Everton FC Takeover Faces Extra Scrutiny From Premier League
The takeover of Everton FC by 777 Partners is facing increasing scrutiny from Premier League officials studying the
2023-12-02 08:28
Italy Weathers Scope Scrutiny to Extend Meloni’s Month of Wins
Italy was kept at three steps above junk by Scope Ratings, extending Premier Giorgia Meloni’s victory lap after
2023-12-02 06:26
Suicide Risk From Weight-Loss Drugs Prompts More Questions
The European Union’s drugs regulator has asked pharma companies including Novo Nordisk A/S and Eli Lilly & Co.
2023-12-02 06:19
Global Red Cross suspends Belarus chapter after its chief boasted of bringing in Ukrainian children
The International Red Cross on Friday suspended the Belarusian chapter after its chief stirred international outrage for boasting that it was actively ferrying Ukrainian children from Russian-controlled areas to Belarus. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies halted the membership of the Belarus branch after it refused to oust its leader Dzmitry Shautsou. He is accused of having breached the Red Cross' much-vaunted and much-defended standards of neutrality and integrity. The board of IFRC had given the Belarus Red Cross until Nov. 30 to dismiss him, and said it would suspend the branch if it didn't. “The suspension means that the Belarus Red Cross loses its rights as a member of the IFRC,” the Geneva-based international organization said in a statement Friday. "Any new funding to the Belarus Red Cross will also be suspended.” Shautsou, in comments to the state Belta news agency, called the decision to suspend the Belarus Red Cross from the IFRC “absolutely politicized.” He said he went to the occupied areas in eastern Ukraine “to prove that children that undergo health improvement in Belarus return home safely.” Last year, the Belarus Red Cross received nearly 1.7 million Swiss francs ($1.9 million) from the the IFRC for services like HIV prevention, support for migrants near the border with Poland, “clown therapy” and help for people fleeing neighboring Ukraine. This year, the outlay has been more than 1 million francs. Shautsou was seen publicly wearing military fatigues with the “Z” insignia of Russian forces, and he claimed publicly that he favored deployment of nuclear weapons in Belarus. He also told Belarusian television that the Belarus Red Cross was actively involved in bringing Ukrainian children to Belarus for “health improvement” purposes. Belarus has been Moscow’s closest ally since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, when its authoritarian president Alexander Lukashenko allowed the Kremlin to send troops and weapons into Ukraine from Belarus. Russia has also deployed tactical nuclear weapons there. More than 2,400 Ukrainian children aged 6-17 have been brought to Belarus from four Ukrainian regions that have been partially occupied by Russian forces, according to a recent study by Yale University. The Belarusian opposition is seeking an international probe into the effort and says Lukashenko and his officials should be held accountable for it. The Belarus Red Cross has maintained that it did not take part in the removal of the children from Ukraine, and that the transfers were arranged by a Belarusian charity founded by state-backed Paralympic athlete Alexei Talai. Shautsou, however, in a report aired by the state TV channel Belarus 1 was seen visiting the occupied Ukrainian region of Luhansk and said that his organization took “an active part” in the transfers. An internal IFRC probe found that the Belarus Red Cross said Shautsou was “found to be solely responsible for the allegations.” It also determined that another organization was responsible for moving children from Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine, and the Belarus Red Cross’ involvement was only within Belarus. It did not specify the other organization. The IFRC spells the name of the secretary-general of Belarus Red Cross as Dmitry Shevtsov. The Belarus Red Cross told The Associated Press on Friday that Shautsou will continue to run the group and that its board gathered on Friday to discuss financials and plans for 2024 “with the current situation taken into account.” Read More Indiana coroner identifies remains of teen girl found buried on land of man charged in her death A Kansas woman died in an apartment fire. Her family blames the 911 dispatch center's mistakes 5 takeaways from AP's Black attorneys general interviews about race, justice and politics Putin orders the Russian military to add 170,000 troops for a total of 1.32 million Man pleads guilty to 2022 firebombing of Wisconsin anti-abortion office Kenyan cult leader sentenced to 18 months for film violations but still not charged over mass graves
2023-12-02 05:53
Shipping Giants Want an End Date for Fossil Fuel-Only Vessels
Europe’s biggest container lines want to phase out ships powered only by fossil fuels. The proposal was announced
2023-12-01 22:29
TikTok Seeks to Avoid EU Clutches Amid Fight Over Digital Law
TikTok owner ByteDance Ltd. urged European Union judges to suspend a decision by regulators to force the video-sharing
2023-12-01 21:53
Helicopter crashes onto busy Madrid motorway and hits car
A helicopter crashed into a car on a busy Spanish motorway, leaving three people injured. The aircraft, believed to be participating in an aviation fair, smashed into the Madrid ring road on Friday morning. Dramatic images from the scene in Spain show the orange wreckage of the helicopter strewn across the motorway as emergency service workers dealt with the disaster. One passenger was able to leave the smash on foot while the other was rescued from the remains of the helicopter by firefighters. The driver of the car was also injured, according to fire services. One of the crash survivors had a light head injury and another appeared to have a broken femur. The third suffered light injuries, the fire service said. Traffic has been halted in both directions so emergency services can work at the scene. The accident is believed to have been caused by heavy wind that is thought to have destabilised the helicopter. Aviation news website On The Wings of Aviation reported: “The Enstrom 280FX Shark helicopter with registration F-HPUX that was participating in the European Rotors fair that was taking place in Ifema has crashed on the M40 in Madrid shortly after taking off.” Read More Madrid helicopter debris investigated by emergency workers after highway crash Four migrants who were pushed out of a boat die just yards from Spain's southern coast Police arrest 3 in connection with shooting of far-right Spanish politician
