Політика

Добровольці почали інтенсивний курс підготовки, тренування проводять польські інструктори, повідомляє міністерство
…

За зведенням, Сили оборони протягом доби відбивали 24 атаки російських військ у Курській області РФ
…

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA — On the last night of their lives, Jagdish Patel, his wife and their two young children tried to slip into the U.S. across a near-empty stretch of the Canadian border. 

Wind chills reached minus 36 Fahrenheit (minus 38 Celsius) that night in January 2022 as the family from India set out on foot to meet a waiting van. They walked amid vast farm fields and bulky snowdrifts, navigating in the black of an almost-moonless night. 

The driver, waiting in northern Minnesota, messaged his boss: “Make sure everyone is dressed for the blizzard conditions, please.” 

Coordinating things in Canada, federal prosecutors say, was Harshkumar Patel, an experienced smuggler nicknamed “Dirty Harry.” On the U.S. side was Steve Shand, the driver recently recruited by Patel at a casino near their Florida homes, prosecutors say. 

The two men, whose trial is scheduled to start Monday, are accused of being part of a sophisticated human smuggling operation feeding a fast-growing population of Indians living illegally in the U.S. Both have pleaded not guilty. 

Over the five weeks the two worked together, documents filed by prosecutors allege they spoke often about the bitter cold as they smuggled five groups of Indians over that quiet stretch of border. 

“16 degrees cold as hell,” Shand messaged during an earlier trip. “They going to be alive when they get here?” 

On the last trip, on Jan. 19, 2022, Shand was to pick up 11 more Indian migrants, including the Patels. Only seven survived. 

Canadian authorities found the Patels later that morning, dead from the cold. 

In Jagdish Patel’s frozen arms was the body of his 3-year-old son, Dharmik, wrapped in a blanket. 

Dreams of leaving India 

The narrow streets of Dingucha, a quiet village in the western Indian state of Gujarat, are spattered with ads to move overseas. 

“Make your dream of going abroad come true,” one poster says, listing three tantalizing destinations: “Canada. Australia. USA.” 

This is where the family’s deadly journey began.

Jagdish Patel, 39, grew up in Dingucha. He and his wife, Vaishaliben, who was in her mid-30s, lived with his parents, raising their 11-year-old daughter, Vihangi, and Dharmik. (Patel is a common Indian surname and they are unrelated to Harshkumar Patel.) The couple were schoolteachers, local news reports say. 

The family was fairly well off by local standards, living in a well-kept, two-story house with a front patio and a wide veranda. 

“It wasn’t a lavish life,” said Vaibhav Jha, a local reporter who spent days in the village. “But there was no urgent need, no desperation.” 

Experts say illegal immigration from India is driven by everything from political repression to a dysfunctional American immigration system that can take years, if not decades, to navigate legally. 

But much is rooted in economics, and how even low-wage jobs in the West can ignite hopes for a better life. 

Those hopes have changed Dingucha. 

Today, so many villagers have gone overseas — legally and otherwise — that blocks of homes stand vacant and the social media feeds of those who remain are filled with old neighbors showing off houses and cars. 

That drives even more people to leave. 

“There was so much pressure in the village, where people grew up aspiring to the good life,” Jha said. 

Smuggling networks were glad to help, charging fees that could reach $90,000 per person. In Dingucha, Jha said, many families afforded that by selling farmland. 

Satveer Chaudhary is a Minneapolis-based immigration attorney who has helped migrants exploited by motel owners, many of them Gujaratis. 

Smugglers with ties to the Gujarati business community have built an underground network, he said, bringing in workers willing to do low- or even no-wage jobs. 

“Their own community has taken advantage of them,” Chaudhary said. 

Illegal immigration from India increases

The pipeline of illegal immigration from India has long existed but has increased sharply along the U.S.-Canada border. The U.S. Border Patrol arrested more than 14,000 Indians on the Canadian border in the year ending September 30, which amounted to 60% of all arrests along that border and more than 10 times the number two years ago. 

By 2022, the Pew Research Center estimates there were more than 725,000 Indians living illegally in the U.S., behind only Mexicans and El Salvadorans. 

