Author: Alfred Davenport

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will return this week to the Middle East as the U.S. hopes to find a way to extend a cease-fire in Gaza and get more hostages released, the State Department said Monday. It will be his third trip to the region since Israel’s war with Hamas began last month Blinken will travel to Israel and the West Bank after attending Ukraine-focused meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday in Brussels and Skopje, North Macedonia, where foreign ministers from NATO and the Organization for Peace and Security in Europe are gathering. Israel has agreed to pauses in…

The government of Belize will suspend diplomatic ties with Israel over its refusal to implement a ceasefire in Gaza, adding to the list of countries in the Western Hemisphere voicing anger over the Israeli government’s war conduct. “The Government of Belize has repeatedly condemned the actions of the IDF in Gaza. We have appealed to Israel to implement an immediate ceasefire and to allow unimpeded access to humanitarian supplies into Gaza. Despite our requests, Israel has not stopped its violations of international humanitarian law nor allowed relief workers to alleviate the suffering of millions of Gazans,” the Belize statement said…

N​orma hit Mexico’s southern Baja California Peninsula on Saturday as a Category 1 hurricane. It’s remnants have since moved inland. An upper-level low-pressure system that’s digging into the Southwest early this week will help pull Norma’s moisture, as well as moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, northward through the Plains and upper Midwest. Parts of West Texas and Oklahoma stand the best chance at some elevated rainfall totals. Two to perhaps five inches of rain could fall in this zone. More than an inch of rain is likely from southwest Texas to the upper-Mississippi Valley through Thursday. A​nd this may…

Long before Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson, there was a Minnesota boxer who made his mark on the sport. Minnesota boxing historian Jake Wegner knows the amazing life story of Harris “The Black Pearl” Martin. “I think he was the first African American superstar of the sport, not just in Minnesota but the entire Midwest,” Wegner said. While working as a waiter at a Minneapolis hotel, Martin’s boxing talent was discovered by his boss. In the ring, Martin gained a reputation as a boxer who punched with sledgehammer action and became known as “The Black Pearl.” “The average white male…

McALLEN, Texas (AP) — Texas sued the Biden administration on Tuesday, seeking to stop federal agents from cutting the state’s razor wire that has gashed or snagged migrants as they have attempted to enter the U.S. from Mexico at the Rio Grande. In the lawsuit filed in federal court in Del Rio, Texas, Attorney General Ken Paxton accuses the Biden administration of “undermining” the state’s border security efforts. “Texas has the sovereign right to construct border barriers to prevent the entry of illegal aliens,” Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general, said in a news release Tuesday. State authorities started rolling out miles (kilometers)…

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the Biden administration on Tuesday, claiming that the Border Patrol illegally destroyed state property when its agents cut through concertina wire on the banks of the Rio Grande to “assist” migrants to “illegally cross” the border. Within the past three years, the Texas Military Department has spent $11 million to place 70,000 rolls of concertina wire in different parts of the Texas-Mexico border, most notably in Eagle Pass, where migrants have been seriously injured trying to get through the wire. The concertina wire is part of Gov. Greg Abbott’s efforts to stem illegal immigration…

LUBBOCK — Three county commissioners approved an ordinance Monday that would bar pregnant Texas women from traveling through the unincorporated area of Lubbock County for an abortion in another state. But the effort pushed by anti-abortion activists hit a road block in Amarillo Tuesday, after the city council said they would not immediately vote on a similar rule. The Lubbock commissioners – Jason Corley, Terence Kovar and Jordan Rackler – voted for the ordinance, which can only be enforced by private citizens who file lawsuits against people assisting pregnant Texans seeking an abortion. Commissioner Gilbert Flores, and County Judge Curtis…

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) announced that Wisconsin has secured funding to strengthen crime prevention efforts, invest in community resources to reduce recidivism, and assist victims. South Central Wisconsin will receive over $5 million from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs and the Office on Violence Against Women, funded by the Senator Baldwin-supported Fiscal Year 2023 government funding bill. “To keep our communities safe, we need to both invest in our officers, technology, and tactics that will stop crime today, but also invest in the community resources that will address the root causes of crime and curb dangerous…

Frankfurt, Brussels (6/10 – 27) While Tajik authorities have not been able to lay their hands on their activist opponents living in Europe, they are able to turn the screws on their families and relatives, back in the old country. The recent case of arrest of family members took place shortly after President Emomali Rahmon’s visit to Germany, to attend a summit of Central Asian leaders, at the end of last month. Throughout Rahmon’s visit, he was trailed by demonstrators holding up placards bearing pictures of political prisoners and calling him a dictator. When Rahmon headed to the Bundestag on…

This year’s wildfire season has broken records across the Northern Hemisphere. In August, dry weather and strong winds from Hurricane Dora fueled the deadliest U.S. fire in over a century, devastating the historic town of Lahaina on the Hawaiian island of Maui. Extreme heat fueled intense fires in northern and central Greece, resulting in evacuations, loss of life, and the country’s third-smokiest July-August period on record. Canada’s wildfire season has been relentless and record-shattering, leaving a total burned area roughly equivalent to the size of Oklahoma. That’s about 6.5 times Canada’s 10-year average burned area. Climate change more than doubled the likelihood of extreme fire weather conditions in…