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From an old-style Afghan camera, a new view of life under the Taliban emerges

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:10:23 GMT

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The odd device draws curious onlookers everywhere. From the outside, it resembles little more than a large black box on a tripod. Inside lies its magic: a hand-made wooden camera and darkroom in one. As a small crowd gathers around the box camera, images of beauty and of hardship ripple to life from its dark interior: a family enjoying an outing in a swan boat on a lake; child laborers toiling in brick factories; women erased by all-covering veils; armed young men with fire in their eyes. Sitting for a portrait in a war-scarred Afghan village, a Taliban fighter remarks: “Life is much more joyful now.” For a young woman in the Afghan capital, forced out of education because of her gender, the opposite is true: “My life is like a prisoner, like a bird in a cage.” The instrument used to record these moments is a kamra-e-faoree, or instant camera. They were a common sight on Afghan city streets in the last century — a fast and easy way to make portraits, especi...

Nevada Republicans brace for confusion as party eyes election rules that may favor Trump

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:10:23 GMT

RENO, Nev. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump’s push to bend state Republican parties to his will — and gain an advantage in his effort to return to the White House — is coming to a head in Nevada.The state GOP, which is led by Trump allies, is insisting on moving forward with a presidential caucus on Feb. 8 despite a new state law that set a primary election two days earlier. Caucuses, which typically reward grassroots support and organizing, are expected to benefit Trump given his solid grip on the GOP’s most loyal voters.But the party is poised to go further on Saturday when it’s expected to approve plans that some Nevada Republicans and Trump rivals argue would confuse and anger voters and further tilt the caucus for the former president. The proposed rules, copies of which were obtained by The Associated Press, include provisions to bar any candidate from the caucus if they’re on the primary ballot. They would also restrict super PACs, like the one Flo...

A flamethrower and comments about book burning ignite a political firestorm in Missouri

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:10:23 GMT

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A longshot candidate for Missouri governor and his supporters describe his use of a flamethrower at a recent “Freedom Fest” event outside St. Louis as no big deal. They said it was a fun moment for fellow Republicans who attended, and that no one talked about burning books as he torched a pile of cardboard boxes. But after the video gained attention on social media, State Sen. Bill Eigel said he would burn books he found objectionable, and that he’d do it on the lawn outside the governor’s mansion. He later said it was all a metaphor for how he would attack the “woke liberal agenda.” “From a dramatic sense, if the only thing in between the children in the state of Missouri and vulgar pornographic material like that getting in their hands is me burning, bulldozing or launching (books) into outer space, I’m going to do that,” Eigel said in an interview with The Associated Press. “However, I would I make the point that I don’t believe it’s going t...

A fire at an Iranian defense ministry’s car battery factory has been extinguished, report says

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:10:23 GMT

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A fire in a storage area of an Iranian defense ministry’s car battery factory north of the capital has been extinguished, state TV reported Friday.The fire happened around midnight in a 2-square-kilometer (about 500-acre) storage area of plastic items in the factory north of Tehran. The TV footage showed a black column of smoke rising in the nighttime sky.Firefighters were able to put out the fire with no casualties and the cause is under investigation, the report said.It did not mention any potential damage from the fire. Iran’s defense ministry has long owned the biggest and oldest car battery factories in Iran.Incidents at the country’s defense industry sites have increased in recent years, and Iran has blamed Israel for attacks or sabotage.In August, Iran accused Israel of trying to sabotage its ballistic missile program through faulty foreign parts that could explode, damaging or destroying the weapons before they could be used. In 2022, an explosion a...

India’s Parliament passes law that will reserve 33% of legislature seats for women from 2029

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:10:23 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s Parliament has approved landmark legislation that reserves 33% of the seats in its powerful lower house and in state legislatures for women to ensure more equal representation, ending a 27-year impasse over the bill amid a lack of consensus among political parties.But the wait is still not over, as the new law will not apply to next year’s national elections.It will be implemented in the 2029 national elections following a new census and adjustment of voting districts after next year’s polls, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said during a debate in the upper house of India’s Parliament on Thursday night.The lower house of Parliament approved the legislation on Wednesday with a 454-2 vote, and the upper house passed it unanimously, 214-0, late Thursday.India’s once-a-decade census was to be held in 2021 but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All opposition parties supported the bill and said the delay in its implementation is an injustice to women. ...

