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Lowry: Trump kept America’s enemies guessing

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:49:27 GMT

Luck is the residue of design, they say. Might it also be the residue of frightening and confusing foreign adversaries?Donald Trump’s relatively crisis-free presidency in foreign affairs has created a sense, perhaps an accurate one, that he cowed enemies into not challenging the U.S.As Sen. Tom Cotton has pointed out, Kabul didn’t collapse on Trump’s watch, Russia didn’t invade Ukraine and Hamas didn’t launch a historic terror attack on Israel.Now this may have just been good fortune. Four years isn’t a large sample size. But the argument that adversaries feared him, and therefore acted with a measure of restraint, is quite intuitive.No one is going to mistake Trump for Henry Kissinger. His view of the world was highly personal and reflected a few obsessions, especially the notion that we were getting ripped off by foreigners.Yet, despite the feeling of chaos created by his constant shoot-from-the-hip bombast, things basically stayed on the rails....

Spirited ‘Canterville Ghost’ gets animated remake

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:49:27 GMT

Producer Robert Chandler’s animated “The Canterville Ghost” arrives this week, the climax of a 10-year struggle to resurrect Oscar Wilde’s 300-year-old Sir Simon de Canterville for the big screen.It’s the Roaring Twenties and Sir Simon (voiced by Wilde aficionado Stephen Fry) has long been haunting the grand Canterville estate — until he meets his match in the brash Americans.“One of the themes of ‘The Canterville Ghost’ is modernity versus the older, classical values and that’s a sort of sliding collision that’s always happening,” Chandler, who also co-directs, said in a Zoom interview from London.“In our film you’ve got the Bostonian American family coming in to buy this big, old, dusty English country house and colliding head on with Simon and his 17th century culture.“The Bostonians are bringing electricity, a motor car and modern ways of thinking. That theme of modernity and the value it has, is always a good thing.“There’s the eldest daughter Virginia (...

Fall in love with an apple salad with maple vinaigrette

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:49:27 GMT

When it comes to fall fruit, it’s hard to beat the versatility of the humble apple.Gala and the ubiquitous Red Delicious tend to be the most popular for eating out of hand, but sweet-tart cultivars such as Honeycrisp and the bright green, citrusy-tart Granny Smith are also great for a quick after-school or workday snack.They’re also delicious on top of a salad, providing both a satisfying crunch and a fresh fall flavor that speaks to the season.Here, thinly sliced apples add a bright and colorful crunch to a healthful, tossed salad mix of spicy arugula, shredded kale and cabbage. It’s dressed in a sweet and tangy, mustardy vinaigrette sweetened with another fall favorite, local maple syrup.I dressed up the salad with dried cranberries, toasted pecans and a generous crumble of blue cheese on top because that’s both what I had on hand and the flavor combination I love best. But walnuts or cashews would be just as tasty, as would dried dried cherries or raisins ...

Dear Abby: Wife questions her marriage & identity

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:49:27 GMT

Dear Abby: I’m a lesbian. My wife and I have been married for nine years, but since COVID and my mother’s death, we have had problems. I met a man online; he’s an actor. We grew close via the internet. When my wife found out, we fought, and this man and I haven’t been as close.Although we mended our relationship and I love her, I seem to always wonder. About a year ago, I got hit on by another actor on Instagram, and we also grew close until my wife found out. I stopped, but I still maintain contact with these men, and I’m not sure why.I wonder if I’m happy with my wife or if it would be better with someone else. I wonder if I’m staying with her for love or for comfort. I’m not sure. I keep questioning my identity and my life. Any advice? — Lacking Certainty in CaliforniaDear Lacking Certainty: If you were getting everything you need from your marriage, you wouldn’t be “wondering” and reaching out to members of ...

1 person dead, another wounded in South Bay shooting

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:49:27 GMT

CHULA VISTA, Calif. -- One person is dead and another person was wounded Tuesday in a shooting in Chula Vista, authorities said. Around 6:33 p.m., SkyFOX was over Palomar Street and Broadway where a large police presence could be seen shutting down multiple roads.Witnesses told FOX 5 the shooting occurred at a mobile home park nearby, prompting the two shooting victims to drive off in a white Jeep. San Diego takes top spot in ranking of most expensive places to live in U.S. The two victims, both males, were traveling along Palomar Street and Broadway, when they flagged down a cop that was driving in the area, the Chula Vista Police Department (CVPD) watch commander told FOX 5. That's where authorities found the Jeep driver and passenger with gunshot wound injuries.Both were taken to the hospital, where the passenger died, per CVPD. The driver did survive their injuries.The victims are in their late teens or early 20s, according to police.Homicide detectives are investigating the i...

