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Putin touts Russian economy as Western investors steer clear of St. Petersburg event

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:01 GMT

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — President Vladimir Putin on Friday touted Russia’s prospects at the country’s main international economic forum despite heavy international sanctions imposed because of the war in Ukraine.Western officials and investors steered clear of the year’s St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, which began Wednesday and continues through Saturday. For decades, the gathering has been Russia’s premier event for attracting foreign capital, sometimes likened to the World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland. The Kremlin banned journalists from “unfriendly” countries from covering the proceedings. Moscow gave that designation on scores of countries that sanctioned Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, including the United States, Canada, European Union members and Australia.Officials did not provide a list of the foreign businesses attending, but the program for the more than 100 panel discussions showed a marked majority of the speakers hailing from ...

Hilary Knight patiently excited awaiting launch of women’s pro hockey league, upbeat on her future

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:01 GMT

Patience remains the operative word from Hilary Knight on the Professional Women’s Hockey Players’ Association’s long-awaited bid to launch its own professional league.“I’m not anxious yet. You know, I’m on the board, so I get a little peek behind the curtain so to speak,” one of USA Hockey’s most decorated and longest-serving players told The Associated Press this week.The PWHPA — now a certified union — is in negotiations with its corporate partners (Billie Jean King Enterprises and Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Mark Walter) to hammer out a collective bargaining agreement. “I know people who aren’t necessarily in the mix are like, `What’s going to happen next year? How’s this going to work? It’s already mid-June.′ And I totally get that,” Knight said. “So I’m excited about this year. I think that’s all I can say.”Knight’s assessment follows a recent letter the PWHPA sent to its membership saying it is at “the finish line” of negotiations with only a few details le...

¿Por qué el rey Carlos III celebra dos cumpleaños? El origen del desfile Trooping the Colour

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:01 GMT

(CNN) — El papel de rey de Reino Unido conlleva una larga lista de ventajas, pero quizá una de las más envidiables sea la posibilidad de celebrar tu cumpleaños no una, sino dos veces al año.El rey Carlos celebró su primer cumpleaños real como monarca el 14 de noviembre. Pero este fin de semana volverá a celebrar su gran día: la primera vez que disfruta de un cumpleaños “oficial” desde que ascendió al trono.Desde el siglo XVIII, los reyes y reinas de Reino Unido han duplicado sus festejos, celebrando tanto una fiesta pública —el cumpleaños oficial— como un acto más privado en la fecha real.La razón es muy sencilla: nadie quiere que la lluvia le estropee el desfile, así que, desde 1740, los monarcas han programado sus pomposas fiestas para el verano.Se cree que la tradición comenzó con el rey Jorge II en 1748. Ese es el año en que la celebración anual británica de Trooping the Colour se asoció por primera vez con el cumpleaños del soberano. Al igual que Carlos III, J...

Deion Sanders may lose his foot due to circulation issues

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:01 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- The head coach of the Colorado Buffalos football team Deion Sanders is facing the possibility that his foot may need to be amputated.It started during the 2021 season when the former NFL star and Hall of Famer was coaching the Jackson State football team. The Associated Press reported that he had injured a toe and had a procedure in September that left him using crutches and a scooter to get around the field. Coach Prime keeps driving ticket sales: Colorado sets single-game record As that was healing, his toes began to darken under the bandages. He had several surgeries and complications and eventually had his big toe and second toe amputated due to blood clots.Sanders, also known as "Coach Prime" became the head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes in December. Now, he is at risk of losing his whole foot.A clip from Wednesday's episode of "Thee Pregame Show" a video series that documents the football season, showed a meeting with orthopedic surgeon Dr. Kenneth Hunt an...

European officials support plan that could ease Ukraine’s move into NATO

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:01 GMT

Support for easing Ukraine’s pathway to NATO membership is growing within the alliance, increasing the likelihood that the proposal becomes official during a major gathering next month.NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has privately suggested that allies agree Ukraine could join NATO after the war without following a Membership Action Plan, which is a series of military and democratic reforms an applicant nation must make before accession.Removing the MAP hurdle speeds up Ukraine’s bid to become an ally, but doesn’t provide any timeline or guarantees that Kyiv will eventually receive unanimous approval for its membership.That falls short of Ukraine’s wishes to join right away but goes further toward making them eventually come true. President Joe Biden is “open” to the plan and told Stoltenberg as much during their discussion in Washington on Tuesday. As NATO’s most important member, U.S. support goes a long way to waiving the MAP requirement during the alliance’s July summit ...

