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Macron to award top U.S. general France’s highest honors

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:19 GMT

PARIS (AP) — U.S. Joint Chiefs chairman Gen. Mark Milley will receive France’s highest medal of honor Friday for his role in coordinating support for Ukraine and for his more than 40-year military career spent in defense of democracy, French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said. Milley, who is traveling in France to attend ceremonies at Normandy to mark the 79th anniversary of D-Day, is close to finishing a four-year term as the top U.S. military officer and plans to retire when his tenure as chairman ends Sept. 30. Macron plans to award him the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor at a closed ceremony. The medal was created by French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802. It is awarded to about 2,000 citizens and about 300 foreigners each year for defense of French values.“The president of the French Republic will pay tribute to the strength and quality of the ties of military cooperation that unite our two countries, and to General Milley’s eminent role in this rel...

Austria’s government says two citizens held in Iran have been released, are on their way home

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:19 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Austria’s government says two citizens held in Iran have been released, are on their way home.Source

U.S. Army changes Fort Bragg to Fort Liberty as part of a broader initiative to remove Confederate names from bases

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:19 GMT

FORT LIBERTY, N.C. (AP) — U.S. Army changes Fort Bragg to Fort Liberty as part of a broader initiative to remove Confederate names from bases.Source

Tanks, F-16 jets part of long-term aid for Ukraine, won’t be ready for upcoming offensive, US says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:19 GMT

PARIS (AP) — America’s top military officer says training for Ukrainian forces on advanced U.S. Abrams tanks has started, but those those weapons crucial over the long term in trying to expel Russia from occupied territory will not be ready in time for Kyiv’s imminent counteroffensive.The tank training got underway as the United States and its allies began to work out agreements to train Ukrainians on F-16 fighter jets, another long-sought advanced system. Those aircraft would be part of a security plan to deter future attacks, U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley said late Thursday as he arrived in France. “Everyone recognizes Ukraine needs a modernized Air Force,” said Milley, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. “It’s going to take a considerable amount of time.” The intent is to provide capabilities for Ukraine in the mid- to long-term, said Nicolas Vaujour, a vice admiral who is chief operations of France’s Joint Staff and spoke to reporters traveling with ...

Judge dismisses second Gainesville group’s suit seeking to block Digital Gateway

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:19 GMT

Opponents of the Prince William Digital Gateway protest outside of Bull Run Middle School in Manassas during an open house scheduled by one of the developers Compass Datacenters on April 25, 2023. (InsideNoVa/James Jarvis)(InsideNoVa/James Jarvis) Opponents of the Prince William Digital Gateway protest outside of Bull Run Middle School in Manassas during an open house scheduled by one of the developers Compass Datacenters on April 25, 2023. (InsideNoVa/James Jarvis)(InsideNoVa/James Jarvis) This article was written by WTOP’s news partner InsideNoVa.com and republished with permission. Sign up for InsideNoVa.com’s free email subscription today.A Prince William County Circuit Court Judge has dismissed a lawsuit file...

State Supreme Court: Ohio abortion question will go forward as single issue

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:19 GMT

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — In a blow to abortion opponents in Ohio, a fall ballot issue aimed at enshrining access to the procedure in state’s constitution will not be split into two separate issues — one about abortion, and one about all other reproductive care.In a ruling Thursday, the Ohio Supreme Court sided with the bipartisan Ohio Ballot Board over a pair of anti-abortion voters who had argued that abortion should be considered as its own question.Justices disagreed, leaving alone proposed ballot language advanced by Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights and Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom. The two groups face a July 5 deadline to collect the necessary signatures to make the November ballot.The ballot board, chaired by Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose, considered the question of whether to split the proposed question into two, and determined it regarded a single subject.Source

Why are people in Britain talking about Boris Johnson’s WhatsApp messages?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:19 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Critics accuse the British administration of running “government by WhatsApp” because of the popularity of the messaging app with politicians and officials.So it feels inevitable that a tussle over WhatsApp messages is at the heart of Britain’s official inquiry into how the country handled the COVID-19 pandemic.Thousands of messages exchanged during the pandemic between then Prime Minister Boris Johnson and government ministers, aides and officials form key evidence for the investigation chaired by retired judge Heather Hallett. The Conservative government, now led by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, wants to be able to edit the messages before handing them over, saying some are personal and irrelevant to the inquiry. It has filed a legal challenge against Hallett’s order to surrender the unredacted messages.WHAT IS THE INQUIRY INVESTIGATING?More than 200,000 people have died in Britain after testing positive for COVID-19, one of the highest tolls in Europe, and the decisio...

El crecimiento del empleo en EE.UU. en mayo superó las expectativas

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:19 GMT

(CNN) — El mercado laboral de EE.UU. aún no está listo para desacelerarse. Los empleadores agregaron 339.000 puestos de trabajo en mayo de 2023, según el informe mensual de empleo de la Oficina de Estadísticas Laborales publicado este viernes.Esa es una cifra mucho más alta que los 190.000 que esperaban los economistas.La tasa de desempleo subió al 3,7% desde el 3,4%. Los economistas proyectaban que subiría al 3,5%, según Refinitiv.Noticia en desarrollo.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.Source

Everything you need to know about this weekend's Strawberry Moon

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:19 GMT

(KSWB) – June's full moon is ripe and ready for a star-filled harvest this weekend. Before it illuminates the sky, here's everything you need to know about the Strawberry Moon.Where did it get its name?The Old Farmer's Almanac says the full moon was given its name by Native American tribes to signify wild strawberry season. Known as Fragaria virginiana, these strawberries were a prominent fruit for the Algonquin, Ojibwe, Dakota, Lakota, Chippewa, Oneida and Sioux tribes during this time of year, according to the almanac.These strawberries still grow across much of the United States and parts of Canada.This spring delight typically reaches peak ripeness during the month of June, when it's ready for picking. National Doughnut Day: Where to get free doughnuts this Friday June's full moon has been given other names over time. According to the Old Farmer's Almanac, it's been known as Green Corn Moon by the Cherokee, the Blooming Moon by the Anishinaabe and the Hoer Moon by the Western...

Volkswagen reboots its groovy 60s-era VW Bus. This time it’s faster, roomier and electric

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:19 GMT

(CNN) — America apparently needs more car seats. So, when Volkswagen unveiled the ID. Buzz, a retro-styled electric van, last year, it noted that the version for the North American market would be longer and would have three rows of seats.North America’s version of the ID. Buzz has now officially been revealed. “Designed and tailor-made for the North American consumer,” in the words of Volkswagen of America chief executive Paolo Di Si, this version is near 10 inches longer than the two-row model. It’s still not huge, though. At 194.4 inches, front to back, it’s about 10 inches shorter than a Chrysler Pacifica minivan, but can still seat up to seven.The two-row version and a commercial van version available in Europe will not be sold here, Di Si confirmed.The ID. Buzz is designed to recall the Volkswagen T1, or Transporter. That iconic model was introduced in 1949 and is better known as the Microbus, or just the VW Bus. In America, it became associated with the Hippie movement, ...