Bathroom break nearly derails $22 million project at city council meeting
A brief break during Wednesday's city council meeting in Saskatoon nearly cost the city dearly.
The leaders of five European Union countries urged their neighbours and allies Wednesday to ramp up military support for Ukraine, while the bloc's defence ministers debated ways to help meet the war-ravaged country's ammunition shortfall.
In their appeal, the leaders of the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Germany and the Netherlands warned that Europe's security is tied to the fighting that started almost two years ago with Russia's invasion of its neighbour.
"Our ability to continue to support and sustain Ukraine's defence, both during the winter and in the longer term, is decisive," they wrote in the Financial Times newspaper. "In fact, it is a matter of our common European security."
With neither Russian nor Ukrainian troops demonstrating an advantage in the drawn-out conflict, fears are growing that public support for Ukraine's war effort is waning. EU and NATO leaders, who are among Ukraine's main backers, have shifted from praising the country's battlefield gains to celebrating its ability to survive against a more powerful enemy.
The prospect of Donald Trump returning to the White House after the U.S. presidential election in November is also driving leaders and military officers to demand that Europe must do more to defend itself. During his last term, Trump undermined confidence among NATO allies that the U.S. would back them in a security crisis.
In the Financial Times, the five leaders said it was vital to speed up arms deliveries up given that the war was unlikely to end soon.
"Russia doesn't wait for anybody, and we need to act now. If Ukraine loses, the long-term consequences and costs will be much higher for all of us," they wrote. "We Europeans have a special responsibility. Therefore, we must act. Europe's future depends on it."
According to EU estimates, Ukraine was firing around 4,000 to 7,000 artillery shells each day last summer, while Russia was launching more than 20,000 shells a day in its neighbour's territory. Russia's arms industry far outweighs Ukraine's, and Kyiv has relied on Western help to match Moscow's firepower.
Yet the 27-nation EU's plans to produce 1 million artillery rounds for Ukraine have fallen short, with only about a third of the target met. Senior EU officials have said they now expect the European defence industry to be capable of producing around 1 million shells annually by the end of this year.
But the shells will not arrive quickly. NATO's procurement agency said last week that delivery of ammunition orders can take anywhere from 24 to 36 months. Even the five leaders conceded that deliveries could take a year.
"What is urgent today is to provide the ammunition and weapon systems, including howitzers, tanks, UAVs and air defence, that Ukraine so urgently needs on the ground. Now," they wrote.
EU defence ministers meeting in Brussels on Wednesday discussed ways to further boost production.
While not targeted by the five leaders, France has been accused of failing to provide sufficient support given its size and military weight. Still, on Jan. 18, France announced more planned deliveries of its Caesar artillery system to Ukraine.
French President Emmanuel Macron is due to travel to Ukraine in coming weeks.
Asked Tuesday about doubts over future U.S. support for Ukraine, Macron said, "I am convinced that the next few months are decisive." He stressed that he thinks Ukraine is mainly a European issue.
"Ukraine is on European soil. It is a European country. And if we want a peaceful and stable Europe, we need to be credible in terms of our own security and defence vis-a-vis all our neighbours," the French leader said during a trip to Sweden.
EU leaders are set to gather over dinner later Wednesday to discuss their support for Ukraine. They have a Thursday summit scheduled on overcoming Hungary's veto of a long-term financial aid package worth 50-billion-euro ($54 billion) to help prop-up the Ukrainian economy.
Political infighting also is holding up additional U.S. support for Ukraine.
------
Angela Charlton in Paris contributed to this report.
A brief break during Wednesday's city council meeting in Saskatoon nearly cost the city dearly.
Research shows that art experiences, whether as a maker or a beholder, transform our biology by rewiring our brains and triggering the release of neurochemicals, hormones and endorphins.
Mackenzie Hughes had the dream scenario of winning the RBC Canadian Open in his hometown within reach but then it all slipped away.
A motorcycle driver is facing charges after being caught on Highway 417 doing wheelies and weaving in and out of traffic, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says.
The Edmonton Oilers rode their special teams and goaltender to victory on Sunday, beating the Dallas Stars 2-1 to win the National Hockey League's Western Conference and earn a berth in the Stanley Cup final against the Florida Panthers.
The Abbot Pass hut stood for decades in a rugged saddle between two iconic peaks, overlooking the limpid turquoise of Banff National Park's Lake Louise — a destination for alpinists from around the world until the ground melted beneath it and forced its closure.
South Korea said Sunday it’ll soon take retaliatory steps against North Korea over its launch of trash-carrying balloons across the border and other provocations.
People around the world are observing National Cancer Survivor Day, an annual celebration held to honour patients who have been through the often difficult and traumatic experience of living with cancer.
Emergency response crews are on the scene Sunday morning after a vehicle plunged into the Riviere des Prairies in Montreal.
Car 14 is a luxury passenger car that once made regular runs from London to Port Stanley starting in 1917.
A hefty donation by a renowned local activist to the University of Winnipeg has created what is believed to be the most comprehensive two-spirit archives in all of Canada.
Leanne Van Bergen discovered a skulk of 10 baby foxes, and two mothers, had made themselves at home on her property in Beausejour.
An 81-year-old Waterloo, Ont. woman thought she’d never ride a horse again after a brain bleed led to severe physical complications.
A CP24 camera caught the moment a driver frantically got out of her car as it was being dragged by a truck on Avenue Road Wednesday afternoon.
Prince Edward Island is celebrating its first-ever International Day of Potato on Thursday.
The president of Covered Bridge Chips in New Brunswick is hoping to have his factory rebuilt for late 2025 following a devastating fire last year.
Students and staff at Winnipeg’s Westwood Collegiate had a unique problem to solve this month; how do you lead ducks to water from the school’s courtyard when 12 of them can’t fly yet?
Debby Lorinczy remembers her father as an amazing person and as a man who also made an amazing discovery.