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Inside Ukraine’s covert Center 73, where clandestine missions shape the war behind the frontline

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 09:46:55 GMT

KHERSON, Ukraine (AP) — Their first battle plan was outdated the moment the dam crumbled. So the Ukrainian special forces officers spent six months adapting their fight to secure a crossing to the other side of the Dnipro River in southern Ukraine.But it wasn’t enough just to cross the river. They needed backup to hold it. And for that, they needed proof that it could be done. For one of the officers, nicknamed Skif, that meant a Ukrainian flag — and a photo op.Skif, Ukrainian shorthand for the nomadic Scythian people who founded an empire on what is now Crimea, moves like the camouflaged amphibian that he is: Calculating, deliberate, until the time to strike.He is a Center 73 officer, one of Ukraine’s most elite units of special forces — water operations specialists, frontline scouts, drone operators, underwater saboteurs. They are part of the Special Operations Forces that run partisans in occupied territories, sneak into Russian barracks to plant bombs and prepare the ground for ...

The right to protest is under threat in Britain, undermining a pillar of democracy

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 09:46:55 GMT

LONDON (AP) — For holding a sign outside a courthouse reminding jurors of their right to acquit defendants, a retiree faces up to two years in prison. For hanging a banner reading Just Stop Oil off a bridge, an engineer got a three-year sentence. Just for walking slowly down the street, scores of people have been arrested.They are among hundreds of environmental activists arrested for peaceful demonstrations in the U.K., where tough new laws restrict the right to protest.The Conservative government says the laws prevent extremist activists from hurting the economy and disrupting daily life. Critics say the arrests mark a worrying departure.“The government has made its intent very clear, which is basically to suppress what is legitimate, lawful protest,” said Jonathon Porritt, an ecologist and former director of Friends of the Earth.A PATCHWORK DEMOCRACYBritain is one of the world’s oldest democracies, home of the Magna Carta, a centuries-old Parliament and an independent judic...

Lose a limb or risk death? Growing numbers among Gaza’s thousands of war-wounded face hard decisions

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 09:46:55 GMT

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The doctors gave Shaimaa Nabahin an impossible choice: lose your left leg or risk death. The 22-year-old had been hospitalized in Gaza for around a week, after her ankle was partially severed in an Israeli airstrike, when doctors told her she was suffering from blood poisoning. Nabahin chose to maximize her chances of survival, and agreed to have her leg amputated 15 centimeters (6 inches) below the knee.The decision upended life for the ambitious university student, as it has for untold others among the more than 54,500 war-wounded who faced similar gut-wrenching choices. “My whole life has changed,” said Nabahin, speaking from her bed at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central town of Deir al-Balah. “If I want to take a step or go anywhere, I need help.”The World Health Organization and the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza say amputations have become commonplace during the Israel-Hamas war, now in its 12th week, but could not offer precise fig...

Their lives were torn apart by war in Africa. A family hopes a new US program will help them reunite

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 09:46:55 GMT

HASLET, Texas (AP) — Worried about his mother’s health, Jacob Mabil tried for months to persuade her to let him start the process that would take her from a sprawling refugee camp where she had spent almost a decade after fleeing violence in South Sudan.He wanted her to come live with him and his young family in the U.S. But before she would agree, she asked for a promise: that he would one day also bring the granddaughters she had raised since they were babies.Mabil, now 44, said he would do everything he could. But it turned out that he was allowed to petition only for immediate family members. Though his mom joined him in suburban Fort Worth, Texas, in 2020, his nieces remained in Africa.“That always killed me,” said Mabil, whose own childhood was ripped apart by civil war in Sudan.As the U.S. government transforms the way refugees are being resettled, Mabil and his family now have hope that they will be reunited with two of his nieces, who soon turn 18 and 19. The Biden ad...

AP News in Brief at 12:09 a.m. EST

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 09:46:55 GMT

Egypt floats plan to end Israel-Hamas war. The proposal gets a cool receptionCAIRO (AP) — Israel and Hamas on Monday gave cool public receptions to an Egyptian proposal to end their bitter war. But the longstanding enemies stopped short of rejecting the plan altogether, raising the possibility of a new round of diplomacy to halt a devastating Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip.The Egyptian plan calls for a phased hostage release and the formation of a Palestinian government of experts to administer the Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank, according to a senior Egyptian official and a European diplomat familiar with the proposal.The Egyptian official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the proposal, said the details were worked out with the Gulf nation of Qatar and presented to Israel, Hamas, the United States and European governments. Egypt and Qatar both mediate between Israel and Hamas, while the U.S. is Israel’s closest ally and a key power in the region.Israeli Prime M...

