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Lucas: Ukraine’s fight against Russia forcing questions on NATO

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:19:26 GMT

Ask not what NATO can do for you; ask what you can do for NATO.That, in a play on JFK’s famous 1960 presidential inaugural speech, is what President Joe Biden asked of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Lithuanian NATO summit.You keep fighting the Russians for us, Biden implied, and if you win you can join NATO. If you lose, well, that is a different story. You won’t be around to join.Biden, nevertheless, came out in strong support of Zelenskyy and Ukraine, as long as Zelenskyy keeps on fighting and draining the Russian military dry. He promised that the US and NATO “will not waver” in its support of Ukraine.Speaking before an enthusiastic crowd at Vilnius University following the summit, Biden said,” We are steeled for the struggle ahead. Our unity will not falter, I promise you.”This is the same Biden who, upon the Russian invasion of Ukraine 18 months ago, offered Zelenskyy a plane ride to escape out of Kiev to safety in Poland.“The fight is here,” Zelenskyy said at t...

Skipping out: A Biden pass on NH would make history, and not much difference in the end, expert says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:19:26 GMT

President Biden could make history during the 2024 presidential cycle, when he may become the first incumbent White House candidate to ever lose a party primary in New Hampshire — and it probably won’t make a bit of difference, according to one historian.With the Granite State and the Democratic National Committee on a political collision course of the liberals’ making, the president’s name may remain off the New Hampshire Democratic primary ballot entirely, effectively handing victory to either Robert F. Kennedy Jr. or Marianne Williamson.In setting this cycle’s primary schedule last February, the DNC and Biden, surely noting the president’s past campaign had turned itself around in South Carolina, sought to shake up the state-by-state voting order and put the Palmetto State ahead of New Hampshire.South Carolina is more representative of the broader Democratic voting base, with more large cities and people of color than the sparsely populated New England state whi...

Russia has halted a wartime deal allowing Ukraine to ship grain. It’s a blow to global food security

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:19:26 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Russia halted a breakthrough wartime deal on Monday that allows grain to flow from Ukraine to countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia where hunger is a growing threat and high food prices have pushed more people into poverty.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would suspend the Black Sea Grain Initiative until its demands to get its own food and fertilizer to the world are met. While Russia has complained that restrictions on shipping and insurance have hampered its agricultural exports, it has shipped record amounts of wheat.“When the part of the Black Sea deal related to Russia is implemented, Russia will immediately return to the implementation of the deal,” Peskov said. The suspension marks the end of an accord that the U.N. and Turkey brokered last summer to allow food to leave the Black Sea region after Russia’s invasion of its neighbor worsened a global food crisis. The initiative is credited with helping lower soaring prices of wheat, vegeta...

Elton John testifies for the defense in Kevin Spacey’s sexual assault trial

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:19:26 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Elton John testified Monday for the defense in Kevin Spacey ’s sexual assault trial. John appeared remotely from Monaco to testify after his husband, David Furnish, said Spacey only once attended the annual gala the singer held at his Windsor home. One of the alleged victims accused Spacey of aggressively grabbing his crotch while he was driving with him to the ball in 2004 or 2005. Spacey testified that he only attended the event in 2001. Furnish testified earlier that he had checked photographs and that was the only year Spacey attended. John said Spacey spent the night at the house after the ball the one time he attended.Spacey, 63, has pleaded not guilty to a dozen charges that include sexual and indecent assault counts and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent. Brian Melley, The Associated Press

Public vigil planned for mother of two killed by stray bullet in Leslieville

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:19:26 GMT

A vigil is set to be held Monday night for a woman who was killed by a stray bullet in Toronto’s east end more than a week ago.The public vigil honouring the life of Karolina Huebner-Makurat, who was killed while walking in Toronto’s Leslieville neighbourhood, is being held at Jimmie Simpson Park at 6:30 p.m.Related:‘A beacon of light’: Heartfelt gratitude from husband of woman killed in Leslieville shootingSuspect arrested in Leslieville shooting that killed mother of 2 had extensive criminal historyPolice have said the 44-year-old mother of two was hit by a bullet after a group of three men were in an altercation nearby and two of them fired guns at each other.Damian Hudson, a 32-year-old Toronto resident, has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder in the shooting, while police continue their search for two outstanding suspects.Court documents show Hudson previously served 15 months in jail after stabbing someone in the heart, one episode in a ...

