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Takeaways from AP’s interview with Ukraine’s Zelenskyy

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 07:14:40 GMT

ON BOARD A TRAIN FROM SUMY TO KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A team of journalists from The Associated Press spent two days traveling by train with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as he visited the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, which still faces regular shelling from Russian forces, and northern towns in the Sumy region that were liberated shortly after the war began a year ago.The AP is the first news organization to travel extensively with Zelenskyy since the war began. Here are some takeaways from an interview with Zelenskyy as he returned to Kyiv late Tuesday.WESTERN WEAPONSThroughout much of the war, Ukraine’s military has been bolstered by billions of dollars of ammunition and weaponry from Western nations. Zelenskyy welcomed the help but said some of the promised weapons had not yet been delivered.“We have great decisions about Patriots, but we don’t have them for real,” he said, referring to the U.S.-made air defense system.Ukrainian soldiers have received training ...

Alabama police officer killed, another wounded

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 07:14:40 GMT

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama police officer was killed, and another critically wounded, after being shot Tuesday evening by a man who was captured after barricading himself inside an apartment, Huntsville Police Department officials said. Deputy Police Chief Michael Johnson told news outlets that a woman called 911 Tuesday afternoon and reported that she had been shot. Officers arriving at the scene found the shooting victim, whose injuries are not life-threatening. The suspect fired at the two officers, hitting them both, and barricaded himself inside an apartment. The officers were transported to a hospital where one died from his injuries and the other underwent emergency surgery and is in critical condition, city officials said in a news release. The suspect was apprehended a little more than an hour later and transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, the city said. “This is a devastating loss for our department, the Huntsville community and the stat...

Poll: Cut federal spending – but not big-ticket programs

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 07:14:40 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — In the federal budget standoff, the majority of U.S. adults are asking lawmakers to pull off the impossible: Cut the overall size of government, but also devote more money to the most popular and expensive programs.Six in 10 U.S. adults say the government spends too much money. But majorities also favor more funding for infrastructure, health care and Social Security — the kind of commitments that would make efforts to shrink the government unworkable and politically risky ahead of the 2024 elections.These findings from a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research show just how messy the financial tug-of-war between President Joe Biden and House Republicans could be. At stake is the full faith and credit of the federal government, which could default on its obligations unless there is a deal this summer to raise or suspend the limit on the government’s borrowing authority.Biden this month proposed a budget that would trim deficit...

Hawaii authorities say 33 swimmers were harassing dolphins

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 07:14:40 GMT

HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii authorities on Tuesday say they have referred 33 people to U.S. law enforcement after the group allegedly harassed a pod of wild dolphins in waters off the Big Island. It’s against federal law to swim within 50 yards (45 meters) of spinner dolphins in Hawaii’s nearshore waters. The prohibition went into effect in 2021 amid concerns that so many tourists were swimming with dolphins that the nocturnal animals weren’t getting the rest they need during the day to be able to forage for food at night.The rule applies to areas within 2 nautical miles (3.7 kilometers) of the Hawaiian Islands and in designated waters surrounded by the islands of Lanai, Maui and Kahoolawe.The state Department of Land and Natural Resources said in a news release that its enforcement officers came upon the 33 swimmers in Honaunau Bay on Sunday during a routine patrol.Aerial footage shot by drone shows snorkelers following dolphins as they swim away. The department said its video and...

Predators motivated to bring joy to Nashville after shooting

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 07:14:40 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — Predators defenceman Ryan McDonagh and his teammates were motivated to do more than just beat the Boston Bruins in their NHL game Tuesday night.The Predators wanted to bring a brief bit of joy to the city of Nashville a day after a fatal grade school shooting that left six dead, including three children.McDonagh said it wasn’t just another game as the Predators beat the NHL-leading Bruins 2-1.“We felt like we needed to go out and do our job the best we could and sacrifice and leave it all out there and just try to maybe bring a little bit of inspiration to the city of Nashville,” McDonagh said.McDonagh has three daughters: Falan, Murphy and Nola — all under 9 years old. The whole incident hit hard.“Quite frankly there are really no words that you can say after what went on yesterday in Nashville,” he said. “Just a tragedy for those families and everybody affected. You don’t really realize it until you have kids of your own and the perspective. It hits you.”He didn’t fl...

