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Tom Perez, Tara McGuinness Join Neera Tanden on Shortlist for Key Biden Policy Adviser

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:14:48 GMT

Among the high-profile departures announced on bloody Monday, one may prove far more historically consequential than the other two. Susan Rice cut a low public profile in her role as director of the Domestic Policy Council, but it is as important a role as any other inside the White House — perhaps more than any other. The choice of her successor will be arguably the most significant President Joe Biden makes in the back half of his first term.With the House in Republican hands, the Biden administration’s ability to wield executive power when it comes to immigration, wages, implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act, executing on its care economy agenda, implementing gun control policies, securing voting rights, or finding creative ways to expand access to abortion services will heavily depend on who Biden taps to run the Domestic Policy Council. The position will also take on heightened importance if the Supreme Court ultimately rejects the administration’s student debt relief p...

Brazil’s Bolsonaro gives testimony to police on Jan. 8 riot

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:14:48 GMT

SAO PAULO (AP) — Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro gave testimony at the Federal Police headquarters Wednesday about his actions related to the Jan. 8 attacks on government buildings in the capital, Brasilia.One week after his leftist successor Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office, Bolsonaro’s supporters raided and trashed the buildings of the Supreme Court, Congress and the presidential palace. Hundreds of them are expected to stand trial.Brazil’s prosecutor-general. Augusto Aras, said earlier this month that Bolsonaro “allegedly encouraged the perpetration of crimes” against the rule of law. The former president had left the country after his defeat and was staying in Orlando, Florida during the attacks, and has denied any involvement in them.Bolsonaro had never openly conceded defeat in the closest presidential race since Brazil’s return to democracy over three decades ago. He also repeatedly made unfounded claims that sowed doubt about the reliability ...

Pricey prawns may imperil Indian grain that combats climate

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:14:48 GMT

KOCHI, India (AP) — On a tiny sliver land in southern India, the future of an ancient grain that helps combat climate change is in doubt.An ongoing tussle in Chellanam village, a suburb of the bustling city of Kochi, which has the Arabian Sea on one side and estuaries on the other, could decide the fate of the cultivation of pokkali rice.In many wetlands in the area, farmers have traditionally dedicated half the year to pokkali rice and the other six months to prawns. In 2022, the Fisheries Department of Kerala issued an order that farmers no longer needed to dedicate part of the year to pokkali, exacerbating a trend away from pokkali already under way. While prawns fetch more money than pokkali, a focus on them is upending a delicate ecosystem, making it difficult for farmers who want to continue with pokkali, environmental experts say. M.M. Chandu, a 78-year-old farmer with about 0.8 hectares (a little over 2 acres), said that increasing salinity in the land from year-round prawn ...

Norfolk Southern estimates Ohio derailment will cost $387M

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:14:48 GMT

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Norfolk Southern expects February’s fiery Ohio derailment to cost it $387 million, but that total will likely increase over time and that doesn’t reflect how much the railroad’s insurance companies will eventually cover.The railroad provided a detailed estimate of the cost of Feb. 3 derailment outside East Palestine, Ohio, Wednesday along with first-quarter earnings. That derailment, and others since then, sparked a nationwide focus on railroad safety. Regulators and members of Congress have proposed reforms like capping freight trains lengths and setting standards for the trackside detectors used to spot problems.CEO Alan Shaw told Congress that he backs some proposals like enhanced standards for tank cars, but insists the data doesn’t support other ideas like minimum two-person crews. Shaw reiterated his often-stated promise Wednesday to “do whatever it takes to make it right for East Palestine and the surrounding areas.”The $387 million ...

Se cumplen 5 años de que el fenómeno mundial “Despacito” arrasara en los Premios Billboard

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:14:48 GMT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – “Despacito”, la famosa canción de Luis Fonsi y Daddy Yankee, cumple este miércoles cinco años de haber arrasado en los Premios Billboard de la Música Latina de 2018 con seis galardones, incluyendo Canción del Año.El videoclip, convertido en su momento en el más visto de la historia de YouTube, fue filmado totalmente en el Viejo San Juan, incluyendo el barrio popular de La Perla, y hoy varios de los músicos del video de Luis Fonsi y Daddy Yankee lo recuerdan como un himno popular.La filmación fue dirigida por el también puertorriqueño Carlos Pérez, de la empresa Elastic People, y en él aparece un elenco de bailarines, entre ellos, la ex Miss Universo boricua Zuleyka Rivera (2006), bailando por La Perla y en el icónico bar La Factoría, en la calle San Sebastián del histórico casco sanjuanero.EL CUATRO PUERTORRIQUEÑO DIO EL TOQUE ESPECIALAl son de los acordes de Christian Nieves en el cuatro puertorriqueño, con los que arranca la exitosa canció...

