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A month after a pig heart transplant, man works to regain strength with no rejection so far

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s been a month since a Maryland man became the second person to receive a transplanted heart from a pig –- and hospital video released Friday shows he’s working hard to recover.Lawrence Faucette was dying from heart failure and ineligible for a traditional heart transplant because of other health problems when doctors at the University of Maryland School of Medicine offered the highly experimental surgery.In the first glimpse of Faucette provided since the Sept. 20 transplant, hospital video shows physical therapist Chris Wells urging him to smile while pushing through a pedaling exercise to regain his strength. “That’s going to be tough but I’ll work it out,” Faucette, 58, replied, breathing heavily but giving a smile.The Maryland team last year performed the world’s first transplant of a heart from a genetically altered pig into another dying man. David Bennett survived just two months before that heart failed, for reasons that aren’t completely clear although...

Christine Sinclair, the all-time international goal-scorer, is retiring from Canada’s national team

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:00 GMT

Christine Sinclair, the top goal scorer in international soccer, has announced she will retire from the Canadian national team at the end of this season. Sinclair, 40, announced her decision Thursday night on Instagram in a video that showed a pair of cleats swinging in the breeze on a goal.Sinclair has scored 190 international goals, most among both men and women, since she made her national team debut in 2000. She is among just five players to appear in six Women’s World Cups, and one of just three players to score in five. But a title in soccer’s biggest tournament eluded her. She has won a pair of Olympic bronze medals and won Olympic gold at the Tokyo Games.She scored the game winner over Brazil for the bronze medal at the 2016 Brazil Olympics. She was on the University of Portland’s two NCAA championship teams and has played since 2013 for the Portland Thorns of the National Women’s Soccer League.“Very few players can lace up their boots and transcend a sport both ...

Denver man's family released by Hamas for 'humanitarian' reasons

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:00 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- A Denver man's family members who were visiting Israel and taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7 have been released, according to Fox News.Ben Raanan's 17-year-old sister, Natali Raanan, and her mother, Judith Tai Raanan, from Evanston, Illinois, were reportedly released on "humanitarian grounds" following a mediation effort from Qatar. FOX31 Newsletters: Sign up to get breaking news sent to your inbox The pair were originally taken hostage by Hamas from the Nahal Oz kibbutz in southern Israel near the Gaza Strip."In response to Qatari efforts, Al-Qassam Brigades released two American citizens (a mother and her daughter) for humanitarian reasons, and to prove to the American people and the world that the claims made by Biden and his fascist administration are false and baseless," Al-Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Obaida told Fox News. The Al-Qassam Brigades is the armed wing of Hamas.A source with knowledge of the release reported the hostages are now in the Red Cross'...

Soldier missing from Fort Carson

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:00 GMT

FORT CARSON, Colo. (KXRM) — The 4th Infantry Division and Fort Carson are asking for the public's help finding a missing soldier who was last seen in formation at Fort Carson on Oct. 17 at 5 p.m., and failed to report for duty the next morning.According to Fort Carson, unit leadership and the family of Pvt. 1st Class Aaron Frame have been unable to contact him since, and the exact cause of his departure is unknown. Denver man’s family released by Hamas for ‘humanitarian’ reasons Frame is described as:A white male20 years oldHas brown hair and blue eyesIs 5 feet, 10 inches tall Weighs approximately 186 poundsFrame drives a black Kia Forte with the Colorado license plate AYGU52.Frame is an infantryman assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team at Fort Carson. FBI warns about ‘phantom hacker’ bank scam "Fort Carson unit leaders and investigators are working closely with Aaron’s family, local law enforcement agencies, and [the] Department ...

Hearing in Trump classified documents case addresses a possible conflict for a co-defendant’s lawyer

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:00 GMT

FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — The federal judge overseeing the classified documents case against Donald Trump was holding a hearing on Friday about a potential conflict of interest involving a co-defendant’s lawyer.Prosecutors say lawyer Stanley Woodward, who represents Trump valet Walt Nauta, has a conflict because he previously represented an information technology specialist who’s expected to be a key government witness at trial and represents another person who may be called to testify.Nauta is charged along with the Republican former president with scheming to conceal classified government documents from federal investigators. The prosecutors want to ensure at Friday’s hearing that Nauta understands the situation with his lawyer and knowingly forfeits his right to conflict-free legal representation.Prosecutors have described the witness as an IT director at Trump’s Palm Beach complex, Mar-a-Lago, who was asked to delete surveillance video there in an apparent effor...

