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NATO backpedals as Ukraine fumes over land for membership gaffe

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:04:38 GMT

BRUSSELS — NATO was in cleanup mode Wednesday after a senior official sparked a dust-up over his suggestion that Ukraine could cede territory to Russia in exchange for NATO membership. The controversy started Tuesday when Stian Jenssen, director of NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg’s private office, said one solution to the ongoing war could be for Ukraine to offer Russia land in return for a spot in the NATO military alliance. The comments, made during a panel debate in southern Norway and picked up by the Norwegian newspaper VG, were striking as Western allies have long emphasized the importance of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and said Kyiv should decide when and how to negotiate with Moscow. Within hours, Ukraine was expressing outrage, diplomats were doing double takes and Moscow was putting it all through the Kremlin’s spin machine. “Trading territory for a NATO umbrella? It is ridiculous,” tweeted Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian Pre...

People in Haverhill return to their homes after sinkhole forced evacuations

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:04:38 GMT

People in Haverhill returned to their homes Wednesday after a massive sinkhole forced evacuations last week. The sinkhole opened near a multi-family home off Washington and Ford streets on Tuesday, Aug. 8 after recent torrential rain in the area damaged an underground pipe and caused flooding. Multiple properties were damaged around Haverhill and city’s mayor declared a state of emergency.The sinkhole, the mayor’s office said in a statement, was roughly 20 feet deep and 20 feet wide, causing upward of $1 million in damage. A total of 22 people were temporarily displaced after the sinkhole opened, according to the mayor’s office, with residents staying in an area hotel while they waited for crews to give them the all-clear to return home. Days later, state, federal and local officials were back at the scene of the sinkhole on Wednesday after the sinkhole itself was filled. One woman later speaking with 7NEWS described a scary situation as the sinkhole opened, say...

Maui public schools begin to reopen, enroll students from fire-affected areas. Follow live updates

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:04:38 GMT

By The Associated PressFollow live updates about wildfires that have devastated parts of Maui in Hawaii, killing dozens of people and destroying the historic town of Lahaina. The wildfires are the deadliest in the U.S. in more than a century. Videos showing downed power lines apparently sparking some of the early blazes have become key evidence in the search for a cause.Most public schools on Hawaii’s second-largest island have begun to reopen this week, starting with staff reporting for duty, according to the state’s department of education. But several schools are still being assessed to make sure they are safe for students and teachers, with crews cleaning debris and testing both air and water quality. Hawaii Department of Education superintendent Keith Hayashi visited three campuses in Lahaina on Monday, which remain closed after sustaining wind damage. Officials will determine reopening dates for those schools once they are confirmed safe. “There’s still...

How the FAFSA simplification can impact your financial aid

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:04:38 GMT

By Trea Branch | NerdWalletFor the first time in 40 years, students will see a completely revamped Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). These changes are part of the FAFSA Simplification Act and should benefit most families, but some households could see their eligible aid decrease significantly, experts say.“Overall, I think there are a lot more winners,” says MorraLee Keller, senior director of strategic programming at the National College Attainment Network, a nonprofit organization supporting college affordability. On the other hand, Keller says she doesn’t want to underestimate the negative impact those changes may have on some families.The FAFSA Simplification Act aims to streamline the application process, remove barriers for key student populations and expand federal aid eligibility. Notable changes to the FAFSA include:Replacing the Expected Family Contribution with the Student Aid Index.Expanding Federal Pell Grant eligibility.Automatically p...

With coronavirus uptick, should I get a COVID shot? When are new vaccines available?

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:04:38 GMT

By Rong-Gong Lin II, Los Angeles TimesThe fall vaccination season is just around the corner, and officials are set to roll out another updated version of the COVID-19 vaccine, as well as new tools to protect against RSV.Here’s a rundown of the three types of vaccines that will available in the coming months.A new COVID-19 vaccine could roll out by late SeptemberA fall 2023 version of the COVID vaccine will likely be reviewed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the latter part of September, officials say.Guidance on who is recommended to get that shot will come around that time.The newest shot eventually will supersede the 2022 version. Introduced 11 months ago, the booster was designed against the BA.5 and BA.4 sublineages of the Omicron variant. It was called a bivalent shot because it was designed to protect against both the latest sublineages as well as the ancestral strain.The 2023 version of the vaccine also will ...

