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Nearly 50 European leaders stress support for Ukraine at a summit in Spain. Zelenskyy seeks more aid

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:50:52 GMT

GRANADA, Spain (AP) — Almost 50 European leaders used a summit in the southern Spanish city of Granada on Thursday to stress that they stand by Ukraine at a time when Western resolve appears somewhat weakened.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that beside maintaining such unity, more military aid to get through the winter was essential.Despite the political, economic and military support, the desperate struggle to rid Ukraine territory of invading Russian forces has ground to a stalemate, and Zelenskyy insisted that it was no time for wavering in the face of Russian President Vladimir Putin. And especially now that questions about continued support are growing in the United States too. “Europe must be strong” despite what happens in other places around the globe, Zelenskyy said, calling for more air defense systems, artillery shells, long-range missiles and drones.He said that victory or defeat in Ukraine would determine Europe’s fate. Zelenskyy flew in early in the ...

Indonesia’s agriculture minister resigns amid a corruption investigation

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:50:52 GMT

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia’s agriculture minister resigned Thursday as the country’s anti-graft commission ramped up an investigation into alleged corruption at his ministry.The Corruption Eradication Commission, known as KPK, has alleged that there has been bribery linked to job promotions at the Agriculture Ministry as well as fraudulent projects involving private vendors, but it has not disclosed details.Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo, though not yet been formally named as a suspect, said Thursday that he was resigning to focus on the case against him, and that he hopes the public will assume he is innocent until there is a court verdict.“Don’t judge me first. Let the legal process proceed, and I’m ready to face it,” Limpo told a news conference in Jakarta.Limpo was on working visit to Italy and Spain when the KPK searched his official residence in Jakarta last week. He returned to Jakarta late Wednesday.KPK’s spokesperson Ali Fikri told a news conference short...

Deadly Thai mall shooting exposes murky trade in blank handguns that are turned into lethal weapons

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:50:52 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Police in Thailand said Thursday they have arrested three men they accuse of selling the handgun and ammunition used by a 14-year-old boy who allegedly killed two people and wounded five others at a shopping mall in Bangkok.The shooting Tuesday at the Siam Paragon mall in the Thai capital has highlighted a gray area of the gun trade: the sale of handguns originally manufactured to shoot blanks but which can be modified to fire live ammunition. Thai police identified the gun used in Tuesday’s shootings as one of these so-called blank, or blank-firing, handguns.Blank guns generally face fewer restrictions and can be imported and registered more easily than regular guns. What alarms law enforcement authorities in several countries, not just Thailand, is that such guns can not only be turned into lethal weapons, but also are harder to trace than real guns.On Wednesday, a Thai police spokesman said 10,000 blank guns are in circulation in the country, and the authorities ha...

Stock market today: Wall Street drifts lower as pressure from the bond market stays high

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:50:52 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is drifting lower Thursday, as pressure from the bond market remains high due to worries about a too-hot U.S. job market. The S&P 500 was 0.4% lower in morning trading, the latest stumble in what’s been an ugly run since the start of August. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 31 points, or 0.1%, as of 10:30 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.6% lower.Stocks have struggled since the summer under the weight of soaring Treasury yields in the bond market, which undercut stock prices and crimp corporate profits. Yields have leaped as traders acquiesce to a new normal where the Federal Reserve is likely to keep its main interest rate at a high level for a long time, as it tries to extinguish high inflation.Treasury yields wavered up and down Thursday after a report showed fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than economists expected. That’s a sign fewer workers are getting laid off than expected, which i...

Prosecutors investigating the Venice bus crash are questioning survivors and examining the guardrail

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:50:52 GMT

MILAN (AP) — Prosecutors in Italy said Thursday they have ordered an expert examination of an overpass guardrail that gave way when struck by a shuttle bus that plunged nearly 10 meters to the ground earlier this week, killing 20 foreign tourists and the driver. Prosecutor Bruno Cherchi told reporters that the guardrail is one of the pieces of evidence being examined, along with witness testimony and video from both the scene and inside the bus and the vehicle’s data recording device. Some of the possible causes floated for the crash include the driver being struck by a sudden illness, or making a risky maneuver. Authorities also plan to do an autopsy on the driver, and examine his cell phone. Nine Ukrainians were among the tourists killed, along with four Romanians, three Germans, two Portuguese, one Croat and one South African. All had been sightseeing in Venice and were traveling on a shuttle back to a campground on the Venetian mainland when the accident occurred.“We are talking...