Greek coast guard defends actions after hundreds of migrants feared dead

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:01 GMT

ATHENS — Greece’s coast guard defended its actions in responding to a fishing boat that sank off its southern peninsula while carrying hundreds of migrants Wednesday, leading to one of the largest tragedies in the Mediterranean in recent history. At least 78 people died and hundreds of others are considered missing, according to the U.N.’s migration agency, IOM, and its refugee agency, UNHCR. Aerial photos of the vessel before it sank, released by Greek authorities, showed people crammed on the deck without any lifejackets.Greek authorities said they had tracked the vessel since Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, said its aircraft spotted the boat Tuesday and warned Greece and Italy. The Greek authorities claimed the people on board, some thought to be the smugglers who had arranged the boat from Libya, were refusing assistance and insisting on reaching Italy, and did not intervene until the next day despite being monitored by the Greek coast guard...

Western countries launch a raft of plans to keep up with Ukraine’s weapons needs

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:01 GMT

NATO defense ministers wrapped up two days of meetings in Brussels Friday where they pledged billions more in military aid for Ukraine as Kyiv enters the second week of its long-awaited counteroffensive against Russia.At the same time, officials in the U.S. and Europe intensified plans to build more weapons for Ukraine over the long-term while also working to restock their own shelves at home.The question now is: Can the defense industry keep up?The issue became center stage over the past week as images of destroyed equipment — including U.S.-made Bradley fighting vehicles and German-made Leopard tanks — began surfacing on social media.The need to supply and sustain Ukraine will remain for years, especially if Ukraine joins NATO. At the same time, individual governments are scrambling to increase funding for their own defense industries to ramp up production and work through supply chain bottlenecks that remain from decades of neglect, and COVID-era disruptions.U.S. Army Secretary C...

Ray Lewis III, son of Hall of Famer Ray Lewis, dies at 28

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:01 GMT

(CNN) — Former college football player Ray Lewis III, the son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Ray Lewis, has died at the age of 28, according to a social media post from his younger brother.Rahsaan Lewis posted about his brother’s death on Instagram on Thursday.“Really can’t believe I’m even typing this but RIP big brother. A true angel I pray [you’re] at peace now because [I know] how much you was [really] hurtin,” the post read.“I love you I love you I love you,” Lewis added.The circumstances around the death have not been released. CNN has reached out to Lewis’ representatives for comment.Lewis III made a name for himself playing high school football for Lake Mary Preparatory School in Florida.Like his father, he went on to play college football for the University of Miami before moving to Coastal Carolina and then Virginia Union.Mark James, Lewis III’s coach at Virginia Union, wrote a tribute to his former player on Facebook.“Young man it was a pleasure to brin...

Pool deck at collapsed Florida condo building failed to comply with codes, standards, officials say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:01 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — The swimming pool deck of a beachfront South Florida condominium that collapsed two years ago, killing 98 people, failed to comply with the original building codes and standards, with many areas of severe strength deficiency, federal investigators said Thursday.Investigators with the National Institute of Standards and Technology gave an update on the collapse of the Champlain Towers South building in Surfside, Florida, during a regular meeting of the National Construction Safety Team Advisory Committee. The town of Surfside is located just north of Miami Beach.Besides design understrength, investigators reported signs of corrosion, misplaced reinforcement and the placement of heavier and additional plant containers on the deck than those in the original plans. These and other factors led to “ critically low margins against failure,” investigators said.Experts have previously suggested problems with the pool deck might have led to the 40-year-old, 12...

Harry and Meghan’s Archewell Audio and Spotify have ‘mutually agreed’ to part ways

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:01 GMT

(CNN) — Archewell Audio, the company of Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, has announced the end of a multi-year partnership with Spotify in a joint statement released to CNN Friday.“Spotify and Archewell Audio have mutually agreed to part ways and are proud of the series we made together,” the statement said.The Sussexes were among Spotify’s most notable audio personalities, having announced an exclusive partnership with the service in December 2020.In a news release at the time, Spotify said the pair “will host and produce podcasts that build community through shared experience, narratives, and values.”The announcement comes just two weeks after Spotify said it had cut 200 jobs within its podcast unit, amounting to 2% of the audio streaming company’s global workforce, in a “strategic realignment.”Archewell Audio’s multi-year partnership with Spotify was intended to include numerous programs but, ultimately, the couple’s company produced one s...