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‘Cancel culture’ is big now, but has it been around for years?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:21:52 GMT

(new Image()).src = "https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=9be9c680-c459-4acb-af21-654a2ccca384&cid=c2ffed0c-3624-46c0-b10f-97c976d290a3";cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "9be9c680-c459-4acb-af21-654a2ccca384",mediaId: "c276cf73-a716-4f94-96a6-b6a0e4a4098b"}).render("c847b03924f44f8ea68e96ea591819fb"); });This story was written as part of the WTOP Book Report series authored by Terik King. Read more of that coverage. “Cancel culture” is a polarizing phenomenon that evokes a strong reaction from people across all sectors of society, and can look like anything from restaurant boycotts to job terminations after the resurfacing of years-old tweets to backlash for impulsive misstatements.Philadelphia journalist Ernest Owens, author of “The Case for Cancel Culture,” told the WTOP Book Report that he believes we’ve got it all wrong.Before writing his own, Owens said he read other books about the phenomenon.“They were against it. It was a complete attack on the term ...

Series of Tropical Waves to Lead to Up and Down Rain Chances this Week

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:21:52 GMT

We remain under the influence of a tropical wave this weekend, which brought some storms to the Florida Keys Saturday and during the overnight. Now this Sunday, the tropical wave will be located to our west, which means we should be on the moist side of the wave. This is the first of a series of tropical waves which could have an effect on our weather pattern over the next week in South Florida.This Sunday, expect a mix of sun and clouds with possible scattered afternoon showers and storms. Highs will remain hot into the low to mid 90s, which is a few degrees above normal.A Heat Advisory will go into effect again today from 10AM through 7PM for Miami-Dade and Broward Counties for heat indicies up to 109F. There is no advisory posted for the Florida Keys.For Monday, we’ll be in between tropical waves with a thin sliver of drier air forecast to sweep across the eastern coast of South Florida and into the Keys. This should keep most — if not all — of the afternoon sho...

Spain’s La Liga files EU complaint over Qatar funding of French club Paris St-Germain

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:21:52 GMT

Spanish football league La Liga has filed a complaint with the European Commission against Qatari-owned French club Paris St-Germain, alleging that its funding mechanism breaches EU competition laws.La Liga in a statement Saturday cited the EU’s recent Foreign Subsidies Regulation, which establishes limits on EU companies receiving funds from non-EU states when that could lead to market distortions. Since 2011, Paris St-Germain (PSG) has been owned by Qatar Sports Investments, a subsidiary of the Qatari government sovereign fund. La Liga alleges that Qatar’s investment in the club has given PSG an unfair advantage. PSG uses Qatar’s “foreign subsidies to sign top players and coaches well above its potential in a normal market situation,” the complaint alleges.“This enables them to boost their sporting performance, as well as affecting the ability of rival clubs to recruit,” according to the statement.La Liga added that it trusts the European ...

Pressure to act on small boat crossings intensifies after 6 die in English Channel

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:21:52 GMT

LONDON — Pressure on U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to stem small boat crossings across the English Channel intensified this weekend after at least six people died making the voyage on Saturday.Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said on social media that the dangerous crossings “desperately need to stop,” while Conservative MP Jake Berry, a former Conservative Party chairman, warned that “only radical changes can truly turn the tide” in an article for the Sunday Express.French authorities said on Saturday that six people died off the coast of France, and another two people were possibly missing, after a boat trying to cross the Channel capsized. Nearly 60 migrants were rescued and taken to either Britain or France.The tragedy came after the U.K. government spent last week highlighting its efforts to reduce the number of of asylum seekers arriving in small boats. It faced a setback on Friday after dozens of asylum seekers were evacuated from a controversial ...

Taiwan’s VP defies Beijing with New York City transit stop

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:21:52 GMT

Taiwan’s vice president Lai Ching-te defied pressure from Beijing to make a transit stop in New York City on Saturday en route to a state visit to Paraguay.Lai, the leading presidential candidate in Taiwan’s upcoming election, is using the Big Apple stop to meet with members of the Taiwanese American community. On Saturday, China began conducting a three-day military exercise in the East China Sea a few hundred miles from Taiwan — a typical show from Beijing to express its displeasure with the island’s foreign political activities.But China’s reaction was relatively muted given that China’s ambassador to the U.S., Xie Feng, told a crowd at the Aspen Security Forum last month that aborting Lai’s stopovers was his “top priority.” These travel visits often attract the eyes of watchers in Beijing and Washington, given their contentious nature for China, but American protocol dictates that they remain low key.Lai announced his arrival in New York on Saturday evening in a p...