Some providers are dropping gender-affirming care for kids even in cases where it’s legal

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:10:23 GMT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — As Republican-led states have rushed to ban gender-affirming for minors, some families with transgender children found a bit of solace: At least they lived in states that would allow those already receiving puberty blockers or hormone therapy to continue.But in some places, including Missouri and North Dakota, the care has abruptly been halted because medical providers are wary of harsh liability provisions in those same laws — one of multiple reasons that advocates say care has become harder to access even where it remains legal.“It was a completely crushing blow,” said Becky Hormuth, whose 16-year-old son was receiving treatment from the Washington University Gender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital until it stopped the care for minors this month. Hormuth cried. Her son cried, too. “There was some anger there, not towards the doctors, not toward Wash U. Our anger is towards the politicians,” she said. “They don’t see our children. They say the health care is...

Through a different lens: How AP used a wooden box camera to document Afghan life up close

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:10:23 GMT

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — For Associated Press photographer Rodrigo Abd, a main attraction of working with a traditional Afghan box camera is the intimacy it provides with his subjects, and the slow pace that allows for a unique window into daily life.In the years after the 2001 U.S. invasion that toppled the Taliban, the Argentine photographer spent months on assignment in Afghanistan and developed a deep affection for the country and its people. He also was fascinated by what was then a common sight: urban street photographers who made their living snapping cheap portraits, mostly for identity documents, using old-style wooden box cameras. Abd learned how to use what in Dari is called a kamra-e-faroee, or “instant camera,” a handmade box on a tripod that combines a simple camera and darkroom in one. “I fell in love with this way of photographing, going back to the most primitive act of taking photos, that long time spent looking at faces, details, textures, landscapes, both urban ...

High school football: Lakeville South finishes strong against Eagan to remain unbeaten

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:10:23 GMT

For the second straight week, No. 2 Lakeville South came up big in the fourth quarter.And the Cougars remain unbeaten.Connor Cade scored twice in the final 12 minutes, Lakeville South’s defense made a pair of second-half defensive stands and the Cougars held off visiting Eagan 27-14 Thursday.Last Friday, Lakeville South scored 10 points in the final 63 seconds, including a 31-yard Jack Kimmel field goal at the buzzer, to beat crosstown rival Lakeville North 24-21.“We’ve proven to be a good fourth-quarter team; we’d like to be a good first-, second-, third- and fourth-quarter team,” said coach Ben Burk. “We’re growing.”Burk acknowledged his team’s tackling left room for improvement, but it was the defense that set the 4-0 Cougars up with a short field for the winning points and the icing-on-the-cake score.“We made some minor changes on the D-line, but other than that, we just had to identify what they were doing and make the play,” said linebacker Brett Johnson.Tied at 14 late in the...

Minnesota Orchestra opens new season with a confident Thomas Søndergård on the podium

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:10:23 GMT

Thomas Søndergård begins his tenure as the 11th music director of the Minnesota Orchestra in earnest by returning to Richard Strauss, whose music the orchestra played on Søndergård’s first visit in 2021. From a chilling rendition of Strauss’ “Don Juan” Opus 20 to an homage of nature’s majesty in the composer’s “An Alpine Symphony,” the new conductor and the orchestra find a sublime groove with each other.Not one to take all the spotlight, Søndergård said in a brief onstage Q&A before Thursday’s concert that one of the reasons he chose Strauss was because it “highlights the orchestra in a way that takes actually a lot of focus away from the conductor.”If you go to the concerts this week, you may notice a handful of Minneapolis landmarks lighting up in the red-and-white colors of the Danish flag, as a way to welcome Søndergård to Minnesota. Among them — the Lowry Avenue Bridge and Target Field. Orchestra Hall also lights up in the colors for the concerts, and has a huge bouquet of...

1 killed, another injured after being hit by driver in San Fernando Valley

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:10:23 GMT

A driver in Sylmar struck two pedestrians Thursday night, killing one of them and seriously injuring another in what authorities are calling a tragic accident. Officers with the Los Angeles Police Department responded to the scene in the 13900 block of Astoria Street, near Foothill Boulevard around 7:40 p.m. and requested a canopy for the fatality. Medical personnel with the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to the scene and transported one patient to the hospital in unknown condition.Aerial footage taken by Sky5 showed the canopy in the middle of the street, with a wheelchair, which appeared to have sustained some damage, laying nearby.  A wheelchair seen in the road in Sylmar after a driver struck two pedestrians on Sept. 21, 2023. (KTLA)LAPD on the scene of an accident in Sylmar after a driver struck two pedestrians, one of whom was possibly in a wheelchair on Sept. 21, 2023. (KTLA)LAPD on the scene of an accident in Sylmar after a driver struck two pedestrians, one of w...