WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden said Sunday that the U.S. government believes missing American journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared 12 years ago near the Syrian capital, is alive and that Washington is committed to bringing him home after Bashar Assad’s ouster from power in Damascus . “We think we can get him back," Biden told reporters at the White House, while acknowledging that “we have no direct evidence” of his status. "Assad should be held accountable.” Biden said officials must still identify exactly where Tice is after his disappearance in August 2012 at a checkpoint in a contested area west of Damascus. “We've remained committed to returning him to his family,” he said. Tice, who is from Houston, has had his work published by The Washington Post, McClatchy newspapers and other outlets. A video released weeks after Tice went missing showed him blindfolded and held by armed men and saying, “Oh, Jesus.” He has not been heard from since. Syria has publicly denied that it was holding him. The United States has no new evidence that Tice is alive, but continues to operate under that assumption, according to a U.S. official. The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the U.S. will continue to work to identify where he is and to try to bring him home. His mother, Debra, said at a news conference Friday in Washington that the family had information from a “significant source,” whom she did not identify, establishing that her son was alive. “He is being cared for and he is well — we do know that,” she said. The Tice family met this past week with officials at the State Department and the White House. “To everyone in Syria that hears this, please remind people that we’re waiting for Austin,” Debra Tice said in comments that hostage advocacy groups spread on social media Sunday. “We know that when he comes out, he’s going to be fairly dazed and he’s going to need lots of care and direction. Direct him to his family please!” Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Get local news delivered to your inbox!7bet cc 。

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MINNEAPOLIS — U.S. Attorney Andy Luger is stepping down soon as the top federal law enforcement official in Minnesota. As is custom for political appointees, he’s resigning to make way for a yet-to-be-announced successor chosen by incoming President Donald Trump. After serving under President Barack Obama, President Joe Biden appointed Luger, 65, to a second term that began in 2022. ADVERTISEMENT Luger spoke Thursday afternoon with MPR News correspondent Matt Sepic. This is a condensed version of the interview. In May of that year, you launched a violent crime initiative that focused initially on carjacking and gun cases, particularly machine guns. Where does that stand now nearly three years later? Has it been successful? We hear from defendants and community members that our initiatives are having an effect. Someone who commits a carjacking gets arrested and they’re in the car, one of the questions they ask the police is, is this going federal? Last year, you expanded that effort to focus on Minneapolis street gangs. Why was it important for you to make gangs a priority for federal law enforcement? Both north-side community leaders as well as law enforcement leaders said that following the murder of George Floyd and the riots that ensued, and the downturn in number of officers on the street, the gangs really saw an opportunity and took advantage of it. They began to become more violent against each other, which both affects them, affects the neighborhoods and innocent bystanders. What have you learned about Minneapolis gangs, and specifically their inner workings as a result of this investigation and the trial a few months ago? This is almost incredible to say, but when you ask a member of the Highs, what’s their purpose, what are they doing, their answer is to kill members of the Lows. And when you ask a member of the Lows, what’s your purpose, why do you do this, their answer is to kill the Highs. It’s just that simple. ADVERTISEMENT You returned for your second term as U.S. attorney amid the FBI’s investigation into an alleged $250 million COVID fraud scheme centered around the Twin Cities nonprofit Feeding Our Future. After having prosecuted many different kinds of crimes over the decades in your career, what did you think when you first sat down and cracked open that case file? The day before the search warrants were executed in January 2022, I got a call from Joe Thompson, who’s the white-collar chief in this office, and he said, “When are you coming?” Because we were waiting daily for my confirmation. And I said, any day. And he said, “All right, well, watch the news Thursday.” I think it was pretty much from the day I got here, Joe Thompson and I with the FBI agents and others, talking about we need more people on this, and we’re going to turn this into one of the biggest cases this office has ever seen, because it had to be. After you step down, what happens with this case and all of the other pending cases that are in this office and the trials next year, half a dozen of them related to Feeding Our Future? We have been very careful in the months leading up to the election, knowing that I could leave if the election goes in a particular way, in plotting out what 2025 looks like, it could take a year or more to have a new U.S. attorney confirmed. They’ll pick up the mantle. They’ll make changes where that person sees fit, just like I did. But I got to believe the core mission of this office on violent crime and on Feeding Our Future and other large government fraud investigations that could ensue, I got to believe that’s going to go forward. ADVERTISEMENT What’s next for you? Under Department of Justice rules and my own sense of propriety, I’m not going to talk about my future while I still sit in this chair. I think the state of Minnesota deserves a full-time U.S. attorney (who is) focused on that, and that’s where I’m at. Somebody asked me earlier today in the office, will you retire? And I said, I really don’t know the meaning of that word, so I don’t plan on retiring. I will stay active in the law and in causes and ideas that I believe in, the most important of which is faith in our government institutions. I believe so much in our criminal justice system that I’ll be a vocal advocate for that system going forward. This story was originally published on MPRNews.org ______________________________________________________ This story was written by one of our partner news agencies. Forum Communications Company uses content from agencies such as Reuters, Kaiser Health News, Tribune News Service and others to provide a wider range of news to our readers. Learn more about the news services FCC uses here .

