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School pulls test question equating politics to race, gender

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:05:59 GMT

FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) — Virginia’s largest school system is removing a test question given to a college-level social studies class that equated liberals and conservatives with specific racial and gender demographics.The question appeared on a test given to students of an AP Government class at Fairfax County Public Schools’ Online Campus. The multiple-choice question asked students, “Which of the following is an accurate comparison of liberals versus conservatives?” The potential answers for “liberals” included “Young, white males;” “Middle aged, urban lesbian;” “College-educated black male professional” and “White, upper-middle class suburban male.” The potential answers for “conservatives” included “East Coast, Ivy League educated scientists;” “Southern male migrant laborer;” “Catholic, midwestern middle-aged male” and “West coast, Hispanic teacher. ”Rory Cooper, a Fairfax County parent and school system critic who posted the question on Twitter, said it i...

Review: U2 reworks past in thrilling ‘Songs of Surrender’

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:05:59 GMT

“Songs of Surrender,” U2 (Universal)Imagine walking into your living room and all your stuff is there, but it’s different. The sofa has moved, the bookcase is leaning on a different wall and the framed photos have swapped locations. That’s the feeling you get listening to U2’s new album.“Songs of Surrender” is a “reimagining” of 40 songs from the Irish quartet’s deep catalogue, cleverly presented from “One” to “40.” Think of it as a thrilling home makeover.“I want to tear down the walls that hold me inside,” Bono sings in the new “Where the Streets Have No Name” — lyrics that perfectly fit this sonic experiment. This version of the song is virtually unrecognizable from the one the band made famous in 1987.That’s the point of this exercise led by Bono and The Edge. “Once we surrendered our reverence for the original version, each song started to open up to a new authentic voice of this time,” The Edge writes in the liner notes.There are triumphs and a fe...

S&P/TSX composite down, U.S. markets rise amid volatile trading over bank fears

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:05:59 GMT

TORONTO — Equity markets have been zigzagging throughout the day while digesting multiple developing stories, including two recent bank failures, the U.S. government’s plan to backstop the financial system and changing investor sentiment about interest rate hikes. While equity markets were largely down to start the trading day as they caught up to the latest news about the closures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, U.S. indexes recovered as the morning progressed, with the Nasdaq in particular making gains of more than one per cent. However, even as the U.S. market reversed its earlier losses, bank stocks continued to drop as Wall Street worries about further failures in the financial sector.Meanwhile in Canada, the S&P/TSX composite index was down 123.28 points at 19,651.64 mid-afternoon, reflecting continued weakness in the energy and financials sectors. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 115.47 points at 32,025.11. The S&P 500 index was up 25.40...

Canada on sidelines as U.S., Britain, Australia move ahead on new security deal

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:05:59 GMT

OTTAWA — Experts are warning that Canada’s omission from a military pact involving three of its closest allies is symptomatic of a larger problem in how this country is perceived by its friends.U.S. President Joe Biden is scheduled to join the prime ministers of Britain and Australia at a news conference later today to announce the next steps of their AUKUS agreement.That will include formalizing American and British plans to help Australia develop a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines in response to growing concerns about China’s actions in the Pacific.The Trudeau government has refused to say whether Canada was invited to join AUKUS and downplayed its importance even as parts of Canada’s military and foreign establishment have called for its inclusion.Canadian Forces College professor Paul Mitchell believes Canada’s exclusion reflects the perceptions of its closest allies that it remains uncertain about its aims in the Indo-Pacific region.Defence analyst Da...

Biden administration lets Ukrainians who fled war stay in US

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:05:59 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is allowing thousands of Ukrainians who fled their homeland when Russia invaded a year ago to stay in the United States longer, the administration said Monday. The decision provides relief to Ukrainians whose one-year authorization to remain in the U.S. was set to expire soon.The Homeland Security Department said the extension is for certain Ukrainian nationals and their immediate family members who were let into the U.S. before the Uniting for Ukraine program started.Ukrainians who came in under the Uniting for Ukraine program generally got two years of humanitarian “parole” in the U.S. whereas those who arrived before them generally got permission to stay only for one year.Thousands of Ukrainians came to America last year fleeing the war.The U.S. government used a program called humanitarian parole to admit them into the country. Humanitarian parole is a way to allow people from other countries to enter the United States on an emergency b...

