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Foreigners airlifted out; Sudanese seek refuge from fighting

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) – As foreign governments airlifted hundreds of their diplomats and other citizens from Sudan, Sudanese on Monday desperately sought ways to escape the chaos amid fears the country´s two rival generals could escalate their all-out battle for power once evacuations were completed.

Many Sudanese, along with Egyptians and other foreigners who could not get on flights, risked the long and eV dangerous drive to the northern border into Egypt.

“We traveled 15 hours on land at our own risk,” Suliman al-Kouni, aK an Egyptian student, said at the Arqin border crossing with Egypt.Buses lined up at the remote desert crossing carrying hundreds of people, he said. Al-Kouni was among dozens of Egyptian students making the trek. “But many of our friends are still trapped in Sudan,” he said.

Prominent Sudanese filmmaker Amjad Abual-Ala wrote on Facebook that his mother, siblings and nephews “are on the road from Sudan to Cairo through Aswan,” referring to Egypt´s southernmost city.

Fighting raged in Omdurman, a city across the Nile River from Khartoum, residents said, despite a hoped-for cease-fire to coincide with the three-day Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr.

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Biden’s 2024 campaign has been hiding in plain sight

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden´s reelection campaign has been hiding in plain sight all along.

The contours of the 2024 campaign that Biden will formally launch with a video as soon as this week will look a lot like his messaging and policy moves from the past few months: Play up accomplishments from his first two years, draw a sharp contrast with Republican policies he deems extreme, and brush off worries about his age.

Biden, aides contend, has essentially been campaigning since Republicans took control of the House last year, focused on showing Americans how his administration is implementing massive new infrastructure, technology and climate laws, and portraying Republicans as in the grip of the far right at a time when Washington is nearing a crucial fight over raising the nation´s borrowing limit.

While advisers say Biden´s activities and message in coming months will be largely indistinguishable from what he´s been doing over the last six months, the frame of reference will inevitably shift as voters increasingly tune in to 2024 political dynamics.

“President Biden is delivering and making the strong case for reelection before, during and after any formal campaign announcement,” said Democratic consultant and former Biden spokesman Scott Mulhauser.”Rather than throwing darts at calendars, let´s focus on the President doing his job and doing it well, from an investing in America tour, an economy humming and unemployment at historic lows to a home run of a State of the Union, an expertly pulled-off Ukraine trip and more.”

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Ukrainian troop positions spark counteroffensive speculation

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Ukrainian military forces have successfully established positions on the eastern side of the Dnieper River, according to a new analysis, giving rise to speculation Sunday that the advances could be an early sign of Kyiv’s long-awaited spring counteroffensive.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, reported late Saturday that geolocated footage from pro-Kremlin military bloggers indicated that Ukrainian troops had established a foothold near the town of Oleshky, along with “stable supply lines” to their positions.

Analysts widely believe that if Ukraine goes ahead with a spring counteroffensive, a major goal would be to break through the land corridor between Russia and the annexed Crimean Peninsula, which would necessitate crossing the Dnieper River in the country’s south.

Responding to Ukrainian media reports proclaiming that the establishment of such positions indicated the counteroffensive had begun, Natalia Humeniuk, the spokeswoman for Ukraine´s Operational Command South, called for patience.

While neither confirming nor denying the ISW report, she said only that details of military operations in the Dnieper delta couldn’t be disclosed for operational and security reasons.

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Ex-officer who fatally shot Breonna Taylor hired as a deputy

LOUISVILLE, Ky.(AP) – The former Louisville Metro Police officer who fatally shot Breonna Taylor has a new job in law enforcement.

WHAS-TV reported that the Carroll County Sheriff´s Office confirmed Saturday the hiring of Myles Cosgrove who was fired from the police department in January 2021 for violating use-of-force procedures and failing to use a body camera during the raid on Taylor´s apartment.

Taylor, a Black woman, was killed March 13, 2020 by police executing a narcotics search warrant.None of the three white officers who fired into Taylor´s home were charged by a grand jury in her death.

Carroll County´s Chief Deputy Robert Miller pointed to this fact in reference to Cosgrove´s hiring.

Investigators said Cosgrove fired 16 rounds into the apartment after the front door was breached and Taylor´s boyfriend fired a shot at them.Federal ballistics experts said they believe the shot that killed Taylor came from Cosgrove.

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Cities reviving downtowns by converting offices to housing

NEW YORK (AP) – On the 31st floor of what was once a towering office building in downtown Manhattan, construction workers lay down steel bracing for what will soon anchor a host of residential amenities: a catering station, lounge, fire pit and gas grills.

The building, empty since 2021, is being converted to 588 market-rate rental apartments that will house about 1,000 people.”We´re taking a vacant building and pouring life not only into this building, but this entire neighborhood,” said Joey Chilelli, managing director of real estate firm Vanbarton Group, which is doing the conversion.

Across the country, office-to-housing conversions are being pursued as a potential lifeline for struggling downtown business districts that emptied out during the pandemic and may never fully recover.The conversion push is marked by an emphasis on affordability. Multiple cities are offering serious tax breaks for developers to incentivize office-to-housing conversions – provided that a certain percentage of apartments are offered at affordable below-market prices.

In January, Pittsburgh announced it was accepting proposals to produce more affordable housing through the “conversion of fallow and underutilized office space.” Boston released a plan in October aimed at revitalizing downtown that included a push for more housing, some of which would come from office conversions.If you loved this short article and you would certainly like to receive even more details concerning aK kindly visit our webpage. And Seattle launched a competition in April for downtown building owners and design firms to come up with conversion ideas.

