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Zelenskyy will meet Biden at the White House amid a stepped-up push for Congress to approve more aid

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:52:46 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and Ukraine’s leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, will meet at the White House on Tuesday as the U.S. administration steps up the pressure on Congress to provide billions more in aid to Kyiv in its war with Russia.The visit is intended “to underscore the United States’ unshakeable commitment to supporting the people of Ukraine as they defend themselves against Russia’s brutal invasion,” the White House said in a statement Sunday. “As Russia ramps up its missile and drone strikes against Ukraine, the leaders will discuss Ukraine’s urgent needs and the vital importance of the United States’ continued support at this critical moment.”Zelenskyy’s office confirmed that he had accepted Biden’s invitation. He also has been asked to speak to a meeting of all senators.Biden has asked Congress for a $110 billion package of wartime funding for Ukraine ($61.4 billion) and Israel, along with other national security priorities. But the request is c...

Pressure grows on Harvard President Claudine Gay after Penn’s Liz Magill resignation

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:52:46 GMT

New York (CNN) — Now that Liz Magill has stepped down as president of the University of Pennsylvania, the spotlight has turned to her counterpart from Harvard University, Claudine Gay.“One down. Two to go,” Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, with the “two” being a reference to Gay and MIT President Sally Kornbluth. “In the case of @Harvard, President Gay was asked by me 17x whether calling for the genocide of Jews violates Harvard’s code of conduct. She spoke her truth 17x. And the world heard.”Stefanik serves on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, which called on Magill, Gay, and Kornbluth last Tuesday to testify about their responses to alleged incidents of antisemitism on their campuses in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war.All three gave widely criticized testimony, in which they failed to condemn calls for the genocide of Jews as explicitly against campus harassment and bullying codes. On Friday, a...

Harvard boards meet amid calls for President Gay’s resignation over antisemitism hearing testimony

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:52:46 GMT

The Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers met Sunday for the first time amid the substantial blowback to President Claudine Gay’s controversial congressional testimony on antisemitism.Gay, along with leaders at the University of Pennsylvania and MIT, testified before Congress on Tuesday in a hearing on antisemitism on their college campuses following the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas in October.At the hearing, Gay spoke against “hateful” antisemitic speech but said the school is committed to protecting free speech, prompting a wave of backlash and calls for her resignation.The Harvard Crimson initially reported the meeting on Sunday — which was regularly scheduled — and stated Harvard did not comment on the meeting Sunday or provide information on the topics of the meeting.The university did not respond immediately to a Herald request for comment Sunday.Gay issued a statement on Wednesday clarifying her remarks and apologized for her...

2 people have been killed in a shooting in the southern Swiss town of Sion

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:52:46 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Two people were killed and one wounded as a gunman fired shots at two locations in a southern Swiss town on Monday, police said.The man, who hasn’t yet been identified, opened fire on several people in Sion shortly before 8 a.m. for reasons that aren’t yet clear, police in Valais canton (state) said in a statement.Police said they had deployed officers to arrest the shooter. They said that he appears to have known his victims, but didn’t give further details or specify where he opened fire.Local prosecutors opened a murder investigation. The Associated Press

In the news today: Details of new federal dental insurance plan to be released today

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:52:46 GMT

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed on what you need to know today…Federal government to announce dental-care planSeveral government ministers are expected to launch today a new federal dental insurance plan that will provide benefits directly to eligible Canadian residents, though the first claims won’t be processed until May. Government officials say the new program will be phased in slowly over 2024.The officials provided a briefing to The Canadian Press ahead of today’s announcement on the condition they not be named. The insurance plan is a key pillar of the Liberals’ supply-and-confidence deal with the New Democrats to secure the opposition party’s support on key votes.Israel battles militants in Gaza’s main citiesIsraeli forces were battling Palestinian militants in Gaza’s two largest cities on Monday with civilians still sheltering along the front lines even after massive waves of di...

