(CNN) — Golden State Warriors assistant coach Dejan Milojević died Wednesday morning after suffering a heart attack, according to the team. He was 46.

Milojević was hired by the Warriors in 2021 and was in his third season as part of head coach Steve Kerr’s coaching staff.

The Warriors said Milojević suffered the heart attack at a private team dinner on Tuesday night in Salt Lake City. He was then transported to a local hospital but passed away Wednesday “despite life-saving efforts,” according to the team.

“We are absolutely devastated by Dejan’s sudden passing,” said Kerr in a statement.

“This is a shocking and tragic blow for everyone associated with the Warriors and an incredibly difficult time for his family, friends, and all of us who had the incredible pleasure to work with him.

“In addition to being a terrific basketball coach, Dejan was one of the most positive and beautiful human beings I have ever known, someone who brought joy and light to every single day with his passion and energy.

“We grieve with and for his wife, Natasa, and their children, Nikola and Masa. Their loss is unfathomable.”

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver issued a statement paying tribute to Milojević, calling him “a beloved colleague and dear friend to so many in the global basketball community” and offering condolences to his family and the Warriors.

The NBA postponed Wednesday’s game between the Warriors and the Utah Jazz and Friday’s game between Golden State and the Dallas Mavericks after Milojević’s sudden passing, with the rescheduled date to be announced “at a later time,” according to the league.

‘A great ambassador to the game’

Toronto Raptors head coach Darko Rajaković took time to pay tribute to Milojević Wednesday, dedicating his team’s win over the Miami Heat to his compatriot.

“A lot of NBA players went through his hands and his influence,” Rajaković, who is also from Serbia, said.

“As a head coach he helped a lot of people to make the next step in their career. The last time we were together he was talking about Serbian national team and his dream of one day being a head coach of the Serbian national team.

“And we were talking about plans and all of that, and unfortunately, he’s not with us anymore to share dreams and goals,” he added.

Andre Iguodala, who won four NBA championships with the Warriors, called Milojević an “Amazing HUMAN BEING!” on X (formerly known as Twitter), while New York Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said, “He was a great ambassador to the game.”

Ahead of their game with the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday, the Los Angeles Lakers took time to honor Milojević with a moment of silence, with players bowing their heads and a picture of the coach displayed on the arena’s big screen.

Milojević was the head coach of Budućnost VOLI in Montenegro before joining the Warriors.

The post Golden State Warriors assistant coach Dejan Milojević dies at 46 appeared first on The Atlanta Voice.

 (CNN) — Congress passed a short-term funding extension Thursday, averting a partial government shutdown at the end of the week after lawmakers raced the clock ahead of a key Friday deadline.

The bill will now be sent to President Joe Biden to be signed into law. The Senate voted first to pass the measure by a tally of 77 to 18. The House passed the bill later in the day, 314 to 108.

But major challenges still lay ahead. Lawmakers must now attempt to pass a series of full-year spending bills before new March deadlines – a painstaking process with a wide array of potential landmines as the two parties fight for competing policy priorities.

In a rare event, lawmakers had been confronting not one but two government shutdown deadlines early this year – on January 19 and February 2.

The short-term funding extension sets up two new funding deadlines on March 1 and March 8. The stopgap measure will provide more time for full-year appropriations bills to be negotiated and passed.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, who presides over an extremely narrow majority, has faced intense pushback from his right flank amid the government spending fight.

Johnson has been criticized by conservatives over a topline spending deal he struck with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, which would set spending at close to $1.66 trillion overall. Conservatives were also quick to criticize the proposal for a short-term funding extension after it was announced.

“This is what surrender looks like,” the far-right House Freedom Caucus posted on X.

Johnson has defended the topline agreement and said in a statement Sunday that the short-term spending bill “is required to complete what House Republicans are working hard to achieve: an end to governance by omnibus, meaningful policy wins, and better stewardship of American tax dollars.”

In addition to the effort to avert a shutdown, a group of Senate negotiators have been working to try to strike a deal on border security that could unlock passage of aid to Ukraine and Israel.

Top congressional leaders emerged from a Wednesday meeting with Biden at the White House hopeful that a deal on a national security supplemental aid package can be reached.

If a deal is reached in the Senate, however, its fate in the House will be uncertain. A number of House Republicans have warned that they don’t believe a Senate compromise on border security would be adequate to address the issues at the border and would be ready to reject such a measure.

