Turkish strikes on US Kurd allies resonate in Ukraine war
Biden administration officials are toughening their language toward NATO ally Turkey as they try to talk Turkish President Recep Erdogan out of launching a bloody and destabilizing ground offensive against American-allied Kurdish forces in neighboring Syria. Since Nov. 20, after six people died in an Istanbul bombing a week before that Turkey blamed, without evidence, on the U.S. and its Kurdish allies in Syria, Turkey has launched cross-border airstrikes, rockets and shells into U.S.- and Kurdish-patrolled areas of Syria, leaving Kurdish funeral corteges burying scores of dead.
news.yahoo.comDefeated election conspiracists seek to lead Michigan GOP
The Republicans who lost their races for Michigan's top three statewide offices after promoting falsehoods about the 2020 presidential election are not planning to go quietly. Two of the candidates who denied President Joe Biden's victory in the state have announced plans to run for the position that leads the state GOP, while the third has said she is considering a challenge for the top post. Kristina Karamo, a community college professor who lost her race for secretary of state after mounting a campaign filled with election conspiracies, used the same kind of charged language she had throughout her campaign in announcing her intention to run for Michigan party chair.
news.yahoo.comRail workers say deal won't resolve quality-of-life concerns
Most railroad workers weren't surprised that Congress intervened this week to block a railroad strike, but they were disappointed because they say the deals lawmakers imposed didn't do enough to address their quality of life concerns about demanding schedules and the lack of paid sick time.
Rail workers say deal won't resolve quality-of-life concerns
When BNSF railroad conductor Justin Schaaf needed to take time off from work this summer, he had to make a choice: go to the dentist to get a cavity in his molar filled or attend a party for his son's 7th birthday. "Ultimately I decided to take the day off for my kid’s birthday party,” Schaaf said. President Joe Biden signed a bill Friday to block a strike and force workers to accept the agreements union leaders made in September, even though four of the 12 unions — which include a majority of rail workers — voted to reject them. Business groups had been urging Biden to intervene for weeks.
news.yahoo.comIndiana judge won't block probe over 10-year-old's abortion
An Indiana judge on Friday rejected an attempt to block the state’s Republican attorney general from continuing his office’s investigation of an Indianapolis doctor who has spoken publicly about providing an abortion to a 10-year-old rape victim who traveled from Ohio after its more-restrictive abortion law took effect. The ruling comes two days after the attorney general's office asked the state medical licensing board to discipline Dr. Caitlin Bernard, alleging she violated state law by not reporting the girl’s child abuse to Indiana authorities and broke patient privacy laws by telling a newspaper reporter about the girl’s treatment.
news.yahoo.comNewt Gingrich praises Biden, warns GOP against underestimating president
President Biden recently received praise — backhanded and qualified, but praise all the same — from one of the figures least likely to offer a favorable assessment of a Democratic administration: former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
news.yahoo.comPutin says strikes on Ukraine infrastructure 'inevitable'
President Vladimir Putin said on Friday Russia's strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure were "inevitable" as the Kremlin rejected US President Joe Biden's terms for talks and warned the assault would continue. After suffering humiliating military defeats during what has become the largest armed conflict in Europe since World War II, Russia began targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure in October, causing sweeping blackouts. Speaking with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for the first time since mid-September, Putin slammed what he called the West's "destructive" policies in Ukraine and said Russian strikes were a response to "provocative" attacks from Kyiv. Moscow "had long refrained from precision missile strikes against certain targets on the territory of Ukraine", Putin told Scholz, according to a Kremlin readout of the phone talks. "But now such measures have become a forced and inevitable response to Kyiv's provocative attacks on Russia's civilian infrastructure," the Kremlin said, referring in particular to the October attack on a bridge linking Moscow-annexed Crimea to the Russian mainland. During the hour-long call with Putin, Scholz "urged the Russian president to come as quickly as possible to a diplomatic solution including the withdrawal of Russian troops", according to the German leader's spokesman Steffen Hebestreit. Putin urged Berlin to "reconsider its approaches in the context of the Ukrainian events", the Kremlin said. He accused the West of carrying out "destructive" policies in Ukraine, stressing that its political and financial aid "leads to the fact that Kyiv completely rejects the idea of any negotiations". Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had ruled out any talks with Russia while Putin is in power shortly after the Kremlin claimed to have annexed several Ukrainian regions. - Offensive 'continues' - The Kremlin also indicated Moscow was in no mood for talks over Ukraine, after Biden said he would be willing to sit down with Putin if the Russian leader truly wanted to end the fighting. "What did President Biden say in fact? He said that negotiations are possible only after Putin leaves Ukraine," Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, adding Moscow was "certainly" not ready to accept those conditions. "The special military operation continues," he added, using the Kremlin term for the assault launched on February 24. Russia's strikes have destroyed close to half of the Ukrainian energy system and left millions in the cold and dark at the onset of winter. In the latest estimates from Kyiv, Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to Zelensky, said as many as 13,000 Ukrainian troops have died in the fighting. Both Moscow and Kyiv are suspected of minimising their losses to avoid damaging the morale. Top US general Mark Milley last month said more than 100,000 Russian military personnel have been killed or wounded in Ukraine, with Kyiv's forces likely suffering similar casualties. - 'We are not defeated' - The fighting in Ukraine has also claimed the lives of thousands of Ukrainian civilians and forced millions to flee their homes. Those who remain in the country have had to cope with emergency blackouts as authorities sought to relieve the pressure on the energy infrastructure. In an attempt to boost the mood in the capital Kyiv, musicians played a classical music concert on Thursday with hundreds of LED candles lighting up the stage. "We thought it was a good idea to save energy," Irina Mikolaenko, one of the concert's organisers, told AFP. She said they wanted to spread "inspiration, light and love" and "tell people that we are not defeated". Ukrainian officials have said they are expecting a new wave of Russian attacks shortly. Meanwhile, Western nations have been seeking ways to further starve Russia of resources to fight in Ukraine by imposing a price cap on its oil exports on top of a multitude of sanctions already introduced against Moscow. On Thursday evening, European diplomats were close to nodding the plan through, but Poland refused to back the scheme, saying the $60 a barrel ceiling was not low enough. Moscow has previously warned that it will not export oil to countries enforcing a price cap. bur/bp
