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The Guardian view on the US suspension of military aid: Ukraine and Europe’s race against time | Editorial

As Volodymyr Zelenskyy seeks to undo the damage of the Oval Office confrontation, the question is not just how far but how fast the Trump administration moves How long do Ukraine and Europe have to respond to US betrayal? When Russia launched its full-scale invasion three years ago, each day that Kyiv held out was a victory. The west rallied to Ukraine’s support at equally remarkable speed. Now, as the Trump administration turns upon the victim, and embraces the aggressor, Europe is accelerating nascent plans to bolster Ukraine and pursue security independence. Trump allies blame Friday night’s extraordinary Oval Office confrontation between Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Donald Trump and JD Vance for the shocking halt to all US military aid . Others suspect that the administration was seeking a pretext for the suspension. Mr Zelenskyy pledged on Tuesday to “work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts” and expressed gratitude for his first-term approval ...

UK minister said NHS could use Dyson ventilators so they could be ‘sold abroad’

Machines could be marketed as ‘used in UK hospitals’ after James Dyson spoke to PM, Covid inquiry hears A minister warned a senior official that ventilators may need to be bought from Sir James Dyson “so that he can then market [them] internationally” as “being used in UK hospitals” after the businessman spoke to Boris Johnson, the Covid inquiry has heard. The message from Lord Agnew, a Tory Treasury minister, to the government’s chief commercial officer, Gareth Reese Williams, emerged as the public inquiry into the pandemic started a four-week examination of procurement. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/tm7wren

And the loser is … politics: why was this year’s Oscars so reluctant?

Taking place in the middle of a chaotic time for the US and the world at large, this year’s ceremony was light on statements and devoid of the Trump word entirely Twenty-two years ago, the last time Adrien Brody won the Academy award for best actor, film-maker Michael Moore accepted his own Oscar for Bowling for Columbine , a documentary about America’s obsession with guns, by offering a preview of sorts of his next feature, Fahrenheit 9/11. He decried then president George W Bush as “fictitious” (alluding to his fishy, supreme court-assisted election win a year and a half earlier) and excoriated the Bush administration for sending the United States to war with Iraq – just three days earlier, in fact – for “fictitious reasons”. It was received with a mixture of applause and boos, probably the most memorable moment of the night, give or take Brody planting a kiss on Halle Berry. Two years later, when Fahrenheit 9/11 might have been similarly honored (and almost certainly would have be...

World’s first $1m women’s footballer Girma has Chelsea debut cut short

USA defender injured in Chelsea’s 2-2 draw with Brighton Manchester United keep pressure on WSL leaders The USA centre-back Naomi Girma’s debut for Chelsea ended early as she was brought off with an injury in their 2-2 draw at Brighton . The world’s first $1m women’s footballer , who signed for Chelsea from San Diego Wave in January for a $1.1m (£874,000)fee and has had to wait patiently for her debut while recovering from a calf injury that caused her to miss the SheBelieves Cup in February , had to be withdrawn just before the hour mark. It was an absorbing contest in which a hard-working Brighton side give Chelsea more than just a scare. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/UouldHi

All played out: Raheem Sterling in startling decline after hitting the fateful 500 mark | Jonathan Wilson

The Arsenal forward, once England’s key player, is only 30 but his confidence is shot and his career on a downward curve In Rafa Benítez’s first season in English football, he rested Steven Gerrard for an FA Cup tie at Burnley, who were in the Championship. When Liverpool lost, there was a predictable backlash and, from certain quarters, derision as Benítez explained his rotation policy and the need to manage the number of minutes each player played. Social media being in its infancy, it wasn’t quite the culture war that it would have become today, but certain old-school football men clearly felt that players should just get on with it: hard work never hurt anyone. But at the same time a piece of ancient wisdom kept surfacing, usually from elderly coaches who had spent a lifetime in the game: as a rule of thumb, however much they play, whatever age they start, a player has 500 games in them. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/AY8ilhC

Wolves’ Cunha sent off for head-butt as Bournemouth edge home on penalties

After a game of high drama that exhibited the very worst of video officiating, a wonder strike, an extraordinary red card and then a sudden-death penalty shootout, it is Bournemouth who continue to dream of Wembley. That will teach the television companies for making this the only FA Cup fifth-round tie not chosen for broadcast. The victory was nothing more than the dominant hosts deserved ut they went round the houses to get there. Eventually, after Boubacar Traoré had hit the crossbar, it was Bournemouth substitute Luis Sinisterra who was the hero, converting from the spot for a 5-4 shootout win after the game had somehow remained deadlocked at 1-1 after extra time. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/UV0nG4j

Shortsighted Taiwan may have lessons for the world as a preventable disease skyrockets

Up to 90% of young people in Taiwan have myopia but eye experts say the growing global trend can be reversed In the final days of their eight-week bootcamp, dozens of young Taiwanese conscripts are being tested on an obstacle course. The men in full combat kit are crawling underneath rows of razor wire and through bunkers as controlled explosions blast columns of dirt into the air. Pink and green smoke blooms in a simulated gas attack, requiring the conscripts to quickly don gas masks so they can rush the zone. But it’s here where many of them pause, stopping the assault drill to spend precious seconds removing their glasses so the masks will fit. The conscripts mostly look to be in their early 20s. Statistics suggest that means anywhere up to 90% of them have some degree of myopia, otherwise known as shortsightedness. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/sPxvbCm