Rescuers have recovered 11 bodies after landslides at a Zambia mine. More than 30 are feared dead

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:52:46 GMT

LUSAKA, Zambia (AP) — Eleven informal miners have been confirmed dead and their bodies retrieved from an open-pit copper mine in Zambia after landslides buried them in tunnels they were digging last month. One survivor has been found but up to 26 others remain missing and are feared dead nearly two weeks after the disaster.Rescuers announced the latest death toll late on Sunday. The survivor, a 49-year-old man, was pulled out from underneath the debris last week and is recovering in the hospital, said the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit, which is overseeing the rescue operation.Rescuers also retrieved the first two bodies last week. Nine more were recovered this weekend, the disaster management unit said.Government officials say as many as 38 miners might have been buried under the landslides at the mine near the city of Chingola, on Zambia’s copper belt, although they aren’t certain of the exact number.They have been relying on families to report missing relatives and...

Asia lags behind pre-pandemic levels of food security, UN food agency says

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:52:46 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Hunger remains a chronic problem in Asia, with 55 million more people undernourished in 2022 than before the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization says in its latest assessment of food security in the region.Most of those living without enough to eat are in South Asia, and women tend to be less food secure than men, the report says.The FAO’s study focuses on food supply, consumption and dietary energy needs and is designed to capture a state of chronic energy deprivation that stunts growth and saps productivity and quality of life. The share of people in the region suffering from such undernourishment fell to 8.4% in 2022 from 8.8% the year before. But that’s higher than the 7.3% of people who were undernourished before the pandemic began, sending some economies into a tailspin and depriving millions of people of their livelihoods.Natural disasters and disruptions to food supplies, often linked to climate change, have added to those pressures. ...

UK sends 2 minehunters to Ukraine as Britain and Norway seek to bolster Kyiv’s navy in the Black Sea

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:52:46 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Britain is transferring two minehunting ships to Ukraine as part of a package of long-term support to bolster security in the Black Sea, the Ministry of Defense said Monday.Transfer of the two Sandown class vessels, which are designed to help clear mines from coastal waters, comes as Britain and Norway announce plans for a new maritime coalition to increase support for Ukraine in the war with Russia. The coalition will work with the Ukrainian navy to expand its forces in the Black Sea, develop a Ukrainian Marine Corps and enhance the use of river patrol craft to defend inland and coastal waterways, British authorities said.“These minehunters will deliver vital capability to Ukraine, which will help save lives at sea and open up vital export routes, which have been severely limited since (Russian President Vladimir) Putin launched his illegal full-scale invasion,’’ Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said in a statement. Britain first announced a deal to sell the two mine-hu...

Nurses, health workers set to join other Quebec public sector workers on picket lines

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:52:46 GMT

MONTREAL — About 80,000 unionized Quebec nurses and other health-care workers will be joining fellow public sector workers already on strike since last week.The health workers are members of the FIQ, who will begin a four-day strike today, joining workers from four unions representing 420,000 Quebec public sector workers who began a weeklong strike on Friday.Those workers include teachers, education support staff and lab technicians and are members of a group of four unions that calls itself the “common front.”The unions rejected the government’s most recent contract offer, which includes a salary increase of 12.7 per cent over five years, saying it doesn’t keep pace with inflation.On Sunday, representatives from the common front unions said they are expected to update members beginning in a week. If an agreement isn’t in place by then, they could also launch an unlimited strike after the holidays.The latest strikes are the third such walkout since earl...

Advocates, victims’ families oppose destroying Robert Pickton evidence

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:52:46 GMT

VANCOUVER — Advocates and families of victims who were murdered by serial killer Robert Pickton say they are opposed to recent applications filed by the B.C. RCMP to destroy or return thousands of pieces of evidence seized during the police investigation.Pickton, who was a pig farmer, was found guilty in 2007 on six counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of women who disappeared from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. He was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.In 2010, after the Supreme Court upheld his sentence, 20 other first-degree murder charges were stayed because Pickton was already serving the maximum sentence.The group opposing the move to destroy evidence — which includes lawyers, victims’ families and missing and murdered women’s advocates — are hosting a news conference this morning.The group says a letter — which has been endorsed by more than 40 organizations and advocates across Canada — has been sent to the federal public sa...