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The end of Ukraine aid is rapidly approaching. Reupping it won’t be easy

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:17 GMT

Move over, Treasury. You’re not the only one with an X-date.The $48 billion Ukraine aid package that Congress approved in December has about $6 billion left, meaning U.S. funding for weapons and supplies could dry up by midsummer.That’s raising fresh concerns among lawmakers about what the White House is planning next, including when the administration will ask for another major package and whether it will be enough.The funding, many members say, needs to continue to flow without interruption, especially as Kyiv prepares to launch what’s expected to be a sweeping counteroffensive and retake ground in the east from the Russians.“It is critical that the administration provide Ukraine with what it needs in time to defend and take back its sovereign territory,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) told Pentagon leaders during a hearing on Thursday. “We expect the administration not to wait until the eleventh hour if the Ukrainians need more before the end of the fiscal year.”The White House is ...

Disney World is closing its Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser in September

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:17 GMT

(CNN) — Walt Disney World is closing down Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, one of its newest and splashiest attractions, at the end of September, the resort announced Thursday.The ultra-immersive – and ultra-pricey – bow to the “Star Wars” universe opened to much fanfare in spring 2022.Guests pay from about $4,800 to $6,000 a person for the immersive two-night experience, depending on the number of people in their party.The concept has been touted as much more than a hotel stay with sci-fi decorations. “Voyages” include two nights of lodging but also all food, programming, entertainment and special access to the Galaxy’s Edge area of the Hollywood Studios theme park in Orlando, Florida.When CNN asked Disney why the attraction was closing, a spokesperson said it was “a business decision” and did not elaborate. As for the fate of the building housing the futuristic experience, Disney had “nothing to share at this time.”Big experience on a small scaleIn an official media...

Chicago White Sox minor-league report: Injury updates for prospects Colson Montgomery and Noah Schultz

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:17 GMT

Colson Montgomery had a productive 2022 while playing for three teams in the Chicago White Sox system.A midback strain has delayed the top prospect’s start to 2023. The 2021 first-round pick continues to rehab, according to assistant general manager Chris Getz.“It has improved a good amount here in the last week or two,” Getz said Thursday afternoon. “And we are increasing his activities and look forward to getting him back.“He would have liked to be with an affiliate out of the gate, but this midback strain seems to be kind of in the rearview mirror and hope to get a good chunk of the season this year.”Three of the top four prospects in the Sox system are in various stages of coming back from injuries.Third baseman Bryan Ramos, the organization’s No. 3 prospect, is in extended spring training recovering from a groin-related injury.“He’s (been a designated hitter), played third base,” Getz said. “He’s got a coup...

Get to know Terell Smith: Q&A with the new Chicago Bears cornerback’s college coach

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:17 GMT

With a need for depth at cornerback to join Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon, the Chicago Bears drafted Tyrique Stevenson in the second round and circled back for Minnesota’s Terell Smith in Round 5 at No. 165.Conventional thinking is Stevenson will get the first shot to be a starter in the nickel package, but the Bears believe Smith has upside and will compete to be in the mix.“What’s special about him is he’s kind of made that steady ascent,” co-director of player personnel Trey Koziol said. “So when we look at drafting players, it’s like, can you still get more out of them? Are they still on that developmental upswing? And that’s where Terell really stood out.“He’s had some good, he’s had some bad, but it’s constantly gotten better. The senior year he showed a ton of improvement and he just kept getting better and better and then he went to the East-West Shrine game and that just kept getting better and better...

Niro PHEV confirms the best of both worlds, for KIA lovers!

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:17 GMT

In 2023, KIA takes the Niro to new heights. As a popular commuter known for excellent gas mileage and great interior space, the Niro goes PHEV.Wrapped in Mineral Blue with Black Aeroblade accents, the 2023 KIA Niro explodes with the newly designed front emblem consumers come to enjoy as well as the versatility the Niro has to offer. Powerfully equipped with a 11.1 kWh battery including 33 miles of all-electric range, but impressively a 510 total driving range; that’s phenomenal in fact. This combines for over 107 MPGe. Currently, the Niro offers a Hybrid version and 100% EV option, while the Niro PHEV is the newest to the ever-evolving fleet. With 180 horsepower the Niro PHEV was not sluggish and was quick on its feet.Interior-wise, it’s all KIA and their excellent design qualities. Easy to use infotainment system, center console offered the on/off button and the turn dial transmission. With best-in-class rear legroom and class-leading passenger room, the Niro really is ...

