11-25-2024  12:09 am   •   PDX and SEA Weather

  • Supporters of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris hold up their fists in the air in unison after she delivered a concession speech after the 2024 presidential election, Nov. 6, 2024, on the campus of Howard University in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

    Black Women are Rethinking their Role as Americas Reliable Political Organizers 

    Donald Trump's victory has dismayed many politically engaged Black women, and they're reassessing their enthusiasm for politics and organizing. Black women often carry much of the work of getting out the vote, and they had vigorously supported the historic candidacy of Kamala Harris. AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 120,000 voters, found that 6 in 10 Black women said the future of democracy was the single most important factor Read More
  • Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Ore., accompanied by Majority Whip Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., left, and House Majority Leader Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., right, speaks at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

    Trump Picks Oregon Rep Lori Chavez-DeRemer for Labor Secretary 

    President-elect Donald Trump has named Oregon Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer to lead the Department of Labor, elevating a Republican congresswoman who has strong support from unions in her district but lost reelection in November. Chavez-DeRemer has a legislative record that has drawn plaudits from unions, but organized labor leaders remain skeptical about Trump's agenda for workers. Trump, in general, has not supported policies that make it easier for workers to organize. Read More
  • Photo: NNPA

    15 Democrats Join Republicans in Backing Bill Critics Call a Dictator’s Dream

    The Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act (H.R. 9495) grants the Treasury secretary unilateral authority to label nonprofits as “terrorist supporting organizations” and strip them of their tax-exempt status without due process. Read More
  • Photo: NNPA

    Medicaid Faces Uncertain Future as Republicans Target Program Under Trump Administration

    Medicaid’s role in American healthcare is substantial. It supports nearly half of all children in the U.S., covers significant portions of mental health and nursing home care, and plays a vital part in managing chronic conditions. Read More
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NORTHWEST NEWS

'Bomb Cyclone' Kills 1 and Knocks out Power to Over Half a Million Homes Across the Northwest US

A major storm was sweeping across the northwest U.S., battering the region with strong winds and rain. The Weather Prediction Center issued excessive rainfall risks through Friday and hurricane-force wind warnings were in effect. 

'Bomb Cyclone' Threatens Northern California and Pacific Northwest

The Weather Prediction Center issued excessive rainfall risks beginning Tuesday and lasting through Friday. Those come as the strongest atmospheric river  that California and the Pacific Northwest has seen this season bears down on the region. 

More Logging Is Proposed to Help Curb Wildfires in the US Pacific Northwest

Officials say worsening wildfires due to climate change mean that forests must be more actively managed to increase their resiliency.

Democrat Janelle Bynum Flips Oregon’s 5th District, Will Be State’s First Black Member of Congress

The U.S. House race was one of the country’s most competitive and viewed by The Cook Political Report as a toss up, meaning either party had a good chance of winning.

NEWS BRIEFS

OMSI Opens Indoor Ice Rink for the Holiday Season

This is the first year the unique synthetic ice rink is open. ...

Thanksgiving Safety Tips

Portland Fire & Rescue extends their wish to you for a happy and safe Thanksgiving Holiday. ...

Portland Art Museum’s Rental Sales Gallery Showcases Diverse Talent

New Member Artist Show will be open to the public Dec. 6 through Jan. 18, with all works available for both rental and purchase. ...

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library of Oregon Announces New State Director and Community Engagement Coordinator

“This is an exciting milestone for Oregon,” said DELC Director Alyssa Chatterjee. “These positions will play critical roles in...

Multnomah County Library Breaks Ground on Expanded St. Johns Library

Groundbreaking marks milestone in library transformations ...

Forecasts warn of possible winter storms across US during Thanksgiving week

WINDSOR, Calif. (AP) — Another round of wintry weather could complicate travel leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday, according to forecasts across the U.S., while California and Washington state continue to recover from storm damage and power outages. In California, where two...

AP Top 25: Alabama, Mississippi out of top 10 and Miami, SMU are in; Oregon remains unanimous No. 1

Alabama and Mississippi tumbled out of the top 10 of The Associated Press Top 25 poll Sunday and Miami and SMU moved in following a chaotic weekend in the SEC and across college football in general. Oregon is No. 1 for the sixth straight week and Ohio State, Texas and Penn State held...

