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Russia strikes Ukraine’s grain export back door on the Danube River

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:26:13 GMT

KYIV – Russia launched drone strikes on Monday against Ukraine’s ports on the Danube River, Ukrainian Army Operational Command South reported, in an attack apparently aimed at thwarting Kyiv’s bid to redirect its grain exports after Moscow terminated a U.N.-brokered deal guaranteeing safe passage to shipments.Seven people were injured, a hangar with grain was destroyed, cargo storage terminals were damaged, and a fire broke out in one of the port’s technical facilities, Oleg Kiper, Odesa regional governor said in a statement. Five of the injured were taken to hospital, where one was in a critical condition, the governor added.“For four hours, the Russians attacked the ports with [Iranian-made] ‘Shahed-136’ drones. Three drones were destroyed by our air defense forces,” Kiper said. The Ukrainian authorities did not specify how many drones had hit their targets.Russia has been bombarding Ukraine’s Black Sea ports since it officia...

Greta Thunberg fined for disobeying police during climate protest in Sweden

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:26:13 GMT

Greta Thunberg was found guilty of disobeying police during a climate protest in Malmö, Sweden, and ordered to pay a little over €200 in fines.Thunberg appeared at Malmö District Court on Monday morning, facing a charge of disobeying law enforcement, Swedish news outlets reported. The charge dates from June 19, when Thunberg and a dozen other protesters held a demonstration in the Swedish city, blocking the road to the oil port.Police reportedly ordered protesters to move and detained those who refused — including Thunberg.At the hearing, Thunberg admitted that she refused to obey the police order, but denied committing a crime, reported Swedish outlet Dagens Nyheter.“I think we are in an emergency,” she told the court. “There is a climate crisis that threatens life, health and property.”Thunberg was fined 50 Swedish krona — €4,33 — a day for 30 days, for a total of €129,90, in addition to paying 1,000 krona — €86 — to the Crime Victim Fund, Swedish news outl...

Death to the bird: Musk officially rebrands Twitter ‘X’

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:26:13 GMT

This bird has flown.Mere hours after hinting at a logo design change, Elon Musk has gone through with his promise. People refreshed Twitter on Monday to find the iconic blue bird replaced with a black-and-white X as the platform’s new official logo.No frills or fancy designs for the social media site, just a minimalist X that has rattled many users and left them with questions: Is this a marketing stunt? Will Musk keep the term tweets or replace it?    Musk first hinted at the change with a series of tweets – x’s? – posted Sunday.“And soon we shall bid adieu to the Twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds,” Musk wrote in a tweet early Sunday, before writing “X.com now points to https://twitter.com/. Interim X logo goes live later today.”Musk also hinted at changing the platform’s color to black.On Monday, shortly after he posted a picture showing the X logo projected on the company’s headquarters, the logo took over the website. When asked about ...

Inside a Ukrainian baby factory

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:26:13 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine — When Tanya, a 45-year-old woman living in Los Angeles, paid $10,000 and sent two embryos to a surrogacy firm in Ukraine hoping to build a family six years ago, she says she never expected the uncertainty and heartbreak the process would bring.Tanya desperately wanted a child but found out she would be unable to conceive herself. After discovering how expensive surrogacy in the U.S. can be, she and her husband began pursuing options abroad — and came across the Kyiv-based company BioTexCom. Tanya’s parents were originally from Odesa, so she felt there was something fitting about her future child being born in Ukraine.Once the process began with BioTexCom in fall 2017, however, Tanya had an uneasy feeling. After sending her embryos, she says, she was told they would be implanted in a surrogate almost immediately — a timeline that didn’t fit with all the research Tanya had done into the surrogacy process. When, a few days later, the firm told her the embryo tr...

‘Boom’: Rattled residents recall Stow plane crash that left 3 hospitalized

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:26:13 GMT

Three people are recovering in the hospital after a small plane crashed in the woods in Stow on Sunday, officials said.Residents of Taylor Road said they heard the sound of a low plane flying overhead before a loud bang shook the otherwise quiet neighborhood and a small plane could be seen between two houses.“Right away I said, ‘There’s been a plane crash,” said Tye Morancy. “I heard another plane flying over our houses, because that happens, normally, we live near an airfield, and this one got louder and louder and there was a large boom and we all knew this is not normal.” Good samaritans rushed to the aid of the two men in their 50s and a woman in her 20s who were injured in the crash.Morancy said the plane landed in a wooded area between two homes and narrowly avoided hitting both. The outcome, he said, could have been very different.“We have a big chunk of trees in between houses and that’s exactly where it hit, it was quite amazi...

