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US sending ammunition, tanker trucks, boats to Ukraine

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:27:48 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department announced Monday that the U.S. will send Ukraine $350 million in weapons and equipment, as fierce battles with Russian forces continue for control of the city of Bakhmut, and troops prepare for an expected spring offensive.The latest package of aid includes a large amount of various types of ammunition, such as rockets for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, and an undisclosed number of fuel tanker trucks and riverine boats.Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a statement, said the package also provides more ammunition for howitzers, Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles, high-speed anti-radiation (HARM) missiles and anti-tank weapons. “Russia alone could end its war today. Until Russia does we will stand united with Ukraine for as long as it takes,” said Blinken.The new aid comes as Chinese leader Xi Jinping arrived in Moscow on Monday, giving a political lift to Russian President Vladimir Putin against the West just days after an intern...

Putin welcomes China’s Xi to Kremlin amid Ukraine fighting

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:27:48 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin warmly welcomed Chinese leader Xi Jinping to the Kremlin on Monday, a visit that sent a powerful message to Western leaders allied with Ukraine that their efforts to isolate Moscow have fallen short.Xi’s trip — his first abroad since his re-election earlier this month — showed off Beijing’s new diplomatic swagger and gave a political lift to Putin just days after an international arrest warrant was issued for the Kremlin leader on war crimes charges related to Ukraine.The two major powers have described Xi’s three-day trip as an opportunity to deepen their “no-limits friendship.” China looks to Russia as a source of oil and gas for its energy-hungry economy, and as a partner in standing up to what both see as U.S. domination of global affairs. The two countries, which are among the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, also have held joint military drills.They shook hands before sitting down and making brief s...

Anthony Fauci documentary on PBS covers a career of crises

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:27:48 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — There’s a moment in the new PBS documentary about Dr. Anthony Fauci when a protestor holds up a handmade sign reading, “Dr. Fauci, You Are Killing Us.”It says something about Fauci that it’s not initially clear when that sign was waved in anger — in the 1980s as AIDS made its deadly rise or in the 2020s with COVID-19 vaccine opponents.“American Masters: Dr. Tony Fauci,” offers a portrait of an unlikely lightning rod: A government infectious disease scientist who advised seven presidents. Fauci hopes it can inspire more public servants like him.“I just felt that there needed to be a story of people understanding what public health officials go through, but also I hope as a source of inspiration for young people who are either in science or interested in going into science,” he told The Associated Press. The documentary airs Tuesday and later streams.Fauci allowed a film crew to follow him for 23 months starting in January 2021. The documentary covers...

Jeremy Scott leaves Moschino after 10 years at fashion house

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:27:48 GMT

MILAN (AP) — Jeremy Scott is stepping down as creative director of Italian luxury house Moschino after 10 years of wild and wacky fashion shows and his elegant dressing of numerous celebrities.The company made the announcement Monday.“Scott has penned a fundamental chapter in the legacy of the brand with his fearless and show stopping pop-camp style and incisive humor — true to the renowned codes of the House,” the company said in an email statement.The American designer took over at Moschino in October 2013 with a groundbreaking fall/winter collection that, according to the statement, “launched a thousand debates on the role of fashion in the annals of art, consumerism, and social commentary.”The Missouri-born Scott has put out collections that focused his pop culture and tongue-in-cheek lens on Barbie, aliens and Ronald McDonald. Katy Perry, Madonna, Rita Ora and Zendaya are among celebrities who have worn his creations. Most recently, he dressed a handful of A-listers for the Osc...

Trump lawyers attack Georgia grand jury and prosecutor

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:27:48 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Lawyers for former President Donald Trump are attacking a special grand jury and prosecutors who investigated him in Georgia, asking a state court to throw out its report and all testimony from the inquiry and bar Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from continuing to investigate or prosecute Trump.The filing, made Monday in Atlanta, argues that the Georgia law that allows for special grand juries is unconstitutionally vague because it doesn’t say whether such a grand jury is handing criminal matters or civil matters. The lawyers also argue that the grand jury didn’t sufficiently protect Trump’s right to due process.Lawyers Jennifer Little and Drew Findling wrote that the world watched a special grand jury process “that was confusing, flawed, and at times, blatantly unconstitutional.”The lawyers wrote that the special grand jury “involved a constant lack of clarity as to the law, inconsistent applications of basic constitutional protections f...

