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Nuggets Podcast: Denver’s struggles, MPJ’s benching and the Nikola Jokic MVP debate

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:08:57 GMT

In the latest edition of the Nuggets Ink podcast, beat writer Mike Singer and deputy sports editor Matt Schubert reconvene with the Nuggets struggling through a losing streak during the dog days of the NBA schedule. Among the topics discussed:The Nuggets have lost four games in a row, with some concerning trends popping up. What’s the concern level with the team? Are they tired? Bored? Is there a chance they could lose their grip on the top spot in the Western Conference?Michael Porter Jr. was benched at the end of the Nuggets’ home loss to the Brooklyn Nets in favor of Christian Braun. Are we really doing this again? Hasn’t MPJ earned the right to have a bad quarter without there being repercussions?The bench continues to scuffle, with trade deadline additions Reggie Jackson and Thomas Bryant struggling to establish themselves. Do the Nuggets have enough time to incorporate their new pieces? Who will coach Michael Malone trust come playoff time?ESPN commentator Ke...

Rockies Mailbag: Will Riley Pint make the big leagues?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:08:57 GMT

Denver Post sports writer Patrick Saunders with the latest installment of his Rockies Mailbag.Pose a Rockies — or MLB — related question for the Rockies Mailbag.Patrick, whatever happened to pitcher Riley Pint? I know he quit baseball and then came back, but I haven’t heard much about him this spring. What gives?— Jesse, DenverJesse, I believe that Pint, the fourth overall pick in the 2016 draft, will finally make his big-league debut at some point this season. The right-hander, who is on the 40-man roster, was optioned to Triple-A camp on Saturday.Pint, 25, sustained a setback during spring training when he was sidelined by a left oblique injury before Cactus League games began. It was not a severe strain and the good news for Pint was that he was healthy enough to throw a bullpen session on Saturday.Faced with lack of a success and an inability to throw strikes consistently, Pint walked away from baseball in June 2021. He returned for spring training last y...

Fluorinated gas emission reductions to advance EU fight against climate change 

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:08:57 GMT

Parliament’s Environment Committee agrees to an ambitious reduction of fluorinated greenhouse gases emissions, to further contribute to EU’s climate neutrality goal.Members of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) adopted their position on revising the EU’s legislative framework on fluorinated gases (F-gases) emissions with 64 votes in favour, eight against and seven abstentions.Move faster towards alternative solutionsTo accelerate innovation in, and the development of, more climate-friendly solutions and to provide certainty for consumers and investors, MEPs want to strengthen new requirements proposed by the Commission that prohibit the placing on the single market of products containing F-gases (Annex IV). The text also adds prohibitions on the use of F-gases for sectors where it is technologically and economically feasible to switch to alternatives that do not use F-gases, such as refrigeration, air conditioning, heat pumps and electrical switch...

Russia using all tools to tighten grip on Balkans

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:08:57 GMT

In the past few weeks, US officials and NATO representatives have emphasised the need to protect the Western Balkans from Russian interference and malign influence in the wake of Russia’s unprovoked and brutal invasion of Ukraine. A US State Department spokesperson stated: “Russia’s war has clarified how urgent our work is to assist all the countries of the Western Balkans to fully advance democratic reforms and achieve their aspirations of integration into European and Euro-Atlantic institutions.” Russia has increasingly asserted itself in the region, which is of great geostrategic importance to Moscow and provides Russia with an opportunity to undermine the EU and NATO as well as countering perceived expansionism within Europe.In its struggle for influence in the Western Balkans, Russia has repeated exploited its energy and natural resources as a geopolitical tool whilst simultaneously illicitly bankrolling and backing right-wing political parties and far right groups.Russia’s mal...

Krugman: Silicon Valley Bank in 2023 isn’t Lehman Brothers in 2008

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:08:57 GMT

If there is one thing almost all observers of the economic scene have agreed about, it is that the issues facing the U.S. economy in 2023 are very different from those it faced in its last crisis, in 2008.Back then, we were dealing with collapsing banks and plunging demand; these days, banking has been a back-burner issue and the big problem has seemed to be inflation, driven by too much demand relative to the available supply.Yet suddenly we seem to be replaying some of the same old scenes. Silicon Valley Bank wasn’t among the nation’s largest financial institutions, but then neither was Lehman Brothers in 2008.But SVB isn’t Lehman, and 2023 isn’t 2008. We probably aren’t looking at a systemic financial crisis. And while the government has stepped in to stabilize the situation, taxpayers probably won’t be on the hook for large sums of money.To make sense of what happened, you need to understand the reality of what SVB was and what it did.Silicon Valley Bank portrayed itself as “the...

