Category: Headlines

Russian strikes intensify as Ukrainians return for holiday

December 31, 2022 Published by

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Multiple blasts rocked Kyiv and other areas of Ukraine on Saturday, killing at least one person and wounding 14 others, in a sign that the pace of Russia attacks had picked up before New Year’s.

Some Ukrainians defied the danger, however, to return to the country to reunite with families for the holidays.

Ukrainian officials claimed Russia was now deliberately targeting civilians, seeking to create a climate of fear to see out the year grimly and usher in a bloody 2023.

First lady Olena Zelenska expressed outrage that such massive missile attacks could come just before New Year’s Eve celebrations.

“Ruining lives of others is a disgusting habit of our neighbors,” she said.

The blasts also came at an unusually quickened rhythm, one that alarmed officials just 36 hours after Russia launched a barrage of missiles on Thursday to damage energy infrastructure facilities.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba highlighted the harsh civilian toll of this latest offensive — that “this time, Russia’s mass missile attack is deliberately targeting residential areas, not even the energy infrastructure.”

The deadly blast in the Ukrainian capital occurred among the multi-story residential buildings of the Solomianskyi district. One person wounded in the attacks is in a critical condition, according to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko. He said two schools were damaged, including a kindergarten.

Various residential buildings and civilian infrastructure were damaged in Kyiv on Saturday afternoon as part of massive attacks spanning the country. A top official in the president’s office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, published photos and video of a partially collapsed six-story hotel in Kyiv. Mayor Klitschko said a Japanese journalist was among those injured in the capital.

Russia launched 20 cruise missiles over Ukraine on Saturday afternoon, of which Ukrainian forces shot down 12, according to Ukrainian military chief Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy published a video address shortly after Russia launched the New Year’s Eve cruise missiles over Ukraine saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin is “hiding behind the military, behind missiles, behind the walls of his residences and palaces.” Addressing the Russians, he added that “no one in the world will forgive you for this. Ukraine will not forgive.”

At least four civilians were wounded in the Khmelnytskyi province of western Ukraine, according to regional Gov. Serhii Hamalii. Six people were wounded in the southern region of Mykolaiv.

Mykolaiv Gov. Vitalii Kim said that the Russians were targeting civilians more directly than just by attacking infrastructure as in the past.

“In many cities residential areas, hotels, just roads and garages are affected,” he wrote on Telegram.

In Zaporizhzhia region, as a result of a missile attack, two houses were destroyed, and around eight damaged. Four people were also wounded, among them a pregnant woman and a 14-year-old girl, said regional Gov. Oleksandr Starukh.

Even though Russia’s 10-month war rumbles on with no end in sight, for some families the new year is nevertheless a chance to reunite, however briefly, after months apart.

At Kyiv’s central railway station on Saturday morning, Mykyta, still in his uniform, gripped a bouquet of pink roses tightly as he waited on platform 9 for his wife Valeriia to arrive from Poland. He hadn’t seen her in six months.

“It actually was really tough, you know, to wait so long,” he told The Associated Press after hugging and kissing Valeriia.

Nearby, another soldier, Vasyl Khomko, 42, joyously met his daughter Yana and wife Galyna who have been living in Slovakia due to the war, but returned to Kyiv to spend New Year’s Eve together.

Back in February, fathers, husbands and sons had to stay behind as their wives, mothers and daughters boarded trains with small children seeking safety outside the country. Scenes of tearful goodbyes seared television screens and front pages of newspaper across the world.

But on the last day of the year marked by the brutal war, many returned to the capital to spend New Year’s Eve with their loved ones, despite the ongoing Russian attacks.

As Russian attacks continue to target power supplies leaving millions without electricity, no big celebrations are expected and a curfew will be in place as the clock rings in the new year. But for most Ukrainians being together with their families is a luxury.

Valeriia first sought refuge from the conflict in Spain but later moved to Poland. Asked what their New Year’s Eve plans were, she answered simply: “Just to be together.”

The couple declined not to share their family name for security reasons as Mykyta has been fighting on the front lines in both southern and eastern Ukraine.

On platform 8, another young couple reunited. University student Arseniia Kolomiiets, 23, has been living in Italy. Despite longing to see her boyfriend Daniel Liashchenko in Kyiv, Kolomiiets was scared of Russian missiles and drone attacks.

“He was like, ‘Please come! Please come! Please come!’” she recalled. “I decided that (being) scared is one part, but being with beloved ones on the holidays is the most important part. So, I overcome my fear and here I am now.”

