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Karolina Shiino has stepped down as Miss Japan after it was alleged that she was having an affair with a married man.

The 26-year-old Ukrainian-born beauty queen announced her decision to renounce her title on Monday after a local publication revealed the alleged affair, according to CNN and the Associated Press.

Shiino was crowned Miss Japan on Jan. 22 and was the first woman of European descent to earn the title of Miss Nippon, CNN and the BBC reported.

I am truly sorry for the huge trouble I have caused and for betraying those who supported me, Shiino said in the Japanese-language apology she shared on Instagram, per the BBC.

Organizers originally suggested Shiino did not know the man was married with children but backtracked in their latest statement, according to the BBC. The man involved in the affair is a doctor and influencer.

In her apology, which was posted to Instagram, Shiino said she was too scared and confused to confess when the report came out, according to CNN andThe Guardian.

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The Miss Japan Association has said it accepted Shiinos decision to step down and said the role will remain vacant for the rest of the year, per the reports.

The association did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

The doctor involved in the scandal, Takuma Maeda,also apologizedfor causing trouble with the affair, according to the AP.

In his statement shared Wednesday on Instagram, Maeda said he does not plan to divorce his wife and promised to invest time in his work and private life.

Shiino became a naturalized Japanese citizen in 2022, according to the BBC andThe Guardian. She moved to Japan with her mom when she was 5 years old and is fluent in Japanese, according to the AP.

But Shiinos participation in the pageant has been controversial due to her predominantly European descent. After winning Miss Japan in January, she told CNN that she was happy to be recognized through the pageant.

I wanted to be recognized as a Japanese person, she explained. I kept being told that Im not Japanese, but I am absolutely Japanese, so I entered Miss Japan genuinely believing in myself.

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Ukraine-Born Miss Japan Renounces Title After Her Affair with Married Man Gets Revealed: 'I Am Truly Sorry' - PEOPLE

Senate Democrats released a $118.3 billion emergency national security bill on Sunday that would tie a fresh infusion of aid to Ukraine to measures clamping down on migration across the United States-Mexico border.

The fate of measure, which has the backing of President Biden and Senate leaders in both parties, will turn on whether enough Republicans embrace its border security provisions a long shot given the opposition of former President Donald J. Trump and House leaders who quickly denounced it on Sunday night as a nonstarter that does not crack down enough on migration.

The legislation will need bipartisan support to advance this week in the Senate, where it must draw at least 60 votes to advance in a test vote set for Wednesday.

Heres a look at whats in the 370-page bill:

The bill includes $60.1 billion in military assistance for Ukraine, $14.1 billion in security assistance for Israel and $10 billion in humanitarian aid for civilians of global crises including Palestinians and Ukrainians.

It also would provide about $20 billion in border investments, including for hiring new asylum and border patrol officials, expanding the capacity of detention facilities and increasing screenings for fentanyl and other illicit drugs.

One of the most significant changes to border policy would be the creation of a trigger that would effectively close the border to migrants trying to cross into the United States without authorization. The trigger would be tripped if the average number of migrants encountered by border officials exceeded 5,000 over the course of a week or 8,500 on any given day. Encounters would have to fall to a daily average of 75 percent of those thresholds, again over the course of a week, for affected intake processes to start up again.

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Here's What's in the Senate's $118 Billion Ukraine and Border Deal - The New York Times

This photograph, shared by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the social media platform X on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024, shows Ukrainian prisoners of war reacting after a prisoner exchange at an undisclosed location in Ukraine. (Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the social media platform X via AP - image credit)

As the grim two-year anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine approaches, a new poll suggests Canadians' engagement with the conflict is waning and support for Ukraine is weakening especially among Conservatives.

A survey released Tuesday morning bythe Angus Reid Institute saysa quarter of Canadians believe Canada is offering "too much support" to Ukraine in its fight, up from 13 per cent who said the same thing in May 2022.

Conservative supportersare adriving force behind that result,according to the poll.

The percentageof Canadians who voted for the Conservative Party in the last election, andwho now say Canada is doing too much to assist Ukraine, has more than doubled from 19 per cent in May 2022 to 43 per cent now according to the public opinion research group's findings.

"It's ... a massive jump," said Shachi Kurl, president of Angus Reid Institute. "This has the potential to be something of a political Gordian knot for Pierre Poilievre."

Sorting out the reasons behind the shift is largely an exercise in speculation at this point, saidKurl.

On the one hand, she said, there'sa longstanding tradition of support for the military among Conservative voters. That position may be in tension with Conservative support for small governments and lower taxes, she added.

"I don't want to overemphasize it but what is burgeoning, what is starting to sort of grow from out of the weeds into a fairly healthy seedling here, is this almost the Trump-esque, 'Canada First' mentality," she said.

