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Simple poll. Show of hands. Should we be involved or not involved in the Russia/Ukraine War?

At a subway station, a recruiting officer named Oleksandr, one of dozens deployed to different spots around Kharkiv, pulled young men out of the crowd recently, checking documents and determining whether they were eligible for military service. Denis, who did not want his last name to be published for fear of punishment, added, “I know guys who don’t even leave their apartments because they’re afraid to get a summons.” In Kharkiv, a channel on the messaging app Telegram provides anonymous, crowdsourced, real-time information on the locations of recruiters for people trying to steer clear of them. It has more than...

SEATTLE - A ferry and a structure at the Fauntleroy Ferry Terminal in West Seattle were damaged Thursday morning after a crash at the dock.The Washington State Ferries said there was a "hard landing" involving Ferry Cathlamet, and it caused significant damage to the boat and an offshore dolphin at the terminal.A dolphin is a terminal structure located at the dock and it helps guide a vessel in.

US diplomacy has gotten a new name: weasel diplomacy, which is reflected in a series of US moves on the Xinjiang-related affairs. One of its latest actions is that on Wednesday, the US, together with Germany, Britain and some NGOs, will host a virtual UN event "on the repression of Uyghur Muslims" in China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Yet, no matter how nobly the US tries to pretend it "cares" about Xinjiang's Uygur Muslims, its weasel nature can hardly be covered up. As Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying commented about the event on Monday, the US "is just like...

Former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson is cooperating with the Justice Department's criminal investigation into the plots to subvert the 2020 election, a source with knowledge of the discussions confirmed to CNN. The extent of that cooperation, first reported by ABC News, isn't clear. The Justice Department declined to comment. An attorney for Hutchinson did not respond to a request for comment. The criminal investigation into the US Capitol attack on January 6, 2021, and attempts to disrupt the transfer of power between the Trump and Biden administrations is the most wide-ranging in the Justice Department's history. The agency...

Secrets of the Stone Age (1/2)July 12, 2018 | DW Documentary

PM Justin Trudeau has decided to move forward with his cap on nitrogen emissions by reducing fertilizer use even as provincial Agriculture Ministers beg him to stop. As per a Government of Saskatchewan news release, both Alberta and Saskatchewan’s Ministers of Agriculture have expressed “profound disappointment” in Trudeau’s decision to attempt to reduce nitrogen emissions from fertilizer. “We’re really concerned with this arbitrary goal,” Saskatchewan Minister of Agriculture David Marit said. “The Trudeau government has apparently moved on from their attack on the oil and gas industry and set their sights on Saskatchewan farmers.” According to Alberta Agriculture Minister Nate...

Explanation: An ancient tree seems to reach out and touch Earth's North Celestial Pole in this well-planned night skyscape. Consecutive exposures for the timelapse composition were recorded with a camera fixed to a tripod in the Yiwu Desert Poplar Forests in northwest Xinjiang, China. The graceful star trail arcs reflect Earth's daily rotation around its axis. By extension, the axis of rotation leads to the center of the concentric arcs in the night sky. Known as the North Star, bright star Polaris is a friend to northern hemisphere night sky photographers and celestial navigators alike. That's because Polaris lies very...

A US aircraft carrier and its strike group are now in the South China Sea in what could potentially become a tense standoff in hotly contested waters near Taiwan. Speaking to Insider on Wednesday night, US Navy spokesperson Mark Langford confirmed that the vessels were on the move and operating in the South China Sea. The aircraft carrier departed Singapore after making a scheduled port visit on July 22. According to Langford, the carrier is "continuing normal, scheduled operations as part of her routine patrol in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific. The news comes less than a day...

Russian National Defense Control Center head Mikhail Mizintsev warned on Thursday, during a briefing, that Ukraine continues to store its ammunition and weapons in residential spaces, as well as in "educational institutions and other social infrastructure for military purposes." Mizintsev underlined that while the Ukrainian military is doing this, proper evacuation of civilians from the aforementioned spaces is not being carried out.Furthermore, Mizintsev noted that on the territory of Donetsk People's Republic, the militants of nationalist battalions are "systematically firing at the positions of the Russian army" so as to provoke the latter to "return fire."

