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Behind the Pope’s tin-eared stance on Russia’s war against Ukraine

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 14:50:52 GMT

Jamie Dettmer is opinion editor at POLITICO Europe.Back in 2017, Pope Francis became the first pontiff to visit an Anglican church in Rome. He made no direct reference to England’s Henry VIII, who split from Catholicism in 1534 after being denied a marriage annulment. Neither did he encourage English youngsters to respect the legacy of Henry VIII — arguably one of England’s great monarchs, albeit a cruel one — or glory in the cultural history of English Anglicism.In his homily, the Pope acknowledged that Anglicans and Catholics “viewed each other with suspicion and hostility” for centuries, but he encouraged both faiths to be “always more liberated from our respective prejudices from the past.”Yet, last week, Francis urged young Russians, gathered for an All-Russian Meeting of Catholic Youth in St. Petersburg, not to give up their “legacy” as heirs of a “great, enlightened Russian empire.” And in a clip of his address that was posted online, he invoked Peter the Great and Catherine ...

No Soros retreat from Europe

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 14:50:52 GMT

Alex Soros is the chair of the Open Society Foundations.News reports that the Open Society Foundations (OSF) and Soros are “leaving Europe” are misleading. We are not leaving. Europe remains of huge strategic importance to the work of the OSF, which began in the 1980s, when my father started funding independent thinkers in his native Hungary, then a Soviet satellite in Communist Eastern Europe. And today, for all its faults, the European Union still stands as a global beacon of the values that shape our work.When looking at the current state of Europe, however, it’s clear that our foundation needs to change — just as it did after the fall of the Berlin Wall, when our efforts were centered on EU accession for Central and Eastern European nations; and just as it did after the economic crisis of 2008, when we stepped up our work in Brussels and Western Europe at scale for the first time.In broad terms, in Europe we are witnessing a shift to the east. The war in Ukraine will have untold...

Dombrovskis faces battle to retain his EU job

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 14:50:52 GMT

BRUSSELS — One of the most influential European commissioners of the past decade faces a fight to hold onto his job because of competition from a senior member of his own party.Latvia’s Valdis Dombrovskis, one of the Commission’s two executive vice presidents, has expressed a wish to serve a third term but faces a battle with Krišjānis Kariņš, who resigned as prime minister in Riga two weeks ago.The Commission’s current five-year mandate expires in the fall of 2024 and officials are already jostling for position in the next administration, or entering races for more senior jobs elsewhere.Officials in Riga and Brussels are watching Kariņš carefully following his resignation, especially after he made ambiguous remarks about his future. He is no stranger to Brussels: He served two consecutive terms in the European Parliament before returning home to form a government in 2019.It is seen as a given that Dombrovskis wants to remain at the Commission, according to Latvian officials, who we...

Ukraine cries foul as fuels refined from Russian oil pour into the EU

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 14:50:52 GMT

Diesel, kerosene and other fuels refined from Russian crude are flooding into Europe, prompting Kyiv to call for tightening sanctions against Moscow.In an interview with POLITICO, Oleg Ustenko, an economic adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, appealed for the EU, as well as the U.K. and the U.S., to close the “loophole” that allows third countries like India, China and Turkey to refine crude bought from Moscow’s state energy firms into petrol, diesel and other products before selling them on without restrictions.In December, the G7 agreed to set a price cap of $60 a barrel on Russian crude, meaning sales below that price are allowed. The idea was to squeeze Moscow financially while allowing oil markets to continue functioning.The result has been that countries like India are buying up cheap Russian crude and then refining it — which earns local companies the refining margin — before selling it to other countries.Indian imports of Russian crude hit a ...

‘I duck at fantasy football’: League loser spends six hours on Boston duck boat dressed as yellow duck

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 14:50:52 GMT

A fantasy football failure led to a duck boat tour to remember for Sam Coveney.“I walk in and see 30 people looking back at me howling laughing,” Coveney said.Coveney plays in a fantasy football league with friends he met at Boston College.Coveney lost the league last season, and as punishment he had to ride a duck boat dressed as a duck four times. The trot around Boston was six hours long. “The added levels of public shame when you’re driving past all these people on the street and there’s a big giant duck head that made it a little funnier and a bit easier to swallow,” he said.He traveled with a sign that read: “I duck at fantasy football.”But Coveney said he wouldn’t let it ruffle his feathers.“When the day came I was like, ‘I’m gonna have fun with this and get some people to smile and take photos with people that wanted,’” he said.He’s just hoping he’ll play better this year. “When you have the prospect of public humiliation hanging over your head it...