Although they have no electricity at home, Liashchenko said they were looking forward to welcoming 2023 together with his family and their cat.

Natalya Kontonenko had traveled from Finland. It was the first time she had seen her brother Serhii Kontonenko since the full-scale invasion began on Feb. 24. Serhii and other relatives traveled from Mykolaiv to Kyiv to meet Natalya.

“We are not concerned about the electricity, because we are together and that I think is the most important,” he said.

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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

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Misery in El Paso: Hundreds of homeless migrants live in squalor amid deportation fears

December 31, 2022 Published by


El Paso, Texas
CNN
 — 

One-year-old Brenda’s tiny feet are bare on the cold asphalt of an El Paso parking lot as the harsh reality starts to sink in for her parents. They are undocumented. They are homeless. And their daughter barely escaped death when they crossed the Rio Grande.

“My daughter would have died because she was super frozen,” said Glenda Matos.

Matos’ pain is clear in her eyes as she recalls her daughter being drenched, in the freezing cold, all while crying hysterically. Matos and her husband, Anthony Blanco, say they had nothing to keep their daughter warm, not even body heat, because they, too, were wet and cold.

Matos says she hugged Brenda tightly and ran from house to house begging for help until they finally found a kind El Paso resident who helped them with clothes and shelter.

“I asked God for help,” Glenda said. “God… put those people in my way.”

Brenda's tiny feet bear a rosary while on the asphalt of an El Paso parking lot.

For Matos, the tiny red rosary with an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, hanging from Brenda’s ancle, saved them. Matos says she wrapped the religious token on her daughter’s little body for protection when they left their native Venezuela.

Brenda and her parents are some of the hundreds of migrants living in squalor in the streets of downtown El Paso around Sacred Heart Parish. The makeshift camp – with its piles of blankets, strollers and tents lining both sides of a busy street – has city officials expressing concerns about safety and public health given the area is packed with migrants who have no running water or proper shelter.

The surge of migrants aggregating here started a few weeks ago, when anxiety about the scheduled end of the Trump-era pandemic public health rule known as Title 42 prompted thousands of migrants to turn themselves in to border authorities or to cross into the United States illegally in a very short period of time.

Title 42 allows immigration authorities to swiftly return some migrants to Mexico. The policy was scheduled to lift last week, but a Supreme Court ruling kept the rule in place while legal challenges play out in court.

While the impact of the ruling has sent ripples throughout the southern border, the scene in El Paso is one of a kind. It’s the only U.S. border town where hundreds of migrants are living in the streets longer than expected. It’s a new phenomenon that city officials say had never happened during prior migrant surges.

It’s driven, in part, by the anxiety created by the uncertainty of Title 42, which motivated some migrants to cross the border illegally. These migrants don’t have family or sponsors in the US to receive them. And many also fear that traveling out of town without the proper paperwork could lead to apprehension by US immigration authorities.

Evelyn Palma sits with her five children in the streets of El Paso, Texas.

The misery around Sacred Heart Parish is palpable. Evelyn Palma has blankets hooked and draped on a chain-linked fence to keep the cold and the drizzle from hitting her five children, ages 1 to 8, some of them shirtless. She’s been living on the street for eight days. But Friday was especially miserable because it was 40 degrees and it poured overnight.

“We woke up drenched,” Palma said.

The 24-year-old mother from Honduras says she and her children turned themselves in to immigration authorities earlier this month, but they were swiftly returned to Mexico, likely under Title 42. That’s why, she says, that a week ago she decided to evade authorities by crossing the river.

She is part of the growing number of migrants who El Paso city officials say have decided to enter the US illegally and, for various reasons, have not left the city.

“They are people who came into the country in anticipation of Title 42 going away,” said Mario D’Agostino, El Paso’s deputy city manager.

The living conditions Palma and other migrants are enduring has officials concerned about their safety and overall public health. City spokesperson Laura Cruz-Acosta says that the spread of disease is top of mind.

“We are still in the middle of what is being called a ‘tripledemic,’ with continuing high infection levels of upper respiratory infections across the community,” Cruz-Acosta said.

Evelyn Palma receives gifts for her children in the streets of El Paso, Texas.

And while the city has space for about 1,500 migrants at shelters that have been erected at the convention center and at a public school, those beds are only offered to migrants who have turned themselves in to border authorities and have been allowed to stay in the US pending their immigration cases. Those migrants receive documentation from US Customs and Border Protection that allows them to travel within the country.

