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President Putin Issues 36-Hour Holiday Weekend In Ukraine Ceasefire For Orthodox Christmas

(CTN NEWS) – KYIV, Ukraine – This weekend for the Orthodox Christmas holiday, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his armed forces to observe a unilateral 36-hour cease-fire in Ukraine, the first such broad-reaching truce action in the conflict’s nearly 11-month history.
It was unclear whether hostilities would actually end on the 1,100-kilometer (684-mile) front line or elsewhere because Putin did not appear to make his cease-fire order contingent on a Ukrainian willingness to follow suit.
Russian peace efforts have previously been disregarded by Ukrainian officials as a stalling tactic by Moscow to gather its forces and be ready for new assaults.

A woman sits in a boat crossing the Siverskyi-Donets river near Staryi-Saltiv, Kharkiv region on Wednesday Jan. 4, 2023, transporting the coffin containing her dead son, a soldier who was killed in fighting with Russians. (AP Photo/Erik Marmor)
Russian authorities have issued temporary local cease-fires at several spots during the conflict that broke out on February 24 to allow for the evacuation of civilians or other humanitarian objectives.
Putin’s command on Thursday marked the first time he had asked his soldiers to respect a cease-fire over the entire country of Ukraine.
According to Putin’s order, which was sent to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and made public on the Kremlin website,
“We call on the Ukrainian side to proclaim a cease-fire and offer them the opportunity to attend services on Christmas Eve, as well as on the Day of the Nativity of Christ,” given that a significant number of individuals professing Orthodoxy live in the battle regions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Mykhailo Podolyak, a presidential adviser for Ukraine, tweeted that Russian soldiers “must leave the occupied territory” before there can be a “temporary truce,” however, this was not necessarily the final official statement from Kyiv. Avoid being hypocritical yourself.
Although he declined to make any direct comments, U.S. President Joe Biden stated on Thursday at the White House that it was “interesting” that Putin was prepared to target hospitals, daycare centers, and churches on Christmas and New Year’s.
He declared, “I believe he’s looking for some oxygen.”
More. Maybe Russians don’t understand human language. I offer Putin/Gundyaev/others to return to Dec 25 or the night of Dec 31 to Jan 1 and, under the howl of missiles & drones flying to kill Ukrainians, discuss the “Christmas truce”. In the bloody scenery so dear to their hearts
— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) January 5, 2023
Putin followed the advice of Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, who suggested a ceasefire from midday on Friday to midnight on Saturday Moscow time (0900 GMT Friday to 2100 GMT Saturday; 4 a.m. EST Friday to 3 p.m. EST Saturday).
Although some Christians in Ukraine also observe Christmas on that day, the Orthodox Church, which follows the antiquated Julian calendar, celebrates the holiday on January 7—a day later than the Gregorian calendar.

Local residents carry the body of a 20-year-old man killed in Russian shelling in Kherson, Ukraine, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023. (AP Photo/LIBKOS)
Podolyak had regarded the call from Kirill before as “a cynical trap and a component of propaganda.” Prior to December 25, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recommended a Russian army withdrawal; however, Russia rejected it.
Kirill has previously defended the conflict as a component of Russia’s “metaphysical struggle” against Western liberal ideologies.
According to independent political analyst Tatyana Stanovaya, Putin’s decision for a cease-fire is meant to give the impression that he is rational and interested in peace.
The action “fits perfectly with Putin’s reasoning, according to which Russia is standing on the right side of history and battling for justice,” she said.

