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There’s a new look of the Russian army in Ukraine: Soldiers on motorcycles who race across no-man’s land, counting on speed to evade Ukrainian fire … but not always able to outrun the swarms of drones which hover over the battlefield and can pick off fighters one-by-one.

George Barros, of the Institute for the Study of War, says it’s one of the new tactics Russia has used to seize 430 square miles of territory over the past nine months.

“At the moment the Russians have the upper hand,” Barros said. “The Russians are able to choose where, when, the tempo of battle, and what intensity that they want to conduct offensive operations anywhere along this entire 600-mile front line. … It puts them within striking distance of some very important ground lines of communication [and] supply corridors that connect some of the really important large cities that constitute the backbone of Ukraine’s defense of eastern Ukraine.”

But the price Russia is paying to make these advances is very high; according to Barros, the Russians are losing between 25,000 to 30,000 troops per month. By some estimates Russia has suffered a staggering half-million killed or wounded since the invasion began in February 2022.

Yet, Putin has been able to replace those losses, and pursue his merciless, long-war strategy – endless assaults to grind down Ukraine’s ability to resist, coupled with threats of nuclear war against nations supporting Ukraine.

Barros said, “Putin understands what’s going to make or break this war is whether or not the allied states that support Ukraine decide to lean into it or not.”

The United States leaned way back when politics caused a five-month suspension in arms shipments to Ukraine. 

The delay occurred just as the Russian air force was unleashing a devastating new weapon. Barros said, “The Russians discovered that they can put these cheap glide kits onto the glide bombs, and convert their large Soviet-era stockpiles of dumb gravity bombs into a precision weapon.”

The bombs sprout wings in flight and, guided by a GPS signal, glide toward targets 30 to 40 miles away, while Russian pilots remain out of range of Ukraine’s air defenses. “They can use their air power and 500-kilogram bombs to pummel and destroy Ukrainian trenches, bunkers, strong points and fortifications,” Barros said.

Thousands of bombs and millions of artillery shells have turned the battlefield into a moonscape of craters. One became a death trap for a Russian tank when a tiny Ukrainian drone attacked it.

Russia has tried protecting its tanks with extra layers of armor, but for every measure there is a counter-measure – and American weapons are once again flowing to Ukraine.

Barros said, “As long as the Russians actually fail in convincing the international coalition from continuing to support Ukraine, the Russians have no chance of winning in Ukraine.”

As with all wars, it comes down to will. “Political will is the decisive factor for this war,” said Barros. “It’s not what happens on the battleground; territory can be lost, ceded, and recaptured again. But if we make the decision to abandon the Ukrainians, they will lose. Honestly, the center of gravity for this war, it’s not the field in Ukraine, but what happens here in Washington, just like it was in World War II, just like it is today.”

Ukraine’s surprise thrust into Russia – armored columns slicing through unprepared defenses, seizing towns and settlements – is perhaps the most audacious gamble in more than two years of war, since the invasion was launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin. “There’s a big psychological blow here to the Russian mindset, specifically Putin, where you have a Ukrainian penetration of Russian territory, [for the] first time since World War II,” said former Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley.

But Milley points out the 500-square-mile bulge is barely a dot on the map of Russia. And with three exposed flanks, it comes with considerable risk. “The Russians could mass forces, cut them off and overrun the Ukrainians,” Milley said.

Asked if he expects Putin to launch a major counter-offensive to take back Russian territory, Milley replied, “That’s at least one of the possibilities that could very well happen in the coming months.”

Putin is pursuing a long-war strategy – relying on sheer weight of numbers to slowly grind down Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is trying to shorten the war by bringing it home to Russian soil. Last week, a weapons depot 300 miles inside Russia went up in a massive fireball after being hit by Ukrainian drones.  Zelenskyy is also pushing hard for permission to use American-made long-range missiles against targets in Russia. “We need to have this long-range capability so that Russia is motivated to seek peace,” he said earlier this month.

