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EU seals deal to send Ukraine 1M ammo rounds

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:51 GMT

The EU has reached a deal to send Ukraine 1 million rounds of ammunition within the next 12 months. The plan — seen by POLITICO — will see the EU both donate ammunition from its own stockpiles and also jointly purchase new shells for Ukraine. It also leaves open the possibility that the EU could help countries collectively buy missiles for Ukraine. And it sets a goal to “jointly procure” these munitions “in the fastest way possible” before October. Diplomats and ministers finalized the strategy during meetings in Brussels on Sunday and Monday. EU leaders are expected to give their final blessing at a summit in Brussels later this week. The deal represents a landmark juncture for the EU, marking the first time the self-described peace project has plotted to jointly buy arms for a country at war. Officials have argued the EU must evolve to meet the extraordinary moment — no less than the fate of democracy on European soil is at stake, they insist.“A historic decision,” ...

Justin Verlander walks six in fourth spring training start against Nationals

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:51 GMT

Justin Verlander struggled in his fourth Grapefruit League start, walking six in Monday’s 3-2 loss against the Washington Nationals. The two-time World Series champion allowed two hits, two earned runs and struck out three in 4.2 innings of work.The right-hander, who has allowed only two runs in the previous 11.1 innings pitched, said he doesn’t want to “breeze through everything” during spring training but noted he needs to make adjustments after his most recent rough outing.“Got some work to do. It was a tough one,” he said.Manager Buck Showalter said postgame that the starter had a lot of “borderline pitches” and that “he’s where he needs to be physically.”LINDOR RETURNSShortstop Francisco Lindor returned to the Mets after Mexico eliminated Puerto Rico, 5-4, in the quarterfinals of the World Baseball Classic last week.The star will start the season without fellow Puerto Rican Edwin Diaz, who underwent a season-endi...

Chicago Bulls finally get elusive win over Joel Embiid in a double-overtime thriller vs. the Philadelphia 76ers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:51 GMT

It took two overtimes, six fouls and a cacophony of defense. But after seven long seasons and 12 dismal losses, the Chicago Bulls finally shook off a lingering curse Monday night — beating Joel Embiid.The Bulls had a handful of wins over the 76ers in the nearly nine years since Philadelphia drafted Embiid with the No. 3 pick in 2014. But the Bulls never had accomplished the feat with Embiid on the court as he rose from a young talent out of Kansas to become one of the superstars of the sport.That changed Monday night — though it wasn’t the fault of Embiid, who managed 37 points against a raucous Bulls defense. And ultimately the Bulls had to get the 76ers star off the court again to collect their 109-105 win, clinching the result only after Embiid fouled out with 3:54 remaining in the second overtime.The ending came down to players who typically hold supporting roles. Derrick Jones Jr. swatted the potential tying shot out of James Harden’s hands, and Coby Whi...

US tells China not to overread likely Taiwan president visit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:51 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is putting out the word in advance that an expected unofficial stopover in the United States by Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen would fall in line with recent precedent and should not be used as a pretext by Beijing to step up aggressive activity in the Taiwan Strait.In recent weeks, senior U.S. officials in Washington and Beijing have underscored to their Chinese counterparts that transit visits through the United States during broader international travel by the Taiwanese president have been routine in recent years, according to a senior administration official. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.In such visits in recent years, Tsai has met with members of Congress and the Taiwanese diaspora and has been welcomed by the chairperson of the American Institute in Taiwan, the U.S. government-run nonprofit that carries out unofficial relations with Taiwan. Tsai transited through the United States six...

Garbage: In Paris streets, heaps of it become protest symbol

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:51 GMT

PARIS (AP) — Garbage. Heaps, mounds and piles of it are growing daily — and in some places standing higher than a human being. A strike by Paris garbage collectors, which begins its 16th day on Tuesday, is taking a toll on the renowned aesthetics of the French capital, a veritable blight on the City of Light.“I prefer Chanel to the stink,” joked Vincent Salazar, a 62-year-old artistic consultant who lives in a tony Left Bank neighborhood. A pile of garbage sits at the corner of his building overlooking the Luxembourg Gardens.“I’ve seen rats,” he said.But like many nonchalant and strike-hardened Parisians, Salazar doesn’t mind.“I’m fortunate to live here, but I’m 200% behind these guys,” Salazar said. “They’re smelling it all day long,” he said, though “it” wasn’t precisely the word he used. “They should get early retirement.”He is among the majority of French who, polls show, oppose President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to raise the retirement age by two years, from...