"That mindset of conservative is not representative of the majority of the Conservative Party base in the country, or the entirety of the base. It is a minority, but it is a passionate, vocal and growing minority."

The poll suggests the belief that Canada is giving Ukraine too muchis also growing among NDP and Liberal voters. The percentage of voters who think Canada is doing too much for Ukraine jumped from 5 to 10 per cent among2021 Liberal supporters, and from 5 to 12 per cent among 2021 NDP supporters.

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Since early 2022, the federal government has committed more than $2.4 billion in military assistance and more than $352 million in humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

An emotional debate about trade with Ukraine

The poll landed a day after another emotional debate in the House of Commons over a bill to implement an update to the Canada-Ukraine free trade deal.

The Liberals accused Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and his party of abandoning Ukraine when Conservative MPsvoted against the bill in November. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has attributed the opposition to "American MAGA-influenced thinking."

Poilievre, whose party has maintained a largepolling lead over Trudeau's Liberals for months, has said his party still supports Ukraine and its objection is to the mention of "carbon pricing" in the legislation.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre addresses the national Conservative caucus on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

"I really think it speaks to how pathologically obsessed Trudeau is with the carbon tax that, while the knife is at the throat of Ukrainians, he would use that to impose his carbon tax ideology on those poor people," Poilievre said in November.

The trade agreement imposes no obligation on the Ukrainian government to introduce a carbon tax.

Last week,Poilievre called on the Liberal government to donate to Ukraine tens of thousands of surplus air-to-ground rockets that are slated for disposal.

The Angus Reid poll suggests Canadians, by a three-to-one ratio, believe the Conservatives'vote against the Canada-Ukraine free trade agreement will undermine Canada's reputation on the world stage. Half of likely Conservative voters believe there will be no effect at all, the poll says.

Kurl said elections based on foreign policy issues are rare in Canada, but for the first time in months Poilievre's opponents have something to talk about.

"He's spent little to no time on the defence and it has enabled him to stay very disciplined in terms of message and stay very focused in terms of a relentless attack on the government. And I'm not saying that those attacks in some cases haven't been cogent, or that they haven't been the result of really a litany ... of own-goals on the part of this government," said Kurl.

"But, you know, for the first time we we may be seeing something that puts Poilievre on the defence ..."

Canadians' interest dwindling

The Angus Reid Institute'ssurvey suggests the number of Canadians closely following news of the conflict has dropped from 66 per cent in May 2022 to 45 per centnow.

"Overall, Canadians are checking out of this conflict," said Kurl.

"And you can see that those who are less engaged are much more likely to also say, you know, we're helping too much, we've fulfilled our commitments."

The poll suggests Canadians remain divided on the role Canada should play in the war going forward.

One third of respondents agreed Canada should support Ukraine "as long as it takes," while one-in-ten believe that supportshould continue for only another year.

Foreign Minister Melanie Joly speaks to the media during a press conference with Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Kyiv, Ukraine on Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletk)

Another 30 per cent are uncertain, while 20 per cent say they believe the war should end now with negotiations for peace initiated by Ukraine.

Just five per cent of respondents want Canada to end its support entirely.

The Angus Reid Institute conducted the online survey from Jan. 29 to Jan. 31, 2024 usingarandomized sample of 1,617 Canadian adults who are members of Angus Reid Forum.

For comparison purposes, a probability sample of this size would carry a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

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Growing number of Conservative voters think Canada gives 'too much support' to Ukraine, poll suggests - Yahoo News Canada

The decision by Republicans in Congress to torpedo a bipartisan border deal they demanded has left the fate of aid to Ukraine and Israel in peril, closing off what had been seen as the best remaining avenue on Capitol Hill for approval of critical military aid to American allies.

The political paralysis in the face of pleas from President Biden, lawmakers in both parties and leaders around the world for quick action raised immediate questions about whether Congress would be able to salvage the emergency aid package and if so, how.

The result was a vivid portrait of congressional dysfunction at the hands of Republicans. After helping to kill a border crackdown they had insisted upon, they were set to spend the day in the House trying to impeach Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary, on charges that he has willfully refused to enforce border laws.

Dug in against the border deal and new aid to Kyiv, the House also was set on Tuesday to try to push through legislation sending $17.6 billion in military assistance to Israel. But that measure, which omits help for Ukraine or humanitarian aid for Palestinians, was facing steep resistance from hard-right Republicans, who complained that the money was not paired with spending cuts. It also faced opposition from Democrats and Mr. Biden, who has threatened a veto, calling the bill a cynical attempt to pre-empt the security legislation brokered in the Senate.

Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the Democratic leader, told lawmakers on Tuesday morning that he and the partys top leaders would oppose the Israel-only bill, saying that while they were prepared to support any serious, bipartisan effort to help Israel, the legislation was not being offered in good faith.

That raised questions about whether the measure, which Republicans are bringing up under special rules that require a two-thirds majority for approval, could pass the House.