Ukraine has already used the Army Tactical Missile Systems (known as ATACMS) with devastating effect against Russian targets in occupied Crimea.

According to Milley, the range of the ATACMS is about 300 kilometers, or 190 miles. “You can shoot basically from Washington D.C. to New York City,” he said.

ATACMS is guided by GPS, and carries a 500-pound warhead. “It clearly would have impact wherever it hits,” Milley said, “but it’s not going to destroy an entire depot. It’s not going to destroy a brigade or division of troops.”

Zelenskyy said he needs them to counter glide-bomb attacks, which are launched from bases inside Russia.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says it’s too late for that: “We know that the Russians have actually moved their aircraft that are using the glide bombers beyond the range of ATACMS.”

There are other Russian military targets still within range of ATACMS, but Putin has warned that striking them would bring NATO and the U.S. directly into conflict with Russia.

“He’s making a clear, unambiguous threat publicly against NATO,” said Milley. “You could easily have missiles, Russian missiles, strike into, say, Poland. If one of those missiles or two of those missiles struck an area where there’s U.S. forces there, killing American soldiers, you’re going to have a major league international crisis on your hands at that point.”

It is a high-stakes moment for a war that already has cost an estimated total (on both sides) of one million casualties, and is mired in stalemate.

“The probability of Russia militarily overrunning Ukraine is very unlikely,” Milley said, “but the probability of Ukraine militarily compelling the withdrawal of, you know, a couple hundred thousand Russian troops is also highly unlikely.”

Zelenskyy is betting his already-stretched defensive lines in Ukraine will hold while he opens a new front inside Russia. “He took a calculated risk, in order to put himself in a position of strength for what he perceives could be the coming of some sort of negotiation perhaps next year,” Milley said.

Part of the risk is whether the United States, with its deeply-divided politics, will continue sending Ukraine enough weapons to stave off Russian assaults. Funding for those weapons is set to expire at the end of this month.

Milley said, “If somehow that aid gets cut off, if somehow Europe or the United States does not support Ukraine, then I think it gets very problematic for Ukraine to sustain their fight.”

Former U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he departs after speaks at a campaign event at the Linda Ronstadt Music Hall, Thursday, Sept.12, 2024, in Tucson, Ariz. 

Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Thursday that he will end all taxes on overtime pay as part of a wider tax cut package, if he is elected in the Nov. 5 election.

“As part of our additional tax cuts, we will end all taxes on overtime,” Trump said in remarks at a rally in Tucson, Arizona. “Your overtime hours will be tax-free.”

Trump, who faces Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in what polls show to be a tight race, has previously said he would seek legislation to end the taxation of tips to aid service workers. Harris has made a similar pledge.

The subject of overtime has recently become a campaign issue between Trump and Harris.

At a campaign event this month with union workers, Harris accused Trump of “blocking” overtime from millions of workers during his 2017-2021 presidency.

In 2019, the Trump administration issued a rule increasing the eligibility of overtime pay to 1.3 million additional U.S. workers, replacing a more generous proposal that had been introduced by President Barack Obama, Trump’s Democratic predecessor.

The Trump administration raised the salary level for exemption from overtime pay to US$35,568 a year, up from the long-standing US$23,660 threshold. Workers’ rights groups criticized the move, saying it covered far fewer workers than the scheme introduced under Obama.

Under Obama, the Labor Department proposed raising the threshold to more than US$47,000, which would have made nearly 5 million more workers eligible for overtime. That rule was later struck down in court.

Overtime pay at these income levels overwhelmingly benefits blue-collar workers, such as fast-food workers, nurses, store assistants and other low-income employees.

“The people who work overtime are among the hardest working citizens in our country and for too long no one in Washington has been looking out for them,” Trump said on Thursday.

Under Labor Department rules, eligible workers must be paid at least time-and-a-half for hours worked above 40 hours in a single work-week.