S&P/TSX composite up more than 100 points, U.S. stock markets also rise

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:27:48 GMT

TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index was up more than 100 points in late-morning trading, helped higher by strength in the base metal stocks as well as the energy and telecommunication sectors, while U.S. stock markets also climbed higher.The S&P/TSX composite index was up 116.34 points at 19,504.06.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 337.38 points at 32,199.36. The S&P 500 index was up 31.42 points at 3,948.06, while the Nasdaq composite was up 37.52 points at 11,668.03.The Canadian dollar traded for 73.16 cents US compared with 72.81 cents US on Friday.The May crude contract was down 43 cents at US$66.50 per barrel and the April natural gas contract was down five cents at US$2.29 per mmBTU.The April gold contract was down 40 cents at US$1,973.10 an ounce and the May copper contract was up seven cents at US$3.96 a pound.This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 20, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD=X)The Canadian P...

Amazon cuts 9,000 jobs; now at least 27,000 layoffs in 2023

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:27:48 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon plans to eliminate 9,000 more jobs in the next few weeks, CEO Andy Jassy said in a memo to staff on Monday. The job cuts would mark the second largest round of layoffs in the company’s history, adding to the 18,000 employees the company said it would lay off in January. Yet the company’s workforce doubled during the pandemic, however, during a hiring surge across almost the entire tech sector. In the memo, Jassy said the second phase of the company’s annual planning process – which determined what areas of the business to trim – completed this month and led to the additional job cuts. He said Amazon will still hire in some strategic areas. “Some may ask why we didn’t announce these role reductions with the ones we announced a couple months ago. The short answer is that not all of the teams were done with their analyses in the late fall; and rather than rush through these assessments without the appropriate diligence, we chose to s...

Dominant party wins most votes in Kazakh parliament election

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:27:48 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — Kazakhstan’s dominant political party received slightly more than half the vote in the election for the lower house of parliament, according to preliminary results announced Monday, but the final tally of seats won’t be clear until new single-mandate races are tallied.As part of a series of political reforms in the Central Asian nation, one-third of the seats chosen in the snap election were contested by individual candidates; previously, all seats were selected by party list.The national elections commission said the Amanat party of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev received 53.9% of the vote on Sunday; five other parties cleared the 5% barrier needed to obtain seats, including parties loyal to Tokayev.The early election came on the fourth anniversary of the resignation of President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who had led Kazakhstan since independence following the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 and who had established immense influence.His successor Tokayev ...

Qatar: 4,000 World Cup huts sent to quake-hit Turkey, Syria

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:27:48 GMT

Qatar has sent 4,000 cabins built to house fans at last year’s World Cup to earthquake survivors in Turkey and Syria, authorities said Monday.The Associated Press watched as the latest batch of pre-fabricated cabins was loaded onto a cargo ship in the Persian Gulf. The Qatar Development Fund began shipping cabins last month and says it will send a total of 10,000 to house people displaced by the Feb. 6 earthquake.Gas-rich Qatar, one of the world’s wealthiest countries, says it had always planned to donate the mobile homes. They were needed to help house some of the 1.4 million fans who descended on the small country during soccer’s biggest tournament late last year.The brightly colored cabins, each with thin walls, were designed to hold one or two people with twin beds, a nightstand, a small table and chair, air conditioning, a toilet and a shower inside. They went for around $200 a night — $270 with board — offering a budget option for visiting fans. A magnitude 7.8 ear...

Pitchfork Music Festival announces 2023 full lineup and concert dates

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:27:48 GMT

CHICAGO — Pitchfork announced Monday the 2023 full lineup and dates the festival will return to Chicago.According to the music festival, this year’s summer concert will be held in Union Park from Friday, July 21, through Sunday, July 23.  Here’s when the Lollapalooza 2023 lineup is expected to drop Headliners include The Smile, Big Thief, and Bon Iver. Other musicians include Alvvays, Perfume Genius, Weyes Blood, King Krule, Snail Mail, Ric Wilson, Rachika Nayar, Koffee, Kelela, Julia Jacklin, Yaya Bey, Soul Glo, Killer Mike, Jockstrap, Florist, 700 Bliss, Sen Morimoto — and many more.SEE FULL LINEUP HEREPitchfork Music Festival tickets are available now through the website.For more information, go to: PitchforkMusicFestival.com.