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Funded by Dark Money, Chris Rufo’s Nonprofit Stokes the Far Right’s Culture War

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:01 GMT

In the trailer for one of Christopher Rufo’s early documentaries, a shot of a rural villager driving a donkey cart cuts to scenes of a downtown Chinese cityscape, then a baseball diamond. “Two cultures in Western China are in deep conflict. Living in complete segregation, can they put aside their differences in the name of baseball?” the narrator asks. “Diamond in the Dunes,” a PBS documentary Rufo directed in 2009, serves as a reminder of the radical transformation the young filmmaker turned far-right activist has undergone in the past several years. Long gone are the days when Rufo championed the coming together of Uyghurs and ethnic Chinese in a campy multiculturalist tribute to America’s favorite pastime. Today, Rufo is credited as the main architect of conservatives’ weaponization of critical race theory, using his skills as a director and investigative researcher to stoke panic in the GOP base, while simultaneously using critical race theory as a catalyst to introdu...

Smoke from wildfires, a fact of life in the West, catch outdoor workers off guard in the East

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:01 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The hazardous haze from Canada’s wildfires is taking its toll on people whose jobs have forced them outdoors along the U.S. East Coast even as a dystopian orange hue led to the cancelation of sports events, school field trips and Broadway plays. Delivery workers, construction workers, railroad and airport employees, farm laborers on the West Coast have become all too familiar with the hazards that come with massive wildfires. Yet in the East a sun jaundiced by smoke is so novel, many workers had no idea what was happening. Some, unprepared for the effects of smoke inhalation, left their jobs midday unable to carry on as the air quality worsened. Most, however, pushed through in the hopes that the skies would clear. They haven’t. A laggardly weather system has settled over the region and the smoky blanket billowing from wildfires in Quebec and Nova Scotia continued Thursday, and may persist into the weekend.New York City Public Schools announced Thursday t...

Mentally ill or deliberate killer? Trial starts for man charged with killing Massachusetts officer

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:01 GMT

DEDHAM, Mass. (AP) — The prosecutor in the murder trial of a man charged with killing a Massachusetts police officer and an innocent bystander nearly five years ago told jurors in opening statements on Thursday that the suspect acted with deliberation when he used the officer’s own gun to shoot him multiple times.The defense, however, described a defendant who has spent years struggling with mental illness made worse by frequent marijuana use, who wasn’t taking his medications, and who in the days before the killings was having a dispute with his longtime on-and-off girlfriend.Emanuel Lopes, 25, faces 11 charges, including two counts of murder, in connection with the killings of Weymouth police Sgt. Michael Chesna, 42, a veteran and married father of two, and bystander Vera Adams, a 77-year-old widow, on July 15, 2018. He has pleaded not guilty.“We will prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Lopes shot and killed Sgt. Michael Chesna, shot and killed Vera Adams, and shot at...

Renowned human rights campaigner Oleg Orlov on trial for “discrediting” Russian military

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:01 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — The co-chair of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning human rights group Memorial, Oleg Orlov, went on trial in Moscow Thursday, charged with “discrediting” the Russian military in his criticism of Russia’s campaign in Ukraine. If convicted, he could face up to five years in prison. Orlov has been fined twice for anti-war pickets, with the new charges based on an article he wrote denouncing Russian aggression in Ukraine.Discrediting the Russian military is a criminal offense under a law adopted after Russia sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. The law is regularly used against Kremlin critics. Memorial and its supporters have called the trial politically motivated.“Oleg Orlov was brought to the dock solely because of an anti-war article he wrote, denouncing Putin’s Russia as a totalitarian fascist society,” Natalia Zviagina, Amnesty International’s Russia Director, said. “Predictably, the system he described cannot tolerate his need to defend the truth and his refusal to...

UAE’s al-Jaber promises young activists he’ll listen; says nothing about fossil fuel ties

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:01 GMT

BONN, Germany (AP) — The United Arab Emirates official tapped to head the next global climate summit pledged Thursday to listen to young people demanding a place at the table when negotiators gather in the Gulf nation this fall, but offered no response to criticism of his links with fossil fuel interests.In his first appearance at a United Nations climate meeting this year, the UAE’s Minister of Industry Sultan al-Jaber said he wants the COP28 summit in Dubai to be “inclusive” and deliver a “game-changing outcome” for international efforts to tackle climate change.“I’m determined to make your participation successful,” he said in a brief speech to delegates from youth activist groups that have been clamoring for leaders to take drastic action against global warming.The comments by al-Jaber in Bonn, Germany, drew a wary response from his audience.“Many people, including children and youth all over the world, are rightly concerned about your ties and links to the fos...

