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Putin’s war is slowly destroying Europe’s breadbasket

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:10:31 GMT

ODESA, Ukraine — July begins the Ukrainian wheat harvest, and the stalks from the humus-saturated soil near the Black Sea are chest-high and golden. A 20-minute car ride separates the port city of Odesa from wheat fields that, aside from a line of low trees, extend north and east without visible end. The only natural sound is a loud whisper the wind elicits every minute or so from the expanse of grain.But it isn’t a time of plenty in the breadbasket of Europe, and not only because Russia, for now, says it won’t continue the arrangement it made with the United Nations and Turkey that for a year permitted 32 million tons of Ukrainian grain to be exported from the country’s massive southern ports. The present war has stunted Ukraine’s grain industry at every stage, beginning months before harvest time.Though blessed with an abundance of wheat-friendly chernozem — the Russian term for “black earth” — most Ukrainians fertilize their soil. “There’s a great shortage of nitrogen fertilizers...

Netanyahu stuck in hospital as contentious vote nears in Israel

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:10:31 GMT

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was recovering from an emergency heart procedure on Sunday after being taken to the hospital Saturday night, according to media reports. As Netanyahu recovers from a procedure to implant a heart pacemaker, the Israeli parliament is preparing to vote on a controversial overhaul of the country’s judicial system. Protests over the reforms have roiled the country recently, with demonstrations now entering their 29th week. According to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, some are calling the crisis the most severe in the country’s history. Netanyahu’s doctors said on Sunday the pacemaker implantation went smoothly and that the prime minister felt fine, according to an Associated Press report.The vote taking place on Monday in the parliament will curb the Israeli Supreme Court’s ability to stop government policy it finds to be unreasonable. The crisis reached a boiling point over the weekend ahead of the vote. Both business and labor lead...

Authorities arrest suspect in deadly bar fire in Mexico border city that killed 11

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:10:31 GMT

(CNN) — Authorities in Mexico say they have arrested a man suspected of intentionally setting a bar on fire after being kicked out, killing 11 people near the Arizona border in the Mexican state of Sonora.The fire broke out at 1:33 a.m. Saturday at a bar in San Luis Rio Colorado, near the United States border city of San Luis, Arizona, according to a statement from the Sonora Attorney General’s Office.A 17-year-old and a female American citizen were among those killed, Gustavo Rómulo Salas Chávez, Sonora’s attorney general, said in a news conference Saturday.Mexican authorities were still trying to confirm if the woman who died also had Mexican citizenship, Chávez said.CNN has reached out to the US Department of State for comment.The person suspected of starting the fire, who authorities said had “a high degree of intoxication,” threw an object with fire at the drinking establishment’s doors after security staff removed him from the building, according to the statement tra...

What’s more important as you age — stretching, balance work or strength training?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:10:31 GMT

(CNN) — People often bemoan gray hair and wrinkled skin as some of the most unpleasant side effects of aging. It may be discouraging to watch your youthful visage slip away, but the status of your strength, balance and flexibility is of much greater concern. Significant declines in these areas can lead to pain, falls and fractures, and an overall loss of mobility and functionality. Think about the inability to play with the grandkids, climb stairs or carry groceries.No matter how active we are, our muscle mass and strength decline as we age. In fact, muscle mass and strength peak at 30 to 35 years old. After that, they slowly but steadily decline. At age 65 for women and 70 for men, the pace of these declines increases, according to the National Institutes of Health. Similarly, everyone’s balance and flexibility decrease with age due to changes in vision, sensory nerves, joints, ligaments and more.“Joints in the spine, hips, knees and shoulders naturally become more arthri...

Man wanted in double shooting in Vermont arrested as he gets off plane in NYC

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:10:31 GMT

BROOKFIELD, Vt. (AP) — Authorities have arrested a suspect in connection with a shooting in Vermont in May that left one man dead and another injured.Devon Dennis, 43, of Hartford, Connecticut, was arrested Saturday as he arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on a plane from Jamaica, Vermont State Police said in a statement.Dennis is jailed pending an initial appearance next week in Queens County Criminal Court. He will be extradited to Vermont to face second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder charges. An email seeking comment was left with a defense attorney listed in court records.Juan Sierra, 27, of Springfield, Massachusetts, was shot and killed in Brookfield, Vermont on May 12. He was pronounced dead at the scene from a gunshot wound to the torso.Miguel Fuentes, 29, also of Springfield, Massachusetts, was also shot but drove from the scene and was assisted by a passerby several miles away, police said. The passerby called 911. He was taken t...