Migrants who enter the country illegally are not offered city-provided shelter because federal dollars are being used to foot the bill. And those monies can’t be used to serve people who entered the country illegally, according to D’Agostino.

City officials have been referring undocumented migrants to non-profit organizations and churches like Sacred Heart Parish, which turns into a shelter when night falls.

That’s why hundreds of migrants aggregate on the streets around the church, hoping to score one of the 120 to 130 slots to enter the church for the night.

Around 6 p.m., a line of migrants forms outside the church’s gymnasium. Parents can be seen clutching their children to try to keep them warm. Women and men with children are given priority, according to Rafael García, the priest that runs the shelter. García says it’s tough to send people away but that his church has limited resources to serve the growing need.

Angello Sánchez and his 4-year-old son Anyeider were allowed into the shelter for the night several times this week. The Colombian father says he was trying to protect his son from the cold because his little face still had windburn from being out in the elements during the recent freeze.

“I got here from southern Mexico on a train. It was so cold and he wasn’t wearing any jacket,” Angello said.

Palma, the mother of five, says she was offered entry into the shelter with her children but decided not to take the offer because a pregnant friend who is accompanying her was denied access.

El Paso, which means “The Pass” in Spanish, has historically been a gateway for migrants passing through into the United States.

“For hundreds of years people have been passing through and it’s just part of their journey,” D’Agostino said. “In normal times the community doesn’t even realize it.”

But this migrant surge is different because migrants are staying for days and even more than a week, city officials say.

Besides lacking family or sponsors in the US to receive them, many migrants don’t have money to pay for their transportation out of the city. And in the makeshift migrant camp around Sacred Heart Parish, word is spreading about another factor that has some undocumented migrants hunkering down in El Paso: The fear of getting detained at immigration checkpoints located in the interior of the US.

In the last week, at least 364 undocumented migrants who were traveling in commercial buses headed to northern cities were detained at these immigration checkpoints, according to tweets posted by El Paso’s border patrol chief.

Palma says she heard about the checkpoints and the apprehensions and decided to stay in El Paso longer while she figures out what to do.

“If immigration detains me, they’ll return me,” Palma said.

Juan Pérez, from Venezuela, was down the street and said that “immigration is in the exits [of the city]… they’ll return us and send us to Mexico.”

The US has 110 Border Patrol checkpoints in the southern and northern borders, where vehicles are screened for the “illegal flow of people and contraband,” according to a recent US Government Accountability Office report. The checkpoints are usually between 25 and 100 miles from the border, according to the same report.

Anthony Blanco holds a hand-written sign asking for a job while his wife, Glenda Matos, plays with Brenda in the streets of El Paso, Texas.

Anthony Blanco says he’s not afraid of being detained at these interior checkpoints.

“I’ve walked through many different countries without documents. I don’t think we’re going to be detained, but if that happens, it was God’s will,” Blanco said.

For days this week, Blanco has been holding a sign on the street corner that reads, “Help me with work so I can support my wife and baby,” and asking drivers who pass by for money for bus tickets to Denver.

Why Denver? He says word has spread that there is work there and living is more affordable.

Friday morning, a day which was especially miserable because it was cold after a hard overnight rain, Blanco was all smiles. He says he had collected enough money to continue his journey to Denver.

“Thank God,” Blanco said.


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BYU football mourns the lost of offensive lineman Sione Veikoso, who was killed in construction accident

December 31, 2022 Published by

Latest & Breaking News on Fox News 

BYU offensive lineman Sione Veikoso was killed in a construction accident in Kailua, Hawaii, the team announced late Friday.

“Rest in Love Sione. God be with you till we meet again,” the Cougars wrote on Twitter.

Before he enrolled in BYU, Veikoso served a full-time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 2018-20 in Brazil. He began his college career at Arizona State.

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He eventually transferred to BYU and appeared in one game during the 2022 college football season. Veikoso was a three-star high-school recruit.

FORMER NEBRASKA QUARTERBACK TOMMY ARMSTRONG JR. RESCUES FAMILY FROM HOUSE FIRE

“We are extremely saddened to learn of the tragic death of one of our brothers, Sione Veikoso,” BYU head coach Kalani Sitake wrote on Twitter. “His passing is heartbreaking to all of us. We offer our deepest condolences and prayers to his family as we share in their grief. Our love for you is forever, Sione!”