The post Congress passes short-term funding extension, averting government shutdown ahead of Friday deadline appeared first on The Atlanta Voice.

Washington (CNN) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday appeared to reject the idea of creating a Palestinian state, a statement that could contribute to growing tensions between Washington and Jerusalem.

“In any future arrangement … Israel needs security control all territory west of Jordan. This clashes with the idea of (Palestinian) sovereignty. What can you do?” he told a news conference in Tel Aviv when asked about reports that he told American officials he opposes the idea of Palestinian sovereignty.

“This conflict is not about the absence of a (Palestinian) state but about the existence of a state, the Jewish state,” Netanyahu also said.

The apparent rejection of a Palestinian state is at direct odds with the stated position of one of Netanyahu’s staunchest allies, US President Joe Biden, who has long advocated for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Even as Biden offers support for Israel, behind the scenes he and top officials have grown frustrated that Netanyahu appears to be rejecting advice and pressure on the campaign in Gaza.

American officials said Thursday they would not allow Netanyahu’s apparent rejection of an eventual Palestinian state to stop them from pressing the matter with their Israeli counterparts.

A senior administration official noted after Netanyahu’s comments that the prime minister had reversed himself on hardline positions before – and that his statement Thursday was not necessarily the final word.

“If we took such statements as the final word, there would be no humanitarian assistance going into Gaza and no hostages released,” a senior US administration official said. “As with those and many other issues, we will continue to work toward the right outcome, particularly on issues where we strongly disagree.”

One person familiar with the matter said it wasn’t clear whether Netanyahu had, in fact, relayed his views directly to American officials, as he stated during his news conference. The person said inside the administration, his comments aren’t being viewed as a major departure from what he’s said previously.

A public rift opened between Biden and Netanyahu last month over the mounting civilian casualties in Gaza and differences in opinion about what a future for Palestinians should look like after combat operations end. The US has been signaling that it wants Israel to move to a lower intensity phase of the war that focuses more on Hamas leaders and militants rather than the mass strikes that have led to tens of thousands of Palestinian civilian deaths.

“I want them to be focused on how to save civilian lives. Not stop going after Hamas, but be more careful,” Biden said last month.

Both Biden and Netanyahu have faced increasing domestic political pressure as the military campaign in Gaza has dragged on. The US president is confronted constantly by pro-Palestinian protesters who demand he call for a ceasefire and up the pressure on the Israelis to end their military campaign that began in the wake of the October 7 terror attack by Hamas.

Meanwhile Netanyahu faces pressure from Israelis over the fact that scores of hostages are still being held from Hamas’ attack and the security failures that allowed it to take place. Failure to deliver on the return of those hostages would intensify political pressure on a decisive leader whose popularity among Israelis has only plunged since October 7.

Amid calls for Netanyahu to resign, the prime minister claimed in the news conference that the Israeli politicians asking for him to step down are essentially asking for the creation of a Palestinian state.

“Those who talk about the day after Netanyahu are actually talking about the establishment of a Palestinian state,” he said, adding that an Israeli prime minister needs to be “capable of saying no to our friends,” he added.

When asked about Netanyahu’s remarks, John Kirby, the US National Security Council spokesman, told reporters aboard Air Force One on Thursday that “nothing has changed” in Biden’s desire for a Palestinian state.

“We’re not going to stop working towards that goal. And this is this is not a new comment by Prime Minister Netanyahu,” he said.

The post Netanyahu’s apparent rejection of a post-war Palestinian state adds to tensions with Biden administration appeared first on The Atlanta Voice.

(CNN) — An aide who called 911 requesting an ambulance to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s house on New Year’s Day asked that the ambulance be discreet and “not show up with lights and sirens.”

“We’re trying to remain a little subtle,” the aide told the dispatcher in a recording of the call obtained by CNN through the Freedom of Information Act from the Fairfax County Department of Public Safety Communications.

“Yeah, I understand,” the dispatcher responded to the aide, whose name is redacted from the audio. The dispatcher explained that ambulances typically turn off their lights and sirens on residential streets.

The aide asked that Austin — whose name is also redacted from the call — be taken to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

The audio, first reported on by The Daily Beast, provides new insight into the defense secretary’s physical state at the start of what became a two-week stay at Walter Reed for Austin, who was experiencing complications from a December 22 procedure to treat prostate cancer.