Basic training without yelling: Army recruits get 2nd chance

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 07:14:40 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Last August, Daysia Holiday decided to try one more time to join the Army.She’d taken the academic test and failed three times. So, when she was offered a slot in a new Army prep course to help improve her scores and qualify for basic training, she jumped at the chance.Seven months later, Pvt. 2nd Class Holiday is a proud graduate of Army basic training, and is finishing her advanced instruction at Fort Lee, Virginia, to become a power generation specialist who will maintain engines and other equipment for the service.Holiday is an early beneficiary of the new program, which gives lower-performing recruits up to 90 days of academic or fitness instruction to help them meet military standards. In place for only eight months, it is already making a significant difference for both the Army and those who want to serve in it. So far, 5,400 soldiers have made it through the prep course since it started in August at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. That’s an important boost s...

Senate poised to vote on repeal of Iraq war powers

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 07:14:40 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is poised to vote Wednesday to repeal the 2002 measure that greenlighted the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, which would end more than 20 years of authorization for U.S. presidents to use force in that country and return those war powers to Congress.The Iraq War ended years ago and the repeal is not expected to affect any current troop deployments. About 2,500 U.S. troops remain in Iraq at the invitation of the Iraqi government and assist and advise local forces.The bipartisan legislation would also repeal the 1991 measure that sanctioned the U.S.-led Gulf War.Lawmakers in both parties are increasingly seeking to claw back congressional powers over U.S. military strikes and deployments, and some lawmakers who voted for the Iraq War two decades ago now say it was a mistake.Iraqi deaths are estimated in the hundreds of thousands, and nearly 5,000 U.S. troops were killed in the war after President George W. Bush’s administration falsely claimed that Saddam Hus...

Ex Starbucks CEO to defend union opposition before Senate

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 07:14:40 GMT

Longtime Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz will face sharp questioning Wednesday when he appears before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee to defend the company’s actions during an ongoing unionizing campaign.U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont Independent who has been a vocal supporter of Starbucks labor organizers, has been seeking Schultz’s testimony for months. Schultz had tried to sidestep the hearing, suggesting that others in the company were more deeply involved in the union effort, which Starbucks opposes. But Sanders had argued that Schultz — a longtime leader who stepped down as interim CEO last week but remains on the company’s board — was instrumental in setting the company’s policies. Under threat of a subpoena, Schultz agreed to testify.“Let’s be clear. In America, workers have the constitutional right to organize unions and engage in collective bargaining for higher wages and better working conditions,” Sanders said in a statement...

Indigenous history, climate change books nab Shaughnessy Cohen Prize nominations

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 07:14:40 GMT

Books about government intervention in Inuit and Indigenous communities, so-called smart cities and climate change have been nominated for the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing.The winner of the $25,000 award, administered by the Writer’s Trust of Canada, will be announced May 10 at the Politics and the Pen gala in Ottawa.Norma Dunning was nominated for “Kinauvit?: What’s Your Name? The Eskimo Disc System and a Daughter’s Search for her Grandmother,” while Andrew Stobo Sniderman and Douglas Sanderson (Amo Binashii) made the shortlist for “Valley of the Birdtail: An Indian Reserve, a White Town, and the Road to Reconciliation.”Dale Eisler is in contention for “From Left to Right: Saskatchewan’s Political and Economic Transformation.”Also nominated are Josh O’Kane for “Sideways: The City Google Couldn’t Buy” and Chris Turner’s “How to Be a Climate Optimist: Blueprints for a Better World.”The five...

Police search for tiger stolen from home in northern Mexico

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 07:14:40 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Northern Mexico has developed such a habit of exotic animals and violence, that people not only keep tigers as pets, they steal them. Prosecutors in the violent northern state of Sonora said Tuesday they are searching for a full-grown Bengal tiger named Baluma. They said the 5-year-old male tiger was stolen Monday from a home in the state capital, Hermosillo. They said the owners had the proper paperwork needed to keep the animal. Prosecutors distributed photos of the big cat resting in its cage alongside a dog, hoping residents will phone police if they see the tiger.Mexico has long had a problem with people keeping — and occasionally losing control of — large cats, which are sometimes found at drug traffickers’ residences and are occasionally seen wandering loose.The Associated Press