Detroit enclave built on auto industry struggles under $20M water debt

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:17 GMT

HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. (AP) — Kevin Houston scanned the Michigan street where his fixer-upper and older homes bridge gaps between the vacant, overgrown lots and abandoned, ramshackle houses, boarded-up businesses and potholed streets of Highland Park.“It’s not a bad place to live,” Houston said. “It’s not the best.”The community nearly surrounded by Detroit is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy because it cannot pay its bills to the utility providing drinking water to a city that was once a thriving auto manufacturing town. It serves as an example of blue collar cities that lost their way amid changes to manufacturing and are now shells of their past, plagued by neighborhood malaise, neglect and deep poverty.Over 50,000 people lived there in 1930. Homes — elegant and spacious — rivaled some of those built in Detroit. The city is just under 3 square miles (7.8 square kilometers) and is a shell of its auto baron past, when manufacturing boomed and money flowed. Fewer than 9,000 now cal...

Sudan’s top army general formally fires rival paramilitary leader as his deputy in symbolic gesture

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:17 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — In a symbolic gesture, Sudan’s army general on Friday fired the paramilitary leader — his former ally turned rival — as the deputy of the country’s governing body, state media reported. The dismissal by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan of Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, commander of the Rapid Support Forces, from the Sovereignty Council comes as the two warring generals continue to battle for control over this troubled African country. The monthlong conflict that has killed at least 705 people, the World Health organization said Friday. The firing, reported by the state SUNA news agency, is unlikely to affect the battlefield where the warring sides appear locked in a stalemate and unwilling to end the hostilities. The paramilitary forces did not immediately comment. Last week, the two sides signed a U.S-Saudi brokered pact vowing to better protect civilians caught in the crossfire. International efforts are underway to try and build a lasting truce.Burhan appointed Malik Ag...

Bass guitarist Andy Rourke of The Smiths, one of Britain’s most influential bands, dies at 59

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:17 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Andy Rourke, bass guitarist of The Smiths, one of the most influential British bands of the 1980s, has died after a lengthy illness with pancreatic cancer, his former bandmate Johnny Marr said Friday. He was 59.In a lengthy post on Instagram, guitarist and songwriter Marr paid tribute to Rourke, who he first met when both were schoolboys in 1975.“Throughout our teens we played in various bands around south Manchester before making our reputations with The Smiths from 1982 to 1987, and it was on those Smiths records that Andy reinvented what it is to be a bass guitar player,” Marr said. During their short time together as a four-piece band, The Smiths deliberately stayed away from the mainstream of popular music, garnering a cult following on the independent music scene.Though much of the attention focused on the song-writing partnership of Marr and frontman Steven Patrick Morrissey, better known as Morrissey, the sound of The Smiths owed much to Rourke’s ba...

Russian PM to visit Beijing as China renews criticism of Western arms sales to Ukraine

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:17 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin will visit Beijing next week for talks, China’s Foreign Ministry said Friday, marking the latest exchange in a relationship in which Russia is becoming increasingly reliant on China for economic and diplomatic support.“During the visit, the two sides will have an in-depth exchange of views on practical cooperation in bilateral relations and issues of common concern,” ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a daily briefing.“We look forward to further strengthening cooperation between the two sides, deepening people-to-people and local exchanges (and) injecting strong momentum into the recovery of the world economy,” Wang added.Mishustin’s visit is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday.Meanwhile, China’s Deputy Permanent U.N. Representative Geng Shuang again criticized Western arms sales to Ukraine, saying it would only lead to escalation, more civilian casualties and displacement, and make it harder to obtain a ceas...

Lebanon receives Interpol notice for its central bank governor who was no-show at Paris questioning

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:17 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon on Friday received an Interpol notice for the country’s embattled central bank governor who failed to show up in Paris earlier in the week for questioning in a key corruption case, officials said. France, Germany, and Luxembourg are investigating the governor, Riad Salameh, and his associates over myriad financial crimes, including illicit enrichment and the laundering of $330 million. A French investigative judge on Tuesday issued an international arrest warrant for Salameh after he did not answer summons for questioning in Paris.However, Lebanon is unlikely to comply with the Interpol notice and arrest and hand over Salameh to French authorities. Under the country’s laws, Lebanon does not extradite its own citizens. In 2020, it received two Interpol red notices for tycoon Carlos Ghosn, who faced financial misconduct charges in Japan. Ghosn remains in Lebanon.The Lebanese Interior Ministry confirmed receiving the Interpol Red Notice, but did not co...