Mitchell's 20 points, Robinson's double-double lead Missouri in a 112-63 rout of Arkansas-Pine Bluff

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Mark Mitchell scored 20 points and Anthony Robinson II posted a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds as Missouri roared to its fifth straight win and its third straight by more than 35 points as the Tigers routed Arkansas-Pine Bluff 112-63 on Sunday. ...

Moore and UAPB host Missouri

Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions (1-5) at Missouri Tigers (4-1) Columbia, Missouri; Sunday, 5 p.m. EST BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Tigers -34.5; over/under is 155.5 BOTTOM LINE: UAPB visits Missouri after Christian Moore scored 20 points in UAPB's 98-64 loss to...

OPINION

A Loan Shark in Your Pocket: Cellphone Cash Advance Apps

Fast-growing app usage leaves many consumers worse off. ...

America’s Healing Can Start with Family Around the Holidays

With the holiday season approaching, it seems that our country could not be more divided. That division has been perhaps the main overarching topic of our national conversation in recent years. And it has taken root within many of our own families. ...

Donald Trump Rides Patriarchy Back to the White House

White male supremacy, which Trump ran on, continues to play an outsized role in exacerbating the divide that afflicts our nation. ...

Why Not Voting Could Deprioritize Black Communities

President Biden’s Justice40 initiative ensures that 40% of federal investment benefits flow to disadvantaged communities, addressing deep-seated inequities. ...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

White woman who fatally shot Black neighbor through door faces manslaughter sentence in Florida

A white Florida woman who fatally shot a Black neighbor through her front door during an ongoing dispute over the neighbor's boisterous children faces sentencing Monday for her manslaughter conviction. Susan Lorincz, 60, was convicted in August of killing 35-year-old Ajike “A.J.”...

After Trump's win, Black women are rethinking their role as America's reliable political organizers

ATLANTA (AP) — As she checked into a recent flight to Mexico for vacation, Teja Smith chuckled at the idea of joining another Women’s March on Washington. As a Black woman, she just couldn’t see herself helping to replicate the largest act of resistance against then-President...

National monument proposed for North Dakota Badlands, with tribes' support

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A coalition of conservation groups and Native American tribal citizens on Friday called on President Joe Biden to designate nearly 140,000 acres of rugged, scenic Badlands as North Dakota's first national monument, a proposal several tribal nations say would preserve the...

ENTERTAINMENT

Book Review: Chris Myers looks back on his career in ’That Deserves a Wow'

There are few sports journalists working today with a resume as broad as Chris Myers. From a decade doing everything for ESPN (SportsCenter, play by play, and succeeding Roy Firestone as host of the interview show “Up Close”) to decades of involvement with nearly every league under contract...

Was it the Mouse King? ‘Nutcracker’ props stolen from a Michigan ballet company

CANTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Did the Mouse King strike? A ballet group in suburban Detroit is scrambling after someone stole a trailer filled with props for upcoming performances of the beloved holiday classic “The Nutcracker.” The lost items include a grandfather...

Wrestling with the ghosts of 'The Piano Lesson'

The piano on the set of “The Piano Lesson” was not a mere prop. It could be played and the cast members often did. It was adorned with pictures of the Washington family and their ancestors. It was, John David Washington jokes, “No. 1 on the call sheet.” “We tried to haunt...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

In South Korea, nations meet in final round to address global plastic crisis

Negotiators gathered in Busan, South Korea, on Monday in a final push to create a treaty to address the global...

Overhauls of 'heritage brands' raise the question: How important are our products to our identities?

LONDON (AP) — When Katja Vogt considers a Jaguar, she pictures a British-made car purring confidently along the...

South Korea holds memorial for forced laborers at Sado mines, a day after boycotting Japanese event

SADO, Japan (AP) — South Korea paid tribute to wartime Korean forced laborers at Japan’s Sado Island Gold...

Heavy rains in Bolivia send mud crashing into the capital, leaving 1 missing and destroying homes

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — A landslide caused by heavy rains after a prolonged drought in La Paz, the capital of...

Moscow offers debt forgiveness to new recruits and AP sees wreckage of a new Russian missile

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law granting debt forgiveness to new army...

New Zealanders help to save about 30 whales after a pod strands on a beach

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — More than 30 pilot whales that stranded themselves on a beach in New Zealand were...

CNN Wire Staff

(CNN) -- After 18 months of terror and grave devastation, Syrian children are plagued with trauma from witnessing the horrors of war first-hand, an international aid group says.

Save the Children released a report Tuesday called "Untold Atrocities," a collection of accounts from Syrian refugee children.



