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40 years after Beirut’s deadly Marines bombing, US troops again deploying east of the Mediterranean

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:28 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Forty years after one of the deadliest attacks against U.S. troops in the Middle East, some warn that Washington could be sliding toward a new conflict in the region.On Oct. 23, 1983, a suicide bomber hit an American military barracks at Beirut International Airport, killing 241 U.S. service members, most of them Marines – still the deadliest attack on Marines since the World War II Battle of Iwo Jima. A near-simultaneous attack on French forces killed 58 paratroopers.Washington blames the bombings on the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, a claim the Iranian-backed Hezbollah denies. The U.S. and French forces were in Beirut as part of a multinational force deployed amid Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon. The force oversaw the withdrawal of Palestinian fighters from Beirut and stayed afterward to help a Western-backed government at the time. The bombing prompted a U.S. withdrawal from Lebanon.The United States is now deploying forces again in the region in connection t...

Fraser says more housing measures are coming in fall budget update

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:28 GMT

OTTAWA — Housing Minister Sean Fraser says the federal government will reveal more housing measures in the fall budget update and in the coming months.In a news conference this morning, Fraser outlined some of the measures that are expected, including tying federal infrastructure spending to housing outcomes in local communities. He also says there will be more policies geared toward increasing the stock of social housing, and increasing workers’ skills and innovation in the construction industry. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has not announced the date for this year’s fall economic statement yet but it is expected in the coming weeks. The federal government is under pressure to address the housing crisis and has created policies aimed at building more housing, including removing the GST on purpose-built rentals and unlocking more low-cost financing for home construction. It has also reached deals with municipalities in recent weeks as part of the housing accelerato...

Nashville police chief has spent a career mentoring youths but couldn’t keep his son from trouble

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:28 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Nashville Police Chief John Drake has spent much of his career trying to steer young people away from crime. Inspired by mentors who helped him as a young man, Drake has tried to pay it forward. But sadly, he was unable to keep his own son out of trouble. John C. Drake Jr., 38, stands accused of shooting two police officers outside of a Dollar General store in the nearby city of La Vergne on Saturday afternoon. He was still the subject of a manhunt on Monday, and police said they consider him to be armed and dangerous. Officers Ashely Boleyjack and Gregory Kern were investigating a stolen vehicle outside the store when they struggled with the suspect, who pulled a handgun and shot them, said La Vergne Police Chief Christopher Moews. Both officers were treated and released from Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Chief Drake issued a statement Saturday confirming his son was the suspect in the shooting. Drake said he was estranged from his son and had only m...

Two weeks ago she was thriving. Now, a middle-class mom in Gaza struggles to survive

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:28 GMT

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Yousra Abu Sharekh’s days begin in the southern Gaza Strip often after sleepless nights amid blaring ambulance sirens and the clamor of neighbors in the brief pause between relentless Israeli airstrikes.By daybreak, the 33-year-old mother is on the hunt for bread, lining up for hours at bakeries to buy one bag to feed her two children. Without electricity, disconnected from her relatives and terrified by the sounds of warplanes overhead, she rushes in the afternoon to see her sick mother at a crowded U.N. shelter 20 minutes away.There, she finally can charge her phone and check on her 66-year-old father who stubbornly stayed behind in their northern Gaza City home, refusing to heed Israeli evacuation orders.Only two weeks ago, Abu Sharekh had a thriving life, working enthusiastically at a coveted new job and caring for her family. “I feel either we were dreaming then or we are in a nightmare now,” she said. “Everyone was making plans, enjoying their li...

Imprisoned Kremlin foe Navalny refuses to leave his cell and skips a court hearing as a protest

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:28 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — Imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny on Monday refused to leave his cell and skipped a court hearing, protesting after prison officials took away all of his writing supplies, his allies said. Navalny, who is serving a 19-year prison term, was due to participate in a court hearing via video link on Monday on one of many lawsuits he had filed against his prison. His ally Ivan Zhdanov said the politician refused to leave his cell after prison officials took away all of his writing supplies. After that, “security operatives in helmets entered the cell and, using force, dragged him to the investigator,” Zhdanov said, as the politician was also expected to attend unspecified “investigative procedures,” He didn’t clarify why Navalny’s supplies were taken away and didn’t say whether he was then returned to his cell. Russia’s independent news site Mediazona reported that after Navalny’s refusal to appear, the court hearing was ...

