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Ukraine seethes at Gazprom tennis tournament starring top pros

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:12:17 GMT

A Gazprom-backed tennis tournament starting Friday in Russia with multiple top European pros taking part has triggered outrage in Ukraine.Stars Roberto Bautista Agut from Spain, Adrian Mannarino from France and Laslo Djere from Serbia will join a number of elite Russian players at the Northern Palmyra Trophies exhibition competition sponsored by the Russian energy giant in St. Petersburg this weekend.Top Ukrainian player Lesia Tsurenko told POLITICO she had tried pleading with the European athletes not to take part. For Ukraine, Gazprom sponsorship of the event equals stepping onto the court with Russian President Vladimir Putin himself.“I tried to explain to them what they would be involved in,” Tsurenko said, adding that she had implored players from France, Italy and Bulgaria not to appear at the Gazprom exhibition. “Last year, I managed to convince one player not to go to this shameful tournament.”Participants from the men’s and women’s Top 10...

Argentina snubs BRICS invitation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:12:17 GMT

Argentina will not join the BRICS grouping of developing nations, the country’s incoming foreign minister said Thursday.“We will not join the BRICS,” said Diana Mondino, who will serve as top diplomat in the government of President-elect Javier Milei when he is sworn into office next week.Argentina was one of the six countries invited to become new members of the bloc, comprised of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, at its annual summit in Johannesburg in August.The South American country’s membership would have taken effect on January 1, 2024 along with Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.Upon receiving the invitation to join the bloc, Argentina’s President Alberto Fernández celebrated the invitation as a “great opportunity.”“We open up possibilities of joining new markets, of consolidating existing markets, of raising investment coming in, of creating jobs and raising imports,” he said.But President-elect...

King Charles says world heading for ‘dangerous uncharted territory’ at global leaders summit

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:12:17 GMT

(CNN) — King Charles III told world leaders Friday that the warning signs of the climate crisis are being ignored and that the world is heading for “dangerous uncharted territory,” with devastating consequences for lives and livelihoods.Delivering an opening address to delegates at the World Climate Action Summit, part of the COP28 summit in Dubai, the King said he prayed “with all my heart that COP28 will be a critical turning point towards genuine transformational action.”“Some important progress has been made but it worries me greatly that we remain so dreadfully far off track,” he said, adding, “we are taking the natural world outside balanced norms and limits and into dangerous uncharted territory.”Referring to this year’s climate change-fueled extreme weather, including Canada’s unprecedented wildfire season, deadly flooding in Pakistan and Bangladesh and catastrophic drought in East Africa, the King told delegates that the “hope of the world” rested on dec...

US lawmakers push for federal holiday honoring Rosa Parks on the anniversary of her arrest

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:12:17 GMT

(CNN) — On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks boarded a city bus after work in Montgomery, Alabama, and sat down.As the bus filled with passengers, the driver demanded the 42-year-old seamstress move further back into the segregated Black section of the bus so a White man could have her seat.Parks famously refused.She was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. But that bold decision is widely credited with launching the Montgomery Bus Boycott and ultimately the Civil Rights Movement in the United States.This week, members of the Congressional Black Caucus marked the 68th anniversary of Rosa Parks’ arrest by urging Congress to support a bill that would declare December 1, “Rosa Parks Day,” a federal holiday.“This is not just about Black history. It’s about American history,” said Alabama Rep. Terri Sewell at a news conference Wednesday.Sewell, a Democrat, introduced H.R. 308 which would establish the federal holiday, in January. The bill is backed by 31 co-s...

Stanley Cup champion Corey Perry ‘deeply sorry’ for his ‘inappropriate’ behavior after Chicago Blackhawks release

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:12:17 GMT

(CNN) — Veteran NHL forward Corey Perry apologized on Thursday for the “inappropriate behavior” which saw him waived by the Chicago Blackhawks.The Blackhawks said on Tuesday that Perry “engaged in conduct that is unacceptable” and was “in violation both of the terms of his Standard Player’s Contract and the Blackhawks’ internal policies intended to promote professional and safe work environments.”In a statement released on Thursday, Perry said: “I would like to sincerely apologize to the entire Chicago Blackhawks organization, including ownership, management, coaches, trainers, employees, and my teammates.“As a result of my actions, there has been speculation and rumors. I am sickened by the impact this has had on others, and I want to make it clear that in no way did this situation involve any of my teammates or their families.“Most importantly, I want to directly apologize to those who have been negatively affected and I am sorry for the additional impact ...