A writer suing former president Donald Trump has taken the witness stand in a trial over her claim that he raped her

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:14:48 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A writer suing former president Donald Trump has taken the witness stand in a trial over her claim that he raped her.Source

Demaryius Thomas to be inducted into Colorado Sports Hall of Fame

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:14:48 GMT

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (KDVR) — The late Demaryius Thomas is set to be posthumously inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame Wednesday night as part of the Class of 2023. He spent nine seasons with the Denver Broncos.Thomas, along with the rest of his class, will forever be enshrined in the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame during its 58th annual banquet.The beloved Broncos wide receiver died in December 2021 at 33 years old from what doctors believed to have been medical complications stemming from a 2019 crash. Doctors at Boston University said Thomas had Stage 2 CTE. Cale Makar suspended 1 game for hit on Jared McCann Thomas came to Denver as a first-round draft pick in 2010. He was part of the winningest four-year period in team history from 2012-15 when the team won two AFC Championships and Super Bowl 50. He also made five consecutive Pro Bowls.“DT,” one of the all-time greatest Broncos wide receivers, announced his official retirement from the NFL in June 2021 after a 10-year ca...

How much snow fell during late-April snowstorm

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:14:48 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- While the Denver metro area only saw rain Tuesday into Wednesday, other areas across Colorado received snow.The rain and snow will continue to move out of the state throughout the day Wednesday. Denver weather: Clearing skies, below average temperatures How much snow fell?Here is a look at the preliminary snowfall totals from the National Weather Service as of 9:30 a.m. Wednesday:Aspen Springs: 6.8 inchesConifer: 10 inchesCrawford: 1.5 inchesCrescent Village: 10 inchesCrested Butte: 4.5 inchesEstes Park: 1.5 inchesEvergreen: 3.5 inchesFlorissant: 1.5 inchesGenesee: 7.5 inchesJamestown: 1.3 inchesJebel: 2 inchesMonument: 4 inchesMontrose: 4 inchesNederland: 3.3 inchesOuray: 5.4 inchesPinecliffe: 8.8 inchesRidgway: 8 inchesRosita: 12 inchesSawpit: 10.5 inchesSilver Cliff: 6 inchesVallecito: 5 inchesVail: 1.9 inchesWestcliffe: 10 inchesWoodland Park: 5 inches When could Denver see its final snow of the season? Don’t see your town or city listed? This lis...

MDPD officer reunites with medical team that saved his life after on-duty crash back in April 2022

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:14:48 GMT

An MDPD officer is getting the chance to meet up again with the people who saved his a life. It has been a year since the accident that almost took his life.It was a remarkable reunion Wednesday for officer Matthew Larsh. Back on April 21, while Larsh was on duty, authorities said an SUV crossed into his path, which left him no room to avoid the violent impact that sent him flying from his motorcycle.New video that was released, showed Larsh being reunited with the doctors and surgeons that helped him during the trying time. “The best family, my wife and my son, and I’ve had the best family in terms of my colleges that are all here in this room today that helped make that happened,” Larsh said. “I’m eternally grateful to everybody here that’s in the room for this, and I’m eternally grateful for the doctors, the fire staff that was in that day and all police officer and motormen that are in this room today.”Due to his injuries from the ...

Senators to introduce bill aimed at strengthening ethical guidelines in the Supreme Court

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:14:48 GMT

(CNN) — A bipartisan pair of senators will introduce legislation on Wednesday that aims to implement new ethics standards on the Supreme Court, though it would still grant the high court extensive power to police itself.The “Supreme Court Code of Conduct Act,” to be introduced by Independent Maine Sen. Angus King, who caucuses with Democrats, and Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, would require the nation’s highest court to enact its own code of conduct within a year of the bill passing.Under the legislation, the court would have the power to “initiate investigations as needed to determine if any Supreme Court justices or staff may have engaged in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice or that violates other federal laws or codes of conduct.”The legislation would also require the court to lay out the rules on its website, name an official to handle complaints about violations of those rules (which could come from anyon...