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Poland suspends imports of Ukrainian grain

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:33:47 GMT

Poland will temporarily stop all imports of grain from Ukraine, the two countries’ governments announced Friday.The measure comes after a meeting earlier in the day between Poland’s new Agriculture Minister Robert Telus, who took office Thursday, with his Ukrainian counterpart Mykola Solskyi at a border crossing between the two countries.“The Ukrainian side has proposed to severely restrict, and for the moment even stop completely, grain arrivals to Poland,” Telus said during a joint press conference after the meeting. He added that restrictions would not extend to the transit of grain intended for other countries.Following Russia’s invasion, Ukraine was forced to divert around half of its exports from the blocked Black Sea ports into Poland, Hungary, Romania and other border countries. The move, facilitated by the European Commission and EU countries, was meant to throw an economic lifeline to Ukraine, one of the world’s largest agricultural producers,...

Angel Reese says she will visit White House with LSU team

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:33:47 GMT

(CNN) — Louisiana State University star Angel Reese said she will visit the White House with her LSU team, just days after saying that she wouldn’t.“Just going back on it, you don’t get that experience (to visit the White House) ever,” Reese said in an interview with ESPN on Friday.“I know my team probably wants to go for sure, and my coaches are supportive of that, so I’m going to do what’s best for the team. And if they would like to go, we decide we’re going to go, then we’re going to go.”Reese said on Wednesday that neither she, nor her team, would be visiting the White House after the Tigers defeated the University of Iowa Hawkeyes 102-85 to win their first NCAA women’s basketball national championship on Sunday.Traditionally, the national champions would be invited to the White House.But after comments from first lady Jill Biden suggesting that Iowa be invited as well before a...

Coolio’s death caused by accidental overdose, according to coroner

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:33:47 GMT

(CNN) — The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner has released autopsy findings in the death of Coolio more than six months after the “Fantastic Voyage” rapper was found unresponsive at a Los Angeles home.The report lists the effects of fentanyl, heroin, and methamphetamine as the cause of the late artist’s death at age of 59 in September.Other “significant conditions” listed on the report include “cardiomyopathy unspecified, asthma and recent phencyclidine use.”Seven years ago Coolio, talked to radio host Sway on his show “Sway in the Morning” about battling cocaine addiction.“My nemesis was cocaine,” Coolio said. “I used to do coke in the ’80s, and I stopped doing it for 12 years. And then I started back again.”In 2009, Coolio pled guilty to cocaine possession and agreed to enter an 18-month rehabilitation program.“Gangsta’s Paradise,” from the...

Biden’s student loan pause faces another lawsuit

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:33:47 GMT

(CNN) — The Biden administration is facing another lawsuit over extending the pandemic-related pause on federal student loan payments.The pause is set to end later this year, but the plaintiffs want the moratorium to end immediately.The newest legal challenge was filed by the New Civil Liberties Alliance on behalf of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a free market think tank, earlier this week. In a similar lawsuit, private lender SoFi sued the Biden administration last month, also seeking to end the pause on payments.The moratorium has been extended eight times under both the Trump and Biden administrations since March 2020, when it was put in place to help people struggling due to the Covid-19 pandemic.The New Civil Liberties Alliance lawsuit argues that the Department of Education has unlawfully extended the pause, relying on an “ever-shifting foundation of purported legal justifications.”The lawsuit alleges that the pause harms nonprofit employer...

Chris Perkins: Breaking down the Dolphins’ 2019 and 2020 drafts, classes key to the rebuild and win-now window

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:33:47 GMT

Draft and develop. It’s a big key to NFL success in the salary-cap era.Teams can fill some key positions through trades and free agency, which the Dolphins are doing in their current win-now window. But ultimately, to keep labor costs within limits, you need low-cost talent, which means young players.Roughly three weeks before the NFL draft (April 27-29), we’re reminded that three draft classes form the basis of the Dolphins’ rebuild — 2019, 2020 and 2021.It usually takes three years to fairly evaluate a draft class, so we’ll look back at the 2019 and 2020 classes, grading both the draftee right now and the organization’s ability to develop that draftee.We’ll grade those two classes even though the 2021 class — which includes wide receiver Jaylen Waddle and edge rusher Jaelan Phillips as first-round picks and safety Jevon Holland and guard Liam Eichenberg as second-round pick — is among the franchise’s best in recent memory...

