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Hennepin County Sheriff's Office/TNS/TNS

Seeking new trial for death of George Floyd, Derek Chauvin argues his rights were 'destroyed'

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MINNEAPOLIS — Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has filed another petition for postconviction relief in Hennepin County District Court seeking to overturn his conviction of second-degree murder in the killing of George Floyd.

Chauvin argues his conviction should be vacated and he should either be given a new trial or an ...Read more

Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Northwestern deal with Trump administration divides students and faculty

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CHICAGO — Northwestern University’s $75-million deal with the White House has brought a mix of relief and concern to campus — concluding months of research cuts, while also marking a significant advance in the president’s push to reshape higher education.

The agreement, announced Friday, restores nearly $800 million in research funding ...Read more

TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

First winter storm of the season dumps snow on upstate NY

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NEW YORK — The first major winter storm of the season struck upstate New York on Tuesday, with much of the region forecast to receive some significant snowfall by day’s end.

Precipitation from a “strengthening coastal storm” started falling overnight, first as a wintry mix, then as tendrils of snow Tuesday morning, at times falling at a...Read more

Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump administration threatens to expand travel ban to 30 countries

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President Donald Trump’s administration is planning to expand its current travel ban to around 30 countries, according to multiple reports.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem posted an anti-immigrant screed on social media Monday, threatening a ban on “every damn country” that was “flooding” the U.S. with immigrants.

Noem then spoke with ...Read more

Hector Amezcua/The Sacramento Bee/TNS

Site of Stockton, Calif., mass shooting may never reopen, owner says. 'It's a memorial'

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The young mother who rented Willie Colins’ event space for her 2-year-old’s birthday party on Saturday just stopped by the business on Lucile Avenue in Stockton, California, to see if it was available, a simple request that turned into tragedy when shots rang out during the celebration, killing three children and an adult, and wounding 11 ...Read more

San Bernardino: The mass shooting that helped Trump redefine America's immigration debate

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LOS ANGELES -- Mandy Pifer, a therapist, was with a client in Los Angeles on Dec. 2, 2015, when she received a text about a mass shooting in San Bernardino. Her fiance, Shannon Johnson, was a restaurant inspector there.

She didn’t panic until, driving home, she heard on the radio that the victims were employees of the desert city’s ...Read more

Miami Dade College again blesses land transfer for Trump library, after an earful

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MIAMI — Miami Dade College’s Board of Trustees unanimously approved transferring prime downtown Miami property for the state to give to Donald Trump’s presidential library foundation for the second time Tuesday — two months after the trustees first voted to give up the land.

Tuesday’s do-over vote came amid a legal battle over whether...Read more

Juan Barreto/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Maduro defiant as Trump weighs escalation. Venezuela abuzz with rumors

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As the Trump White House weighs its next steps in an expanding military offensive against Venezuela’s main drug-trafficking network, strongman Nicolás Maduro is taking to the streets to project an image of national unity — insisting that Venezuelans stand ready to take up arms to defend his regime.

Maduro, indicted in the United States for...Read more

Special representative named for US backed-Gang Suppression Force in Haiti

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A longtime United Nations expert on peace building who has worked in some of the world’s most complex security environments, has been named the special representative for the newly authorized, but not yet fully deployed, Gang Suppression Force in Haiti.

Jack Christofides was named by the group of countries tasked with overseeing the U.S.-...Read more

Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

US envoy arrives in Moscow as Putin says Ukraine city fell

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U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow to meet with President Vladimir Putin, who claimed a key Ukrainian city had fallen to Russia on the eve of Tuesday’s talks about a potential peace plan to end his war.

Putin said Russian troops had taken the city of Pokrovsk in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region in a video announcement posted late ...Read more

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue/Miami-Dade Fire Rescue/TNS

Miami-Dade mayor blames operator for incinerator fire, upending fight for a new one

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MIAMI – Nearly three years after a fire shut down Miami-Dade County’s garbage incinerator, a fight over who caused the blaze is rattling a bidding war over how and where to build a modern replacement.

