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‘The Diplomat’ review: Keri Russell stars in a series that captures the punch and wit of ‘The West Wing’

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:04 GMT

Nina Metz | Chicago Tribune“The Diplomat” on Netflix stars Keri Russell as a newly installed U.S. ambassador to the U.K. She may be great in a crisis zone, but she has no patience for dressing up or standing on ceremony. She’s a little like Sandra Bullock pre-makeover in “Miss Congeniality” — she’s not the obvious choice for the post but she’s sent to London anyway with instructions to nod solemnly and defuse a potential global conflict after a British aircraft carrier is bombed off the coast of Iran.Along for the ride is her husband (played by Rufus Sewell), a former ambassador himself whose jaunty self-assurance and constant back-channel maneuverings tend to have a way of gumming things up for his more serious-minded spouse. He can’t help inserting himself, despite her firm instructions that he not.To get a sense of the show’s tonal sensibility, it’s worth looking to creator Debora Cahn’s previous credits, namely “Homeland” and “The West Wing.” She takes the best from both and jet...

House approves trans athlete ban for girls and women’s teams

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:04 GMT

By KEVIN FREKING (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — Transgender athletes whose biological sex assigned at birth was male would be barred from competing on girls or women’s sports teams at federally supported schools and colleges under legislation pushed through Thursday by House Republicans checking off another high-profile item on their social agenda. The bill approved by a 219-203 party-line vote is unlikely to advance further because the Democratic-led Senate will not support it and the White House said President Joe Biden would veto it. Supporters said the legislation, which would put violators at risk of losing taxpayer dollars, is necessary to ensure competitive fairness. They framed the vote as supporting female athletes disadvantaged by having to compete against those whose gender identify does not match their sex assigned at birth. Opponents criticized the bill as ostracizing an already vulnerable group merely for political gain. The House action comes as at le...

Longtime Boston City Councilor Frank Baker will not seek re-election

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:04 GMT

Frank Baker, a conservative voice on a left-leaning City Council, won’t seek re-election, opening up a District 3 seat he’s held for more than a decade.Representing a district that includes most of Dorchester, and a portion of South Boston and the South End for six terms “has been one of the greatest honors of my life,” Baker said, adding that the decision to step down “did not come lightly.”“After lengthy deliberation, I am confident and certain this is my time to depart the Council and serve in a different capacity,” Baker said in a Thursday statement. “The privilege and responsibility of serving as a city councilor requires my round-the-clock dedication.“I cannot fulfill my obligation in any other way than 100% committed to the duty of this role. For an assortment of reasons, now is the right time for me to move on to the next chapter of my life, with my family.”Though Baker didn’t elaborate on these reasons, he’s been involved in contentious exchanges with his fellow councilors ...

How to prepare financially to leave an abusive relationship

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:04 GMT

Leaving an abusive relationship isn’t just difficult — it can be dangerous. One major complication is how frequently abusers control access to money, leaving their victims less likely to be able to afford legal assistance, new housing, therapy and other resources. This makes victims of abuse more likely to stay, no matter how emotionally ready they are to get out.“We often talk about the emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse,” says Katie Ray-Jones, CEO of the National Domestic Violence Hotline. “We don’t talk about how money is being used in the home.” According to Ray-Jones, financial abuse is present almost 98% of the time in abusive relationships.Financial abuse can be sneaky, but here are some signs and behaviors to look for:Your access to money is limited. This can start with your partner’s seemingly benevolent offer to manage the household finances because they’re good with money, but it can quickly escalate. They may deny you access to shared bank accounts, even if yo...

TTC rejects Bell’s proposal for joint-build wireless cellphone network

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:04 GMT

TORONTO — The agency that operates Toronto’s subway system has rejected a proposal by Bell Canada to revamp its wireless cell service model in a way to prevent Rogers from charging its rivals a fee for their customers to access the network, calling it “a non-starter.”The TTC will not consider Bell’s request to require a joint-build model, in which all carriers would own a stake in the network infrastructure, spokesperson Stuart Green said in a statement.On Wednesday evening, Industry Ministry François-Philippe Champagne called on Canada’s major telecom companies to reach a deal that would allow any company to access the TTC network after Rogers Communications Inc.’s purchase of the existing operations. Rogers has said it is open to other providers signing on.Bell president and CEO Mirko Bibic responded to the minister that his company would only take part in the network if it has a chance to help build it with the other carriers.“The ‘neutral host...