In India, investigating officer Dilip Thakor said media attention had led to the arrest of three men in the Patel case, but hundreds of such cases don’t even reach the courts. 

With so many Indians trying to get to the U.S., the smuggling networks see no need to warn off customers. 

They “tell people that it’s very easy to cross into the U.S. They never tell them of the dangers involved,” Thakor said. 

U.S. prosecutors allege Patel and Shand were part of a sprawling operation, with people to scout for business in India, acquire Canadian student visas, arrange transportation and smuggle migrants into the U.S., mostly via the states of Washington or Minnesota. 

On Monday, at the federal courthouse in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, Patel, 29, and Shand, 50, will each face four counts related to human smuggling. 

Patel’s attorney, Thomas Leinenweber, told The Associated Press his client came to America to escape poverty and build a better life and “now stands unjustly accused of participating in this horrible crime.” 

Shand’s attorney did not return calls seeking comment. Prosecutors say Shand told investigators that Patel paid him about $25,000 for the five trips. 

His final passengers, though, never made it. 
…

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA — A walkout by hundreds of hospitality workers at a casino near the Las Vegas Strip entered its second day with union members willing to undergo the financial hardships of being out of work as they wait for a new contract. 

The work stoppage launched Friday at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas is the first open-ended strike in 22 years for the Culinary Workers Union, the largest labor union in Nevada, with about 60,000 members. Union members were on the picket line again Saturday. 

Workers at the casino also walked off the job for 48 hours earlier this year as negotiations escalated, hoping to pressure Virgin Hotels to agree to a new five-year deal with increased wages and better benefits. 

The strike comes a year after casinos up and down the Strip narrowly avoided tens of thousands of hospitality workers walking off the job on the weekend the city was set to host its first Formula One race on the famous boulevard. But agreements were reached just before the union’s deadline for a strike, giving workers a roughly 32% salary increase over the life of the contract, including a 10% bump in pay in the first year. 

After the breakthrough deals last November, the Culinary Union quickly reached similar agreements for the rest of its members at major hotel-casinos on the Strip, downtown and at off-Strip properties — except for Virgin Hotels. The contracts on the Strip alone cover more than 40,000 workers. 

While the union pays striking workers $500 per week for picketing shifts for at least five days, union members at the picket line Friday said that they were expecting financial pain while being out of work. 

Lee McNamara, a lead dining room cook, said he took a second job for about eight months to save money in anticipation of the strike. 

“A strike is hurtful to everybody, but it was a last resort for us,” McNamara said. “We didn’t have anything else we could do. The company wasn’t coming our way, and they weren’t seeing it our way and they haven’t really budged much.” 

Diana Monjaraz, who works in housekeeping, expects hard times until a new contract comes. 

“You have to suffer a little bit to win sometimes,” Monjaraz said. “You don’t get things handed to you right away.” 

Both the union and Virgin Hotels said negotiations stalled because of disagreements over pay. 

“Workers overwhelmingly have chosen a strong Culinary Union contract that guarantees their benefits as the way they want to be protected,” said Bethany Khan, a spokesperson for the union. “Hundreds of workers are on strike themselves to win these protections.” 

Virgin Hotels Las Vegas said it was committed to protecting the jobs of workers by ensuring the continued operation of the property. It also said the union “has bargained in bad faith — repeatedly refusing to engage in meaningful negotiations with Virgin Hotels Las Vegas.” Culinary Union members last went on strike in 2002 for 10 days at the Golden Gate hotel-casino in downtown Las Vegas. 
…

Україну представляв 12-річний Артем Котенко з піснею Hear Me Now
…

TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance is valuing itself at about $300 billion after a recent buyback offer, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday, even as the tech giant’s popular TikTok app faces the prospect of a looming ban in the United States.

The TikTok parent in recent days told investors it was looking to buy back shares at about $180 a share, the newspaper said.

ByteDance investors have viewed President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House as an overall positive for TikTok’s hopes in the U.S., as per the report.

At a Bloomberg BusinessWeek interview in June, Trump said, “I’m for TikTok because you need competition. If you don’t have TikTok, you have Facebook and Instagram.” Trump had previously called TikTok a national security threat but soon after he, too, joined the platform, which is used by about 170 million Americans.

A law signed by U.S. President Joe Biden on April 24 gives ByteDance until January 19 to sell TikTok or face a ban. The White House has said it wants to see Chinese-based ownership ended on national-security grounds but not a ban on TikTok.

TikTok and ByteDance sued in U.S. federal court in May, seeking to block the law signed by Biden.

TikTok and ByteDance did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
…

DALLAS, TEXAS — The first batch of artwork from the Boy Scouts of America’s collection raised over $3.7 million at auction Friday to help pay the compensation owed to those who were sexually abused while in scouting.

The 25 works that sold are among over 300 from the Boy Scouts that Heritage Auctions in Dallas will be offering over the next few years. With the standard buyer’s premium added to the final hammer price, the 25 works sold for over $4.6 million.

Hoping to survive a barrage of sexual abuse claims, the Boy Scouts filed for bankruptcy in 2020. The $2.4 billion bankruptcy plan allowed the organization to continue operating while it compensated survivors. The plan went into effect last year.

In addition to the art, other contributions to the survivors’ settlement trust are coming from sources that include insurers and the sale of Boy Scout properties.

Many of the works being sold are as interwoven into American life as the 114-year-old organization itself, having been featured on magazine covers, calendars and even used to sell war bonds. Friday’s auction included five of the nearly 60 works by Norman Rockwell that are part of the collection.

Rockwell’s painting “To Keep Myself Physically Strong” shows a Cub Scout standing on a chair to measure the chest of his older brother, a Boy Scout who has taped his fitness record to his bedroom wall. It sold for over $1.1 million, including the buyer’s premium.

J.C. Leyendecker’s painting “Weapons for Liberty,” which depicts a Boy Scout clutching a sword in front of a flag-draped, shield-wielding depiction of Lady Liberty, sold for $312,500, including the buyer’s premium. It was featured on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post in 1918 and was adapted as a poster to sell World War I bonds.

Barbara Houser, a retired bankruptcy judge overseeing the survivors’ settlement trust, has said over 82,000 people filed abuse claims during the bankruptcy case, and of those, over 64,000 have filled out a detailed questionnaire to assert their claims.

Houser said in a news release Friday that she was grateful to those who participated in the auction, noting that the proceeds “play an integral part in acknowledging decades of silent pain” that survivors suffered.

The Boy Scouts announced this year that it is rebranding to Scouting America, a change intended to signal the organization’s commitment to inclusivity. The group now welcomes girls, as well as gay youth and leaders.
…

Постраждала жителька Нікопольського району Дніпропетровщини та чоловік у Васильківському районі Запоріжжя
…

На Сіверському та Краматорському напрямках наступальних дій не фіксували, натомість армія РФ атакувала з авіації біля Кремінної та Хромівки
…

ARLINGTON, TEXAS — Jake Paul beat boxing legend Mike Tyson by unanimous decision to win an intergenerational heavyweight battle in Texas on Friday that failed to live up to its enormous hype.

The bout between the 27-year-old social media influencer-turned-prizefighter Paul and the 58-year-old former heavyweight champion Tyson was streamed live on Netflix and played out in front of a sold-out crowd at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

Those fans were left largely disappointed as Tyson showed his age and was never able to generate any offense against his younger opponent, landing just 18 punches to Paul’s 78.

“First and foremost, Mike Tyson — it’s an honor to be able to fight him,” said Paul. “It was as tough and hard as I thought it would be.”

Tyson, who wore a knee brace, never mounted much of a challenge after being wobbled by some left hands in the third round but did enough defensively to avoid taking any serious damage.

He acknowledged after the contest to fighting through a leg injury.

“Yeah, but I can’t use that as an excuse. If I did, I wouldn’t be in here,” Tyson said. “I knew he was a good fighter. He was prepared, I came to fight. I didn’t prove nothing to anybody, only to myself. I’m not one of those guys that live to please the world. I’m just happy with what I can do.”

Tyson, one of the most fearsome heavyweight champions during his heyday in the late 1980s and early 1990s, was in his first professional fight in nearly 20 years. He was noncommittal when asked if he would return to the ring again.

“I don’t know. It depends on the situation,” he said.

Paul (11-1) said he can now fight anyone he wants, possibly even Mexican Canelo Alvarez, after being the main attraction in the mega event that brought out a star-studded crowd and 72,300 fight fans.

“This is the biggest event, over 120 million people on Netflix,” he said. “We crashed the site, the biggest U.S. boxing gate, $20 million, in U.S. history, and everyone is next on the list.”

Taylor beats Serrano

In the co-main event earlier in the evening, Ireland’s Katie Taylor retained her super lightweight title by beating Puerto Rico’s Amanda Serrano in a controversial unanimous decision after a violent affair.

Serrano came forward throughout the fight, but their heads crashed together hard in the early stages, resulting in a deep cut over Serrano’s right eye. The referee later took a point off Taylor for head butts.

In the end all three judges scored it 95-94 for Taylor, who denied accusations from Serrano’s corner that she was fighting dirty.

Taylor won the pair’s previous meeting, at New York’s Madison Square Garden in April 2022, and said there would be a third meeting.
…

CHIPINGE, Zimbabwe — Gertrude Siduna appears to have little appetite for corn farming season. 

Rather than prepare her land in Zimbabwe’s arid southeastern Chipinge district for the crop that has fed her family for generations — and bitter about repeated droughts that have decimated yields — she turns her thoughts to the prices for chilies and techniques for growing them.

“I pick my chilies from the fields and take them to the processing center close to my home. It’s simple,” said Siduna, 49. She’s received about $400 from the drought-resistant crop and plans to grow more. “Chilies are far better than corn.” 

Siduna has been growing chilies for a year since being trained under a climate-smart agriculture program funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development. The program was designed to strengthen small-scale farmers’ resilience to climate change-induced droughts, many requiring food assistance from the government or international donors.

But as climate change worsens droughts and floods worldwide, government agencies and local operators have found that aid efforts can still be made more effective and financially sustainable. 

Experts say rich nations like the United States, which have been the biggest contributors of planet-warming emissions historically, have a responsibility to fund humanitarian aid in the countries that are experiencing its effects first and most severely. 

The U.S. is the world’s largest international donor of food aid, reaching over 60 million people in about 70 countries annually with direct contributions of food or via programs to help farmers adapt to extreme weather. USAID plans to mobilize $150 billion for climate-related initiatives, according to the agency’s climate strategy report. 

In Zimbabwe, around 7.7 million people — almost half the country’s population — require food assistance, according to government and U.N. figures. Frequent droughts are decimating people’s ability to feed themselves, a phenomenon worsened by climate change. 

Switching crops

Water-guzzling white corn has been the staple crop of choice for rural farmers in Zimbabwe since its introduction to much of sub-Saharan Africa by the Portuguese in the 17th century. 

But with the threat of drought, some, like Siduna, now think it may be better to buy the staple than grow it. 

“I don’t lack corn meal. I just use my earnings from chilies to buy it from the local shops,” she said. 

Unlike corn or other crops that she has typically grown, chilies do well in the hotter, drier conditions. And, because they end up in stores in the United States, they offer cash rewards. 

“You have to continuously pray for the rain if you grow corn,” said the mother of three. “The crop just can’t stand heat. But chilies can. One is assured of a harvest, and the market is readily available.” 

Other crops such as millets, which are cereals tolerant of poor soils, drought and harsh growing conditions, are also gaining traction under climate resilience programs. 

In Chiredzi, southeast Zimbabwe, Kenias Chikamhi, 54, describes growing corn as “a gamble … whereas with millets you have a good chance of at least getting something.” Millet was the country’s staple before the introduction of maize. 

But not all the corn is gone yet. Zimbabwe’s agriculture ministry says it plans to increase land under maize to 1.8 million hectares (4.4 million acres) by using farming techniques such as digging holes into dry land and mulching to cover the growing crops as well as by planting drought-resilient varieties that can better cope with the lack of rain. 

The country harvested about 700,000 tons of corn this year, 70% down from the season before and far short of the 2 million tons required annually for humans and livestock. 

Solar-powered irrigation

Farming techniques are also changing. 

Another of USAID’s initiatives has seen a community garden in Mutandahwe village, where Siduna lives, irrigated by three small solar panels. The panels pump water from a borehole into storage tanks that are connected to the garden taps by pipes, turning the 1-hectare plot of vegetables like onions, leaf cabbage and cowpeas into an island of lush green. 

Solar-powered community gardens have been spreading across the district and much of the country’s dry areas. 

“We were struggling walking long distances to fetch water from rivers, and right now the rivers are dry,” said Muchaneta Mutowa, secretary of the plot. The plot is shared by 60 members, all growing vegetables they can eat and sell. 

“We now have easy access to reliable water that flows from the taps [and] we don’t pay for the sun,” she said. And money from the sale of vegetables goes a long way to pay for family basics such as school fees. 

Members pay a dollar each into a savings pot that can be used for low-interest loans or minor repair expenses “so that we are not always reliant on the donor,” said Mutohwa. 

Increasing effectiveness

Because USAID’s investments can be so consequential for receiving countries, it’s important they’re done right, said Lora Iannotti, a professor who studies global maternal and youth nutrition at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. 

Richer countries like the U.S. have tended to use direct donations of surplus staple and commodity crops like corn and wheat as a way to benefit their own farmers, according to Iannotti’s research. 

Iannotti has seen advances in food aid with dietary variety in mind but thinks there’s room for improvement. Undernourishment became more prevalent after the COVID-19 pandemic, and climate change is making hunger a more pressing issue than ever, with crises that resemble “stuff from 100 years ago,” she said. 

Daniel Maxwell, a professor of food security at Tufts University, thinks countries providing aid also need strategies to address problems “causing the hunger in the first place,” whether that’s climate change, war or other factors. He also thinks countries need a more balanced approach, including projects promoting health, protection from violence or nutrition. 

USAID and the U.S. Department of Agriculture haven’t yet explained how food aid efforts might be changed or altered by the incoming U.S. administration, but the delay on renewing farm legislation does hold up USDA programming, including food aid projects, in a variety of ways, said Alexis Taylor, undersecretary of trade and foreign agricultural affairs at USDA. 

The U.S. Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, released reports finding that USAID and its partner agencies needed to improve the ways they measured the outcomes of their programs. 

USAID says they worked with the GAO to address its recommendations. The GAO has closed six of the eight recommendations, indicating satisfactory response; the others were to be resolved this fall, a spokesperson for USAID said. 

“We are committing a lot of U.S. taxpayer dollars,” said Chelsa Kenney, the GAO’s director for international affairs issues. “It’s important that we’re good stewards of those taxpayer dollars to ensure that the kind of programming that we are providing to these countries is really making a difference.”
…

As President-elect Donald Trump gets ready to take office, a carefully coordinated process is under way to transfer power from the outgoing administration to the new one. Experts share their perspectives on how the federal government prepares for this pivotal moment in American democracy. VOA’s Salem Solomon has more. Video editor: Salwa Jaafari
…

STATE DEPARTMENT — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Taiwan’s envoy to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, Lin Hsin-I, on Thursday ahead of the bloc’s Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Lima, Peru.

The discussion centered on economic cooperation, as Blinken highlighted in a social media post.

“Met with Lin Hsin-i in Lima. We spoke about our growing economic relationship and our enduring shared commitment to foster an open, dynamic, and peaceful Indo-Pacific,” Blinken wrote on X.

The pull-aside meeting, which lasted about 20 minutes, was not previously announced in Blinken’s official schedule.

“We discussed our important economic cooperation,” Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink, who also participated in the meeting, told reporters during a phone briefing late Thursday.

In a readout, Taiwan said that Blinken and Lin exchanged views on strengthening the U.S.-Taiwan partnership and discussed strategies for ensuring regional peace and stability.

Lin, a former vice premier of Taiwan and a senior presidential adviser to President Lai Ching-te, was chosen to represent Taiwan at this year’s APEC leaders meetings in Peru.

On Friday, the White House announced that the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the world’s leading advanced semiconductor producer, will receive up to $6.6 billion in CHIPS & Science Act funding. That supports TSMC’s $65 billion investment to build three facilities in Arizona, creating tens of thousands of jobs by the decade’s end.

The White House called it the largest foreign direct investment in a completely new project in U.S. history.

Taiwan’s role in APEC

APEC, an international forum comprising 21 member economies from the Pacific Rim, promotes free trade and economic cooperation across the Asia-Pacific region. Although Taiwan holds full membership in APEC, it faces restrictions due to pressure from China and has to send special envoys instead of its presidents to the annual leaders meetings.

Since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, it has never governed Taiwan but continues to view the self-ruled democracy as part of its territory.

Upcoming Biden-Xi talks

Blinken will accompany U.S. President Joe Biden at Saturday’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, marking the third in-person talks between the two leaders.

Biden is expected to “underscore the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and express his concerns that the PRC’s increased military activities around Taiwan are destabilizing and eroding the status quo,” according to U.S. officials.

On Friday, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Lin Jian urged Washington to abide by the “one-China principle” and not allow Taiwan President Lai to transit through the United States, urging Washington to take “concrete actions to uphold China-U.S. relations.”

Lin was asked to comment on a Reuters report that Lai plans to stop in Hawaii and maybe Guam on a visit to Taiwan’s diplomatic allies in the Pacific in coming weeks.

The U.S. one-China policy differs from the PRC’s one-China principle, which Washington has said it does not subscribe to.

The U.S. says it remains committed to its long-standing, bipartisan 0ne-China policy, guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the Three Joint Communiques and the Six Assurances.

Chinese officials have rejected the Taiwan Relations Act, calling the U.S. law governing its relations with Taiwan “illegal and invalid.”
…

«До завершення обстеження амбулаторія на Пастера не працює», – додає міська рада
…

На Курахівському напрямку армія Росії 37 разів намагалася прорвати оборону українських військ
…

U.S. President Joe Biden will meet with leaders of South Korea and Japan Friday to come up with a “coordinated” response to the deployment of thousands of North Korean troops to help Moscow’s war against Ukraine and on Pyongyang’s nuclear threat more broadly, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum in Lima, Peru.

Pyongyang’s troop deployment is a “significant development,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Lima, Wednesday.

“We are going to treat it with the seriousness with which it deserves to be treated,” he said.

Sullivan said the trilateral summit will allow leaders to prepare for any potential “provocative” move from Pyongyang, including nuclear testing and ballistic missile launches, as the U.S. prepares for a change of administration when Donald Trump takes office in January.

“Transitions have historically been time periods when the DPRK has taken provocative actions,” Sullivan said, using the abbreviation for North Korea’s formal name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The United States has an “extended deterrence” policy that aims to prevent adversaries from attacking allies, including South Korea and Japan. The policy states Washington will come to their aid if they are attacked, potentially including use of American nuclear capabilities.

No specific announcement on extended deterrence will be announced at a trilateral level in Lima, Sullivan said. However, the trilateral meeting will be an opportunity to “ensure that each of these two bilateral dialogues are working to reinforce one another, and that there aren’t gaps and seams between them.”

The leaders are set to announce establishment of a trilateral secretariat as part of their efforts to “institutionalize” three-way cooperation that began as a series of leaders’ dialogues on economic security, intelligence sharing, and defense policy coordination. The trilateral leaders’ dialogues began in May 2023 on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, and then at Camp David in August that year.

The trilateral effort is one of Biden’s signature regional security initiatives to push Seoul and Tokyo to overcome years of animosity and work together to deter common adversaries, North Korea and China.

The leaders are also set to bolster trilateral exercises, Sullivan said.

“We’ve made progress on technology protection, on supply chain diversification, on missile warning and the sharing of data with respect to miswarning in all of those areas,” he said. “We expect to take further steps tomorrow.”

U.S., Japanese and South Korean militaries Thursday launched joint exercises in waters south of the Korean peninsula and west of Japan, the final drills under the Biden administration.

During his first term Trump advocated for friendlier ties with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and pressured Tokyo and Seoul to take on a larger share of U.S. defense burden-sharing.

A day before Trump’s reelection, the U.S. and South Korea a finalized a new agreement for Seoul to pay $1.19 billion in 2026 to support U.S. troops, an 8.3% increase from the previous year. 
…

«За шістьма різними адресами спалахнули пожежі, які рятувальники оперативно ліквідували»
…