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Russia, Belarus barred from Nobel Prize ceremony after outcry forces U-turn

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:50:13 GMT

The Nobel Foundation reversed its decision to invite ambassadors from authoritarian states involved in the war in Ukraine to its annual awards ceremony following condemnation from Kyiv and other European capitals.In a statement on Saturday, the Swedish trust acknowledged that its policy to invite ambassadors from all countries “in accordance with previous practice” had “provoked strong reactions.”In the face of growing condemnation, including from the government of Sweden, the organizers will “choose to repeat last year’s exception to regular practice — that is, to not invite the ambassadors of Russia, Belarus and Iran to the Nobel Prize award ceremony in Stockholm.” However, it added, their invitation to a parallel ceremony in Oslo still stands.Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said this week that he was “greatly surprised” to see Moscow’s envoy invited to the awards, and that he would not have made the same decision. Representati...

US Republican senator praises UK Labour’s ‘Reaganesque’ economic plans

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:50:13 GMT

The U.K.’s Shadow Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has won plaudits from an unlikely source for taking a tough line on taxation after she pledged that the Labour Party would not introduce a wealth tax if it forms a government following the next British election.U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, said in a post on social media on Friday that America’s Democratic Party should “wake up and take a cue” from Reeves.“She is for wealth creation. She feels u don’t tax ur way out [of economic problems]. U grow ur way out,” he wrote, adding that the British opposition’s policies are “very Reaganesque.”In an interview with the Telegraph last weekend, Reeves ruled out introducing a levy on accumulated wealth or owned properties despite calls from some on the left of the party to back more radical solutions to the cost of living crisis.She also confirmed a decision to shelve plans to raise the top rate of personal income tax from ...

How did those get there? Giant inflatable ducks return to Belfast Harbor in Maine for a third year

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:50:13 GMT

(CNN) — In what has become an unexpected annual tradition for a coastal city in Maine, gigantic inflatable ducks are once again floating in Belfast Harbor, and for the third year running, the mystery of how they got there has yet to be solved.The massive yellow ducks first appeared in the summer of 2021, when a single yellow duck with the word “joy” written on it appeared over the harbor for a few weeks, according to Scott Smith, operations manager for the Belfast Area Chamber of Commerce.The duck’s debut drew attention from astonished locals and visitors, and even garnered national attention, Smith told CNN.“It was great just to have something fun, charming and simple that really brought a lot of happy feelings and positive energy,” he said.Last October, the original duck was replaced by an even larger version with the words “greater joy” written across its front, photos from the Belfast Area Chamber of Commerce showed.This year, an inflatable family of three has waddled into ...

Aaron Judge makes more home run history, becomes fastest to 250

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:50:13 GMT

HOUSTON — Aaron Judge made more home run history on Friday night, becoming the fastest player to reach 250 longballs.Judge secured the milestone in the 810th game of his career when he crushed a Justin Verlander pitch to the train at Minute Maid Park. The fifth-inning solo shot traveled 426 feet and gave the Yankees extra padding in a 6-2 win over the Astros.Prior to Judge, Ryan Howard had been the fastest player to reach 250 homers, as he did so in 855 games. After Friday’s game, Judge thought it was cool to topple the Phillies great, although he mostly downplayed his latest feat.“It’s great,” Judge said. “I really don’t think about it. I don’t think it means too much. Doing it in a win, I think, means more. But when you see the guys that are on the list, especially Ryan Howard, who is one of the greatest power hitters and left-handed hitters in the game, it’s pretty cool to be on that list.”Then he added, “Just anot...

Bill Madden: No need for consultants, analytics ruined the Yankees roster-building principles

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:50:13 GMT

It has taken a $278 million last place finish for Hal Steinbrenner to finally conclude there’s something rotten in the Yankee hemisphere. Not so rotten to change Brian Cashman’s title as the eternal Yankee GM, but rotten enough for Hal to bring in a consulting firm to examine all the elements of Cashman’s analytics department.In particular, Hal wants to know what’s the value of the hitters’ exit velocity if they can’t hit the ball consistently. (See: Giancarlo Stanton), and what’s the value of pitchers’ velocity if they can’t control the strike zone? It’s the way that the Yankees and so many other clubs are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on analytic apparatuses that measure pitchers’ velocity and spin rates and hitters’ bat speed. And for what? At the same time, they’re not teaching pitchers how to pitch, hitters how to be selective and the basic fundamentals of baseball.Along with the over-emph...

