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Vivek Ramaswamy proposes mass federal layoffs as more GOP hopefuls look to slash US government

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:02:31 GMT

Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy on Wednesday laid out his ideas to shut down the FBI and fire more than 1 million federal workers, lining up with increasingly sweeping conservative proposals targeting the federal government and particularly law enforcement.Candidates trying to beat former President Donald Trump have responded to growing anger among GOP primary voters about the indictments against Trump as well as federal investigations and policies seen as unfairly targeting conservatives. Ramaswamy’s proposals are among the broadest in the field. Speaking at the America First Policy Institute in Washington, he said he would try to reduce the federal employee headcount by half in his first year in office and by 75% during his first term if he makes it to the White House.He wants to shut down five federal agencies, including the FBI and the Department of Education. He said he would also eliminate the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,...

Senator subpoenas Saudis for documents on LIV-PGA Tour golf deal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:02:31 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The chairman of a Senate investigations subcommittee issued a subpoena Wednesday for documents on Saudi Arabia’s new golf partnership with the PGA Tour, saying the kingdom had to be more transparent about what he said was its $35 billion in investments in the United States.The move is the latest to challenge Saudi Arabia’s assertion that as a foreign government that enjoys sovereign immunity from many U.S. laws, it is not obliged to provide information on the golf deal.Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s subpoena comes after the Connecticut Democrat’s unsuccessful requests to the head of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, Yassir al Rumayyan, to testify before Blumenthal’s Senate permanent select investigations subcommittee about the Saudi-PGA golf deal.The surprise deal, which would join the venerable PGA Tour and a rival Saudi-funded golf start-up, LIV, was announced in June. It overnight gave the Saudi government a major role in one o...

National Book Award longlists released for young people’s literature and works in translation

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:02:31 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The National Book Award longlist for young people’s literature features a range of grownup topics, from the deadly famine in Ukraine in the 1930s to the 1963 March on Washington to the underpinnings of the Internet. The list of 10 was announced Wednesday by the National Book Foundation, which also released 10 nominees in literature in translation, with original languages including Korean, Arabic and French. The lists, along with those for fiction, nonfiction and poetry to be announced later this week, will be narrowed next month to five in each category. The winners will be revealed during a Manhattan ceremony Nov. 15. Drew Barrymore had been scheduled to host but was dropped this week by the foundation after she resumed taping her talk show in the midst of the Hollywood writers’ strike.In young people’s literature, books include Katherine Marsh’s “The Lost Year: A Survival Story of the Ukrainian Famine,” Dan Nott’s graphic novel “Hidden...

Talking Heads appear together for first time in over 20 years at 'Stop Making Sense' screening

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:02:31 GMT

TORONTO — Members of the iconic new wave group Talking Heads appeared together Monday for the first time in more than 20 years.David Byrne, Tina Weymouth, Chris Frantz and Jerry Harrison took part in a Q&A session, hosted by Spike Lee, at the Toronto International Film Festival. It followed the debut restored screening of the iconic 1984 concert film "Stop Making Sense" — released by A24.It marked the first time the band was together since performing at their 2002 Rock and Rock Hall of Fame induction.In an August NME interview, keyboardist and guitarist Jerry Harrison told the U.K. outlet that working on the re-release of "Stop Making Sense" has acted as "somewhat of a healing experience."The group did not perform and mainly discussed the concert film, according to NME. They did not reportedly mention their heated breakup.Deciding not to tour after 1985's "Little Creatures," 1986's "True Stories" and 1988's "Naked," the group disbanded in 1991 after an LA Times article was publi...

Bears will have a uniform change for game vs Buccaneers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:02:31 GMT

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — The Bears are going to change up their look for their second game of the 2023 NFL season.It's a change that concerns one color.The team will don their orange jerseys and orange helmets during their game against the Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa at Noon on Sunday. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images)The combination was introduced for the first time during the 2022 season, which the franchise said was the first time they had a helmet that didn't have a primary blue color. Orange jerseys were worn by the team for a time in the 1930s but have been used as an alternate off and on since 2004. Last season, the Bears wore the orange helmets and jerseys twice, and neither time it brought them luck. In Week 6 on Thursday Night Football, the Bears lost to the Cowboys 12-7 at Soldier Field then lost to the Cowboys with that combination in Week 8 49-29.When the Bears will wear these uniforms again is still unknown since the team didn't announce their uniform sc...