Local residents carry the body of a 20-year-old man, killed in Russian shelling in Kherson, Ukraine, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023. (AP Photo/LIBKOS)
Stanovaya, the founder of the independent R.Politik think tank, remarked on Telegram,
“We must not forget that in this conflict, Putin feels like a “good guy,” doing good not only for himself and the “brotherly nations,” but also for the globe he is liberating from the “hegemony” of the United States.
She further connected Putin’s action to the recent attack by Ukrainian forces on Makiivka, which resulted in the deaths of at least 89 Russian service members.
#Putin's Christmas #ceasefire, which was announced today, fits well with his logic, in which #Russia acts on the good side of history and fights for justice. This is of course how he understands it. 1/4
— R.Politik (@R__Politik) January 5, 2023
The analyst stated that he genuinely doesn’t want to receive something similar for Christmas.
Some in Kyiv’s soggy streets questioned the Russians’ sincerity in proposing a cease-fire.
Svitlana Zhereva questioned, “Shall we believe Russians?” in response to Kirill’s suggestion.
They try to portray themselves as saints who are opposed to bloodshed, but on the one hand, they approve of war and killing. But one should evaluate people based on their deeds.
According to the Turkish president’s office, Putin ordered a cease-fire after being asked to do so by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a phone call on Thursday.
According to the Kremlin, the Russian president reportedly “reaffirmed Russia’s openness to a serious engagement” with Ukrainian authorities.

Local citizens walk near a Christmas tree decorated for Orthodox Christmas and the New Year festivities in Mariupol, in Russian-controlled Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov)
Erdogan also stated over the phone to Zelenskyy that Turkey was prepared to serve as a “lasting peace” mediator.
Erdogan routinely made such promises, assisted in negotiating a deal allowing Ukraine to export millions of tonnes of grain, and helped arrange a prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine.
The Kremlin noted that Russia’s announced willingness to engage in peace negotiations came with the customary conditions:
“Kyiv authorities meet the well-known and often expressed demands and recognize new territorial realities,” referring to Moscow’s desire that Ukraine recognizes Crimea as part of Russia and other illegitimate territorial gains.
Due to Russia’s territorial claims and Ukraine’s insistence that Russia withdraw from occupied territory, previous attempts at peace talks have failed.

Ukrainian servicemen set up a mortar for firing it towards positions of Russian troops, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in the outskirts of Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine December 30, 2022. REUTERS/Anna Kudriavtseva
Another official stated that Moscow’s position on Ukraine has not changed and that Moscow “wants a Europe where they can control a neighboring country.”
In Oslo, Norway, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated, “We have no signs that President Putin has modified his objectives or his goals for Ukraine.”
Individual NATO nations supply Ukraine with more powerful weapons as they scale up their military assistance.
The French Defense Ministry recently pledged that it will soon hold discussions with its Ukrainian equivalent about supplying armoured combat vehicles.
According to the French presidency, the Ukrainian military would receive this kind of Western-made wheeled tank destroyer for the first time.
According to Biden, the United States might send Bradley Fighting Vehicles—a medium-armored fighting vehicle that can also be used as a troop transport—to Ukraine.
The battleground appears to have reached a standstill as additional weaponry arrive, turning the conflict into an attrition struggle. The mobility of troops and equipment is more constrained as winter approaches.

Local citizens watch a performance near a Christmas tree decorated for Orthodox Christmas and the New Year festivities in Mariupol, in Russian-controlled Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov)
During the most recent battle, at least five civilians were killed and eight were injured nationwide by Russian shelling, according to Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential office.
According to Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko, a violent conflict has left 60% of Bakhmut’s eastern city in ruins. The Russians appear to be being held back by Ukrainian defenses.
In addition to giving Putin a significant military victory after months of losses, capturing the city in the Donbas region.
A vast industrial area bordering Russia, would cut off Ukraine’s supply routes and allow Moscow’s forces to advance on important Ukrainian strongholds in Donetsk.

