pgnewser

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Dubai:

Widening demonstrations sparked by Iran’s ailing economy spread Thursday into the Islamic Republic’s rural provinces, with at least six people being killed in the first fatalities reported among security forces and protesters, authorities said.

The deaths may mark the start of a heavier-handed response by Iran’s theocracy over the demonstrations, which have slowed in the capital, Tehran, but expanded elsewhere. The fatalities, one on Wednesday and five on Thursday, occurred in three cities predominantly home to Iran’s Lur ethnic group.

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House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer (R-KY) has warned that Minnesota Governor Tim Walz must appear before Congress to answer questions about alleged large-scale fraud involving state-funded daycare and social programs, noting that failure to show up would effectively serve as an “admission to guilt.”

“I think it’s very likely [Walz will appear],” Comer told Fox News’s “The Sunday Briefing.”

“We’ve asked not only Gov. Walz, but also Attorney General Ellison, both of whom were in Congress, who I served with in Congress, so they know the rules of Congress.

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Good thing Vice President JD Vance and his family were not home during this incident.

A man in Ohio was arrested after allegedly breaking the windows at Vice President JD Vance’s residence.

A Secret Service spokesperson shared that the incident occurred in the early hours of Monday.

WLWT reported more on the crime:

A man has been taken into custody by Cincinnati police after officers and Secret Service agents responded to the Cincinnati home of Vice President JD Vance overnight.

The Secret Service confirmed to WLWT that a man has been taken into custody by Cincinnati police after he was detained by Secret Service personnel. Officials say the man has been arrested for “causing property damage, including breaking windows on the exterior of a personal residence associated with the Vice President.”

The agency says it happened shortly after midnight early Monday morning. Secret Service is coordinating with CPD and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

According to an arrest report obtained by WLWT, William DeFoor, 26, has been arrested in connection to the damage done at the home.

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Jimmy Kimmel’s awards acceptance speech Jan. 4 at the Critics Choice Awards included a nod to President Donald Trump.

Kimmel took the stage in a hangar in Santa Monica, California, and sarcastically thanked the president.

“Thanks to all the writers and actors and producers and union members, many of you who are in this room, who supported us, who really stepped forward us and reminded us that we do not take free speech for granted in this city or in this country. Your actions were important, and we appreciate them,” the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” host said.

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Defense stocks in Europe and Asia surged on Monday as investors assessed how the dramatic overthrow of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro could herald a significant geopolitical shift that will boost the rearmament trade in the long run.

Rheinmetall, Germany’s largest arms manufacturer, gained over 8%, while military technology and surveillance specialist Hensoldt rose more than 7%. Italy’s Leonardo added more than 5%, while German counterpart Renk added around 8%.

Swedish fighter jet maker Saab added more than 6%.

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U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein has been assigned to preside over the federal criminal case against former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in the Southern District of New York.

The toppled socialist dictator faces sweeping narco-terrorism and weapons charges in the U.S. after being captured by American forces in Venezuela on Saturday.

Hellerstein, 92, was nominated to the federal bench by President Bill Clinton in 1998 and confirmed by the Senate that same year.

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Democrat U.S. Senate candidates in Minnesota are facing severe blowback as the state reels from a jaw-dropping $9 billion money laundering scandal that is shaking up the political landscape as the saga continues to unfold.

This staggering Somali-led fraud scheme, uncovered by prosecutors, has siphoned off billions in public funds.

The scandal is now casting a dark shadow over the state’s Democrat leadership as the 2026 U.S. Senate race heats up.

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Antifa first rose to mainstream prominence during the summer riots of 2020. While how the group managed to recruit so many young people has remained a mystery to most Americans, domestic security expert Kyle Shideler knows its methods well.

“So as to the psychological perspective, you know, you talk about those mug shots. There’s almost, like, if you look at, over the course of 2020, there’s almost like a ‘faces of meth’ campaign,” domestic security expert Kyle Shideler tells BlazeTV hosts Christopher Rufo and Jonathan “Lomez” Keeperman on “Rufo & Lomez.”

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A US Navy plane has been spotted circling near a part of Mexico’s coast after President Donald Trump threatened military action against the country. The P-8 Poseidon was detected on flight tracking websites conductin surveillance and reconnaisance missions off Tijuana – just south of California.

It launched from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in Washington, flying over Oregon and California. It then looped several times off the coast of Mexico and Southern California before returning to base. The P-8 has been used to monitor suspicious ships and movements in the ocean as it’s equipped with with sensors that can detect targets on the surface and underwater.

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At least one House Democrat broke ranks to praise President Donald Trump after U.S. forces captured Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro in a surprise overnight operation.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., hailed Maduro’s removal as overdue justice for Venezuelans who fled his regime, while warning that the mission must lead to lasting change.

“The capture of the brutal, illegitimate ruler of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, who oppressed Venezuela’s people is welcome news for my friends and neighbors who fled his violent, lawless, and disastrous rule. However, cutting off the head of a snake is fruitless if it just regrows,” Wasserman Schultz wrote on X.

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The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent in any way the editorial position of Euronews.

There has never been a rules-based international order. What is new is admitting it.

