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FIFA to lift Saudi club Al Nassr’s player registration ban when debt to Leicester is paid

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:59 GMT

ZURICH (AP) — Cristiano Ronaldo’s Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr will have its FIFA ban on registering new players lifted when it settles a debt with Leicester, soccer’s governing body said Thursday.Al Nassr was ordered to pay English club Leicester 460,000 euros ($513,000) plus annual interest of 5% in an October 2021 ruling by a FIFA-appointed judge at its players’ status committee. Leicester filed the complaint in April 2021 because of unpaid additional clauses due from the 18 million euros ($20 million) sale of Nigerian forward Ahmed Musa in 2018.Currently, Al Nassr – which was taken under majority ownership last month by the $700 billion sovereign wealth Public Investment Fund – can still buy new players though not register them to play.“The club Al Nassr is currently prevented from registering new players due to outstanding debts,” FIFA said Thursday. “The relevant bans will be lifted immediately upon the settlement of the debts being confirmed by the creditors concerned.”Al Nass...

General ruso en Ucrania dice que fue despedido tras acusar al ministro de Defensa de traición

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:59 GMT

(CNN) — Un alto general ruso al mando de las fuerzas en el ocupado el sur de Ucrania dice que fue despedido repentinamente de su cargo después de acusar a los líderes del Ministerio de Defensa de Moscú de traicionar a sus tropas al no brindarles suficiente apoyo.El general Ivan Popov era el comandante del 58º Ejército de Armas Combinadas, que ha estado involucrado en intensos combates en la región de Zaporiyia. Es uno de los oficiales de más alto rango que participó en la sangrienta campaña rusa en Ucrania.Popov dijo que había planteado preguntas sobre “la falta de combate de contrabatería, la ausencia de estaciones de reconocimiento de artillería y las muertes y lesiones masivas de nuestros hermanos por parte de la artillería enemiga”, en una nota de voz publicada en Telegram este miércoles por la noche.La grabación fue publicada en la aplicación de mensajería por Andrey Gurulev, miembro del Parlamento ruso y ex subcomandante del Distrito Militar del Sur.“También planteé una ...

Kevin Spacey has started testifying in his sexual assault trial at a London court

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:59 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Kevin Spacey has started testifying in his sexual assault trial at a London court.Source

Dutch sprinter Fabio Jakobsen abandons Tour de France. He’s still reeling from an early crash

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:59 GMT

ROANNE, France (AP) — Dutch sprinter Fabio Jakobsen has left the Tour de France ahead of Thursday’s 12th stage, saying it was impossible for him to reach Paris following an early crash in cycling’s biggest race.The European champion from the Soudal-QuickStep team hit the ground at high speed during the fourth stage of the three-week race and has since struggled to recover. He decided it was time to stop ahead of a difficult mid-mountain stage that will be followed by three grueling treks in the Jura and the Alps.The Tour ends on July 23 in Paris.“Due to my stage-four crash, and after discussions with the team, we decided it’s better for me to stop my Tour de France journey here,” Jakobsen said. “At this point it seems impossible for me to get to Paris, as I am not recovering, and my body is not healing from the crash.”Jakobsen had started the Tour with the ambition of adding more sprints to his tally after winning a stage last year. “I’m very sad to leave the...

El comité negociador del Sindicato de Actores de EE.UU. vota por unanimidad ir a la huelga

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:59 GMT

(CNN) — No hubo acuerdo entre la Alianza de Productores de Cine y Televisión (AMPTP, por sus siglas en inglés) y el Sindicato de Actores de Pantalla-Federación Estadounidense de Artistas de Televisión y Radio (SAG-AFTRA), según un tuit publicado este jueves por el gremio de actores, lo que probablemente signifique una huelga del sindicato que reúne a unos 160.000 actores.“La junta nacional de SAG-AFTRA votará este jueves por la mañana si se declara en huelga”, dijo un comunicado del sindicato este jueves temprano. El comunicado decía que un comité de negociación votó “por unanimidad para recomendar una huelga”.El resultado de esta votación de la Junta Nacional de SAG-AFTRA sobre si ir a la huelga se anunciará en una conferencia de prensa a las 12:00 p.m. hora del este de EE.UU., dijo a CNN este jueves Pamela Greenwalt, directora de comunicaciones y marketing de SAG-AFTRA.Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon y Seth Meyers apoyan a los escritores y guionistas en...

