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Canada advances to World Cup for first time in 36 years

TORONTO -- Cyle Larin, Tajon Buchanan and Junior Hoilett scored and Canada secured its first World Cup berth in 36 years with a 4-0 victory over Jamaica on Sunday. Canada has been to the World Cup just once before, in 1986. “Speechless. Dream come true,” midfielder Jonathan Osorio said. “We all dreamed of this as little kids, and as a Canadian that was impossible. Today the impossible happened. It’s an incredible feeling." Canada missed out a chance to secure a spot in Qatar last week with a 1-0 loss to Costa Rica. It was Canada's first loss in three World Cup qualifying rounds and it snapped a six-game winning streak. Boosted by the home crowd at BMO Filed, Canada rebounded in a big way against the Jamaicans, who were already eliminated from World Cup contention. Following the match the fans broke into the Canadian national anthem and Osorio led the crowd for a drum chant before the team danced on the field. Buchanan circled the field waving Canada’s flag. Canada coa...

Ukraine pleads for help, says Russia wants to split nation

LVIV, Ukraine -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused the West of cowardice Sunday while another top official said Russia was trying to split the nation in two, like North and South Korea. Zelenskyy made an exasperated plea for fighter jets and tanks to sustain a defense as his country continues battling Russia’s invading troops. Russia now says its main focus is on taking control of the eastern Donbas region, an apparent pullback from its earlier, more expansive goals, but one which is raising fears of a divided Ukraine. Speaking after U.S. President Joe Biden said in a lacerating speech that Russian President Vladimir Putin could not stay in power — words the White House immediately sought to downplay — Zelenskyy lashed out at the West’s “ping-pong about who and how should hand over jets” and other weapons while Russian missile attacks kill and trap civilians. “I’ve talked to the defenders of Mariupol today. I’m in constant contact with them. Their determination, herois...

Mississippi lawmakers pass largest-ever state income tax cut

JACKSON, Miss. -- Mississippi, one of the poorest states in the nation with perpetually underfunded schools and struggling rural hospitals, had its largest-ever tax cut passed by lawmakers Sunday. The Republican-controlled state House and Senate voted by wide margins to pass a bill that would reduce the state income tax over four years, beginning in 2023. The bill goes to Republican Gov. Tate Reeves. He has indicated he will sign it into law. “This affects every Mississippian that gets up and goes to work," Senate Finance Committee Chairman Josh Harkins, a Republican from Flowood, said Sunday. Supporters say a significant tax cut could spur economic growth and attract new residents to Mississippi, which was one of three states that lost population during the decade before the 2020 Census. “This tax cut will make Mississippi one of the most work-friendly states in the nation,” said Republican House Speaker Philip Gunn. Opponents say reducing the income tax would mean les...

Putin's demand for ruble payments? No way! say EU nations

BRUSSELS -- President Vladimir Putin's threat to have “unfriendly” countries pay for Russian natural gas exports only in rubles from now on got the not-so-friendly treatment from European Union nations Thursday. “I don’t think anybody in Europe really know how rubles look like,” said Slovene Prime Minister Janez Jansa. “Nobody will pay in rubles.” If others put it less bluntly, it came down to the same — from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who as former chief of the European Central Bank, knows something about currencies. Early this week, Putin launched the idea that because of Western sanctions targeting the Kremlin and freezing Russian assets, they were "effectively drawing a line over reliability of their currencies, undermining the trust for those currencies.” So instead of euros and dollars, Putin wants Russian rubles for Russian gas. Economists said the move appeared designed to try to support the ruble, which has collapsed aga...

Ukrainian forces on offensive, Russian combat capability falls below 90%: Pentagon update

Russian forces estimated below 90% combat capability for first time "Let me remind, that is of the combat power that they assembled in Belarus, and in the western part of their country prior to the invasion, it is not an assessment of all Russian military power," the official said. "But we assessed it for the first time they may be just a little bit below 90% on that. And no indications, no tangible indications of reinforcements being brought in from elsewhere in the country, no tangible indications of foreign fighters that have flown into the country ... no indications that they've moved in foreign fighters from Syria or elsewhere. "And on resupply, again, no tangible indications that they are making an effort to resupply from outside the theater there that they're pulling in from elsewhere around the around Russia. But we do continue to see indications that they are having these discussions and that they are making those kinds of plans." MORE: Bide...

'Big lie' takes new twists for GOP: The Note

Just because the grievances are familiar and false doesn't make them less relevant -- sometimes even in new and surprising ways. Former President Donald Trump is set to speak in Georgia on Saturday, two months ahead of primaries in which Trump himself has put his false claims about 2020 before Republican voters. His favored candidates will be on hand to introduce him, and he will almost certainly attack incumbent Republicans who rightly say he lost. What that means to GOP lawmakers has come into even sharper focus in recent days. A group of Georgia voters has filed a challenge to the right of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., to run for reelection, citing the 14th Amendment's disqualification from Congress of anyone who "shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion" against the United States. Similar challenges are also facing Trump-loyal candidates in North Carolina and Wisconsin. And those cases got a new twist courtesy of a separate development this week. ...