List of All Articles with Tag 'b'

US soybean prices rose for a second straight week, as excessive heat and dryness threaten to further erode

By Lewis Krauskopf and Yoruk Bahceli Strategists at BofA Global Research see second-half "trouble" for technology stocks even

When Daniel Dubois looks across the ring in Wroclaw on Saturday, he would do well to focus on the shark-eyed gaze glaring through him and not the sounds coming from the legions of Ukrainians in the stands – those baying for his systematic dismantling. Because if Oleksandr Usyk specialises in anything, it is systematic dismantling. That is what his travelling fans will be hoping to see when they cross the border from their war-torn homeland to Poland, where their idol defends his gold and his country’s honour this weekend. That is a lot of motivation in the corner of Usyk – the unbeaten southpaw, the unified world heavyweight champion, the Olympic gold medalist, and the only undisputed cruiserweight title holder of his era. And if that motivation were not enough, Usyk will enter the Tarczynski Arena fueled by residual frustration from his failed fight with Tyson Fury. • Get all the latest Usyk vs Dubois betting sites’ offers In an ideal world, Usyk, now closer to 37 than 36, would have fought the WBC champion three months ago; an undisputed king would have been crowned and a rematch might have even been scheduled by now. Instead, Fury is two months out from a bizarre bout with ex-UFC champion Francis Ngannou, who is making his professional boxing debut and is not eligible to win the Briton’s WBC belt; and Usyk is on the cusp of a defence against mandatory challenger Dubois. Then again, in an ideal world, Usyk’s country would not be under continued attacks from Russia. That might at least mean that the champion would be staging this defence against Dubois in Ukraine, rather than in Poland. Reality dictates, however, that Usyk’s fans will journey to Wroclaw in search of some brief escapism. Usyk, who volunteered on the frontline in Ukraine last year, knows the responsibility and opportunity he possesses this weekend. He was aware of it when he fought Anthony Joshua – for the second time – last summer, and that was apparent when he collapsed to his knees after securing victory, wrapped in a Ukrainian flag and soaked in tears and sweat. Such emotions will only be heightened on Saturday, in front of the fans who had to watch from a distance when Usyk outpointed Joshua in August. On Saturday, Usyk will again stand across from a British heavyweight, one with formidable power but whose technical abilities and speed do not, in all honesty, measure up to the former cruiserweight’s. The enigmatic Usyk remains a unicorn at heavyweight, balletic in movement but brutal in his sheer efficiency of output. Then there are the angles he creates, which risk leaving Dubois stupefied like a primary school student in a university geometry class. Believe it or not, that is not actually meant as an indictment of Dubois, who has more than the puncher’s chance that some have suggested; however, the truth is that the 25-year-old has not fought an opponent close to Usyk’s calibre, let alone one with this unique of a skillset. Dubois has achieved 18 of his 19 pro wins via knockout, while his sole defeat came in 2020, at the hands of Joe Joyce – hands which battered Dubois’s eye socket to the point of fracture. Dubois hit the canvas that night and did the same in his last fight – three times in fact, all in the first round. On that occasion, against Kevin Lerena in December, it was Dubois’s knee that betrayed him, but the Briton managed to fight through the injury to stop his opponent in Round 3. Fighting unsteadily on one leg, Dubois somehow conjured the power to drop Lerena with a right cross, before finishing him with a barrage of hooks and uppercuts against the ropes. The positive to be taken from that outing is that a healthy Dubois wields even greater power; the question, though, is whether Dubois will stay healthy across 12 rounds with Usyk, who looks well poised to exploit the younger fighter’s vulnerabilities. When the pair came face to face at a pre-fight press conference in July, Dubois vowed to unleash “hell”. Usyk, meanwhile, recited a poem and a rap. That might have foreshadowed the dynamic of this main event rather well: Dubois, as his coach Don Charles has admitted, must make this a chaotic affair. In contrast, Usyk will likely employ his usual artistry to undo his challenger and put Dubois himself through hell. Agonised by the grave matter of war in his homeland and the more trivial factor of frustration with Fury, Usyk will be riled up in Wroclaw. If any fighter can master that emotion and harness it wisely, it is Usyk. Read More Usyk vs Dubois live stream: How to watch fight online and on TV this weekend The misleading narrative of Oleksandr Usyk vs Daniel Dubois KSI vs Tommy Fury press conference features flipped tables and thrown cake as Logan Paul and Dillon Danis get heated Underdog Daniel Dubois looks back in bid to take big step forward Daniel Dubois misses Ryanair flight ahead of Usyk fight Shock Daniel Dubois win is only chance of undisputed fight – David Haye

