixed set of profit reports for the first three months of the year. They followed up on a bevy of better-than-expected reports f rom JPMorgan Chase and other big U.S. banks that marked the unofficial start of reporting season late last week. A lot of focus has been on the strength of the financial industry broadly after the second- and third-largest U.S. bank failures in history last month rocked markets worldwide. Charles Schwab reported better profit than expected, and its stock rose 2.1%. It f...

Silicon Valley councilman defers plea on 49ers report leak

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:18:59 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A Silicon Valley councilmember delayed entering his pleas Monday on criminal charges for allegedly lying about leaking a grand jury report on the San Francisco 49ers’ political influence and relationships with the city’s elected officials.Santa Clara City Councilmember Anthony Becker will next appear in court May 3 and he remains out of custody in the meantime. He faces up to four years in county jail if he is convicted of perjury.Becker, a Democrat, was indicted Friday for allegedly providing a secret report title, “Unsportsmanlike Conduct: Santa Clara City Council,” to the team’s former top spokesperson and a local news outlet in 2022, days ahead of its official release. The report called Becker and four other Santa Clara councilmembers the “49 Five” and claimed the five elected officials met regularly with the team’s lobbyists without publicly disclosing the topics of discussion. It also alleged the councilmembers regularly voted “in a manner that is fa...

Grand jury refuses to indict officer for fatal mall shooting

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:18:59 GMT

FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — A grand jury has refused to indict a former northern Virginia police officer after he fatally shot an unarmed shoplifting suspect outside a busy shopping mall in February.Authorities presented the case to a grand jury for an indictment against Wesley Shifflett, who shot and killed Timothy McCree Johnson outside Tysons Corner Center on Feb. 22.Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano — who ran for office on a reform agenda that included holding police accountable for misdeeds — had called a press conference Monday, presumably to announce criminal charges.But the noon press conference was first delayed, then canceled. Later in the day, Descano issued a statement saying he’s “evaluating all options” following the grand jury’s decision. “Since, by law, no prosecutors were permitted to be present in the room when the investigating officers made their presentation to the grand jury, I can’t say for sure what information was conveyed to the grand...

Kenya’s Obiri breaks late to win women’s Boston Marathon

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:18:59 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — Hellen Obiri took one key lesson away when she ran her first major marathon in New York this past November: Be patient.She put it to use late in Monday’s Boston Marathon, breaking away over the final 2 miles to win the title during a foggy and wet 127th edition of the race.Obiri, a two-time Olympic silver medalist in the 5,000 meters, claimed the women’s top spot on the podium, maneuvering down the 26.2 mile course in 2 hours, 21 minutes and 38 seconds. Amane Beriso of Ethiopia was second, 12 seconds back, followed another seven seconds behind by Israeli Lonah Salpeter. Obiri’s victory also completed a Kenyan sweep on the day, with Evans Chebet winning his second straight title in the men’s race. Obiri said she felt a lot more comfortable in her approach after finishing sixth in the New York Marathon last year.“I thought I could do my fastest in New York, but it never worked as planned,” she said. “So what I learned from New York was to be patient and for t...

Sudan hospitals struggle with casualties, damage in fighting

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:18:59 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — At the Khartoum Teaching Hospital, people wounded during street battles flowed into the wards. Supplies were running low, with doctors, nurses, patients and their relatives trapped inside for days as the Sudanese capital turned into a war zone.Then early Monday, one of the wards was heavily damaged by shelling. “We are running out of everything,” Dr. Amin Saad told The Associated Press. “We are working with the least possible capabilities. … We’re all exhausted, but there is a shortage of physicians.”Not long afterward, the hospital shut down completely — with staff, patients and relatives stuck inside as clashes raged throughout the neighborhood. It was one of at least six hospitals shuttered either because they were damaged in fighting, were inaccessible because of clashes or had run out of fuel, according to the Doctors’ Syndicate. Khartoum’s hospitals have been thrown into chaos by the explosion of violence between Sudan’s two top generals. People have been unable t...

Chicago Public Library awarded $2M grant to digitize Black History archives

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:18:59 GMT

The Chicago Public Library was awarded a new grant Monday that will go toward digitizing thousands of Black History archives and make them available at every branch throughout the city.The library  system will receive a $2 million grant from the Mellon Foundation.The grant will allow the library to digitize documents related to Black History from the 1800s to the present. It is a four year grant that will expanded the access of the collection beyond the walls of libraries in the city and allow students and historians increased understanding of stories that may not be taught in regular curriculum.“In Chicago we celebrate that history and champion our residents’ fundamental right to read and learn about who we are, where we have been and where we are headed,” Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said at an event announcing the grant.

Soldier Field to host Chicago Veteran Job Fair

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:18:59 GMT

CHICAGO — Veterans looking for a job are encouraged to visit one of Chicago's most historic venues for assistance on Thursday. Disabled American Veterans is teaming up with RecruitMilitary to host the Chicago Veterans Job Fair this Thursday, April 20, at Soldier Field. The career event will begin at 11 a.m. and last through 3 p.m.Sixty area employers such as Sysco, Walgreens, Eaton, Liberty Mutual are expected to attend. Registration is free and is open to transitioning military service members, veterans, military spouses and dependents. The Job Fair will take place in Soldier Field's 1st Floor United Club.

US arrests two in connection with 'secret' Chinese police station in NY

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:18:59 GMT

Federal authorities in New York made two arrests Monday in connection with the establishment of a Chinese-government run police station in Manhattan where officials allegedly monitored pro-democracy activists.The clandestine station, run by China’s Ministry of Public Security (MPS), was announced alongside a complaint charging 34 individuals accused of working at a “troll farm” run by the MPS designed to target Chinese dissidents online.While it appears in some cases the office was helping Chinese citizens with services such as driver licenses, consular activities require approval by U.S. authorities, and law enforcement said Monday that the station's employees were not registered as foreign agents.“New York City is home to New York's finest, the NYPD. We don’t need or want a secret police station in our great city,” Breon Peace, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a press conference.“Just imagine the NYPD opening an undeclared, secret police station in Beiji...