As of last month, American factory workers in non-supervisory roles put in an average of 3.7 hours of overtime a week, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows.

Not taxing overtime would result in less government revenue, at a time when Trump’s plan to permanently extend the tax cuts he passed as president would expand the U.S. deficit by US$3.5 trillion through 2033, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office. The U.S. budget deficit in the first 11 months of this fiscal year is US$1.9 trillion.

It’s unclear how much revenue the government receives from taxes on overtime pay.

Trump’s proposal would be a first for the federal government. Alabama this year became the first state to exclude overtime wages for hourly workers from state taxes as a temporary measure that won legislative support in part to help employers fill jobs in a tight labor market. The exemption is for 18 months only.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. The letters read, “North Korea, unveiling the uranium enrichment facility for the first time,” and “the construction site for expanding the capacity for the production of nuclear weapons.” 

SEOUL, South Korea –

 North Korea offered a rare glimpse into a secretive facility to produce weapons-grade uranium as state media reported Friday that leader Kim Jong Un visited the area and called for stronger efforts to “exponentially” increase its number of nuclear weapons.

It’s unclear whether the site is at North Korea’s main Yongbyon nuclear complex, but it’s the North’s first disclosure of a uranium-enrichment facility since it showed one at Yongbyon to visiting American scholars in 2010. While the latest unveiling is likely an attempt to apply more pressure on the U.S. and its allies, the images released by North Korean media of the area could provide outsiders with a valuable source of information for estimating the amount of nuclear ingredients that North Korea has produced.

During a visit to the Nuclear Weapons Institute and the facility producing weapons-grade nuclear materials, Kim expressed “great satisfaction repeatedly over the wonderful technical force of the nuclear power field” held by North Korea, the official Korean Central News Agency reported.

KCNA said Kim went around the control room of the uranium enrichment facility and a construction site that would expand its capacity for producing nuclear weapons. North Korean state media photos showed Kim being briefed by scientists while walking along long lines of centrifuges. KCNA didn’t say when Kim visited the facilities or where they are located.

KCNA said Kim stressed the need to further augment the number of centrifuges to “exponentially increase the nuclear weapons for self-defense,” a goal he has repeatedly stated in recent years. It said Kim ordered officials to push forward the introduction of a new type of centrifuge.

Kim said North Korea needs greater defense and preemptive attack capabilities because “anti-(North Korea) nuclear threats perpetrated by the U.S. imperialists-led vassal forces have become more undisguised and crossed the red line,” KCNA said.

South Korea’s Unification Ministry strongly condemned North Korea’s push to boost its nuclear capability. A ministry statement said North Korea’s “illegal” pursuit of nuclear weapons in defiance of U.N. prohibitions is a serious threat to international peace. It said North Korea must realize it cannot win anything with its nuclear program.

North Korea first showed a uranium enrichment site in Yongbyon to the outside world in November 2010, when it allowed a visiting delegation of Stanford University scholars led by nuclear physicist Siegfried Hecker to tour its centrifuges. North Korean officials then reportedly told Hecker that 2,000 centrifuges were installed and running at Yongbyon.

Satellite images in recent years have indicated North Korea was expanding a uranium enrichment plant at Yongbyon. Nuclear weapons can be built using either highly enriched uranium or plutonium, and North Korea has facilities to produce both at Yongbyon. Some U.S. and South Korean experts believe North Korea is covertly running at least one other uranium-enrichment plant.

It’s not clear exactly how much weapons-grade plutonium and highly enriched uranium have been produced at Yongbyon and elsewhere. In 2018, a top South Korean official told parliament that North Korea was estimated to have already manufactured 20-60 nuclear weapons, but some experts say the North likely has more than 100. Estimates of how many nuclear bombs North Korea can add every year vary, ranging from six to as many as 18.

