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Cyprus president declares ‘zero tolerance’ policy on evasion of Russia sanctions

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:32:43 GMT

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — The president of Cyprus on Tuesday affirmed a “zero tolerance” policy toward any Cypriot citizen or company helping to evade international sanctions imposed on Russia following last year’s invasion of Ukraine.President Nikos Christodoulides underscored his administration’s mission to safeguard Cyprus’ name as a “credible business and financial center” after the U.S. and the U.K. recently included a handful of Cypriot nationals and Cyprus-registered companies on a list of “enablers” helping Russian oligarchs skirt sanctions.Christodoulides told a news conference on his administration’s first 100 days in office that the issue affords Cyprus an opportunity to rebrand itself as a financial node connecting “East and West, the European market with the Middle East, Asia and Africa.”“The credibility of our country abroad is extremely important so that we can attract quality investments that would bring revenue to our country, create new, quality jobs and much mo...

Charitable giving in 2022 drops for only the fourth time in 40 years: Giving USA report

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:32:43 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Charitable giving in the United States declined in 2022 — only the fourth time in four decades that donations did not increase year over year — according to the Giving USA report released Tuesday.Total giving fell 3.4% in 2022 to $499.3 billion in current dollars, a drop of 10.5% when adjusted for inflation. The decline comes at a time when many nonprofits, especially ones providing services to those in need, report an increase in requests for help.However, Josh Birkholz, chairman of the Giving USA Foundation, which publishes the report and provides data and insights about donation trends, said the results are actually much better than they could have been considering the tough economic climate of late 2022.“I go back and forth on whether it’s encouraging or discouraging,” Birkholz told The Associated Press in an interview. “There was a 20 to 25% decline in the stock market and an 8% inflation rate, but Americans still gave nearly a half trillion dollars....

Tribal activists oppose Nevada mine key to Biden’s clean energy agenda as ‘green colonialism’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:32:43 GMT

OROVADA, Nevada (AP) — Just 45 miles (72 kilometers) from the Fort McDermitt Indian Reservation where Daranda Hinkey and her family corral horses and cows, a centerpiece of President Joe Biden’s clean energy plan is taking shape: construction of one of the largest lithium mines in the world.As heavy trucks dig up the earth in this remote, windswept region of Nevada to extract the silvery-white metal used in electric-vehicle batteries, the $2.2 billion project is fueling a backlash. “No Lithium. No mine!″ proclaims a large hand-painted sign in Hinkey’s front yard.The Biden administration says the project will help mitigate climate change by speeding the shift away from fossil fuels. But Hinkey and other opponents say it is not worth the costs to the local environment and people. Similar disputes are taking place around the world as governments and companies advancing renewable energy find themselves battling communities opposed to projects that threaten wildlife, groundwater an...

FIFPRO releases report on disparities in Women’s World Cup qualifying

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:32:43 GMT

The path to the Women’s World Cup has been vastly uneven for the teams headed to Australia and New Zealand next month.A report released Tuesday by FIFPRO, the global players’ union, outlined the disparity in standards and conditions for qualifying for the teams that vied for the 32 spots in the tournament, which starts on July 20.The report said 29% of the players have not been paid for taking part in qualifying tournaments. When players were paid, often it was based on performance in matches. Only 40% of players considered themselves professional athletes.Additionally, 66% of players said they had to take unpaid leave or vacation days to play in qualifying events.Nearly all of the players, 93% of the 362 players surveyed, believed they were not paid enough.“In highlighting these conditions and the status of players across the globe, FIFPRO firmly calls on the industry to take a closer look at the qualification processes in each of the six confederations,” FIFPRO u...

UN official praises Kenya’s refugee integration program, says $200 million pledged, more needed

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:32:43 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Marking World Refugee Day, Kenya’s president met with a top U.N. official on Tuesday to discuss a new plan to integrate refugees into host communities.The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi visited the east African country and met with President William Ruto to show his appreciation for the country’s planned integration programs allowing refugees to become self-sufficient. Kenya hosts more than 600,000 refugees, hailing from 23 countries, including neighboring Somalia, South Sudan and Ethiopia. The majority live in Dadaab and Kakuma camps, north of the country. The camps are overcrowded and basic services are overstretched.Grandi told the Associated Press the integration program was a more sustainable approach as opposed to the current camp system that heavily relies on aid. He said that $200 million was pledged to the program and more was needed. However, no clear timeline for its kick-off.Grandi added that a model of the integratio...

