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US to begin training Ukrainian forces on Abrams tanks next month

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:37 GMT

 (CNN) — The US will begin training Ukrainian forces on how to operate Abrams tanks next month as it seeks to get them on to the battlefield against Russia before the end of the summer.Thirty-one US M1A1 Abrams tanks — the size of a Ukrainian tank battalion — will be sent by mid-May to Grafenwoehr, Germany, where roughly 250 Ukrainians will undergo a 10-week training course with US troops, a US official told reporters traveling with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.The tanks are a long-awaited capability for Ukraine, which has been battling Russia for more than a year.Though the US had originally said it would send the newer M1A2 versions of the tanks, officials said in March that the Ukrainians would instead get the M1A1, dramatically accelerating the timeline for delivering the tanks.Austin said Friday at the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Ramstein, Germany, that in total the group of allies and partners has provided more than $55 billion...

Yankees Notebook: Josh Donaldson out for a couple weeks

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:37 GMT

The Yankees initially expected Josh Donaldson back by now.But after one rehab game at Double-A Somerset on Tuesday, the third baseman is on the mend again. Donaldson reaggravated his right hamstring injury that night. On Friday, Aaron Boone said that a new MRI revealed a “Grade 1-plus” strain, which will keep him out for the next couple of weeks.“He’s doing pretty well,” Boone said Friday before the Yankees’ game against the Blue Jays. “He’s getting around pretty well, but there is something in there.”Donaldson initially went on the injured list on April 8 with what the Yankees called tightness in his hammy.On Tuesday, Donaldson felt the injury again while making a throw early in the game. He stayed in long enough for three at-bats — Donaldson picked up a hit — but he wasn’t happy with his ability to run.“I was able to stay in and kind of manage it,” Donaldson said Wednesday. “But it was one of...

Celtics notebook: Malcolm Brogdon enjoys healthy season thanks to new role

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:37 GMT

While the Celtics’ trade for Malcolm Brogdon last summer was almost universally praised, one question lingered: Could the veteran guard stay healthy enough to be the difference maker Boston hoped for?Brogdon suffered from a bit of an injury bug over the course of his first six seasons in the league. Last season – in his final year with the Pacers – Brogdon only played in 36 games, mostly due to an Achilles injury. It was frustrating for him. But the Celtics then acquired him to take on a reserve role, a job he embraced and excelled in.The move not only led to him being named the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year, it also allowed him to have one of the healthiest seasons of his career.Brogdon had his share of minor injuries – including right hamstring tightness that kept him out for four consecutive games in November – but he ultimately played in 67 games, his most in a season since he was a rookie in 2016-17. He also played in a career-low 26.0 minutes per game as his body wasn’t required...

After losing shortstop battle, Oswald Peraza making most of chances at new positions

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:37 GMT

When the Yankees told Oswald Peraza that he lost the team’s starting shortstop battle to Anthony Volpe at the end of spring training, the 22-year-old took the news — and his demotion to Triple-A — in stride.Peraza, the team’s third-best prospect, entered camp with an experience advantage over Volpe, as he fared well over 18 major league games last season. But Volpe, ranked No. 1 in the Yankees’ system, outperformed Peraza and made himself the obvious choice by the end of spring training.“It didn’t take long [to get over] at all,” Peraza said Thursday. “When I was informed that I was going to be sent down, I told them, ‘That’s fine. I’m going to Triple-A, but I’m going to be working very hard to wait for an opportunity.’”Peraza saw the decision coming back in spring training. He understood that Volpe “took” the position, as general manager Brian Cashman put it, and chose to work on a...

Lowry, Antetokounmpo questionable for Bucks-Heat Game 3

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:37 GMT

Milwaukee Bucks star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo’s status for Game 3 against the Heat has not yet been determined, and now Heat point guard Kyle Lowry is also in doubt.A two-time NBA MVP, Antetokounmpo missed Game 2 with a back injury, and he is listed as questionable for Saturday night’s Game 3 in Miami. “We’re just going to monitor him the rest of today,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said Friday. “We’ll monitor him tomorrow and see where he is, and together with him make decisions.”Lowry is also questionable for Game 3 with left knee soreness.Lowry came off the bench and played 18 minutes for Miami in Game 2, scoring five points with four rebounds and three assists.Lowry has been dealing with lingering knee soreness throughout the season. He played in 55 regular-season games and averaged 11.2 points with 5.1 assists and 4.1 rebounds. In two playoff games, he has scored 3.5 points with three assists and 2.5 rebounds per game.Antetok...

