Syrians to kill a mockingbird

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A former Israeli prime minister who served briefly as a mediator at the start of Russia's war with Ukraine says he drew a promise from the Russian president not to kill his Ukrainian counterpart. Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett emerged as an unlikely intermediary in the war's first weeks, becoming one of the few Western leaders to meet President Vladimir Putin during the war in a snap trip to Moscow last March. While Bennett's mediation efforts appear to have done little to end the bloodshed that continues until today, his remarks, in an interview posted online late Saturday, shed light on the backroom diplomacy and urgent efforts that were underway to try to bring the conflict to a speedy conclusion in its early days. In the five-hour interview, which touched on numerous other subjects, Bennett says he asked Putin about whether he intended to kill Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “I asked ‘what’s with this? Are you planning to kill … [Read more...] about Former Israeli PM: Putin promised not to kill Zelenskyy

Two years after a winter storm killed 246 people and left millions of Texans without electricity, Texas cities once again buckled under a menacing winter storm. Freezing temperatures and ice storms pushed large portions of the state to a standstill this week. Many school districts shut down through at least Thursday as ice made roads and bridges in Dallas and Austin nearly impossible to traverse. Heavy ice brought down power lines all over Austin, prompting widespread power outages in the capital city of the nation’s second-most-populous state. Hundreds of thousands of businesses and households across Central and East Texas remained without power on Thursday as utility crews worked nonstop to repair downed power lines. Unlike in February 2021 when the state’s electric grid nearly collapsed , this week’s outages were caused by localized issues, such as power lines downed by fallen trees. Still, the weather ultimately caused major disruptions and closures, leaving Texans … [Read more...] about As Texas thaws again, calls to rethink how cities prepare for winter weather are renewed

Honda and Acura are advising owners of certain older models not to drive their vehicles because the Takata airbag inflator recall still affects them. The automaker warns there is a 50 percent chance of rupture in a collision where the airbag deploys. The Do Not Drive warning applies to vehicles that don't already have the driver-side airbag inflator recall repair. The automaker estimates the total population to be about 8,200 cars. The specific models are the: 2001-2002 Honda Accord 2001-2002 Honda Civic 2002 Honda CR-V 2002 Honda Odyssey 2003 Honda Pilot 2002-2003 Acura 3.2 TL 2003 Acura 3.2CL Gallery: Honda Takata Airbag Do Not Drive Affected Vehicles 8 Photos NHTSA advises: "If you own one of these vehicles and still have an open Takata air bag recall, do not drive it until this urgent, lifesaving recall has been completed. … [Read more...] about Some 2001-2003 Honda, Acura Models Under Do Not Drive Order To Fix Takata Airbags

Listen to this article This Week in Racing History July 26 - Jimmy Murphy wins the ACF Grand Prix at Le Mans in a Deusenberg. Ralph de Palma's second place makes it an American 1-2 finish. First win for an American driver and first win for an American car in a European grand prix (1921). - Drag racer Bruce Allen born (1950). July 27 - Jim Hall announces his retirement as a CART team owner (1996). July 28 - Emerson Fittipaldi's driving career ends when he's injured in a crash during the CART Marlboro 500 in Brooklyn, Michigan, USA. Alex Ribeiro wins the race (1996). July 29 - First straight-8 engine for use in Bugatti 251 GP car runs on dyno (1955). July 31 - Al Loquasto dies in an airplane crash (1991). - After a team record 58-race draught, Ferrari gets an F1 win, from pole-sitter Gerhard Berger, in the German GP (1994). August 1 - Dutch F1 privateer Carol de Beaufort is fatally injured in practice crash for German Grand Prix (1964). - Niki Lauda crashes … [Read more...] about This Week in Racing History (July 26-August 1)

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 17 COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka marked its 75th independence anniversary on Saturday as a bankrupt nation, with many citizens angry, anxious and in no mood to celebrate. President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who has started to improve some but not all of the acute shortages, acknowledged the somber state of the nation, saying in a televised speech, “We have reached the point of destruction.” "Let’s seek to heal this wound though it’s difficult and painful. If we endure the suffering and pain for a short period of time, we can get the wound healed completely,” Wickremesinghe said, adding that the first six months of the year will be difficult. Many Buddhists and Christian clergy had announced a boycott of the celebration in the capital, while activists and others expressed anger at what they see as … [Read more...] about Sri Lanka marks independence anniversary amid economic woes

By JON GAMBRELL and MUNIR AHMED ISLAMABAD (AP) — Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless coup and later led a reluctant Pakistan into aiding the U.S. war in Afghanistan against the Taliban, has died, officials said Sunday. He was 79. Musharraf, a former special forces commando, became president through the last of a string of military coups that roiled Pakistan since its founding amid the bloody 1947 partition of India. He ruled the nuclear-armed state after his 1999 coup through tensions with India, an atomic proliferation scandal and an Islamic extremist insurgency. He stepped down in 2008 while facing possible impeachment. Later, Musharraf lived in self-imposed exile in Dubai to avoid criminal charges, despite attempting a political comeback in 2012. But poor health plagued his last years. He maintained a soldier’s fatalism after avoiding a violent death that always seemed to be stalking him as Islamic militants twice targeted him for assassination. “I … [Read more...] about Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan martial ruler in 9/11 wars, dies