Veikoso was part of a crew working on a 15-foot retaining wall when it partially collapsed, according to KITV News in Honolulu. Multiple individuals were trapped after the collapse. 

Firefighters responded to the scene and removed the rubble to reach the people who were trapped, the report revealed. At least two were in serious condition.

“The BYU Football Family mourns the passing of our dear teammate and fellow Cougar, Sione Veikoso,” BYU athletics director Tom Holmoe said on Twitter. “May his family and friends feel our love and faith at this most sacred and difficult time. Peace be with you now and forever Sione.”

No other details were immediately available.

 

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A question for 2023: Why can’t the world be more like a cruise ship?

December 31, 2022 Published by

Just In | The Hill 

I recently got off the truly stunning Sky Princess cruise ship, which carried about 2,600 passengers and a crew of 1,400. 

Prior to one of the performances by the singers and dancers in the main theater, the cruise director mentioned that the crew came from 60 different nations and all get along wonderfully while working in close contact, seven days a week, during six-month contracts. It’s truly a tapestry of interwoven humanity — people of all races, colors, faiths and sexual preferences doing all they can to provide for their families back home in their various countries.

From that bit of information, I wondered: Why can’t the world be more like a cruise ship, when it comes to peaceful and necessary human interactions?

Does that sound like too simple a question? In some ways, perhaps it is unrealistic, but in a number of other quite substantial ways, it’s not at all.

Usually, it is not the hard-working citizens of nations the world over who are declaring hate and war on people of another nation; instead it’s their typically wealthy, entitled and sometimes feckless “leaders.”

The hard-working folks are simply too busy trying to feed their children, keep a roof over their heads, and find moments of happiness. They’re not really interested in hating or attacking people from other countries, who most likely are struggling similarly.

But their “leaders” (and sometimes their families) who live in bubbles of privilege and rarely suffer the consequences of the negative actions they foist upon others are the ones responsible for many of the ills plaguing humanity. For example, it will almost never be the children of these “leaders” who are forced into combat when they wage war on another country — it’s the sons and daughters of those hard-working, often poor citizens.  

As someone who grew up in poverty and was often homeless as a child, I have been fortunate to have taken many cruises over the years. Each time, I sit back in awe while observing the dedicated staff and supervisors — who sometimes come from poor or disenfranchised backgrounds, too — as they interact graciously with one another, despite any differences they may have.  

One reason why that is so is that the supervisors once were newly hired staff, perhaps seeking to escape tough circumstances back home and trying to provide for their loved ones. It may have taken them years to secure their promotions. They know the struggles, worries and fears their staff may feel. How many of the world’s political “leaders” can make the same claim with regard to the millions of people they govern? 

So, why can’t the world be more like a cruise ship? Well, most world “leaders” likely never have experienced such a microcosm of humanity working and living as one to provide — and receive — happiness. But that “microcosm” is real. I’ve seen that it exists harmoniously, 24/7/365, within the fleets of cruise lines.   

Knowing that, maybe the cruise lines should offer to host world leaders for onboard symposiums, in which they are invited down to the crew decks to watch the representatives of 60 nations in action. While there, the world leaders could learn a valuable lesson in empathy by bussing tables, doing laundry, cleaning cabins, and then unwinding in the crew lounge with those who have worked that hard for years. 

Sure, it’s hard to imagine President Biden bussing tables alongside, say, French President Emmanuel Macron or German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Some world leaders likely wouldn’t attend, such as China’s Xi Jinping and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. And some probably wouldn’t be invited — surely not Russia’s Vladimir Putin or Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. But the broader point stands: These leaders and others could benefit from getting their hands dirty and truly serving others while working with the crew of a cruise ship.

Such an experience just might remind our world leaders that, ultimately, we are all the same.  We’re all on the “Good Ship Earth,” sailing the solar system, trying to survive in peace.

Douglas MacKinnon, a political and communications consultant, was a writer in the White House for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and former special assistant for policy and communications at the Pentagon during the last three years of the Bush administration.

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What Biden’s political evolution means for progressives in 2023

December 31, 2022 Published by

Just In | The Hill 

Earlier this month, a president who voted for the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996 as a senator signed the bill to officially repeal it and enshrine marriage equality into law.  

President Biden has always fashioned himself as a centrist, even when seeking the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, which makes his evolution on particular issues a fascinating weather vane.  

After finally hearing progressives’ calls on everything from climate change and student debt to a filibuster carve-out this year, where might Biden advance next in 2023? 