news.yahoo.comPutin says strikes on Ukraine infrastructure 'inevitable'
President Vladimir Putin said on Friday Russia's strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure were "inevitable" as the Kremlin rejected US President Joe Biden's terms for talks and warned the assault would continue. After suffering humiliating military defeats during what has become the largest armed conflict in Europe since World War II, Russia began targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure in October, causing sweeping blackouts. Speaking with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for the first time since mid-September, Putin slammed what he called the West's "destructive" policies in Ukraine and said Russian strikes were a response to "provocative" attacks from Kyiv. Moscow "had long refrained from precision missile strikes against certain targets on the territory of Ukraine", Putin told Scholz, according to a Kremlin readout of the phone talks. "But now such measures have become a forced and inevitable response to Kyiv's provocative attacks on Russia's civilian infrastructure," the Kremlin said, referring in particular to the October attack on a bridge linking Moscow-annexed Crimea to the Russian mainland. During the hour-long call with Putin, Scholz "urged the Russian president to come as quickly as possible to a diplomatic solution including the withdrawal of Russian troops", according to the German leader's spokesman Steffen Hebestreit. Putin urged Berlin to "reconsider its approaches in the context of the Ukrainian events", the Kremlin said. He accused the West of carrying out "destructive" policies in Ukraine, stressing that its political and financial aid "leads to the fact that Kyiv completely rejects the idea of any negotiations". Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had ruled out any talks with Russia while Putin is in power shortly after the Kremlin claimed to have annexed several Ukrainian regions. - Offensive 'continues' - The Kremlin also indicated Moscow was in no mood for talks over Ukraine, after Biden said he would be willing to sit down with Putin if the Russian leader truly wanted to end the fighting. "What did President Biden say in fact? He said that negotiations are possible only after Putin leaves Ukraine," Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, adding Moscow was "certainly" not ready to accept those conditions. "The special military operation continues," he added, using the Kremlin term for the assault launched on February 24. Russia's strikes have destroyed close to half of the Ukrainian energy system and left millions in the cold and dark at the onset of winter. In the latest estimates from Kyiv, Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to Zelensky, said as many as 13,000 Ukrainian troops have died in the fighting. Both Moscow and Kyiv are suspected of minimising their losses to avoid damaging the morale. Top US general Mark Milley last month said more than 100,000 Russian military personnel have been killed or wounded in Ukraine, with Kyiv's forces likely suffering similar casualties. - 'We are not defeated' - The fighting in Ukraine has also claimed the lives of thousands of Ukrainian civilians and forced millions to flee their homes. Those who remain in the country have had to cope with emergency blackouts as authorities sought to relieve the pressure on the energy infrastructure. In an attempt to boost the mood in the capital Kyiv, musicians played a classical music concert on Thursday with hundreds of LED candles lighting up the stage. "We thought it was a good idea to save energy," Irina Mikolaenko, one of the concert's organisers, told AFP. She said they wanted to spread "inspiration, light and love" and "tell people that we are not defeated". Ukrainian officials have said they are expecting a new wave of Russian attacks shortly. Meanwhile, Western nations have been seeking ways to further starve Russia of resources to fight in Ukraine by imposing a price cap on its oil exports on top of a multitude of sanctions already introduced against Moscow. On Thursday evening, European diplomats were close to nodding the plan through, but Poland refused to back the scheme, saying the $60 a barrel ceiling was not low enough. Moscow has previously warned that it will not export oil to countries enforcing a price cap. bur/bp
news.yahoo.comHouse panel says lax screening helped facilitate PPP fraud
A House investigations panel says financial technology firms “abdicated” their responsibility to screen out fraud in applications for a federal program designed to help small businesses stay open and keep workers employed during the pandemic.
Denver gets go-ahead from EPA after progress on lead pipes
The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday approved a nearly $700 million plan to remove all lead water pipes in the Denver region, saying the local water utility’s approach for reducing lead levels is succeedings and making swift progress.
In Biden's first state visit, French President Macron says U.S. must stand with democracies amid Russian aggression
Macron made the comments during the welcoming ceremony of Biden's first state dinner. The president chose to host France in honor of its status as the U.S.'s oldest ally.
cnbc.comKarine Jean-Pierre ripped for 'categorically false' claim Biden visited the border: 'Caught in lies daily'
Twitter users blasted White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s claims during Wednesday’s press conference that President Biden has visited the southern border as false.
foxnews.comSedition trial win bolsters Justice Dept. in Jan. 6 probe
The seditious conspiracy convictions of Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and another leader in the far-right extremist group show that jurors are willing to hold accountable not just the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, but those who schemed to subvert the 2020 election.
AG: Penalize doctor who spoke of Ohio 10-year-old's abortion
Indiana’s Republican attorney general has asked the state medical licensing board to discipline an Indianapolis doctor who has spoken publicly about providing an abortion to a 10-year-old rape victim who traveled from Ohio after its more-restrictive abortion law took effect.
Oath Keepers' Rhodes guilty of Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy
Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes has been convicted of seditious conspiracy for a violent plot to overturn President Joe Biden's election, handing the Justice Department a major victory in its massive prosecution of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.