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Editorial: Congress should do right thing on Afghan refugees

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:37:56 GMT

America’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan is one of many blights on the Biden administration’s spotty record. The fact that this nation since then has turned its back on Afghans who helped U.S. troops only makes the matter worse.But there is a remedy for this injustice.Since the Taliban retook control of Afghanistan more than two years ago, the United States has welcomed more than 80,000 refugees from the country.But the humanitarian program that allowed them to come here provides only temporary protection and no road to permanent residency. In addition, thousands of Afghans who aided the American war effort remain at risk in their home country, unable to cut through the red tape and flee to the United States. They and their families are targets for retribution from the brutal Taliban.“Helping these Afghans would signify to other allies that the U.S. doesn’t abandon its friends,” Sierra Dawn McClain wrote in the Wall Street Journal recently. “More important, it would help settle...

Lowry: Trump wages ’24 campaign from court

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:37:56 GMT

Donald Trump is getting indicted and tried all the way into a third Republican presidential nomination, and perhaps a second term in office.Trump’s court dates and legal entanglements aren’t a distraction from his campaign, as some observers predicted; in large part, they are the campaign.We’re all familiar with the so-called front-porch campaigns of the late-19th century, most famously the Republican William McKinley who would have delegations of supporters visit him at his home in Canton, Ohio. Joe Biden built on the concept with his lockdown-compliant basement campaign during the 2020 campaign (at least McKinley interacted with real people).Now, Trump has come up with another variant of this concept — the courtroom campaign.It involves massive media attention before, during and after court appearances; images and statements of bold, unadorned defiance; and inflamed Republican emotions from the sense that he is being treated unfairly.This is the potent poli...

Zito: Americans not buying ‘economy is OK’ message

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:37:56 GMT

ERIE, Pennsylvania — Two weeks ago, Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman told CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour there is a peculiar disconnect between how the economy is doing and how the public is feeling about it.Amanpour pressed him on why people weren’t understanding that they are living in a “sunny economy.” He had asserted that “the economy’s rebound has been surreally good,” yet people keep saying it is terrible.Krugman pointed to surveys and even some people’s behavior, noting robust discretionary spending on travel with hotels and restaurants, and was perplexed as to why people, as if all people were traveling, thought there was a problem.“We don’t really understand why this is happening … (but) there is a real profound disconnect going on,” Krugman said.A few days earlier, “The View” co-host Joy Behar was strident in her assertion that everything was fine for all in our economy: “The eco...

Little Feat takes albums on tour with Boston stop

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:37:56 GMT

When Little Feat cut the albums “Sailin’ Shoes” and “Dixie Chicken” in 1972-73, they figured they’d have some fun, make some timeless music, and score a big hit single. Two out of three ain’t bad.The albums have indeed proven timeless, and the current incarnation of Little Feat plays them both at the Wilbur on Monday and Tuesday; doing one album plus bonus tracks each night. The band has weathered some major losses, including the death of founder Lowell George in 1979 and the more recent passings of drummer Richie Hayward and guitarist Paul Barrere. But Little Feat is now recognized as the precursors of Americana and the jam-band movement. And after all these years, they’ve still never had a hit single.“That’s probably a blessing in disguise,” says Bill Payne, the band’s keyboardist and cofounder. “I know Lowell had grand hopes for ‘Easy to Slip’ as a single, and I thought that one sounded great, but it didn’t happen. We were in an age of albums, and we came up in a time when people...

Dear Abby: Son blabs mom’s comments to new bride

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:37:56 GMT

Dear Abby: Right after high school, our son joined the military and left home. We are proud of him and keep in touch mostly by phone because he’s stationed across the country. Since he has been away, he met a young lady on a dating website. I met her briefly on a quick visit.I had concerns about the relationship, and I shared them with my son. She doesn’t drive, works only intermittently and displayed no desire to get to know me in the short time we had for my visit. Well, they ended up getting married behind our backs a few months ago.What’s done is done. The only thing I want now is to have some kind of basic relationship with her. I have reached out multiple times, but she won’t budge. I love my son and, by extension, her. I don’t think I should be punished for bringing up my concerns. She refuses to communicate with me at all. — Wanting Basic CommunicationDear Wanting: The only person who can fix this is the person who started it — your ...

