Author: Reporter

Culture as a target: Why Russian attacks specifically aim to erase Ukrainian identity

Russian troops in Ukraine are deliberately attacking the country’s museums, libraries and other cultural institutions, according to a report issued on December 2 by the U.S. and Ukrainian chapters of the international writers’ organization PEN. “Culture is not collateral damage in the war against Ukraine; it’s a target, a central pillar of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s justification for the war,” the report stated. “Putin has repeatedly claimed that Ukrainian culture and language simply don’t exist. By targeting art museums, music halls, libraries, theaters and historical sites, he attempts to make it so.” PEN cited Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture as...

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Peace and PTSD: Ukraine is already working to heal the mental wounds of its soldiers

Sleep plunges the soldier back into the horrors of Ukraine’s battlefields. He can hear bombs falling again and picture explosions. He imagines himself frantically running, trying to save himself and others. The nightmares are so vivid and frightening that he pleads with his doctor for help. “It will blow my mind,” he warns. “So do something.” “Very, very, very stressful,” Witalij Miskow, 45, says of the night terrors he is fighting with tranquilizers and therapy at a mental health treatment center for soldiers on the outskirts of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv. When peace eventually returns to Ukraine, many thousands of...

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January 6 committee’s report asserts Trump criminally engaged in conspiracy to overturn 2020 election

The House January 6 committee’s final report asserts that Donald Trump criminally engaged in a “multi-part conspiracy” to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 presidential election and failed to act to stop his supporters from attacking the Capitol, concluding an extraordinary 18-month investigation into the former president and the violent insurrection two years ago. Trump “lit that fire,” the committee’s chairman, Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, writes. The 814-page report released late on December 22 came after the panel interviewed more than 1,000 witnesses, held 10 hearings and obtained more than a million pages of documents. The witnesses —...

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TSA raising fines after finding record number of guns on passengers at checkpoints and in carry-ons

The federal agency tasked with screening passengers before they get on planes says officers this year have stopped a record number of guns brought by passengers attempting to go through airport security checkpoints. The Transportation Security Administration said in a news release Friday that officers have stopped 6,301 firearms so far this year, and the agency is anticipating that number will rise to 6,600 by the end of the year. That is nearly a 10% increase over last year, which was already a record, the agency said. Nearly 90% of the weapons caught so far were loaded, the agency...

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January 6 panel prepares to unveil final report on Trump’s criminal involvement in violent insurrection

An 800-page report set to be released on December 22 by House investigators will conclude that then-President Donald Trump criminally plotted to overturn his 2020 election defeat and “provoked his supporters to violence” at the Capitol with false claims of widespread voter fraud. The resulting January 6, 2021, insurrection of Trump’s followers threatened democracy with “horrific” brutality toward law enforcement and “put the lives of American lawmakers at risk,” according to the report’s executive summary. “The central cause of January 6th was one man, former President Donald Trump, who many others followed,” reads the report from the House Jan....

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House Republicans already preparing an onslaught of political investigations for new session

House Republicans are promising aggressive oversight of the Biden administration once they assume the majority next year, with a particular focus on the business dealings of presidential son Hunter Biden, illegal immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border and the originations of COVID-19. Republicans will not have enough votes to advance key legislative priorities if there is no Democratic buy-in, but their oversight of government agencies could put Democrats on the defensive and dampen support for the Biden administration going into the 2024 presidential elections. Some of the lawmakers expected to lead those investigations once House Republicans select their new committee...

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