Current News

/

ArcaMax

Alex Wong/Getty Images North America/TNS

In election year, US Rep. Mary Peltola walks a complicated path on fisheries and oil drilling

Current News / News & Features /

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola of Alaska this week unexpectedly pulled her support for a Republican-led bill that seeks to pave the way for more oil drilling in the state, opening her up to criticism from opponents who claim she's supporting a pro-Biden agenda.

It was the latest in a series of moves by the Democrat that has led to...Read more

Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post/TNS

Cinco de Mayo: You might be surprised how long it's been celebrated in the U.S.

Current News / News & Features /

Cinco de Mayo celebrates the Mexican victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla, which took place on May 5, 1862.

It is not observed as a national holiday in Mexico, but schools in Puebla, where the battle took place, are closed for the day.

Mexico’s Independence Day is Sept. 16.

A report published by the UCLA Center for the Study of ...Read more

Heather Khalifa/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

New Jersey family repatriates rare artifacts to Philadelphia's Mexican Consulate

Current News / News & Features /

In a repatriation ceremony at the Consulate of Mexico in Philadelphia on Wednesday, a collection of culturally significant archaeological pieces — some going back almost 2,500 years — was returned to the Mexican people by the family of a private collector.

"The 22 pieces before you today are recognized as movable archaeological monuments .....Read more

Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Before mob attack, UCLA police chief was ordered to create security plan but didn't, sources say

Current News / News & Features /

LOS ANGELES — On the morning before a mob attacked a pro-Palestinian student encampment at UCLA, campus Police Chief John Thomas assured university leadership that he could mobilize law enforcement “in minutes” — a miscalculation from the three hours it took to actually bring in enough officers to quell the violence, according to three ...Read more

As humans, we all want self-respect – and keeping that in mind might be the missing ingredient when you try to change someone’s mind

Current News / News & Features /

Why is persuasion so hard, even when you have facts on your side?

As a philosopher, I’m especially interested in persuasion – not just how to convince someone, but how to do it ethically, without manipulation. I’ve found that one of the deepest insights comes from the German philosopher Immanuel Kant, a focus of my research, who...Read more

What Shakespeare can teach us about racism

Current News / News & Features /

William Shakespeare’s famous tragedy “Othello” is often the first play that comes to mind when people think of Shakespeare and race. And if not “Othello,” then folks usually name “The Merchant of Venice,” “Antony and Cleopatra,” “The Tempest,” or his first – and bloodiest – tragedy, “Titus Andronicus,” my ...Read more

Many immigrants to the US are fleeing violence and persecution − here’s how the federal government can help cities absorb them

Current News / News & Features /

Immigration has become a defining issue in the 2024 elections and a major challenge in many U.S. cities. Over the past several years, wars and armed conflict, violent persecution and desperate poverty have displaced millions of people worldwide and propelled the arrival in the U.S. of thousands seeking protection, mainly at the U.S.-Mexico ...Read more

Supporting ‘democracy’ is hard for many who feel government and the economy are failing them

Current News / News & Features /

Americans, it seems, can both value the idea of democracy and not support it in practice.

Since 2016, academics and journalists have expressed concerns that formerly secure democracies are becoming less democratic. Different measures of democracy, such as scores produced by the Economist Intelligence Unit, Freedom House and the ...Read more

On its 125th anniversary, W.E.B. Du Bois’ ‘The Philadelphia Negro’ offers lasting lessons on gentrification in Philly’s historically Black neighborhoods

Current News / News & Features /

Society Hill, where Sixers star Joel Embiid recently put his penthouse condo on the market for US$5.5 million, has long been one of Philadelphia’s most exclusive neighborhoods.

It’s a distant cry from what the neighborhood looked like 125 years ago when sociologist and civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois published “The ...Read more

A look inside the cyberwar between Israel and Hamas reveals the civilian toll

Current News / News & Features /

The news about the Israel-Hamas war is filled with reports of Israeli families huddling in fear from relentless rocket attacks, Israeli tanks and artillery flattening buildings in the Gaza Strip, hundreds of kidnapped hostages imprisoned in subterranean tunnels, and millions of people driven from their homes by fighting.

