Bestselling author and Netflix producer said extensive early experience of grief was ‘very cruel but effective teacher’
American thriller writer Harlan Coben said experiencing “quite a bit of tragedy” in his 20s made him a better writer.
The bestselling author, who wrote the Myron Bolitar thriller series and novels turned Netflix shows such as Fool Me Once and Missing You, said he was in his 20s when his father died of a heart attack at the age of 59 in 1988.
Continue reading...Officials say evidence supports theory suspect, 42, carried out deadly attack alone but reveal leads are being pursued
Federal authorities investigating the avowed Islamic State (IS) sympathizer who carried out the New Year’s Day Bourbon Street terror attack in New Orleans said they are still investigating his potential associates elsewhere in the US and abroad.
In a news briefing, officials from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) said they were pursuing leads in Houston, Atlanta and Tampa, Florida. They also revealed that Shamsud-Din Jabbar visited New Orleans twice in the months before the attack, and, on one of those trips, rode a bicycle up Bourbon Street wearing smart Meta glasses and also rode around the French Quarter neighborhood – ostensibly, officials said, to prepare for the attack that he carried out, killing 14 people and injuring dozens more.
Continue reading...Trump loyalists make baseless link between attack and US border and say cabinet nominees must be urgently ratified
Republicans in the US Senate are attempting to exploit the New Year’s Day attack that killed 14 victims in New Orleans, injuring dozens more, to push through Donald Trump’s most controversial cabinet nominations and rocket-charge the incoming president’s anti-immigration agenda – despite the fact that the attacker was a US citizen born and raised in east Texas.
Several Senate Republicans appeared on Sunday’s political shows to call for an urgent approval of the most contentious of Trump’s cabinet selections, who are facing a tough confirmation process. They include Kash Patel, chosen by Trump for FBI director; Pete Hegseth for defense secretary; and Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence.
Continue reading...Team and the NFL will donate to victims of attack on New Year’s Day that left 14 people dead and 35 others injured
The New Orleans Saints and the National Football League in which they compete have pledged to donate $1m to the victims of the Bourbon Street terror attack on New Year’s Day that left 14 people dead and 35 others injured.
In a press release issued on Saturday, the Saints and their owner, Gayle Benson, who pledged $500,000, said: “Our community has experienced an unimaginable tragedy and our collective hearts are broken as we mourn for the victims and survivors of the New Year’s Day terror attack in New Orleans.
Continue reading...State of emergencies issues in several states and cities as eastern two-thirds of country to experience dangerous cold
A major winter storm was sweeping across the central US on Sunday, forecasters said, bringing with it a dreaded combination of snow, ice and plunging temperatures.
The National Weather Service (NWS) issued winter storm warnings from Kansas and Missouri – where blizzard conditions are expected – to New Jersey.
Continue reading...US president-elect praises Italian prime minister at Florida resort for ‘really taking Europe by storm’
Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, made a flying visit to Donald Trump’s Florida golf club on Saturday, during which the US president-elect praised the far-right leader for “really taking Europe by storm”.
The pair were photographed in the grand ballroom of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club.
Continue reading...Less than half of Americans planned to get Covid vaccine in 2024, and slightly more than half planned to get flu shot
The amount of acute respiratory illness causing Americans to seek healthcare is at a high level, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In an update issued on Friday, the CDC announced that in addition to Covid-19 activity increasing from low levels in most areas across the US, seasonal influenza activity continues to increase and is elevated across most of the country.
Continue reading...Motorcade with flag-draped casket heads to boyhood home in Plains before moving to Atlanta, then Washington
Jimmy Carter’s long public goodbye began Saturday in south Georgia, where the 39th US president’s life began more than 100 years ago.
A motorcade with Carter’s flag-draped casket is heading to his hometown of Plains and past his boyhood home on the way to Atlanta. The procession began at the Phoebe Sumter medical center in Americus, where former Secret Service agents who had protected the late president served as pallbearers. A mournful train whistle filled the clear air as the pallbearers turned to face the hearse for a final goodbye, their hands on their hearts.
Continue reading...Husband of actor Aubrey Plaza was known for writing and directing Life After Beth and co-writing I Heart Huckabees
Independent director and screenwriter Jeff Baena – who was known for quirky hits such as Life After Beth and was the husband of that flick’s star, Aubrey Plaza – has died, according to reports. Baena was 47.
The Los Angeles medical examiner said that Baena died on Friday at his home in that city at about 10.39am local time. Officials did not immediately provide Baena’s cause or manner of death.
Continue reading...With ‘the best friend gun owners have ever had in the White House’ to return, gun-safety groups eye state level actions
Donald Trump’s imminent return to Washington has put gun-safety groups on high alert, as the president-elect once described himself as “the best friend gun owners have ever had in the White House”.
Emma Brown, executive director of the gun-safety group Giffords, initially reacted to the news of Trump’s victory in the presidential race not with dismay, but with defiance.
Continue reading...The US president-elect’s policy on the conflict may prove decisive, but appeasing both sides will be a challenge
A new year in Ukraine began in much the same way as the old one finished: with deadly Russian drone attacks across the country. In Kyiv, one person was killed and at least six others were injured in the first few hours of 2025.
It is Ukraine’s third new year since Russia’s invasion. If 2023 began with hopes high that Ukrainian battlefield gains would push Russia back and lead to an outright victory, by the start of 2024 the Ukrainian army and population were already settled in for the long haul and had few illusions about a quick victory.