NEW YORK (AP) — Having waited 63 years for an Ivy League football title, Columbia had to stand by for another 40 minutes. The Lions had beaten Cornell 17-9 but needed a Harvard loss against Yale to secure a share of first place on the season's final day. So Columbia players retreated to their locker room on a hill a few hundred feet from Wien Stadium to watch the game in Boston on TV as a few hundred fans remained and gazed at the gold-and-orange foliage of Inwood Hill Park glowing in Saturday's afternoon sun. When Yale recovered onside kick with seconds left to ensure a 34-29 Harvard defeat, players let out a scream and streamed back onto the field to celebrate, smoke cigars, lift a trophy and sing “Roar, Lion, Roar” with family and friends. Who would have thunk it? “You had the realization of, oh, I’m a champion, which is something that hasn’t been said here in a while,” co-captain CJ Brown said. Harvard dropped into a tie with Columbia and Dartmouth at 5-2, the first time three teams shared the title since 1982 — the conference doesn't use tiebreakers. “It was nerve-wracking, for sure, but definitely exciting because that's something that not a lot of people have experienced, especially here," running back Joey Giorgi said. There have been several top players at Columbia — Sid Luckman, Marty Domres, Marcellus Wiley among them — but the school is perhaps better known for owners such as the New England Patriots' Robert Kraft and former Cleveland Browns head Al Lerner. Columbia's only previous championship in 1961 also was shared with Harvard. That Lions team was coached by Buff Donelli, a former Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Rams coach who scored for the Americans in soccer's 1934 World Cup. Columbia set a then Division I-AA record with 44 consecutive losses from 1983-88, a mark broken by Prairie View’s 80 in a row from 1989-98. Since 1971, the Lions’ only seasons with winning records until now were 1994, 1996, 2017, 2018, 2021 and 2022. Al Bagnoli, who won nine Ivy titles in 23 years at Penn, couldn't manage one at Columbia from 2015-22. He quit six weeks before the 2023 opener, citing health, and was replaced on an interim basis by Mark Fabish, his offensive coordinator. Jon Poppe, now 39, was hired last December after working as a Bagnoli assistant at Columbia from 2015-17 between stints at Harvard from 2011-14 and 2017-22, plus one season as a head coach at Division III Union College. He led the Lions to a 7-3 record overall, their most wins in a coach's first season since George F. Sanford's team went 9-3 in 1899. Poppe had wife Anna and 7-year-old daughter with him in the locker room watching the countdown to the title. “Sixty-three years of whatever into now,” he said. “Just seeing a lot of that history myself, personally. This is a hugely — a feeling of elation, seeing my dad on the field, a lot of emotional things with that.” Before a crowd of 4,224, quarterback Caleb Sanchez's 1-yard touchdown run put Columbia ahead in the second quarter. Giorgi's 1-yard TD run opened a 14-3 lead in the third and Hugo Merry added a 25-yard field goal in the fourth, overcoming three field goals by Alan Zhao. Giorgi rushed for 165 yards and finished his career with 2,112, second in school history. He and Brown missed what would have been their freshman season in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic. Given Columbia's athletic history — the most successful sport is fencing — it is not an obvious football destination. “I saw the dedication, whether it resulted in wins or losses,” Brown said. “I saw their dedication to the product that they put out on the field and also the athletic department, the facilities that we had here, the busses on schedule and stuff, I was like, OK, they care about their athletes. People here want to win and it doesn’t matter what’s happened in the past, it matters what we’re going to do now.” Poppe cited a mindset. “You get 10 opportunities, unlike other sports, it is a grind to play this sport and prepare the way we do just for 10,” he said. As the final whistle sounded in Boston, Brown noted an unusual initial reaction in the locker room. “It was like kind of awe when they recovered the kick,” he said. “It was a lot quieter than you would think it would be, but you could feel the joy and the elation.” They accomplished what more than six decades of their predecessors had failed to. As the players headed out, Poppe had a final word. “Day off tomorrow,” he said. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