Austin, the aide said, was not experiencing chest pain or feeling like he was going to pass out. He was awake and oriented, according to the audio.

While Austin and the aide’s names are redacted from the audio, the street name of the partially redacted address provided to the dispatcher matches Austin’s address.

While Austin was admitted to the hospital on January 1 — and the intensive care unit on January 2 — the public did not know about his health complications until January 5. It was later discovered that the White House, including President Joe Biden, had not been notified until January 4. Congress was not notified until January 5. The revelation has raised numerous questions about Austin’s compliance with notification requirements and transparency in the Pentagon.

Biden has since said that Austin’s delay in notifying him was a lapse in judgment.

The Pentagon’s inspector general has launched a review of whether the Pentagon has the appropriate policies in place to ensure an effective transfer of power and duties following Austin’s hospitalizations.

Austin’s doctors said last week that he had a “minimally invasive surgical procedure” on December 22, but on January 1 he was experiencing “nausea with severe abdominal, hip and leg pain,” and was found to have a urinary tract infection.

“Further evaluation revealed abdominal fluid collections impairing the function of his small intestines,” the statement from his doctors last week said. “This resulted in the back up of his intestinal contents which was treated by placing a tube through his nose to drain his stomach. The abdominal fluid collections were drained by non-surgical drain placement.  He has progressed steadily throughout his stay.”

Austin was released on Monday, and his doctors said in a previous statement that he is expected to “make a full recovery.”

“Secretary Austin’s prostate cancer was treated early and effectively, and his prognosis is excellent,” said the statement from Dr. John Maddox, trauma medical director, and Dr. Gregory Chesnut, director of the Center for Prostate Disease Research at the Murtha Cancer Center at Walter Reed. “He has no planned further treatment for his cancer other than regular post-prostatectomy surveillance.”

The post Aide asked 911 dispatcher to send ambulance to Austin’s house without lights and sirens before Walter Reed hospitalization appeared first on The Atlanta Voice.

(CNN) — Quinta Brunson took home an Emmy on Monday for best actress in a comedy series, becoming the first Black actress to win the category since 1981 when “The Jeffersons” star Isabel Sanford won.

Brunson won for her performance in ABC’s sitcom “Abbott Elementary,” which she also created and serves as a writer on.

“I love making ‘Abbott Elementary’ so much and I am so happy to be able to live my dream and act out comedy,” Brunson said as she fought through tears during her acceptance speech.

Clutching her statuette, she continued to express her love for comedy, saying, “I am so happy to be able to get this.” She went on to say she also loves her “entire family,” along with her husband and her “Abbott Elementary” cast.

Brunson is also nominated at the 75th Emmy Awards for outstanding guest actress in a comedy series for the episode of “Saturday Night Live” that she hosted, and “Abbott Elementary” is nominated for outstanding comedy series Emmy.

Now a two-time Emmy winner, Brunson previously won in 2022 for outstanding writing in a comedy series for her work on “Abbott.” She was nominated in the outstanding actress in a comedy series that same year, but lost out to “Hacks” star Jean Smart.

“Abbott Elementary” is a workplace comedy that follows a group of teachers at a public school in Philadelphia who, despite their lack of resources, work toward helping their students succeed.

The post Quinta Brunson is first Black woman to win best comedic actress Emmy in over 40 years appeared first on The Atlanta Voice.

(CNN) — Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin abruptly left a postgame news conference midway through a question about his contract status following his team’s playoff loss on Monday.

The Steelers lost 31-17 to the Buffalo Bills in the NFL’s Super Wild Card round of the postseason and Tomlin was asked about what his future holds afterwards.

The reporter could be heard saying, “Mike, you have a year left on your contract” before the 51-year-old walked off the podium, effectively ending his press conference.

Tomlin’s contract is due to run out at the end of the 2024 season.

Following Bill Belichick’s departure from the New England Patriots earlier in January, Tomlin is the longest-tenured head coach in the NFL having spent 17 seasons with Pittsburgh.

Although the team’s 2023 campaign was rife with issues – from quarterback problems to defensive injuries – the Steelers finished with a 10-7 record and maintained Tomlin’s NFL record for consecutive non-losing seasons to start a career with 17.

Tomlin has an overall 173-100-2 record as Pittsburgh head coach, with two Super Bowl appearances, one Super Bowl victory and 11 postseason trips.

When he was hired by Pittsburgh in 2007 at the age of 34, Tomlin became only the third head coach hired by the organization since 1969.