Barabak: There’s a price for parroting Trump’s Big Lie. Will GOP care?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:08:57 GMT

In the Book of Republican Sorrows, 2022 merits a whole chapter of its own.With inflation scraping the sky and President Biden’s approval ratings deep in the dumpster, the GOP was primed to seize control of the Senate, blow the doors off the House and greatly raise its ranks in state capitals across the country.None of that happened.One big reason was the lousy crop of candidates fielded by the GOP, many of whom sacrificed truth and personal integrity by parroting former President Trump’s “Big Lie” about the 2020 election being stolen.Shameful, yes. But did their bad behavior make a difference in the 2022 midterms? A new study, conducted by researchers at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, suggests: Indeed it did.Assaying the general election results in 85 races across the country, the study found that election-denying Republicans received 2.3% less support in statewide contests than Republicans who stood fast and refused to indulge Trump’s insidious blather.That may not sound l...

When will Medicare cover medical marijuana?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:08:57 GMT

Many older adults are using medical marijuana to treat a variety of conditions, but experts say that conflicting laws, unclear safety standards and complicated rulemaking processes mean it could be years before Medicare may cover the drug.One in five Medicare recipients currently uses medical marijuana, according to an April 2022 poll by the Medicare Plans Patient Resource Center, an organization that provides Medicare guidance and information. And nearly a quarter have used it in the past. Two-thirds of Medicare recipients think Medicare should cover it, the poll found.But Medicare doesn’t cover medical marijuana because it’s not federally legal and not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Here’s where the situation stands.WHY COVER MEDICAL MARIJUANA FOR OLDER ADULTS?In one analysis of data from a large cannabis dispensary in New York, 60% of patients were 50 or older, according to an April 2022 paper in the journal, Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research. The patients used can...

Lebanon’s Central Bank chief again charged with corruption

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:08:57 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s Central Bank chief was again charged with corruption on Wednesday, this time after failing to show up for questioning before a European legal team visiting Beirut in a money-laundering probe linked to the governor, officials said.According to the judicial officials, Gov. Riad Salameh, his brother Raja Salameh and an associate, Marianne Hoayek, were charged with corruption and ordered detained. Their assets were also frozen. The case is separate from other legal proceedings against Salameh underway in Lebanon. In late February, Beirut’s public prosecutor Raja Hamoush charged the three with corruption, including embezzling public funds, forgery, illicit enrichment, money-laundering, and violation of tax laws.Judge Helena Iskandar, who is representing the Lebanese state at the questioning in the European probe, filed the charges Wednesday against the governor and the other two others, the officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the case. ...

Kriechmayr wins last downhill of men’s World Cup season

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:08:57 GMT

SOLDEU, Andorra (AP) — It’s been the script all season long in men’s World Cup downhills: If Aleksander Aamodt Kilde doesn’t win, then Vincent Kriechmayr will.Kriechmayr took advantage of Kilde being slightly off his game at the World Cup Finals on Wednesday to take his fourth race win of the season. Kriechmayr was fast on the lower half of the 2.6-kilometer (1.6-mile) course to finish 0.09 seconds ahead of Romed Baumann. Andreas Sander was third, 0.13 back.Kilde finished 0.30 behind in a tie for sixth, though had already retained the season-long World Cup downhill title with six race wins in the discipline. He was presented with his crystal globe trophy after the race.The final downhill of the World Cup season was also a career farewell for veterans Johan Clarey and Travis Ganong of the United States, who placed 12th and 20th, respectively. Both were greeted in the finish area with showers of Champagne from teammates and friends.The 42-year-old Clarey retires as the reigning Olympi...

EU closer to ending US trade spat, moves on Green Deal funds

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:08:57 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union moved closer to ending a trade dispute with U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday following months of wrangling over the billions of America-first incentives in his clean technology plans and said it would ramp up a similar subsidy-laden effort at home.European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the parliament plenary that in its attempt to produce at least 40% of the clean tech needed by 2030 in the 27-nation bloc, it would allow for the “tax breaks and the flexible use of EU funds” on top of simplifying and speeding up industrial approvals. She spoke of a “striking symmetry” between the U.S. efforts and the European Green Deal plans. “Both of them are simultaneously a climate strategy and a strategy for investment and growth,” von der Leyen said.Her upbeat comments came on the eve of the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, tabling plans for the Net-Zero Industry Act on industrial incentives and a Critical Raw Materials ...