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EU lawmakers demand UEFA bans Belarus from football tournament

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:56:32 GMT

European Parliament lawmakers want Belarus excluded from football’s Euro 2024 qualifying competition.More than 100 MEPs, from all the major groups, called on European football’s governing body UEFA to expel the Belarusian national team from the Euro 2024 qualifiers over human rights abuses committed by President Alexander Lukashenko’s regime, according to a letter seen by POLITICO.“The very fact of participating in UEFA Championship by the Belarusian national team will be later used by Lukashenko and his propaganda team to prove he is well-received in the international community,” read the letter, sent Wednesday to UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin.“This would be an offense to the victims of the Russian aggression in Ukraine and to all the Belarusians who were forced to flee from their homeland as well as those who stayed in Belarus and now must live in fear and terror,” the letter added.The regime of Lukashenko, who has been president ...

Jay Peak Signposts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:56:32 GMT

Where: Located at the tippy top of Vermont’s famed Northeast Kingdom, Jay is about four hours north of Boston proper, a ride that slices you right through beautiful Franconia Notch.When: Jay, with its Pump House water park, mountain biking, golf, skiing and wildly popular hockey venue, is a year round resort. Ski season runs early to late: they don’t like to set a closing day and rather like to roll with the season. Most years they are spinning lifts through Mother’s Day, sometimes later.Stay: Slopeside, you’ll find condos and housing units to rent (most accessible by the free and frequent resort shuttles) as well as slopeside lodging like the Hotel Jay (super family friendly) and the Tram Haus Lodge, fine as well for families but more of a chic-Vermont countryside vibe.There are off site hotels as well, but look for deals for slopeside to make it all super easy (and tunnels mean you can walk to and from the waterpark in your flip flops and cover up without a chill).You’ll find ski ...

Nets drop winnable game in OKC ahead of tough homestand

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:56:32 GMT

The Nets’ five game road trip ended with a 121-107 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday.They now travel back to Brooklyn for a four-game homestand that will define the rest of season.Thunder All-Star star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — with help from budding star Josh Giddey and Net killer Lugentz Dort — ended Brooklyn’s impressive streak, which included convincing come-from-behind victories over two NBA championship contenders: the Boston Celtics and the Denver Nuggets.Tuesday provided the Nets an opportunity to secure a victory in a winnable game that could have gone a long way toward helping the team’s playoff standing.Instead, the Nets fell short — just before the schedule takes a turn.Gilgeous-Alexander put up his 38th 30-plus-point game of the season, Giddey recorded a triple-double, and Dort hit six threes for 24 points and nine assists.He has scored at least 20 or more in each of his last four games against the Nets.The Nets, who built ...

8 best NBA prospects to watch in Orlando for March Madness

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:56:32 GMT

As the home of the Orlando Magic, Amway Center is accustomed to hosting games featuring NBA players.But with the NCAA men’s basketball tournament returning to Orlando, there could be multiple players who’ll play their last college basketball games in Central Florida before making their way to the league.Amway Center is one of eight host sites for the tournament’s first- and second-round games.In the East Regional, No. 5 seed Duke (26-8) will match up against No. 12 seed Oral Roberts (30-4) at 7:10 p.m. Thursday (CBS). The victor will face the winner of No. 4 seed Tennessee (23-10) and No. 13 Louisiana (26-7), which is scheduled for a 9:40 p.m. tipoff Thursday (CBS).In the South Regional, No. 4 seed Virginia (25-7) will play No. 13 Furman (27-7) at 12:40 p.m. on Thursday (truTV). Whoever wins that game will face the winner of No. 5 seed San Diego State (27-6) and No. 12 Charleston (31-3), which tips at 3:10 p.m. on Thursday (truTV).The second-round games will be pla...

Ski Wednesday: The Jay way is here to stay

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:56:32 GMT

It was a busy mid-winter Monday evening at Jay Peak Resort in Vermont and as I sipped a cocktail at Alice’s Table at the resort’s base, I noticed a huge group at a nearby table.Counting in the dozens, they ranged in age from infant to full-grown adult. Some were in apres ski gear, some dressed casual and a few were in bathing suits and cover ups. You could feel the connection of the group from across the room. A wedding? Family reunion? I had to ask.They’re a huge group of close friends, they told me, who’d not been able to meet up since pre-pandemic. They were together, at last, having come from all directions, and savoring every minute.Why, I asked them, had the chosen Jay Peak for this special time.“Oh that’s easy,” one man explained as they all nodded in agreement. “Jay Peak has something to make everyone happy.”He’s right, I thought as I said my goodbyes and headed back to my table of ski buddies there for the fresh powder. After all: It’s the Jay Way.The Jay Way. Never been an...