His victory over the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII in his second season at the helm meant he became the youngest head coach in NFL history to both coach in and win a Super Bowl, a record that was later eclipsed by Sean McVay in Super Bowl LVI.

Steelers defensive stalwart Cameron Heyward – who also faced questions about his future following the defeat to the Bills – supported Tomlin and said he expects him to be back.

“Every player wouldn’t be anything without Mike T,” the 34-year-old defensive tackle told reporters. “This group would not function to even get to a playoff berth without Mike T. He keeps us accountable from top to bottom. I don’t want to play for any other coach.”

Heyward added: “I’m a year older. You look at this game, and the average is three years. I’ve beat it every time. But coming off some injuries during the season, it was a testament to even get to the playoffs. We battled all year long.

“I don’t really pay attention to what the coaching thing is because I feel like Mike T
is gonna be back. But that’s not my decision. I’m not going to speak for him. I just know the group here, collectively, is a strong group that can win the Super Bowl.”

The post Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin walks out of postgame news conference after contract question following playoff loss appeared first on The Atlanta Voice.

(CNN) — Former President Donald Trump’s huge win in the Iowa caucuses on Monday enshrines one of the most astonishing comebacks in American political history.

Losing one-term presidents almost never mount subsequent successful primary campaigns, much less pull off landslides that demonstrate utter dominance of their party. Trump transformed the GOP in his populist, nationalist, nihilistic image in 2016. By claiming 50% of the vote in the biggest win in caucus history, putting him on course to his third consecutive nomination, he showed that eight years after his outsider presidential victory, the current GOP is entirely his party.

“The big night is going to be in November, when we take back our country,” Trump told his first proper victory party since he shocked the world by winning the 2016 election. His MAGA-hat wearing crowd greeted him with chants of “Trump, Trump, Trump” beneath two vast screens reading “Trump wins Iowa!”

But the ex-president’s rebound is more stunning for another reason. He won despite 91 criminal charges and other legal entanglements that threaten his freedom and his fortune. In a head-spinning snapshot of the unprecedented times, he’s expected to show up in a courtroom in Manhattan on Tuesday morning for the opening of a defamation trial.

His Iowa triumph came three years and nine days after he told a mob to “fight like hell” before it ransacked the US Capitol in an attempt to thwart the congressional certification of President Joe Biden’s 2020 election win. Trump’s dominance on Monday night shows that among the most committed Republican voters, there is no price for him to pay for the worst attack on an election in modern history. In fact, his successful leveraging of his criminal plight to paint a narrative of persecution is the superpower that renewed his bond with GOP base voters and left his rivals with an impossible conundrum about how to exploit his liabilities.

His caucus victory also demonstrates the success of Trump’s election denial strategy, which has convinced millions of GOP voters of the false belief he was illegally ejected from power in 2020. For Americans who believe Biden’s warning that Trump is the “most anti-democratic president with a small ‘d’ in American history,” Monday night will have sown utter dread.

Trump’s vow to win a second term dedicated to “retribution” against his enemies, his labeling of political opponents as “vermin” and his warnings that immigrants are “poisoning the blood” of America, which are reminiscent of 1930s dictators, were no disqualification in Iowa. Instead, the president who attempted to overturn democracy to stay in power used democracy far more effectively than any of his Republican opponents to win an electoral endorsement from GOP voters who want him back in the White House.

DeSantis and Haley fail to emerge as the single anti-Trump candidate

Monday’s result posed huge questions for Trump’s rivals. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will claim second place, according to a CNN projection, narrowly ahead of former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. It is a showing that doesn’t offer DeSantis much hope of capturing the nomination, but may at least give him a rationale for staying in the race.

Haley came third but she is most focused on next week’s New Hampshire primary, where independent, undeclared voters and moderate Republicans offer her best chance to score an early win over Trump. But the electoral map of Iowa also illustrates the daunting task she faces in creating a path to the GOP nomination. In rural areas, where most Republicans live, she made little impression.

And while Haley and DeSantis proved there is a substantial constituency in the GOP for someone other than Trump, it’s not clear that it is large enough to defeat him, even if one of them were able to emerge as the sole alternative to the former president. While Trump was gracious to his opponents in his victory speech, there will be increasing pressure from his campaign for them to get out of the race so he can concentrate on Biden. Kari Lake, a staunch Trump supporter running for Senate in Arizona after refusing to recognize her 2022 gubernatorial loss, told reporters at his victory party that the other candidates couldn’t win and were running “vanity projects.”

