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Despite Washington chaos, Americans still want to support Ukraine

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:26:17 GMT

Ivo Daalder, former U.S. ambassador to NATO, is CEO of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and host of the weekly podcast “World Review with Ivo Daalder.”Europe is fearful that the United States will no longer provide military support to Ukraine — and its not alone. During a surprise visit to NATO headquarters early this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy voiced similar concerns.The immediate reason for this is Congress’ failure to include additional funding in a short-term bill to keep the U.S. government open last month. But the deeper worry is that America’s political dysfunction has reached a point where anything seems possible — even Donald Trump’s return to the presidency.There is plenty of material to justify these fears. Despite his legal woes, Trump remains the front-runner in the contest to secure the presidential nomination for the Republican Party. The House of Representatives voted to unseat its Speaker for the first time in its nearly 250-year history. And...

Blame Barbie! Glitter brings sparkle to Starmer and sadness to the EU

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:26:17 GMT

Welcome to Declassified, a weekly humor column.Spare a thought in these difficult times for glitter. A bunch of the shiny stuff (which is just microplastics wearing its fanciest going-out-on-a-Friday-night outfit) was dumped on Keir Starmer just as the U.K. Labour leader was about to give his big party conference speech in Liverpool. It was an odd choice from the protester, who was from a previously unheard-of group named People Demand Democracy. Hit someone in the face with a cream pie or bash them over the head with an egg and they look a bit foolish for a while afterward. Pour glitter on them and they look, well, glittering!And that’s particularly true if the politician in question is seen, as Starmer is, by many as being rather dull (for older readers, the Lighthouse Family of politics. Don’t Google that band, especially if you are about to operate heavy machinery). Police are looking for Barbie and/or Ken in connection with the glitter attack.Speaking of People Dema...

How to watch the Polish election like a pro

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:26:17 GMT

WARSAW — Poles vote Sunday to elect a new government in a race that could convulse the EU.Vying for dominance are the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party and the opposition Civic Coalition, along with three smaller groups that could prove kingmakers.With PiS leading in the polls, critics say a third term for the euroskeptic conservatives will further strangle the independent judiciary, women’s and minority rights, and put the accelerator on Warsaw’s collision course with Brussels.The election has been overshadowed by concerns about media freedom and electoral fairness. As if that weren’t enough, the PiS government has thrown another curveball at the opposition by holding a controversial referendum on migration, national security and the retirement age on election day. Critics have called the plebiscite a politically motivated ploy to sway the electorate into casting their votes for PiS. Here’s what you need to know to watch the October 15 election like a pro:How doe...

Why Israel-Hamas is Erdoğan’s new ‘mission impossible’

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:26:17 GMT

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been frustrated in his efforts to mediate in the Russia-Ukraine war. But after Hamas’ shock massacre in Israel he’s looking for another chance to play the peacemaker.As global powers including the U.S. and the Gulf countries seek behind the scenes to prevent the Israel-Hamas conflict from spreading, the Turkish president has been engaged in his own hectic brand of diplomacy.“I’m having talks with regional leaders … trying to figure out how we can mediate and stop this war,” he said this week, after conversations with, among others, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres and Russian President Vladimir Putin.He’s also spoken to Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Palestinian chief Mahmoud Abbas, as well as the Egyptian, Lebanese and Qatari leaders.Turkish state TV even said Wednesday night that Turkey had started a negotiation process for the release of prisoners held by Hamas in Gaza.Ther...

Parents sue Hyatt Hotels Corporation over wrongful death of 1-year-old son

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:26:17 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A local family is suing Hyatt Hotel Corporations, claiming the company is at fault for the death of their child.The family was vacationing at a resort in Mexico when Nico Carter fell from the ninth floor balcony."He was the most selfless, kind and giving and loving boy ever. He was my everything, he was my best friend,” mother Anastasia Duboshina said.The parents called it "a living nightmare," saying "you always hope you are going to wake up from it one day. We can’t accept he’s gone.”Now Nico’s parents are suing Hyatt Hotels Corporation over the death of their baby boy. The suit alleges Hyatt's “inexcusable negligence” caused “the tragic and entirely preventable death of Nico."“We feel like Hyatt let us down. We relied on them for a safe environment for our family and we feel like they let us down in the most horrific and tragic way,” Carter said.  The parents booked a stay at the Hyatt Ziva Puerto Vallarta in October 2021. On the third day of their vacation, Jam...