“For analysts outside the country, the released images will provide a valuable source of information for rectifying our assumptions about how much material North Korea may have amassed to date,” said Ankit Panda, an expert with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

“Overall, we should not assume that North Korea will be as constrained as it once was by fissile material limitations. This is especially true for highly enriched uranium, where North Korea is significantly less constrained in its ability to scale up than it is with plutonium,” Panda said.

In 2018, Hecker and Stanford University scholars estimated North Korea’s highly enriched uranium inventory was 250 to 500 kilograms (550 to 1,100 pounds), sufficient for 25 to 30 nuclear devices.

The North Korean photos released Friday showed about 1,000 centrifuges. When operated year-round, they would be able to produce around 20 to 25 kilograms (44 to 55 pounds) of highly enriched uranium, which would be enough to create a single bomb, according to Yang Uk, a security expert at Seoul’s Asan Institute for Policy Studies.

The new-type centrifuge Kim wants to introduce is likely an advanced carbon fiber-based one that could allow North Korea to produce five to 10 times more highly enriched uranium than its existing ones, said Lee Choon Geun, an honorary research fellow at South Korea’s Science and Technology Policy Institute.

Since 2022, North Korea has sharply ramped up its weapons testing activities to expand and modernize its arsenal of nuclear missiles targeting the U.S. and South Korea. Analysts say North Korea could conduct a nuclear test explosion or long-range missile test ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November with the intent of influencing the outcome and increasing its leverage in future dealings with the Americans.

“Overall, the message they are trying to send is that their nuclear capability is not just an empty threat, but that they are continuing to produce (bomb fuel),” Yang said. “And who are they speaking to? It could obviously be South Korea but also certainly the U.S.”

Kim’s recent nuclear drive comes as North Korea is deepening its military cooperation with Russia. The U.S. and South Korea have accused North Korea of supplying badly needed conventional arms to support Russia’s war in Ukraine in return for military and economic aid.

On Friday, a Russian delegation led by the country’s Security Council secretary, Sergei Shoigu, traveled to North Korea and met Kim for talks on bilateral and international issues, Russian media reported. In July 2023, Shoigu, then defense minister, visited North Korea and met Kim.

Associated Press writer Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia, contributed to this report.

In this undated photo provided on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, by the North Korean government, its leader Kim Jong Un, center, walks with other officials near what it says is their new launch vehicle of 600mm multiple rockets at an undisclosed location in North Korea. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. 

A Simcoe, Ont. woman is facing an assault with a weapon charge after she said that she accidentally sprayed her neighbour with a water gun(opens in a new tab) over the Labour Day weekend, a situation that at least one legal expert says amounts to an “unfortunate waste of resources.”

Wendy Washik was at a neighbourhood barbecue on Sept. 1 when she joined a playful water gun fight with one of her neighbour’s children. As the 58-year-old educational assistant was chasing the child to the front of the home, she said she accidentally sprayed another neighbour with water.

I just kept apologizing and apologizing,” she told CTV News Toronto in an interview on Wednesday, adding that the neighbour began “screaming” at her following the incident.

Washik said the neighbour called police and officers arrived at the scene a short time later and charged her with assault with a weapon. She claims police spoke to the neighbour who made the call but asked no one else questions about the incident.

“I was in shock. I just couldn’t believe it. I kept saying to the police officer, ‘It was a water gun. I didn’t do it intentionally. I was having a water gun fight!’ I just couldn’t believe it,” Washik, who says she does not have a criminal record, recalled.

According to an Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) news release issued on Sept. 3, a Norfolk County officer was called to the Woodway Trail home for a report of a neighbour dispute which resulted in the victim being physically assaulted. No injuries were reported.

Washik’s full name, age and area of residence were included in the news release announcing the assault with a weapon charge against her but a description of the type of weapon used was not.

Washik said her school board has placed her on leave pending the resolution of the court proceedings.

“I’ve been very stressed, mentally and financially stressed. My family has been through a lot too,” she said.

