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Bulgaria agrees to send heavy military equipment to Ukraine for the first time since the invasion

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:22:50 GMT

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgaria has agreed to provide the Ukrainian army with some 100 armored personnel carriers, marking a turnaround in its policy on sending military equipment to the country to aid Kyiv’s battle against the Russian invasion.The parliament in Sofia late Friday approved by 148 votes to 52 the government’s proposal to make the first shipment of heavy military equipment to Ukraine since the beginning of the war.“This equipment is no longer necessary for the needs of Bulgaria, and it can be of serious support to Ukraine in its battle to preserve the country’s independence and territorial integrity after the unjustified and unprovoked Russian aggression,” the Parliament’s decision said.The Soviet-made armored vehicles were delivered in the 1980s to Bulgaria — then an ally of the Soviet Union in the Warsaw Pact.Bulgaria, which joined NATO in 2004, still maintains stocks of Soviet-designed weapons and has numerous factories making ammunition for them.Althoug...

3 people die in Serbia as a second deadly storm rips through the Balkans this week

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:22:50 GMT

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Three people died in Serbia during another deadly storm that ripped through the Balkans this week, local media said on Saturday.The storm on Friday first swept through Slovenia, moving on to Croatia and then Serbia and Bosnia, with gusts of wind and heavy rain. Authorities reported power distribution issues and extensive damage — including fallen trees — that destroyed cars and rooftops.On Wednesday, another storm killed six people in the region, four in Croatia, one in Slovenia and another in Bosnia. Meteorologists said the storms were of such powerful magnitude because they followed a string of extremely hot days. Experts say extreme weather conditions are likely fueled by climate change.In the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad, a 12-year-old was found dead in the street during the storm but it remains unclear whether he was struck by lightning or was electrocuted, said the official RTS television. Local media say Novi Sad was hit the hardest, with the stor...

‘He was such a gentleman’: Canadian actor Dave Thomas on working with Tony Bennett

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:22:50 GMT

When SCTV invited Tony Bennett to make a guest appearance in the early 1980s, one of the stars of the Canadian television comedy sketch show figured it was a long shot. “We thought … well he’s not gonna want to do that,” Canadian actor, comedian and writer Dave Thomas recalled in a phone interview from Los Angeles. Not only did Bennett say yes, he was “very game” to try out comedy and have fun on the show, Thomas said as he remembered the legendary American singer who died on Friday at age 96. “He was such a gentleman,” Thomas said. “And such a sweet, sweet man.”SCTV, or Second City Television, was “very hot” then and Bennett’s career was in a lull, Thomas said. Bennett’s son was his manager at the time and had hoped the SCTV appearance would boost his father’s profile, he added.Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis played Doug and Bob McKenzie, fictional Canadian brothers who starred in the “The ...

Canadian intelligence flagged Chinese meddling 37 years ago: newly released report

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:22:50 GMT

OTTAWA — A newly released document shows intelligence officials have been tracking China’s attempts to meddle in Canadian affairs for more than one-third of a century.The February 1986 intelligence report warned that Beijing was using open political tactics and secret operations to influence and exploit the Chinese diaspora in Canada.It said China was using new and potentially more potent techniques to accomplish these goals.The Canadian Press used the Access to Information Act to obtain the report, called “China/Canada: Interference in the Chinese Canadian Community,” produced by the federal Intelligence Advisory Committee.Much of the document remains secret on the grounds disclosure could harm the conduct of international affairs, the defence of Canada or the detection, prevention or suppression of subversive or hostile activities.Release of the heavily redacted report comes amid pressure on the Liberal government to hold an inquiry into foreign interference in C...

What ideas were left on the cutting room floor in passport redesign? We’ll never know

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:22:50 GMT

OTTAWA — Garry Keller recalls the first images passport staff brought before the then-Conservative government for consideration during the last major passport overhaul.“We laughed,” Keller recalls. “It looked like a C-minus effort.”The original concepts featured a Canada goose, a beaver and a maple leaf — ideas the government found uninspired and “lowest-common denominator.”Keller served as chief of staff to John Baird, who oversaw the passport redesign as foreign minister. Baird and his team sent the department back to the drawing board.“I think we delivered a passport that was certainly esthetically beautiful in the inside, but also pulled from the historical story of Canada,” Keller said. When he saw the latest redesign of the Canadian passport unveiled last May, he said it reminded him of those early concept images.Canadians might never know what ideas were considered and rejected before the federal government finalized the reimagi...