Patriots mailbag: Will Malik Cunningham get another shot in Week 13?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:12:17 GMT

It’s easy to argue that the decision was made nine weeks too late, but it appears the Patriots are mercifully making a quarterback change this week.Backup Bailey Zappe has taken the bulk of top quarterback snaps in practice in a season that Mac Jones has been benched four times starting way back in Week 4.So, what will that look like? And will he have to share snaps with another QB?Let’s answer those questions in this week’s mailbag.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots QB Bailey Zappe will apply these lessons to likely start Sunday New England Patriots | Callahan: Bill Belichick made the right — and only — QB call he could New England Patriots | Patriots-Chargers injury report: Keenan Allen, Demario Douglas miss practice again Thursday New England Patriots | Callahan: The Patriots’ season is now hurry up and wait New England Patriots | Here’s the latest on PatriotsR...

New US rules, aimed at curbing China, could limit tax credits for electric vehicles

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:12:17 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration proposed new rules Friday that could make it harder for electric vehicles to qualify for a full $7,500 federal tax credit, complicating efforts to meet President Joe Biden’s goal that half of new passenger vehicles sold in the U.S. run on electricity by 2030.Plans outlined by the Treasury and Energy departments would limit EV buyers from claiming the full tax credit if they purchase cars containing battery materials from China and other countries that are considered hostile to the United States. The new rules — required under Biden’s signature climate law approved last year — are likely to slow consumer acceptance of electric vehicles just as Biden is trying to ramp up sales to help meet his goal to cut planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030. EV sales have tripled since Biden took office, but the U.S. still depends on foreign sources — especially China — for many of critical minerals needed to produce EV batteries. Th...

70-year-old Ugandan woman gives birth to twins after fertility treatment

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:12:17 GMT

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — A 70-year-old woman in Uganda has given birth to twins after receiving fertility treatment, making her one of the world’s oldest new mothers. Safina Namukwaya gave birth to a boy and a girl on Wednesday via cesarean section at the hospital in the capital Kampala where she had been receiving in vitro fertilization treatment, said Arthur Matsiko, spokesman for the Women’s Hospital International Facility Center. “She’s healthy. She’s talking. She’s walking around if they tell her to walk around the hospital,” Matsiko said Friday, speaking of Namukwaya, who had a daughter at the same facility in 2020 following IVF treatment. Namukwaya is the oldest woman to deliver a baby at the hospital, whose proprietor is a prominent gynecologist in the East African region. The hospital specializes in helping couples who struggle to have children. Breakthroughs in research are improving success rates in IVF treatment. Notably, media reported that a...

India-US ties could face their biggest test in years after a foiled assassination attempt on a Sikh

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:12:17 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — Ties between India and the U.S. had never looked better than they did in June, when President Joe Biden honored Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a pomp-filled state visit. The relationship was among the most consequential in the world and “more dynamic than at any time in history,” Biden declared as he stood next to Modi at a press conference.Those ties could now face their biggest test in recent years, after U.S. prosecutors this week accused an Indian official of directing a plot to assassinate a prominent Sikh separatist leader living in New York City. As the case unfolds in a New York court, rather than behind closed doors, the two governments may struggle to control the narrative and the fallout, even though it was unlikely to cause more serious long-term damage, experts said.“They are going to try people (in court). That will pose problems … Quite obviously, things are not going to be the same,” said G Parthasarthy, a retired Indian diplomat.But more damningl...

Harris heads to Dubai to tackle delicate tasks of talking climate and Israel-Hamas war

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:12:17 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris will tackle two delicate tasks this weekend in Dubai: She’ll try to demonstrate U.S. environmental leadership despite President Joe Biden ‘s notable absence from an annual summit on climate change and she’ll work to nudge forward fragile efforts to shape the next phase of the war between Israel and Hamas. Harris has only a brief opportunity to accomplish either goal while she’s in the United Arab Emirates. She leaves Washington on Friday and is scheduled to appear only briefly at the United Nations conference known as COP28. Like most vice presidents, Harris is expected to hew tightly to administration talking points on controversial issues where any divergence could ricochet around the globe. Her public remarks, however limited, will be closely scrutinized. Activists are eager for any boost in the fight against climate change, which experts warn is lagging behind what’s needed to prevent damaging global wa...