Scott

CIA Director Bill Burns briefed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv last week on the US’ expectations for Russia’s battlefield planning in the spring, according to a US official and two Ukrainian sources familiar with the meeting. The secret meeting comes as US officials are closely monitoring a potential Russian offensive in the coming months – and in the midst of a fraught debate between the US and its European allies over whether to send increasingly sophisticated and long-range weaponry to Ukraine. Western defense leaders are scheduled to meet Friday to discuss further weapons shipments to Ukraine. https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/19/politics/cia-director-burns-zelensky-meeting-ukraine/index.html

Australian rangers have killed an invasive "monster" cane toad discovered in the wilds of a coastal park -- a warty brown specimen as long as a human arm and weighing 2.7 kilograms (6 pounds). The toad was spotted after a snake slithering across a track forced wildlife workers to stop as they were driving in Queensland's Conway National Park, the state government said. "I reached down and grabbed the cane toad and couldn't believe how big and heavy it was," ranger Kylee Gray said, describing how she discovered the amphibian last week. https://www.rawstory.com/australian-rangers-find-monster-2-7-kg-cane-toad/

Kim Kardashian is the new owner of a necklace that was worn by Princess Diana. The Attallah Cross was put up for sale at Sotheby's in London as part of its Royal and Noble Sale on Wednesday. Four people competed in a bidding war, with the US reality TV star winning the auction after five minutes. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-64330628

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The Supreme Court issued an investigative report on Thursday, announcing that it has yet to determine who leaked a draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade to the media last year, but at least 90 people had access to the document at one point. In a statement, the court said that the investigative team “has to date been unable to identify a person responsible by a preponderance of the evidence.” It is also unlikely the leak resulted from a computer hack, the statement said. https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/19/politics/supreme-court-dobbs-report-leak/index.html

King Charles has asked for a surge in profits from six new offshore wind farms on the Crown Estate, worth £1bn, to be used for the "wider public good", rather than the Royal Family. The Royal Household's public funding is based on 25% of Crown Estate profits. But King Charles wants to reduce this percentage so that more is kept by the Treasury to be used for public spending. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-64319323

There are positions which do not include the title of 'teacher', however, quite a few schools use them simply to make up for the lack of qualified teachers. Schools are limited in the number of auxiliary personnel they are allowed to hire. At one school I am familiar with, they can have up to 10% of the foreign staff who are considered as non-teaching. The auxiliary staff we had were required to have a degree but it did not have to be in education. Unless it is a bonafide, non-teaching position such as an administrative position, it will likely be under the watchful eye of the MOE and Immigration.

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A professor who was let go from her job after showing a class an artwork depicting the Prophet Muhammad has sued her former university, alleging religious discrimination and defamation. The case has raised issues of religious tolerance and academic freedom. The basic facts are not being disputed. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64243344

The US hit the debt ceiling set by Congress on Thursday, forcing the Treasury Department to start taking extraordinary measures to keep the government paying its bills and escalating pressure on Capitol Hill to avoid a catastrophic default. The battle lines for the high-stakes fight have already been set. Hardline Republicans, who have enormous sway in the House because of the party’s slim majority, have demanded that lifting the borrowing cap be tied to spending reductions. The White House countered that it will not offer any concessions or negotiate on raising the debt ceiling. https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/19/politics/debt-ceiling-deadline-treasury/index.html

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Alec Baldwin was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Halyna Hutchins. Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was the armorer on the film ‘Rust,’ was also charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter. Halyna's family thanked the sheriff's office and the DA after the charges were announced. https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/alec-baldwin-charged-involuntary-manslaughter-fatal-rust-shooting-district-attorney

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New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will step down by next month because she no longer has "enough in the tank" to do the job, she said. "I’m leaving because with such a privileged role comes responsibility — to know when you’re the right person to lead and also when you are not," said Ardern, who leads the country's Labour Party and won her first term 5 1/2 years ago. Ardern, 42, said Thursday afternoon local time (7 p.m. ET Wednesday) she would not seek reelection and planned to resign no later than Feb. 7. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/jacinda-ardern-says-will-resign-new-zealand-prime-minister-rcna66437

A man who beheaded his 17-year-old wife has been sentenced to eight years in prison in Iran, the judiciary says. Images of Sajjad Heydari carrying Mona's severed head in Ahvaz after the so-called "honour killing" last year caused widespread outrage. A judiciary spokesman said the leniency of the sentence was due to Mona's parents having "pardoned" him for the murder rather than seeking retribution. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-64319487

CNN — Two New Jersey veterans say now-Congressman George Santos promised to raise funds for lifesaving surgery for one of their dogs in 2016, then became elusive and took off with the money. Santos, the embattled freshman Republican, faces growing pressure to resign after he lied and misrepresented his educational, work and family history. Santos has admitted to “embellishing” his resume, but has maintained he is “not a criminal.” Rich Osthoff, a US Navy veteran, told CNN his pit bull Sapphire began developing a tumor in 2015, and it continued to grow in 2016. https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/18/politics/george-santos-veteran-dog-gofundme/index.html

The bizarre, ‘fake’ arrest of Greta Thunberg goes viral Video footage has emerged of climate activist Greta Thunberg posing with German police shortly before she was carried away and detained during mass protests against a coal mine in the town of Lützerath. Images of Thunberg being carried away by police were broadcast across the world, with some protesters claiming it amounted to police violence. However, the reality of the detainment appears to be far different than initially reported. https://rmx.news/article/the-bizarre-fake-arrest-of-greta-thunberg-goes-viral/

It seems they have been pretty good at finding new jobs: the vast majority of laid-off tech workers—about 79%—find work within three months of searching, according to a ZipRecruiter survey of 2,550 U.S. residents who started a new job between April and October. And 37% of laid-off tech workers got a new job in less than one month.Dec 27, 2022 https://fortune.com/2022/12/27/laid-off-tech-workers-finding-new-jobs/

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Just days before Donald Trump hosts his first 2024 event in South Carolina, a state whose evangelical population has long played a critical role in its presidential primary, the former president is lashing out at religious conservatives who have declined to endorse his third presidential campaign. Trump’s comments to conservative journalist David Brody in a podcast interview Monday, in which he decried the “disloyalty” of evangelical leaders who have withheld public support for his campaign, were the latest in a series of bewildering remarks he’s made about one of the most critical voting blocs in a Republican primary. “Nobody has ever done more for Right to Life than Donald Trump. https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/18/politics/donald-trump-evangelicals-2024/index.html

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New York/London CNN — Microsoft plans to lay off 10,000 employees as part of broader cost-cutting measures, the company said in a securities filing on Wednesday, making it the latest tech company to reduce staff because of growing economic uncertainty. Speaking before the layoff announcement at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said that the company was not immune to a weaker global economy. “No one can defy gravity and gravity here is inflation-adjusted economic growth,” he told WEF founder Klaus Schwab in a livestreamed discussion. https://edition.cnn.com/2023/01/18/tech/microsoft-layoffs/index.html

Stop with the nonsensical baiting and bickering.

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