Russian strikes kill at least 8 civilians as fierce fighting continues in Ukraine’s south and east

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:22:50 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian attacks on 11 regions across Ukraine overnight killed at least eight civilians and wounded others, authorities said Saturday, as fierce fighting continues in Ukraine’s attempts to dislodge Russian forces from territory they have occupied. The regional prosecutor’s office in the eastern Donetsk region said that at least four people, including a married couple, were killed as Russian forces on Friday night shelled the settlement of Niu-York, south of the city of Bakhmut — the site of the war’s longest and bloodiest battle until it fell to Moscow in May. Three other Niu-York residents were hospitalized.Also on Saturday morning, Ukraine’s interior ministry said that two civilians died as Russian forces Friday struck Kostiantynivka, a city in the Donetsk region, from multiple rocket launchers. In a post on its official Telegram channel, the ministry said that another civilian was wounded in the same attack, which also destroyed 20 private homes, cars an...

Twin Cities’ biggest cattle ranch to become a park, wildlife management area

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:22:50 GMT

Park planners have had their eyes on the Kelley Land and Cattle Co. property in northern Washington County for decades.The cattle ranch, which has been owned by the same family since 1958, is considered one of the largest tracts of undeveloped land in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. The 2,600-acre property is located in Hugo and May Township and includes woods, wetlands and small lakes.The owners of the Kelley land are in the process of selling the land for preservation. The majority of the land, 1,840 acres, is slated to become a wildlife management area, and the remainder of the land will be added to Washington County’s Big Marine Park Reserve.“It’s an absolutely gorgeous piece of land,” said Alex McKinney, Washington County’s parks director. “It’s a legacy piece for the park system. It will really complete the vast majority of acquisitions needed for Big Marine. …. It’s setting this land aside for future generations to enjoy.”The Trust for Public Land plans to purchase 1...

Fatal motorcycle, semi-truck crash on I-44

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:22:50 GMT

ST. LOUIS - Police are investigating a fatal accident Friday evening.According to officials, the accident occurred close to 6:30 p.m. on Interstate 44, involving a motorcycle and a semi-truck.A man was found unconscious but breathing. He was transported to a nearby hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries.The identity of the man has not been disclosed. Additional details are limited at this time. FOX 2 will give updates as more information becomes available.

Ask Amy: Wronged wife chooses to stay — for now

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:22:50 GMT

Dear Amy: I recently found out that my husband of 15 years has been cheating off and on for five years. He just ended a five-month relationship with a woman he met at a bar.I unearthed this situation when I discovered a text message from her.He wined and dined her, slept with her often — during his lunch break from work, used work excuses to spend the night in hotels with her, and even took her on vacation while he was at a bachelor party in Mexico.In total, he claims he has kissed two women, visited a prostitute, and had this most recent relationship.Since coming clean, he has quit drinking, has been attending AA meetings and has been seeing a psychologist.He promises he has changed and that he will devote the rest of his life to me and our kids, who are in middle school.He has been a decent dad up until this point and our kids adore him.I work in social work and see the effects of divorce on children.I am tempted to keep the status quo until our kids are older, but I also ju...

When decorum goes out the door, the results can make tempers flare

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:22:50 GMT

Question: Regarding your July 15, 2023, column titled “Irate sellers believe business negotiations should be private between agent and client” on The Mercury News and East Bay Times websites:That was a great article in The Mercury News about irate sellers. Out of curiosity: Regarding the buyer’s agent who showed up at the sellers’ door with homebuyers in tow to complain about their rejected higher offer in the multiple-offer situation without the seller’s agent present or advisement  — isn’t that an ethics violation and possibly contractual interference?Answer: It is an ethics violation. According to the attorney in charge of professional standards at the California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.), the behavior violated Article 16 of our 113-year-old National Association of Realtors’ code of ethics:• Standard of Practice 16-13• “All dealings concerning property exclusively listed, or with buyers/tenants who are subject to an exclusive agreement shall be carried on with the client’s...