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Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked Pentagon Papers exposing Vietnam War secrets, dies at 92

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:45:35 GMT

By HILLEL ITALIE (AP National Writer)NEW YORK (AP) — Daniel Ellsberg, the history-making whistleblower who by leaking the Pentagon Papers revealed longtime government doubts and deceit about the Vietnam War and inspired acts of retaliation by President Richard Nixon that helped lead to his resignation, has died. He was 92. Ellsberg, who announced in February that he was terminally ill with pancreatic cancer, died Friday morning, according to a letter from his family released by a spokeswoman, Julia Pacetti. Until the early 1970s, when he revealed that he was the source for the stunning media reports on the 47-volume, 7,000-page Defense Department study of the U.S. role in Indochina, Ellsberg was a well-placed member of the government-military elite. He was a Harvard graduate and self-defined “cold warrior” who served as a private and government consultant on Vietnam throughout the 1960s, risked his life on the battlefield, received the highest security clearances a...

Trey Mancini knew a return to the Orioles was ‘off the table.’ It didn’t dull his love for Baltimore.

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:45:35 GMT

Monday, on the other side of the Orioles’ weekend series at Wrigley Field, will mark 10 years since Trey Mancini played his first game in Baltimore’s organization. Before the matchup between his new and old teams began, he spoke about what the portion of the past decade spent with the Orioles meant to him.“If you would have told me 10 years ago everything that would have happened between then and now, I don’t know if I would have believed it back then,” Mancini said. “It’s always gonna hold such a special place in my heart.”Mancini batted sixth and played first base for the Chicago Cubs in Friday’s series opener against the Orioles. The 31-year-old was Baltimore’s eighth-round pick in 2013 and made his major league debut three years later. Across a six-year run as an Oriole that ended with last year’s trade to the Houston Astros, Mancini endeared himself to the fan base and the Baltimore community with his play, his p...

Home Showcase: New Wellesley home thoughtfully appointed

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:45:35 GMT

With the eye-popping sales velocity in the Boston-area real estate market, it would be much easier for luxury builders to put up new construction quickly and forgo the details.Nobody took the easy road when designing 22 Suffolk Road in Wellesley, resulting in a luxurious, turn-key estate replete with high-end touches that make it stand out from a crop of new builds.To fit in with its coveted Cliff Estates location, the home is a smooth transition between your traditional Colonial and the modern farmhouse aesthetic sought after by current buyers.The home didn’t just woo us with good looks, although the chevron hardwood in the foyers and sleek French doors are a nice touch. It’s the practical — and stylishly appointed — details that won us over.There’s a tiled mudroom with cubbies and a bench so coming and going stays organized and doesn’t track snow and mud throughout the house. There’s an impeccably finished lower level with a wet bar so you don’t have to run upstairs to replenish s...

Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the top-secret Pentagon Papers and helped push the US withdrawal from Vietnam, dies at 92

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:45:35 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the top-secret Pentagon Papers and helped push the US withdrawal from Vietnam, dies at 92.

George Floyd’s killing capped years of violence, discrimination by Minneapolis police, DOJ says

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:45:35 GMT

By JIM SALTER and MARK VANCLEAVE (Associated Press)MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Justice Department on Friday issued a withering critique of Minneapolis police, alleging that they systematically discriminated against racial minorities, often violated constitutional rights and disregarded the safety of people in custody for years before George Floyd was killed.The report was the result of a sweeping two-year probe, and it confirmed many of the citizen complaints about police conduct that emerged after Floyd’s 2020 death. The investigation found that Minneapolis officers used excessive force, including “unjustified deadly force,” and violated the rights of people engaged in constitutionally protected speech.The investigation also concluded that both police and the city discriminated against Black and Native American people and those with “behavioral health disabilities.”“We observed many MPD officers who did their difficult work with professionalism,...

