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Russia is waging a disinformation war in the Middle East

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:21 GMT

H.A. Hellyer, a Carnegie Endowment scholar, is a senior fellow at the Royal United Services Institute and Cambridge University.The concept of a Russian disinformation campaign — saturating social media with Kremlin talking points and undermining opposition figures — might sound familiar.Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, the United States, United Kingdom and European Union all took quick and decisive action to counteract Russian propaganda, banning its state-sponsored television channels — Russia Today (RT) and Sputnik — from the airwaves, with YouTube also blocking their channels.In the Arabic-speaking world, however, Russian disinformation still hasn’t received the same attention — and as a result, Russia is doing a lot better on that front in the wider Middle East.Kick the hornets’ nest of Russian propaganda, and one will find familiar narratives working overtime to warp public perception.Just scanning social media sites like Twitter will throw up numer...

Brexit wrecked Britain’s school holiday trips abroad. It doesn’t have to be this way

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:21 GMT

LONDON — The 18-hour backlog of school coaches lined up at Dover at the start of the Easter holiday getaway may feel like the new normal following Britain’s departure from the EU. Travel experts say it doesn’t need to be this way.Coach-loads of children seeking to travel by ferry to Europe on school trips had to wait for hours with little access to food, drink and rest rooms through last weekend — in some cases only to be forced to turn back, or to stay in hotels near the port of Dover in Kent.The travel industry has warned the problem at the border is likely to be repeated every time Brits rush to the continent en masse during school holiday periods — until or unless authorities significantly ramp up officer numbers at the border, or the EU scraps its policy of stamping individual passports and allows British travellers to use e-gates.“It seems logical to us that with the volumes of traffic we have in both ways, [the U.K. and EU] can come up with better ways of facilitation,” ...

Tennessee’s Republican-led House expels 2 Democratic lawmakers over gun reform protest, fails in bid to oust a third

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:21 GMT

(CNN) — In an extraordinary, emotionally charged session marked by tense exchanges and punctuated by boos and chants from onlookers, Tennessee’s Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted to expel two Black lawmakers — but failed to oust a third representative — a week after the three Democrats led a gun reform protest in the chamber.The crowd in the gallery erupted in boos and chants following both expulsions and loud cheers when the vote count turned up just short in the bid to oust Rep. Gloria Johnson. The session lasted seven hours.The vote over rules violations for Jones split along party lines 72-25, while the vote in Pearson’s case was 69-26. Johnson’s vote was 65-30. Expulsion from the House requires a two-thirds majority of the total membership.Protesters upset with inaction on gun violence reform after a deadly mass shooting at a Nashville school again flooded the state Capitol on Thursday as the session to vote on the expulsio...

Thursday’s high school roundup/scores: Silver Lake rips the ball in 11-1 win over Scituate

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:21 GMT

BASEBALLIn the Patriot League, Jake Cipullo struck out eight over fine innings, Jack Quigley went 2-for-4 with a homer and four RBI and Connor Finn went 3-for-3 with 5 RBI as Silver Lake slugged its way to an 11-1 victory over Scituate. … Junior captain Gabe Knudsen pitched a complete game with 10 strikeouts and added a bases clearing double as Hanover doubled up Whitman-Hanson 6-3.In nonleague play, Ethan Lee and Oliver Thibeault combined to strike out 11 in six innings and Jake Gilbo went 4-for-4 with two RBI while Zach Gilmore went 3-for-3 with another two driven in as Gloucester (2-0) took down Matignon 13-3. … Ryan Kane, Liam Kinneen and Alex Parisi combined on a two-hitter as BC High (1-1) won 9-1 over Lowell.John Bingham and Barrett Adams each cranked two-run homers as Dover-Sherborn (1-1) defeated Norton 12-3 in Tri-Valley League play.BOYS LACROSSEWill Whitney and Frank Forrest led the offense with four goals each as Dedham/Norwood defeated Needham 16-6 in nonleague action. ...

Gallery: Bruins beat Maple Leafs in OT 2-1

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:21 GMT

The Boston Bruins squeaked out a win against the Toronto Maple Leafs after David Pastrnak scored during overtime.