Project exploring the idea of creating a Indigenous professional hockey team

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:05:59 GMT

The idea of creating an Indigenous pro-hockey team, both men and women, to compete on the international stage would be a large step forward in Canada’s commitment to Truth and Reconciliation, and that’s what one group of people is looking to do with the Spirit Project.Ted Nolan is a former NHL player and coach from the Grand River First Nation near Sault Ste. Marie. His dream is now focused on developing an all-Indigenous professional hockey club and suggests a women’s team could have a real competitive edge.“Hockey has been played in our communities for long before the NHL even existed. So, we have so many talented people playing the game,” said Nolan.“With my travels through First Nation land over the number of years I’ve just seen so many, not just male players, but female players, really emerging,” said Nolan. “I’m just thinking with the girl’s program, if you look at the world stage, you have team Canada, Team USA, then it drops off a l...

Spain’s ombudsman registers 445 church sex abuse complaints

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:05:59 GMT

MADRID (AP) — Spain’s ombudsman said Monday that an independent commission set up a year ago to investigate historic sex abuse by the Catholic church has collected testimonies from 445 victims, as the nation tackles an issue other European countries acted on long ago.Spain’s parliament voted on March 10, 2022 to open the first official investigation, led by ombudsman Ángel Gabilondo, into the extent of sexual abuse committed by priests and church officials. The government was forced to act after allegations of abuse involving more than 1,200 victims were published in Spanish newspaper El País, provoking public outrage.Testimonies were still being collected and an update would be issued in parliament before the current government’s term expires this year, Gabilondo’s office said in a statement. Although “satisfied” with the number of victims who felt able to come forward, “what really matters is to listen to the victims … with respect, seriousness, discretion ...

Ex-Jordanian official hospitalized after hunger strike

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:05:59 GMT

A former top Jordanian official imprisoned in an alleged plot against the Western-allied monarchy was rushed to the hospital over the weekend after a three-week hunger strike, the man’s American lawyer said Monday.Bassem Awadallah, who is a dual Jordanian-American citizen, was suffering from low blood pressure and sugar levels when he was hospitalized Saturday, his representatives said. They said he was given glucose intravenously but refused further intervention once his condition stabilized. He has since returned to prison and remains on his hunger strike.“My client’s life remains in danger as his health declines daily,” said Michael J. Sullivan, Awadallah’s attorney. He said Awadallah’s family has urged the U.S. government to “take immediate action” to secure his release and holds Jordan’s King Abdullah II responsible for the harm to Awadallah.A Jordanian security official called the claims of a hunger strike “inaccurate,” saying Awadallah has been drinking liquids regularly.“He ...

Defense budget speeds toward $1 trillion, with China in mind

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:05:59 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon intends to load up on advanced missiles, space defense and modern jets in its largest defense request in decades in order to meet the threat it perceives from China. The spending path would put military’s annual budget over the $1 trillion threshold in just a matter of years, its chief financial officer said Monday. The administration is asking Congress for $842 billion for the Pentagon in the 2024 budget year. It’s the largest request since the peak of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars in the mid-2000s, when the weight of hundreds of thousands of troops deployed in those overseas conflicts ballooned overseas war spending.Now, the budget could surge again. That’s in part to meet the higher cost of weapons and parts, but also to answer the vulnerabilities that the Ukraine war has exposed in the U.S. defense industrial base, and the strategic threat the U.S. sees from China’s rapidly growing nuclear arsenal, its hypersonic capabilities and its ga...

National Council of Canadian Muslims calls for action after TTC attack

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:05:59 GMT

The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) is calling for Toronto police to investigate an alleged hate-motivated crime on the TTC.At approximately 5 p.m. on Mar. 9, a woman wearing a hijab was allegedly threatened by a man with a large knife on a train moving between Vaughan Metropolitan Centre Station and Finch West Station. The NCCM said that the woman ran across several subway cars until a bystander pulled the emergency alarm on the train.“I was just trying to get to Spadina station to meet with some friends. I never thought something like this could happen on public transit in front of all these people. The moment I saw him take out his knife, I ran and ran until I was out of breath and a stranger helped me. I’ve never been so afraid in my life,” said the victim in a statement.“I hope the police find this man and take him into custody and get him some help so he doesn’t do this to any other Muslim woman again.”Several questions about Muslims and Islam were aske...