Amazon says its increasing pay for contracted delivery drivers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:02:31 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon says it’s boosting pay for contracted drivers who deliver millions of packages to customers every day.The company announced at a conference for delivery firms this week that it will invest $440 million over the next year to increase pay rates for drivers. It did not disclose how much the bump will be, but said it expects U.S. drivers to earn an average of $20.50 per hour.Many of Amazon’s delivery service partners, or DSPs, already pay well above that. The company did not share the minimum pay for drivers across the country. According to its website, some at select stations make at least $20 per hour.The e-commerce company launched its delivery service partners program in 2018 as part of an effort to reduce its reliance on outside carriers such as UPS and FedEx. Over the past five years, Amazon says 3,500 firms have signed up for the program and created 279,000 delivery jobs worldwide. The company gives the firms a pot of money to cover pay and other expenses f...

Packers fans stunned after deal for free drinks is cancelled by Jets win

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:02:31 GMT

MILWAUKEE, Wis. (WTVO) — Packers fans at Jack's American Pub in Milwaukee were stuck with stunned expressions and expensive tabs after a deal for free drinks fell through at the last second.Fans flocked to Jack's on Monday for quite the promotion. The bar offered to pick up all drink tabs if the New York Jets lost to the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football. The best dive bars in every state, according to Yelp The deal appeared promising after former Packers and current Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers was forced to leave the game due to injury. (It was later determined Rodgers tore his Achilles tendon, putting him out for the remainder of the season.) Drinks began to flow as many believed a Jets loss was all but guaranteed, according to Milwaukee's WDJT, which was broadcasting live from the bar.Aaron Rodgers of the New York Jets is helped off the field after an injury during the first quarter of a game against the Buffalo Bills on Sept. 11, 2023, in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (...

El Chapo's wife released from US custody after completing 3-year prison sentence

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:02:31 GMT

The wife of Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was released from federal custody on Wednesday after completing a three-year sentence for helping him run his multibillion-dollar criminal empire, the federal Bureau of Prisons said.Emma Coronel Aispuro, who pleaded guilty in 2021 to three federal offenses as part of a plea deal with federal prosecutors, had been moved from a Texas prison to a California halfway house prior to her release. She will now serve four years of supervised release. Coronel Aispuro expressed “true regret for any and all harm” when she was sentenced after pleading guilty to charges including money laundering conspiracy and engaging in transactions with a foreign narcotics trafficker.She also helped her husband plan a dramatic escape through a tunnel dug underneath a prison in Mexico in 2015 by smuggling to him a GPS watch disguised as a food item, prosecutors have said. That helped those digging the tunnel pinpoint his location and reach him. El Chap...

Armed individual arrested for 'incident' on UNC-Chapel Hill campus, all-clear given

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:02:31 GMT

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WNCN) — Sirens rang out as students and staff were urged to once again hide and seek shelter at UNC-Chapel Hill's campus Wednesday afternoon.An emergency alert regarding an armed and dangerous person on or near UNC Chapel Hill's campus went out on Wednesday at 1:54 p.m. This scare came two weeks and two days after the fatal shooting of Associate Professor Dr. Zijie Yan inside the Caudill Labs building on campus.Chapel Hill police announced the arrest of 27-year-old Mickel Deonte Harris of Durham in connection to an incident that triggered the lockdown. Harris, police said, already had an arrest warrant out for him for an assault on Sept. 5.According to a statement from Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz, the alert was activated following reports of a person pulling out a gun inside the Student Union. UNC Police reported no shots were fired, and the situation was related to a "personnel matter.""Following the incident on Monday, Aug. 28, the news of another armed person a...

James Webb telescope stumbles onto signs of possible life on Earth-like planet

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:02:31 GMT

(WTAJ) -- Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope say they have stumbled onto possible signs of life coming from a massive Earth-like exoplanet, NASA confirmed in a release. K2-18 b is an exoplanet -- a planet outside our solar system -- that's 8.6 times as massive as Earth. A new investigation with the JWST revealed the presence of "carbon-bearing molecules" that include methane and carbon dioxide. The findings add to recent studies that suggest that K2-18 b could be a Hycean exoplanet, meaning it has the potential to hold a hydrogen-rich atmosphere and a water-covered surface, NASA reported. Astronomers first studied K2-18 b's atmosphere with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope in 2019. The results prompted further studies of the massive exoplanet that have changed experts understanding of the system. "Our findings underscore the importance of considering diverse habitable environments in the search for life elsewhere," explained Nikku Madhusudhan, an astronomer at the Universi...