In the nation’s capital, Mayor Muriel Bowser has made office-to-housing conversions a cornerstone of her plan to repopulate and revitalize the district´s downtown. Her “comeback plan” for the capital city, announced earlier this year, seeks to add 15,000 new residents to the downtown area, adding to the approximately 25,000 who already live here.

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Probe ordered after Florida shooter fires at delivery driver

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.(AP) – A Florida prosecutor has ordered an investigation in a confrontation in which a homeowner fired shots into a couple´s car when they mistakenly turned onto his property while making a late-night grocery delivery. Police closed the case without consulting the state attorney’s office.

No one was injured by the gunfire in an upscale Fort Lauderdale suburb, but is the latest in a spate of similar shootings across the U.S.where people have mistakenly turned onto the wrong property or gotten in the wrong car. One person has been killed and others seriously wounded. In this case, the shooter told police the car was being driven erratically, struck his leg and made him fear for himself and his son.

Broward County State Attorney Harold Pryor issued a statement saying police investigators never contacted his office about the April 15 shooting in Southwest Ranches that put at least two bullets into the car driven by 19-year-old Waldes Thomas Jr., who was with his 18-year-old girlfriend, Diamond Darville.

Pryor said his staff members were unaware of the shooting until they were contacted Friday by a reporter from WTVJ-TV, who interviewed the couple.The Davie Police Department has a contract with Southwest Ranches to provide service.

“I contacted the Davie Police Department to request a full investigation,” Pryor said Friday, adding that his prosecutors will decide whether charges should be filed.

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Lizzo brings drag queens on stage, protesting Tennessee law

KNOXVILLE, e}V Tenn.(AP) – In a concert Friday night in Knoxville, Tennessee, Lizzo filled the stage with drag queens in a glittery protest against the state’s legislation designed to restrict drag performances in public.

While performing at Thompson-Boling Arena, the Grammy-winning “Juice” singer brought out a number of drag performers, including Aquaria, Kandy Muse, Asia O´Hara and Vanessa Vanjie Mateo.On Saturday, Lizzo posted videos on Instagram from the show, including comments to the crowd that referenced the pending law.

In February, Republican Gov. Bill Lee signed the legislation against “adult cabaret” in public or in front of minors.A federal judge temporarily blocked the law in late March, saying it was too vaguely written. Civil rights groups have criticized the law as a violation of free speech.

The Tennessee law is part of a wider Republican effort to restrict drag shows and other LGBTQ+ public gatherings.

“In light of recent and tragic events and current events, I was told by people on the internet, `Cancel your shows in Tennessee,´ `Don´t go to Tennessee,´” Lizzo said during the Friday concert.”Their reason was valid, but why would I not come to the people who need to hear this message the most?”

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Dying patients protest looming telehealth crackdown

At age 93, struggling with the effects of a stroke, heart failure and recurrent cancer, Teri Sheridan was ready to end her life using New Jersey’s law that allows medically assisted suicide — but she was bedbound, too sick to travel.

So last Nov.17, surrounded by three of her children, Sheridan drank a lethal dose of drugs prescribed by a doctor she had never met in person, only online. She died within minutes.

Soon, others who seek Sheridan´s final option may find it out of reach, the unintended result of a federal move to roll back online prescribing of potentially addictive drugs allowed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“How much should one person suffer?” said Sheridan´s daughter, Georgene White, 68.”She wanted to just go to sleep and not wake up.”

Online prescribing rules for controlled drugs were relaxed three years ago under emergency waivers to ensure critical medications remained available during the COVID-19 pandemic.Now, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has proposed a rule that would reinstate most previously longstanding requirements that doctors see patients in person before prescribing narcotic drugs such as Oxycontin, amphetamines such as Adderall, and a host of other potentially dangerous drugs.

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Did Ed Sheeran hit pilfer Marvin Gaye classic?Trial to tell

NEW YORK (AP) – Jury selection and opening statements are set to begin Monday in a trial that mashes up Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud” with Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On.”

The heirs of Ed Townsend, Gaye’s co-writer of the 1973 soul classic, sued Sheeran, alleging the English pop star’s hit 2014 tune has “striking similarities” to “Let’s Get It On” and “overt common elements” that violate their copyright.

The lawsuit filed in 2017 has finally made it to a trial that is expected to last a week in the Manhattan federal courtroom of 95-year-old Judge Louis L.Stanton.

Sheeran, 32, is among the witnesses expected to testify.

“Let’s Get It On” is the quintessential, sexy slow jam that’s been heard in countless films and commercials and garnered hundreds of millions of streams, spins and radio plays over the past 50 years.”Thinking Out Loud,” which won a Grammy for song of the year, is a much more marital take on love and sex.

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‘Dancing With the Stars’ judge Len Goodman dies at 78

LONDON (AP) – Len Goodman, the urbane, long-serving judge on “Dancing with the Stars” and “Strictly Come Dancing,” has died, his agent said Monday.He was 78.

Agent Jackie Gill said Goodman “passed away peacefully,” without giving a cause.

A former dancer and British champion, Goodman was a judge on “Strictly Come Dancing” for 12 years from its launch on the BBC in 2004.The ballroom dancing competition, which pairs celebrities with professional dance partners, has become one of the network´s most popular shows.

Goodman was head judge on the U.S. version of the show, “Dancing With the Stars,” for 15 years until his retirement in November.

BBC director-general Tim Davie said Goodman was “a wonderful, warm entertainer who was adored by millions. He appealed to all ages and felt like a member of everyone´s family. Len was at the very heart of `Strictly´s success. He will be hugely missed by the public and his many friends and family.”