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DeSantis: Ukraine joining NATO not in US best interest

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:00 GMT

Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis said he opposes NATO membership for Ukraine, saying he doesn’t think it’s in the security interest of the U.S.“I don’t think NATO membership is in our interest, to me,” DeSantis said on The Glenn Beck Program podcast. “All that would do was add more obligations to us, so if you’re adding more obligations, then what are benefits that we’re getting in return?”DeSantis also reiterated in the episode that he doesn’t believe the U.S. should give a “blank check” to Ukraine unless it’s using leverage to bring the conflict to a conclusion.The episode was released two days after President Joe Biden met with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who made an appeal for U.S. lawmakers to continue supporting the country’s military as it fights Russia’s invasion. The administration announced a military assistance package, while also agreeing to provide a small number of ATACMS missiles, a long-sought after weapon by Ukrainians, despite initial rel...

‘A few days’ of shutdown may be needed, GOP’s Gaetz says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:00 GMT

Representative Matt Gaetz, a key Republican holdout on a stopgap spending measure, said he’s ready for a multiday U.S. government shutdown if that’ll get demands such as conservative border policies into the federal budget.If the departments of labor and education “have to shut down for a few days as we get their appropriations in line, that’s certainly not something that is optimal,” Gaetz said on Fox News’s Sunday Morning Futures. “But I think it’s better than continuing on the current path we are to America’s financial ruin.”House Republicans are expected to move forward on four appropriations bills this week, though that still leaves Congress set to miss its quickly approaching end-of-the-month budget deadline. In the meantime, Republicans are considering a stopgap measure that would fund the U.S. government for somewhere between 14 and 60 days.Representative Jim Jordan said that in principle “everyone wants to get the 12 appropriation bills done” but “frankly, we’re not going t...

‘Expend4bles’ opens with epic flop 

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:00 GMT

LOS ANGELES — Sylvester Stallone and Jason Statham weren’t enough to save ” Expend4bles ” from a debut box office flop.The fourth installment suffered the action-packed franchise’s worst opening weekend while ” The Nun 2 ” took home the top spot for a third straight week, data firm Comscore reported on Sunday.The Lionsgate and Millennium’s film, also known as “Expendables 4,” pulled in a mediocre $8.3 million for the big-budget project. It starred several popular names, including Stallone, Statham, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Megan Fox and Dolph Lundgren. It’s been nearly a decade since the franchise released a film, which opened with $15.8 million and eventually grossed $214 million globally.But times have certainly changed, as the film barely placed second behind “The Nun 2,” a horror movie that earned $8.4 million in its third week. It’s been a solid start for that Warner Bros.’ project ...

Patriots’ defense used old-school strategy to make Jets one-dimensional in win

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:00 GMT

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Patriots players could not believe the score of the Dolphins game as they sat in the visiting locker room at MetLife Stadium moments after they had beaten the Jets.One defender overheard a question posed to safety Kyle Dugger about the Dolphins posting 70 points over the Broncos on Sunday.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots credit captain Matthew Slater for motivational speech before Jets win New England Patriots | Patriots have three more key injuries to worry about after win over Jets New England Patriots | Patriots QB Mac Jones responds to Sauce Gardner’s low blow accusations New England Patriots | Patriots get right with 15-10 win over Jets in strong defensive performance New England Patriots | Patriots inactives: One rookie WR out of doghouse, another a healthy scratch “Seventy points?! In an NFL game?!”He had to check the box score — 14 points in the ...

Trump in a landslide, new poll says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:00 GMT

A national poll released Sunday has former President Trump winning in a landslide, a result being hailed by Republicans, rejected by Democrats, and dismissed as an outlier by the poll’s sponsors.The survey of more than 1,000 adults conducted in the last week and released Sunday by ABC News and the Washington Post shows Trump soundly beating President Joe Biden, with the 45th President securing 51% support to Biden’s 42%.The results seemed to shock even the pollsters.“The Post-ABC poll shows Biden trailing Trump by 10 percentage points at this early stage in the election cycle, although the sizable margin of Trump’s lead in this survey is significantly at odds with other public polls that show the general election contest a virtual dead heat,” the Washington Post said of its own poll. “The difference between this poll and others, as well as the unusual makeup of Trump’s and Biden’s coalitions in this survey, suggest it is probably an outlier.”Another national poll conducted by NBC, a...

