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Putin: West helped Ukraine mount acts of sabotage

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:08:07 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin charged Wednesday that Western intelligence agencies have helped Ukraine carry out acts of sabotage, as he urged his officials to mount a stronger response. Putin spoke during a call with members of his Security Council that focused on efforts to shore up control of the four Ukrainian provinces that Russia claimed as part of its territory in September — a move that most of the world rejected as an illegal annexation.“There are reasons to believe that the capabilities of third countries, Western special services, have been involved in preparation of acts of sabotage and terror attacks,” Putin said, without elaborating and without providing any evidence.He said the four provinces have experienced Ukrainian shelling and acts of sabotage aimed at scaring the local population, and that Russian authorities must act “harshly and effectively to ensure control over the situation.”Several Moscow-appointed officials in the newly incorporated provi...

Zelenskyy boosts ties with Poland, warns of peril in Bakhmut

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:08:07 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy won new pledges of military and economic cooperation Wednesday on a state visit to staunch ally Poland, and he also said that Kyiv’s troops battling in the eastern city of Bakhmut could pull out if they face a threat of being encircled by Russian forces.Polish President Andrzej Duda said Warsaw has provided four Soviet-designed MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine, with four more in the process of being handed over and another six being prepared.At a news conference with his Polish counterpart, Zelenskyy described the perils in the grinding siege of Bakhmut, which has been all but destroyed by eight months of fighting that also has cost many lives on both sides.“For me, the most important issue is our military,” he said. “And certainly, if there is a moment of even hotter events and the danger that we may lose personnel due to the encirclement, there will certainly be corresponding correct decisions of the general o...

Randy Bachman offers look at more than 80 of his guitars NAC exhibit in Studio Bell

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:08:07 GMT

TORONTO — Randy Bachman is shedding light on his incredible guitar obsession with a new temporary exhibit set to open at Calgary’s National Music Centre inside Studio Bell next month.Organizers say the Guess Who co-founder and “Taking Care of Business” hitmaker will showcase more than 80 of his prized axes for “Randy Bachman: Every Guitar Tells a Story.”The exhibit will include instruments from every part of Bachman’s career and feature videos of the 79-year-old musician telling the stories behind them.Highlights include the first guitar Bachman purchased from a Sears catalogue at 13 years old and his signature 1959 Les Paul electric guitar, which was used on the Guess Who’s beloved hits “These Eyes,” “No Time” and “American Woman.”Also planned for the display is his rare first-year white Stratocaster, which he played on numerous Bachman-Turner Overdrive albums, and his 1957 Gretsch electric guitar, which ...

Energy executives say feds must make good on pledge to speed up project approvals

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:08:07 GMT

TORONTO — Canada’s oil and gas sector is hopeful the federal government will live up to its budget-day pledge to speed up the time it takes to build major infrastructure projects.The Liberal government announced last week that it will unveil a plan aimed at speeding up the federal permitting process for major infrastructure projects before the end of the year.The promise was part of a federal budget that also contained a host of tax credits and incentives for clean electricity, hydrogen, critical minerals and other technologies the government believes Canada must invest in to meet its international climate commitments.But for many in the Canadian oil and gas sector, it’s that promise of swift regulatory approval for new projects that remains key. “It’s still about permitting,” said Enbridge Inc. chief executive Greg Ebel, at an annual oil and gas conference taking place this week in Toronto. “We can put all the incentives you want in place. Whether it’s...

