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Kentucky remembers tornado victims as rebuilding continues

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Kentucky remembers tornado victims as rebuilding continues

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Chris Bullock has quite a bit to be pleased about as she decorates her new dwelling for Christmas, after spending a lot of the previous 12 months in a camper together with her household.

One 12 months in the past Saturday, an enormous twister obliterated large swaths of her Kentucky hometown of Dawson Springs, leaving her homeless after a terrifying night time of loss of life and destruction.

Issues look a lot totally different now.

In August, Bullock and her household moved into their new dwelling, constructed freed from cost by the catastrophe reduction group God’s Pit Crew. It sits on the identical web site the place their dwelling of 26 years was worn out.

“God’s despatched blessings to us,” Bullock mentioned in a cellphone interview Friday. “Generally we really feel there’s a little bit guilt, if you’ll. Why had been we spared?”

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The vacation season tragedy killed 81 folks throughout Kentucky and turned buildings into mounds of rubble as injury reached into tons of of tens of millions of {dollars}. Elsewhere within the state, Mayfield took a direct hit from the swarm of December tornadoes, which left a large path of destroyed buildings and shredded bushes. In Bowling Inexperienced, a twister worn out a whole subdivision.

It was a part of an enormous twister outbreak throughout the Midwest and the South.

In Dawson Springs and different Kentucky cities within the path of the storms, properties and companies have been bobbing up steadily in current months. Authorities help, personal donations and claims payouts by insurers have poured into the stricken western Kentucky area.

“It’s greater than encouraging,” mentioned Jenny Beshear Sewell, the mayor-elect of Dawson Springs and a cousin of Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear. “In a storybook, it’s just like the flip to the following chapter. That’s the way it feels. That’s what it seems like.”

On Saturday, the governor will lead commemorative occasions recalling the horrifying opening chapters of the tragedy. The gatherings in Dawson Springs, Mayfield and Marshall County will bear in mind those that died and pay tribute to the rescue employees who pulled folks from the wreckage — in addition to the volunteers who’ve pitched in for the large rebuild.

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“Nothing I’ve ever seen had ready me for what I noticed in first gentle that day,” Beshear mentioned main as much as the anniversary. “As we proceed to mourn these we misplaced, my religion tells me that whereas we might wrestle with the whys — why does it hit us, why do human beings endure — we see God’s presence within the response.”

Beshear’s household has deep connections to Dawson Springs. The Democratic governor’s father, former two-term Gov. Steve Beshear, grew up within the tightknit western Kentucky neighborhood.

The devastation sparked an outpouring of affection and assist that began virtually as quickly as daylight revealed the scope of the injury. Beshear, who led the state’s response, mentioned the trouble ought to restore “everybody’s religion in humanity.”

A full 12 months later, the assistance retains coming.

However loads of storm victims proceed to wrestle, together with a few of Bullock’s neighbors who misplaced properties and family members. Others aren’t almost as far alongside in rebuilding. Nonetheless, progress is regular, and Bullock mentioned it “warms your coronary heart” to see her neighborhood coming again collectively.

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“For probably the most half, the identical persons are in the identical spot the place they belong, in our opinion,” she mentioned. “We’re the place we belong.”

Bullock remembers intimately the harrowing chain of occasions a 12 months in the past.

She rushed to the basement together with her husband Barry, 17-year-old son Stevie and miniature poodle Dewey moments earlier than the storm hit.

“They are saying it was 33 seconds,” she mentioned. “It felt like 33 minutes.”

Bullock was trapped below a crumbled brick wall within the basement together with her son and canine. Her husband pulled them from the rubble with minor accidents. Amid the chaos and destruction, it took kinfolk about 10 hours to search out them. They moved right into a camper close to the positioning of their dwelling for six months, ready for his or her new home to go up and spending the remainder of the time with kinfolk.

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Bullock mentioned she wasn’t certain if she would attend the commemorative occasion on the town.

“I really feel like I’ve coped with the whole lot very nicely, however the nearer it will get to tomorrow (Saturday), when it crosses my thoughts, it form of takes my breath away a little bit,” she mentioned.