Column: Another Chicago Cubs home season ends at Wrigley Field, where traditions still matter

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:00 GMT

The Chicago Cubs’ final regular season home game at Wrigley Field on Sunday afternoon was probably not unlike the end of their first season at the ballpark 107 years ago, albeit with more fans and richer players.The Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-3 before an estimated crowd of 5,000 on Oct. 1, 1916, then prepared to meet the White Sox in the City Series, the exhibition games that mattered most to Chicagoans. On Sunday, the Cubs beat the Colorado Rockies 4-3 before a crowd of 37,060 and prepared for a season-ending six-game road trip that would decide their postseason fate.Even if the Cubs make it into the playoffs, chances are they won’t/ have a home game unless they won the National League wild-card series and advanced to the NL Division Series, where they would start out on the road.So people who call the ballpark home from March through the end of the regular season said their goodbyes Sunday, hoping they’d be back again in mid-October, knowing the odds wer...

Orioles cut magic number to 3, match franchise record for road wins with 5-1 victory over Guardians

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:00 GMT

The Orioles will have the chance to clinch the American League East next week at Camden Yards. That’s in large part thanks to how well they have played away from it.Baltimore closed the road portion of its regular-season schedule Sunday with a 5-1 victory over the Cleveland Guardians. With the Tampa Bay Rays losing to the Toronto Blue Jays, the Orioles’ magic number to clinch the division fell to three. Regardless of how the Rays close the season, three victories on the upcoming six-game homestand would give Baltimore its first AL East title since 2014 and first 100-win season since 1980.The Orioles (97-59) have played well in Baltimore in putting together the AL’s best record, but they have been even better on the road. Sunday’s victory left them at 52-29, matching the 1997 “wire-to-wire” club for the most wins as visitors in franchise history.“I just think we’re a really consistent team that shows up no matter where we are and plays ...

Patriots credit captain Matthew Slater for motivational speech before Jets win

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:00 GMT

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — For the Patriots, Sunday was about choice.Deciding whether they wanted to come close again or stand victorious.Determining whether they would get tossed into the 0-3 trash bin of NFL history or rise to 1-2.Choosing to beat the Jets drum for a 15th straight time, or let Gang Green play an upset tune.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots have three more key injuries to worry about after win over Jets New England Patriots | Patriots QB Mac Jones responds to Sauce Gardner’s low blow accusations New England Patriots | Patriots get right with 15-10 win over Jets in strong defensive performance New England Patriots | Patriots inactives: One rookie WR out of doghouse, another a healthy scratch New England Patriots | Patriots’ defense gets bad news ahead of Week 3 game vs. Jets After Sunday’s 15-10 win over New York, multiple players credited captain Matth...

Political neophyte Stefanos Kasselakis elected new leader of Greece’s main opposition Syriza party

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:00 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A 35-year-old businessman without prior political experience was elected Sunday to lead Greece’s main opposition bloc, the left-wing Syriza party.Stefanos Kasselakis defeated Effie Achtsioglou, a 38-year-old lawmaker and former labor minister, in a runoff contest. Three other candidates had been eliminated in an earlier first round. With the votes still being counted, Achtsioglou called her rival to congratulate him. Kasselakis had just under 57% of the votes late Sunday with 70% of precincts reporting, while Achtsioglou had just over 43%. About 136,000 Greeks turned out to vote, fewer than in the first round.Kasselakis, a resident of Miami, was unknown to the Greek public until he was anointed a candidate on Syriza’s at-large list. In Greece’s national elections, 15 of the 300 lawmakers are elected at-large, depending on each party’s share of the votes. At-large candidates can include expatriates. Syriza elected four such lawmakers in the May election an...

12 buses carrying migrants arrive in Chicago over the weekend 

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:00 GMT

CHICAGO — As the city works to keep up with the influx of migrants arriving, more buses were brought to the city, including the largest number of buses in a single day since the start of the operation. The 12 buses are expected to arrive as volunteers work around the clock to get people the resources they need.“This weekend has been really tough, and it was coming off of a lot of movement as well of people out of districts and into shelters," Anna Gomberg, a lead volunteer organizer, said. Biden granting temporary protective status to Venezuelan migrants Gomberg is one of hundreds of people helping migrants in the city. She leads the efforts to organize volunteers at the 15th Police District in the city's Austin neighborhood.“At this station alone we have about 150 people who are a part of our group," Gomberg said.According to city officials, 12 buses are expected to arrive this weekend. Five buses came in on Saturday and another seven are expected to arrive on Sunday. Gomberg say...