Colorado’s most destructive wildfire caused by embers from old fire, sparks from power line

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:01 GMT

FILE - Homes burn as a wildfire rips through a development near Rock Creek Village, Dec. 30, 2021, near Broomfield, Colo. Authorities say they have wrapped up their investigation into what started the most destructive wildfire in Colorado history and will announce their findings on Thursday, June 8, 2023. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)(AP/David Zalubowski) FILE - Homes burn as a wildfire rips through a development near Rock Creek Village, Dec. 30, 2021, near Broomfield, Colo. Authorities say they have wrapped up their investigation into what started the most destructive wildfire in Colorado history and will announce their findings on Thursday, June 8, 2023. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)(AP/David Zalubowski) ...

Teen accused of providing gift cards that he wanted used to support terrorist group

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:01 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — An 18-year-old Massachusetts man sent gift cards worth a total of $1,670 to someone he thought was a supporter of the Islamic State group that he intended to be used to fund a war on nonbelievers, federal prosecutors said Thursday.Mateo Ventura, of Wakefield, is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Worcester later Thursday on a charge of knowingly concealing the source of material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization, the U.S. attorney’s office in Boston said in a statement.An email seeking comment was left with Ventura’s federal public defender.Ventura wanted the gift cards to be sold on the dark web for slightly less than face value with the resulting proceeds to be used to support the Islamic State group, prosecutors said.Between August 2020 and August 2021, Ventura provided about 25 cards with a total face value of $965 to someone he thought was an Islamic State group sympathizer but was actually an undercover FBI agent, acc...

Second lawsuit filed in death of Illinois mom during Florida parasailing trip

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:01 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — The family of an Illinois woman killed in a 2022 crash while she and two children were parasailing in the Florida Keys filed a second lawsuit connected to her death this week and reflected on the tragic end to a family vacation about a year ago.Supraja Alaparthi, 33, was killed after being dragged across the water and slamming into a bridge last June while strapped into a parasail. Her husband, Srinivasrao Alaparthi, told reporters Thursday that his family has taken the last year “one day at a time” but misses her dearly. “I can’t help but think that if the people we trusted … had done their jobs, my wife would still be with us today,” he said. “We trusted these companies, but they let us down in the worst possible way.” The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission investigated the crash last year and found the boat captain cut the line holding Alaparthi and the two boys because the parasail was “dragging” in high winds from a sudden summer storm....

GM to invest $500 million at plant that makes large SUVs in Arlington, Texas

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:01 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — General Motors said Thursday that it will sink more than $500 million into its Arlington, Texas, assembly plant to get ready for the next generation of big SUVs with internal-combustion engines.The company said the plant will get new equipment for metal stamping, the body shop and general assembly. No new jobs will be created by the investment at the plant, but GM said it expects to keep the current workforce of over 5,200 people. They make the Cadillac Escalade, GMC Yukon and Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban.GM wouldn’t say when the next generation of the SUVs will go on sale. The company said the investment is contingent on reaching incentive agreements with local governments.The company has pledged to sell only electric passenger vehicles by 2035, but it also plans to keep making internal combustion vehicles as long as they’re selling. Earlier this week the company said it would invest nearly $1 billion at two plants in Flint, Michigan, which make GM’...

Unseeded Karolina Muchova beats No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka at the French Open for 1st Grand Slam final

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:01 GMT

PARIS (AP) — As it is, Karolina Muchova was the unseeded, unexpected participant in the French Open semifinals.And then, dealing with cramping legs nearly three hours into the match, she was just one point from losing to No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka, who entered Thursday with a 12-0 Grand Slam record in 2023, including an Australian Open title.Muchova somehow worked her way out of that difficult situation, grabbing the last five games against an error-prone Sabalenka for a 7-6 (5), 6-7 (5), 7-5 victory at Roland Garros to reach her first major final at the last place she expected.“A roller coaster,” Muchova said.It was tough to decide which was more stunning: that Sabalenka lost — or the way she lost.“I just tried to keep fighting and it worked,” Muchova said. “I really don’t know what happened.”Well, here are the basics: Sabalenka held a match point while ahead 5-2 in the third set, but Muchova erased that with a forehand winner. That began a run in which Muchova collected 20 of the last ...