More earthquakes are hitting Virginia. Is a big one coming?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:59 GMT

In recent weeks, Virginia has been rattled with more earthquakes than usual, leading some experts to wonder whether a larger quake might be coming.Six quakes have been detected in the western portion of the state since mid-June, according to the United States Geological Survey, with headquarters in Fairfax County.At least three of the earthquakes were felt by people.Typically, only two or three quakes per year are felt by residents across Virginia.“It’s a little bit of a burst of activity here,” said Martin Chapman, a professor of geophysics at Virginia Tech. “When you see a series of these things in a smaller area, you have to take into account the fact that they may be foreshocks of a bigger earthquake.”For scale, a magnitude 5.3 is considered to be a moderate earthquake, and a magnitude 6.3 is a strong one. All the recent Virginia quakes have been smaller, around the magnitude 2.5 level.“We take a close look at it and we monitor our instruments...

No Powerball jackpot winner in Wednesday’s drawing, prize now an estimated $875 million

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:59 GMT

(CNN) — The Powerball grand prize is growing once again after no winning jackpot tickets were sold for Wednesday’s drawing.The big prize for the next drawing on Saturday is now an estimated $875 million, according to the lottery’s website, with an estimated $441.9 million lump-sum cash value before tax.Wednesday’s numbers were 23-35-45-66-67 and the Powerball was 20.While no tickets had all six numbers drawn, two tickets sold – one in Florida and one in Indiana – matched the first five numbers for a $1 million prize.There have now been 36 consecutive Powerball drawings without a big winner. The last jackpot won was on April 19 when a winning ticket in Ohio earned $252.6 million.The record for the largest-ever Powerball prize jackpot is $2.04 billion, which was won in California last November.And because no winners were drawn in Tuesday’s Mega Millions, there are now two jackpots that could each award more than half a billion dollars to a winning ticket. Friday’s Mega Millions jackpo...

Cities fight to keep the lights on in extreme weather events

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:59 GMT

This article is part of POLITICO’s Global Policy Lab: Living Cities, a collaborative journalism project exploring the future of cities. Sign up here.A city, a heat wave, a catastrophic blackout that leaves millions without power, unable to find relief from stifling temperatures.That nightmarish scenario may seem far-fetched. But it’s a growing possibility in Europe’s major cities in the age of climate change.When temperatures climb, city residents — who are disproportionately exposed to extreme heat compared with those living in rural areas — tend to seek refuge in air-conditioned, indoor spaces. That puts a major strain on electricity grids, which struggle to keep up with demand.As these extreme events become more common, experts warn that there’s an increased potential for shortages.“Grid congestion, the failure of the electricity network to cope with increased demand, already affects all regions in one way or another,” said Roel M...

Negotiations on EU nature law to start July 19

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:59 GMT

Negotiations between EU institutions on highly contentious new rules to restore nature will start on July 19, European Parliament environment committee chair Pascal Canfin tweeted Thursday.The announcement comes after the Parliament narrowly adopted its common position on the text during a nerve-wracking vote in plenary on Wednesday, paving the way for negotiations to start with the Council of the EU on a final deal.The Commission’s legislative proposal, presented a year ago as part of the EU’s Green Deal, wants to force EU countries to implement measures to restore at least 20 percent of the EU’s degraded land and sea areas by 2030.It has come under fire from conservative politicians, who pushed hard to get MEPs to reject the bill, arguing that it will have detrimental impacts on food production and the rollout of renewable energy projects.Member countries adopted their joint stance on the proposal in June. The Parliament used the Council’s general approach ...

British response to China threat ‘completely inadequate,’ damning report warns

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:59 GMT

LONDON — The British government has taken too long to act against Chinese interference, leading to a “serious failure” in its response and “one that the U.K. may feel the consequences of for years to come,” a cross-party committee of lawmakers warned Thursday.In a long-awaited and damning report, the Intelligence and Security Committee — which oversees the work of the U.K.’s intelligence community — said the resources dedicated to tackling security threats posed by China are “completely inadequate.”And it accused the British government of being too “slow” to develop policies to protect key U.K. assets from Chinese interference. “We found that the level of resource dedicated to tackling the threat posed by China’s ‘whole-of-state’ approach has been completely inadequate, and the slow speed at which strategies and policies are developed and implemented leaves a lot to be desired,” the committee wrote. That contradicts the government’s rosy self-assessment of its approach to China...