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Zelenskyy in Lilliput: Someone Shrunk Ukraine’s War Coalition

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:10:17 GMT

For a second week in a row, Washington is the most important theater in Russia’s war on Ukraine. Billions in military and economic aid for Kyiv hang in the balance. As does, with only a bit of exaggeration, Ukraine’s fate as a nation, stability in Europe and America’s credibility as a world power. It’s a big moment. So why do the players on this stage all look so small?You have Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose heroic aura has diminished with every visit here (Tuesday’s stop will be his third). The Ukrainian president’s host in the White House is a shrunken figure with poor polls and reelection prospects. Fresh off their latest bout of dysfunctional bloodletting, Republicans on the Hill are their own species of Lilliputians. Missing in this group picture but would fit right in: The Europeans, who act is if the worst armed conflict since World War II isn’t playing out in the heart of their continent.There are a couple players in this drama who’ve avoided the shrinkage of the rest. You may h...

Dolphins blow improbable lead in shock defeat to Titans while Tommy ‘Cutlets’ DeVito inspires Giants to win over Packers

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:10:17 GMT

(CNN) — The NFL rarely schedules two games to compete in the same prime time slot. But on Monday night, the double-booking only added to the tension-filled evening.In Florida, the playoff-bound Miami Dolphins looked to be booking their spot atop the AFC, only for the Tennessee Titans to mount a miraculous comeback and win 28-27.Simultaneously, one of the most heartwarming stories of the season – Tommy DeVito – was leading the New York Giants down the field for a game-winning field goal to overcome the surging Green Bay Packers, 24-22.Here’s everything you need to know about a thrilling evening of Monday Night Football.Titans dent Dolphins’ top-seed aspirationsThe Dolphins have the most explosive offense in the NFL, while the Titans have had a hit-and-miss season.Playing in Miami, the result looked a formality. And midway through the fourth quarter, the hosts looked to be heading atop the AFC as a five-yard Raheem Mostert touchdown had given the Dol...

MLB superstar Shohei Ohtani to defer $680 million of his contract for 10 years, source says

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:10:17 GMT

(CNN) — MLB superstar Shohei Ohtani will defer more than 97% of his $700 million, record-setting contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers until after the end of the 10-year term of the agreement, a source familiar with the terms of the deal told CNN on Monday.The two-time American League MVP will defer $68 million of his $70 million each year, according to the source. The remaining $680 million will be paid to Ohtani beginning after the 2033 MLB season.“The concept of the extreme deferrals in this contract came from Shohei himself,” the source told CNN. “He had been educated on the implications and process of deferrals and felt it was the right thing to do. So when negotiations were getting near the level where they ended up, Shohei decided he wanted to defer almost all of his salary.“And remember, since he’s far and away the highest earner in the game off the field, this was an easy decision for him,” the source added.In a statement announcing Ohtani’s signing...

Harvard president awaits word on her fate following backlash on antisemitism testimony

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:10:17 GMT

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Harvard President Claudine Gay awaited word Tuesday on her fate as leader of the prestigious Ivy League school following her comments last week at a congressional hearing on antisemitism.Only months into her leadership, Gay came under intense scrutiny following the hearing in which she and two of her peers struggled to answer questions about campus antisemitism. Their academic responses provoked a backlash from Republican opponents, along with alumni and donors who say the university leaders are failing to stand up for Jewish students on their campuses.Some lawmakers and donors to the the university called for Gay to step down, following the resignation of Liz Magill as president of the University of Pennsylvania on Saturday.The Harvard Corporation, the university’s highest governing body, met Monday. It was expected to release a statement on Tuesday about Gay.The Harvard Crimson student newspaper reported Tuesday that Gay, who became Harvard’s first Bl...

Swedish authorities say 5 people died when a construction elevator crashed to the ground

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:10:17 GMT

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — All five people inside a construction site elevator that crashed to the ground in Stockholm have died, a Swedish prosecutor said Tuesday.Authorities had previously only reported that the occupants were seriously injured when the elevator plummeted 20 meters (66 feet) in Sundbyberg, a Stockholm suburb, on Monday. It is still unclear what caused the accident. Construction at the site has been stopped.Gunnar Jonasson, the senior prosecutor in charge, said there is an ongoing preliminary investigation, including by the National Accident Commission, on suspicion of “work environment violations causing the death of another.” “This is a serious incident that we are now investigating,” Jonasson said. He added that authorities are working on ensuring the identity of the deceased and contact is being made with relatives. The prosecutor said nothing more about how or when the victims died in the brief statement.A spokesman for the company that manuf...

