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Artist who dumped manure at Belarusian president’s office dies in prison, wife says

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:00:50 GMT

TALLINN, ESTONIA (AP) — A Belarusian artist who once dumped manure outside an office of President Alexander Lukashenko has died in a prison, where he was serving a five-year sentence, human rights activists and his wife said Tuesday. Ales Pushkin, 57, died in a prison in Grodno in western Belarus of an unknown cause, even though he wasn’t known to be sick, according to the Viasna human rights center. His wife, Janina Demuch, told The Associated Press he “died in the intensive care unit of the prison under unclear circumstances.”Belarusian authorities did not comment.Pushkin was a political performer and cartoonist whose subject was often Lukashenko, the country’s authoritarian leader. The artist painted Lukashenko in hell, surrounded by riot police, on a fresco in a church in the Belarusian city of Bobr. In 1999, Pushkin was sentenced to two years for “Dung for the President,” in which he overturned a dung cart at the entrance to the presidential office in Minsk, the cou...

Israelis block highways and throng airport in protest at government’s plan to overhaul the judiciary

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:00:50 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Thousands of Israeli protesters took to the streets on Tuesday, blocking major highways and thronging the country’s main international airport, in countrywide demonstrations against the government’s contentious plan to overhaul the country’s judicial system..The demonstrations came the morning after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s parliamentary coalition gave initial approval to a bill to limit the Supreme Court’s oversight powers, pressing forward with a plan that has bitterly divided the nation. Netanyahu’s ultranationalist and ultra-Orthodox allies have proposed a series of bills that have provoked months of sustained protests by opponents who say the country is being pushed toward authoritarian rule.Anti-overhaul activists demonstrated nationwide throughout the day, including a mass protest Tuesday afternoon at Ben-Gurion International Airport. An estimated 10,000 people gathered outside the main hall, blowing horns and waving blue an...

In Srebrenica, thousands gather to remember the 1995 massacre and bury the newly identified dead

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:00:50 GMT

SREBRENICA, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Tens of thousands of people from around Bosnia and abroad gathered in Srebrenica Tuesday for the annual ritual of commemorating the 1995 massacre and to give a dignified burial to the victims unearthed from mass graves and only recently identified through DNA analysis.Twenty-eight years after they were murdered in Europe’s only acknowledged genocide since the Holocaust, 27 men and three teenage boys were laid to rest Tuesday at a vast and ever-expanding memorial cemetery just outside Srebrenica, in eastern Bosnia, joining more than 6,600 massacre victims already reburied there.Relatives of the victims can bury only partial remains of their loved ones as they are typically found scattered over several different mass graves, sometimes miles (kilometers) apart. Such was the case of Mirsada Merdzic, who buried her father on Tuesday.“Only a very few bones of his were retrieved because he had been found (in a mass grave) near the Drina River,” she sai...

Live Updates | NATO leaders move to simplify path for Ukraine to join alliance

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:00:50 GMT

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Follow along for updates on the summit of the NATO military alliance in Lithuania’s capital:What to know: — Turkey’s decision to end opposition to Sweden’s NATO membership boosts summit— Sweden’s rocky road from neutrality toward NATO membership— What is NATO doing to help Ukraine in the war with Russia?— Ukraine, defense plans and Sweden’s membership top summit agenda——Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday but remained mum on the deal to advance Sweden’s membership in NATO.Although Biden made a reference to “the agreement you reached yesterday,” Erdogan said nothing about it. Turkey has been the primary obstacle to Sweden joining the alliance, but NATO announced on Monday night that Erdogan agreed to forward the issue to his country’s parliament.It was a conspicuous omission from Erdogan, who has not commented on the issue publicly during the summit.However, Erdogan appeared eager to develop his relations...

NATO chief says no timetable set for Ukraine’s membership, a position that disappointed Zelenskyy

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:00:50 GMT

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — NATO leaders agreed Tuesday to allow Ukraine to join “when allies agree and conditions are met,” the head of the military alliance said, hours after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blasted the organization’s failure to set a timetable for his country as “absurd.”“We reaffirmed Ukraine will become a member of NATO and agreed to remove the requirement for a membership action plan,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters, referring to a key step in joining the alliance.“This will change Ukraine’s membership path from a two-step path to a one-step path,” he said.Although many NATO members have funneled arms and ammunition to Zelenskyy’s forces, there is no consensus among the 31 allies for admitting Ukraine into NATO’s ranks. Instead, the alliance leaders decided to remove obstacles on Ukraine’s membership path so that it can join more quickly once the war with Russia is over.Zelenskyy pushed back sharply against the decision.“It’s unprecedented a...

