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North Korean forces are experiencing mass casualties on the front lines of Russia's war against Ukraine, with a thousand of their troops killed or wounded in the last week alone in the Kursk region of Russia, White House spokesperson John Kirby has told reporters. or signup to continue reading The number far exceeds the figure US officials have previously provided. "It is clear that Russian and North Korean military leaders are treating these troops as expendable and ordering them on hopeless assaults against Ukrainian defenses," Kirby said on Friday, describing the North Korean troops' offensive as "massed, dismounted assaults." North Korea's mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and Russia's UN mission declined to comment. Kirby said President Joe Biden would likely approve another security assistance package for Ukraine in coming days. Earlier this week, Biden condemned Russia's Christmas Day attacks on Ukraine's energy system and some of its cities and asked the Defence Department to continue its surge of weapons to Ukraine. On December 17, a US military official said North Korea had suffered several hundred casualties while fighting against Ukrainian forces in Russia's Kursk region. Asked about what ranks the North Korean casualties included, the military official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said it was from lower-level troops to "very near to the top." In his nightly video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russian troops were sending the North Koreans into battle with minimal protection and that North Koreans were taking extreme measures to avoid being taken prisoner. "Their losses are significant, very significant. We see that neither the Russian military nor their North Korean overseers have any interest in ensuring the survival of these North Koreans," he said. "Everything is set up so that it is impossible for us to capture them. There are instances in which they are executed by their own forces. Russians send them into assaults with minimal protection." Ukrainian and Western intelligence reports say there are about 12,000 North Korean troops in Kursk, a Russian region on the border where Ukrainian forces are holding chunks of territory after staging an incursion in August. Earlier this week, Zelenskiy said more than 3000 North Koreans had been killed or wounded. He said Ukrainian forces had managed to take a few North Korean soldiers prisoner "but they were severely wounded and it was not possible to save their lives". Zelenskiy said the Korean people "should not be losing their lives in battles in Europe. This is something that Korea's neighbours, including China, can influence." "If China is sincere in its statements that the war should not expand, it needs to exert appropriate pressure on Pyongyang." Reuters was unable to independently verify reports of combat losses. DAILY Today's top stories curated by our news team. WEEKDAYS Grab a quick bite of today's latest news from around the region and the nation. WEEKLY The latest news, results & expert analysis. WEEKDAYS Catch up on the news of the day and unwind with great reading for your evening. WEEKLY Get the editor's insights: what's happening & why it matters. WEEKLY Love footy? We've got all the action covered. WEEKLY Every Saturday and Tuesday, explore destinations deals, tips & travel writing to transport you around the globe. WEEKLY Going out or staying in? Find out what's on. WEEKDAYS Sharp. Close to the ground. Digging deep. Your weekday morning newsletter on national affairs, politics and more. TWICE WEEKLY Your essential national news digest: all the big issues on Wednesday and great reading every Saturday. WEEKLY Get news, reviews and expert insights every Thursday from CarExpert, ACM's exclusive motoring partner. TWICE WEEKLY Get real, Australia! Let the ACM network's editors and journalists bring you news and views from all over. AS IT HAPPENS Be the first to know when news breaks. DAILY Your digital replica of Today's Paper. Ready to read from 5am! DAILY Test your skills with interactive crosswords, sudoku & trivia. Fresh daily! Advertisement AdvertisementThe Bears say they want to stay in Chicago, but their potential drive to the northwest suburbs just got easier. Team officials announced Monday they’ve reached a tentative agreement with the village of Arlington Heights and local school district leaders who’ve sparred with the Bears over the property tax valuation on the shuttered Arlington International Racecourse, the 326-acre plot the team closed on early last year as a potential new stadium site. After about a year of wrangling over the size of the team’s property tax bill — and a year of political roadblocks to the Bears’ hopes for funding a new stadium in Chicago — the team says it has a memorandum of understanding that opens the runway for them to land in Arlington Heights. But their first choice is still Chicago, team officials insist, raising the constant question of whether the Bears’ latest announcement is a push for leverage in stadium negotiations that have now stretched over three years. In a statement, team officials said they “remain focused on investing over $2 billion to build a publicly owned enclosed stadium on Chicago’s lakefront while reevaluating the feasibility of a development in Bronzeville.” “That being said, we remain significant landowners in Arlington Heights and establishing a framework for potential future development planning, financing and property tax certainty has been a priority since the land was purchased. We continue to have productive conversations with the village and school districts and are aligned on a framework should we choose to explore a potential development,” team officials said. Arlington Heights Mayor Tom Hayes said the property tax deal was not yet signed, noting it requires approval from the boards of the village, Township High School District 214, Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 and Palatine Township Elementary District 15. “It’s pretty clear the Bears are still focused on the lakefront, but we’ve always considered Arlington Park and Arlington Heights a strong, if not the best contender, and I’m really optimistic about the progress we’ve made,” Hayes said. A spokesperson for the village and school districts said “we have a common understanding with the team on how to create a framework for potential development, financing, and property tax certainty in Arlington Heights that works for all parties.” Officials declined to say what number the sides landed on. It’s expected to be announced next week. A year after the Bears closed on their $197.2 million purchase, the Cook County Board of Review in February handed the Bears a $124.7 million valuation on Arlington Park, which would result in a property tax hit of about $9 million. The team argued their case to the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board, seeking to have the valuation lowered to $60 million, for a $1.7 million tax bill. The three suburban school districts, which are funded by property taxes, intervened in the case with proposals that would set the bill around $5 million. Once all but certain for a suburban move, the stalemate prompted the Bears to shift their focus back toward the Museum Campus, where the team in April unveiled a proposal for a $4.7 billion dome south of Soldier Field . Their plan, which requires upwards of $1 billion in public funding , drew cheers from Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson — and cold shoulders from state lawmakers in Springfield. The team called an audible from their city stadium playbook earlier this month, and are now reevaluating the former Michael Reese Hospital site in Bronzeville as a potential home, despite the fact team president Kevin Warren previously dismissed it as too narrow to house a modern NFL dome. Johnson’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday’s announcement. The Bears unveiled conceptual designs in 2022 for a massive mixed-use stadium district at Arlington Park, the home of Illinois’ most famous horse racing track for nearly a century until the last races were run in 2021. Their suburban proposal for the sprawling plot includes office space, a sportsbook, small residential neighborhoods, retail and park space alongside a $5 billion dome. They would need state help to fund that infrastructure work, a prospect similarly stymied so far in Springfield. Such a development would take about a decade to complete, the team has said. They’re under lease at Soldier Field through 2033 . The Arlington Heights mayor called it “a long road” to landing the property tax deal. “We’ve been working aggressively to get everyone singing from the same music over the last year,” Hayes said, adding that he doesn’t think the Bears are merely trying to raise pressure on state lawmakers to help them stay in Chicago. “I understand their desire to do their due diligence and get the best deal,” Hayes said. “That’s what we’re all doing.”