Italian ex-premier says French missile downed an airliner in 1980 by accident in bid to kill Gadhafi

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:50:13 GMT

ROME (AP) — A former Italian premier, in an interview published on Saturday, contended that a French air force missile accidentally brought down a passenger jet over the Mediterranean Sea in 1980 in a failed bid to assassinate Libya’s then leader Moammar Gadhafi. Former two-time Premier Giuliano Amato appealed to French President Emmanuel Macron to either refute or confirm his assertion about the cause of the crash on June 27, 1980, which killed all 81 persons aboard the Italian domestic flight. In an interview with Rome daily La Repubblica, Amato said he is convinced that France hit the plane while targeting a Libyan military jet. While acknowledging he has no hard proof, Amato also contended that Italy tipped off Gadhafi, and so the Libyan, who was heading back to Tripoli from a meeting in Yugoslavia, didn’t board the Libyan military jet.What caused the crash is one of modern Italy’s most enduring mysteries. Some say a bomb exploded aboard the Itavia jetliner on a flig...

This red dye was so valuable it built cities. One family in Mexico is still making it the old way

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:50:13 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO TEPEYACAC, Mexico (AP) — One family in central Mexico is struggling to preserve the production of cochineal dye, an intense, natural red pigment so prized that, after gold and silver, it was probably the most valuable thing the Spaniards found in Mexico after the 1521 conquest.For centuries, red clothing — along with purple — had been a sign of power and wealth because it was rare and expensive. An indigenous Mexican process deriving the pigment from insects gave the Spanish empire a new source of red dye.Some of Mexico’s most picturesque and imposing colonial cities, like Oaxaca, were essentially built on the wealth derived from cochineal dye, also called carmine, and known as “grana cochinilla” in Spanish. It was much prized by the Spanish nobility, and it would go on to dye, among other garments, the British empire’s ‘Redcoat’ military uniforms, before it began to be replaced by synthetic dyes in the 1800s.Obtaining the dye the old fashioned way is slow, tedious and...

Weekend Break: African Festival of Arts

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:50:13 GMT

Joins Marcus Leshock in today's Weekend Break where we visit the Africa Festival of Arts.Love the WGN Morning News? We love you, too. And you can have all the hijinks delivered to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign up and subscribe to our WGN Morning News newsletter.

Former Marine arrested, accused of stealing $344K in VA benefit payments

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:50:13 GMT

SHELBURNE FALLS, Mass. (WWLP) - A former Marine from Massachusetts has been arrested for allegedly stealing benefit payments from the Department of Veterans Affairs.According to the Department of Justice, 52-year-old Paul John Herbert was arrested Friday and indicted in federal court in Springfield on one count of theft of government money and one count of making false statements. From January 1, 2010 to March 11, 2023, Herbert is believed to have stolen more than $344,000 in veterans disability benefits, according to the court documents. In addition, on October 24, 2018, he allegedly submitted an application for a Purple Heart award to the United States Marine Corps through his local Congressman, falsely stated that he had suffered injuries, including traumatic brain injury, from a roadside explosion while deployed to Northern Iraq.If convicted, Herbert faces up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whicheve...

'California Forever': Company behind land purchases near Travis Air Force Base launches website, details plans

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:50:13 GMT

(KTXL) — The group of Silicon Valley investors who have been buying up land in Northern California under the company Flannery Associates has launched a website, revealing a parent company called California Forever and offering more details about its plans for building a new metropolitan area in Solano County. The website, which launched Thursday, features information about a survey conducted by the company, renderings of what the community would look like, and more information about the two companies, which it says are seeking to build a new "sustainable community." California Forever has existed since 2017, according to the site. But it wasn't until this year that it caught national attention after concerns were raised about the close to 55,000 acres it had purchased in the eastern part of Solano County, close to Travis Air Force Base. This summer, the land buyers started receiving more attention from media outlets and state and federal elected officials after concerns about the pr...