Judge declines to block Microsoft’s record $69 billion deal to buy Activision Blizzard

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:00:50 GMT

A federal judge has handed Microsoft a major victory by declining to block its looming $69 billion takeover of video game company Activision Blizzard. Regulators are seeking to ax the deal because they say it will hurt competition.U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley said in a ruling that the “FTC has not shown a likelihood it will prevail on its claim this particular vertical merger in this specific industry may substantially lessen competition. To the contrary, the record evidence points to more consumer access to Call of Duty and other Activision content.”Microsoft appeared to have the upper hand in a 5-day San Francisco court hearing that ended late last month. The proceeding showcased testimony by Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella and longtime Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, who both pledged to keep Activision’s blockbuster game Call of Duty available to people who play it on consoles — particularly Sony’s PlayStation — that compete with Microso...

Regulator lays out proposed changes to passenger rights charter

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:00:50 GMT

GATINEAU, Que. — The Canadian Transportation Agency is laying out proposed changes to the passenger rights charter.The reforms come after the Liberal government passed legislation last month to toughen penalties on airlines, shore up the complaint process and target flight disruption loopholes that have allowed airlines to avoid traveller compensation.The amendments to the Air Passenger Protection Regulations spell out the circumstances when an airline would not have to compensate customers, narrowing the field so that most technical problems will no longer give carriers an out.The new rules would also allow customers to claim a refund if the government raises the risk level of travel to certain countries or if a flight disruption prevents them from completing their trip within a reasonable period — well under the current threshold of 48 hours.The transportation agency is launching public consultations on the proposed overhaul today.The complaints backlog at the regulator now tops 5...

Vandals killed man who confronted them about throwing eggs at his home, Georgia sheriff says

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:00:50 GMT

GRIFFIN, Ga. (AP) — Three people have been charged with murder in Georgia after one of them shot a man who confronted them about throwing eggs at his home, authorities said. The suspects — two 18-year-olds and a 19-year-old — wanted to vandalize Johnathan Gilbert’s home about 40 miles (64 kilometer) south of Atlanta as part of an “ongoing lovers’ quarrel,” Spalding County Sheriff Darrell Dix said in a news release Friday. The release did not elaborate on the dispute or say how old Gilbert was. The vandals went to the home in Griffin on July 3, but ran back to their car when they were confronted by Gilbert, who was unarmed, according to the sheriff’s office.A backseat passenger, Sydney Maughon, 18, shot Gilbert multiple times before the suspects drove away, Dix said. Maughon, Jeremy Munson, 18; and McKenzie Davenport, 19; have been charged with malice murder. Though Munson and Davenport did not shoot Gilbert, they traveled to his house to commit a crime that led to his death, m...

As pandemic business loan repayment deadline looms, calls for extending deadline grow

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:00:50 GMT

OTTAWA — New Democrats and a business group are calling on the federal government to extend the deadline for small businesses to repay loans they received from a pandemic support program. The Canada Emergency Business Account program provided about 900,000 small businesses and not-for-profits up to $60,000 in interest-free loans during the pandemic.The deadline to repay these loans was extended last year to December 31, 2023 to ease pressure on businesses still recovering from the pandemic. But now, both the NDP and the Canadian Federation of Independent Business are calling for this deadline to be extended again, with the federation claiming nearly 20 per cent of businesses are at risk of closure without an extension. Businesses that pay back their loans by the end of the year are eligible to have up to a third of their loans forgiven.Those that don’t would see their debts converted to a two-year loan with interest of five per cent annually.This report by The Canadian Press w...

See the largest movie theatre screen in Illinois

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:00:50 GMT

BATAVIA, Ill. — A very unique movie-going experience is coming to the far west suburbs of Chicago this July, including a special event on Tuesday.Emagine Entertainment has opened a Super EMX Theatre in Batavia, 550 N. Randall Road, that features what's described as "the largest Cinemascope screen in the state of Illinois." It's over 96 feet wide and 53 feet tall, or just about the size of a regulation NBA court. It will host its first showing on Tuesday when "Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning, Part 1" will be shown on the screen at 2 p.m. Emagine Entertainment co-founder and chairman Paul Glantz will be on-site to greet those attending that show. Tickets for that show along with a 6 p.m. showing of the film are still available.The other parts of the theatre opened to the public on July 1 while the 414-seat super theatre was still being finished. The large screen features a 4K laser-projected image with a Dolby Atmos sound system featuring 70 channels.Formerly the Randall 15 IMAX,...