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Romania decries ‘cynical’ Russian grain infrastructure attacks

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:51:24 GMT

Romania is working to find more ways to help transport Ukrainian grain, the country’s foreign minister said Monday, describing the security situation in the Black Sea region as “quite serious.” More than half of Ukrainian exports using the EU’s solidarity lanes — corridors set up to facilitate transit by road, rail and inland waterway — came through Romania. The European Commission has estimated that more than 65 percent of the grain exported via solidarity lanes in June traveled along the Danube corridor. Russia pulled out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative last month, fueling fears about the future of Ukraine’s grain exports and impact on food security. Over the past weeks, Kremlin forces have repeatedly attacked Ukrainian grain storage infrastructure, including on the Danube river — close to Romanian territory — raising further concerns about how Ukraine can get its products to world markets. Speaking to POLITICO, Romanian Foreign Minister Luminița-Teodora Odob...

3 killed when firefighting helicopters collide in Southern California, officials say

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:51:24 GMT

CABAZON, Calif. (AP) — Three people were killed when two firefighting helicopters collided in Southern California on Sunday while fighting a blaze in Riverside County.One of the helicopters landed safely. “Unfortunately, the second helicopter crashed and tragically all three members perished, which included one Cal Fire Division chief, one Cal Fire captain and one contract client pilot,” Cal Fire Southern Region Chief David Fulcher said during a news conference early Monday.Fulcher did not identify the victims.Cal Fire and Riverside County Fire Department resources had been dispatched to a structure fire near the intersection of Broadway Street and South Ronda Avenue in the community of Cabazon, Fulcher said. That blaze spread into the surrounding vegetation and a full wildland fire dispatch was initiated, which included fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft.While battling the blaze, the two helicopters collided. The crash caused an additional 4-acre (1.6-hectare) fire, which was exti...

After long delays, new cannabis businesses are opening in Illinois with a vow to help others along the way

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:51:24 GMT

Five years after starting the process, Dan Pettigrew finally has opened his first cannabis store in Illinois.Pettigrew is the co-founder of Viola CHI with former NBA star Al Harrington, following years of operation by Viola Brands in Colorado, Michigan and other states.But Illinois was much harder to break into. Controversy and lawsuits over the application process delayed new licenses. Then a perfect storm of supply chain breakdowns, high costs and interests rates combined with poor stock market performance to drive investors away.As a result, newcomers have struggled to open here while state laws have allowed large multistate operators to keep the market largely to themselves, resulting in the highest prices in the nation.“There’s this pie-in-the-sky notion that everybody’s gonna get rich,” Pettigrew said. “There will be a lot of wealth created, but it’s expensive and competitive and extremely challenging.”Existing medical cannabis growers...

Bob Marley’s daughter is lauded as the ‘fairy godmother’ of the Jamaican women’s team

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:51:24 GMT

By ANNE M. PETERSON (AP Sports Writer)MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The daughter of reggae legend Bob Marley is something of a “fairy godmother” for the Jamaica team playing in its second Women’s World Cup.Cedella Marley has been a tireless advocate and fundraiser for the Reggae Girlz and helped rescue the team after it was disbanded in 2008. Her work has paid of and Jamaica is in the round of 16. The Reggae Girlz play Colombia on Tuesday night in Melbourne, Australia. “Her support has been really important to us and she’s just the heart of this team,” said Jamaica player Deneisha Blackwood. “She’s just like our fairy godmother. We just appreciate her for everything she has done so far.”The Reggae Girlz were disbanded after failing to qualify for the 2007 World Cup and the 2008 Olympics. In 2014, Bob and Rita Marley’s eldest daughter was alarmed to learn the Jamaican soccer federation had stopped funding the team. Marle...

Populist party and member of outgoing administration will try to form Thailand’s next government

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:51:24 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s populist Pheu Thai party announced Monday that it will form a coalition with a party from the outgoing military-backed administration to try to end nearly three months of political deadlock after the progressive party that won national elections was excluded from the formation of a new government.Thailand has struggled to break the impasse and select a new leader after the progressive Move Forward Party became the surprise winner of the May elections but was blocked by the conservative elite from taking power.Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat had assembled an eight-party coalition with 312 seats in the 500-member lower house. But under Thailand’s military-enacted constitution, a new prime minister must receive a majority in a vote by both the elected House and 250-member appointed Senate, selected by a previous military government. Pita’s initial bid last month fell short by more than 50 votes, largely because only 13 senators backed him. He...