Part party, part call to action: A look at pot holiday 4/20

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:04 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — Thursday marks marijuana culture’s high holiday, 4/20, when cannabis fans gather in clouds of smoke at music festivals, celebrate with all-you-can-deals on chicken wings and other munchies, and take advantage of pot-shop discounts in legal weed states.This year’s edition provides an occasion for activists to reflect on how far their movement has come, with recreational pot now allowed in 21 states and the nation’s capital, as well as a national political climate that hasn’t moved as quickly on legalization as many expected.Here’s a look at the holiday’s history. ___ WHY 4/20?The origins of the date, and the term “420” generally, were long murky. Some claimed it referred to a police code for marijuana possession or that it arose from Bob Dylan’s “Rainy Day Women No. 12 & 35,” with its refrain of “Everybody must get stoned” — 420 being the product of 12 times 35.But a consensus has emerged that it started with a group of bell-bottomed buddies from San Rafael H...

Ugandan president refuses to sign LGBTQ bill, seeks changes

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:04 GMT

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda has refused to sign into law a controversial new bill against homosexuality that prescribes the death penalty in some cases, requesting that it should be amended.Museveni’s decision was announced late Thursday after a meeting of lawmakers in his ruling party, almost all of whom support the bill approved by lawmakers last month. The meeting resolved to return the bill to the national assembly “with proposals for its improvement,” a statement said.It was not immediately clear what the president’s recommendations were. Homosexuality is already illegal in the East African country under a colonial-era law criminalizing sex acts “against the order of nature.” The punishment for that offense is life imprisonment.Museveni is under pressure from the international community to veto the bill, which needs his signature to become law. The U.S. has warned of economic consequences if the legislation is enacted. A group of...

B.C. stores broke privacy laws on facial ID technology, privacy commissioner says

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:04 GMT

VICTORIA — British Columbia’s privacy commissioner says Canadian Tire stores that used facial recognition technology didn’t adequately notify their customers and didn’t get consent to collect the personal information. Michael McEvoy’s report says even if the four stores he investigated had obtained permission, they were still required to show a reasonable purpose for collecting the information, which the investigation found they didn’t do. Twelve Canadian Tire stores were using the technology for about three years, saying it was needed for theft and staff safety, but the systems were removed and the information destroyed when the commissioner notified the chain that four stores were under investigation. McEvoy says highly sensitive biometric information was captured by the systems between 2018 and 2021, and the stores would have had to make a compelling case to show it was reasonable to collect the precise mathematical rendering of each person’s face.He says the stores contrav...

Distrust in America: Small mistakes, deep fear – and gunfire

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:04 GMT

In suburban Detroit, it was a lost 14-year-old looking for directions. In Kansas City, it was a 16-year-old who went to the wrong house to pick up his younger brothers. There was the 12-year-old rummaging around in a yard in small-town Alabama, the 20-year-old woman who found herself in the wrong driveway in upstate New York and the cheerleader who got into the wrong car in Texas.All of them, and dozens more across America, were met by gunfire. Some were injured, some killed.In a nation where strangers are all too often seen as threats and fear has been politicized, honest mistakes and simple acts like going to the wrong address or car in a parking lot, or even just ringing the wrong doorbell, can seem like a fateful question of trust. It is a tension not lost on Jae Moyer, who was at a rally at the federal courthouse in Kansas City on Tuesday, demanding a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into the shooting of Ralph Yarl, the Black teenager shot last week when he went to the ...

Sudan army demands rivals’ surrender as cease-fire runs out

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:04 GMT

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) — Sudan’s military ruled out negotiations with a rival paramilitary force on Thursday, saying it would only accept its surrender as the two sides continued to battle in central Khartoum and other parts of the country, threatening to wreck international attempts to broker a longer cease-fire.A tenuous 24-hour cease-fire that began the previous day ran out Thursday evening with no word of extension. The military’s statement raised the likelihood of a renewed surge in the nearly week-long violence that has killed hundreds and pushed Sudan’s population to the breaking point. Alarm has grown that the country’s medical system was on the verge of collapse, with many hospitals forced to shut down and others running out of supplies.The expiring truce had failed to put a stop to fighting throughout the day and brought only marginal calm to some parts of the capital Khartoum. But many residents took advantage to flee the homes where they have been t...