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2 attacks by Islamist insurgents in Mali leave 49 civilians and 15 soldiers dead, military says

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:44:25 GMT

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Two attacks by Islamist insurgents in the restive north of Mali on Thursday killed 49 civilians and 15 government soldiers, according to a provisional death toll given by the country’s military junta read on state television.A passenger boat near the city of Timbuktu on the Niger River and a Malian military position in Bamba further downstream in the Gao region were targeted, according to the statement, which said the attacks have been claimed by Islamist extremist insurgent group JNIM, an umbrella coalition of armed groups aligned with al-Qaida. The Malian government announcement said its forces, in responding to the attacks, killed some 50 assailants. Three days of national mourning to honor the civilians and troops killed begin Friday.Timbuktu has been blockaded by armed groups since late August, when the Malian army deployed reinforcements to the region. The insurgents are preventing the desert city from being supplied with basic goods. Over 30,000 resi...

Movie Review: In ‘Big Fat Greek Wedding 3,’ the wedding’s in Greece and the formula feels ancient

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:44:25 GMT

“We’re getting married!” This rather inevitable line crops up early in “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3,” and if you’re like me, it will inspire mixed reactions.First: Wait, so soon? We didn’t know anyone was even engaged! And second: Phew, it’s about time! Because, just like there can be no sunrise over the glittering Ionian sea without a sun, there can be no “big fat Greek wedding” movie without … you know.Yet the mere fact that a wedding is so crucial to the DNA of this trilogy — which surely will morph into a quadrilogy and then a quintology – raises its own issues. Which Greek philosopher was it who said there’s no problem that can’t be solved with a wedding? Right, that would be Nia Vardalos, the franchise star, writer and now director, too. But is she also saying a wedding is the only possible happy ending?That would be out of sync with certain obvious efforts in this script — some more swallowable than others — to modernize a formula that worked so well in the b...

Only media report spurred Yukon to tell parents of sexual abuse in school: ombudsman

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:44:25 GMT

WHITEHORSE — Yukon’s ombudsman said in a new report Thursday the territory’s government had a policy and legal duty to notify parents at a school where a child was sexually assaulted, but instead delayed revealing the information for 19 months. Ombudsman Jason Pedlar and investigator Rick Smith concluded in the report that the delay in telling parents at Hidden Valley Elementary School was unwarranted and unfairly denied them an opportunity to take steps to help their children. The investigation found the Yukon government “did an about-face” and shared information with parents on the case in August 2021 only after CBC published a report weeks earlier about a civil lawsuit alleging an education assistant had sexually assaulted a student. The education assistant pleaded guilty to sexual interference in late 2020 and was sentenced in January 2021, months before parents learned of the criminal charge. In a written response, Yukon Education Minister Jeanie McLean ...

Victoria’s Secret overhauls its racy fashion catwalk in the company’s latest move to be inclusive

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:44:25 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — For more than 20 years, Victoria’s Secret had bolstered its image built on a man’s vision of sexiness with one big annual event: its fashion catwalk extravaganza, with supermodels like Naomi Campbell sashaying down the runway in Swarovski-crystal covered wings, thongs and million-dollar fantasy bras.Now, after a four-year hiatus, the lingerie brand came back Wednesday night with a complete overhaul that was part fashion event and part preview of a documentary-style film featuring 20 global creatives. It celebrated all different body shapes. Top models like Winnie Harlow, who has vitiligo, a skin condition, showed up wearing some of the designs. The event also showcased the creators’ looks on headless mannequins of all body types. The Victoria’s Secret World Tour, to be aired globally on Amazon Prime Video on Sept. 26, marks the company’s biggest marketing investment in the past five years and its latest bid to reverse its supercharged sexy image that left it irreleva...

Congressional watchdog describes border wall harm, says agencies should work together to ease damage

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:44:25 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — The construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border under former President Donald Trump toppled untold numbers of saguaro cactuses in Arizona, put endangered ocelots at risk in Texas and disturbed Native American burial grounds, the official congressional watchdog said Thursday. A report released by the Government Accountability Office offers the first independent assessment of damage caused by the building of more than 450 miles ( 724 km) of wall while in-depth environmental reviews were waived and the concerns of Native American tribes went largely ignored in the rush to finish the barrier. Now, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Interior Department should work together to ease the damage, the GAO said. It recommended that the agencies coordinate to decide how much repair work will cost, how to fund it, and how long it will take. A Customs and Border Protection spokesman said Wednesday that the agency is working on a response to the report. An Interior D...