A timeline of Trump election plot alleged in Georgia indictment

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:04:38 GMT

By David Voreacos and Erik Larson, Bloomberg NewsDonald Trump and 18 codefendants have fewer than 10 days to turn themselves in for arraignment in Atlanta on charges they engaged in a sweeping criminal operation to keep the former president in office after he lost the 2020 election.In a 41-count indictment issued this week, 161 specific acts are stitched together under the umbrella of a racketeering statute that spanned remarkable months in U.S. history after President Joe Biden defeated Trump in Georgia.Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis uses Georgia’s racketeering statute to tell the story of a criminal organization, allegedly led by Trump, that gave false testimony to Georgia lawmakers, empaneled a phony slate of electors, intimidated poll workers, stole election machine data and beseeched state officials to toss out votes.Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis speaks at a news conference at the Fulton County Government building on August 14, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgi...

The death toll from militia clashes in Libyan capital jumps to 45, medical authorities say

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:04:38 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — The death toll rose Wednesday to 45 people killed in clashes earlier in the week between rival militias in Libya’s capital Tripoli, medical authorities said, in what appears to be the most intense spate of violence to shake the capital this year.The clashes erupted late on Monday between militiamen from the 444 brigade and the Special Deterrence Force, and continued into Tuesday evening. Tensions flared after Mahmoud Hamza, a senior commander of the 444 brigade, was allegedly detained by the rival group at an airport in Tripoli, according to local media reports. Hamza was later released as part of deal aimed at quelling the violence, the reports said.Malek Merset, the spokesperson for Libya’s Emergency Medicine and Support Center, said Wednesday that that the death toll had risen from 27 to 45, as more casualties were confirmed. An additional 146 were injured, up from 106 on Tuesday. It remains unclear how many of the dead were militiamen or civilians.On Wednesday...

Quebec fund manger CDPQ earned 4.2% in first six months of 2023

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:04:38 GMT

MONTREAL — The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec says it earned a return of 4.2 per cent in the first six months of the year.CDPQ says the result compared with its benchmark portfolio’s return of 4.1 per cent.Net assets for the Quebec fund manager totalled $424 billion at June 30, up from $402 billion at Dec. 31, 2022.CDPQ chief executive Charles Emond says the many contradictory signals confronting investors — the direction of inflation, rates, employment and markets — make the environment challenging. Emond says this invites the fund to remain vigilant and emphasizes the importance of diversification and adopting a long-term approach.The fund’s average annualized return over five years stood at 6.0 per cent, while over 10 years it came in at 7.9 per cent.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 16, 2023.The Canadian Press

Temporary shelter for asylum seekers closes in Maine’s largest city

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:04:38 GMT

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Nearly 200 asylum seekers from African countries have traded one temporary home in Maine’s largest city for another Wednesday after a basketball arena that served as a shelter closed.About 10 buses and vans lined up outside the Portland Expo to take 191 occupants and their belongings to motels in Lewiston and Freeport. Both cities are north of Portland.One of the newcomers blew kisses to onlookers in a show of appreciation for the city, which set up the emergency shelter in April after a flood of people arrived — more than 1,600, mostly from Angola and Congo, since the start of the year.Communities around the country have been dealing with growing numbers of asylum seekers, and have braced for more as the Biden administration sought to put in place new restrictions after the lifting of pandemic restrictions on asylum. In Portland, the arrival of newcomers strained city services and coincided with the end of pandemic funding in May, which had allowed many...

Michael Cera grapples with isolation and sibling strife in ‘The Adults’

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:04:38 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — When director Dustin Guy Defa set out to make a movie about isolation, grief and familial strife, he wasn’t quite cognizant of the unmistakable ways in which the effects of the coronavirus pandemic were informing his script.Now, however, he concedes that “The Adults,” which hits select theaters Friday, is loaded with obvious inspiration from some of the flashpoints of 2020 — the year he wrote it.“In hindsight, it definitely did,” Defa said of the pandemic’s influence. “I definitely was thinking about the importance of family, even if you have strained relationships.”“The Adults,” which premiered in February at the Berlin International Film Festival and was subsequently picked up by Universal Pictures, stars Michael Cera, Sophia Lillis and Hannah Gross.It tells a poignant story of three siblings with dead parents as they reckon with how to relate to one another now that the simplicity and innocence of childhood is behind them. While visiting his sisters and hometow...