Virginia player wounded in deadly attack returns for a new season as an inspiration to his teammates

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:21:52 GMT

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Virginia running back Mike Hollins knows he will never be the same, and admits that the position of football on his priorities list “has shrunk.” He still can’t wait to run onto the field with his Cavaliers brothers for their opener this season.“I can only imagine the emotions that’ll be flowing through my body. I just — I literally can’t. I have no words because the spring game hit me like a sack of rocks, and I didn’t expect it at all, so I can only imagine,” he said. “I’m ready, though. I’m ready for it.”Hollins, from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was one of two survivors of a shooting last November that left three teammates dead. He was shot in the back, needed several surgeries and spent a week in the hospital before beginning a long rehabilitation.The shootings, which also left student Marlee Morgan injured, rocked the team and the community and caused the Cavaliers to cancel their final two games.Hollins uplifted his teammates when he returne...

Russia evacuates 2,000 in Far East flooding

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:21:52 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — Over 2,000 people have been evacuated from flooded areas of the Primorye region in Russia’s Far East, emergency officials said Sunday.Heavy downpours flooded villages in the region in the aftermath of Typhoon Khanun, which battered Japan earlier this week before making its way toward the Korean peninsula. The remnants of the storm, now downgraded from typhoon status, were slated to bring double the monthly rainfall to some areas of the region over the weekend, according to Russian state media.“More than 2,000 people, including 405 children, have been evacuated in Primorye,” the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said on Telegram.Over 4,300 residential buildings were flooded and 28 settlements cut off by floodwaters, with 16 of the region’s districts affected.On Friday, local officials said that downpours had already caused floods in seven districts and killed at least three people — a woman and two children, ages 10 and 12.The Associated Press

After checkered results in state polls, Malaysian leader Anwar needs to unite polarized nation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:21:52 GMT

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — After a checkered victory in Saturday’s state elections that saw strong gains by the Malay-Islamist opposition, analysts say Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim faces a daunting task in uniting an increasingly polarized nation and strengthening his nascent unity government.Anwar’s multi-coalition unity government and the opposition Perikatan Nasional (PN) bloc, that includes the conservative Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, retained control of three states each, as widely expected. While the PN bloc, led by former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, failed to alter the status quo, it did make major inroads in the government-controlled states and nearly swept all the seats on its own turf on the back of continous support from the ethnic Malay majority.PN took 60% of the 245 state assembly seats contested, relying on the contention that Anwar and his multiethnic coalition would not protect Malays and Islam. Still, analysts said Sunday that what ma...

Kelly McGrath’s path to general manager of the Xcel Energy Center — from planning for the Pope to 50 Cent and the Minnesota Wild

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:21:52 GMT

Kelly McGrath took a moment between back-to-back meetings to walk the floor of the Xcel Energy Center, where Matt “Fuji” Fujinaka, director of operations, measured and chalked the spots where chairs would be deposited for last Monday night’s Nickelback concert, a nearly sold-out draw for almost 14,000 hard rock fans.In a few days, McGrath — who was named general manager and executive director of the “X” in July — will do the same before the Sam Smith concert, the Pearl Jam concert and the Greta Van Fleet concert, the latter being a rock band that developed a modern following on social media platforms like TikTok.“It’s great for the business,” said McGrath, who has been navigating event-based sales for the better part of 30 years, most of them at the X. “That’s translating to ticket sales. It’s hard to sell 14,000 tickets. Not every band can do it.”Then it’s on to country artist Old Dominion, guitar legend Eric Clapton...

Jonah Goldberg: America blew it

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:21:52 GMT

America blew it.I generally support special prosecutor Jack Smith’s indictments of Donald Trump. The classified documents case is open-and-shut as far as I can tell. As for the charges dealing with the former president’s attempt to steal the election, they are a heavier lift as a strictly legal matter. Some charges may not clear the evidentiary and legal hurdles in their path, but are still worth bringing.Trump supporters disagree. Their arguments span from anti-American idiocy (Trump is America’s Alexei Nalvany) to good-faith, nuanced complaints about the insufficiency of the statutes Smith is relying upon.But even if Smith has the law and evidence entirely on his side, the fact that we’ve come to prosecuting a former president is proof of the breakdown of republicanism.That Trump was nominated, never mind elected, president is a sign of collective, systemic failure. Blame is not evenly distributed among the parties, voters, the media and other institutions,...