The magnitude of Trump’s victory also makes it much harder for his distant rivals to claim any true momentum coming out of Iowa. “It’s not a race for second, it’s a race for relevancy and everyone is losing except for Donald Trump,” said Republican strategist Scott Jennings. “This Republican Party wants to give Donald Trump one more shot to prove them all wrong that everything was a witch hunt, that the election was rigged. … It’s obvious they want one more shot at it; it’s showing up in national polling and we are seeing it at these caucus sites.”

Iowa is only one state in a long nominating process. Votes cast in the caucuses represent a small proportion of the state’s population. But Trump’s dominance of rural voters in the state mirrors his support base across the country outside cities and suburbs. And polls suggest that his victory here can be replicated in most GOP bastions across the country.

Trump’s Iowa victory also sharpens the collision between the 2024 election and his legal imbroglio. His solidified status as a huge GOP front-runner increases the possibility that his party could nominate a convicted felon for president — an unheard-of-scenario — depending on the progress of his four looming criminal trials this year. The victor of the Iowa caucuses is expected in Manhattan on Tuesday morning for the opening of his defamation trial involving writer E. Jean Carroll, who has already been awarded $5 million in a separate trial after Trump was found liable for battery.

Trump is both a pseudo incumbent and change candidate

The former president’s dominance of Iowa also cements an impression that he is effectively running as an incumbent. To start with, many Republicans don’t believe he lost in 2020 and think he’s the rightful president, a theme Trump reinforced in his victory speech. And Trump’s aura and mastery of the GOP — recently demonstrated in his strong-arming of key party office holders for endorsements — has made it difficult for his rivals to take him on in a fair fight. That pseudo incumbency hugely helped Trump in Iowa, where he has leveraged relationships that he nurtured since he came second in the caucuses at the start of his shock rise to power in 2016.

During four years in the White House, Trump steered aid and attention the Hawkeye State’s way, constantly building political influence. The playbook is likely to work elsewhere, especially in the critical South Carolina primary that looms next month. CNN’s Manu Raju reported Monday that the ex-president is already pressuring one of the state’s senators, Tim Scott, for an endorsement as he seeks to effectively close out the nominating race early by crushing Haley on her own patch. Trump’s power is also underpinned by his campaign’s success in heading off any meaningful oversight from the Republican National Committee, which never made him pay a price for skipping campaign debates that it sanctioned. And Trump’s supporters now hold influence and power at every level of the Republican Party across the country. Many have taken legislative action in the wake of his false claims of fraud in 2020 that have made it harder to vote and easier to interfere in elections.

Yet while Trump’s effective incumbency is a huge factor, the fact he is out of power also allows him, paradoxically, to run as a candidate of change. The roles are reversed from 2020. Biden is the one in office and now has a more recent White House record than Trump’s to be judged on. But even when he was in the Oval Office, Trump never forgot that his magnetism among GOP voters lies in always being the outsider and a disruptor. His unhinged behavior, incessant shattering of rules and challenges to the law reinvigorated a brand perfectly tailored to Republican voters who despise “elites” in politics, government and the media. His uncouth language and politically incorrect jokes about the late Sen. John McCain and former President Jimmy Carter, who is in hospice care, only reinforce the impression he says what many of his supporters think.

In a flash of self-awareness, Trump explained his political method when he told North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who endorsed him after his failed 2024 campaign, “You need controversy for traction sometimes.” In recent days, DeSantis has tried to position Trump as the “establishment.” But it’s a hopeless strategy: even when the front-runner was the head of the US government and his portrait was on the wall of every US government office and embassy, he was a scourge of the establishment.

A victory heard around the world

Trump’s win makes the long theoretical prospect that he could win the White House a far more direct possibility. Barring some unforeseen event, his dominance in Iowa shows the extreme difficulty any of his remaining rivals will have of keeping him off the Republican ticket. And recent polls have shown him highly competitive and even ahead of Biden in the handful of swing states that will decide the destiny of the White House. In a nation split down the middle, the election will be close whatever happens. It may concern Democrats that while Trump hasn’t toned down the unhinged wildness of his public appearances, his victory in Iowa was the first validation of a far more professional political operation than he deployed in either the 2016 or 2020 elections.