“What’s been interesting is to watch his evolution,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) in a wide-ranging interview with The Hill this week. It’s been “really good to see him absorb information, take information in, and move.”   

Immigration, climate, judicial nominees, overtime pay: the list is lengthy. And wondering what Biden will tackle next has progressives on the edge of their seats. 

Many who preferred other candidates in the 2020 presidential primary were skeptical that lifelong-moderate Biden would push for their priorities, having seen him spend decades as a centrist Senate homebody. They saw more liberal contenders such as Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) advocate on behalf of progressive causes, and some were pessimistic about Biden’s desire to work with their flank. 

But as he ticked off major successes, from the American Rescue Plan to the Inflation Reduction Act, many warmed to the idea that Biden could indeed become something akin to the FDR-style leader he now aspires to be. The more he accomplished, the more the left wing offered their trust. And progressives started drafting longer wish lists to try their luck in the new year.  

“We were very careful in putting together our executive action list to work very closely with the administration,” Jayapal said. “I would say 90 percent of what was on our list was stuff that they also were very interested in.” 

Jayapal, who was just elected to another term as chairwoman of the House Progressive Caucus, was pleased about the White House’s receptiveness to progressives’ agenda. When legislation stalled, frequently by moderate Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and now-Independent Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) and a small group of members in the House, she said administration officials were often enthusiastic to work on executive actions as workarounds to the narrow congressional majority. 

That executive approach is expected to continue and, many hope, even amplify in 2023, with Republicans soon to have a slight advantage in the lower chamber, and as Democrats find ways to get more through the Senate. 

If recent history is a guide, that collaboration — anchored by Biden’s desire to be fluid and flexible on issues he resisted in the past — has been successful. 

The midterms went better than many Democrats anticipated, with the left claiming credit for pushing Biden leftward. One of progressives’ biggest achievements has been an executive order to cancel tens of millions in loan debt for students. While that action is now halted and expected to be heard by the Supreme Court amid opposition from GOP state legislatures, progressives see it as proof of what’s possible. 

They also saw Biden move in a positive direction when he announced support of a carve-out to protect voting and abortion rights without the 60-vote threshold, evolving on his prior firmness around the Senate’s legislative filibuster and satisfying many in the party who had begged him to take that stance.  

“The president has had a pretty damn good ending for 2022,” said Douglas Wilson, a Democratic strategist based in North Carolina. “He really has.” 

“If the White House can be strategic about it, that’s the key, it gives the president the opportunity to put legislation out there that will entice these moderate Republicans to vote with him,” he said. “And progressives, I know they’re not going to want to hear this, are going to have to give him a slight bit of wiggle room. He deserves it.” 

Heading into January, progressives aren’t naive about the challenges — from the GOP-controlled House, courts, and even Biden’s own moderate leanings that creep up from time to time — that may halt their more ambitious plans. But they aren’t completely jaded either.  

They want to see traction on overtime pay and sick leave for rail workers, a debate that was tabled relatively quickly after Biden signed a Senate-passed bill that averted a massive strike by the nation’s transportation workers. Many are hopeful that the president’s commitment to unions will inspire him to address the issue in more detail in the coming year, beyond what was already passed with bipartisan support. 

Progressives also see room for executive antitrust action that would help prevent monopolies and boost consumer protections, an area where liberals like Warren and Jayapal have spent considerable focus working with Biden allies. “That’s been an area that I still hope we can get some work done,” said Jayapal. “The administration hasn’t been the holdup here.”  

Some progressives see certain moderates with outsized influence as creating additional delays for the White House to take actions into their own hands in the executive branch. Biden’s willingness to appease Manchin in particular for much of his first term created a point of tension among liberals who wanted him to be more forceful in bypassing Manchin’s demands.  

“There’s a backlog of bold executive actions that were on pause as Joe Manchin obstructed the Democratic economic agenda,” said Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. “The White House went out of their way not to spook him.” 

But some are hopeful that new opportunities may emerge from Manchin’s diluted influence within a new 51-seat majority, and with a slate of viable executive actions ready to be reconsidered.

Another issue where Biden has evolved is criminal justice. The man who authored the early mid-90s crime bill has undoubtedly moved to the left on the topic, adopting stances that are more in line with Americans’ current views while still maintaining some distance from the small faction of activists who want him to be more extreme. 