Bus crash in Wyoming snowstorm injures 11 farm workers

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:08:07 GMT

WHEATLAND, Wyo. (AP) — A bus carrying contract farm workers from Texas to Washington state crashed on a snowy Wyoming road early Wednesday, sending 11 people to a hospital with injuries.Forty people were on the bus when it crashed on an Interstate 25 service road south of Wheatland, a town about 170 miles (270 kilometers) north of Denver, the Wyoming Highway Patrol said in a statement.A powerful snowstorm had closed highways throughout eastern and southern Wyoming and made other routes treacherous.The coach bus failed to negotiate a curve and drove off the road and overturned, according to the Highway Patrol.Emergency crews took the uninjured passengers to a local fire training center and were arranging food and lodging. The 55-year-old driver, a man from Texas, was unhurt.The Associated Press

Amid polarization, minority party lawmakers face penalties

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:08:07 GMT

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma Republicans removed the state’s only nonbinary legislator from House committees after the lawmaker provided refuge to a transgender rights activist. In Florida, two Democratic leaders were arrested for participating in a protest over abortion restrictions. And in Tennessee, three Democratic House members are facing expulsion for using a bullhorn in the House chamber to show support for demonstrators demanding gun control.In an increasingly polarized political atmosphere, experts say these kinds of harsh punishments for minority party members standing up for principles they believe in are becoming more common, especially when acts of civil disobedience clash with the rigid policies and procedures of legislative decorum.The modern-day division between Democrats and Republicans is at its highest level since immediately after the Civil War, said Scot Schraufnagel, a political science professor at Northern Illinois University who has studied and writte...

Russian charged with war crimes: Ukrainian kids can go home

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:08:07 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, who is being sought for war crimes for deporting children from Ukraine, told a U.N. meeting Wednesday that they were taken for their safety and Moscow is coordinating with international organizations to return them to their families.Ambassadors from Western countries boycotted the informal U.N. Security Council meeting, sending low-level diplomats instead. And diplomats from the United States, Britain, Albania and Malta walked out when Maria Lvova-Belova started to address the meeting by video link. The International Criminal Court last month issued an arrest warrant for her and Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing them of abducting children from Ukraine. Russia, which holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council this month, called Wednesday’s meeting to counter what it claims is disinformation about the Ukrainian children. U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters before the meeting...

As bankruptcy ends, board seeks to boost Puerto Rico economy

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:08:07 GMT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — As Puerto Rico emerges from a drawn-out bankruptcy process, a federal control board that oversees the island’s finances announced Wednesday that it will focus on growing the U.S. territory’s economy.The board’s new executive director, former New York state budget director Robert Mujica, unveiled a new fiscal plan that will serve as the island’s economic blueprint for the near future.It demands that Puerto Rico overhaul its education, tax and infrastructure sectors and attract more investors by strengthening its fragile power grid and making it easier to do business on an island known for its clunky bureaucracy.“There’s no time to waste,” Mujica said at a press conference.In recent years, the U.S. government allocated more than $120 billion to help Puerto Rico offset the impact of the pandemic and natural disasters ranging from earthquakes to major hurricanes. But Mujica noted those were “one-time infusions that temporarily boosted output” and fueled econ...

Chicago police send large response to downtown Trump Tower

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:08:07 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — A large Chicago police presence arrived Wednesday afternoon at the Trump International Hotel and Tower, located in the city’s central Loop near the Chicago River. Chicago police media representatives have not provided details about why officers were called to the building, which is a mix of condos and hotel rooms. The Associated Press

Indiana governor signs ban on gender-affirming health care

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:08:07 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana’s governor signed a bill banning all gender-affirming care for minors Wednesday, joining at least 12 other states that have enacted laws restricting or banning such care.Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb signed the legislation after Republican majorities in the Legislature approved it. The law will go into effect July 1, and trans youth currently taking medication to transition would have until the end of the year to stop doing so.Holcomb had told reporters Tuesday that the bill on his desk was vague and had not indicated he would sign it or veto it.“Permanent gender-changing surgeries with lifelong impacts and medically prescribed preparation for such a transition should occur as an adult, not as a minor,” Holcomb said in a statement.Opponents of the legislation said the types of care the bill would ban, such as hormone therapy and puberty blockers, are vital and often life-saving for transgender kids. Medical providers say most of the procedures banned...