Sin categoría

NBA star Irving sidelined by Nets for refusing Covid vaccination

AFP

The Brooklyn Nets decided Tuesday to bar star guard Kyrie Irving from practice as well as games in the NBA season that starts next week because he refuses to be vaccinated against Covid-19.

“Given the evolving nature of the situation and after thorough deliberation, we have decided Kyrie Irving will not play or practice with the team until he is eligible to be a full participant,” Nets general manager Sean Marks said.

“Kyrie has made a personal choice, and we respect his individual right to choose.

“Currently, his choice restricts his ability to be a full-time member of the team, and we will not permit any member of our team to participate with part-time availability.”

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

Irving, 29, is part of the Nets’ star trio that also includes Kevin Durant and James Harden.

Because of the ongoing pandemic, New York has implemented new health and safety regulations which do not allow unvaccinated athletes to take part in practices and games.

He could theoretically have played in road games without being vaccinated, but Marks’ statement rules that out.

At a video press conference later Tuesday, Marks agreed with a suggestion that the Nets had been left with “no choice” but to leave Irving on the sidelines.

“Ultimately yes,” Marks said. “He has a choice to make and he made his choice. My job here is to make what we deem is the best decision and the best choices for the organisation as a whole.

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

“They’re not always ones that are going to be met with open arms and a thumbs-up. These are hard decisions.

“Just like I’m sure it wasn’t easy for Kyrie either to have to make that [decision] to not be around his teammates.”

Marks said he made the decision in consultation with Joe Tsai, the Nets’ billionaire owner.

“We had everything on the board. We looked at everything. When you make a decision like this it’s not one you want to make hastily,” Marks said.

“Again, involve all the parties, think about the variety of different outcomes. They’re never easy decisions but at the end of the day we’re looking at putting a group of people out there that are going to be able to participate fully. That’s what this comes down to.

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

“And we’re not looking for partners that are going to be part-time. I don’t think it’s fair on the team, the staff, the ownership and the fans, but also it’s not fair on Kyrie either.”

The Nets begin their regular season at the NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks next Tuesday.

Golden State Warriors swingman Andrew Wiggins had also refused to get the vaccine but relented to keep playing.

Wiggins said after getting the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine last week: “I guess you don’t own your body.”

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

Sin categoría

FBI Most Wanted Fugitive Arrested in Mexico and Deported to U.S.

Authorities in Mexico announced Thursday that Samuel Ramírez Jr., a U.S. citizen accused of murdering two women and listed among the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, was arrested in the northern state of Sinaloa.

Ramírez Jr., 33, was detained Tuesday in Culiacán just 1 hour and 13 minutes after being added to the Federal Bureau of Investigation Ten Most Wanted list, the agency said in a statement.

The suspect, who was born in California, has already been deported to the U.S. state of Washington, where he faces charges related to the fatal shooting of two women at a bar in Federal Way in May 2023.

A court issued an arrest warrant for Ramírez in November last year, and the FBI initially offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to his capture, later increasing the amount to up to $1 million.

“To protect individuals’ privacy and ensure continued cooperation from the public, the FBI does not confirm the identity of those who provide information,” the agency said in its statement.

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

Sin categoría

UN experts warn Nicaragua runs vast transnational network to monitor exiled dissidents

Nicaragua maintains an “extensive” transnational network to monitor and intimidate opposition figures living in exile, affecting “hundreds of thousands” of people, the United Nations Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua warned on Tuesday.

In a statement, the experts said their report “details an extensive transnational architecture of surveillance and intelligence used to monitor, intimidate and attack the hundreds of thousands of Nicaraguans living abroad.”

The report, which will be presented on March 16 to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, states that the structure maintained by the government of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo includes the army, the police, migration authorities and diplomatic missions.

According to the statement, “the government has arbitrarily stripped 452 Nicaraguans of their nationality, left thousands more exiled in a situation of de facto statelessness, and prevented many from returning to Nicaragua.”

Sin categoría

Trump: ‘We Think It’s True’ Amid Claims Iran’s Supreme Leader Was Killed

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he believes multiple reports claiming the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, during the U.S. and Israeli offensive against the Islamic Republic are likely true, though he stopped short of confirming the news.

“We have a feeling that the information is correct,” he said, according to NBC News. “I don’t want to say anything definitive until I see it, but we think that’s the case. And many of their leaders have disappeared,” he added.

Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there were “many indications” that Khamenei had died in an attack on his residential compound.