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Zelenskyy digs in against calls to quit Bakhmut

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:45:18 GMT

Doubts are growing about the wisdom of holding the shattered frontline city of Bakhmut against relentless Russian assaults, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is digging in and insists his top commanders are united in keeping up an attritional defense that has dragged on for months. Fighting around Bakhmut in the eastern region of Donbas dramatically escalated late last year, with Zelenskyy slamming the Russians for hurling men — many of them convicts recruited by the Wagner mercenary group — forward to almost certain death in “meat waves.” Now the bloodiest battle of the war, Bakhmut offers a vision of conflict close to World War I, with flooded trenches and landscapes blasted by artillery fire. In the past weeks, as Ukrainian forces have been almost encircled in a salient, lacking shells and facing spiking casualties, there has been increased speculation both in Ukraine and abroad that the time has come to pull back to another defensive line — a retrenchme...

Brussels should join the dots between Qatargate and Manchester United

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:45:18 GMT

David Goldblatt is is a British sports writer and author of “The Ball is Round: A Global History of Football and “The Age of Football.” Nicholas McGeehan is co-director of FairSquare Projects.The idea that politics should be kept out of sports is, on its face, appealing.Sports are our break from the daily grind, an escapism that helps us tune out bad news. And should we not keep this as far away from meddling politicians as possible?But sports have never been apolitical — that fallacy was exposed long ago, when Roman emperors fed unrepentant Christians to underfed lions. And yet, over two millennia later, politicians of all stripes now shrink from the idea that sports should be regulated almost as quickly as they rush to sit at the executive boxes at a football World Cup or Champions League final.There’s also no sport as political as football — the world’s most popular sport. The Gulf states know this, even if European politicians pretend not to.And those in Europe need to care abou...

Oranges on pizza is the final straw for Hungary

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:45:18 GMT

Welcome to Declassified, a weekly humor column.DISCLAIMER: The opening section of this week’s column contains descriptions of foodstuffs that some readers (especially Italians) may find disturbing.Enough is enough, it’s time to kick Hungary out of the European Union! Why, I hear you ask? Is it the flagrant disregard for the rule of law, its treatment of the LGBTQ+ community, Viktor Orbán’s too-cosy relationship with Vladimir Putin? No, it’s the hate crime that is oranges on pizza! On a visit to the town of Kiskőrös, Orbán paid a visit to a pizzeria that has made a dish in his honor. Among the toppings are chicken breast, jalapeño peppers and slices of orange! Orbán dutifully posed for picture with the pizza (although, tellingly, wasn’t snapped actually eating the thing), thus cementing his position as Europe’s most problematic leader.Older readers may remember Italy declaring war on Hawaii in the mid-1960s, so who knows where this incident will le...

Urgent: A ‘Zeitenwende’ for the Western Balkans

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:45:18 GMT

Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger represented the EU in the Troika negotiations in 2007. He chaired the Munich Security Conference From 2008 to 2022 and currently serves as President of the Munich Security Conference Foundation.Russia’s war against Ukraine has caused existing European security architecture to fall apart, provoking fundamental changes in foreign and defense policies across the Continent.Confronted with terminating its long-standing energy and commercial ties with Russia as a result, Germany was probably more deeply affected than most. And it had to adapt to the new era by adopting a Zeitenwende, or turning point — a radical departure from its past policies and principles.A similar Zeitenwende is urgently needed right now in the southeast of Europe too.Western Balkan countries have had to live with their unresolved issues and disputes for far too long. The time for bold decisions to overcome past obstacles has come, leading the way toward regional cooperation and future m...

David Blunkett says Labour should consider decriminalizing drugs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:45:18 GMT

LONDON — A Labour grandee has urged Keir Starmer to launch an inquiry into the decriminalization of drugs, in a split with current party policy. Labour peer and former U.K. Home Secretary David Blunkett told an episode of POLITICO’s Westminster Insider podcast that there should be an “open debate” about how victims of drugs are treated. Starmer, a former senior prosecutor, has made repeatedly clear that he is not in favor of changing the law to decriminalize drugs. “I don’t think we should decriminalize drugs,” the Labour leader said last month. “I’ve seen first hand the damage that drug taking has and does to people’s lives.”He added: “We are not in the business of decriminalizing drugs.”When Blunkett was home secretary in the early 2000s, he downgraded cannabis from a Class B to Class C drug. It was later upgraded back to B. Blunkett told Westminster Insider he thinks that U-turn was wrong, but that “it was marginal” ...