But beyond ...Read more

Elizabeth Robertson/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

While a few other universities reach compromises with protesters, why can't Penn?

Current News / News & Features /

PHILADELPHIA — At Rutgers University-New Brunswick, a three-day-old pro-Palestinian encampment came down peacefully Thursday after successful negotiations between the administration and protesters.

Brown University, an Ivy League institution like the University of Pennsylvania, and Northwestern University had similar success earlier this week...Read more

Pool/Getty Images North America/TNS

Longtime Trump loyalist Hope Hicks in tears after potentially damaging testimony in hush money trial

Current News / News & Features /

NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s loyal former White House press secretary Hope Hicks testified at his Manhattan trial Friday, breaking down after divulging potentially damaging testimony for the former president regarding the motivations behind his fixer’s hush money payoff to porn star Stormy Daniels.

Trump’s former White House Communications...Read more

Pool/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump hush-money trial: Key takeaways from week two of testimony

Current News / News & Features /

NEW YORK — The second week of testimony in Donald Trump’s hush-money criminal trial gave jurors first-hand accounts of negotiations for payments to two women and how the former president’s 2016 campaign reacted when news of their alleged affairs leaked out anyway.

Hope Hicks, who was press secretary for Trump’s campaign and became a top...Read more

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images North America/TNS

'Extraordinary honor': Biden gives Presidential Medal of Freedom to Pelosi, Clyburn, Kerry and others

Current News / News & Features /

https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/president-joe-biden-awards-the-medal-of-freedom-to-u-s-rep-news-photo/2151325031?adppopup=true

and

https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/president-joe-biden-awards-the-medal-of-freedom-to-former-news-photo/2151331538?adppopup=true

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Friday awarded the ...Read more

Barry Willilams/New York Daily News/TNS

NYC politicians demand Mayor Adams discipline NYPD Chief John Chell over 'dangerous' tweets

Current News / News & Features /

NEW YORK — More than three dozen local elected officials are calling on Mayor Eric Adams to discipline New York Police Department Chief John Chell over “illegal” and “dangerous” social media attacks that the police honcho has leveled against lawmakers, journalists and others in recent months.

In a Friday letter to Adams exclusively ...Read more

News briefs

Current News / News & Features /

Opal Lee, grandmother of Juneteenth, to be honored with Presidential Medal of Freedom

Opal Lee, known as the “grandmother of Juneteenth,” will be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, White House officials announced.

Lee, 97, is among 19 recipients of the honor the White House said is presented ...Read more

18 arrested in Nevada in operation targeting online child sex predators

Current News / News & Features /

LAS VEGAS — A multi-agency operation targeting online child sex predators led to 18 arrests in Henderson last weekend, according to authorities.

The joint operation took place on April 26 and 27, the Metropolitan Police Department said in a news release.

The operation included detectives and agents from the Internet Crimes Against Children ...Read more

Ryan C. Hermens/Lexington Herald-Leader/TNS

Student posted airsoft rifle photo in threat aimed at Kentucky high school

Current News / News & Features /

LEXINGTON, Ky. — A Fayette County student on Friday posted a threat that included an airsoft rifle and mentioned Tates Creek High School, Principal Kristy Field said in a letter to parents.

“This morning we became aware of a social media post made by a student on Snapchat that began circulating among students and staff,” Field said. “...Read more

Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times/TNS

California roads damaged by storms could get help with Gov. Newsom's emergency declaration

Current News / News & Features /

LOS ANGELES — Gov. Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency Friday to help fund badly needed repairs of roads battered during this year's storms, including scenic Topanga Canyon Boulevard that was blocked by millions of tons of debris.

The governor's action comes two weeks after California Department of Transportation officials said the ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Three friends drove from California to Mexico for a surfing trip. Then they disappeared

Current News / News & Features /

MEXICO CITY — Last month, two brothers and one of their friends crossed from the United States into Mexico to explore Baja California's famous surf breaks. Pictures posted online by one of the brothers, Callum Robinson, 33, show the men gazing out at the ocean with coffee, enjoying street tacos and relaxing with beers on a roof deck.

After ...Read more