USA

The man who gruesomely murdered a Virginia family on New Year’s Day 11 years ago is put to death

Death Row inmate Ricky Gray, 39, was put to death Wednesday night by the state of Virginia. Eleven years ago, Gray walked into a family’s home on New Year’s Day and killed two young girls and their parents by slashing their throats and then setting their home ablaze. Gray reportedly showed no emotion as he […]

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USA

Haughty Palm Beach learns to love Trump, once a scorned outsider

PALM BEACH, Fla. — The genteel people of Palm Beach, home to the old-money fortunes of captains-of-industry scions, once ridiculed even their wealthy Kennedy neighbors — with their Irish Catholicism, Hollywood paparazzi and family scandals — as contemptible nouveau riche. Then came Donald Trump. Immediately branded by the notoriously insular locals as a vulgar arriviste,

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USA

Trump Nominee for U.N. Ambassador Supports Moving U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem

New York, Ramallah- South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley seconded criticism of the United Nations by the new U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and many of their fellow Republicans before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, especially for what she termed its “bias” against Israel. At her Senate confirmation hearing, Haley slammed the Obama administration for allowing “mistreatment”

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Middle East, USA

How this torture survivor from Chad made good on ‘a pact with God’

Souleymane Guengueng tells me his story in the Bronx, where he lives on the 16th floor of a 21-story housing project with his wife and three kids. He’s stylish, wearing a green collared shirt and his signature fedora. “I am a survivor of torture,” he says, sitting on his couch. “I have fought for human

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International, USA

Donald Trump Wants To Eliminate The National Endowment For The Arts

The National Endowment for the Arts, the independent federal agency that promotes and funds art in American communities, will be eliminated if the Trump administration has its way, the Hill reported Thursday. The NEA provides direct grants to art agencies and artists throughout the country. In 2015, the agency awarded grants in every Congressional district,

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Senate committee confirms Trump’s Defense Secretary

A Senate committee on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved James N. Mattis, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Secretary of Defense, according to The Los Angeles Times. Mattis thus became the first of Trump’s Cabinet picks to clear the crucial hurdle. The GOP-led Senate Armed Services Committee voted 26-1 in favor of Mattis on Wednesday, according to the

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Middle East, USA

The day we learn of H.W.’s hospitalization, there is bad news about Barbara Bush as well

3:20 p.m. Former President George W. Bush still plans to attend President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration this week even though his father and mother are hospitalized in Houston. Freddy Ford is a spokesman for the younger Bush in Dallas. He said Wednesday that the 43rd president expects to be in Washington on Friday and doesn’t plan

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USA

Jeff Zucker, CNN president, attacks Donald Trump’s attempts to ‘delegitimize journalism’

CNN’s president says the incoming U.S. commander in chief is trying to “delegitimize journalism.” The rift between President-elect Donald Trump and CNN was highlighted once again on Wednesday with the publication of a New York Magazine interview with Jeff Zucker. The piece prompted attacks against Mr. Trump after the writer revisited reporting on unverified intelligence

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International, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Earth sets heat record in 2016 � for the third year in a row

It’s official: 2016 was the hottest year on record in 122 years of record-keeping, according to independent analyses by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The 1.78-degree jump over the mid-20th-century average marks the third year in a row that global temperatures have reached record-shattering levels. Earth’s average surface temperature has risen about

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The World We Share, USA

Obama’s parting message: Hope

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama closed his presidency on a note of optimism Wednesday, telling a room of reporters that, despite the worry felt by many of his fellow partisans about the incoming Trump administration, “we’re going to be OK.” In what was scheduled as the final news conference of his presidency, Obama said that

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USA

Donald Trump taps Sonny Perdue as his agriculture chief

ATLANTA — President-elect Donald Trump picked former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue on Wednesday to be his agriculture secretary, tapping a veterinarian-turned-politician who was the state’s first Republican governor in more than a century to lead the sprawling department. Perdue, 70, had emerged as Trump’s leading contender to run the agriculture department in recent days, and

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USA

Congress looks to punish ‘sanctuary campus’ colleges that protect illegal immigrants

Forget sanctuary cities: The next heated congressional battle on immigration could be over “sanctuary campuses” – colleges and universities who say that unless they’re forced by law, they’ll resist any cooperation with federal immigration agents. Dozens of schools have already declared themselves sanctuaries and many more are debating the move, and Rep. Duncan Hunter, California

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San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Decoding Trump’s Bizarre Inaugural Speechwriting Photo

Lost in all of the hype surrounding the last-minute artist bookings, boycotts and protest rallies is the fact that Trump will deliver a speech during Friday’s inauguration. According to reports, it will last about 20 minutes and focus on Trump’s nationalism, rather than specific policies. Related: These lawmakers will boycott Trump’s inauguration on Friday Trump

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USA