UK ministers welcome Qatari bid for Manchester United

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:45:18 GMT

LONDON — U.K. government figures say they would privately welcome Qatari investment into Manchester United, as the club’s owners consider a £4 billion bid from a member of the Middle East state’s ruling class.A senior U.K. trade envoy told POLITICO that Britain should “absolutely be embracing foreign investment into this country from the Middle East, whether it’s in football or green energy,” when asked about the potential sale of one of the world’s most famous football clubs into Qatari ownership.Another key U.K. government figure, a minister with a close interest in the proposed deal, said the bid by Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani — the chairman of the Qatari Islamic Bank — would be “good investment” if it came with assurances that the wider community would benefit.Both senior figures were speaking on condition of anonymity. An official from the Department for Business and Trade said the U.K. government was not actively involved in Manchester United’s ...

The great EU subsidy shakedown  

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:45:18 GMT

BRUSSELS — Will it ever be enough? Brussels officials are growing increasingly exasperated with businesses demanding more state cash, and threatening — if they don’t get it — to quit Europe and relocate to America. “These demands just keep on coming,” said one frustrated EU diplomat. “Sometimes we genuinely wonder: Are they legitimate concerns or are companies just seizing on the moment and testing how far they can go?”The first problem is that U.S. President Joe Biden has used a vast package of government subsidies under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to tempt many big European industrial players — like VW and battery supplier Northvolt — into considering a shift in operations to the U.S.The second problem is how the EU has responded to the first. Amid fears that European industry is facing existential decline, the Brussels fightback against Biden’s reforms involves more leeway for EU countries to pour more state aid into their economies and targets fo...

Giants sign Colts WR Parris Campbell, re-sign WR Darius Slayton and DE Jihad Ward: sources

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:45:18 GMT

The Giants signed Indianapolis Colts free agent wide receiver Parris Campbell on Thursday to a one-year contract worth up to $6.7 million on Thursday, sources told the Daily News.It’s a $4.7 million contract that includes a $3 million base amount and $1.7 million in per game roster bonuses, plus $2 million more available in incentives, sources said.GM Joe Schoen also re-signed two key players from last season’s playoff team: wide receiver Darius Slayton and edge rusher Jihad Ward.Slayton, last season’s leading Giants receiver, got a reported two-year, $12 million contract worth up to $16.5 million. Ward, who was the life of last season’s locker room, is back on a one-year contract, a source said.Campbell, a former second-round draft pick from Ohio State, is a speedy and versatile wideout who can play both outside and inside in Brian Daboll’s offense.He is coming off a career-best season with 63 catches for 623 yards and three touchdowns.“Fast, phy...

Lonzo Ball set for a 3rd knee procedure — and it could cost the Chicago Bulls point guard another full season

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:45:18 GMT

Lonzo Ball will undergo a third surgical procedure in an attempt to resolve the pain and discomfort in his left knee that has kept him off the court for the majority of his first two seasons with the Chicago Bulls.Ball will undergo a cartilage transplant this month and then begin a lengthy recovery process. Ball ultimately could spend two full years — or more — away from the basketball court with a recovery timeline that will likely sideline him for most of the 2023-24 season.Ball has not been able to play basketball since Jan. 14, 2022, when he suffered a meniscus injury that required surgery. Despite early predictions from the Bulls that he would be available by the playoffs that year, Ball continued to experience pain and discomfort that ultimately required an arthroscopic debridement procedure on Sept. 28.“My main focus has been on returning to the court and getting to a place where I can rejoin my teammates,” Ball said in a statement on Thursday. “...

Super welterweight Callum Walsh KO’s Wesley Tucker in second

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:45:18 GMT

An Irish fighter based in Los Angles became the toast of Boston for his knockdown power punches.Callum “King” Walsh, a native of Cork, Ireland who is managed by Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach, made quick work of Wesley Tucker in the second round of the main event of Hollywood Fight Night Boston on Thursday at Agganis Arena. The super welterweight fight was scheduled for 10 rounds with 3,256 in the seats.“Boston has been unbelievable and I can’t wait to come back to Boston,” said Walsh. “It is good to be Irish here and it’s crazy here with all the boxing legends and Freddie being from here. Sometime next year I hope to come back to Boston, maybe for St. Patrick’s Day.”Tucker was an 11th-hour substitute for Leonardo Di Stefano Ruiz (10-1, 9 KO’s), who broke a finger in sparring. Walsh improved to 6-0 with five knockouts and will fight next as a middleweight back in LA in June.Walsh was willing to take a few blows to land the big punch, a s...