Still, the Biden campaign, beset by growing concern among Democrats about the president’s reelection prospects, has argued that a big victory for Trump in Iowa would begin to awaken Americans who rejected him in 2020 of the real danger that he could recapture the White House. While Trump was strong even in suburban areas around Des Moines, this may not translate into a similar performance among more moderate voters in corresponding areas in less conservative states. Trump’s deficit among this group nationwide cost him the 2020 election.

Trump’s triumph will also reverberate around the world, and force US allies to confront the possibility that the most antagonistic president in modern history, who cozied up to dictators and spurned America’s traditional friends in democratic nations, could soon be back.

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde sounded the alarm on France 2 television last week. “If we are to draw lessons from history, as in the way he managed the four years of his mandate, it is clearly a threat,” she said.

A return to office for Trump could represent an existential danger to NATO, which helped keep peace in Europe through the Cold War and into the 21st century. Trump’s victory will also give Russian President Vladimir Putin another reason to prolong the bloody war in Ukraine. Trump said Monday he’d get Putin in a room with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, an encounter that could only end on terms unfavorable to the Ukrainians.

The post Trump’s landslide Iowa win is a stunning show of strength after leaving Washington in disgrace appeared first on The Atlanta Voice.

(CNN) — Most Iowa GOP caucusgoers refuse to accept President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory and say they would view former President Donald Trump, whom CNN projected will win the caucuses Monday night, as fit for office even if convicted of a crime, according to CNN’s entrance poll for the Iowa Republican presidential caucuses.

Trump’s victory highlights his strength among key groups that form the bulk of the GOP electorate, according to the entrance poll. Roughly half of Iowa caucusgoers described themselves as “very conservative,” and nearly half identified as part of the MAGA movement, referring to the “Make America Great Again” slogan popularized by Trump in 2016. Broad majorities in both of those groups broke for Trump, as did the lion’s share of White evangelicals and those age 65 and older.

The results also highlight the stark educational divide that has become a defining feature of the GOP electorate. While Trump held a commanding lead among Iowa caucusgoers without college degrees, college graduates were more closely divided among Trump, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.  

Entrance polls are a valuable tool to help understand caucusgoers’ demographic profile and political views. Like all surveys, however, entrance polls are estimates, not precise measurements of the electorate. That’s particularly true for the preliminary set of entrance poll numbers, which haven’t yet been weighted to match the final results of the caucus. But the results provide a glimpse of the type of voters turning out to participate in the first contest of the 2024 campaign.

The results of the entrance poll mark a shift in the Republican electoral landscape from the 2016 Iowa caucuses, when White evangelicals and very conservative votes broke in favor of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz over Trump. (Cruz went on to win the state that year but lost the nomination to Trump.)

Trump’s strength with the Iowa electorate is also evident in caucusgoers’ response to his previous election loss and the criminal charges he faces. About two-thirds said they do not believe that Biden’s victory over Trump more than three years ago was legitimate. There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election. More than 6 in 10 said that they would consider Trump fit for the presidency if he were to be convicted of a crime, with only about one-third saying they wouldn’t see him as fit in that circumstance.

Among the minority of caucusgoers who said Trump would be unfit for the presidency if convicted, about half backed Haley on Monday, with about one-third supporting DeSantis.

Trump’s support in Iowa has been locked in for some time, the entrance poll suggests, while his rivals have seen more recent gains. About 80% of Trump’s supporters said they made their decision to back him prior to this month. By contrast, a majority of Haley’s supporters said they made their decision sometime in January, as did roughly half of DeSantis’ backers.

Asked which of four personal qualities mattered most to them in a candidate, about 4 in 10 caucusgoers said they wanted to see a candidate who shared their values and about 3 in 10 that they wanted someone would fight for people like them, with fewer looking for a candidate who had the right temperament or could defeat Biden. While voters’ decision-making processes are too complicated to be described by a single question, the divide in responses highlights the very different appeals that Trump, DeSantis and Haley offer to their respective supporters. 

Roughly half of Trump supporters said they were looking for a candidate who would fight for people like them, with about one-third prioritizing a candidate who shared their values, and few attributing their decision to Trump’s temperament or perceived electability. A wide majority of DeSantis supporters, by contrast, said they most wanted to see a candidate who shared their values. And Haley supporters were more divided: about 37% said they prioritized temperament, 27% a candidate who shared their values, and 24% someone who could defeat Biden, with few looking for a fighter on their behalf.

