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Media darling Greta Thunberg has agreed that she’s “just saying blah blah blah” on climate change in a BBC interview, arguing “that’s the role of an activist”. The autistic teen, whose otherwise unremarkable refusal to attend school on Fridays to protest climate change was elevated to global prominence by world leaders who took it upon themselves to have her address the United Nations and national parliaments when she was just 15, is enjoying a resurgence in her public visibility ahead of the United Nations COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland.

It’s not even August but the National Football League has its first controversy on its hands. The hungry mainstream media has pitted the NFL against Donald Trump over an interview set to air Sunday. In it, Trump tells ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that not only is he angry about the proposed debate schedule conflicting with NFL games, but the NFL is angry too and wrote him a letter to express its displeasure. “I got a letter from the NFL saying, ‘This is ridiculous. Why are the debates against,’” he told Stephanopoulos. “‘Cause the NFL doesn’t wanna go against the debates. ‘Cause the...

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- A Birmingham abortion clinic has agreed to relinquish its license by May 18 after an Alabama Department of Public Health investigation found violations of state rules. State health officials said Friday the New Woman All Women Health Care Clinic in Birmingham voluntarily agreed to close. The clinic was found in a more than 70-page report to have violated numerous rules, including making errors in delivering medication to patients and failing to ensure that staff was properly trained to provide safe patient care.

Frank McCourt agreed Tuesday to sell the Dodgers, abruptly surrendering the team after fighting to retain it over two years and in two courts. McCourt and Major League Baseball have agreed to seek approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for an auction of the Dodgers. The sale is expected to include the team, Dodger Stadium and the surrounding parking lots, a package bought by McCourt for $421 million in 2004 and likely to sell for two to three times as much now. The league hopes a new Dodgers owner can be in place by opening day. The new owner would...

If anyone doubted whether there was real substance to the Hamas-Fatah “unity government,” Mahmoud Abbas’s New York Times op-ed provides the proverbial teachable moment. Don’t be distracted by Abbas’s fable of expulsion from Safed or his lies about the history of the conflict. The key passage is this one: Palestine’s admission to the United Nations would pave the way for the internationalization of the conflict as a legal matter, not only a political one. It would also pave the way for us to pursue claims against Israel at the United Nations, human rights treaty bodies and the International Court of...

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has agreed to pay nearly $42,000 in fines to resolve state and city investigations into his practice of accepting tickets to sports events, concerts and pricey entertainment activities without reporting them as gifts, officials said Friday. In a pact drafted by officials with the state Fair Political Practices Commission and the city Ethics Commission, Villaraigosa admitted that he failed to report free tickets to 34 events during his first five years in office, including Los Angeles Lakers games and concerts at such venues as Gibson Amphitheater. Villaraigosa faced a maximum fine of more than $167,000...

The U.S. informed Arab governments Friday that it will support a U.N. Security Council statement reaffirming that the 15-nation body "does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity," a move aimed at avoiding the prospect of having to veto a stronger Palestinian resolution calling the settlements illegal. But the Palestinian's rejected the American offer following a meeting late Wednesdy of Arab representativs and said it is planning to press for a vote on its resolution Friday, according officials familar with the issue. The decision to reject the American offer raised the prospects that the Obama adminstration may cast...

SAN DIEGO—The son of a Hamas founder who became a Christian and an Israeli spy will be granted U.S. asylum after he passes a routine background check, an immigration judge ruled Wednesday. Mosab Hassan Yousef got the news during a 15-minute deportation hearing after a U.S. Department of Homeland Security attorney said the government was dropping its objections. The agency denied Yousef's asylum request in February 2009, arguing that he had been involved in terrorism and was a threat to the United States.

PRINCETON -- The borough and the township have agreed to have a May 22 start for advocates for immigrants to issue community identification cards, according to a report in The New York Times. The report said at least six city governments across the the U.S. endorse or issue photo identification cards to residents who are illegal immigrants. Similar programs are operating in Trenton and Asbury Park.

WASHINGTON – The House on Thursday voted to allow the government to go $1.9 trillion deeper in debt — an increase of about $6,000 more for every U.S. resident that provided a vivid election-year reminder of the nation's perilous financial condition. The huge debt increase, approved 217-212, is only enough to keep the government afloat for about another year as it borrows more than 40 cents of every dollar it spends on programs like defense, health care, feeding the poor and protecting the environment. The budget tops $3.7 trillion this year and the deficit's approaching $1.6 trillion under the budget...