DJ Stewart carries Mets to unorthodox walk-off victory against the Rangers in extra innings

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 14:50:52 GMT

DJ Stewart did it all for the Mets on Wednesday night against the Texas Rangers.The Mets blew an early three-run lead and went down 5-3 before Stewart belted his second home run of the game to tie it up at 5-5 in the bottom of the eighth inning. It was his second multi-homer game of the season and the third of his career. The Mets walked it off on the least dramatic play involving the outfielder. Aroldis Chapman hit Stewart with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th, salvaging a series with a 6-5 win.It was Stewart’s first career walk-off RBI.This came after a bullpen blowup in the top of the inning. The margin for error was thin, with the Mets trying to protect a 3-2 lead. They went to their high-leverage relievers, but the team couldn’t get it done.Left-hander Brooks Raley loaded the bases with no outs and the Mets replaced him with right-hander Adam Ottavino. He hit Adolis Garcia with a pitch to bring in a run and tie the game.A double play got Ottavino close, bu...

Revolution shut out the Red Bulls 1-0 to remain unbeaten at home

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 14:50:52 GMT

FOXBORO — The New England Revolution regained sole possession of second place in the MLS Eastern Conference with a 1-0 victory over the New York Red Bulls before 16,444 fans on Wednesday night at Gillette.The Revolution (13-0-7) played the second of three games in eight days, a tough stretch that concludes Saturday night (7:30) with a home match against Austin FC. The Revolution remain unbeaten at Gillette with a 10-0-3 mark, the best home start to a season in club history.Interim head coach Richie Williams picked up his first MLS win since replacing Bruce Arena on Aug. 1. Arena remains on indefinite administrative leave pending an investigation by MLS for making “insensitive and inappropriate remarks.”“Not an easy game but we got the goal we needed and created some more opportunities,” said Williams. “It is always great to be at home with your fans in your stadium and getting the support from them to help you along the way and keeping that record going.”Goalkeeper Earl Edwards Jr.,...

Marijuana recommendation from Health Dept. hailed by senators as first step to easing restrictions

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 14:50:52 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has delivered a recommendation to the Drug Enforcement Administration on marijuana policy, and Senate leaders hailed it Wednesday as a first step toward easing federal restrictions on the drug.HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said Wednesday on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that the agency has responded to President Joe Biden’s request “to provide a scheduling recommendation for marijuana to the DEA.”“We’ve worked to ensure that a scientific evaluation be completed and shared expeditiously,” he added.Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement that HHS had recommended that marijuana be moved from a Schedule I to a Schedule III controlled substance.“HHS has done the right thing,” Schumer, D-N.Y., said. “DEA should now follow through on this important step to greatly reduce the harm caused by draconian marijuana laws.”Rescheduling the drug would reduce or potentially eliminate criminal penalt...

Toronto Arrows announce death of co-founder Bill Webb

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 14:50:52 GMT

Bill Webb, president and co-founder of Toronto Arrows – Canada’s first and only professional rugby union team – has died.The rugby union club says Webb, who was also a general partner, died after an illness which they say he faced with “courage and determination.”The Arrows say the team would not exist without Webb’s determination and desire to see professional rugby in Canada grow.“Bill was our trailblazer – the father of the Toronto Arrows. He was widely respected and admired for his passion, his vision, and his leadership,” the club said in a statement announcing his passing. “We are profoundly grateful to him for the opportunities he provided, the strength of character he showed, and for demonstrating that we should never be afraid to follow our dreams.”Webb played professionally in England for Wasps RFC before a knee injury ended his playing career.He also served as a director with the Rugby Canada board from 2016 to 2022 an...

Norwegian preschoolers get early exposure to outdoor life by hiking routes around kindergartens

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 14:50:52 GMT

STAVANGER, Norway (AP) — In the land of mountains and fjords, outdoor life starts early. That’s why as many as 11,000 pre-school kids started their day this week hiking routes around kindergartens in Norway.Dressed in the outdoor one-piece jumpsuits typical of tiny tots in this country, kids from around 400 daycare centers plotted mini-routes through Norwegian wildlife.“We hope we can inspire the kids to be outdoor children,” said Kristin Oftedal of the Norwegian Trekking Association, a volunteer organization which aims to promote outdoor activities. “We believe outdoor children are happy children.”The mini-Nordic adventurers will grow up in a society where outdoor life is quasi-religious. According to the latest official data, 97% of Norwegians participated in some form of outdoor activity in 2021. That compares with just 54% of Americans, according to Outdoor Foundation, a U.S. outdoor industry association.That is hardly surprising. Leisure time for this Scandinavian nation ...