Yankees Notebook: Josh Donaldson likely heading to IL with hamstring injury

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:33:47 GMT

BALTIMORE — Nothing is official yet, but Josh Donaldson is “likely” heading to the injured list following the Yankees’ Friday afternoon game against the Orioles, according to Aaron Boone.An IL stint was a known possibility on Wednesday, when the third baseman hurt his right hamstring in the Yankees’ series finale against the Phillies. Donaldson stayed back in New York for a workout on Friday, though he has not had an MRI.“We’ll make that call right at the end of the day,” Boone said. “Don’t feel like it’s too serious, but enough that it would probably knock him down four or five days. So we’re gonna likely be cautious in this situation.”Donaldson is off to a quiet start this season, his second with the Yankees following an offensively disappointing debut campaign. The 37-year-old is hitting .125 with one home run over five games.If Donaldson lands on the IL, Boone considers DJ LeMahieu his primary third ba...

This is the way: Probation officer visits 50 states as Spider-Man, other superheroes for sick kids, homeless adults

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:33:47 GMT

When Yuri Williams was 8 years old, his mother sometimes took him with her to work at the Los Angeles County’s Central Juvenile Hall when she couldn’t find a sitter. Lynda C. Hubbard worked there, with troubled children and young adults as a juvenile correctional officer, for more than three decades.“There was this one big guy banging on the walls in his room,” Williams recalled, who is now 46 and lives in Signal Hill. “My mom walked in and asked him what was going on and he just started crying and she was holding this much bigger person in her arms.”Williams ended up following in his mother’s footsteps, becoming a deputy juvenile correctional officer for the Orange County Probation Department. Over the years, he sought guidance from his mother, who told him how to speak with those in custody, how to help the boys and girls.When Hubbard died from cancer in 2009, Williams fell into a deep depression for five years.“One day I was just sitting there and tried calling her phone and just...

Newest Celtics F Justin Champagnie opens up about signing with Boston

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:33:47 GMT

Earlier this week, Justin Champagnie boarded a flight to South Dakota eager to hear back from his agent.The Celtics were supposedly interested in signing him, a 6-foot-6, second-year forward, for the remainder of their season. Champagnie had spent most of this year playing in the G-League for the Sioux Falls Skyforce, a stint that followed a two-month stay with the Raptors which ended in December. Another NBA deal could be close.Related ArticlesBoston Celtics | With No. 2 seed locked up, how will Celtics approach final two regular season games? Boston Celtics | Celtics react to clinching No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs: Boston Celtics | Malcolm Brogdon bolsters Sixth Man of the Year case as Celtics hold off Raptors, clinch No. 2 seed in East Boston Celtics | Celtics’ Jayson Tatum opens up about upcoming shoe release Boston Celtics | Is Celtics-Raptors a first-round playoff series preview? ...

Heat get reinvigorated Lowry before playoffs; Love taking charge(s); Butler, Adebayo out vs. Wizards

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:33:47 GMT

The goal after a month off due to knee pain and then a return 10 games ago was to be here, with a better Kyle Lowry, a productive Lowry, something close to the player the veteran point guard was at both the start of this season and the start of his Heat tenure at the beginning of 2021-22.For the Miami Heat, it is an ongoing process, but one moving toward mission accomplished at the most important stage of the season.“I could not feel better about it than when we started the process, and we knew we were going to have to shut him down,” coach Erik Spoelstra said of the 37-year-old former All-Star being out from Feb. 4 through March 10 due to knee pain and then returning March 11.“There’s an unknown with that, and you know the clock is ticking against you. But he handled those five weeks really well, behind the scenes, and I think our communication between myself, Kyle, the training staff and our medical staff was as good as it’s ever been, which really he...

Bruins notebook: Offense stuck in neutral at the Garden

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:33:47 GMT

The Bruins have earned home ice advantage for the entire playoffs and their fans should be pleased about that. The team’s 32-4-3 record at the Garden says so.But is their recent power outage on Causeway Street any cause for concern?In their last four games at home, the B’s have scored a grand total of five regulation goals, one of which came with less than two seconds left and the game having already been lost to Nashville.Now, granted, that was the only game that the B’s lost in the four-game set, and winning is all that matters. And it could be dangerous to look for any kind of trend in a team’s play after they’ve clinched the Presidents’ Trophy.But coach Jim Montgomery sees a little more at issue than having secured the top spot.“I don’t think it’s because we clinched because we’re scoring on the road, right? I think it’s more that teams come in here wanting to shut us down first. I don’t think we get as many odd-m...