Victoria ’embraces adventure,’ for top spot on Condé Nast list of world’s best cities

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:50:52 GMT

An award-winning travel magazine says British Columbia’s capital city tops its 2023 list of the world’s best cities.Condé Nast Traveller, a luxury and lifestyle travel magazine, says Victoria captured top marks in its annual Readers’ Choice Awards of top cities.Victoria and Mexico’s San Miguel de Allende, which ranked sixth, were the only cities in North America to make the list.Condé Nast Traveller says Victoria’s restaurant and nightlife scene is “something to be celebrated,” while the city “embraces adventure,” and “draws outdoorsy types.”Readers gave Victoria, San Sebastián in Spain, and Singapore the top three spots on the list, followed by Tokyo, Seoul, San Miguel de Allende, Cape Town, Sydney, Copenhagen and Oslo.Condé Nast, which publishes numerous magazines, including Vogue, GQ and The New Yorker, says its Traveller magazine reaches more than 20 million print and web readers every month and more than 40 milli...

German prosecutors are investigating whether a leader of the far-right AfD party was assaulted

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:50:52 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — German prosecutors said Thursday they have launched an investigation into the alleged assault of a co-leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany party at an election rally.Tino Chrupalla was given medical treatment and then taken to a hospital shortly before he was due to speak at an election rally in Bavaria on Wednesday.German prosecutors in the city of Ingolstadt and German police said in a joint statement on Thursday that several people took selfies together with Chrupalla at the event on Wednesday, which led to “slight physical contact.” There were no indications yet that Chrupalla was attacked, the statement said.As Chrupalla walked toward the stage where he was due to speak, he said he felt “pain in the upper arm.”“Due to further medical discomfort, Mr. Chrupalla was taken to the clinic in Ingolstadt for medical care. A superficial redness or swelling was detected. Any additional tests that have been conducted so far have been within normal limits,” the sta...

Sooners QB Gabriel leads No. 12 Oklahoma into annual grudge match with No. 3 Texas in Dallas

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:50:52 GMT

No. 12 Oklahoma (5-0, 2-0 Big 12) vs. No. 3 Texas (5-0, 2-0) in Dallas, Saturday, 12 p.m. ET (ABC)Line: Texas by 6 1/2, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. Series record: Texas leads 63-50-5.WHAT’S AT STAKE?The rivals were expected to challenge each other for the Big 12 title this season and the winner gets the inside track to the conference championship game. The winner also hits the halfway point in the season eyeing the College Football Playoff. Both teams are undefeated in this matchup for the first time since 2011. It is also the last year of the rivalry in the Big 12. Both programs will be in the Southeastern Conference in 2024.KEY MATCHUPTexas quarterback Quinn Ewers’ new run game against Oklahoma linebacker Danny Stutsman. Ewers’ ability to run this season is a new weapon in the Longhorns offense. He has touchdown runs of 29 and 30 yards the last two weeks, and five TDs overall this season. Stutsman is the do-everything player for the resurgent Sooners defense, and ...

Four bridge-building playwrights make short list for $75,000 Siminovitch Prize

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:50:52 GMT

TORONTO — Four playwrights who bridge divides on stage and off have been shortlisted for the $75,000 Siminovitch Prize. It’s Canada’s biggest theatre purse, and it goes to an artist whose work helps transform the country’s theatre scene.This year’s list of finalists includes d’bi.young anitafrika of Brampton, Ont., who is committed to creating work that centres Black queer feminist theatrical forms, and who has also dedicated time and energy to mentoring other theatre artists.Francophone playwright Mishka Lavigne of Gatineau, Que., also made the short list, for work in French and English. Jurors say St. John’s, N.L., artist Berni Stapleton made the list for her “bold and unyielding commitment” to portraying women and girls from her province on stage and “making a place for them and gender nonconformists in the canon.”Rounding out the short list is David Yee of Toronto, who jurors praise for both his artistic range and commitment ...

US officials bring concerns about migration to Mexico meetings

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:50:52 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — U.S. officials worried by rising migration took their concerns south of the border this week with separate trips to Mexico City by high-level Biden administration officials and New York City’s mayor.U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed migration with his Mexican counterpart Alicia Bárcena, as well as foreign ministers from Panama and Colombia, Wednesday. Talks were scheduled to continue Thursday, including a meeting between U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.New York City Mayor Eric Adams is traveling through Latin America to learn more about the paths migrants take to the U.S. and to spread a message about the realities of arriving in his city.He was scheduled to meet with a nun running a migrant shelter in Mexico City Thursday morning before heading to the city of Puebla, source of many of the Mexican migrants who arrive in New York, to meet with migrants and community leaders there.In a press confer...