Turkish drone strike kills 2 Kurdish local officials and their driver in north Syria, officials say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:32:43 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — A Turkish drone attack killed two Kurdish local officials and their driver in northeast Syria on Tuesday in the latest such strike in the war-torn country, officials said, as talks on Syria’s conflict began in Kazakhstan.The Kurdish-led authority in northeast Syria said Tuesday’s strike hit a car near the town of Qamishli, killing the co-chairperson of the town’s council, Yusra Darwish, and her deputy, Liman Shweish, as well as their driver. An additional local officials was wounded in the attack.The attack is the latest in a series of such strikes by Turkey’s military that has been targeting Kurdish officials and fighters in northeast Syria for months. Turkey says the main Syrian Kurdish militia is allied to the outlawed Kurdish group, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, PKK, has led an insurgency against Turkey since 1984, which has killed tens of thousands of people.The authority said in a statement that the four were visiting institutions run by the Kurdish-led Autonomou...

Column: Rory McIlroy is going on 9 years without a major and the questions won’t stop

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:32:43 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The only thing worse for players than getting asked about winning their first major are endless questions about when they will win another one.That’s what Rory McIlroy is facing.The scrutiny no longer is limited to the spring, with Augusta National on the horizon and the reminder that a Masters green jacket is all that keeps McIlroy from the career Grand Slam. Any major will suffice at this point.And about the only answer is what Wyndham Clark offered not long after the tears, the hugs and the hoisting of the U.S. Open trophy.“I just feel like it was my time,” Clark said. Sometimes there’s no better explanation.Clark never had to face the “when” question because he earned his first PGA Tour victory only six weeks ago, and because the U.S. Open was only the seventh major he had ever played.He showed big game at Los Angeles Country Club, from the par saves around the turn to his deft touch with a wedge and putter over the last two holes to preserve his o...

This June is cooler, wetter than average

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:32:43 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- The weather has been rainy lately in Colorado, making for a cooler-than-average June in the metro area.On average, the first 90-degree day in Denver comes around June 10, but it has yet to get that warm. Denver weather: Warm, sunny Tuesday with midweek storms In 2022, temperatures hit the 90s on May 11. A month later, the high was 100 degrees on June 11. By June 20, 2022, temperatures in Denver surpassed the 90-degree mark 10 times.On average, there are eight days above 90 degrees in June in Denver, according to the National Weather Service.FOX31 Pinpoint Weather Meteorologist Kylie Bearse noted that while the average summer in Denver will see 40 days at or above that 90-degree mark, the past few years have been warmer than average.In 2022, there were 67 days above 90, and 59 days the year before. The NWS estimated that Monday would be the first day of the year to reach 90 degrees, but the highest temperature recorded in Denver was 87 degrees.Additionally, this mo...

Why did Goodwill permanently close its dressing rooms?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:32:43 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Goodwill locations across Colorado have permanently closed their fitting rooms due to an increase in theft, substance abuse and vandalism.On June 15, Goodwill of Colorado announced on its Facebook page that all locations except the Déjà Blue Boutique in Denver's Cherry Creek North were permanently closing the fitting rooms for the "safety of shoppers and team members." Denver metro rent may have hit lowest level of the year Goodwill said the stores have been experiencing a high number of thefts, substance abuse and vandalism inside the dressing rooms, and that the decision to close them was not made lightly."In 2021 retail losses due to theft were $94.5 billion according to the National Retail Federation. This is a serious issue for all retailers, there are major brands who are exiting markets completely and closing stores due to theft. For us as a nonprofit, theft and vandalism take the financial toll of impacting our ability to provide programs and services to a...

Former security specialist takes stand in trial of Scot Peterson

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:32:43 GMT

A security specialist took the stand in the trial of former school resource officer Scot Peterson on Tuesday. Peterson is charged with child neglect for his inactions on the day of the Parkland school shooting. As the trial reaches its third week, Kelvin Greenleaf, a former security specialist that was part of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School’s security team on Feb. 14, 2018, answered the lawyer’s questions as jurors listened and watched. Greenleaf was asked if he knew the gunshots were coming from inside the building. Then he was asked how he could distinguish the sound. “Yes, [I knew where the shots were coming from] just from the sound of it,” he said. “It was like a ‘boom’ sound.”Peterson, accompanied by his defense attorneys, asserts that it was challenging to ascertain the source of the gunfire amidst the chaotic situation. Greenleaf continued to answer the attorney’s questions and said he heard about four to five shots...