Migrants moved to housing barge moored in southern UK as government seeks to cut asylum-seeker costs

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:51:24 GMT

LONDON (AP) — A small group of asylum-seekers has been moved to a barge moored in southern England as the U.K. government tries to cut the cost of sheltering people seeking protection in the country, British news media reported Monday.The asylum-seekers were transferred to the Bibby Stockholm, a barge outfitted with temporary accommodations that will ultimately house up to 500 men moved from hotels or elsewhere in the country. More were expected to arrive later Monday. The barge, owned by a Swedish company, was previously used to house oil field workers and migrants in other countries.The U.K. government wants to use barges and former military bases to house some migrants as the cost of accommodating them in hotels soars.Home Office Minister Sarah Dines told the BBC that people arriving in in the U.K. via unauthorized means should have “basic but proper accommodation” and that they “can’t expect to stay in a four-star hotel.”___Follow AP’s coverage of global migration at https...

Stock market today: Wall Street inches higher early with more earnings, inflation numbers on the way

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:51:24 GMT

TOKYO — Wall Street was poised to open with modest gains early Monday, with more inflation data and corporate earnings on the way after U.S. employment reports helped to drag markets down last week. Futures for the Dow Jones industrials ticked up 0.2% before the bell, while futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.3%.Last week, a highly anticipated U.S. jobs report said hiring was a touch weaker last month than economists expected, though wages for workers rose more than forecast.Although a strong job market is generally a positive sign for the economy, the U.S. Federal Reserve could see particularly strong wage growth as putting greater pressure on prices. That could translate to another interest rate hike from the U.S. central bank, which has been raising interest rates for a year-and-a-half to try to extinguish inflation not seen since the early 1980s.However, a moderating jobs markets may help cool inflation from last summer’s peak. On Thursday, the government issues its report ...

Democrats see Michigan and Minnesota as guides for what to do with majority power

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:51:24 GMT

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Fueled by election gains, Democrats in Minnesota and Michigan this year enacted far-reaching policy changes that party leaders in other states are looking to as a potential roadmap for what they could swiftly achieve with similar control.Gun safety packages, expanded voting rights, free meals for all students, and increased protections for abortion rights and LGTBQ+ people were just some of pent-up policy proposals that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed into law within months under the new legislative majorities.“We’ve definitely paid attention to what they’ve done,” Pennsylvania state Sen. Sharif Street, chair of the state Democratic party, said about the two states. “I’ve offered to Pennsylvanians that if we could flip the Senate, we could pass similar legislation.”Democrats in four states, including Massachusetts and Maryland, scored victories in the 2022 midterms to gain a “trifecta” — control of the state House, state...

Illinois to ban advertising for guns allegedly marketed to kids and militants

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:51:24 GMT

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Illinois will soon outlaw advertising for firearms that officials determine produces a public safety threat or appeals to children, militants or others who might later use the weapons illegally, as the state continues its quest to curb mass shootings.Gun-rights advocates say the plan, which Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker has pledged to sign into law, is an unreasonably vague decree that violates not only the constitutionally protected right to own guns but also free speech.The prime exhibit in Democratic Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s effort is the JR-15, a smaller, lighter version of the AR-15 semi-automatic rifle advertised with the tag line, “Get ‘em One Like Yours.” The maker says it is deliberately made smaller, with added safety features, to fit younger shooters as they learn from adults how to safely maneuver such a weapon. Raoul says it’s marketed to children and potentially entices them to skip the adult supervision and start firing.Opening the...

Russia blasts Saudi Arabia talks on ending war in Ukraine after Moscow gets no invitation to attend

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:51:24 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Monday chided efforts by international officials meeting in Saudi Arabia to find a peaceful settlement for the war in Ukraine, saying the talks don’t have “the slightest added value” because Moscow — unlike Kyiv — wasn’t invited.Senior officials from around 40 countries gathered Sunday in Jeddah for a two-day meeting that aims to agree on key principles about how to end the conflict that has raged for more than 17 months.But without Russia’s participation and without taking into account Moscow’s interests, the meeting was pointless, a Russian Foreign Ministry statement said. It repeated previous assurances that Russia is open to a diplomatic solution on its terms that ends the war and is ready to respond to serious proposals.But Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Zelenskyy, ruled out Moscow’s previous demands that would give Russia time to dig in deeper in the parts of Ukraine it has occupied.He said on X, formerly known as Twitt...