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With Demise of Border Deal, No Clear Path for Ukraine and Israel Aid in Congress - The New York Times

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) will face one of the toughest challenges of his career this week when he tries to muster Senate Republicans to vote for a Ukraine funding and border security package that former President Trump wants to kill.

McConnells initial goal, according to Senate GOP colleagues, was to get a border security deal that would have the support of at least half of his conference, which numbers 49 members.

It now appears the defense supplemental spending bill, which includes the border security provisions as well as funding for Ukraine, Israel and Indo-Pacific security, will get less Republican support than that.

Aides are predicting between 12 and 20 Senate GOP votes for the bill, and that the vote total will shift as lawmakers digest the text of the legislation, which was finally made public Sunday evening.

The stakes are high for the 81-year-old Senate Republican leader, as he will come under significant pressure from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and other conservative critics to abandon the bill if it doesnt look like it will get much more than 10 GOP votes.

But if the legislation gets between 18 and 25 Senate Republican votes, that will then put heavy pressure on Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to take the bill up in the House, despite his earlier declaration it would likely be dead on arrival in the lower chamber.

McConnell declined to say last week whether he would favor moving ahead with a bill that had support from only a minority of his conference, and acknowledged he doesnt know exactly how the debate will play out.

Its certainly been a challenge, he admitted when asked if it was a mistake to link Ukraine aid to border security reform. But its time for us to move something, hopefully including a border agreement. But we need to get help to Israel and to Ukraine quickly.

Senate Republicans say McConnell has employed a soft-glove approach to persuading his Republican colleagues to support the bill, regularly reminding them of the national security threats facing the country and also of the fact that Trump pleaded with Congress to reform the nations asylum laws when he was president in 2018.

Its really about reading the room and persuading where you can and listening where you cant. Hes very good at all of that. His voice isnt as loud as it used to be. I think thats by his choice. I also think its also reflective of the situation were in right now. There are some people that feel strongly about the different sides of this issue, said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.).

McConnell is under withering criticism from his antagonists within the Republican conference, who are jumping on the issue to take shots at his leadership.

Cruz is leading the pressure campaign not to allow the bipartisan border security deal to reach the Senate floor, arguing it will put the new Speaker in a terrible position and give cover to vulnerable Senate Democrats up for reelection.

As a result of this foolhardy bill, Senate Democrats are out now beating their chests that the problem would now be solved if only Republicans would back it, Cruz told The Hill.

He says its the latest example of Senate GOP leaders negotiating bad deals behind closed doors in smoke-filled rooms and trying to ram them down the throat of the GOP conference.

And he says Senate Republicans who support the border security deal are behaving like the political arm of Chuck Schumers team, referring to the Senate Democratic leader.

But McConnells allies say his critics within the Senate GOP conference are usually the same group of people: Cruz and Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.).

We kind of hear the same things from the same guys, day after day and week after week, complained one GOP senator who supports McConnells efforts to get the emergency defense spending bill through both chambers.

McConnell is relying heavily on his top deputy, Senate Republican Whip John Thune (S.D.), to explain the details of the legislation to skeptical members of his conference, and also to manage their expectations, given stiff opposition from Trump and many House conservatives.

My goal is to try and let the conference come to a collective decision about how they want to proceed and deal with this, said Thune, who has urged GOP colleagues to keep their powder dry on blasting away at the legislation until they have a chance to read it.

But Thune warned that if the deal gains only weak support from the conference, McConnell may decide to pivot to a Ukraine funding bill without border security reforms.

If we dont have a strong vote coming out of here, if we dont have a lot of Republicans behind it, then well probably end up having to pivot, he said.

GOP senators say McConnell has taken a while to recover from the concussion and fractured rib he suffered after falling at a March 2023 dinner at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, D.C.

Several lawmakers said he doesnt speak as much at conference meetings as he used to but will interject at key moments to nudge the internal debate in one direction or another.

McConnell has reminded fellow GOP senators in recent weeks not to get too enmeshed into partisan skirmishing over President Bidens border policies, and to remember about the serious national security threats posed by Russia, China and Iran.

He says the United States now faces the most serious international situation it has since the Berlin Wall fell in 1989.

Cramer said the debate over the Ukraine-border security package is a harder one than most, but despite the staunch differences among Republican senators, he thinks McConnell is focused on the partys best political interests as well as achieving the best policy outcome.

Several Republican senators say winning back the Senate majority in the 2024 election will be more important to McConnells future as leader than whether he can get money for Ukraine passed through the Senate this year.

I dont think he would take a momentary victory over a longer-term governing majority, Cramer said. This will certainly be the easiest time in recent history and going forward to regain the majority. And if we dont, its going to be very, very hard to get it back for a long time.

Hes pragmatic that way, he said.

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McConnell faces career-defining test in Trump battle over Ukraine, border - The Hill