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Month: February 2021

Mario Draghi is named Italy’s new prime minister, announces a political rainbow of cabinet picks

Italy’s next government has taken shape, after Mario Draghi was named Prime Minister and announced a cabinet selected from across the country’s political spectrum. Draghi, a prominent economist, accepted the top role on Friday and later that day read out a list of ministerial picks designed to create buy-in among political parties that have battled

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Trump’s lawyers at impeachment trial look to equate Trump’s speech with Democrats’

Donald Trump’s legal team on Friday sought to equate the former President’s speech with that of Democrats, showing lengthy montages of Democratic politicians saying they would “fight,” to argue that Trump’s rhetoric on January 6 did not incite the rioters who attacked the Capitol afterward. The defense team’s presentation showed Democratic reactions to videos of

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Judge says astronomer’s case against American Girl doll can proceed, dismisses some claims

Click here for updates on this story     Madison (Wisconsin State Journal ) — AChicago astronomer’s claim that Middleton-based dollmaker American Girl appropriated the astronomer’s likeness will go forward, a federal judge ruled Thursday, though he dismissed some of the claims made in the lawsuit. U.S. District Judge James Peterson said he would allow Lucianne Walkowicz,

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In new COVID-19 guidance, CDC recommends 5 key strategies to reopen schools

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday released guidelines for reopening schools, including “five key mitigation strategies” for returning to in-person school safely. Those five key strategies are: the universal and correct wearing of masks; physical distancing; washing hands; cleaning facilities and improving ventilation; and doing contact tracing, isolation, and quarantining. The

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Even without parades, Mardi Gras celebrations pose COVID-19 risk, Alabama’s top doc says

Click here for updates on this story     Mobile, Alabama (WALA) — Even without parades, Mardi Gras celebrations could fuel COVID-19 transmission, Alabama’s top doctor warned Friday. Alabama State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris told reporters that the holiday in Mobile is no different than any occasion that has the potential to draw large numbers of

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What will Mitch McConnell do?

The second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump has been a riveting and disturbing drama — even as we know it will almost certainly end with an acquittal. Impeachment, after all, is a political process. The Senate majority establishes the rules of the trial, which can determine whether witnesses are called or what evidence

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Drugs, machete, gun seized in arrest

Click here for updates on this story     Hendersonville, North Carolina (WLOS) — An Edneyville man was arrested Thursday morning after authorities received a call about a suspicious vehicle parked behind a building on South Allen Road in Hendersonville. The caller said the driver of the vehicle had a domestic violence protective order against him taken

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Amazon wages legal battle with New York attorney general over pandemic safety response

Amazon is waging a legal battle with New York’s attorney general over the company’s Covid-19 protections for workers, filing a federal lawsuit to preempt the state’s demands for more safety measures. In a complaint Friday, Amazon rejected an earlier conclusion by New York Attorney General Letitia James finding that the company had fallen short of

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Find out which countries are welcoming US tourists back

Once one of the world’s most powerful travel documents, the might of the United States passport has been diminished during the pandemic. With US COVID-19 cases now beyond the 27 million mark, some nations continue to view American vacationers warily. In the end, it’s up to you to decide whether travel to international destinations is a good idea. There are obvious

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What you need to know before making a vaccine appointment at your pharmacy

Shipments of COVID-19 vaccines will be headed to pharmacies this week under a federal program that aims to get more people vaccinated quickly. Twenty-one “national pharmacy partners and networks of independent pharmacies representing over 40,000 pharmacy locations nationwide” are taking part in the program, according to a government fact sheet, which includes a list of all participating pharmacies

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Pharmacies start administering their first 1 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from federal government

More retail pharmacies around the country will start to administer COVID-19 vaccines by appointment Friday under a new federal program that is shipping doses directly to them. One million doses have been allocated to 6,500 pharmacies — including some CVS, Walmart, Walgreens and Rite Aid locations — in the first phase of the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program.

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An Indiana university retires its mascot that shares a name with the Ku Klux Klan newspaper

Students who attend Valparaiso University are Crusaders no more. The Lutheran university, aligning with schools and professional sports teams that have recently nixed racist mascots, has announced it will replace its mascot, the Crusader, because of its usage by hate groups. The Crusades represent a period in Medieval history when Christians enacted violent expeditions against

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Paramilitant communications under close scrutiny in Capitol riot investigation, court records show

Secret communications cited in court records are revealing just how aggressively federal prosecutors are working to understand the paramilitary extremists who played a role in the US Capitol insurrection. Two court filings Thursday in the Justice Department’s efforts to keep in jail affiliates of the Oath Keepers, an extremist militant group, rely heavily on text

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If Trump is acquitted, then we may as well strike the impeachment provision from the Constitution

In today’s partisan political world, we often hear folks on both sides of the aisle say, “Elections have consequences,” to explain policy shifts they support. Coming from Alabama, where we all too often have witnessed political figures using “dog whistle” style rhetoric to inflame passions and in many cases incite violence, I also remind people

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What you need to know before making a vaccine appointment at your pharmacy

Shipments of Covid-19 vaccines will be headed to pharmacies this week under a federal program that aims to get more people vaccinated quickly. Twenty-one “national pharmacy partners and networks of independent pharmacies representing over 40,000 pharmacy locations nationwide” are taking part in the program, according to a government fact sheet, which includes a list of

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‘Chappelle’s Show’ is streaming on Netflix again with Dave Chappelle’s blessing

Dave Chappelle has given his blessing to Netflix to run “Chappelle’s Show,” which will start streaming again Friday after the service pulled it over the comedian’s displeasure with the licensing of the show. Chappelle announced the news during a standup set Thursday, a 10-minute performance titled “Redemption Song,” in which he thanked his fans for

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Trump lawyers have a lot of explaining to do

On Day 3 of Trump Impeachment 2, the Democratic House managers provided compelling evidence that Donald Trump knew that what he was saying on Jan. 6 was highly incendiary. They showed how he had previously goaded his supporters to rage and violence at rallies across the country. The usual situation involved Trump urging the crowds

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Germany, fearing new coronavirus variants, imposes border checks with Austria and Czech Republic

Central Europe has become the continent’s latest coronavirus hotspot, with Austria struggling to contain an outbreak of the new variant first identified in South Africa and neighboring Czech Republic facing hospital bed shortages on top of a political crisis over lockdowns. The worsening situation in the Austrian province of Tyrol and the Czech Republic forced

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