Biden never wanted to “defund” the police, but many progressives also concede that that slogan is not practical. Instead, he lurched to the left by pledging to decriminalize marijuana and promised to “eliminate” the country’s use of a federal death penalty — an area where advocates believe there is more work to be done. 

With an eye towards the new year, progressives want him to take actions that can reiterate his commitment to a fairer criminal justice system.  

“He could come up with a package that addresses crime again. Calling Republicans’ bluff on that,” said Wilson, the Democratic operative. “But also addressing the issues that were in the George Floyd Policing Act. The administration did what they could with the executive order … but I think now that he has a few more votes in the Senate, he could try to add a component that deals with rising crime. As long as it does not negatively affect people of color.” 

“The key is not to say police reform, but improving police relationships with the community,” Wilson said. 

On climate, another big focus, many in the party would like to see Biden go farther than what he has already delivered, pointing to the electoral impact that a progressive policy push can have at the polls.  

“There’s no such thing as doing too much on climate,” said Deirdre Shelly, campaigns director for the Sunrise Movement. “He still has a lot of work to do to secure his legacy.” 

Climate activists and progressive lawmakers want to see Biden declare a national climate emergency and use the Defense Production Act to move in the direction of renewable energy sources — an area that has the potential to transition away from the Manchin-style coal politics that have dominated the Democratic Party for decades.  

While there’s an appetite for it in some corners of the party, some wonder if Biden has the desire to change so drastically, particularly ahead of what’s likely to be another brutal presidential cycle in 2024. 

Nonetheless, they plan to make the case loudly that it’s worth trying.  

“Look at Biden’s poll numbers from the spring to now,” said Shelly. “Young people were not excited to vote months ago, and after he passed a climate bill, a gun bill and canceled student loans, they improved significantly — and led to nearly record-breaking turnout,” she said. “That’s no coincidence.” 

​Administration, Biden administration, Congressional Progressive Caucus, Pramila Jayapal, President Biden, Progressives Read More 

[Sport] Cristiano Ronaldo joins Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr until 2025

December 31, 2022 Published by
Cristiano Ronaldo and a shirt
Cristiano Ronaldo became the first man to score at five different World Cups in Qatar in 2022

Cristiano Ronaldo has joined Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr on a deal that runs until 2025.

The Portugal captain is a free agent after leaving Manchester United following a controversial interview in which he criticised the club.

Ronaldo will reportedly receive the biggest football salary in historyexternal-link at more than £177m per year.

The 37-year-old says he is “eager to experience a new football league in a different country”.

Ronaldo added: “I am fortunate that I have won everything I set out to win in European football and feel now that this is the right moment to share my experience in Asia.”

Al Nassr – nine-time Saudi Pro League champions – described the signing as “history in the making”.

The club said it would “inspire our league, nation and future generations, boys and girls to be the best version of themselves”.

In the summer, Ronaldo turned down a £305m deal to join another Saudi team – Al Hilal – because he was happy at United.

Earlier in November, the striker spoke out in an interview with Piers Morgan for TalkTV in which he said he felt “betrayed” by United, did not respect manager Erik ten Hag and was being forced out of the club.

Ronaldo, who scored 145 goals in 346 appearances for United, left Juventus to rejoin the Old Trafford club in August 2021 – 11 years after he departed to join Real Madrid.

He had just over seven months remaining on his £500,000-a-week contract with United but his immediate exit was “mutually agreed”.

A day after he left the club, he was banned for two domestic matches for knocking a phone out of an Everton fan’s hand after United’s defeat at Goodison Park in April.

He will serve the ban at domestic level with any new club – in England or abroad – although it does not apply at continental club level, such as the Champions League.

Ronaldo recently returned from playing for Portugal at the World Cup in Qatar, where he made history by becoming the first man to score at five different Fifa World Cups with his strike in his side’s opening win against Ghana.
Date Club joined Fee
12 August 2003 Manchester United £12.24m
6 July 2009 Real Madrid £80m
10 July 2018 Juventus £99.2m
31 August 2021 Manchester United £12.8m

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Cristiano Ronaldo makes big-money move to Saudi Arabian club

December 31, 2022 Published by

LONDON (AP) — Cristiano Ronaldo completed a lucrative move to Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr on Friday in a deal that is a landmark moment for Middle Eastern soccer but will see one of Europe’s biggest stars disappear from the sport’s elite stage.

Al Nassr posted a picture on social media of the five-time Ballon d’Or holding up the team’s jersey after Ronaldo signed a deal until June 2025, with the club hailing the move as “history in the making.”