Ukrainian servicemen ride an Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC), as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, in the village of Torske, Donetsk region, Ukraine December 30, 2022. REUTERS/Yevhen Titov
The first prisoners recruited for battle by the Wagner Group, a Russian private military contractor, earned a promised government amnesty after spending six months on the front line in what appeared to be an effort to persuade other individuals to join the struggle.
The rich owner of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was shown shaking hands with roughly 20 individuals who had been pardoned in a footage that the state news agency RIA Novosti aired.
Last month, the White House said that Wagner had 50,000 fighters in Ukraine, including 40,000 prisoners who had been recruited. According to U.S. estimates, Wagner invests around $100 million yearly on the conflict.
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Trudeau’s Gun Grab Could Cost Taxpayers a Whopping $7 Billion

A recent report indicates that since Trudeau’s announcement of his gun buyback program four years ago, almost none of the banned firearms have been surrendered.
The federal government plans to purchase 2,063 firearm models from retailers following the enactment of Bill C-21, which amends various Acts and introduces certain consequential changes related to firearms. It was granted royal assent on December 15 of last year.
This ban immediately criminalized the actions of federally-licensed firearms owners regarding the purchase, sale, transportation, importation, exportation, or use of hundreds of thousands of rifles and shotguns that were previously legal.
The gun ban focused on what it termed ‘assault-style weapons,’ which are, in reality, traditional semi-automatic rifles and shotguns that have enjoyed popularity among hunters and sport shooters for over a century.
In May 2020, the federal government enacted an Order-in-Council that prohibited 1,500 types of “assault-style” firearms and outlined specific components of the newly banned firearms. Property owners must adhere to the law by October 2023.
Trudeau’s Buyback Hasn’t Happened
“In the announcement regarding the ban, the prime minister stated that the government would seize the prohibited firearms, assuring that their lawful owners would be ‘grandfathered’ or compensated fairly.” “That hasn’t happened,” criminologist Gary Mauser told Rebel News.
Mauser projected expenses ranging from $2.6 billion to $6.7 billion. The figure reflects the compensation costs amounting to $756 million, as outlined by the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO).
“The projected expenses for gathering the illegal firearms are estimated to range from $1.6 billion to $7 billion.” “This range estimate increases to between $2.647 billion and $7 billion when compensation costs to owners are factored in,” Mauser stated.
Figures requested by Conservative MP Shannon Stubbs concerning firearms prohibited due to the May 1, 2020 Order In Council reveal that $72 million has been allocated to the firearm “buyback” program, yet not a single firearm has been confiscated to date.
In a recent revelation, Public Safety Canada disclosed that the federal government allocated a staggering $41,094,556, as prompted by an order paper question from Conservative Senator Don Plett last September, yet yielded no tangible outcomes.
An internal memo from late 2019 revealed that the Liberals projected their politically motivated harassment would incur a cost of $1.8 billion.
Enforcement efforts Questioned
By December 2023, estimates from TheGunBlog.ca indicate that the Liberals and RCMP had incurred or were responsible for approximately $30 million in personnel expenses related to the enforcement efforts. The union representing the police service previously stated that the effort to confiscate firearms is a “misdirected effort” aimed at ensuring public safety.
“This action diverts crucial personnel, resources, and funding from tackling the more pressing and escalating issue of criminal use of illegal firearms,” stated the National Police Federation (NPF).
The Canadian Sporting Arms & Ammunition Association (CSAAA), representing firearms retailers, has stated it will have “zero involvement” in the confiscation of these firearms. Even Canada Post held back from providing assistance due to safety concerns.
The consultant previously assessed that retailers are sitting on almost $1 billion worth of inventory that cannot be sold or returned to suppliers because of the Order-In-Council.
“Despite the ongoing confusion surrounding the ban, after four years, we ought to be able to address one crucial question.” Has the prohibition enhanced safety for Canadians? Mauser asks.
Illegally Obtained Firearms are the Problem
Statistics Canada reports a 10% increase in firearm-related violent crime between 2020 and 2022, rising from 12,614 incidents to 13,937 incidents. In that timeframe, the incidence of firearm-related violent crime increased from 33.7 incidents per 100,000 population in 2021 to 36.7 incidents the subsequent year.
“This marks the highest rate documented since the collection of comparable data began in 2009,” the criminologist explains.
Supplementary DataData indicates that firearm homicides have risen since 2020. “The issue lies not with lawfully-held firearms,” Mauser stated.
Firearms that have been banned under the Order-in-Council continue to be securely stored in the safes of their lawful owners. The individuals underwent a thorough vetting process by the RCMP and are subject to nightly monitoring to ensure there are no infractions that could pose a risk to public safety.
“The firearms involved in homicides were seldom legally owned weapons wielded by their rightful owners,” Mauser continues. The number of offenses linked to organized crime has surged from 4,810 in 2016 to a staggering 13,056 in 2020.
“If those in power … aim to diminish crime and enhance public safety, they ought to implement strategies that effectively focus on offenders and utilize our limited tax resources judiciously to reach these objectives,” he stated.
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Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding, But Still Accounting 48% Search Revenue

