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Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson's ex-press director faced sexual harassment, misogyny, racism complaints before firing

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CHICAGO — Mayor Brandon Johnson’s former communications director, Ronnie Reese, was accused of sexual harassment, misogyny, racism and other abusive behavior before he was terminated late last month, according to three internal complaints City Hall staffers filed against him.

The alleged behavior ranged from unwanted physical contact to ...Read more

Steve Schaefer/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS

Car thefts at the Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport are on the rise. Here's what you should know

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ATLANTA — Car thefts have skyrocketed at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport over past year.

Law enforcement officials say they’re taking extra steps to secure the tens of thousands of parking spots at the travel hub over the holidays, but are warning residents to take extra precautions if they plan to leave their cars ...Read more

U.S. District Court of Eastern District of New York/U.S. District Court of Eastern District of New York/TNS

Stray gunshot through neighbor's wall leads cops to NYC drug stash house, feds say

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NEW YORK — Talk about a bad shot. A stray bullet that punched through a neighbor’s wall led police and the feds to find a suspected Brooklyn drug dealer’s stash of guns, cocaine and cash, prosecutors allege.

Trouble started mounting for 30-year-old Kevin Tapia on Nov. 17, when one of his Brooklyn neighbors on the third floor of their Bay...Read more

Terrorism is spreading in west Africa – foreign and regional collaboration are needed to fight the threat

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The United States army has completed its withdrawal from Niger after 11 years of military cooperation with the west African country.

This follows a major disagreement earlier in the year when the Nigerien government accused the US of a condescending attitude during negotiations.

The US withdrew military support after the junta...Read more

Dangerous pesticides are a problem in South Africa – pests and poor controls are to blame

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South Africa’s townships – urban areas created for black people under apartheid – have long experienced problems with massive pest infestations and the selling of pesticides on the streets and in informal markets.

Street pesticides are poisonous substances that are legally registered for agricultural uses but are decanted ...Read more

Kate Green/Getty Images North America/TNS

Liam Payne pal got him escorts, cocaine hours before death, prosecutors say

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Liam Payne texted his friend about obtaining escorts and drugs before his fatal fall from a Buenos Aires balcony, according to docs filed by national prosecutors who have charged the Argentine businessman with abandonment.

Argentine businessman Rogelio “Roger” Nores, one of three charged in connection with the 31-year-old singer’s fall ...Read more

Spencer Platt/Getty Images North America/TNS

ICE is exploring expanding New Jersey immigrant detention facilities, potentially adding 600 beds

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ICE is exploring proposals to expand its capacity to detain immigrants in New Jersey, potentially adding 600 beds in at least two facilities, according to information provided through a lawsuit filed by the ACLU.

The news comes as the incoming Trump administration pledges to carry out mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, an operation ...Read more

Trial begins in lawsuit alleging racism at Seattle Children's hospital

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SEATTLE — A civil trial is underway this week to hear arguments about whether Seattle Children's hospital racially discriminated against the former medical director of its Odessa Brown Children's Clinic.

Dr. Benjamin Danielson, who led the clinic for over two decades and is a longtime advocate for increasing health care access for ...Read more

Brandon Bell/Getty Images North America/Getty Images

Trump and recess appointments: A procedural and legal quagmire

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WASHINGTON — With some of President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet and other presumptive nominees facing an uncertain path to confirmation, some Republicans have considered embracing recess appointments to allow Trump to temporarily fill vacancies without Senate approval. But that approach might come with its own complications.

Many GOP ...Read more

Marc Bruxelle/DREAMSTIME/TNS

White House rule would expand coverage of anti-obesity drugs

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WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Tuesday proposed expanding drug coverage under Medicare and Medicaid to include anti-obesity drugs — a move rebuking Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s critique of the popular medications.

The proposed rule from the Department of Health and Human Services seeks to expand when Medicare and Medicaid can cover ...Read more

D.A. Varela/Miami Herald/TNS

Doral, Florida, vows action against county on incinerator, may try to recruit Trump to its cause

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MIAMI — On the heels of a recommendation by Miami-Dade’s mayor to keep a controversial waste incinerator in Doral, city officials have vowed to fight it, including perhaps attempting to recruit to their cause President-elect Donald Trump, who owns a major resort within city limits.

On Friday, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava reversed ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Former Colorado public defender alleges he was fired for raising concerns about representing too many clients

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DENVER — A Colorado public defender alleges he was fired in retaliation for publicly raising concerns that his workload was too high for him to ethically represent his clients, according to a newly-filed lawsuit against the Colorado Office of State Public Defender.

Five-year Colorado public defender Travis Weiner said he was fired in February...Read more

Aamir Qureshi/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Pakistan's Khan supporters plan sit-in after deadly protest

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Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party has announced a sit-in after thousands of his supporters breached roadblocks and clashed with police for two days to converge in Islamabad in deadly protests that killed at least six people.

The violence erupted when protesters demanding the release of jailed opposition leader Khan ...Read more

Fadel Itani/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Israel deliberates cease-fire to end ongoing bombing of Lebanon

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Israel’s security cabinet began deliberating a cease-fire with Lebanon-based Hezbollah, according to an Israeli official, even as the air force conducted simultaneous heavy strikes on Beirut.

The meeting of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s top coalition members started Tuesday afternoon, said the official, with a vote likely to take ...Read more

Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Biden proposes Medicare, Medicaid coverage of obesity drugs

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WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is proposing a rule that would require the U.S. government to cover weight-loss drugs, potentially expanding access for millions of Americans with obesity and creating a huge new medical bill for President-elect Donald Trump.

The Medicare insurance program now pays for drugs like Novo Nordisk A/S’s ...Read more

Russia warns of response as Ukraine strikes with US missiles

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Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces were preparing a response to Ukraine’s recent attacks using U.S.-supplied ATACMS missiles on air defense units in the Kursk border region.

“In the last three days, the AFU carried out two strikes at objects in the Kursk region by long-range Western-made weaponry,” the ministry said in a ...Read more

Biden proposes Medicare, Medicaid coverage of obesity drugs

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WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is proposing a rule that would require the U.S. government to cover weight-loss drugs, potentially expanding access for millions of Americans with obesity and creating a huge new medical bill for President-elect Donald Trump.

The Medicare insurance program now pays for drugs like Novo Nordisk A/S’s ...Read more

Maduro purges rivals from Venezuela with wave of repression

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The energized Venezuelan opposition movement that could have unseated Nicolás Maduro in this year’s presidential election has scattered to the wind.

Around 100 leaders and many more activists from the Unitary Platform have fled the country since Maduro unleashed an intense wave of repression after his disputed win on July 28. Edmundo Gonzá...Read more

Americans will throw out 316 million pounds of food on Thanksgiving. Here's how it fuels climate change

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LOS ANGELES — Each day, an army of trucks delivers tens of thousands of pounds of fresh fruit and vegetables to Mexico City's Central de Abasto, one of the world's largest wholesale food markets.

Most of the produce finds its way to people's kitchens, and eventually their stomachs. But around 420 tons goes bad each day before it can be sold. ...Read more

Imran Khan supporters plan sit-in after deadly Pakistan protest

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Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party has announced a sit-in after thousands of his supporters breached roadblocks and clashed with police for two days to converge in Islamabad in deadly protests that killed at least five people.

The violence erupted when protesters demanding the release pf jailed opposition leader Khan ...Read more