AP sports photos of the year capture unforgettable snippets in time from the games we love

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 09:46:55 GMT

They are snippets in time, unforgettable snapshots that gloriously capture the soaring euphoria and gut-wrenching agony of the games we love, not to mention the randomness of a moment that might’ve gone unnoticed otherwise.There are the Kansas City Chiefs, dunking head coach Andy Reid with a jug-full of frigid drink after their stirring Super Bowl triumph over the Philadelphia Eagles, fulfilling what has become a rite of passage in all gridiron celebrations.And the Vegas Golden Knights, gathered in a giant group hug behind the net after capturing the NHL’s Stanley Cup championship, the glittering ice beneath their skates littered with discarded gloves.Then there’s Femke Bol, a track athlete from the Netherlands, tumbling toward the track with a gasp of disbelief across her face, the baton slipping from her grasp as she falls near the finish line of a relay race at the world championships.And Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, smashing a golf club across his leg...

Modest temp pullback follows the Chicago’s second warmest Christmas of the past 153 years

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 09:46:55 GMT

Clouds with slow moving upper low to come and go into ThursdayWGN WEATHER HEADLINESA strong “El Niño” pattern superimposed on a warming climate are producing a very different Christmas this year than last in terms of ChicagoWe logged a record “warm” low temp this Christmas morning of 50 degrees in Chicago — exceeding the old record “warm” low of 46 recorded 87 years ago in 1936.It's the 2nd warmest Christmas on the books here over 153 years of official weather records dating back to 1871 — and the the warmest Chicago christmas in the 41 years since our warmest Christmas on the books — the 65-degree reading recorded on this date in 1982!A high temp of 59 is already on the books (as of this 12 noon 12/25/2023 post) at O’Hare and 60 at Midway. On only one other Christmas (1982) has a December 25th been warmer. It hit 65 that day! And, like this year, it was another strong El Niño Christmas.A SNOW COVER-LESS CHRISTMAS DAY IN CHICAGOThere’s no snow on the ground today in Chicago, but 9 o...

Record highs on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with no big snow in the forecast

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 09:46:55 GMT

It was a Christmas Eve and Christmas Day for the record books.The mercury reached 54 degrees on Monday, breaking the previous record of 51 set in 1922, according to Eric Ahasic, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Twin Cities office in Chanhassen.Christmas Eve day saw a high of 55 degrees, breaking the previous record of 46 degrees set in 1957, Ahasic said.A cooling trend is in the forecast. Tonight’s low will be 41, and temperatures will dip to 36 by 4 p.m. the following day. Tuesday night’s low will be around 29, with a high near 37 on Wednesday.Monday’s rains will continue Tuesday, and the metro might see some of it turn into light snow or slush Tuesday night and into Wednesday night.After that, the forecast calls for dry weather into early January, Ahasic said.Highs in the 30s are expected for New Year’s weekend. That’s still above average, which is about 25 degrees, he said.Cross-country skiers hoping for a good blizzard may h...

Alameda Main Street Ferry Terminal to reopen Jan. 2

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 09:46:55 GMT

(BCN) -- The Main Street Ferry Terminal in Alameda will reopen on Jan. 2, 2024 following more than two months of renovations. Both the Oakland and Alameda route, and the Alameda Short Hop between Alameda and Oakland, will resume service, according to San Francisco Bay Ferry. Silicon Valley office vacancies stuck in double digits Trips on the South San Francisco ferry route will also resume operations at the Main Street Ferry Terminal. The reopening of the terminal means that weekend trips on the Alameda Seaplane route will come to an end, as of Dec. 30. The ferry terminal closed down in late October to undergo repair and replacement of its aging infrastructure to comply with seismic safety requirements, according to the ferry service.More information about the upcoming ferry schedule changes is available here.Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc.

Silicon Valley office vacancies stuck in double digits

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 09:46:55 GMT

(BCN) -- Silicon Valley's offices are rapidly emptying out, as the paradigm-shifting remote work culture brought on by the pandemic continues to affect the commercial real estate market. A December report from the research arms of Joint Venture Silicon Valley and commercial real estate firm JLL Silicon Valley shows demand for office space in the third quarter of 2023 has been weak, while competition for tenants between landlords and companies subleasing their existing space is increasing.Silicon Valley office vacancy rates increased to 19.6% at the end of the third quarter in September. That's a 1.5% increase over the prior quarter, and about a 2% increase year over year.The region's vacancy rate is higher than in New York City at 16.5%, and Washington, D.C. at 19.1%, but remains below San Francisco at 30.4%, Austin's 21.3% and Boston's 19.8%, the report said. Two rain systems to arrive in Bay Area this week The report defines Silicon Valley as all of Santa Clara and San Mateo cou...