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North Korea’s Kim vows to bolster war readiness to repel ‘unprecedented’ US-led confrontations

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 16:37:24 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for bolstered war readiness to repel what he said were unprecedented U.S.-led confrontational moves in comments during a key political meeting tasked with setting state objectives for 2024, state media reported Thursday.Kim’s comments indicated once again that North Korea will likely continue weapons tests to modernize its nuclear arsenal for the time being. But observers say Kim likely hopes to eventually use his boosted arsenal as leverage in diplomacy with Washington, possibly after the U.S. presidential election in November next year.During Wednesday’s second-day session of the ruling party’s plenary meeting, Kim set forth unspecified tasks for the military and the munitions industry to “further accelerate the war preparations” in the face of “(anti-North Korea) confrontation moves by the U.S. and its vassal forces unprecedented in history,” the official Korean Central News Agency said.It said Kim also ...

CPD: At least 20 armed robberies believed to be connected

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 16:37:24 GMT

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Police Department issued a community alert after a string of armed robberies believed to be committed by the same group of suspects over the last week.According to the Chicago Police Department, at least 20 armed robberies believed to be connected have been reported on the Near North and West Side of the city since Tuesday, Dec. 19. Concealed carry holder foils attempted carjacking on city’s West Side; multiple gunshots fired: CPD While in a handful of cases victims were physically unharmed, CPD said in at least seven of the incidents, victims were reportedly hit in the head or face with the butt of a handgun.Three other victims were also shot during armed robberies in the last two days, which detectives believe to be connected to the same group of suspects.Police said in most incidents, between three to four suspects, described as males between 17 and 25-years-old, wearing dark clothing and ski masks, approached the victims after getting out of a white Niss...

Colorado GOP asks Supreme Court to overturn Trump ballot ban in state

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 16:37:24 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- The Colorado Republican Party said it has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a ruling from the state's supreme court that removed former President Donald Trump from Colorado's 2024 ballot.In their 4-3 ruling, handed down on Dec. 19, Colorado Supreme Court justices claimed that Trump is ineligible for the ballot under 14th Amendment concerns due to his alleged role in facilitating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Trump blocked from Colorado ballot: 5 takeaways The Colorado GOP is appealing that decision on three points: Whether the role of the president is subject to disqualification by section three of the 14th Amendment, the so-called insurrection clause.Whether Section 3 of the 14th Amendment is "self-executing," in that it allows states to remove candidates from the ballot in the absence of any Congressional action.Whether denying a political party the ability to choose a candidate of its choice in a presidential primary and general election viola...

Tensions rise in the Middle East

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 16:37:24 GMT

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) - Tensions are rising between the U.S. and Iran. Defense officials say American ships shot down more than a dozen drones and missiles in the Red Sea Tuesday following a drone attack on a U.S. air base in Iraq on Christmas day that follows a retaliatory strike by the U.S. on Iranian-backed terrorist groups in Iraq earlier this week.The back-and-forth strikes undercut efforts by the U.S. and others to keep the Israel-Hamas war from spilling into a wider regional conflict.For weeks, Iranian backed militia groups in Yemen and elsewhere have launched drone attacks against shipping freighters in the Red Sea.Many of which were intercepted by U.S. missiles.On Christmas day, U.S. forces in Iraq were injured in a drone attack linked directly to Iran.Officials say three service members there were hurt.The U.S. responded by striking multiple Iranian-backed targets in Iraq.U.S. officials say those strikes killed at least one militant and injured 18 others but also sparked an...

Cats unharmed after fire at St. Paul auto repair shop known for feline inhabitants

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 16:37:24 GMT

A fire broke out a St. Paul auto repair shop known for its cats that roam around inside, but all the felines were unharmed.Firefighters were called to Turbo Tim’s Anything Automotive about 7:35 a.m. Sunday and found a fire inside an automotive repair bay at University Avenue and Pierce Street, according to Deputy Fire Chief Roy Mokosso.Employees who left the building the night before didn’t note any problems, Mokosso said. The fire was ruled as accidental.“All the cats are in a different area of the shop and are just fine,” said Tracy Molm, office manager for all of Turbo Tim’s shops.It was a small fire that was fairly contained, and they checked in with the cats afterward, Molm said.The business was able to open after Christmas.Related ArticlesCrime & Public Safety | Driver killed in Columbus head-on crash identified Crime & Public Safety | St. Paul police ID pedestrian and dog killed in Christmas Eve crash Crime & Publi...