House Republicans drop Jim Jordan as their nominee for speaker, falling back to square one

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans dropped Rep. Jim Jordan on Friday as their nominee for House speaker, making the decision during a closed-door session after the hard-edged ally of Donald Trump failed badly on a third ballot for the gavel.The blocked-House impasse deepening, Republicans have no realistic or workable plan to unite the fractured GOP majority, elect a new speaker and return to the work of Congress that has been languishing since hard-liners ousted Kevin McCarthy at the start of the month.Majority Leader Steve Scalise said they’re going “come back and start over” on Monday.In all, Jordan lost 25 Republican colleagues in Friday’s vote, leaving him far from the majority needed, with next steps uncertain.Ahead of the vote, Jordan showed no signs of stepping aside, insisting at a Capitol press conference: “The American people are hungry for change.”Drawing on his Ohio roots, Jordan, who is popular with the GOP’s right-flank activist base of voters, posi...

Two American hostages are being released by Hamas, sources say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:00 GMT

(CNN) — Two American hostages, a mother and her daughter, are being released by Hamas, according to a person familiar with the negotiations and a diplomatic source.The two have been handed over to the Red Cross and are “on their way out,” the source familiar with negotiations said.   The two are being released on “humanitarian grounds” because the mother is in poor health, the same source said.It is unclear whether they will leave Gaza into Egypt or Israel. This is the result of the negotiations between Qatar and Hamas that started after Hamas abducted around 200 people from Israel on October 7. In a statement, Hamas spokesperson Abu Obaida said: “In response to Qatari efforts, Al-Qassam Brigades released two American citizens (a mother and her daughter) for humanitarian reasons, and to prove to the American people and the world that the claims made by Biden and his fascist administration are false and baseless.” The White House has not commented. ...

Belgian justice minister resigns after Brussels attack

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:00 GMT

Belgian Minister of Justice Vincent Van Quickenborne announced his resignation late Friday following an attack in Brussels earlier this week that left two Swedish nationals dead. His resignation comes after media reported that Tunisia had requested that Belgium extradite the attacker, Abdesalam Lassoued, one of its nationals, in August 2022 — but that the request was not processed. Lassoued was later killed by police after the October 16 attack. Van Quickenborne said a magistrate had not complied with the extradition request drawn up for Lassoued. “I want to take political responsibility for this unacceptable mistake,” he said during a Friday press conference at his office.Van Quickenborne said he had informed the prime minister of his decision. “I sincerely want to apologize on behalf of justice to the victims and their loved ones. I would also like to apologize in the name of justice to the Swedish people and our Belgian fellow citizens,” he said, according...

Internal EU discontent grows at von der Leyen’s neglect of Palestinian statehood

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:00 GMT

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is infuriating the EU’s own foreign policy team by neglecting to mention the bloc’s support for Palestinian statehood in her public remarks on the Israel-Hamas war. Adding to the pressure on her, some 800 EU staff have also taken the unusual step of writing to protest she is showing unjustifiable bias toward Israel in the conflict. The latest flashpoint was a speech on Thursday at the Hudson Institute, a conservative think-tank in Washington, when she prioritized Israel’s right to defend itself after Hamas’ brutal assault on October 7 and neglected to mention the two-state solution that is a core part of the position of European countries. One senior EU official commenting on the speech accused her of airing her own personal views and presenting an unbalanced view of where the EU stood on the crisis in the Middle East. Foreign policy “is decided by member states, by the Council. The rest, with full respect, ...

Juveniles charged with dousing acid on western Mass. playground slides that injured 4 children

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:00 GMT

LONGMEADOW, Mass. (AP) — Two juveniles have been charged after several slides at a Massachusetts park were doused with acid in this summer and four children were injured, the Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni said.The juveniles, whose identities cannot be released due to their ages, have been charged with four counts of assault and battery on a child with injury and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon as well as vandalism, Gulluni said. His office did not say whether the pair have been arrested.“Our collective effort to charge those we believe are responsible should make clear that protecting this community’s children is among our highest priorities,” Gulluni said in a statement late Thursday. “Whether the threat and harm caused were intended as pranks or malicious acts, it will not be tolerated.”In June, police and firefighters responded to Bliss Park in Longmeadow for a report of a suspicious substance on the playground equipment. At about the same time, fire...