Family of mountain biker who died while saving hikers speak out

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:10:31 GMT

CHULA VISTA, Calif. -- The family of a mountain biker Kai Torres Bronson, who died in Jacumba Mountains last weekend, spoke to FOX 5 Saturday.  Cal Fire described Torres Bronson as a hero. “You made your family proud," said Jenn Rico, the aunt of Torres Bronson.  Torres Bronson’s family took time on Saturday to remember their loved one who died while trying to help hikers in extreme heat.  “He was empathetic at a very young age, he was very sensitive to how you were feeling. Auntie Jenn, how are you today?” Rico said.  Torres’ family shared an uplifting social media post from Torres. In it, he wrote, “JUST BE A GOOD PERSON.” “At an early age, you could tell Kai was very special,” Rico said.  On July 15, Torres went mountain biking with three friends in the Carrizo Gorge area in the Jacumba Mountains. Torres' family said mountain biking is one of his favorite activities. Man shot, killed in City Heights “And being surrounded by family and friends...

57-year-old jockey wins at Del Mar Racetrack Opening Day

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:10:31 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Del Mar Racetrack Opening Day was just another day at the office for 57-year-old jockey Mike Smith, who won the first race of the day.“I might be having a better time now than I probably did in my 30s. I’ve really taken care of myself. If you do that early on, it’ll pay off for you in the end,” said Smith, a Hall of Fame jockey.This paid off throughout his career with him earning more than 5,000 wins. He's oldest jockey to ever win the Triple Crown at the age of 52. Alex Morgan gets 50th international assist in 2023 FIFA World Cup match against Vietnam “That’s what you call the Holy Grail right there. At any age, that’s amazing to win. It’s only been done 13 times, so blessed to have been apart of that,” said Smith.The 2003 Hall of Fame inductee raced in five out of 10 races on Opening Day. He called Del Mar one of his favorite tracks.“I was based out east for many, many years in the beginning of my career in 2001. I came out here -- this is just of the most beautiful...

Voters brave the heat in election that could see Spain become the latest EU member to swing right

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:10:31 GMT

MADRID (AP) — Voters in Spain braved soaring summer temperatures to vote Sunday in a general election that could make the country the latest European Union member to swing to the political right.The Interior Ministry said turnout was 40% at 2 p.m., 2.5 points more than in the last elections in November 2019.Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called the early election after his Spanish Socialist Workers Party and its far-left partner, Unidas Podemos, took a severe beating in local and regional elections in May. Sánchez has been premier since 2018.Polling stations for the 37 million voters close at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT). Near-final results are expected by midnight.Most opinion polls have put the right-wing Popular Party, which won the May vote, ahead of the Socialists but likely needing the support of the extreme right Vox party if they want to form a government.Such a coalition would return a far-right force to the Spanish government for the first time since the country transitioned to democra...

Bell tolls for Wisconsin man who wins Hemingway look-alike contest

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:10:31 GMT

KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) — On his 68th birthday, a white-bearded Wisconsin man won the Hemingway Look-Alike Contest, a highlight of Key West’s annual Hemingway Days celebration that ends Sunday.Gerrit Marshall, a retired television broadcast engineer from Madison, prevailed Saturday night at Sloppy Joe’s Bar, a frequent hangout of Ernest Hemingway when he lived in Key West during the 1930s.“This is the best birthday I have ever had,” said Marshall, whose birthday falls just one day after the July 21 anniversary of Hemingway’s birth.On his 11th attempt, Marshall triumphed over nearly 140 other entrants in the contest that featured two preliminary rounds and Saturday’s finals.Competitors in sportsman’s attire, most emulating the rugged “Papa” persona Hemingway adopted in his later years, paraded onstage at Sloppy Joe’s before a judging panel of previous winners.Marshall said he shares several characteristics besides appearance with Hemingway, and has written both nonfiction and short ficti...

Morocco, Benzina set to make Women’s World Cup history in a game against Germany

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:10:31 GMT

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — When Nouhaila Benzina steps onto the field for Morocco’s first match of the Women’s World Cup against Germany, she will make history — and not just as a player for the first Arab or North African nation ever in the tournament. The 25-year-old defender will be the first player to wear the Islamic headscarf at the senior-level Women’s World Cup. She and the Atlas Lionesses face two-time World Cup champions Germany in Melbourne, Australia, on Monday. “Girls will look at Benzina (and think) ‘That could be me,’” said Assmaah Helal, a co-founder of the Muslim Women in Sports Network said of the hijab. “Also the policymakers, the decision-makers, the administrators will say, ‘We need to do more in our country to create these accepting and open and inclusive spaces for women and girls to participate in the game.’”Benzina, who plays professional club soccer for the Association’s Sports of Forces Armed Royal – the eight-time defending champions in Morocco’s top wom...