It's not every day that Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee, a liberal Democrat from Texas, says "I agree with Sarah Palin." She acknowledged the rarity in an interview with The Hill, but said she agrees that the Newsweek magazine cover with a photograph of Palin in running shorts is sexist. "I've never seen Governor Palin dressed in that kind of attire at a political event," Jackson-Lee said. "What is the necessity of highlighting that picture among the thousands that have been taken of her?"

LONDON (AFP) – The G20 vowed Saturday to maintain emergency measures to fight the world economic crisis, warning it was not over yet, while tensions between Europe and the United States remained over bankers' bonuses. After a meeting in London preparing for a leaders' summit later this month, finance ministers said they agreed fresh measures to keep the world economy on the right track, a year after it teetered on the brink of collapse. But they warned there was no room for complacency. "We remain cautious about the outlook for growth and jobs," the ministers said in a communique. "We...

NEW YORK – Bernard Madoff has agreed to give up the rights to his disgraced investment business and his company's prized artwork and entertainment tickets as he faces another appearance in a federal courtroom Wednesday. Prosecutors requested the hearing Tuesday so Madoff can appear in court with his lawyer, Ira Sorkin, because they believe the attorney may have conflicts of interest in the case. Sorkin also represents Madoff's wife and several others in relation to the Madoff case. The attorney said there is no conflict of interest and the issue can be completely resolved if Madoff tells the judge Wednesday...

BAGHDAD – American troops could face trial before Iraqi courts for major crimes committed off base and when not on missions, under a draft security pact hammered out in months of tortuous negotiations, Iraqi officials familiar with the accord said Wednesday. The draft also calls for U.S. troops to leave Iraqi cities by the end of June and withdraw from the country entirely by Dec. 31, 2011, unless the Baghdad government asks some of them to stay for training or security support, the officials said. It would also give the Iraqis a greater role in U.S. military operations and full...

LA PAZ, Bolivia - President Evo Morales agreed Thursday to stand for election in a nationwide recall vote, gambling that Bolivians will re-elect him after just two years in office. "If we politicians can't agree, it's best that the population decide our destiny," Morales said in a nationally televised address. Congress on Thursday passed a bill ordering the recall be held within 90 days. Morales said he will sign the measure. The bill would require Morales and Bolivia's nine state governors to win both more votes and a greater percentage of support than they did on a 2005 ballot. If...

...Wright's strong sentiments were echoed in the Sunday morning service attended by NewsMax. Wright laced into America's establishment, blaming the "white arrogance" of America's Caucasian majority for the woes of the world, especially the oppression suffered by blacks. To underscore the point he refers to the country as the "United States of White America." Many in the congregation, including Obama, nodded in apparent agreement as these statements were made...

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa agreed Thursday to pay a $5,200 fine for violating multiple campaign finance laws stemming from his 2003 race for the City Council. --snip-- In all, Villaraigosa violated 30 aspects of city campaign finance laws, according to a proposed agreement that he signed Thursday. --snip-- Villaraigosa's campaign lawyer, Stephen Kaufman, downplayed the significance of the violations, calling them common mistakes that other campaigns have made. "These are administrative errors, but nonetheless they should not have happened," Kaufman said. "The mayor has taken steps to make sure this does not happen again." --snip-- Villaraigosa could have faced...

RALEIGH, N.C. - MySpace.com will provide a number of state attorneys general with data on registered sex offenders who use the popular social networking web site, the company said Monday. Attorneys general from eight states demanded last week that the company provide data on how many registered sex offenders are using the site and where they live. MySpace initially refused, citing federal privacy laws. MySpace obtained the data from Sentinel Tech Holding Corp., which the company partnered with in December to build a database with information on sex offenders.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas struck a deal Monday to share power with the militant Islamic Hamas, an accord that could restore international aid and could lead to contacts with Israel. The breakthrough compromise falls short of international demands that Hamas fully renounce violence, but Israeli officials still voiced cautious support for the accord. Hamas, which is committed to Israel's destruction, swept to victory in January legislative elections, defeating Fatah, and formed a government by itself. The West and Israel reacted by cutting off hundreds of millions of dollars in aid, accusing Hamas of being a...

LOS ANGELES The nation's largest federation of unions agreed Wednesday to work with a network of immigrant day laborers to improve wages and working conditions for those who solicit work from street corners across America. The agreement between the AFL-CIO and the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, formally adopted in Chicago, is a sign of day laborers' growing role in the U.S. economy. Experts also said it reflects the need for unions to expand to regain clout. The agreement does not clear the way for day laborers to become union members, but both sides said it could be a step...