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Russia: 60-day extension of wartime grain deal acceptable

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:00:51 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — A Russian delegation at talks with senior U.N. officials said Monday that Moscow is ready to accept an extension to a grain export deal that has helped bring down global food prices amid the war with Ukraine — but only for 60 days as the Kremlin holds out for changes to how the arrangement is working.The United Nations and Turkey brokered a deal between the two warring countries in July that allows Ukraine — one of the world’s key breadbaskets — to ship food and fertilizer from three of its Black Sea ports.The 120-day agreement, which helped take some of the sting out of rising global food prices, was renewed last November. That extension expires on Saturday, and another 120-day extension was on the table.Moscow has been frustrated that a parallel deal to allow exports of Russian food and fertilizer, which is used across the globe, has only resulted in a trickle of Russian fertilizer getting out and no Russian grain at all.“The comprehensive and frank conversation has ...

Macron faces crucial test amid anger over his pension plan

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:00:51 GMT

PARIS (AP) — President Emmanuel Macron is facing a crucial test this week as the battle over his unpopular plan to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 is set to reach a peak in the streets and at parliament, deepening a widely shared feeling that he doesn’t hear the grievances of the French.The 45-year-old pro-business centrist has put his legacy on the line with his pension reform plans, central to his vision for making the French economy more competitive. But he may have to force it through parliament, which would damage his democratic credentials and further enrage those who are opposing it.France’s trade unions have called for an eighth round of nationwide protests on Wednesday. On the same day, the bill heads to a committee of seven senators and seven lower-house lawmakers as part of the complex legislative process. Open-ended strikes have been disrupting some refineries, train traffic across the country and garbage collection in Paris.In a letter last week to un...

National Film Board director Julie Roy named new CEO of Telefilm Canada

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:00:51 GMT

TORONTO — Telefilm Canada has named Julie Roy as its new executive director and CEO.Roy currently serves as director general and programming chief officer at the National Film Board of Canada, but will step into the role at Telefilm on April 3.Her term at Telefilm’s helm will last five years.The Crown corporation bolsters the Canadian film industry and administers the programs of the Canadian Media Fund.Roy says in a news release that Canada’s changing digital landscape makes Telefilm’s mandate more relevant than ever.A bill that would subject online streaming platforms to the CRTC’s Canadian content quotas is still being debated in the House of Commons, but is close to becoming law.This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 13, 2023.The Canadian Press

Review: ‘The Teachers’ shows crisis in America’s schools

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:00:51 GMT

“The Teachers,” by Alexandra Robbins (Dutton) The message of “The Teachers” comes into clear focus long before the final words of this 344-page dissection of what’s wrong with American public education, seen principally through the eyes, ears and experiences of three teachers in different areas of the nation. Author Alexandra Robbins also interviewed hundreds of other teachers and many of their voices are here, too.Robbins paints a portrait of public schools across the land where many, if not most of the educational support systems are crumbling or under attack.Teachers are among the most altruistic and dedicated of professionals but they are leaving the classrooms by the thousands.Here are the challenges the teachers cite:— Pay and benefits significantly trail other professions. Moreover, many come to teaching carrying student debt that will burden their lives for decades. Robbins notes that teachers are five times more likely to take a second job than other professions.— Resources...

Professors begin indefinite general strike at Université Laval

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:00:51 GMT

QUEBEC — An indefinite general strike is underway at Quebec City’s Université Laval, where nearly 1,300 professors are off the job.The unionized professors went on strike today after a negotiation blitz between management and their union did not result in a new contract.The most recent collective agreement expired on Dec. 1, and the union has made a number of demands including equitable distribution of positions, better administrative supports, better work-life balance and workload management.The union members voted 94.5 per cent in favour of a strike mandate during a meeting on March 2, when nearly three-quarters of members were present.The university has posted on its website a list of courses and activities that will be affected by the strike. This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 13, 2023.The Canadian Press