"A massacre took place in my village. Around 25 people were killed -- I witnessed it with my own eyes," said 15-year-old Mohamad, who has fled to Jordan with his family. "They used different ways to kill people -- electric shocks, throwing machinery and cement blocks on people's heads."

Hassan, 14, described the use of children as human shields -- akin to reports from opposition activists that the Syrian regime has used children as shields.

He said his cousin and uncle died when a rocket "caused a massacre."

"Almost every child we've spoken to has seen family members killed," Save the Children said.

Even those who survive attacks face dire circumstances.

"When we were being bombed we had nothing. No food, no water, no toys -- nothing. There was no way to buy food -- the markets and shops were bombed out," 10-year-old Ala'a said. "My father went without food for days because there wasn't enough. I remember watching him tie his stomach with rope so he wouldn't feel so hungry."

Wael, 16, summarized the trauma this way:

"I have seen children slaughtered. I don't think I'll ever be OK again."

In other developments:

On the ground: Blasts strike a Damascus compound

Dual attacks rattled a Syrian intelligence security compound in Damascus, the regime and opposition activists said Tuesday.

The compound was also the site of a major explosion in March.

Syrian state-run TV said the two improvised explosive devices were "planted by terrorists" in a school building and caused seven injuries.

Opposition activists said the Syrian military was using the school building as a base. The new school year has not yet started, Syrian state TV said, so it seems unlikely that children would have been at the site.

In June, Human Rights Watch described cases of "sexual torture" at the compound, reported by male and female detainees -- many of whom were political activists or simply attended protests.

At least 50 people have been killed across Syria on Tuesday, according to the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, an opposition group.

Thirteen deaths have been reported in Daraa province, where regime forces are dropping improvised explosive barrels from helicopter gunships above the city of Daeel, according to the LCC.

Diplomatic front: Obama pledges support, Qatar offers a new plan for Syria

President Obama used his speech at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday to pledge U.S. support for those working for a "common good" for Syria, and sanctions against those doing harm.

"In Syria, the future must not belong to a dictator who massacres his people," he said.

"If there is a cause that cries out for protest in the world today, it is a regime that tortures children and shoots rockets at apartment buildings. And we must remain engaged to assure that what began with citizens demanding their rights does not end in a cycle of sectarian violence.

"Together, we must stand with those Syrians who believe in a different vision -- a Syria that is united and inclusive."

There would be consequences and sanctions for those who persecute others, Obama promised, and assistance for those who work for the good of all of Syria's people.

The U.S. president's words come a day after Qatar's prime minister proposed a "Plan B" for solving the Syrian crisis, saying a nonviolent solution is still possible despite more than a year of relentless bloodshed. He called for greater help from the United States to achieve this end.

In an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour, Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani said the plan would include havens -- which would require a no-fly zone -- and greater humanitarian aid.

"We wish and we believe that we can solve it peacefully," Al Thani said Monday. But, he said, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has only one solution: "killing his people to win the war."

"I believe within weeks, we should have a Plan B. And there is a responsibility among us," he said. "We are talking about saving the people of Syria."

When asked who would participate in the plan, Al Thani replied, "I believe there is a lot of Arab countries will participate, and there is also European countries will participate."

But what the plan really needs, Al Thani said, is help from the United States.

"I know, to be more frank, that there is an election now. ... But I hope that after the election, the American government looks at this matter in a different way. And I always meant no military intervention, but we need to take some measures ... to save the Syrian people."

The prime minister said his country is not providing weapons to Syrian rebels, but is giving humanitarian aid to refugees who have fled to other countries.

Al Thani said he hopes plans for Syria don't include a regional struggle between Sunni and Shia Muslims.

"My fear (is) that if there is a Sunni-Shia war and escalation ... nobody will win in this."

He also alluded to the diplomatic deadlock at the U.N. Security Council, where Russia and China have repeatedly blocked draft resolutions that would take stronger action against al-Assad's regime.

"I really hope that Russia and China join all of us to find a solution. Not exactly what they want or what we want -- it's exactly what the Syrian people want, in my opinion."

Qatar played a key role in the revolution in Libya as the first Arab nation to recognize the rebels and support NATO's mission there.

In fact, Libyans were so thankful, they hung the Qatari flag over a compound of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in Tripoli.

But Al Thani says that was possible through work via NATO and the help of the United States.

CNN's Saad Abedine, Holly Yan, Samuel Burke and Claire Calzonetti contributed to this report.

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