The American arrest of Venezuela’s dictator Nicolás Maduro (and his wife), accompanied by the use of military force, has understandably prompted many in Europe to lament what they see as a breach of the rules-based international order.

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A couple of centrist House Democrats are reportedly upset with their more leftist peers for publicly complaining about the Trump administration’s capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro.

One swing-district House Democrat anonymously told Axios that this idea that “everything Trump touches must be bad” held by the Democratic base is not wise.

“Maduro is bad, glad he is gone,” the Democrat said, adding that his left-wing peers “can’t have it both ways.”

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The new policy follows the inauguration of Socialist Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson, who previously advocated to abolish the Seattle Police Department.

Following the inauguration of Socialist Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson, it was revealed that the Seattle Police Department issued an internal email announcing officers “are not going to enforce drug use,” instead, they will refer all open consumption cases to failed diversion programs.

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There’s nothing like a dramatic military action by President Trump to underline how much National “Public” Radio sounds like DNC Radio. On Weekend Edition Saturday, within hours of Maduro being seized, guest host Daniel Estrin interviewed Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and energetically pushed that Trump’s actions were illegal:

ESTRIN: You were among the lawmakers who said the Trump administration’s strikes on boats in the Caribbean were illegal. You were even discussing the possibility of those strikes constituting a war crime. So how do you see last night’s operations?

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As regularly as Obama appointee Judge Indira Talwani finds some creative new way to temporary scuttle a provision of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” that bars organizations that provide elective abortion from federal Medicaid funding for one year if they received more than $800,000 in federal funding in 2023, the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit says no siree Bob.

Yesterday, in a brief opinion vacating Judge Talwani’s injunction, the appeals court panel, composed of judges appointed by President Biden, concluded that HHS and other federal officials have “made a strong showing at this preliminary stage that they are likely to prevail on the merits.”

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As he addressed an audience of virologists from China, Australia, and Singapore at October’s Pandemic Research Alliance Symposium, Wei Zhao introduced an eye-catching idea.

The gene-editing technology Crispr is best known for delivering groundbreaking new therapies for rare diseases, tweaking or knocking out rogue genes in conditions ranging from sickle cell disease to hemophilia. But Zhao and his colleagues at Melbourne’s Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity have envisioned a new application.

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Secretary of War Pete Hegseth issued a letter of censure and moved to demote retired captain and sitting Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) over a video he and other lawmakers made warning service members not to carry out illegal orders.

Hegseth announced the decision on Monday, saying that the department “has initiated retirement grade determination proceedings under 10 U.S.C. § 1370(f), with reduction in his retired grade resulting in a corresponding reduction in retired pay.” He also issued a letter of censure, which he said will be in Kelly’s permanent military personnel file.

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The Rumford Fire Department is preparing to open Maine’s first Safe Haven Baby Box in February to prevent incidents of deadly infant abandonment. 

“I hope we never use it,” Rumford Fire Chief Chris Reed said, according to News Center Maine. “But at least it’s an option.”

Safe Haven Baby Boxes were created to deter parents from abandoning their newborns in unsafe conditions, potentially leaving them to die. Baby boxes are temperature-controlled incubators often built into exterior walls of fire stations, police stations, and hospitals, and can be accessed from outdoors. At-risk mothers can safely and legally place their newborns inside. Once the baby is inside the baby box, the outside door locks, and the mother has time to leave before an alarm goes off to alert first responders or hospital staff to the child’s presence.

The baby is then quickly removed and sent to a hospital for a wellness check. From there, the baby is usually placed into state custody and is often quickly adopted.

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“You want something to investigate as a legislature, investigate how many times they’ve called me the N-word.”

During a Georgia Senate Special Committee on Investigations hearing on Wednesday, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was triggered when investigators showed invoices from her former boyfriend Nathan Wade to the Fulton County DA’s office. Instead of responding to questions about them, she called for investigators to look into “how many times they’ve called me the N-word.” She had been called into the legislature to answer for alleged misconduct in her since-dropped 2020 RICO election case against Trump.

“I don’t review those documents,” Willis told lawmakers, “so you’re asking me to look at documents that I haven’t for the first time. What I can tell you is that I allowed Mr. Wade to bill 160 hours a week, and then Mr. Wade would be the first one in the office, making sure that my staff arrived. He corrected their behavior. They thought that 8:30 meant 8:30. He taught them that 8:30 means 7:45. He got there before them, he left after them.” The response came during questioning on how much special prosecutor Nathan Wade was paid. Willis said that she had never seen the invoices displayed during the hearing.

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One of the lawmakers behind a new law mandating the release of the government’s Jeffrey Epstein files said he is giving the Justice Department until Friday to comply, while warning there will be consequences if it does not.

The Epstein Files Transparency Act, signed into law last month by President Donald Trump, “calls for the release, publicly, of these files,” Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., told NBC News.

Khanna said the Justice Department has not responded to inquiries about when or how the records will be released but pointed to DOJ’s recent move to unseal grand jury materials as a sign officials may be trying to comply.

The law requires the department to make the files public by Dec. 19.

Khanna said the material could expose how Epstein wielded influence and intimidation.