2023-12-01 20:52
Putin Seizes Rights to St. Petersburg Airport From Foreign Investors
President Vladimir Putin ordered the transfer of all the rights to managing St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo airport from foreign
2023-12-01 18:52
Sunak Says Patience Is ‘Wearing Thin’ Over Blocked Rwanda Plan
Rishi Sunak said his “patience is wearing thin” over the UK’s inability to push through its flagship Rwanda
2023-12-01 18:29
Russia-Ukraine war – live: Putin’s troops repelled on six fronts amid heavy missile and ground attacks
Russian troops have failed to move forward in six areas along the frontline, Ukraine military has said amid heavy missile attacks and ground clashes between the opposing forces. A total of 73 combat skirmishes took place across the war’s frontline in the past 24 hours, an update from Ukraine’s General Staff of the Armed Forces on Thursday read, a day after Russia launched more than 100 attacks to recapture its lost positions in eastern Ukraine’s Robotyne. Meanwhile in Pokrovsk, emergency crews helped rescue a man with a six-month-old baby, covered in blood, in his hands, officials said. The strikes destroyed a multi-storey building, nine houses, a police office and cars. Emergency workers pulled the body of a 62-year-old man from the wreckage of a destroyed multi-storey building in Novohrodivka. Four more people may be under the rubble, including a child, authorities said. It comes as statistics by a longtime Russo-Ukraine War military data researcher suggested Russian forces have faces record losses this month. Data published by Ragnar Gudmundsson said more than 25,000 Russian service personnel died or were severely wounded in combat in Ukraine in November. Read More Senior Russian general ‘killed by one of Putin’s own landmines’ in Ukraine Finland closes last crossing point with Russia, sealing off entire border as tensions rise Cameron condemns Moscow ahead of OSCE summit including Russian counterpart
2023-12-01 17:59
Cristiano Ronaldo faces $1B class-action lawsuit for promoting for Binance NFTs
Portuguese soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo has been hit with class-action lawsuit seeking at least $1 billion in damages for his role in promoting cryptocurrency-related “non-fungible tokens,” or NFTs, issued by the beleaguered cryptocurrency exchange Binance. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in the Southern District of Florida Monday, accuses Ronaldo's promotions of Binance of being “deceptive and unlawful.” Binance's partnership with high-profile figures like Ronaldo, the plaintiffs claim, caused them to make costly and unsafe investments. “Evidence now reveals that Binance’s fraud was only able to reach such heights through the offer and sale of unregistered securities, with the willing help and assistance of some of the wealthiest, powerful and recognized organizations and celebrities across the globe—just like Defendant Ronaldo,” the suit reads. Representatives for Ronaldo and Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, did not immediately return The Associated Press' requests for comment. Ronaldo launched his inaugural NFT “CR7” collection with Binance back in November of last year, ahead of the 2022 World Cup. The NFTs, which had starting prices ranging from the equivalent of about $77 to $10,000, featured seven animated statues depicting Ronaldo from iconic moments in his life — from bicycle-kick goals to his childhood in Portugal. Monday's suit says that the promotional efforts of Ronaldo's Binance partnership were “incredibly successful” — alleging a 500% increase in online searches using the keyword “Binance” after the soccer star's NFTs was announced. The collection's premium-level NFTs sold out within the first week, the suit claims. Ronaldo has since continued to promote Binance on his official website and social media platforms. Most recently, on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) Ronaldo reposted a Binance video and wrote that he was “Cooking something up" with the crypto exchange on Tuesday. NFTs are ordinary digital images with an attached version number that have been added to a cryptocurrency blockchain, a process designed to make them “unique” collectibles. NFTs enjoyed a brief boom, but have since largely collapsed along with much of the cryptocurrency industry. Over the summer, Binance was accused of operating as an unregistered securities exchange and violating a slew of U.S. securities laws in a lawsuit from regulators. And just last week, the crypto exchange agreed to pay a roughly $4 billion settlement as its founder Changpeng Zhao stepped down as CEO and pleaded guilty to a felony related to his failure to prevent money laundering on the platform. The cryptocurrency industry has been marred by scandals and market meltdowns, and this week's lawsuit doesn't mark the first time that a celebrity has faced litigation over crypto promotions. Last year, a host of Hollywood and sports stars — including Larry David and Tom Brady — were named as defendants in a class-action suit against FTX, which was the second-largest crypto exchange before it collapsed in November 2022. The suit argued that the celebrities' status made them culpable for promoting FTX’s failed business model. Ronaldo is one of the most recognizable and richest athletes in the world. He leads his home country Portugal’s national team and has played for the Spanish team Real Madrid, the Italian club Juventus and Manchester United in England. He now plays for the Saudi Arabian professional team Al Nassr. Read More US court denies woman's appeal of Cristiano Ronaldo's 2010 hush-money settlement in Vegas rape case Shakira to appear in Barcelona court on the first day of her tax fraud trial in Spain Putin’s troops repelled on six fronts amid heavy missile and ground attacks - live
2023-12-01 17:58
Italy’s Economy Ekes Out a Little Growth After All
Italy’s economy eked out some growth in the third quarter after all instead of the stagnation originally estimated
2023-12-01 17:50