OpenAI whistleblower found dead in San Francisco apartment
Wayne Rustad, 80
Taking the witness stand on Thursday, Santa Clara Councilmember Suds Jain testified that he “assumed” Vice Mayor Anthony Becker gave the electric “Unsportsmanlike Conduct” report to a journalist before it was public — a slight deviation from testimony he gave to the criminal grand jury that indicted Becker last year. Jain said that Becker — one of his allies on the Santa Clara City Council since 2020 — had called him about two or three weeks before he was expected to testify in front of a criminal grand jury on March 29, 2023. During the phone call, Jain said that Becker admitted he had given the Santa Clara County civil grand jury report to Carolyn Schuk, an editor at the Silicon Valley Voice. Becker is currently on trial in Santa Clara County Superior Court in Morgan Hill for allegedly leaking the 2022 report — which chastised five members of the Santa Clara City Council for their relationship with San Francisco 49ers lobbyists — as well as felony perjury for allegedly lying about the leak under oath. The controversial report was supposed to be released publicly on Oct. 10, 2022, but appeared in several media outlets a few days prior. Rahul Chandhok, the 49ers’ former chief of communications, testified last week that Becker leaked him the report . During Jain’s March 29 testimony to the criminal grand jury, Deputy District Attorney Jason Malinsky asked the councilmember if Becker told him that he sent the report to a journalist “before it was public.” Jain confirmed that Becker had. But back in court on Thursday, Jain said he didn’t recall his prior testimony. “He told me that he had given the report to Carolyn Shuk,” Jain said. “I assumed it was during that period.” At one point, Malinsky showed Jain his prior testimony, to which he responded that he believed he was “confused.” The recently re-elected councilmember said that he wished Becker hadn’t told him. At the time, the two were discussing “how much stress he was under.” “I knew I had a subpoena, and it would have been better if he hadn’t told me,” he said. “It put me in a difficult position.” Jain testified that he didn’t ask his colleague any follow-up questions because he “did not want to know anymore.” When asked by a juror why Becker would have to give a journalist the report if it was already publicly available on the county’s website, Jain said “it’s possible that a reporter didn’t know where to find it. I don’t know.” Following Jain’s testimony, the prosecution played an audio recording of their interview with Becker on Dec. 28, 2022. Fernando Ramirez Jr., a criminalist with the Santa Clara County Crime Laboratory, testified as an expert witness the day prior that a forensic analysis of Becker’s phone showed that he had uninstalled Signal — the encrypted messaging app he allegedly used to leak the report — on Dec. 28 at 9:09 a.m. Becker’s meeting with Malinsky and Ben Holt, a criminal investigator with the DA’s office, commenced at 9:17 a.m. — less than nine minutes after data showed he deleted the app. In a snippet of the interview that was played for the jury, Becker said he hadn’t communicated with anyone from the 49ers “for a while.” He told Malinsky and Holt that he only used his phone’s native texting app to communicate with Chandhok, his main contact at the 49ers. Becker said he didn’t use Signal. But when asked by Malinsky if he used it in the past, he questioned why he was being asked so much about Chandhok. “Do I need a lawyer, because this is starting to get really inquisitive about my relationship with the 49ers?” Becker said. The vice mayor eventually admitted to having used the app in the past with one of his campaign staffers. When Malinsky asked Becker if he had used it to communicate with Chandhok, he said he didn’t know. “I don’t know why this is so important if we had conversations on Signal,” he said. Becker also denied leaking the grand jury report during the interview, and said he deleted Signal off of his phone “some time after the election.” The DA’s office served Becker with a search warrant following the interview.WARMINGTON: Jagmeet Singh gets away with 'older white men’ comment while Grapes and others cancelled
MADRID (AP) — Real Valladolid beat Valencia 1-0 and rose off the bottom of La Liga on Friday. Moroccan forward Anuar scored with a solo effort after 19 minutes. “It's a sense of relief because we needed the three points,” Anuar said on broadcaster DAZN. “It was like a final, and fortunately, we managed to come out on top.” Valladolid's Juanmi Latasa was sent off 12 minutes from time after a video review showed he used an elbow, but the home side managed to hold on for the win against a toothless rival. It was a welcome three points for caretaker coach Álvaro Rubio and his first since replacing Paulo Pezzolano, who was fired at the start of December. Valencia replaced Valladolid on the bottom of the table. Valencia has only two wins in 15 league games, but two games in hand. AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccerVikings place LB Ivan Pace on injured reserve and sign LB Jamin Davis off Packers practice squad