Book Review: ‘America Fantastica’ entertaining journey that looks at consequences of lies

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:28 GMT

The premise of “America Fantastica,” the latest work by novelist Tim O’Brien, feels like the standard plot for a crime caper. A JCPenney employee in a small California town walks into a bank to rob it and goes on the run with $81,000 on hand and the teller who’s been flirting with him.But O’Brien is no standard novelist, and “America Fantastica” is anything but a standard novel. O’Brien’s first book in two decades is a funny and sad satire that explores the consequences of misinformation on society.The protagonist of O’Brien’s novel, Boyd Halverson, is the disgraced former reporter and JCPenney employee who strolls into a bank with a gun and a note seeking $300,000 in cash. He walks out with a much smaller amount and Angie Bing, the teller who becomes his somewhat reluctant partner in crime during Halverson’s quest to confront his father-in-law.They encounter along the way Bing’s boyfriend, Halverson’s ex-wife and a odd ass...

‘Superfog’ made of fog and marsh fire smoke blamed for traffic pileups, road closures in Louisiana

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:28 GMT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A “superfog” made of smoke from marsh fires and dense fog was blamed for at least two dozen traffic accidents, including multi-car pileups, on interstate highways Monday in southeast Louisiana.Sections of Interstates 55 and 10 west of New Orleans remained closed as of late morning. The 24-mile-long causeway over Lake Pontchartrain near New Orleans was closed at times.On social media, the National Weather Service said there were several wetland fire in the region. It said smoke from the fires mixed with fog to create a “superfog.” Visibility was expected to improve as the fog lifted. But it was unclear how long the marsh fires, smoke from which could be seen and smelled in the New Orleans area over the weekend, would be a factor.The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reported several schools in an near New Orleans announced class cancellations or delayed openings due to the smoke and fog.The Associated Press

CBC docuseries ‘Black Life: Untold Stories’ recaptures Black Canadian history

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:28 GMT

A new docuseries dedicated to unearthing the little-told stories of Black Canadian experiences is as much about the present as it is about relearning the past, says its showrunner.“Black Life: Untold Stories” traces 400 years of contributions that helped shape the nation and underpin ongoing efforts toward racial justice, says executive producer Leslie Norville.Through archival footage, recreations and testimonies from Black Canadians, it also dispels common myths, such as Canada being a utopia for Black people during slavery.“There’s still a lot of work that needs to be done here in Canada and the first step is grappling with our history,” says Norville, whose doc credits include 2021’s pandemic hospital portrait “The First Wave.”“I didn’t know a lot of these stories myself. The process of doing this research unearthed a lot of information as a Black Canadian I should have known about and didn’t, so that was really shocking for me.”The CBC series features eight hour-long episodes a...

Book Review: Sandra Newman puts a feminist spin on ‘1984’ with ‘Julia’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:28 GMT

Rejoice, comrades! Almost 75 years after George Orwell’s “1984” was published in 1949, readers can return to Airstrip One with its Newspeak and Ministries of Truth, Peace, Love and Plenty. On second thought, maybe it’s not a place anyone wants to revisit. Maybe Orwell’s depiction of an ultra-totalitarian society in which “doublethink” — “Truth is Hate. Plenty is Hate. Peace is Hate. Love is Hate” — rules, hits a little too close to the real world in 2023.But don’t let that argument dissuade you from reading Sandra Newman’s remarkable new novel, “Julia.” Marketed as a “retelling” of “1984” (Orwell’s estate actually approved its publication), it’s not quite as bleak as its progenitor. And the omniscient third-person feminist perspective from inside the head of Winston Smith’s lover, Julia, is refreshing.Julia is a mechanic in the Ministry of Truth’s Fiction Department, “perpetually fascinated by the plot machinery, how it worked and the ways it could go wrong.” When we first meet her,...

No one injured in shooting near Mississippi home of US Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:28 GMT

BROOKHAVEN, Miss. (AP) — Federal and state law enforcement agencies are investigating a shooting near the Mississippi home of U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, state investigators announced Monday.No one was injured in the shooting Sunday afternoon near Hyde-Smith’s Lincoln County home in south Mississippi, investigators said in a news release. The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is working with federal and local law enforcement agencies to investigate the shooting. Investigators did not reveal whether the home was struck by bullets, what type of firearm was used, or whether they have identified a suspect, citing the ongoing investigation. Hyde-Smith has represented Mississippi in the U.S. Senate since 2018. “The Senator and her family were not harmed,” Hyde-Smith’s office said in a statement Monday. “Senator Hyde-Smith is grateful for the concern shown by many and the good work of federal, state, and local law enforcement.” The Associated Press