About 38% of all GOP caucusgoers called the economy their top concern out of a list of four issues, with about one-third citing immigration, about one-eighth citing abortion, and roughly another one-eighth picking foreign policy. Most GOP caucusgoers – about 6 in 10 – said they’d favor a federal law banning most or all abortions nationwide, the entrance poll also finds. 

The entrance poll for Iowa’s Republican presidential caucus was conducted by Edison Research on behalf of the National Election Pool. It includes 1,628 interviews with Republican caucus participants across 45 different caucus locations. Results for the full sample have a margin of error of plus or minus 2.0 percentage points; it is larger for subgroups.  

The post Iowa entrance poll: Most GOP caucusgoers don’t accept Biden’s 2020 win, say a conviction wouldn’t make Trump unfit for office appeared first on The Atlanta Voice.

(CNN) — Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on Monday launched ballistic missiles at what it said was a spy base for Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad in northern Iraq, and at “anti-Iran terror groups” in Syria, in the latest escalation of hostilities that further risks spiraling into a wider regional conflict.

The strikes were condemned by the United States as “reckless” and imprecise.

Iranian forces said the midnight missile strike in Iraq destroyed “one of the main espionage headquarters” of Israel in Erbil, capital of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, in response to what they said were Israeli attacks that killed Iranian Revolutionary Guard commanders and members of the Iranian resistance front.

“This headquarters has been the center for developing espionage operations and planning terrorist acts” in the region and Iran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said in a statement Monday.

CNN has reached out to Israel’s Prime Minister’s office for comment on the IRGC’s claim.

The IRGC also said it struck several locations in Erbil and claimed to target “sites of Iranian opposition groups.”

At least four civilians were killed and six others injured in the attack, according to a statement early Tuesday by the Security Council of the Kurdistan region.

A large villa belonging to a well-known Kurdish businessman was also destroyed, according to a CNN journalist in the region. There were unconfirmed reports of casualties at the residential property though it is not known if the building was an intended target.

“This blatant violation undermines the sovereignty of the Kurdistan Region and Iraq,” the Security Council said in its statement, which accused Iran of employing baseless pretexts to attack Erbil, a historically stable region that it said had never posed a threat to any party.

Also on Monday, the IRGC said it fired ballistic missiles at bases of “anti-Iran terror groups in occupied territories of Syria.”

It claimed the targets were involved in the recent dual bombings in the city of Kerman during a memorial for the slain Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani that left scores dead and wounded.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the deadly twin blasts near Soleimani’s burial site, in what was the deadliest attack in Iran since its 1979 revolution.

In its statement, the IRGC said it “identified and destroyed a number of key terror commanders and elements, especially Daesh (ISIS), in the occupied territories of Syria by firing a number of ballistic missiles.”

A US official said Monday initial indications of Iran’s missile attacks showed “this was a reckless and imprecise set of strikes.”

“We have seen the reports, and we tracked the missiles, which impacted in northern Iraq and northern Syria. No US personnel or facilities were targeted,” the official said.

“Iran is claiming this is in response to the terrorist attacks in Kerman, Iran, and Rask, Iran, with a focus on ISIS. We will continue to assess the situation.”

An unnamed US State Department spokesperson told CNN the strikes did not damage the “US Consulate Erbil or the New Consulate Compound under construction.”

“No American personnel were injured,” they said.

Kurdistan region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani called on “our partners in the international community not to remain silent in the face of repeated attacks against the people of Kurdistan.”

“Earlier this evening, Erbil was once again attacked by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps. Sadly, during tonight’s unjustifiable attack, several civilians have been martyred and wounded,” Barzani said in a statement.

“I condemn this cowardly attack on the people of the Kurdistan region in the strongest terms.”

Concerns of an escalating war

Iran’s attacks will further raise fears that Israel’s war in Gaza could widen into a full-scale war in the Middle East with grave humanitarian, political and economic consequences.

Israel’s relentless bombing of Gaza in response to Hamas’ October 7 terror attacks has killed more than 24,000 people, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health, and wrought widespread devastation, as civilians live with the threat of imminent death – either by an airstrike, starvation or disease.

The UN emergency relief chief said the war has brought famine to Gaza “with such incredible speed,” and South Africa has brought allegations of genocide at the United Nations’ top court – claims strenuously denied by Israel.