‘Anything can qualify as a weapon’: Toronto criminal defence lawyer

Although Washik says she still can’t believe she is facing an assault with a weapon charge, one Toronto criminal defence lawyer said “anything” can qualify as a weapon.

“Frankly, a pencil, a knife, picture frame…it depends upon how the object is utilized that determines whether or not it’s a weapon. So, the water gun can be qualified as a weapon as a result,” Monte MacGregor, who is not involved in the case, told CTV News Toronto in an interview. “And assault is where you touch someone or threaten to touch them in a manner without their consent, right?”

MacGregor said police do have a certain discretion to determine whether or not a charge should be laid and whether or not they have reasonable and probable grounds to believe that an offence has been committed.

“Am I surprised that the charge has been laid? No. But do I recognize that it’s an unfortunate and almost meaningless waste of resources? Yes, because they didn’t interview her, right?” he said.

CTV News Kitchener reached out to Norfolk County OPP for comment on the investigation. In a statement, the OPP declined to comment on the specifics of the incident but said that details about the weapon involved are considered part of the investigation and not “generally” shared with the public.

How could things play out in court?

Washik is due in court on Sept. 24 to answer for the charge and MacGregor said her lawyer will likely have a chance to speak with the Crown attorney before then.

He said the Crown attorney may use their discretion and offer Washik a resolution, however, it may require her taking responsibility for the incident.

“[The Crown] is not supposed to adjudicate the situation either, right? And at this point they have one aggrieved person, the guy who said, ‘Well, she hit me intentionally with a gun.’ She’s got a defence, but it still may warrant a trial. It’s an unfortunate waste of resources, but you know, the justice system is to serve everyone,” MacGregor explained.

CTV News Kitchener attempted to speak with the neighbour who reported the incident to the police but he did not appear to be home at the time.

For the OPP’s part, it said it is committed to maintaining high standards in their investigative work, “regardless of how the public may perceive the allocation of resources.”

Washik said she hopes the matter is resolved before Sept. 24. Her daughter has since started a GoFundMe campaign (opens in a new tab)to cover her legal expenses.

“I am hoping and praying that it goes my way,” she said. 

BATON ROUGE, La. – Francine became a hurricane Tuesday evening as it barreled toward south Louisiana, strengthening over extremely warm Gulf waters as those in possible harm’s way rushed to complete storm preparations, filling sandbags, buying gas and stocking up on necessities for an expected landfall in the coming day.

Residents, especially in south Louisiana, have a 24-hour window to “batten down all the hatches,” Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry warned at midday while Francine was still a tropical storm.

The freshly minted Category 1 hurricane packed top sustained winds of 75 m.p.h. (120 kph) and forecasters warned it was expected to crash ashore Wednesday afternoon or evening in Louisiana with a potentially life-threatening storm surge and damaging winds — perhaps even as a Category 2 storm with winds of 96 to 110 m.p.h. (155 to 175 km/h).

Ahead of the storm’s approach, lifelong New Orleans resident Roxanne Riley, 42, gathered water, snacks and other food from a Walmart and said she planned to stay at a family member’s house on high ground to avoid flooding. But she was ready to evacuate if things got worse.

“It’s very frustrating every time a storm comes in,” Riley said. “I’ll just make sure my car is ready to roll in case I need to go by tomorrow. I’m going to keep on checking to see what it’s looking like.”

By 8 p.m. ET Tuesday, Francine was centered about 350 miles (560 kilometres) southwest of Morgan City, La., and was moving northeast at 10 m.p.h. (17 km/h), the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said in an advisory.

A hurricane warning was in effect along the Louisiana coast from Cameron eastward to Grand Isle, about 50 miles (80 kilometres) south of New Orleans, according to the center. A storm surge warning stretched from the Mississippi-Alabama border to the Alabama-Florida border Such a warning means there’s a chance of life-threatening flooding.

Once Francine makes landfall, Landry said, residents should stay in place rather than venturing out onto the roads and risk blocking first responders or utility crews working to repair power lines.

