Fu Fu Chi Chis bring decade of harmony to first full album

Most choirs sing about God, grace and gratitude: outfitted in century-old house dresses, Winnipeg’s Fu Fu Chi Chi Choir sings heartfelt odes to drunk dials, diss tracks to booty calls and romantic murder ballads with maggot-coated codas.

As instability threatens to sweep across the globe, leadup to previous wars offer lessons for today’s powers

Author Odd Arne Westad probably has more degrees than a thermometer. However, he seems to think us ordinary folks are smarter than we are — at least some of us — because in his new (and 18th) book The Coming Storm he leaves out some critical, basic information.

Nowhere in his book does Westad list the world’s Great Powers, as he calls them, all together. He writes about five of them all at once, and in a manner that leaves the mistaken impression that’s all there are. Later, more of them pop up here and there, if you can keep track. It’s distracting and needless.

Secondly, Westad speaks often in his book of multipolar/multipolarity. But he never unpacks what it is.

Westad, a historian at Yale, is already celebrated for his sprawling 2017 book The Cold War: A World History, his intensive study of the causes of the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union from 1945 to 1991. He has also taught at Harvard and the London School of Economics; his multilingualism (he speaks six languages) helps him research efficiently.

For vintage sewing-machine aficionado, it’s all about seeing them stitch again

Dave Johnson, a semi-retired snowplow operator who also worked as a homebuilder, collects, repairs and uses vintage sewing machines.

Chuck Norris, martial arts master and actor whose toughness became internet lore, dies at 86

Chuck Norris, the martial arts grandmaster and action star whose roles in “Walker, Texas Ranger” and other television shows and movies made him an iconic tough guy — sparking internet parodies and adoration from presidents — has died at 86.

Norris died Thursday, in what his family described as a “sudden passing.”

“While we would like to keep the circumstances private, please know that he was surrounded by his family and was at peace,” the family said in a statement posted to social media.

Before he would become a star in movies and on TV, Norris was wildly successful in competitive martial arts. He was a six-time undefeated World Professional Middleweight Karate champion. He also founded his own Korean-based American hard style of karate, known sometimes as Chun Kuk Do, and the United Fighting Arts Federation, which has awarded more than 3,300 Chuck Norris System black belts worldwide. Black Belt magazine ultimately credited Norris in its hall of fame with holding a 10th degree black belt, the highest possible honor.

Judge sides with New York Times in challenge to policy limiting reporters’ access to Pentagon

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge agreed Friday to block the Trump administration from enforcing a policy limiting news reporters’ access to the Pentagon, agreeing with The New York Times that key portions of the new rules are unlawful.

U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman in Washington, D.C., sided with the newspaper and ruled that the Pentagon policy illegally restricts the press credentials of reporters who walked out of the building rather than agree to the new rules.

The Times sued the Pentagon and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in December, claiming the credentialing policy violates the journalists’ constitutional rights to free speech and due process.

The current Pentagon press corps is comprised mostly of conservative outlets that agreed to the policy. Reporters from outlets that refused to consent to the new rules, including from The Associated Press, have continued reporting on the military.

List of nominations announced by the National Newspaper Awards for 2025

TORONTO - Finalists for the National Newspaper Awards include seven nominations for the national news agency The Canadian Press. Here's a look at the categories and contenders:

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

-Emily Donaldson, The Globe and Mail, for her unique profile of British nature writer Robert Macfarlane, which doubles as a profile of the landscapes he chronicled. 

-Sarah Krichel, The Tyee, for her essays on the escapist necessity of reality TV and nostalgia for AI slop in the era of inconspicuous AI.

On the night table: Jenna Diubaldo

Jenna Diubaldo

Partner/blender, Sons of Vancouver Distillery

I have an audiobook I’ve been listening to by Adam Rogers. He wrote Proof: The Science of Booze, which is one of my favorite alcohol books. In that book he tackles really nerdy science aspects of alcohol, but anecdotally, finding interesting stories that teach you things.

Lately I’ve recently been listening to his most recent book, Full Spectrum: How the Science of Color Made Us Modern.

BTS returns with comeback concert in Seoul after 4-year hiatus

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — After a four-year break, K-pop supergroup BTS returns Saturday with a massive, free comeback concert in Seoul, where thousands of police are locking down a central boulevard for the Netflix-exclusive spectacle expected to draw tens of thousands of fans.

The performance at Gwanghwamun Square launches a global tour spanning dozens of shows across the United States, Europe and Asia, which analysts say could generate hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue per quarter.

All seven members of the band — RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jung Kook — recently completed South Korea’s mandatory military service, and hope to reclaim their status as one of the world's biggest pop acts.

The hourlong concert comes after the group on Friday released its fifth album, “ARIRANG,” which sold nearly 4 million copies in its first day, said the band's management company, HYBE.