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Germany appoints senior lawmaker with governing party as ambassador to Russia

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 21:48:18 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Germany has appointed a senior lawmaker with one of the country’s governing parties as its new ambassador to Russia, handing him the delicate diplomatic post as tensions spiral over Moscow’s war in Ukraine.The Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that Russia has given its formal approval for Alexander Lambsdorff to become ambassador, a necessary step before he can take the post. It said that he is expected to start work this summer.Lambsdorff, 56, has experience in Germany’s diplomatic service, which he joined in 1995. He worked in the Foreign Ministry’s Russia department in 2003 and 2004. In recent years, he has been better known as a prominent politician. He was a member of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2017 before joining the German parliament. He is currently a deputy leader of the parliamentary group of the Free Democrats, the smallest of three parties in Germany’s governing coalition.Germany’s relations with Moscow have becom...

China calls Biden comments calling leader Xi a dictator ‘extremely absurd and irresponsible’

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 21:48:18 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — China has called comments by President Joe Biden describing Chinese leader Xi Jinping as a dictator “extremely absurd and irresponsible.” The new clash of words comes just over a day after Secretary of State Antony Blinken concluded a visit to Beijing that sought to break the ice in a relationship that has hit a historical low. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning on Wednesday said Biden’s comments at a fundraiser in California “go totally against facts and seriously violate diplomatic protocol, and severely infringe on China’s political dignity.” “It is a blatant political provocation. China expresses strong dissatisfaction and opposition,” Mao said at a daily briefing. “The U.S. remarks are extremely absurd and irresponsible,” Mao said. Blinken’s visit, during which he met with Xi, was aimed at easing tensions between the two superpowers but appeared not to have achieved any solid results. Biden, at the fundraiser on Tuesday night local time, said that Xi wa...

Russia says it downed 3 drones outside Moscow, suspects it was attack by Ukraine

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 21:48:18 GMT

Two drones were brought down outside Moscow as they approached the warehouses of a local military unit, Moscow region Gov. Andrei Vorobyov said Wednesday, in what could be the latest attempt by Ukraine to strike targets inside Russia during the early stages of Kyiv’s most recent counteroffensive.The wreckage of a third drone was found about 20 kilometers (12 miles) away from the site of the crash, Russian media reported. No damage or casualties were reported.Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed it was “an unsuccessful attempt at a terrorist attack” by “the Kyiv regime” on its facilities in the Moscow region, adding in a statement that all three drones were brought down by radio-electronic means.Ukraine, which usually doesn’t confirm attacks on Russian soil, made no immediate comment about the downed drones. Previously, Ukrainian officials have emphasized the country’s right to strike any target in response to Russia’s invasion and war that started in February 2022.In ...

Pride and pain for Biden as his son Hunter reaches a plea deal after 5 years of investigation

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 21:48:18 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden had just six words to offer after his 53-year-old son Hunter pleaded guilty to federal tax offenses in a deal that is also likely to spare him time behind bars on a weapons charge.“I’m very proud of my son,” he said.That pride has been accompanied by pain, and for the president’s family, both have been on public display. Republicans have worked to use Hunter Biden’s actions — and his acknowledged struggle with addiction — as an anchor to try to drag down his father.As a parent, Joe Biden has tried to keep his son close; they speak almost every day. Hunter was at his father’s side on a recent trip to Ireland, on the lawn of the White House with other family members for the Easter egg roll and in the bleachers with his mom and dad as his daughter graduated from college last month. But out of public view, a five-year criminal investigation was coming to a conclusion, with a plea deal announced Tuesday that resolves the probe into the taxes and fore...

Cooperation or competition? China’s security industry sees the US, not AI, as the bigger threat

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 21:48:18 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — After years of breakneck growth, China’s security and surveillance industry is now focused on shoring up its vulnerabilities to the United States and other outside actors, worried about risks posed by hackers, advances in artificial intelligence and pressure from rival governments.The renewed emphasis on self-reliance, combating fraud and hardening systems against hacking was on display at the recent Security China exhibition in Beijing, illustrating just how difficult it will be to get Beijing and Washington to cooperate even as researchers warn that humankind faces common risks from AI. The show took place just days after China’s ruling Communist Party warned officials of the risks posed by artificial intelligence.Looming over the four-day meet: China’s biggest geopolitical rival, the United States. American-developed AI chatbot ChatGPT was a frequent topic of conversation, as were U.S. efforts to choke off China’s access to cutting-edge technology.“This new technol...

In The News for Wednesday, June 21, 2023: What do Canadians think about wildfires?

