Author: Press Room

On Friday night, Brittney Griner strolled down the sideline a few hours before the Phoenix Mercury played, offering hugs and high-fiving her teammates, coaches and opposing players.Then it was a little stretching, a little shooting and a little agility work to prepare for a basketball game.It was just like old times. “I’m grateful to be here, that’s for sure,” Griner said. “I’m not going to take a day for granted.”Griner returned to game action for the first time since a nearly 10-month detainment in Russia on drug-related charges ended with a prisoner swap for arms dealer Viktor Bout in December.…

Delta police are asking for the public’s help to find a missing 14-year-old who was last seen in Surrey on Thursday. Paige Ritco-Rondeau was spotted around 10 a.m. on 94A Avenue near the Surrey Memorial Hospital. Police believe she is still in the Surrey area.“Police are concerned for Paige’s safety and want to locate her to check her well-being,” Delta police said in a Friday news release. 1:01 Calls for additional, inclusive Canada-wide alert systems for missing persons  Paige was last known to be wearing a black t-shirt and black tights, and carrying a dark backpack. She is described as…

US ambassador in Pretoria accuses country of providing arms to Russia despite its stated neutrality in the Ukraine war.South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has said an investigation is under way after the United States ambassador in Pretoria accused the country of having provided arms to Moscow despite its stated neutrality on Russia’s war in Ukraine. The government is opening an independent inquiry led by a retired judge into the allegation, Ramaphosa’s office said in a statement on Thursday. Earlier, the US ambassador to South Africa, Reuben Brigety, told local journalists in a briefing that Washington was confident a Russian vessel…

Canberra are inside the NRL’s top eight for the first time in 2023 after seeing off Parramatta 26-18 in an NRL contest that has left two State of Origin candidates sweating the judiciary’s charge sheet.In freezing conditions, the Raiders made it five straight wins in their best showing of the season, three tries in each half helping them hold off the Eels.It leaves them 6-4 for the season and only two competition points from top spot, continuing a brilliant run to respond to a tough 1-4 start to the year.The victory was their biggest margin of the season so far,…

WASHINGTON: US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi met in Vienna this week, Washington and Beijing announced on Thursday (May 11), as the two powers seek to maintain communication amid soaring tensions, especially over Taiwan. The two held eight hours of talks stretching over Wednesday and Thursday in the Austrian capital, ending an unofficial pause in high-level contacts since the United States shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon that had travelled across the country in January and February. Both sides described the previously unannounced meeting as “candid, substantive and constructive”, covering topics including the Russian…

By Darlington ChukwunyereMy name is Funke Afolabi, from Ondo State Nigeria, and I reside here in Lagos with my husband. I had been married for 15 years, no issue to show for it. I was so frustrated and concerned as I was nearing menopause; but to my amazement, my husband was not so bothered at all.My husband’s family began mounting so much pressure on him to take a second wife, but he refused. This made them to turn the whole table around my neck stating and fuming that I was the cause of their son’s inability to accept marrying another…

On the 75th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba, it seems apt to think about how the events of 1948 have shaped not only the history of the Palestinian people, but also their present colonial reality. For Palestinians, the Nakba is a “ghostly matter” – to use a phrase first introduced by sociology professor Avery Gordon. It has become a psychic force that ceaselessly haunts the present. Haunting, as Gordon explains, is one of the ways in which oppressive forms of power continue to make themselves known in everyday life. The Nakba – the displacement of 750,000 Palestinians from their ancestral…

Kansas’ Democratic governor on Friday vetoed Republican legislation that would have provided a financial boost to anti-abortion pregnancy centers and prevented officials fighting outbreaks of contagious diseases from prohibiting public gatherings or ordering infected people to isolate themselves.The two measures were part of a wave of conservative policies passed by GOP-controlled state legislatures this year, including ones in Kansas rolling back transgender rights and establishing new restrictions on abortion providers. But Gov. Laura Kelly’s two vetoes will stand because lawmakers have adjourned for the year, barring any attempt at overriding them.The anti-abortion measure would have granted up to $10 million…

President Biden is set to welcome Speaker Kevin McCarthy and other top congressional leaders to the White House on Tuesday for a pivotal round of discussions about the nation’s taxes, spending and debt as a potentially catastrophic government default rapidly approaches.The talks come just weeks before the United States is expected to run out of cash to pay its bills unless the nation’s borrowing cap is lifted. Like previous moments of brinkmanship, the discussions have echoes of 2011 and 2013, when congressional Republicans refused to raise the debt ceiling unless a Democratic president agreed to curb federal spending and reduce…

Latest news on ETFsVisit our ETF Hub to find out more and to explore our in-depth data and comparison toolsDespite many seeing them as the ideal hunting ground for stockpickers, falling markets have done little to dent UK appetite for passive funds in the past year. Trackers took in nearly £10bn in net retail sales in 2022, meaning they now represent some 21 per cent of the industry assets monitored by the Investment Association.This popularity, built during the previous decade, is understandable when you consider the good returns passives have delivered for much of that time. They also tend to offer a…