Fluent Russian speaker Li Hui is the most senior Chinese official to visit Ukraine since Russia began its full-scale invasion in February 2022.A top Chinese envoy is beginning a tour of Europe that will take him first to Ukraine and lastly to Russia, in a trip Beijing says is aimed at discussing a “political settlement” to the Ukraine crisis. Li Hui, China’s special representative for Eurasian affairs since 2019 and a former ambassador to Russia, will also visit Poland, France and Germany on the multiday trip, the foreign ministry announced last week, “for in-depth communications with different parties for a…
Author: National Tone
For the 30th year in a row, we will not see a Canadian team lift the Stanley Cup. The Edmonton Oilers — Canada’s last hope — were knocked out of the playoffs Sunday following a 5-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 6 of their second-round series. The Toronto Maple Leafs were the only other Canadian team to reach the second round, losing in five games to the Florida Panthers. The 1993 Montreal Canadiens were the last Canadian team to capture hockey’s top prize. This year’s winner will be the 29th consecutive American champion — the Cup wasn’t…
Promise comes after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy makes a surprise visit to Paris after securing $3b in military aid from Germany.France has promised to send dozens more light tanks and armoured vehicles to Ukraine and provide the necessary training for the country’s soldiers to use them effectively. The announcement came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy flew into France late on Sunday to join French President Emmanuel Macron for a working dinner at the Elysee Palace in Paris. “In the coming weeks, France will train and equip several battalions with tens of armoured vehicles and light tanks including AMX-10RC,” the two leaders…
BOSTON (AP) — NHL player Garnet Hathaway just settled into his seat in a luxury box behind home plate, getting ready to enjoy a Sunday night game at Fenway Park between the Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals when a foul ball off the bat of Boston’s Justin Turner came sailing back at him in the first inning. So, what did the 31-year-old forward do? He stood up, reached with both hands and made the clean grab. Hathaway played for the Bruins this season after being acquired from Washington at the trade deadline. He’s currently a free agent. “You never…
Thailand’s reformist opposition has won the most seats and the largest share of the popular vote in the country’s election, in a stunning rejection of nearly a decade of military and military-backed rule. The progressive Move Forward party (MFP) and the populist Pheu Thai Party were far out in front with 99 percent of votes counted, but it remains far from certain whether they will form the next government, because the 250 military-appointed members of the upper house also vote on the prime minister. That means MFP and Pheu Thai will need to negotiate deals with many other parties in…
Tensions rise over differing reports of which presidential candidate was in the lead in knife-edge elections.Istanbul, Turkey – As Turkey’s election night drew on, both sides claimed to be ahead in the vote count and quarrelled about the presentation of ballot figures. The opposition directed their complaints at the data published by the state-run Anadolu news agency, claiming it was slowing the count to put their candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu trailing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Anadolu’s figures shortly before 11pm (20:00 GMT) showed Erdogan, who is seeking a further five-year term after 20 years in power, at 50.13 percent, enough to…
Barcelona have been crowned LaLiga champions for the first time since the 2018-19 season after beating local rivals Espanyol 4-2 on Sunday.A comfortable victory over the relegation-threatened hosts at the RCDE Stadium means Xavi Hernandez’s side are 14 points clear of Real Madrid in second and 16 ahead of third-placed Atletico Madrid with four games of the season remaining. Goal machine Robert Lewandowski scored twice (11, 40) with Alejandro Balde (20) and Jules Kounde (53) also on the scoresheet as Barca cruised to their 27th league win of the campaign. They have now won the Spanish top flight 27 times…
Imagine, for a moment, that the government of Cuba was demanding the extradition of an Australian publisher in the United Kingdom for exposing Cuban military crimes. Imagine that these crimes had included a 2007 massacre by helicopter-borne Cuban soldiers of a dozen Iraqi civilians, among them two journalists for the Reuters news agency. Now imagine that, if extradited from the UK to Cuba, the Australian publisher would face up to 175 years in a maximum-security prison, simply for having done what media professionals are ostensibly supposed to do: report reality. Finally, imagine the reaction of the United States to such…
DENVER (AP) — Colorado pitcher Ryan Feltner has a skull fracture and concussion after getting hit by a line drive off the bat of Philadelphia’s Nick Castellanos. Feltner was injured Saturday night and was likely to be discharged from a hospital later Sunday. He will not need surgery. “Overall, he’s fine,” Colorado manager Bud Black said before Sunday’s game. “I think the feeling is that it could have been worse.” Feltner was put on the 15-day injured list. When asked whether the 26-year-old right-hander will be out for days, weeks or months, Black said “probably on the longer end of…
The sale comes as part of the country’s privatisation drive as it must meet a series of foreign debt obligations.The Egyptian finance ministry has announced the selling of a 9.5 percent stake in state-controlled Telecom Egypt for 3.75 billion Egyptian pounds ($122.4m) in a move aimed at pushing forward the government’s privatisation programme. The ministry said on Sunday that 162.2 million shares were sold at 23.11 Egyptian pounds ($0.75) each in a subscription that was 3.11 times oversubscribed. Another 0.5 percent of the shares are now being offered to Telecom Egypt employees until May 25. The two-part sale will reduce…