Bullock admitted Christmas brings a mixture of emotions amid a lot ongoing wrestle — “Why are we attending to be in our home for Christmas?” whereas others aren’t — however mentioned she and her husband have all the time gone all out for the vacations. She mentioned leaning in to do a few of the issues they get pleasure from feels a little bit like taking a stand.

So she went “overboard” stringing Christmas lights on their new dwelling and purchased loads of new decorations, however mentioned it’ll take time earlier than the show is totally revived.

“I can’t make it seem like that but,” she mentioned. “It’s going to have to attend one other 12 months.”

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Jay-Z’s Accuser Can Remain Anonymous, Judge Criticizes His Lawyer’s ‘Relentless’ Filings

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Jay-Z’s Accuser Can Remain Anonymous, Judge Criticizes His Lawyer’s ‘Relentless’ Filings

The woman accusing Jay-Z and Sean “Diddy” Combs of sexually assaulting her when she was 13 can proceed anonymously (“at least for now”) in her lawsuit against the rappers, a judge ruled Thursday.

New York Judge Analisa Torres also condemned the legal team representing Jay-Z (real name Shawn Carter) for the “relentless filing of combative motions containing inflammatory language and ad hominem attacks [on accuser’s lawyer, Tony Buzbee],” according to a court order obtained by Variety. “Since Carter’s attorney first appeared in this case seventeen days ago, he has submitted a litany of letters and motions attempting to impugn the character of Plaintiff’s lawyer [Buzbee].”

Judge Torres continues, calling the complaints “inappropriate, a waste of judicial resources, and a tactic unlikely to benefit his client [Jay-Z].”

Jane Doe, who filed her original lawsuit against Combs in October, and re-filed it with Carter’s name in early December, will remain anonymous at this early stage of the litigation. She could still be required by the court to reveal her identity.

Alex Spiro, a lawyer for Carter, recently asked the judge to dismiss the entertainer from the woman’s lawsuit. He cited a report from NBC News that revealed the accuser had admitted to some “inconsistencies and outright impossibilities” in her allegations. His team has also issued public statements referring to Buzbee as a “1-800 lawyer” who is “in the pursuit of money and fame.”

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Judge Torres denied Carter’s request to dismiss the case. Representatives for Carter did not immediately respond to Variety‘s request for comment.

In the last few weeks, Buzbee issued his own lawsuit against Roc Nation, the entertainment company owned by Carter, claiming they are using “shadowy operatives” to bribe his former clients into filing “frivolous” complaints against him. Carter has also sued Buzbee for defamation.

Jane Doe, who alleges she was 13 when Combs and Carter raped her in 2000, says she encountered the pair at an afterparty for the MTV Music Video Awards.

Carter responded to the allegation almost immediately. “You have made a terrible error in judgment thinking that all ‘celebrities’ are the same,” Carter wrote in a letter addressing Buzbee. “I’m not from your moral world. I’m a young man who made it out of the project of Brooklyn. We don’t play these types of games. We have very strict codes and honor. We protect children, you seem to exploit people for personal gain. Only your network of conspiracy theorists, fake physics, will believe the idiotic claims you have levied against me that, if not for the seriousness surrounding harm to kids, would be laughable.”

Combs has been held in a Brooklyn jail since September. He will remain there until his trial is scheduled to begin in May.

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China unveils world's largest amphibious warship

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China unveils world's largest amphibious warship

China has launched the first of its new line of amphibious assault ships and its biggest warship yet, strengthening what is already the world’s largest navy.

The Sichuan, a type 076 new-generation amphibious assault ship, was put into the water at a launch and naming ceremony on Friday. 

With a full load displacement of 40,000 tons, the warship ranks among the world’s largest amphibious assault ships, featuring a dual-island superstructure and full-length flight deck, the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) said in a statement.

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A launching ceremony is held to unveil China’s first Type 076 new-generation amphibious assault ship, the Sichuan, at Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding, a Shanghai-based subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corp, on December 27, 2024, in Shanghai, China. (Pu Haiyang/VCG via Getty Images)

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China Bugle, an news outlet associated with the PLAN’s news media center, reported the ship will play a key role in transforming and developing the Chinese navy and enhancing its combat capabilities in the far seas. 