Police: $26K in stolen baby formula found in suspects’ car

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:00:51 GMT

CARTERSVILLE, Ga. (AP) — Two men caught shoplifting at a grocery store in Georgia had an estimated $26,000 worth of baby formula in their car, according to police.Police in Cartersville caught the men walking out of a Publix store north of Atlanta with backpacks filled with cans of formula, news outlets reported. Officers searching their car found 662 more cans of formula inside, police Lt. Greg Sparacio said.“We believe right now that they have hit several locations, Publix, Kroger, Walmart and more in just over a course of a couple of days,” Sparacio said.The men were jailed in Bartow County on charges of shoplifting, felony theft by receiving, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. They had a 16-year-old girl with them when they were arrested Thursday. It was not immediately known if the men had attorneys representing them. The February 2021 shutdown of a large baby formula factory and recall of many of its products because of contamination concerns helped trigger a nati...

Biden angers climate activists by approving controversial oil, gas project in Alaska

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:00:51 GMT

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Joe Biden, a vocal champion of combating climate change, is angering environmental allies by approving a controversial oil and gas project in Alaska. The Willow project, as it’s known, will allow energy giant ConocoPhillips to develop three drill sites in Alaska’s petroleum-rich North Slope region. The Department of the Interior is framing today’s announcement as “substantially” reducing the scope of the project, which originally called for five well sites. The decision also requires ConocoPhillips to relinquish drilling rights on roughly 275 square kilometres of land in the region, known as the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. That hasn’t quelled criticism from climate activists who consider the project a “carbon bomb” that could produce 300 million tonnes of pollution and foster fossil fuel dependence. Sierra Club executive director Ben Jealous says it’s impossible to overstate the negative impact ...

Ole Miss hires former Texas coach Chris Beard

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:00:51 GMT

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi has hired Chris Beard as its basketball coach five weeks after his firing from Texas following a domestic violence arrest.The Rebels announced Beard’s hiring on Monday and will introduce him Tuesday in a public event at the SBJ Pavilion. Beard is a four-time conference coach of the year and was AP’s national coach of the year in 2019.But his two-year tenure at alma mater Texas ended abruptly in January, though felony domestic charges were ultimately dismissed on Feb. 15. A prosecutor said his office determined that the charge of assault by strangulation/suffocation-family violence could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.Texas suspended Beard after his Dec. 12 arrest and fired him three weeks later when Texas officials told Beard’s attorney he was “unfit” to lead the program. Beard was arrested when his fiancée, Randi Trew, called 911 and told officers that Beard strangled, bit and hit her during a confrontation in his home.She later...

New England, upstate New York, bracing for winter storm

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:00:51 GMT

Parts of New England, upstate New York, northeastern Pennsylvania, and northern New Jersey were bracing Monday for a winter storm that could drop more than 12 inches (30 centimeters) of heavy, wet snow.The National Weather Service says the storm was supposed to begin late Monday and last into Wednesday.The storm was also expected to bring high winds, and power outages were possible. Utilities across the region say they will have crews ready to respond. Snowfall in the western part of Massachusetts could exceed 18 inches (45 centimeters), but along the coast where the storm is expected to begin as rain, the snow totals could be 3 or 4 inches (7.5 centimeters to 10 centimeters), Bill Simpson, a spokesman for the National Weather Service in Norton, Massachusetts, said. “I’m not quite sure of the exact track,” Simpson said. “That makes all the difference in the world.”A winter storm warning was due to take effect Monday evening and last through Wednesday morning for pa...

Manitoba opens access to death certificates of children at residential schools

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:00:51 GMT

WINNIPEG — The Manitoba government has signed an agreement to open access to death certificates of Indigenous children who died at residential schools. The agreement allows the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation to request the documents from the provincial Vital Statistics Branch and build a fuller understanding of what happened at the schools.Stephanie Scoot, the centre’s executive director, says every bit of information about former students helps show the truth. Grand Chief Cathy Merrick of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs says it’s important for people to learn and talk about the children who attended the schools. Government Services Minister James Teitsma says the memorandum responds to one of the calls to action in the report from the National Truth and Reconciliation Commission eight years ago. An estimated 150,000 Indigenous children were forced to attend residential schools over a century in Canada, and the commission’s report detailed that many experienced a...