Japan, China leaders visit rival capitals in Ukraine war

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:51 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida began a surprise visit to Ukraine early Tuesday, hours after Chinese President Xi Jinping arriving in neighboring Russia for a three-day visit. The dueling summits come as the longtime rivals are on diplomatic offensives.Kishida will meet President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Ukrainian capital.He will “show respect to the courage and patience of the Ukrainian people who are standing up to defend their homeland under President Zelenskyy’s leadership, and show solidarity and unwavering support for Ukraine as head of Japan and chairman of G-7,” during his visit to Ukraine, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said in announcing his trip to Kyiv.At the talks, Kishida will show his “absolute rejection of Russia’s one-sided change to the status quo by invasion and force, and to affirm his commitment to defend the rules-based international order,” the ministry’s statement said.Russian President Vladimir Putin warmly welcomed Xi to the Krem...

Gwyneth Paltrow to stand trial for Deer Valley ski crash

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:51 GMT

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — Gwyneth Paltrow is scheduled to stand trial on Tuesday in a lawsuit filed by a retired optometrist who said that the actress-turned-lifestyle influencer violently crashed into him in 2016 while skiing in Utah at one of the most upscale ski resorts in the United States.Terry Sanderson, 76, said Paltrow was cruising down the slopes so recklessly that they collided, leaving him on the ground as she and her entourage continued their descent down Deer Valley Resort, a skiers-only mountain known for its groomed runs, après-ski champagne yurts and posh clientele.“Gwyneth Paltrow skied out of control,” Sanderson’s attorneys claim in the lawsuit, “knocking him down hard, knocking him out, and causing a brain injury, four broken ribs and other serious injuries. Paltrow got up, turned and skied away, leaving Sanderson stunned, lying in the snow, seriously injured.”In a case that has lasted years since the 2016 incident, Sanderson is suing Paltrow for $3...

Apaches get new chance to argue mine will harm sacred sites

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:51 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — An Apache group battling a foreign mining firm that wants to build one of the largest copper mines in the United States on what tribal members say is sacred land will get a new chance to make its point Tuesday when a full federal appeals court panel takes another look at the case. The panel of 11 judges on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is scheduled to meet Tuesday morning at a Pasadena, California, courthouse to review the appeal by Apache Stronghold to save Oak Flat, a site east of Phoenix the group considers sacred. “This isn’t just about Oak Flat, but about all cases involving American Indian sacred site litigation,” said Luke Goodrich, the attorney who will be arguing for Apache Stronghold. Goodrich is vice president and senior counsel at the nonprofit legal institution Becket Law, which takes up cases involving religious freedom.Apache Stronghold sued the U.S. government under the 30-year-old Religious Freedom Restoration Act, saying that its ...

Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates debate as voting begins

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:51 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin voters had a chance to cast ballots in person starting Tuesday in the state’s high-stakes Supreme Court race, the same day the two candidates were meeting for their first and only debate two weeks before election day.Both candidates were urging their supporters to vote early during the period that runs through April 2. Midday on Tuesday, Republican-backed Dan Kelly and Democratic-supported Janet Protasiewicz were debating in a race to decide majority control of the court with abortion access, legislative redistricting, voting rights and other issues at stake.The Wisconsin Supreme Court came within one vote of overturning Donald Trump’s defeat in 2020. Whoever wins the April 4 election for a seat vacated by the retirement of a conservative justice will determine majority control of the court for at least the next two years, including leading up to the 2024 presidential election.Protasiewicz, a Milwaukee County judge, is running as a staunch suppor...

Venezuela oil czar in surprise resignation amid graft probes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:51 GMT

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The man responsible for running Venezuela’s oil industry — the one that pays for virtually everything in the troubled country, from subsidized food to ridiculously cheap gas — has quit amid investigations into alleged corruption among officials in various parts of the government.Tareck El Aissami’s announcement Monday was shocking on multiple counts. He was seen as a loyal ruling party member and considered a key figure in the government’s efforts to evade punishing international economic sanctions. And he led the state oil company PDVSA in a Venezuelan business sector widely considered to be corrupt — in a country where embezzelment, bribery, money laundering and other wrongdoing are a lifestyle.“Obviously, they are giving it the patina of an anti-corruption probe,” said Ryan Berg, director of the Americas program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank. “Rule of law is not being advanced here,...