“This is a signing that will not only inspire our club to achieve even greater success but inspire our league, our nation and future generations, boys and girls to be the best version of themselves,” the club wrote.

It also gives the 37-year-old Ronaldo a massive payday in what could be the final contract of his career. Media reports have claimed the Portugal star could be earning up to $200 million a year from the deal, which would make him the highest-paid soccer player in history.

Ronaldo said in a statement that he was “eager to experience a new football league in a different country.”

“I am fortunate that I have won everything I set out to win in European football and feel now that this is the right moment to share my experience in Asia,” the forward added.

While the signing is a massive boost for Middle Eastern soccer, it will also fuel the debate about Saudi Arabia using so-called “sportswashing” to boost the country’s image internationally. Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund owns Premier League team Newcastle, and the country is considering a bid to host the 2030 World Cup.

Ronaldo had been a free agent after his contract was terminated by Manchester United following an explosive TV interview in which he criticized manager Erik ten Hag and the club’s owners after having been repeatedly benched and even temporarily suspended by the club.

He is also coming off a disappointing World Cup where he was benched in the knockout rounds and left the field in tears after Portugal lost in the quarterfinals to Morocco.

And after a storied career that saw him win the Champions League with both United and Real Madrid, along with league and cup titles in England, Spain and Italy, he will now seemingly see out the last years of his career far away from the spotlight of top European soccer.

While Saudi Arabia earned its biggest international soccer win ever at the World Cup in Qatar last month when it beat eventual champion Argentina in its first group-stage game, the domestic league has few other stars and is not watched by a major international audience.

___

More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports


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The full lyrics to 'Auld Lang Syne' so you don't mumble your way through it

December 31, 2022 Published by



CNN
 — 

As the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve, voices all over the world will resurrect the centuries-old tradition of singing “Auld Lang Syne” to say goodbye to the passing year.

“Auld Lang Syne” – which roughly translates to “times gone by”– was written by Scottish poet Robert Burns in 1788 and is thought to have been based on a Scottish folk song.

Despite efforts to belt the tune every New Year’s Eve, few people seem to actually know the words.

Don’t get caught pretending to mouth the words at New Year’s Eve this year. Luckily for you, we’ve put the lyrics below so you can serenade yourself and all your friends into the New Year.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,

And never brought to mind?

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,

And auld lang syne.

CHORUS

For auld lang syne, my jo,

For auld lang syne.

We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,

For auld lang syne.

And surely ye’ll be your pint-stowp!

And surely I’ll be mine!

And we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,

For auld lang syne.

REPEAT CHORUS

We twa hae run about the braes

And pu’d the gowans fine

But we’ve wander’d mony a weary foot

Sin auld lang syne.

REPEAT CHORUS

We twa hae paidl’d i’ the burn

Frae mornin’ sun till dine.

But seas between us braid hae roar’d

Sin auld lang syne.

REPEAT CHORUS

And there’s a hand, my trusty fiere!

And gie’s a hand o’ thine!

And we’ll tak a right guid willy waught,

For auld lang syne.

REPEAT CHORUS

Should old acquaintance be forgot

And never brought to mind?

Should old acquaintance be forgot,

And long, long ago.

REPEAT CHORUS

And for long, long ago, my dear

For long, long ago.

We’ll take a cup of kindness yet

For long, long ago.

And surely youll buy your pint-jug!

And surely I’ll buy mine!

And we’ll take a cup of kindness yet

For long, long ago.

REPEAT CHORUS

We two have run about the hills

And pulled the daisies fine;

But we’ve wandered manys the weary foot

Since long, long ago.

REPEAT CHORUS

We two have paddled in the stream,

From morning sun till dine;

But seas between us broad have roared

Since long, long ago.

REPEAT CHORUS

And there’s a hand, my trusty friend!

And give us a hand of yours!

And we’ll take a deep draught of good-will

For long, long ago.

REPEAT CHORUS

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S&P 500 closes out dismal year with worst loss since 2008

December 31, 2022 Published by

Wall Street capped a quiet day of trading with more losses Friday, as it closed the book on the worst year for the S&P 500 since 2008.

The benchmark index finished with a loss of 19.4% for 2022, or 18.1%, including dividends. It’s just its third annual decline since the financial crisis 14 years ago and a painful reversal for investors after the S&P 500 notched a gain of nearly 27% in 2021. All told, the index lost $8.2 trillion in value, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices.