Heat wave bakes southern Europe, sparking warnings to stay inside, drink water and limit exercise

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:19:26 GMT

ROME (AP) — Italian health officials intensified heat warnings as southern Europe began a brutally hot week on Monday with temperatures expected to top 40 C — or 104 F — in multiple cities already overburdened by tourists.The health ministry issued 10 recommendations to protect elderly people, the sick and pets from the heat, urging people to stay indoors during the hottest hours, drink at least 1.5 liters (nearly half a gallon) of water a day and refrain from strenuous exercise at peak daylight times. The culprit was a high-pressure anticyclone dubbed Cerberus, the multi-headed dog that guards gates to the underworld in Greek mythology. Local celebrities went on state-run RAI television to read the recommendations aloud, in hopes of spreading the message.The third heatwave in a month was expected to affect much of the Mediterranean and last until Wednesday. The mercury in Rome hit 35 C (95 F) just before noon Monday and was forecast to near 40 C (104 F) in the afternoon. Italy̵...

Turkey’s Erdogan heads to Gulf seeking funds for ailing economy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:19:26 GMT

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan travels to Saudi Arabia on Monday in a three-stop tour of Gulf states to seek trade and investment opportunities for Turkey’s floundering economy.The president will arrive in Jeddah accompanied by an entourage of some 200 businesspeople, according to the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey. He is expected to meet King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Business forums have been arranged in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates during Erdogan’s three-day trip.The visit comes as Turks are hit with sales and fuel tax hikes that Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek has said are necessary to restore fiscal discipline and bring inflation down.The official annual inflation rate stood at 38% last month, down from a high of 85% in October. Independent economists, however, maintain that the actual rate was around 108% in June.Turkey’s current account deficit reached record levels this year – $37.7 billion in the firs...

Analysis: Carlos Alcaraz’s Wimbledon title shows he is exactly who everyone thought he was

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:19:26 GMT

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Novak Djokovic knows a thing or two about the talents and intangibles required to win big matches against the best players.He’s been in 35 Grand Slam finals. He’s won 23 of them. He played Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer a total of 109 times, with head-to-head edges against both. He went 9-5 against them in title matches at majors.So it seemed only natural to ask Djokovic to whom he’d compare the new star of men’s tennis — Carlos Alcaraz — after losing to him across five sets and more than 4 1/2 hours brimming with brilliant play and dramatic moments in the Wimbledon final on Sunday.“People have been talking in the past 12 months or so about his game consisting of certain elements from Roger, Rafa and myself. I would agree with that,” Djokovic began, the bitterness of the 1-6, 7-6 (6), 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 defeat, and the end of his reign at the All England Club, still sharp.“I think he’s got basically (the) best of all three worlds,” Djokovic said.Left there, that...

5-story apartment building collapses in Cairo, killing at least 9 people

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:19:26 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — A five-story apartment building collapsed Monday in the Egyptian capital of Cairo, leaving at least nine people dead, authorities said, as rescuers at the scene searched through the rubble.Building collapses are common in Egypt, where shoddy construction and a lack of maintenance are widespread in shantytowns, poor city neighborhoods and rural areas.The state-run MENA news agency reported that rescue teams recovered at least nine bodies from under the rubble of the building in Cairo’s neighborhood of Hadaeq el-Qubbah, roughly 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from the city’s center.Four survivors were also taken to a hospital and authorities evacuated a neighboring apartment building, MENA said.Egypt’s Ministry of Social Solidarity said it would give 60,000 Egyptian pounds, roughly $1,940, to the families of the nine victims killed in the accident. The ministry also said it would deliver aid to the injured and was monitoring the damage to nearby properties.Police forces co...

El Niño settles in: Why we may see more extreme temperatures

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:19:26 GMT

(The Hill) -- As El Niño conditions settle in — with a more than 90 percent chance of lasting through this winter and into next year — the globe may feel the heat.The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center officially declared the arrival of El Niño, a climate phenomenon marked by warmer sea temperatures, in early June. El Niño increases the likelihood of record-breaking temperatures and triggering more extreme heat, Petteri Taalas, the secretary general of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), said in a press release earlier this month.  California’s Death Valley reaches 128 degrees The globe has already been seeing intense heat, breaking the unofficial record for the hottest day in 120,000 years three times last week. Last Thursday’s worldwide average temperature marked a new high of 63.01 degrees Fahrenheit, surpassing the records set in the preceding days, according to the Uni...