Google is so closely associated with its key product that its name is a verb that signifies “search.” However, Google’s dominance in that sector is dwindling.
According to eMarketer, Google will lose control of the US search industry for the first time in decades next year.
Google will remain the dominant search player, accounting for 48% of American search advertising revenue. And, remarkably, Google is still increasing its sales in the field, despite being the dominating player in search since the early days of the George W. Bush administration. However, Amazon is growing at a quicker rate.
Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding
Amazon will hold over a quarter of US search ad dollars next year, rising to 27% by 2026, while Google will fall even more, according to eMarketer.
The Wall Street Journal was first to report on the forecast.
Lest you think you’ll have to switch to Bing or Yahoo, this isn’t the end of Google or anything really near.
Google is the fourth-most valued public firm in the world. Its market worth is $2.1 trillion, trailing just Apple, Microsoft, and the AI chip darling Nvidia. It also maintains its dominance in other industries, such as display advertisements, where it dominates alongside Facebook’s parent firm Meta, and video ads on YouTube.
To put those “other” firms in context, each is worth more than Delta Air Lines’ total market value. So, yeah, Google is not going anywhere.
Nonetheless, Google faces numerous dangers to its operations, particularly from antitrust regulators.
On Monday, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled that Google must open up its Google Play Store to competitors, dealing a significant blow to the firm in its long-running battle with Fortnite creator Epic Games. Google announced that it would appeal the verdict.
In August, a federal judge ruled that Google has an illegal monopoly on search. That verdict could lead to the dissolution of the company’s search operation. Another antitrust lawsuit filed last month accuses Google of abusing its dominance in the online advertising business.
Meanwhile, European regulators have compelled Google to follow tough new standards, which have resulted in multiple $1 billion-plus fines.

Pixa Bay
Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding
On top of that, the marketplace is becoming more difficult on its own.
TikTok, the fastest-growing social network, is expanding into the search market. And Amazon has accomplished something few other digital titans have done to date: it has established a habit.
When you want to buy anything, you usually go to Amazon, not Google. Amazon then buys adverts to push companies’ products to the top of your search results, increasing sales and earning Amazon a greater portion of the revenue. According to eMarketer, it is expected to generate $27.8 billion in search revenue in the United States next year, trailing only Google’s $62.9 billion total.
And then there’s AI, the technology that (supposedly) will change everything.
Why search in stilted language for “kendall jenner why bad bunny breakup” or “police moving violation driver rights no stop sign” when you can just ask OpenAI’s ChatGPT, “What’s going on with Kendall Jenner and Bad Bunny?” in “I need help fighting a moving violation involving a stop sign that wasn’t visible.” Google is working on exactly this technology with its Gemini product, but its success is far from guaranteed, especially with Apple collaborating with OpenAI and other businesses rapidly joining the market.
A Google spokeswoman referred to a blog post from last week in which the company unveiled ads in its AI overviews (the AI-generated text that appears at the top of search results). It’s Google’s way of expressing its ability to profit on a changing marketplace while retaining its business, even as its consumers steadily transition to ask-and-answer AI and away from search.
Google has long used a single catchphrase to defend itself against opponents who claim it is a monopoly abusing its power: competition is only a click away. Until recently, that seemed comically obtuse. Really? We are going to switch to Bing? Or Duck Duck Go? Give me a break.
But today, it feels more like reality.
Google is in no danger of disappearing. However, every highly dominating company faces some type of reckoning over time. GE, a Dow mainstay for more than a century, was broken up last year and is now a shell of its previous dominance. Sears declared bankruptcy in 2022 and is virtually out of business. US Steel, long the foundation of American manufacturing, is attempting to sell itself to a Japanese corporation.
SOURCE | CNN
News
The Supreme Court Turns Down Biden’s Government Appeal in a Texas Emergency Abortion Matter.