North Korea says it has launched a new nuclear attack submarine to counter US naval power

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:44:25 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Friday it has launched a purported nuclear attack submarine it has been developing for years, a step leader Kim Jong Un described as crucial in his efforts to build a nuclear-armed navy to counter the United States and its Asian allies.The North’s official Korean Central News Agency said the vessel – named “Hero Kim Kun Ok” – is designed to launch tactical nuclear weapons from underwater but did not specify the number of missiles it could carry and fire.In his speeches at the vessel’s launching ceremony on Wednesday and an onboard inspection on Thursday, Kim expressed satisfaction that the country has acquired its own nuclear attack submarine to counter the advanced naval assets of the U.S., KCNA said. In July, the U.S. docked a nuclear-capable ballistic missile submarine in South Korea for the first time since the 1980s.Kim said the country is also pursuing a nuclear-propelled submarine and plans to remodel its existing submarines and surf...

Texas AG Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial defense includes claims of a Republican plot to remove him

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:44:25 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has long denied corruption accusations that have dogged him for years. But as his impeachment trial gets underway, another defense is emerging: that fellow Republicans plotted to oust him.His attorneys have so far presented no evidence in the trial, which continued Thursday, that Paxton was the victim of an attempt to replace him. But as former aides give testimony about how Paxton pressured them to help a political donor who was under FBI investigation, Paxton’s attorneys have raised questions about lobbyists and a meeting at Gov. Greg Abbott’s office, and have brought up George P. Bush, who lost to Paxton in last year’s Republican primary.“It was not a mutiny,” Ryan Bangert, one of Paxton’s former aides, testified Thursday about a group of deputies who reported their boss to the FBI in 2020. “We were protecting the interest of the state and protecting the interest of the attorney general and, in my view, signing our prof...

Investigators say a blocked radio transmission led to a June close call between planes in San Diego

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:44:25 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Investigators said Thursday that a failed radio transmission and a distracted air traffic controller led to a close call between a Southwest Airlines jet and a smaller plane waiting to take off from San Diego in June.Both planes had been cleared to use the same runway. The National Transportation Safety Board said a controller told the crew of SkyWest plane to exit the runway, then directed the Southwest pilots to cut short their landing approach and instead circle around the airport. The call to the Southwest plane didn’t go through, however — likely because the controller and the pilots were talking at the same time and their transmissions canceled each other, the NTSB said.After that, according to the NTSB, audio recorded by LiveATC captured a Southwest pilot saying, “Ah, is that an airplane on the runway?” The SkyWest crew said they heard that while they were moving to leave the runway.The Southwest pilots said they heard the controller tell them no...

Little Amal, a 12-foot puppet of a Syrian refugee, began its journey across the US in Boston

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:44:25 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — Little Amal, a 12-foot puppet of a Syrian refugee, began its journey across the United States on Thursday in Boston.During the trip, the puppet and its puppeteers plan to visit key places in American history to raise awareness about immigration and migration.The puppet of the 10-year-old girl will visit the U.S. Capitol, Boston Common, Joshua Tree National Park and the Edmund Pettus Bridge among other sites during a trek that started in Boston and ends Nov. 5 along the U.S.-Mexico border.Stops are also planned for Philadelphia; Baltimore; Pittsburgh; Detroit; Chicago; Atlanta; New Orleans; the Tennessee cities of Nashville and Memphis; the Texas cities of Austin, Houston, San Antonio and El Paso; and the California cities of Los Angeles and San Diego.On Thursday, the puppet stopped in Boston’s Chinatown neighborhood and interacted with performers in lion dance costumes.As the puppet walked with its puppeteers, it was accompanied by drummers and musicians and a large cr...

Don’t try to dodge police checkpoints, B.C. fire zone residents are told

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:44:25 GMT

WEST KELOWNA, B.C. — Residents of wildfire evacuation zones around West Kelowna, B.C., are being warned not to try to dodge police checkpoints and to stay out of restricted areas or face possible fines.The Central Okanagan Regional District says in a statement people attempting to reach their properties by boat or forest access roads within the McDougall Creek wildfire restriction area could face $1,150 violation tickets.The district says a wildfire area restriction was implemented on Aug. 25 and remains in force until noon Friday, but could be extended.The district says safe re-entry to neighbourhoods continues to be a priority, and temporary access to West Kelowna’s Traders Cove and Pine Point neighbourhoods was granted Thursday for residents to retrieve important items, with a similar opening for Wilson’s Landing under consideration.The regional district estimates about 405 properties in the West Kelowna, Westbank First Nation and the Central Okanagan Regional Distric...