The Sichuan is capable of launching fighter jets and unmanned drones from an electromagnetic catapult. It is designed to carry ground troops in landing craft with air support. 

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China Launches First Type 076 Amphibious Assault Ship

Named after southwest China’s Sichuan Province, the independently-developed new vessel was put into the water at a launch and naming ceremony. (Pu Haiyang/VCG via Getty Images)

The ship also features “arrester technology” that Chinese researchers boast will allow fighter jets to land on its deck, similar to an aircraft carrier.

China launched its first amphibious assault ship, a type 075 class warship called the Hainan, in 2019.

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Launch ceremony for the Sichuan

Chinese military officials celebrate at the launch ceremony for the Sichuan.  (Pu Haiyang/VCG via Getty Images)

The PLANmi has been working on modernizing its forces for more than a decade, with the aim of being able to operate globally rather than being restricted to waters near the Chinese mainland. China first managed to launch fighter jets with the new electromagnetic technology on its homemade aircraft carrier, the Fujian, which launched two years ago.

The Sichuan will now undergo additional tests at sea. 

China has the largest navy in the world and is consistently trying to upgrade its fleet. Recently, researchers found that the country is working on designing a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, which would allow it to deploy its ships in distant waters without needing a base to refuel.

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The U.S. Navy currently has 11 nuclear-powered aircraft carriers deployed in strategic locations globally, including in the Asia-Pacific.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Health worker displaced by Israeli attacks in Gaza dies of ‘extreme cold’

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Health worker displaced by Israeli attacks in Gaza dies of ‘extreme cold’

Many people in Gaza lack adequate shelter and are malnourished after more than a year of Israeli attacks and blockades.

A Palestinian healthcare worker has died due to “extreme” weather conditions, according to a statement by the enclave’s Ministry of Health, as severe cold compounds the hardship faced by people displaced by Israel’s relentless attacks.

The body of Al-Hakim Ahmed al-Zaharneh, who worked at the European Gaza Hospital, was found inside his tent in al-Mawasi area, west of the city of Khan Younis, southern Gaza, the ministry said on Friday.

“This incident comes in light of the difficult humanitarian conditions that displaced citizens are experiencing, as the suffering of Gaza residents increases due to low temperatures and the lack of heating means in tents,” the ministry said.

The ministry said earlier that four Palestinian babies have died in tents in recent days amid the cold weather and widespread malnutrition.

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Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, said that the number of casualties in vulnerable groups is increasing due to worsening weather conditions.

“For 14 months now, people here have been lacking basic necessities to help them survive these difficult conditions – even in summer,” he said.

“Now in winter, the temperature has dropped very low, [and] people in tent camps feel the cold as being [colder] than the actual levels.”

He said that mothers often lack the strength or ability to breastfeed as they are malnourished and unwell.

“The conditions are worse for vulnerable groups like babies and, in the absence of [humanitarian aid], it is natural that deaths will happen.”

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The vast majority of the Gaza Strip’s 2.4 million residents have been displaced at least once since war broke out with the Palestinian group Hamas on October 7, 2023, with many people living in tents that offer little protection from the cold, rain and flooding.

The United Nations and other organisations have repeatedly decried the worsening humanitarian conditions in Gaza, as Israeli attacks and blockades severely curtail access to food, water, medicine and other supplies.

A leading United States government organisation monitoring food crises around the world withdrew a new report this week warning of imminent famine in north Gaza under what it called Israel’s “near-total blockade,” after the US asked for its retraction, US officials told The Associated Press.

The move follows public criticism of the report from the US ambassador to Israel.

The report by the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) had warned that a “famine scenario” was unfolding in northern Gaza where Israel launched a renewed offensive in early October.

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Meanwhile, on Friday, the director of Gaza’s Health Ministry told Al Jazeera that Israeli forces stormed the Kamal Adwan Hospital, one of the few remaining medical facilities in north Gaza, and forced the 350 people there to evacuate, including all the patients and staff. He said contact with the hospital had been lost.

Israel’s war in Gaza has killed at least 45,436 Palestinians and wounded 108,038 since October 7, 2023, according to figures released on Friday by Gaza’s Health Ministry.

An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks that day and more than 200 were taken captive.

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