Police and customs seize live animals, horns and ivory in global wildlife trafficking operation

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:10:17 GMT

PARIS (AP) — Interpol and the World Customs Organization said Tuesday they seized 53 primates, four big cats and more than 1,300 birds, as well as some 300 kilograms of ivory, thousands of turtle eggs, and rhino horns, leopard skins, and lion teeth and paws in their sweeping annual crackdown on wildlife and timber trafficking that this year covered 133 countries. Interpol said it coordinated around 500 arrests worldwide from Oct. 2 to 27. More than 2,000 confiscations of animals and plants were made. This year’s operation marks the highest participation in Operation Thunder since its inception in 2017.The live animals were destined for the pet trade, egg harvesting or as a source of meat, while the wildlife parts are used for jewelry or rituals.“Important and endangered animals, birds and plants are being put at risk of extinction by wildlife and timber traffickers,” said Interpol Secretary General Jürgen Stock. “These appalling crimes not only deprive the world of uniqu...

An asylum-seeker in UK has died onboard a moored barge housing migrants

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:10:17 GMT

LONDON (AP) — An asylum-seeker on board a barge housing migrants off the south coast of England has died and a police investigation has been launched into the incident, British officials said Tuesday. The Home Office said police confirmed the death on the barge, called the Bibby Stockholm. Authorities said in a statement that they could not comment further because of an ongoing police investigation. A Dorset Police spokesperson said officers received “a report of a sudden death of a resident on the Bibby Stockholm” late Tuesday.“Officers are conducting inquiries into the circumstances of the incident,” it said.The Bibby Stockholm has been at the center of controversy since authorities first deployed the vessel as a solution to housing migrants awaiting the outcome of their asylum applications. Earlier this year the ship had to be evacuated following the discovery of legionella bacteria, which can cause serious illness, in its water supply. About 40 men returned in Octobe...

Kenya marks 60 years of independence, and the president defends painful economic measures

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:10:17 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya’s president on Tuesday defended the high taxes the government recently imposed, calling them a “necessary sacrifice “in helping the country deal with ballooning foreign debt which now stands at $70 billion.Speaking at celebrations marking 60 years since Kenya’s independence from Britain, President William Ruto said East Africa’s largest economy was no longer at risk of defaulting on bond payments following economic reforms his government had undertaken since taking power last September.“Though painful, the sacrifices we have made will not only make our freedom fighters proud,” Ruto told tens of thousands of people in the capital, Nairobi. He added: “I can now confirm without fear of any contradiction that Kenya is safely out of the danger of debt distress, and that our economy is on a stable footing.”The economy has taken center stage in politics and daily life in Kenya as the government tackles mounting debts. A $2 billion Eurobond is d...

A Jordanian soldier is killed in a clash with drug smugglers along the border with Syria

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:10:17 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Jordanian troops clashed Tuesday with dozens of drug smugglers along the country’s northern border with Syria, leaving several dead including one soldier while another was wounded, the army said.The smugglers were trying to bring into Jordan “large amounts of drugs” while taking advantage of fog and low visibility, a statement by the Jordanian Armed Forces said. It said some of them were killed and the others fled.Smugglers have used Jordan over the past years to send highly addictive Captagon amphetamines out of Syria, mainly to oil-rich Arab Gulf states. Jordanian authorities have aborted attempts over the past months, including some in which smugglers used drones to fly the drugs over the border.The Captagon industry has been a huge concern for Jordan, as well as Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, as hundreds of millions of pills have been smuggled over the years. The drug is used recreationally and by people with physically demanding jobs to keep them alert....

EU remembers Iranian woman who died in custody at awarding of Sakharov human rights prize

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:10:17 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Parliament on Tuesday remembered a young woman who died in police custody in Iran last year, during a ceremony at which she and a Iranian human rights group were officially awarded the EU’s top human rights prize.Parliament President Roberta Metsola deplored that even part of Mahsa Amini’s family was not allowed to attend the event for the awarding of the Sakharov Prize at the EU legislature’s plenary. “They are under a travel ban imposed by the Iranian regime. Their treatment is another example of what the people of Iran face every day,” Metsola said. Amini, 22, died in September 2022, three days after she was arrested by Iran’s morality police for allegedly violating Iran’s mandatory headscarf law. While authorities said she suffered a heart attack, Amini’s supporters said she was beaten by police and died as a result of her injuries. The EU said her death triggered a women-led movement in Iran, and representatives of the Woman,...