The conflict has escalated hostilities across the region, with Iran’s allies and proxies – the so-called axis of resistance – launching attacks on Israeli forces and its allies.

US forces last week sank three boats belonging to Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the Red Sea, and the US and UK launched strikes against Houthi targets in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen aimed at halting a series of attacks on commercial shipping.

On Monday, a Houthi missile hit a US-owned cargo ship in the Red Sea, marking what appears to be the first time the militants have successfully struck a US-owned or operated ship.

Last week, the US carried out a strike in Baghdad that killed a leader from an Iran-backed proxy group that Washington blamed for attacks against US personnel in the region. US troops in Iraq and Syria have repeatedly come under rocket and drone attacks from Tehran’s proxies.

Fighting has intensified between Israel and the powerful Iran-backed group Hezbollah, across the Lebanon border. On Sunday, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah vowed to press on with confrontations with Israeli forces on the Lebanon border until the end of the Israeli offensive in Gaza.

Last week, a senior Hezbollah commander was killed in an Israeli drone strike on his car in southern Lebanon, a Lebanese security source told CNN. Wissam Tawil is the most senior member of the Shiite militant group to be killed in an Israeli strike since Hezbollah and Israel began trading fire across the Lebanese-Israeli border on October 8.

Israel is also suspected of carrying out an attack on high-ranking Hamas leader, Saleh Al-Arouri, in Beirut, sparking fury among Hezbollah leaders who control the area where he was killed.

The post Iran launches missile strikes in northern Iraq and Syria, claims to destroy Israeli spy base appeared first on The Atlanta Voice.

(CNN) — The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Miami Dolphins 26-7 at Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday, in conditions so cold that Chiefs head coach Andy Reid’s mustache froze over.

The temperature at kickoff was -4 degrees Fahrenheit with a wind chill of -20 degrees, making it the fourth coldest game in National Football League history, according to the Peacock broadcast.

Pictures of Reid with icicles in his facial hair have since gone viral on social media.

Amid the brutal conditions, the Kansas City offense hit the ground running, marching down the field on the opening drive and capping it off with an 11-yard touchdown throw from quarterback Patrick Mahomes to wide receiver Rashee Rice. Rice would go on to finish the game with eight receptions for 130 yards.

The Chiefs never looked back, shutting down the Dolphins offense completely.

Chiefs’ kicker Harrison Butker went 4 for 4 on field goals and running back Isiah Pacheco ran it in for a three-yard rushing touchdown to put the game on ice (literally) in the fourth quarter.

Mahomes finished the game with 262 yards and a touchdown.

Taylor Swift was in attendance and braved the frigid temperatures wearing a #87 Kelce jacket in support of her beau Travis Kelce. Kelce finished the game with seven receptions for 71 yards.

At the end of the game, the temperature was -9 degrees and felt like -28 degrees, according to the broadcast.

Players could be seen huddling by pitch-side heaters and many made the most of heated benches in a bid to keep out the cold.

Mahomes downplayed the weather, saying “it is what it is” when asked about it on the Peacock broadcast after the game.

“We’re in Kansas City, at Arrowhead,” Mahomes said. “We are going to play in some games like this. So, our mentality was to come out here, play football and see what happens.”

Still, Saturday’s conditions are rivaled by the coldest NFL game on record: the December 1967 “Ice Bowl” in Wisconsin, when the Green Bay Packers beat the Dallas Cowboys amid -13 air temperature and a -48 wind chill, according to the NFL.

Earlier on Saturday, the Houston Texans defeated the Cleveland Browns 45-14.

It was a historic day for rookie Texans quarterback CJ Stroud, who threw for 274 yards and three touchdowns. Stroud’s three touchdown passes tied a rookie record in a playoff game. The 23-year-old former second-overall pick also became the youngest quarterback to win a playoff game in NFL history.

The NFL playoffs continue on Sunday with the Green Bay Packers heading to Texas to take on the Dallas Cowboys. Matthew Stafford will also make his grand return to the city where he started his NFL career when the Los Angeles Rams take on the Detroit Lions.

On Monday, the Pittsburgh Steelers head to a snowy Orchard Park, New York, to take on the Buffalo Bills and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers host the Philadelphia Eagles.

The post Kansas City Chiefs defeat the Miami Dolphins in conditions so cold that head coach Andy Reid’s mustache freezes appeared first on The Atlanta Voice.