(VOR News) – A ruling that prohibits emergency abortions that contravene the Supreme Court law in the state of Texas, which has one of the most stringent abortion restrictions in the country, has been upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States. The United States Supreme Court upheld this decision.
The justices did not provide any specifics regarding the underlying reasons for their decision to uphold an order from a lower court that declared hospitals cannot be legally obligated to administer abortions if doing so would violate the law in the state of Texas.
Institutions are not required to perform abortions, as stipulated in the decree. The common populace did not investigate any opposing viewpoints. The decision was made just weeks before a presidential election that brought abortion to the forefront of the political agenda.
This decision follows the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that ended abortion nationwide.
In response to a request from the administration of Vice President Joe Biden to overturn the lower court’s decision, the justices expressed their disapproval.
The government contends that hospitals are obligated to perform abortions in compliance with federal legislation when the health or life of an expectant patient is in an exceedingly precarious condition.
This is the case in regions where the procedure is prohibited. The difficulty hospitals in Texas and other states are experiencing in determining whether or not routine care could be in violation of stringent state laws that prohibit abortion has resulted in an increase in the number of complaints concerning pregnant women who are experiencing medical distress being turned away from emergency rooms.
The administration cited the Supreme Court’s ruling in a case that bore a striking resemblance to the one that was presented to it in Idaho at the beginning of the year. The justices took a limited decision in that case to allow the continuation of emergency abortions without interruption while a lawsuit was still being heard.
In contrast, Texas has been a vocal proponent of the injunction’s continued enforcement. Texas has argued that its circumstances are distinct from those of Idaho, as the state does have an exemption for situations that pose a significant hazard to the health of an expectant patient.
According to the state, the discrepancy is the result of this exemption. The state of Idaho had a provision that safeguarded a woman’s life when the issue was first broached; however, it did not include protection for her health.
Certified medical practitioners are not obligated to wait until a woman’s life is in imminent peril before they are legally permitted to perform an abortion, as determined by the state supreme court.
The state of Texas highlighted this to the Supreme Court.
Nevertheless, medical professionals have criticized the Texas statute as being perilously ambiguous, and a medical board has declined to provide a list of all the disorders that are eligible for an exception. Furthermore, the statute has been criticized for its hazardous ambiguity.
For an extended period, termination of pregnancies has been a standard procedure in medical treatment for individuals who have been experiencing significant issues. It is implemented in this manner to prevent catastrophic outcomes, such as sepsis, organ failure, and other severe scenarios.
Nevertheless, medical professionals and hospitals in Texas and other states with strict abortion laws have noted that it is uncertain whether or not these terminations could be in violation of abortion prohibitions that include the possibility of a prison sentence. This is the case in regions where abortion prohibitions are exceedingly restrictive.
Following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which resulted in restrictions on the rights of women to have abortions in several Republican-ruled states, the Texas case was revisited in 2022.
As per the orders that were disclosed by the administration of Vice President Joe Biden, hospitals are still required to provide abortions in cases that are classified as dire emergency.
As stipulated in a piece of health care legislation, the majority of hospitals are obligated to provide medical assistance to patients who are experiencing medical distress. This is in accordance with the law.
The state of Texas maintained that hospitals should not be obligated to provide abortions throughout the litigation, as doing so would violate the state’s constitutional prohibition on abortions. In its January judgment, the 5th United States Circuit Court of Appeals concurred with the state and acknowledged that the administration had exceeded its authority.
SOURCE: AP
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