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Biden meets with new Speaker Mike Johnson at the White House to discuss aid for Israel and Ukraine

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:51 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden met with new House Speaker Mike Johnson and Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries at the White House on Thursday to discuss his request for nearly $106 billion for Israel, Ukraine and other national security needs.Johnson, a staunch conservative allied with Donald Trump, has shown little interest in providing additional money from Congress to support Ukraine in its war against Russia. Biden met briefly with Johnson and also with Jeffries before the House leaders joined a classified briefing with other congressional lawmakers on the assistance package, according to a White House official.“It was a productive meeting,” Johnson told reporters back at the Capitol. “I enjoyed my visit with the president.”The new Republican leader who swept into office nearly a month after the ouster of Rep. Kevin McCarthy as speaker had a busy first full day in office, having inherited many of the same political problems that tormented past GOP leaders and challenged the...

Maine police have left a home they surrounded in hunt for mass shooting suspect

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:51 GMT

LEWISTON, Maine (AP) — Most of the law enforcement officers and a helicopter that surrounded a home connected to a relative of the suspect in the Maine shootings have left after executing a search warrant and calling for anyone inside to surrender.Heavily armed police surrounded a home Thursday as they searched for a U.S. Army reservist who authorities say killed 18 people and wounded 13 in a mass shooting at a bowling alley and a bar in Lewiston, Maine.“You need to come outside now with nothing in your hands. Your hands in the air,” police shouted through a megaphone outside the home owned by suspect Robert Card’s relative near the town of Bowdoin.Maine State Police said afterward that the announcements were standard. ‘Worst night of our lives’: Survivors recount escaping shooting at Maine bowling alley Heavily armed police surrounded a home Thursday as they searched for a U.S. Army reservist who authorities say killed 18 people and wounded 13 in a mass shooting at a bowling alle...

US strikes Iran-linked sites in Syria in retaliation for attacks on US troops

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:51 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military launched airstrikes early Friday on two locations in eastern Syria linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Pentagon said, in retaliation for a slew of drone and missile attacks against U.S. bases and personnel in the region that began early last week. The U.S. strikes reflect the Biden administration's determination to maintain a delicate balance. The U.S. wants to hit Iranian-backed groups suspected of targeting the U.S. as strongly as possible to deter future aggression, possibly fueled by Israel's war against Hamas, while also working to avoid inflaming the region and provoking a wider conflict. ‘No warning, just booms in the air’: Colorado-raised woman caught in attack on Israel Information about the specific targets and other details were not yet provided.According to the Pentagon, there have been at least 12 attacks on U.S. bases and personnel in Iraq and four in Syria since Oct. 17. Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said 21 U.S. pers...

TV schedule changes during World Series 2023: Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune, FOX31 News and more

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:51 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — There will be changes to the TV schedule on FOX31 and Colorado's Very Own Channel 2 when 2023 World Series games are broadcast on FOX31.On weekdays with World Series games, FOX31 News will air from 3-5 p.m.Judge Judy, Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune will move from FOX31 to Channel 2. The programs will air in full at their normal times.In addition, the times for Young Sheldon and The Big Bang Theory on Channel 2 will shift.These changes are only for weeknights when World Series games air on FOX31.Schedule changesChannel 2 KWGNFOX31 KDVR3:00 p.m.Judge JudyFOX31 News at 3 p.m.3:30 p.m.Judge Judy4:00 p.m.Young SheldonFOX31 News at 4 p.m.4:30 p.m.Young Sheldon5:00 p.m.The Big Bang TheoryWorld Series pregame5:30 p.m.The Big Bang Theory6:00 p.m.Jeopardy!World Series6:30 p.m.Wheel of FortuneFOX31 at 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. will air following the World Series games.This modified schedule will only be in effect on the dates listed below. Dates for schedule changesThis is the schedul...