In a Nov. 20 letter, a top deputy to Mayor Daniella Levine Cava demanded the Doral facility’s former operator, Reworld, put up $7.8 million...Read more

Lovelie Raphael Joseph/TNS

'All I want is justice,' says mother of girl who died on school trip in Dominican Republic

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Two weeks after an 11-year-old Haitian girl and honor student died during a school outing in northern Dominican Republic, her mother says she still does not know how or why it happened.

Stephora Anne-Mircie Joseph, a student at the Leonardo Da Vinci Institute in Santiago, died on Nov. 14 during a field trip to a private ranch that included a ...Read more

Pete Marovich/Getty Images North America/Getty Images

Hopes fade for ACA deal as Trump proposal fizzles with Republicans

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WASHINGTON — Hopes are fading for a year-end bipartisan deal to extend Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits after a potential compromise proposal floated by President Donald Trump’s White House has fizzled with congressional Republicans.

GOP leaders in the House and Senate have poured cold water on the putative plan put forward by the ...Read more

US envoy arrives in Moscow as Putin says key Ukraine city fell

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U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow to meet with President Vladimir Putin, who claimed a key Ukrainian city had fallen to Russia on the eve of Tuesday’s talks about a potential peace plan to end his war.

Putin said Russian troops had taken the city of Pokrovsk in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region in a video announcement posted late ...Read more

Peter Parks/Getty Images North America/TNS

Hong Kong pledges independent fire probe, crackdown on 'sabotage'

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Hong Kong’s leader John Lee pledged to launch an independent committee over the city’s deadliest fire in nearly eight decades, while vowing to crackdown on forces that “sabotage” social unity.

“We have to expose the truth, do everyone justice and make sure the deceased can rest in peace,” said Lee at a Tuesday briefing, standing ...Read more

Matt Stone/Boston Herald/TNS

Karen Read investigator Michael Proctor mentioned at Brian Walshe trial

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BOSTON — On the first day of the Brian Walshe murder trial, three investigators who were involved in the Karen Read case have already been mentioned, including former Massachusetts State trooper Michael Proctor.

Walshe is on trial for allegedly killing his wife Ana in January of 2023. He pleaded guilty last month to lying to police and ...Read more

Eva Fonseca/AFP/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/TNS

Mexico political risk hits Peru level as Sheinbaum support sags

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MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s political risk has crept up to levels seen in Peru, as Mexicans voice mounting frustration over cartel-fueled crime, corruption and a stagnant economy.

The nation’s political risk surpassed that of Argentina and Colombia in November to reach a score of 55 — the same as Peru’s, where political instability has ...Read more

Carroll County Sheriff's Office/TNS

As one of few women in SWAT, she's reshaping this west Georgia team

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ATLANTA — There were times when Kirstie Gentry wasn’t sure she’d pass all the required training and tests to be part of a SWAT team.

During the strenuous weeklong course, she would confide in her best friend, who would push her to stay focused on the goal.

“We would talk, and we would say, ‘Just keep doing it. You signed up for it. ...Read more

Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images North America/TNS

Families worry as cost of autism therapy comes under state scrutiny

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State Medicaid agencies are struggling to pay for an intensive therapy for children with autism — and looming federal Medicaid cuts are likely to make the problem worse.

Parents of children and young adults who receive applied behavior analysis, or ABA, worry states’ cost-saving measures will make it harder for them to get vital services. ...Read more

Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group/TNS

$20 million project to restore wildlife, expand trails and boost flood protection along San Francisco Bay nears finish

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There’s a big new development going up in Mountain View along the edge of San Francisco Bay. But it’s not a tech company headquarters or a condo project. It’s for birds, and fish and hikers.

Workers are putting the finishing touches on a three-year effort to restore 435 acres of former industrial salt evaporation ponds to natural wetlands...Read more