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 21:48:18 GMT

In The News is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to kickstart your day. Here is what’s on the radar of our editors for the morning of Wednesday, June 21, 2023 …What we are watching in Canada …More than one in four Canadians told a polling firm this week that they have been affected by the record-setting wildfires that have rocked much of Canada over the spring, and more than three in four say they think there are more fires now than in the past.But, 23 per cent of Americans said they have been directly or indirectly affected by fires this year.In Alberta, where the fires have been particularly troublesome for two months, almost 40 per cent of respondents said they had been affected by the fires.The Leger poll surveyed 1,500 Canadians and 1,000 Americans online between June 16 and 19.It comes just after Environment and Climate Change Canada issued an updated summer forecast that predicts the conditions that led to the spring wildfire catastrophe ...

One in four Canadians say they have been affected by wildfires this year: poll

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 21:48:18 GMT

OTTAWA — More than one in four Canadians told a polling firm this week that they have been affected by the record-setting wildfires that have rocked much of Canada over the spring, and more than three in four say they think there are more fires now than in the past.The Leger poll comes just after Environment and Climate Change Canada issued an updated summer forecast that predicts the conditions that led to the spring wildfire catastrophe are not going to let up in July and August.“Canadians have experienced a hot and dry spring,” said Environment Canada warning preparedness meteorologist Armel Castellan.“Current seasonal forecasts suggest the anomalously hot conditions will continue across the country this summer.”He said that means the risk of a high number of wildfires, more evacuations and smoke-filled skies continues.There have been more than 2,700 wildfires in Canada so far this year, which have burned 59,000 square kilometres of forest and other land. ...

After escaping violence and persecution, LGBTQ refugees find peace in Canada

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 21:48:18 GMT

Paul Canary Kanyamu says life felt like “hell on Earth” before he escaped violence and found refuge in Canadaabout two months ago.“I was punched, I was pushed into a ditch, my leg was broken and I was brutally assaulted countless times,” the 26-year-old, who was born in Uganda and identifies as gay, recalls in an interview about the years he spent in East Africabefore his arrival to Vancouver.“I was brutally assaulted by my own parents and the community. They threatened to kill me through poisoning. It was really, very sad time.”Despite how difficult it is to tell their stories, the human rights activist and other LGBTQ refugees say they want Canadians to learn more about how brutally the community is being persecutedaround the world.Earlier this year, Uganda became the latest country to passan anti-gay bill making it a crime to identify as gay, and imposing tough sentences, including the death penalty in some cases.The CEO of Rainbow Railroad, a ...

‘There’s just sorrow:’ Bus driver says rides must continue in wake of deadly crash

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 21:48:18 GMT

DAUPHIN, Man. — Doug Westhouse sits straight behind the wheel of a 12-passenger bus driving along a rural Manitoba highway waiting for the next call for a ride. The coordinator and driver for Grand Plains Handivan in Greenview, Man., slows the hefty vehicle down as an oncoming semi-trailer truck passes by on Highway 5.He says he’s been thinking a lot about another minibus, not much larger than the one he drives, that crashed with a semi last week on the same road. Fifteen seniors on the bus were killed.“There’s just sorrow,” Westhouse says.The bus was heading south on Highway 5, carrying a group of seniors from Dauphin and the surrounding area to a casino Thursday, when it crossed the Trans-Canada Highway and went into the path of the truck near the town of Carberry, some 190 kilometres to the south. Health officials have said 10 others on the bus, including the driver, were in hospital. Five were in critical condition.“Being familiar with that corner, it’s a dangerous corner,” says...

Tackling B.C.’s largest ever wildfire means letting some of it burn, province says

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 21:48:18 GMT

Mark Healey, an incident commander with the BC Wildfire Service, says he took a 2 1/2 hour flight over the southern flank of the enormous Donnie Creek fire in northeastern British Columbia.“I never saw either end of the fire,” says Healey, who’s in the middle of a two-week stint managing what is B.C.’s largest ever wildfire. At 5,500 square kilometres, it is almost as big as Prince Edward Island.Tackling it demands a shift in tactics. Instead of striving to extinguish the vast blaze, the BC Wildfire Service is focused on protecting homes and infrastructure, while letting other areas burn. The service says it may be winter before the fire is out.With a perimeter of more than 900 kilometres, the fire is burning across a remote area about 160 kilometres north of Fort St. John, where the forests and vegetation are thick and numerous roads are only available in the winter, Healey says.He says those factors add to the challenge of ensuring the safety of more than 2...