National Briefs: Poker Case Payouts Start

AVIGNON, France — Gisèle Pelicot said after 51 men were all found guilty Thursday in the drugging-and-rape trial that turned her into a feminist hero that the ordeal had been “very difficult” and expressed support for other victims of sexual violence. “We share the same fight,” she said in her first words after the court in the southern French city of Avignon handed down prison sentences ranging from three to 20 years in the shocking case that stunned France and spurred a national reckoning about the blight of rape culture. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Pelicot—whose courage and stoicism have turned her into an internationally recognized figure and an icon for many women—said she was thinking of her grandchildren after enduring more than three months of court hearings that dealt with the nearly decade of rapes and other abuse inflicted on her by her now ex-husband and his accomplices. “It’s also for them that I led this fight,” she said of her grandchildren. The court sentenced her ex-husband, Dominique Pelicot, to 20 years in prison for drugging and raping her and allowing other men to rape her while she was unconscious. The sentence was the maximum possible under French law.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A series of intense Israeli airstrikes shook Yemen’s rebel-held capital and a port city early Thursday and killed at least nine people, officials said, shortly after a Houthi missile targeted central Israel. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Thursday’s strikes risk further escalating conflict with the Iranian-backed Houthis, whose attacks on the Red Sea corridor have drastically impacted global shipping.

AI warfare may conjure images of killer robots and autonomous drones, but a different reality is unfolding in the Gaza Strip. There, artificial intelligence has been suggesting targets in Israel’s retaliatory campaign to root out Hamas following the group’s Oct. 7, 2023 attack. A program known as “The Gospel” generates suggestions for buildings and structures militants may be operating in.

The killing of a senior Russian general in a bombing outside his apartment building in Moscow was the boldest assassination yet of a top military officer and again brought the war in Ukraine to the streets of the capital. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Some things to know about the attack and who is suspected of being behind it: What happened? Lt.

Catastrophic floods across Europe have caused death and destruction in recent months, including in Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania in September and the Spanish region of Valencia in October, where they claimed more than 220 lives. Experts say floods like these could have been less disastrous if the region counted on more nature-based solutions such as floodable parks or green roofs to absorb and slow down the large masses of water.

Christmas is one of the most globally celebrated holidays in the world. But not everybody celebrates the same way—or even on the same day. Beyond the familiar traditions like Santa Claus, a fir tree, caroling and gift-giving, a number of countries—including the U. S.—bring their own unique twists, both old and new, to the holiday. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] In the U.