Continue reading...Pulitzer prize winner Ann Telnaes drew a cartoon of the paper’s owner kneeling before Donald Trump
The Washington Post’s Pulitzer prize-winning editorial cartoonist Ann Telnaes has resigned from her position at the newspaper after its refusal to publish a satirical cartoon depicting the outlet’s owner Jeff Bezos – along with other media and technology barons – kneeling before Donald Trump as he gears up for his second US presidency.
“I have had editorial feedback and productive conversations – and some differences – about cartoons I have submitted for publication, but in all that time I’ve never had a cartoon killed because of who or what I chose to aim my pen at,” Telnaes wrote on Friday in an online post on the Substack platform detailing her decision to quit. “Until now.”
Continue reading...Islamic State has urged followers to attack the US, and the attorney general has called the group a top security concern
The Islamic State (IS) threat on the US homeland has caused renewed concern as more details emerge about the man allegedly behind what the FBI is calling an “act of terrorism” in New Orleans on New Year’s Day that killed 14 and injured scores more.
US citizen and army veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, was killed in the attack after driving into partygoers on Bourbon Street and engaging police in a gunfight. Found inside his rental truck was the infamous black flag of IS; it was later revealed he had pledged allegiance to the group in a series of videos posted to Facebook mere hours beforehand.
Continue reading...Born Alfred Jesse Smith, his smash title has repeatedly been used in film and television shows
Soul singer Brenton Wood has died at the age of 83, TMZ and Variety reported. Wood’s manager Manny Gallegos confirmed the news.
Woods, born Alfred Jesse Smith, is best known for his 1967 hit The Oogum Boogum Song which has repeatedly been used across film, television and in commercial campaigns. He died at his home in Moreno Valley, 63 miles east of Los Angeles, his manager Manny Gallegos told the publications.
Continue reading...Family remembers Terrence Kennedy, 63, as ‘nicest person in the world’ after reporting he was one of 14 people killed
More victims of the New Year’s attack in New Orleans, which killed at least 14 people and injured dozens more, have been identified by their relatives, as authorities continue to investigate the fatal incident.
The New Orleans coroner’s office has released the names of 12 of the 14 victims who were killed when a man drove a pickup truck into crowds on Bourbon Street and then opened fire before being killed in a shootout with police, in what officials are investigating as an act of terrorism.
Continue reading...More than half of the 12 identified were from local areas and all ranged in age from 18 to 63
The New Orleans coroner’s office has released the identities of most of the 14 people killed in the deadly truck attack aimed at New Year’s Day revelers on the city’s famous Bourbon Street.
More than half of the 12 victims identified after being slain Wednesday by the attacker – a US army veteran who was shot dead by police – were from the New Orleans metropolitan area or other Louisiana communities. Others were residents of Alabama, Mississippi and New Jersey.
Continue reading...Investigators recover equipment from house rented by attacker who killed 14 and injured dozens on New Year’s Day
Authorities have confirmed finding bomb-making materials at the New Orleans home that US military veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar rented before ramming a pickup truck into a crowd of New Year’s revelers, according to an FBI statement containing the most complete account yet of the attack.
Investigators recovered from Jabbar’s rental truck a transmitter intended to trigger the two bombs, the statement read, confirming prior media reporting.
Continue reading...Instagram profile of ‘proud Black queer momma’, created by Meta, said her development team included no Black people
Meta is deleting Facebook and Instagram profiles of AI characters the company created over a year ago after users rediscovered some of the profiles and engaged them in conversations, screenshots of which went viral.
The company had first introduced these AI-powered profiles in September 2023 but killed off most of them by summer 2024. However, a few characters remained and garnered new interest after the Meta executive Connor Hayes told the Financial Times late last week that the company had plans to roll out more AI character profiles.
Continue reading...Authorities probing background of Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old Texas native and former US serviceman
A mix of law enforcement, street performers and football fans has filled New Orleans’ blocks as the city inches back to normality while mourning victims of the deadly New Year’s rampage in which a US army veteran plowed a truck into revelers, reports the Associated Press (AP).
The attack along Bourbon Street killed 14 people, along with the driver, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, who officials said was inspired by the Islamic State militant group. Jabbar was fatally shot in a firefight with police after steering his speeding truck around a barricade and plowing into the crowd. About 30 people were injured.
According to the AP, authorities finished processing the scene on Thursday morning, removing the last of the bodies. Bourbon Street – famous worldwide for music, open-air drinking and festive vibes – reopened for business by early afternoon.
On the same block where the attack took place, trombone player and lifelong New Orleanian Jonas Green told the AP that it was important for his band to be out there the day after the violence. “I know with this music, it heals, it transforms the feelings that we’re going through into something better,” Green said. “Got to keep on going.”
The Sugar Bowl college football game between Notre Dame and Georgia, which was postponed by a day in the interest of national security, was played on Thursday evening.
The Joan of Arc parade in the French Quarter is still scheduled to take place on Monday to kick off carnival season ahead of Mardi Gras, said Antoinette de Alteriis, one of the organisers. She told the news agency that they expect close to its typical crowd in the thousands.
On Bourbon Street, flowers and candles were arranged as memorials to the victims, while yellow posts were set up on the surrounding blocks.
Those barriers were being repaired – and others were down – when attacker struck, prompting questions
Like the rest of those living in New Orleans at the time, Aaron Miller – then the city’s homeland security director – was terrified after a gunman drove a truck into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in the French coastal city of Nice in 2016, killing 86 people and wounding many more in a terrorist attack claimed by the Islamic State (IS).
Similar car attacks in Berlin, London, New York and Barcelona also put him on edge as he thought about the safety of his city.
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