Investigation underway after pedestrian struck by police cruiser in Hampton, NH

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:26:13 GMT

New Hampshire state police are investigating after a pedestrian was struck by a Hampton, New Hampshire police cruiser on Sunday, officials said.Troopers responding to a reported crash involving a Hampton police cruiser on Ashworth Avenue around 7:15 p.m. located a victim who was taken to a nearby hospital with undisclosed injuries, according to state police.The police officer who was driving the cruiser was uninjured.The crash remains under investigation.Anyone with information is asked to contact Trooper Dodds at [email protected] is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

Saudi Arabian soccer team Al-Hilal makes record $332 million bid for France striker Kylian Mbappe

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:26:13 GMT

SYDNEY (AP) — After missing out on Lionel Messi, Saudi Arabian soccer team Al-Hilal made a record 300 million euro ($332 million) bid for Kylian Mbappe on Monday, which could see the France striker join Cristiano Ronaldo in the oil-rich kingdom.Paris Saint-Germain confirmed the offer for its player and has given Al-Hilal permission to open negotiations directly with Mbappe.The 2018 World Cup winner is in a contract standoff with PSG after his decision not to take up the option of a 12-month extension on his deal. Instead, he plans to walk away as a free agent at the end of the upcoming season when he is widely expected to join Real Madrid.PSG cut Mbappe from its preseason tour of Japan on Saturday, with the French club determined to sell him unless he can be convinced to sign a new contract.Al-Hilal’s bid would make Mbappe the most expensive soccer player in history, overtaking the $262 million PSG paid for Neymar when the team signed the Brazilian from Barcelona in 2017.The b...

Death toll doubles to 33 in Cameroon building collapse while search is still underway for survivors

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:26:13 GMT

DOUALA, Cameroon (AP) — The death toll from a building collapse in Cameroon has more than doubled as rescue teams continue searching for survivors, authorities said Monday. At least 33 people died in a four-story building that collapsed onto a smaller one in Cameroon’s largest city of Douala early Sunday morning, said Celestine Ketcha Courtes, the housing and urban development minister. Courtes said that more bodies were recovered from the rubble by rescue teams Monday morning and that some died in hospital from injuries. Five out of more than 20 people injured are in critical condition, she added. The building collapsed in the Ndogbon neighborhood and was severely dilapidated, said Lt. Col. Abdel Kadrey, a fire department commander. “Occupants of neighboring houses told us that there were so many cracks on the walls of the building before it collapsed,” he said.Authorities say more than 200 people occupy both impacted buildings. It was unclear how many were home at the time o...

Scarborough man dead after being pulled from river east of GTA: OPP

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:26:13 GMT

A Toronto man is dead after being pulled from the Trent River east of the GTA over the weekend.Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) were called to a section of the river in Campbellford for a person in distress in the water.Police say the victim jumped into the water before going under and not resurfacing. OPP searched the river with help from Northumberland County paramedics and the Trent Hills Fire Department.A 27-year-old man from Scarborough was pulled from the water and pronounced dead at the scene.Ontario’s corner’s office is assisting in the investigation.

At least 16 shot, 6 fatally, in weekend shootings across Chicago

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:26:13 GMT

CHICAGO — At least 16 people were shot, six fatally, due to gun violence in Chicago since Friday night. According to police, the shootings took place from the Loop, all the way down to the West Pullman Neighborhood with the victims ages ranging from 16 to 50.Police reposed to a call of a person shot in Little Village around 1:25 a.m. Sunday morning and found a man with a gunshot wound to the head inside of a flipped over vehicle. He was transported to Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition and later died of his injuries.Community activist Andrew Holmes said he and his team has been assisting impacted families. Here's a breakdown of what we know from each shooting, in chronological order, beginning late Friday night:1200 Block of West 81st Street (Auburn Gresham) - Friday, around 10:15 p.m.According to CPD, a 16-year-old boy, who had been shot multiple times in the chest, was discovered on the sidewalk and taken to Comer Children's Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.Pol...