A rare occurrence is taking place as all 100 members of the United States are agreeing on something. They want the Biden Administration to label Russia a state sponsor of terrorism. Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., called on President Joe Biden to make the designation July 28 during a news conference. “The United States Senate — all 100 members — are urging the Biden Administration to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism,” Graham said... Blumenthal noted that the designation is more than just symbolism as it would implement concrete actions that would affect Russia’s dealing...

A horrific video posted online on Thursday appears to show a Ukrainian prisoner of war being castrated by his Russian captors. While Yahoo News cannot independently verify the authenticity of the video, the footage, which was initially posted on a pro-Russian Telegram page before spreading rapidly on social media, showed what appears to be a Russian soldier or mercenary wearing a distinctive black fringed hat, mutilating a man who appears to be a captured Ukrainian soldier. he victim in the video wears Ukrainian-style camouflage fatigues and is shown gagged, his hands tied behind his back. He lies helpless on the...

"It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it." "Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able." "And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as...

Hanover first big city to ban hot water and central heating in public buildings.. Lights to be switched off at night on major buildings like museums and town hall .. Germans told to expect higher electricity bills and sweeping gas rationing.. Move is a response to Vladimir Putin's gas squeeze which has Europe panicking.. Russian state energy giant Gazprom cut gas supplies to Germany to 20 per cent . ... The Germany city of Hanover has become the first big city in Europe to ban hot water and central heating in public buildings ... The drastic step comes as Germans...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The mayor of San Francisco announced a legal state of emergency Thursday over the growing number of monkeypox cases, allowing officials to mobilize personnel and resources and cut through red tape to get ahead of a public health crisis reminiscent of the AIDS epidemic that devastated the city. The declaration, which takes effect Monday, was welcomed by gay advocates who have grown increasingly frustrated by what they called San Francisco’s lackluster response to a virus that so far has affected primarily men who have sex with men, although anyone can get infected. The city has 261...

ALBERTSON, N.Y. (WCBS) - A 70-year-old New York woman was mauled to death by the family dog in a scene police described as “horrific.” Warning: This article contains disturbing details that may be upsetting to readers. The victim’s husband told police when he returned home from work Wednesday, he found the pit bull dragging his wife through the backyard. Responding officers described the victim as having been mutilated. Police say the 7-year-old dog turned on them before an officer shot and killed it. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene. The dog was reportedly the couple’s son’s pet dog,...

It’s Not for the Pope to ChangeIn the classic The Spiritual Combat, the first weapon needed for sanctity is self-distrust. Or, as Chesterton said, “Complete self-confidence is not merely a sin; complete self-confidence is a weakness.” Some in Rome should think about this before they cause even more Catholics to question the Faith (or at least the Church). They—and we—should also consider and be grateful for the diffidence of Pope St. Paul VI. Let me explain. Here’s the problem. Pope Francis has changed the continuous moral teaching of the Church at least twice. The first was in Amoris Laetitia, allowing...

China warns US “not to play with fire or gent burned” after Vice President Joe Biden stated that the US would support Taiwan militarily if Beijing invaded the self-governing island. The Taiwan Affairs Office of the Chinese State Council claimed on Monday that the US is “playing the ‘Taiwan card’ to constrain China, and will get burned.” According to Xinhua, Zhu Fenglian, the office’s spokesperson, he asks the US to “stop any words or acts that contradict” previously agreed-upon standards between Beijing and Washington.

The judgement by the Luxembourg-based General Court on Wednesday threw out an appeal against the ban, which the EU imposed over accusations that the network spreads disinformation. The Kremlin reacted to the court’s decision by saying it was “extremely negative” and that Russia would take similar measures against Western media in response. In a call with reporters, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said RT was unable to work in Europe but he hoped it would find loopholes to resume broadcasting. The EU’s move days after the February 24 invasion targeted Russian state media RT, Sputnik and their subsidiaries, preventing their content...

SEVENTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME MATTHEW 13:47–53 Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus presents two more parables on the kingdom of heaven. In the first parable, we hear that “the Kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea.” Here the kingdom of heaven is coming for us. This is an eschatological image of the kingdom, of God’s final rounding up of the world at the end of time. When will it come? We don’t know. But we must be ready! And being ready means being in accord with the rule of God. Then the second parable: “Every scribe...