Palestinian militants launch dozens of rockets into Israel. Millions of Israelis are told to shelter

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:37:56 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip launched dozens of rockets toward Israel early Saturday, setting off air raid sirens across the country and raising the likelihood of a new round of heavy fighting. Israel ordered residents near Gaza to remain indoors as it said a “suspected security incident” along the border had occurred.The sound of outgoing rockets whooshing through the air could be heard in Gaza and sirens wailed as far away as Tel Aviv, some 70 kilometers (40 miles) to the north, during an early morning barrage that lasted more than 30 minutes. Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue agency said a 70-year-old woman was critically injured when a rocket hit a building in southern Israel. Elsewhere, a 20-year-old man was moderately injured by rocket shrapnel, it said.As the rocket attacks continued throughout southern and central Israel, millions of Israelis were instructed to stay near bomb shelters in their homes and apartment buildings. The army said resi...

21 Savage cleared to legally travel abroad with plans of international performance in London

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:37:56 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Rapper 21 Savage can now legally travel outside the United States and plans to make his international performance in his native London.Savage’s lawyer, Charles Kuck, told The Associated Press in a statement Friday that his client has officially become a permanent U.S. resident and may now go overseas. He cleared a major traveling hurdle after being taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Georgia in 2019.Kuck said the Grammy-nominated artist followed “all applicable immigration laws since his initial detention by ICE.”“His immigration court proceedings have now been terminated and he is a lawful permanent resident of the United States with the freedom to travel internationally,” Kuck said.Savage, 30, whose given name is She’yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, spent 10 days in a detention center in southern Georgia before his release. He was arrested in a targeted operation over his visa, which expired in 2006.The Atlanta-based rapper said he ha...

US fears Canada-India row over Sikh activist’s killing could upend strategy for countering China

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:37:56 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is nervously watching a dispute between Canada and India, with some officials concerned it could upend the U.S. strategy toward the Indo-Pacific that is directed at blunting China’s influence there and elsewhere.Publicly, the administration has maintained that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations that the Indian government may have been involved in the killing of a Sikh separatist near Vancouver are a matter between the two countries.But U.S. officials have also repeatedly urged India to cooperate in the investigation. Those calls have been ignored thus far by India, which denies the allegations.Behind the scenes, U.S. officials say they believe Trudeau’s claims are true. And they are worried that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi may be adopting tactics to silence opposition figures on foreign soil akin to those used by Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and North Korea, all of which have faced similar accusations.Perhaps o...

China’s flagging economy gets a temporary boost as holiday travel returns to pre-pandemic levels

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:37:56 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Tourism in China bounced back to pre-pandemic levels during a recent eight-day national holiday, giving a temporary boost to the nation’s flagging economy.The government said that tourism revenues reached about 753 billion yuan ($103 billion) during the combined Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday period that ended Friday, a rise of 1.5% over 2019 and 130% compared to last year when pandemic restrictions were still in place.China maintained locked-downs and other restrictions much longer than most other countries, enforcing a “zero-COVID” policy until last December. But a hoped-for consumer spending boom after the lifting of restrictions hasn’t materialized, as many Chinese remain cautious with an unfolding real estate crisis weighing on the economy and youth unemployment topping 20%.Planes and high-speed trains were heavily booked over the holiday. The tourism ministry said that 826 million domestic trips were made, up 4.1% from 2019 and 71.3% fr...

Trump is inserting himself into the messy race to become the next House speaker. Will it matter?

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:37:56 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump is again testing the power of his endorsement.With an early morning social media post on Friday, Trump inserted himself into the chaotic race to replace Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker by backing Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan for the post. The move was the latest example of Trump attempting to flex his influence within a Republican Party he has already fundamentally reshaped in the eight years since his first White House bid.“I think he does well. I hope he does well,” Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 GOP nomination, said of Jordan in a Friday interview with Real America’s Voice. “He’s got competition, as you understand. And they’re friendly with me, too. Very nice people and good people. We’ll see what happens.”With Trump’s firm grip on the GOP base, his endorsement can effectively clear the field in many congressional primaries. But the speaker’s race is more complex, an intraparty fight that will play out in secret at points and in a tense en...