Samsung to invest $230 billion to build “mega” chip cluster

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:56:32 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Samsung Electronics said Wednesday it expects to invest 300 trillion won ($230 billion) over the next 20 years as part of an ambitious South Korean national project to build the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturing base near the capital, Seoul.The chip-making “mega cluster,” which will be established in Gyeonggi Province by 2042, will be anchored by five new semiconductor plants built by Samsung. It will aim to attract 150 other companies producing materials and components or designing high-tech chips, according to South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Samsung’s new plants will be located near its existing domestic factories and will produce both computer memory chips used for storing data and higher-margin logic chips designed to perform a broader range of functions, the company said.A giant in the global memory business, Samsung is trying to expand its presence in advanced chips, anticipating that demand will soar in coming years wi...

Cyclone Freddy to ease, in relief for Malawi, Mozambique

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:56:32 GMT

BLANTYRE, Malawi (AP) — After barreling through Mozambique and Malawi since late last week, killing hundreds and displacing thousands more, Cyclone Freddy is set to move away from land Wednesday, bringing some relief to regions who have been ravaged by torrential rain and powerful winds. The cyclone has killed at least 199 people in Malawi’s southern region and within and around Blantyre, the country’s financial hub, according to local authorities. In neighboring Mozambique, officials say at least 20 people have died since the storm made landfall in the port town of Quelimane on Saturday night.“There are many casualties — either wounded, missing, or dead and the numbers will only increase in the coming days,” said Guilherme Botelho, emergency project coordinator in Blantyre with Doctors Without Borders. Malawi, which has been battling a cholera outbreak, is at risk of a resurgence of the disease, Botelho said, “especially since the vaccine coverage in Blantyr...

Ugandan leader’s son unnerves with tweets of ambitions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:56:32 GMT

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — On Twitter, the Ugandan president’s son has mused about invading neighboring Kenya, praised Russian President Vladimir Putin and offered cattle for the Italian prime minister’s hand in marriage.While many of his tweets are dismissed as laughable, the ones about succeeding his father in this East African nation are a source of concern for some.Many Ugandans want decisive political change after nearly four decades of the same government, but the son of President Yoweri Museveni is already claiming victory. “I will be President of Uganda after my father,” Muhoozi Kainerugaba tweeted earlier this month. “Those fighting the truth will be very disappointed!!!”Museveni, 78 and in power for 37 years, hasn’t said when he will leave office. Kainerugaba is at the peak of his military career as a four-star general who is a linchpin of the security apparatus supporting Museveni.But at 48, Kainerugaba is now six years older than his father was when he became pre...

Assisted dying expansion, preventing vehicle attacks : In The News for Mar. 15

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:56:32 GMT

In The News is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to kickstart your day. Here is what’s on the radar of our editors for the morning of Mar. 15 …What we are watching in Canada …The senator who pushed for Canada’s assisted dying regime to include people whose only condition is a mental disorder says the debate about that policy is now over. “The issue of expansion has already been decided upon,” said Stan Kutcher, who sits with the Independent Senators Group.As far as Kutcher is concerned, the what was determined two years ago, when his arguments in the Senate convinced the Liberal government to move forward with an expansion of eligibility.It’s just the when that recently came into question. Last week, Parliament hastily passed a Liberal bill that has further delayed the expansion of assisted dying eligibility to people whose sole condition is a mental disorder. In an interview, Kutcher said he supported the delay until Mar...

German police conduct raids on suspected people smugglers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:56:32 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — German police conducted a major raid against a group of suspected people smugglers early Wednesday, German news agency dpa reported. Around 400 officers, among them federal police and GSG 9 special units, searched more than 20 apartments and offices, mainly in Berlin, but also in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt.Five men were arrested, four of them in Berlin and one in the city of Halle, while another 12 suspects were under investigation, dpa reported.The group is said to have brought at least 90 people, mostly from Turkey and Iraq, to Germany, with each paying several thousand euros.They were flown from Istanbul by plane to the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo. From there, they continued their trip to Germany by car across the so-called Balkan route. Some of them were discovered in the apartments that police searched on Wednesday.The suspects have mainly Turkish or German citizenships, according to police.___Follow AP’s coverage of global migration at https://apnews.com/hu...