The Nasdaq composite, with a heavy component of technology stocks, racked up an even bigger loss of 33.1%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, posted an 8.8% loss for 2022.

Stocks struggled all year as inflation put increasing pressure on consumers and raised concerns about economies slipping into recession. Central banks raised interest rates to fight high prices. The Federal Reserve’s aggressive rate hikes remain a major focus for investors as the central bank walks a thin line between raising rates enough to cool inflation, but not so much that they stall the U.S. economy into a recession.

The Fed’s key lending rate stood at a range of 0% to 0.25% at the beginning of 2022 and will close the year at a range of 4.25% to 4.5% after seven increases. The U.S. central bank forecasts that will reach a range of 5% to 5.25% by the end of 2023. Its forecast doesn’t call for a rate cut before 2024.

Rising interest rates prompted investors to sell the high-priced shares of technology giants such as Apple and Microsoft as well as other companies that flourished as the economy recovered from the pandemic. Amazon and Netflix lost roughly 50% of their market value. Tesla and Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, each dropped more than 60%, their biggest-ever annual declines.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine worsened inflationary pressure earlier in the year by making oil, gas and food commodity prices even more volatile amid existing supply chain issues. Oil closed Friday around $80, about $5 higher than where it started the year. But in between oil jumped above $120, helping energy stocks post the only gain among the 11 sectors in the S&P 500, up 59%.

China spent most of the year imposing strict COVID-19 policies ,which crimped production for raw materials and goods, but is now in the process of removing travel and other restrictions. It’s uncertain at this point what impact China’s reopening will have on the global economy.

The Fed’s battle against inflation, though, will likely remain the overarching concern on Wall Street in 2023, according to analysts. Investors will continue searching for a better sense of whether inflation is easing fast enough to take pressure off of consumers and the Fed.

If inflation continues to show signs of easing, and the Fed reins in its rate-hiking campaign, that could pave the way for a rebound for stocks in 2023, said Jay Hatfield, CEO of Infrastructure Capital Advisors.

“The Fed has been the overhang on this market, really since November of last year, so if the Fed pauses and we don’t have a major recession, we think that sets us up for a rally,” he said.

There was scant corporate or economic news for Wall Street to review Friday. That, plus the holiday shortened week, set the stage for mostly light trading.

The S&P 500 fell 9.78 points, or 0.3%, to finish at 3,839.50. The index posted a 5.9% loss for the month of December.

The Dow dropped 73.55 points, or 0.2%, to close at 33,147.25. The Nasdaq slipped 11.61 points, or 0.1%, to 10,466.48.

Tesla rose 1.1%, as it continued to stabilize after steep losses earlier in the week. The electric vehicle maker’s stock plummeted 65% in 2022, erasing about $700 billion of market value.

Southwest Airlines rose 0.9% as its operations returned to relative normalcy following massive cancellations over the holiday period. The stock still ended down 6.7% for the week.

Small company stocks also fell Friday. The Russell 2000 shed 5 points, or 0.3%, to close at 1,761.25.

Bond yields mostly rose. The yield on the 10-Year Treasury, which influences mortgage rates, rose to 3.88% from 3.82% late Thursday. Although bonds typically fair well when stocks slump, 2022 turned out to be one of the worst years for the bond market in history, thanks to the Fed’s rapid rate increases and inflation.

Several big updates on the employment market are on tap for the first week of 2023. It has been a particularly strong area of the economy and has helped create a bulwark against a recession. That has made the Fed’s job more difficult, though, because strong employment and wages mean it may have to remain aggressive to keep fighting inflation. That, in turn, raises the risk of slowing the economy too much and bringing on a recession.

The Fed will release minutes from its latest policy meeting on Wednesday, potentially giving investors more insight into its next moves.

The government will also release its November report on job openings Wednesday. That will be followed by a weekly update on unemployment on Thursday. The closely-watched monthly employment report is due Friday.

Wall Street is also waiting on the latest round of corporate earnings reports, which will start flowing in around the middle of January. Companies have been warning investors that inflation will likely crimp their profits and revenue in 2023. That’s after spending most of 2022 raising prices on everything from food to clothing in an effort to offset inflation, though many companies went further and actually padded their profit margins.

Companies in the S&P 500 are expected to broadly report a 3.5% drop in earnings during the fourth quarter, according to FactSet. Analysts expect earnings to then remain roughly flat through the first half of 2023.

U.S. stock markets will be closed Monday in observance of the New Year’s Day holiday.

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