Down, but not out: Two Argentine political veterans seek to thwart upstart firebrand

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:49:27 GMT

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Economy Minister Sergio Massa and former Security Minister Patricia Bullrich adapted shrewdly over their combined seven decades in Argentine politics. It remains to be seen whether experience is an asset or a liability in what has already been an atypical presidential race.Javier Milei, the mop-topped freshman lawmaker who leads most polls ahead of Sunday’s vote, has railed against what he calls the political caste. He points to Massa and Bullrich as embodiments of an entrenched establishment and garnered the most votes in August primaries, sending shockwaves through the South American nation. Massa and Bullrich convey themselves as safer bets to govern the crisis-engulfed country than the firebrand upstart who pledges to abolish the Central Bank, slash public spending and dollarize the economy. Most polls show Massa in second place and Bullrich third. Polls have been notoriously unreliable, however. A few show Massa leading the first round and a...

UN to vote on Gaza resolution that would condemn attack by Hamas and all violence against civilians

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:49:27 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council scheduled a Wednesday vote on a resolution that initially condemned “the heinous terrorist attacks by Hamas” on Israel as well as all violence against civilians, while calling for “humanitarian pauses” to deliver desperately needed aid to millions in Gaza.Negotiations on wording of the draft resolution sponsored by Brazil continued throughout Tuesday, and the final version to be voted on had not been released by late Tuesday.The vote follows the council’s rejection Monday evening of a Russian-drafted resolution that condemned violence and terrorism against civilians and called for a “humanitarian cease-fire” but made no mention of Hamas.Russia has proposed two amendments to the Brazil resolution that will be voted on first. One calls for a “humanitarian cease-fire.” The other would condemn indiscriminate attacks on civilians and assaults on “civilian objects” in Gaza like hospitals and schools that deprive people of the means to surviv...

GOP’s Jim Jordan will try again to become House speaker, but his detractors are considering options

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:49:27 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Having lost the first vote to become House speaker, Rep. Jim Jordan will try again on a decisive second ballot that will test whether the hard-edged ally of Donald Trump can win over the holdouts or if his bid for the gavel is collapsing, denied by detractors.Ahead of Wednesday morning’s voting, Jordan made an unexpected plea for party unity, the combative Judiciary Committee chairman telling his colleagues on social media, “we must stop attacking each other and come together.”But a surprisingly large and politically diverse group of 20 Republicans rejected Jordan’s nomination, many resisting the hardball tactics enforcing support, and viewing the Ohio congressman as too extreme for the powerful position of House speaker, second in line to the presidency.Additional voting Tuesday was postponed as the House hit a standstill, stuck while Jordan worked to shore up backing from Republican colleagues for the job to replace the ousted Kevin McCarthy. “We̵...

Biden will be plunging into Middle East turmoil on his visit to Israel

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:49:27 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will touch down in Israel on Wednesday for a diplomatic scramble to prevent the war with Hamas from spiraling into an even larger conflict, a challenge that became more difficult as outrage swept through the Middle East over an explosion that killed hundreds in a Gaza Strip hospital. Biden was originally scheduled to visit Jordan as well, but his meetings with Arab leaders were called off as he was leaving Washington, costing him an opportunity for the face-to-face conversations that he views as crucial for navigating this fraught moment. Now Biden’s only stop will be Israel, where he’s expected to huddle with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel has been preparing for a potential ground invasion of Gaza in response to Hamas’ attacks on Oct. 7, which killed 1,400 Israelis. John Kirby, a White House national security spokesman, told reporters aboard Air Force One that Biden “wants to get a sense from the Israelis on the sit...

Italy’s far-right Premier Meloni defies fears of harming democracy and clashing with the EU

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:49:27 GMT

ROME (AP) — When Giorgia Meloni took office a year ago as the first far-right premier in Italy’s post-war history, many in Europe worried about the prospect of the country’s democratic backsliding and resistance to European Union rules.The European Commission president issued a decidedly undiplomatic warning that Europe had “the tools” to deal with any member, including Italy, if things went “in a difficult direction.” There were fears in Brussels that Rome could join a strident nationalist bloc, notably Hungary and Poland, in a clash with EU democratic standards.But since being sworn in, Meloni, whose Brothers of Italy party has neo-fascist roots, has confounded Western skeptics.She has steadfastly backed NATO support for Ukraine, especially on military aid for Kyiv against Russia’s invasion. That’s no small feat. Her main governing coalition partners are parties whose leadership was long marked by pro-Russian sympathies — the League of Matteo Salvini, and Forza Italia, found...