Helping Francine gain hurricane status Tuesday night were the Gulf’s exceedingly warm late-summer waters. Water temperatures are about 87 degrees (31 degrees Celsius) where Francine is located, said Brian McNoldy, senior research associate at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science.

“The ocean heat content averaged over the entire Gulf is the highest it’s been on record for the date,” McNoldy wrote on his blog.

In downtown New Orleans during the day, cars and trucks were lined up for blocks to collect sandbags from the parking lot of a local YMCA. CEO Erika Mann said Tuesday that 1,000 bags of sand had already been distributed by volunteers later Tuesday to people hoping to protect homes from possible flooding.

“I love that these are community people that came out,” Mann said. “It’s a beautiful effort to do what we do in New Orleans, we’re resilient and we come together to help in the times we need each other.”

Residents fill up sand bags to protect their homes in anticipation of Tropical Storm Francine, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, at a distribution site in a parking lot in New Orleans. (Jack Brook/AP Photo)

One resident picking up sandbags was Wayne Grant, 33, who moved to New Orleans last year and was nervous for his first potential hurricane in the city. The low-lying rental apartment he shares with his partner had already flooded out in a storm the year before and he was not taking any chances this time around.

“It was like a kick in the face, we’ve been trying to stay up on the weather ever since,” Grant said. “We’re super invested in the place, even though it’s not ours.”

A little over three years after Hurricane Ida trashed his home in the Dulac community of coastal Louisiana’s Terrebonne Parish – and about a month after he finished rebuilding – Coy Verdin was preparing for another hurricane.

“We had to gut the whole house,” he recalled in a telephone interview, rattling off a memorized inventory of the work, including a new roof and new windows.

Verdin, 55, strongly considered moving farther inland, away from the home where he makes his living on nearby Bayou Grand Caillou. After rebuilding, he said he’s there to stay.

“As long as I can. It’s getting rough, though,” he said. He was preparing to head north to ride out Francine with his daughter in Thibodaux, about a 50-minute drive away. “I don’t want to go too far so I can come back to check on my house.”

Landry said the Louisiana National Guard is being deployed to parishes that could be impacted by Francine. They are equipped with food, water, nearly 400 high-water vehicles, about 100 boats and 50 helicopters to respond to the storm, including possible search-and-rescue operations.

Francine is the sixth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. There’s a danger of life-threatening storm surge as well as damaging hurricane-force winds, said Brad Reinhart, a senior hurricane specialist at the hurricane center.

There’s also the potential for four to eight inches (10 to 20 centimetres) of rain with the possibility of 12 inches (30 centimetres) locally across much of Louisiana and Mississippi through Friday morning, Reinhart said. That heavy rainfall could also cause considerable flash and urban flooding.

The hurricane center said eastern Mississippi and especially coastal parts of Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle were at risk of “considerable” flash and urban flooding starting Wednesday. It said flooding was also “probable” further inland into the lower Mississippi Valley and lower Tennessee Valley from Wednesday through Friday as a disbanding Francine churns inland.

Francine is taking aim at a Louisiana coastline that has yet to fully recover since hurricanes Laura and Delta decimated Lake Charles in 2020, followed a year later by Hurricane Ida. Over the weekend, a 22-story building in Lake Charles that had become a symbol of storm destruction was imploded after sitting vacant for nearly four years, its windows shattered and covered in shredded tarps.

Francine’s storm surge on the Louisiana coast could reach as much as 10 feet (three metres) from Cameron to Port Fourchon and into Vermilion Bay, forecasters said.

“It’s a potential for significantly dangerous, life-threatening inundation,” said Michael Brennan, director of the hurricane center, adding it could also send “dangerous, damaging winds quite far inland.”

He said landfall was likely somewhere between Sabine Pass — on the Texas-Louisiana line — and Morgan City, La., about 220 miles (350 kilometres) to the east.