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Oil prices and markets seesaw

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Oil prices surged and markets slid Monday after hard-line Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei was chosen to succeed his late father as Iran’s supreme leader, signaling that Iran was digging in 10 days into the war launched by the United States and Israel. Oil prices later fell, and the U.S. stock market closed higher, amid hope that the war with Iran may not last that long as world leaders discussed options. U.S. President Donald Trump indicated to a group of lawmakers at his golf club near Miami that the conflict may end soon. “We took a little ...

Long history of dumb, self-inflicted wounds

I hurt my knee taking a step onto a riser in a performance at my kids’ elementary school the other day. I’m not sure yet how serious the injury is, but it’s the kind of incident that makes you feel about 100 years old and like a complete moron. I mean, who gets hurt taking the stairs? So, after it happened, I decided to make myself feel better in a manner passed down through the centuries as a sure-fire method for dispelling shame: Find someone who did something even dumber than you did. With that, I commenced to furious googling, turning up tales of some of the most ...

Riding off into the sunset

At times, you could be forgiven for having thought that Kristi Noem wanted to be a uniformed DHS officer rather than the secretary of the department. Now, the cabinet member most inclined to glamour shots out in the field is going to have to go back to wearing civilian clothes. For all his trademark firings during “The Apprentice” and the rapid turnover of his first term, President Trump has been loathe to oust top officials this time around. Kristi Noem is the exception, and she’s earned the dubious distinction. Incompetent and preposterously self-promoting, Noem took a ...

Goodbye, ICE Barbie

The worst of Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem’s many terrible moments in last week’s congressional hearings on immigration control probably came when she admitted to being unfamiliar with the shockingly appalling case of Marimar Martinez. She is the Chicago woman who managed to survive being shot five times by Border Patrol agents in October, leaving her with nerve damage in her right hand. Yet, as Noem, dubbed “ICE Barbie” by some for her love of posturing in front of media cameras, was pushed by U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, to acknowledge ...

Duke marks its record 150th No. 1 ranking in the AP Top 25

(AP) — Duke was chosen No. 1 in the AP Top 25 men’s college basketball poll for a record 150th time on Monday. The Blue Devils received 56 of 60 first-place votes from a national media panel after wins over rivals NC State and North Carolina, leaving them in the top spot for the third consecutive week. Arizona stayed second and received four first-place votes while Michigan received the other No. 1 ballot after its impressive win over No. 8 Michigan State. “We’ve put ourselves in a position to do something special and make a run,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. The Blue ...

US military kills 6 in strike on alleged drug boat

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military said it killed six men Sunday in a strike on an alleged drug-smuggling vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean as part of the Trump administration’s campaign against alleged traffickers. Sunday’s attack brought the death toll to at least 157 people since the Trump administration began targeting those it calls “narcoterrorists” in small vessels in early September. As with most of the military’s statements on the more than 40 known strikes in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, U.S. Southern Command said it targeted alleged drug ...