GOP’s Scalise ends his bid to become House speaker as Republican holdouts refuse to back the nominee

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:26:17 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Steve Scalise ended his bid to become House speaker late Thursday after hardline holdouts refused to back the party’s nominee, throwing the GOP majority into deeper chaos and leaving the chamber still unable to function.Scalise told GOP colleagues at a closed-door evening meeting of his decision and pointedly declined to announce backing for anyone else, including his chief rival, Rep. Jim Jordan, the far-right Judiciary Committee chairman backed by Donald Trump who had already told colleagues he no longer would seek the job.Next steps are uncertain as the House is essentially closed while the Republican majority tries to elect a speaker after ousting Kevin McCarthy from the job.“I just shared with my colleagues that I’m withdrawing my name as a candidate for speaker-designee,” Scalise said as he emerged from the closed-door meeting at the Capitol.Scalise, R-La., said the Republican majority “still has to come together and is not there.”He had been worki...

Idaho’s longest-serving death row inmate is scheduled for a November execution by lethal injection

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:26:17 GMT

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — An Idaho judge issued a death warrant on Thursday for the state’s longest-serving death row inmate, scheduling his execution for next month. Thomas Creech was convicted of killing two people in Valley County in 1974 and sentenced to death row. But after an appeal that sentence was reduced to life in prison. Less than 10 years later, however, he was convicted of beating a fellow inmate to death with a sock full of batteries, and he was again sentenced to death in 1983. The death warrant was issued by 4th District Judge Jason Scott Thursday afternoon, and the Idaho Department of Correction said Creech would be executed by lethal injection on Nov. 8. “The Department has secured the chemicals necessary to carry out an execution by lethal injection,” the department wrote in a press release. Idaho prison officials have previously had trouble obtaining the chemicals used in lethal injections. The state repeatedly scheduled and canceled another inmate’s plann...

Why an RCMP investigation is bad timing for Ford government

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:26:17 GMT

Premier Doug Ford learned this week his government is now the focus of an RCMP investigation into the Greenbelt land swap. That is likely to make it tougher for the provincial Conservatives to weather the scandal and still win the next election.The investigation comes on the heels of Ontario Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk’s report which found more than 90 per cent of the land removed from the Greenbelt favoured developers with ties to then-housing minister Steve Clark’s chief of staff, Ryan Amato, and the property owners stood to net $8.3 billion as a result of the swap.Both Clark and Amato have since resigned in the wake of Lysyk’s report and one in which the province’s integrity commissioner found the housing minister violated ethics rules.If the RCMP decides to lay criminal charges, it could come at the worst possible time for Doug Ford.“These investigations usually take about a year, maybe a year and a half. That puts you right in the middle of the provincial ele...

Paul Lisnek on race for Speaker of the House, Israel and more

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:26:17 GMT

WGN Political Analyst Paul Lisnek joined WGN Evening News to discuss several big stories from the week.The topics include the latest on the race for Speaker of the House, Israel, and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson's budget proposal. Read more: Latest Chicago news headlines Tune in on Sunday’s for WGN-TV Political Report with Paul Lisnek.

There’s a moose on the loose in southern Minnesota

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:26:17 GMT

A southern Minnesota couple’s rare sighting of a large animal Sunday evening between Lake Crystal and Madelia elicited an identical response.“When my wife and I spotted it, we said at the same time ‘Is that a … moose?'” said Phil Radel, of Nicollet, who was driving on Minnesota 60.The example of North America’s tallest mammal was munching on corn in a field near the Butternut turnoff.“I pull over, off the road, and we watched him for a while,” said Radel. Lindsey Radel snapped photos of the moose, a yearling buck.The Radels’ three children, ages 10, 9 and 7, would have preferred a closer encounter with the animal, which didn’t exhibit any aggression or agitation despite a reputation for being temperamental.“They wanted to get out of the car and pet him,” said Phil Radel, who turned down their request.On Monday morning, the Radels reported their sighting to a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources hotline.“The...