Author: National Tone

An international team of investigators has said there are “strong indications” that Russian President Vladimir Putin approved the supply of the missile to separatists who shot down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014. But members of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) in the Netherlands said they did not have enough evidence to prosecute any more suspects and suspended their eight-and-a-half-year inquiry into the tragedy. As a head of state, Putin also has immunity. MH17 was shot down by a Russian missile launched from eastern Ukraine as it was on its way to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam on…

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Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown left Wednesday night’s contest against the Philadelphia 76ers with a facial contusion and will not return, per the team. .acf-block-preview .instagram-twitter-container width: 340px; margin: 0 auto; Brown suffered the injury after colliding with teammate Jayson Tatum and taking an inadvertent elbow to the face near the end of the first half. Brown joins three other Celtics starters on the injured list, as Al Horford, Marcus Smart and Rob Williams were all ruled out prior to the game. Before exiting, Brown played 17 minutes and scored four points on two-of-nine shooting. The 26-year-old guard is averaging…

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg to discuss the alliance, Ukraine and the Chinese balloon.US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to discuss support for Ukraine, as well as Finland’s and Sweden’s efforts to join the alliance. He also addressed the diplomatic tensions that ensued after an alleged Chinese surveillance balloon was spotted over the United States last week. “Last week, Beijing violated international law and US sovereignty with the presence of a Chinese surveillance balloon in US airspace,” Blinken told reporters on Wednesday at a news…

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Canadian soccer player Sam Adekugbe was one of the lucky ones. He managed to escape earthquake-ravaged Antakya in Turkey. Some of his teammates and staff at his club Hatayspor are still missing. The 28-year-old from Calgary is now safe in Istanbul with Canada captain Atiba Hutchinson, who plays for Besiktas. But he tells a harrowing tale of being caught in the quake. .acf-block-preview .instagram-twitter-container width: 340px; margin: 0 auto; Adekugbe was relaxing at home with some teammates after a Turkish league game Sunday evening. The quake began as he started cleaning up his home when they left. He went outside…

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With the possibility of finding buried victims alive fading fast, survivors express frustration over the slow arrival of rescue teams.Hope of finding survivors is quickly fading as stretched rescue teams in Turkey and Syria search for signs of life in the debris of thousands of buildings toppled by the world’s deadliest earthquake in more than a decade. The confirmed death toll reached 12,000 late on Wednesday. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited the especially hard-hit Hatay province, where more than 3,300 people died and entire neighbourhoods were destroyed. Residents there have criticised the government’s response, complaining of a lack of…

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Stina Blackstenius came off the bench to score the extra-time winner as Arsenal reached the Continental Cup final with victory over holders Manchester City.After a goalless 90 minutes, the Sweden international finished off a smart move to wrap up a deserved 1-0 win at Meadow Park. Jonas Eidevall’s side will now face either West Ham or Chelsea in the final at Selhurst Park on March 5.Laura Wienroither missed a one-on-one for Arsenal as Sandy MacIver made a smart save, while Women’s Euros heroine Chloe Kelly was denied by Sabrina D’Angelo at the other end.The closest either side came to breaking…

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Celtic striker Giorgos Giakoumakis has joined MLS side Atalanta on a four-year deal in a move worth more than £4m. The Greece international agreed personal terms with the club at the start of last week, with the deal to take him from Parkhead now finally completed. Atlanta will pay Celtic a guaranteed £3.5m, with a further £800,000 in add-ons.The move ends a long saga for Giakoumakis’ signature. He had already passed a medical with Japanese side Urawa Red Diamonds during the January Transfer Window.”Giorgos is a player who’s been on the club’s radar for a while and we’re excited to…

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Yanomami Indigenous leaders in Brazil’s Amazon blame illegal gold miners for a health crisis and surge in violence.Brazil has launched raids against illegal gold miners blamed for a humanitarian crisis on the country’s largest Indigenous reservation, as President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva promised to defend the Yanomami people after years of neglect and rising violence. The Brazilian environmental and Indigenous agencies said on Wednesday that government agents were carrying out the operation, which began earlier this week. The Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) said in a statement that agents destroyed a helicopter, a plane, a…

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On a record-breaking night in Los Angeles, there was an issue in the Lakers locker room, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports. .acf-block-preview .instagram-twitter-container width: 340px; margin: 0 auto; Wojnarowski says star point guard Russell Westbrook and coach Darvin Ham got into a “brief, heated verbal exchange” at halftime of the Lakers’ 133-130 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The ESPN insider says Ham was frustrated with how Westbrook lingered on the floor as he got subbed out in the second quarter. The two sides seemed to put their differences aside later as Westrbook scored 14 points in the fourth quarter and…

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LUXEMBOURG — The European Court on Wednesday ruled against a Barcelona fan group in France that demanded that the European Commission should investigate whether Paris Saint-Germain unfairly signed Lionel Messi and jeopardized Barcelona’s finances. The court in Luxembourg decided that the European Commission does not have to accept the group as an interested party and is not obligated to open an investigation into its complaint of alleged unlawful state aid to PSG. The demand was presented in October by a fan group in Lyon that argued their rights as Barcelona members were being violated by clubs who had an unfair…

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