Colorado man sentenced in Nevada power plant fire initially described as terror attack

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 16:37:24 GMT

By KEN RITTER (Associated Press)LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Colorado man was sentenced Wednesday to prison in Nevada following his arrest last January for setting his car afire at a remote facility in what authorities initially characterized as a terror attack on the electric system serving several Las Vegas Strip casinos.Mohammed Reza Mesmarian, 35, was sentenced to two to 10 years following his plea in November to guilty but mentally ill on charges of felony arson and property destruction in the incident at a remote desert solar array about 25 miles (40 kilometers) northeast of downtown Las Vegas.“This was not so much an act of terrorism as a person going through personal issues during COVID, the loss of a marriage and his business,” Mesmarian’s attorney, Jeffrey Nicholson, told The Associated Press after sentencing. Nicholson said he sought probation, but he called Clark County District Court Judge Ronald Israel’s sentence “a good and fair decision.R...

Woman killed in sledgehammer attack on Torrance college campus

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 16:37:24 GMT

Loved ones are devastated after a woman was killed in a violent attack on the campus of El Camino College in Torrance.The victim, identified only as a woman in her 60s, was walking her dog on Christmas Eve morning around 7 a.m. when the attack happened, according to campus police.As the victim was collecting recyclables, she was suddenly attacked by a man with a sledgehammer. He fled the scene before authorities arrived.A passerby had spotted the fallen woman next to the gymnasium building. Arriving officers found the woman unconscious and bleeding from her head.Her dog had remained by her side. Paramedics transferred the woman to a local hospital where she died on Christmas Day from her injuries.After reviewing surveillance footage, campus police identified the suspect as Jeffery Davis, 40, a man they’ve spotted in the community before.El Camino College gymnasium building in Torrance, California. (KTLA)El Camino College gymnasium building in Torrance, California. (KTLA)El Camino Co...

Petition to remove Donald Trump’s star on Hollywood Walk of Fame prompts mixed reactions

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 16:37:24 GMT

A petition to remove Donald Trump’s star from the Hollywood Walk of Fame has received thousands of signatures, but the decision on whether to remove the star is just as controversial as the man whose name is on it. Trump’s star, which he received in 2007, has been destroyed and replaced several times, but no star has ever been permanently removed from the Walk of Fame despite several celebrities’ fall from grace. The man who started the petition to get rid of Trump’s star for good, Andrew Rudick, says that while he has garnered more than 3,800 signatures for his petition, he’s also been the subject of a death threat and an attempted taser attack.  ‘That ’70s Show’ actor Danny Masterson begins lengthy sentence at North Kern State Prison Rudick told KTLA 5’s Mary Beth McDade that in addition to the petition, he has gone to several city organizations in the hopes that they would remove it permanently. “I think the city should take themselves up on that charge and finally stop being ‘...

L.A. neighbors on edge after man damages car in apparent antisemitic hate crime

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 16:37:24 GMT

Neighbors are on edge after video captured a man yelling antisemitic remarks outside a Pico-Robertson home before vandalizing a family's vehicle.The apparent hate crime incident, which happened on Dec. 23, has left residents concerned as incidents of antisemitism are on the rise in Los Angeles and across the country.The video of the hateful tirade has left neighbors shocked, disappointed and angry.“There’s no logic to it,” said one neighbor.“It was very shocking and frightening, especially so close to our home,” said Chaya Nourafchan, another neighbor.The suspect was heard screaming obscenities and antisemitic rhetoric outside of the Jewish family’s home before launching a brick through the back windshield of the family’s car.A suspect remains at large after smashing a family’s car window while yelling anti-Semitic remarks outside a Pico-Robertson home on Dec. 23, 2023.A suspect remains at large after smashing a family’s car window while yelling anti-Semitic remarks outside a Pico-R...

Trump’s Hitler rhetoric denial is part of a broader pattern

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 16:37:24 GMT

By Jill Colvin | Associated PressNEW YORK — Donald Trump has centered his unlikely rise from reality television star to onetime — and potentially future — president on the idea that he’s wiser than Washington’s bumbling political class, once going so far as to label himself a “very stable genius.”But when it comes to one of history’s darkest moments, Trump is professing ignorance.Facing criticism for repeatedly harnessing rhetoric once used by Adolf Hitler to argue that immigrants entering the U.S. illegally are “poisoning the blood of our country,” Trump insisted he had no idea that one of the world’s most reviled and infamous figures once used similar words. The Nazi dictator spoke of impure Jewish blood “poisoning” Aryan German blood to dehumanize Jews and justify the systemic murder of millions during the Holocaust.“I never knew that Hitler said it,” Trump told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Friday, ...