Tiny Maine community devastated by loss of slain neighbors

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:37 GMT

BOWDOIN, Maine (AP) — Tireless. Helpful. Deeply religious.Those were some of the ways Patti Eger’s friends remembered her Thursday in the small Maine town of Lisbon Falls, joining hands in prayer on a lawn outside a white church to say goodbye to a woman who stood alongside them to do charity work and attend services.Patti Eger was one of four people killed in a violent rampage that shook the calm Maine community.“I couldn’t believe it at first,” said Arlene Couture, a fellow member of the group. “We’re going to miss her terribly.The shootings of seven people brought the national spate of mass gunfire home to a rural community where violent crime is rare. In tiny Bowdoin, Maine, a town of rolling hills, sturdy farmhouses and only one store, the property where the four were killed has drawn friends, family members and neighbors to grieve. Police have charged Joseph Eaton, 34, with four counts of murder, and have said there could be more charges coming.Killed were Eaton’s parents, Cyn...

In Florida, Harris announces $562M for climate resilience

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:37 GMT

Returning to Florida to discuss climate change, Vice President Kamala Harris announced Friday that $562 million will be spent on 149 projects around the country aimed at improving resilience to threats such as rising seas and the kinds of coastal flooding that recently slammed the southeast part of the state.Harris outlined the funding plan during an appearance at the University of Miami, where she also toured a lab immersed in coral restoration work and a hurricane simulator capable of generating Category 5-strength winds of more than 157 mph (253 kph).Harris, who appeared in March at a Miami Beach climate summit, said the projects, which are spread across 30 states, are an example of how climate investments boost job creation and manufacturing while tackling a major environmental issue.“When we invest in climate, we not only protect our environment, we also strengthen our economy,” Harris said in a tweet during her Miami visit.The funding is part of what the Biden admi...

3rd ex-NC State athlete sues school in sexual abuse case

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:37 GMT

A third former North Carolina State athlete has sued the school alleging he was sexually abused by the Wolfpack’s former director of sports medicine under the guise of treatment.The lawsuit, filed Friday in federal court roughly nine months after the first complaint, accuses Robert Murphy Jr. of improperly touching the plaintiff’s genitals during two massages for hip and groin pain in early 2021 at the school in Raleigh, North Carolina. As with the second athlete to sue earlier this year, the plaintiff’s name is listed as “John Doe” to protect anonymity and doesn’t specify which sport he played.The Title IX lawsuit alleges the school failed in a “duty of reasonable care” to protect the plaintiff and was “deliberately indifferent” in acting on concerns about Murphy’s conduct. The complaint states the third athlete came forward after learning of similar allegations through the previous lawsuits.Former Wolfpack soccer player Benjamin Locke was the first to sue in late August. He ...

St. Michael’s College student, 18, stabbed by ‘unknown’ man on lunch break

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:37 GMT

An 18-year-old stabbed in a random attack earlier this week in Toronto’s midtown is a current student at St. Michael’s College, the school confirmed.Toronto police were called to the St. Clair Avenue West and Tweedsmuir Avenue area around 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday for reports of a person with a knife.When authorities arrived on the scene, they located a victim with stab wounds, and a male suspect was arrested in the area.A spokesperson at St. Michael’s College school confirmed with CityNews on Friday that an 18-year-old student was the victim stabbed in the incident. The teen was treated at a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.Initial information from Toronto police indicated that the stabbing happened outside of a Loblaws on St. Clair Avenue, but the school spokesperson says the 18-year-old was stabbed inside the store when students were out on lunch break.A 32-year-old man was taken into custody on Wednesday. Police have not identified the accused, but a s...

Rescued alligator that was recovering at NYC zoo has died

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:37 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — An abandoned and emaciated alligator that was found in a New York City lake and sent to the Bronx Zoo for recovery has died in a “tragic case of animal abuse,” zoo officials said. The zoo provided extensive medical treatment and nutritional support for the debilitated gator, but she succumbed to her injuries on Sunday, the zoo said in a statement. “This alligator suffered and died because its owner decided to dump her in a frigid lake, in an extremely debilitated state rather than provide her with the veterinary care that could have saved her,” Bronx Zoo officials said. “Wild animals are not pets.”An autopsy showed chronic and severe weight loss, extreme anemia and infections in the gator’s intestine and skin, the statement said. The gator, estimated to be 5 to 6 years old, also had a chronic ulcer in her stomach caused by a rubber bathtub stopper she had ingested while illegally kept as a pet.That rubber stopper was later successfully removed.When the gator wa...