Family: Video shows home health aide slapping, verbally abusing ailing 84-year-old grandmother

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:51 GMT

A South Florida woman is upset and speaking out after, she said, her elderly mother was the victim of alarming abuse at the hands of someone who was paid to care to her.Speaking with 7News on Thursday, Miami Gardens resident Lisa Williams said a home health aide cares for her mother, Carmel, while she’s at work.But last month, Williams said, the agency replaced a previous aide with 49-year-old Fanny Santana.Carmel’s family said they caught the new caregiver on video hurting the elderly woman.“Pushing my mom, and when she pushed her, she even slapped her,” said Williams. “The hitting and the pushing her, that’s a no-no. We don’t do that.”Miami Gardens Police call it aggravated elder abuse of an ailing, defenseless 84-year-old woman who needs care around the clock.“She’s doing it to my mom, but my mom can’t speak. She’s not doing anything, she’s just laying there,” said Williams as she fought back tear...

The enemies of democracy are testing us

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:51 GMT

Mathias Döpfner is chairman and CEO of Axel Springer, POLITICO’s parent company.We have underestimated the enemies of democracy for far too long — because it’s been more comfortable that way.But now, we are at a tipping point, faced with the possibility that even democracy itself could be overwhelmed. The simultaneous occurrence of so many crises and so much war presents the democracies of the world with a historic challenge. The question is, how steadfast and willing will the West be to defend its interests in this fight?Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has already strained United States and NATO capacity — financially and militarily. And the Gaza crisis may now unleash a war on several fronts.It will be difficult to overcome Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, Syria, Yemen, as well as the enablers and financiers from Qatar and Iran, even with a coherent Western alliance. And we mustn’t lose sight of the fact that the serial crises we’re confronting directly play into the...

Li Keqiang, former Chinese premier, dead at 68

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:51 GMT

Former Chinese Premier Li Keqiang died Friday aged 68, Chinese state media reported.Li had a “sudden heart attack” and died in Shanghai just after midnight, according to the Xinhua news agency. Li served as China’s premier from 2013 until March 2023, when he retired before the official retirement age and was replaced by Li Qiang.Known for his focus on economic reform and liberalization, the former premier was once seen as a contender for Chinese president, but was passed over by party leadership in favor of Xi Jinping.

Panic! Russia sends France into a tailspin over bedbugs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:51 GMT

Welcome to Declassified, a weekly humor column.Those pesky Russians have launched a new front in their war on, er, everything. And this time their sights have been set on France, and more specifically, French people’s bodies! According to French intelligence (as in the security services, not as in intellectuals sitting in smoky bars, thinking a lot and gazing into the distance), the Kremlin has been actively stoking fears about bedbugs in Paris. As you will be aware, bedbugs are now running the French capital, taking on senior administrative roles, and opening shops and restaurants serving bedbug specialties such as boudin noir. Their failure to assimilate has angered many French people. Some bedbugs, and you may want to sit down before reading this, make a very poor orange sauce to go with duck!Regular readers may remember that POLITICO recently secured an exclusive interview with Benoît Bedbug, who now lives in Paris and hopes to become a French citizen in time to compete in...

EU leaders meet amid Israel-Hamas war

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:51 GMT

Listen on Spotify Apple Music Google Play EN_Google_Podcasts_Badge Created with Sketch. Acast Amazon Music Coming to you directly from the European Council summit, our POLITICO team brings you the very latest on a range of difficult subjects facing EU leaders during their two-day meeting in Brussels. In a packed press centre, host Suzanne Lynch, along with Jacopo Barigazzi, Barbara ...

The odds are against Rishi Sunak’s AI summit. He might just pull it off

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:51 GMT

LONDON — Optimism is in the air.It’s September 2019, and at a dinner involving diplomats and tech execs at a private dining club in Paris’s eighth arrondissement, hopes are high that the world’s rival superpowers — the United States and China — will put aside their differences to discuss the future of a rapidly emerging field important to both: artificial intelligence.At the summit the next day, those hopes quickly fizzle. A U.S. official opens the debate by saying Washington will never cooperate with Beijing on AI for as long as China remains authoritarian. It goes downhill from there, descending into a mud-slinging match between the two global titans.“Here we are trying to sort out this huge thing and China and the U.S. are squabbling like two divorced parents,” said Neil Lawrence, a leading academic on AI at Cambridge University recalling the 2019 event he was present at.More than three years on, Rishi Sunak will be hoping his own AI summit, to be held in historic Bletchley ...