Bruins keep winning, defeating Toronto in OT, but lose Charlie McAvoy to injury

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:21 GMT

The Bruins notched their 61st victory of the season. They can only hope it wasn’t a costly one.An under-the-weather David Pastrnak, who committed a bad turnover earlier in the game, blasted a one-timer past Ilya Samsonov at 2:30 of overtime to lift the B’s to a 2-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Garden. It was Pastrnak’s 57th of the year, coming off a nice feed from Dmitry Orlov on a 4-on-4 just after a Leaf penalty was up.Jeremy Swayman, meanwhile, had another terrific game, stopping 32 of 33 shots.But the B’s had to be holding their collective breath after Charlie McAvoy left the game in the second period when he crashed hard into the boards and did not return. It was announced he had an upper body injury.After the game, coach Jim Montgomery said the words that breath-holding Bruin Nation was longing to hear, that McAvoy was held out for “precautionary” reasons and “we don’t think it’s anything serious.”But M...

SuperLotto Plus ticket matching 5 numbers sold in North County

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:21 GMT

VISTA, Calif. -- One of the top winning SuperLotto Plus tickets during the last draw was sold at a Vista liquor store, according to the California Lottery.The store, La Vista Liquor on 993 S Santa Fe Ave, was one of two stores in the state where tickets that matched five of the SuperLotto Plus numbers were purchased, winning the holders a $20,560 prize. The other top ticket was sold at a gas station in Orange County, Fountain Valley Fuels. California Lottery player wins nearly $4 million from Powerball ticket Both of the top-earning tickets were missing the mega multiplier, leaving the $47 million SuperLotto Plus jackpot untouched during the April 5 draw.About 110,295 people won with their tickets this draw, according to the lottery. The winning numbers were 20, 26, 35, 39 and 46. The mega multiplier was 2.Under lottery regulation, prizes over $600 have to be claimed by the winner. It is unclear if the prize from the either the La Vista Liquor store or Fountain Valley Fuels have b...

Woman sentenced for fake bomb threat at San Marcos school

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:21 GMT

VISTA, Calif. -- A 32-year-old woman was sentenced Thursday to two years probation after calling in a false bomb threat to San Marcos Elementary School in February. Marie Kim faced a judge in a Vista courtroom Thursday and plead guilty through a plea deal, but the question of what her motive was still remains.“We actually don’t know why. Maybe in her mind she thought she might have been helping, maybe it was malicious. We actually do not know," Vincent Chen, District Attorney Prosecutor said. "All we know is she made the call, we know that it was a false call, she knows it was a false call. That’s why she was here today, that’s why she plead guilty and she was sentenced."“You set off a chain of events that put a lot of different parents and teachers in turmoil," Judge of the Superior Court of San Diego County Daniel Link said to Kim in the courtroom.Chen said Kim did not have any connection to the school. Kim was arrested two weeks after the threat when police said they responded to...

Here's when property taxes in San Diego County are due

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:21 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- It's tax season, and that means there's a deadline approaching for San Diego County property owners.Those who own in the area have until midnight on Monday, April 10, to pay the second installment of their property taxes in order to avoid being charged a late penalty, San Diego County Treasurer-Tax Collector Dan McAllister said in a news release Thursday.“So far, 47.90% of taxpayers have paid $1.9 billion in second installment payments,” McAllister said.  “Property tax bills are due on April 10. To avoid a 10% penalty plus $10 fee we encourage property owners to go online and pay their second installment before the deadline.”   New low-income housing project proposed in North County Bills can be paid by phone at 855-829-3773 or online at sdttc.com, as there is no convenience fee for electronic checks. Payments will also be accepted at the San Diego County Treasurer-Tax Collector's drop boxes and the inside counter of the downtown branch.To be consi...

US panel approves salmon fishing ban for much of West Coast

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:21 GMT

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A federal regulatory group voted Thursday to officially close king salmon fishing season along much of the West Coast after near-record low numbers of the fish, also known as chinook, returned to California’s rivers last year.The Pacific Fishery Management Council approved the closure of the 2023 season for all commercial and most recreational chinook fishing along the coast from Cape Falcon in northern Oregon to the California-Mexico border. Limited recreational salmon fishing will be allowed off southern Oregon in the fall.“The forecasts for Chinook returning to California rivers this year are near record lows,” Council Chair Marc Gorelnik said after the vote in a news release. “The poor conditions in the freshwater environment that contributed to these low forecasted returns are unfortunately not something that the Council can, or has authority to, control.”Biologists say the chinook salmon population has declined dramatically after years of drought. ...