Pittsburgh synagogue gunman is found guilty in the deadliest attack on Jewish people in US history

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:45:35 GMT

By PETER SMITH (Associated Press)PITTSBURGH (AP) — A truck driver who spewed hatred of Jews was convicted Friday of barging into a Pittsburgh synagogue and shooting everyone he could find, killing 11 congregants in an act of antisemitic terror for which he could be sentenced to die.The guilty verdict was a foregone conclusion after Robert Bowers’ own lawyers conceded at the trial’s outset that he attacked and killed worshippers at the Tree of Life synagogue on Oct. 27, 2018, in the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history. Jurors must now decide whether the 50-year-old should be sent to death row or sentenced to life in prison without parole as the federal trial shifts to a penalty phase expected to last several weeks.Bowers was convicted of all 63 criminal counts he faced, including hate crimes resulting in death and obstruction of the free exercise of religion resulting in death. His attorneys had offered a guilty plea in return for a life sentence, but prosecutors refused, opting...

Iowa Supreme Court declines to reinstate strict abortion limits, but a new law could be coming

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:45:35 GMT

By HANNAH FINGERHUT and SCOTT McFETRIDGE (Associated Press)DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Abortion will remain legal in Iowa after the state’s high court declined Friday to reinstate a law that would have largely banned the procedure, rebuffing Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds and, for now, keeping the conservative state from joining others with strict abortion limits.In a rare 3-3 decision, the Iowa Supreme Court upheld a 2019 district court ruling that blocked the law. The latest ruling comes roughly a year after the same body — and the U.S. Supreme Court — determined that women do not have a fundamental constitutional right to abortion.The blocked law bans abortions once cardiac activity can be detected, usually around six weeks of pregnancy and before many women know they are pregnant. The law contains exceptions for medical emergencies, rape, incest and fetal abnormality.Writing for the three justices who denied the state’s request to reinstate the law, Justi...

Nusrat Chowdhury confirmed as the first Muslim female federal judge in U.S. history

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:45:35 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nusrat Chowdhury, a civil rights lawyer, has been confirmed by the Senate as the first Muslim female federal judge in U.S. history.She will assume her lifetime appointment in Brooklyn federal court in New York after a 50-49 vote on Thursday along party lines.The confirmation drew praise from the American Civil Liberties Union, where she is the legal director of the ACLU of Illinois. Prior to that post, she served from 2008 to 2020 at the national ACLU office, including seven years as deputy director of the ACLU Racial Justice Program.In a tweet, the ACLU called her a “trailblazing civil rights lawyer.”Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who recommended her, said she makes history as the first Bangladeshi American as well as the first Muslim American woman to be a federal judge.“Nusrat Choudhury is a shining example of the American Dream,” Schumer said in a statement. “She is the daughter of immigrant parents, a graduate...

5 sailors injured at Naval Base Point Loma

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:45:35 GMT

Editors note: This story has been updated to reflect there were five sailors injured in this incident.SAN DIEGO -- Five sailors were sent to the hospital Friday morning following a crash at Naval Base Point Loma, authorities confirmed.The San Diego Fire Rescue Department says crews responded the area of Sylvester Road just before 2 a.m. after a caller from the U.S. Navy requested fire and medical assistance due to a crash involving a watercraft. Man stabbed during argument over cigarettes: police Brian O'Rourke, the media relations officer for Navy Region Southwest, told FOX 5 that a West Coast-based Naval Special Warfare unit conducting routine training operations off the coast of Southern California hit the Zuniga Point Jetty while entering San Diego Bay around 1:50 a.m.Authorities say five people sailors were transported from the scene to UC San Diego Health in Hillcrest. O'Rourke says they are all in stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries.According to the Navy, a...

Grammys: Only ‘human creators’ eligible to win, recording academy says response to AI

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:45:35 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Recording Academy are making several changes to the Grammy Awards, including a rule that stipulates “only human creators” can win the music industry’s highest honor in a decision aimed at the use of artificial intelligence in popular music.“A work that contains no human authorship is not eligible in any category,” they said, under new “Artificial Intelligence (AI) Protocols” released Friday. The rule was set following the semiannual academy’s board of trustees meeting last month, where it was determined that work that features elements of AI are eligible, as long as a human creator is responsible for a “meaningful” contribution to the music and/or lyrics.“The human authorship component of the work submitted must be meaningful,” the new requirements read in part.The news arrives shortly after Paul McCartney announced on Tuesday that a forthcoming “last Beatles record” had been composed using artificial intelligence by extracting John Lennon’s voice from a...