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Srinagar, Dec 6: Minister for Transport, FCS&CA, Information Technology, Science and Technology, Satish Sharma, today convened separate meetings with senior officers to review the functioning of Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs and Transport Department. The meetings aimed to review the preparedness of both the departments for the winter season. The Minister reviewed the stock and supply position of essentials in Kashmir division besides assessing extra arrangements made by the department for winter season. He cautioned the officials that the government would not tolerate any lapse in making available sufficient stock supply of essential commodities, especially food grains in Kashmir division for the winter months. He directed them to always dump stocks in advance so that people do not face difficulty in case the National Highway gets closed due to bad weather. Expressing satisfaction over the functioning of the department, the Minister said that FCS&CA department is directly linked with the people and it becomes mandatory on its functionaries to take every possible step to ensure that consumers do not face any difficulty, especially during winter months. The Minister instructed the officers to address the issues related to ration cards on priority basis. He also asked them to ensure proper internet connection in far flung areas so that people don’t face any kind of inconvenience to get food grains while marking their biometric. The Minister appealed people to get their children enrolled who are born between 2011 to 2016 under Public Distribution System (FCS &CA) as per their eligibility, as it will benefit such households for additional entitlement as per the group to which they belong. The Minister also reviewed the functioning of Transport Department in view of winter season. The Minister enquired about the maintenance of buses, revenue generation, transport services to remote areas etc. Expressing satisfaction over revenue generation, the Minister stressed the need for adopting and incorporating innovative ideas for further improving and streamlining functioning of the Transport Department. He said besides bringing efficiency and transparency in working of the department, there is a need for providing better and efficient transport facilities to the public, especially people living in far flung areas and patients. The Minister asked the officers to work in unison to improve and strengthen public transport system in Jammu and Kashmir. The Minister also inspected ongoing construction works being executed on upcoming Sub Regional Science Centre at Lal Mandi here. During inspection, Satish Sharma directed the concerned authorities to complete the work in stipulated time frame ensuring quality of work. He said that laxity on part of quality will be dealt with strictness.

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It is with dismay that one reads the many statements made by the Tutu Trust in the last couple of weeks, the latest a call to remove an exhibition hosted by a US government funded conference. The conflict in the Middle East between the State of Israel and terrorist organizations’ Hamas and Hezbollah has rolled into every nation on the globe. The people who pay the bitter price of this ongoing battle are not the protagonists who, from the safety of their comfortable existence in conflict free zones, propagate a political narrative; it is the people of Gaza, Israel, and Lebanon. I see in their plight the faces of my own community on the Flats. Communities entangled in the web of violence, and exploited by powerful players with devious aims. Locally this conflict affects our Christian, Jewish, and Muslim communities, who have strong spiritual and natural ties to the people of that region. Therefore we must use wisdom if we seek to contribute to peace, and be aware of our own biases whether political or religious. Our world needs moral clarity not the continued propaganda that strengthens an ideology that makes the Jewish community targets of violent attacks in different cities around the world. In my life I have Muslim friends who showed kindness to me personally during painful times that helps me to see beyond the labels of religion. Both Arab and Jew are descendants of Abraham. We must see people, “Umuntu umuntu ngabantu” It is time for agitators like the Desmond Tutu Trust, who solely stand on one side of a complex political issue, to make a clear distinction between the innocent people of Gaza and the terrorist groups who are bent on destruction no matter what the human cost. The Trust, in failing to address the hostages still in Gaza, makes a distinction on the value of human life based on political position. Why is it that we do not hear the call clear and loud for the release of the Israeli hostages, some of them children from the Tutu Trust? Certainly the release of hostages will contribute to ending this bloody conflict raging for more than a year. There is a desperate need to reset the dialogue and discussion beyond political posturing in order to silence the guns.Biden's pardon reflects historic controversy surrounding US presidential powerLiberty Broadband Corporation Declares Quarterly Cash Dividend on Series A Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock