World
Ukraine war: Arizona sends charity estimated $400,000 worth of tactical, defensive supplies
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A Ukrainian charity acquired a whopping donation of roughly $400,000-worth of tactical and defensive gear from Arizona as a part of an effort to alleviate provide shortages within the warfare towards Russia.
Ihor Koval, 58, was born in Ukraine and served within the Soviet Military previous to its dissolution in 1992. He later moved to America and raised a household, however he returned when battle erupted in Donetsk in 2014 to assist provide troops on the entrance strains by his charity, Evil Can’t Enter Heaven.
The Koval household established an American extension of the charity, which might settle for donations by its web site or through texting UKRAINE to 56512 or at 1-866-447-6645.
RUSSIA INVADES UKRAINE: LIVE UPDATES
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, organized the gathering and cargo of surplus vests and armor to Ukraine by Ihor Koval’s charity, amassing over 9,000 kilos – roughly 17 palettes – of kit.
“We acquired a letter from the Arizona governor, on to us, with photos of them,” Roman Koval, Ihor’s son, informed Fox Information Digital.
Roman Koval mentioned the charity acquired donations of substances from the Arizona Division of Emergency and Army Affairs (DEMA); Arizona Division of Public Security; the Mesa, Sedona and Phoenix police departments; quite a few sheriffs’ departments; and a number of other Native American reservations, together with the Navajo.
UKRAINIANS ‘DISTRESSED’ BY BUREAUCRACY PREVENTING AID FROM REACHING FRONTLINES: CHARLES SENNOTT
“We’ve additionally been involved with a number of different state DEMAs, which is a piece in progress,” Roman Koval informed Fox. “We’ve had the chance to attach with people who find themselves sending something from $2000 to $5000 in gear or funds.”
He additionally talked about folks giving “no matter they will.”
“The DEMA, once they organized it, they despatched over 900 bulletproof vests, helmets and a ton of tactical gear, which means non-lethal help like boots and clothes,” he added. He estimated that the entire the charity raised by itself amounted to $75,000, however the sizable Arizona donations have been unimaginable.
Ihor Koval, who stays in Lviv, Ukraine to coordinate the distribution of substances to the entrance strains, mentioned his household has been shopping for up what they will with the donations whereas he buys extra tactical gear – together with night time imaginative and prescient and thermal imaginative and prescient goggles, Kevlar vests and thermal underpants.
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He has brushed up towards some violence throughout his deliveries, together with a near-miss with the explosion on the prepare station in Kramatorsk.
“On the way in which again, after I was returning … a couple of quarter-mile away, we have been held up about three minutes on the put up, as a result of one of many troopers needed to convey one thing again to Lviv for him, and we heard this explosion,” Ihor Koval mentioned. “As we came upon later, that was simply across the nook on the railroad station.”
SATELLITE IMAGES REVEAL NEW MASS GRAVES AT UKRAINIAN CEMETERY NEAR MARIUPOL
The record of the required gear has developed, with troops needing knee pads and physique armor, but additionally mills, telephones, pants and common uniforms and clothes.
“Yesterday in Poland I purchased thermal underwear, boots, socks…largely every little thing goes for optics, binoculars, that form of factor,” he mentioned.
The preventing in Ukraine has shifted eastward after Russia did not take Kyiv following a month-long siege, which means the preventing will proceed within the very area that first prompted Ihor Koval to start out his charity and be part of the warfare effort.
“It’s precisely in the identical villages I used to be going to in 2014 – similar space, they usually’re holding the road very nicely,” he mentioned, including that the Ukrainians aren’t “giving up one bit.”
World
Wednesday Briefing
Israel and Hamas on the ‘brink’ of a truce
Israel and Hamas are close to a deal on a cease-fire in Gaza and the release of hostages there, Antony Blinken, the U.S. secretary of state, said yesterday. “It’s closer than it’s ever been before,” he said. “But right now as we sit here we await final word from Hamas on its acceptance. And until we get that word, we’ll remain on the brink.”
Negotiators said Hamas seemed ready to accept the deal, including its details about the exchange of Palestinian prisoners for hostages and the specific movements of Israeli troops as they withdraw from positions in Gaza, a person familiar with the talks said last night.
The person said Israel was also locked in on the agreement, and that both sides seemed prepared to announce their acceptance of it in the very near future. Neither Israeli nor Hamas officials have publicly confirmed their positions. Here’s what we know about the proposal.
Gaza: An analysis in The Lancet found that Palestinian deaths from bombs and other traumatic injuries may have been undercounted by 40 percent during the first nine months of the war.
South Korea’s president was detained for questioning
Yoon Suk Yeol today became the first sitting South Korean president to be detained for questioning by criminal investigators, after striking a deal with law enforcement officials that ended a weekslong standoff. He has been accused of insurrection in connection with his short-lived declaration of martial law last month.
In a video message, Yoon said he had agreed to submit to questioning to prevent a “bloody” clash between his bodyguards and the police. But he called the investigation and the warrant to detain him illegal. Here’s what to know about South Korea’s leadership crisis.
Investigators have 48 hours to question Yoon, after which they could apply for a separate warrant to formally arrest him. Separately, the Constitutional Court is deliberating whether the National Assembly’s Dec. 14 impeachment of Yoon was legitimate and whether the president, currently suspended, should be permanently removed from office.
Republicans embraced Hegseth’s bid to lead the Pentagon
Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary, emerged from a tense confirmation hearing yesterday with the Republican Party’s support intact. A Senate vote on whether he should lead the Pentagon — a department with three million employees and a budget of $849 billion — could come as soon as Monday.
Over hours of questioning, Democrats quizzed Hegseth about sexual misconduct allegations — Hegseth was accused of rape in 2017 — and his drinking habits. They called him unfit to lead the Pentagon and grilled Hegseth, a former Fox News host, on his long history of disparaging comments about women in the military.
What’s next: It was unclear whether Hegseth had left the hearing with the votes he needed. If all Senate Democrats oppose him, Hegseth will have to secure the backing of at least 50 of the 53 Republicans in the chamber.
Related: A report was released yesterday that detailed the special counsel’s investigation into Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election. Here are four takeaways.
MORE TOP NEWS
The Maha Kumbh Mela festival in India begins this week. It is expected to draw up to 400 million Hindu pilgrims to the banks of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers, in what would be the world’s largest gathering.
The ceremony happens every 12 years and centers on a series of holy baths. But it has also become an important political event. For Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it is a chance to promote his right-wing party.
The 24-hour diner
All-night diners are a signature New York institution. But in a city that supposedly never sleeps, they’re disappearing as costs rise and habits change.
Priya Krishna, a reporter for The Times, spent a Friday night at Kellogg’s Diner in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, dining nonstop from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. “Surprisingly, I drew no scrutiny from the staff for my hourslong stay,” she writes, “a heartening reminder that no other place will welcome you as unconditionally as an all-night diner.”
Read about Priya’s night of pecan pie, lost treasures and Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”
World
South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol arrested: report
Suspended South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has reportedly been arrested over insurrection charges stemming from his ill-fated martial law declaration last month.
Yoon’s detention was reported Wednesday by Yonhap, one of the country’s largest news outlets. A warrant for his arrest, initially requested after he failed to show up for questioning, has been out since Dec. 31.
Police dispatched some 3,200 officers to the president’s sprawling hillside estate in Seoul, according to Reuters, where he has spent weeks in hiding whilst surrounded by a personal security detail.
Video shows officers closing in on Yoon’s residence, according to Reuters, where hundreds of his supporters had already gathered to protest on his behalf. Earlier, they were reportedly seen pushing through a group of them.
SOUTH KOREA’S IMPEACHED PRESIDENT AVOIDS ARREST ATTEMPT AFTER HOURSLONG STANDOFF
A previous attempt to detain Yoon was called off on Jan. 3 following a six-hour standoff between military guards and the president’s security staff.
“As I have repeatedly emphasized the need for prevention of physical conflict between state agencies,” Acting President Choi Sang-mok said in a statement Wednesday. “I will sternly hold those responsible if unfortunate events occur.”
Executing a warrant for Yoon’s arrest has proven difficult for investigators, as the president’s legal counsel insists it is impossible to do so under a law barring non-consensual searches of locations potentially linked to military secrets.
Yoon’s lawyers have also decried such a warrant as an illegal means of publicly humiliating him.
ARREST WARRANT ISSUED FOR IMPEACHED SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT AS POLITICAL CRISIS DEEPENS
The arrest warrant is the first ever to be levied against a sitting South Korean president. Yoon’s warrant stems from his declaration of martial law on Dec. 3 out of apparent frustration with the opposition-dominated parliament’s refusal to pass key items on his political agenda.
The move was decried within South Korea and abroad, where analysts expressed shock at the sudden and unprecedented move in what is typically one of Asia’s most stable democracies.
Parliament unanimously rejected Yoon’s declaration, and subsequently suspended him on Dec. 14 in a 204-85 vote that included members of his own party.
Yoon will be formally impeached should the Constitutional Court uphold the motion with a three-fourths majority.
The court’s next hearing is scheduled for Thursday.
Reuters contributed to this report.
World
Looking for a job in IT? These countries are desperate for new hires
Over two-thirds of large companies struggle to fill their IT roles. What are the highest-paid jobs? Which countries are most in need?
As the IT sector continues to grow, thousands of European companies are having trouble filling the many positions available.
According to 2024 Eurostat data, 57.5% of EU businesses can’t recruit all the necessary ICT specialists.
The gap between labour demand and actual employment has grown by 20% in the past ten years.
Large businesses are facing the biggest challenges.
Sixty-eight per cent of them are unable to fill all their ICT specialist positions, followed by medium (59.2%) and small-sized enterprises (53.4%).
Germany, the Czech Republic, Malta, Austria, and Luxembourg are the countries most in need of ICT specialists, with at least 65% of businesses facing shortages.
The percentages are even higher for large enterprises: 84% in Malta, 80% in Germany, 79% in the Czech Republic, 78% in Slovenia, 76% in Austria, 75% in Luxembourg, 73% in Latvia, 72% in Hungary and 71% in Croatia.
Spain, Poland, and Bulgaria have the least hiring problems, although at least 30% of companies in these countries still face ICT shortages.
What are the highest-paid IT positions?
The main difficulties in recruitment, according to Eurostat, are a lack of applications, insufficient qualifications and experience, and high salary expectations.
Salaries in the ICT sector have consistently outpaced average wages in Europe in the last decade, according to the 2024 OECD Digital Economy Outlook. In the EU, in particular, annual wages grew by 0.24% compared to 0.20% in the rest of the economy.
Recruitment specialists Robert Walters have listed the top-paid ICT jobs in countries including Germany, which seems to be struggling the most in the EU to recruit specialists.
The highest-paid role is Chief Information Technology Officer, with an annual base of €150k for employees with at least three years of experience, to €180k for those with at least eight years.
The consultancy role in the highest bracket is the SAP/ERP one, with a base of €100k. (SAP ERP is an enterprise resource planning software.)
Data engineer and data scientist positions are both in the €100-120k bracket.
Video editor • Mert Can Yilmaz
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