By Richa Naidu LONDON Bayer is a "conglomerate" that needs to make major changes including "de-merging" two of

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Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said that he he warned the Wagner mercenary chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, to "watch out" for threats to his life before the plane crash said to have killed him. Mr Lukashenko helped broker a deal between Mr Prigozhin and the Kremlin that ended an attempted mutiny by Wagner forces against Moscow in June – an uprising that marked the most significant challenge to Mr Putin's authority in more than two decades in power. Two months to the day after that revolt was halted, with fighters 125 miles from the Russian capital, a plane believed to be carrying Mr Prigozhin and a number of other members of Wagner's senior leadership crashed on Wednesday evening. Mr Putin had called the Wagner mutiny treason, and had initially vowed to crush it, and a number of world leaders have suggested that he would not let the embarrassment of that incident stand. Mr Lukashenko said on Friday that Mr Prigozhin had twice dismissed concerns raised by the Belarusian leader about possible threats to his life. Mr Lukashenko said that during the mutiny he had warned Mr Prigozhin that he would "die" if he continued to march on Moscow, to which he said Mr Prigozhin had answered: "'To hell with it - I will die'." Then, Mr Lukashenko said, when Mr Prigozhin and his right-hand man, Dmitry Utkin, who was also listed as a passenger on the plane which crashed, had come to see him, he had warned them both: "Lads – you watch out". Mr Lukashenko said that the Wagner leader had never asked him for security guarantees. "I don't have to ensure Prigozhin's safety... the conversation was never in that vein." It was not exactly clear from Mr Lukashenko’s words, which were reported by state news agency BELTA, when that conversation took place, Reuters reports. Mr Lukashenko has previously claimed that he persuaded Mr Putin not to "wipe out" the Wagner leader. US officials, speaking to American media, have suggested that a preliminary US intelligence assessment concluded the plane was downed by an intentional explosion. One of the US and Western officials who described the assessment to the Associated Press said it determined that Mr Prigozhin was “very likely” targeted and that the explosion falls in line with Putin’s “long history of trying to silence his critics.” The Kremlin rejected that assessment on Friday, falling back on a regular refrain for Moscow that it is the West that are the root of the problem. “Right now, of course, there are lots of speculations around this plane crash and the tragic deaths of the passengers of the plane, including Yevgeny Prigozhin,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said during a conference call with journalists. “Of course, in the West those speculations are put out under a certain angle, and all of it is a complete lie,” he claimed. On Thursday, Mr Putin appeared to eulogise Mr Prigozhin, calling him a “great businessman”. But he also said that the the Wagner leader had made “serious mistakes” in his life and had a “complicated fate”. A close ally of Mr Putin, the Belarusian president said that he believed the plane crash was “just too rough and unprofessional a job” for the Russian leader to be involved. “I know Putin: he is calculating, very calm, even tardy,” Lukashenko said. “I cannot imagine that Putin did it, that Putin is to blame.” The jet crashed soon after taking off from Moscow for St. Petersburg, carrying Mr Prigozhin, six other Wagner members and a crew of three, according to Russia's civil aviation authority. Rescuers found 10 bodies, and Russian media cited anonymous sources in Wagner who said Mr Prigozhin was dead. As part of the deal to end June's mutiny, Mr Prigozhin was due to set up in Belarus, with any Wagner fighters that wanted to join him. While the mercenary leader appeared to be able to travel freely, thousands have his fighters have travelled to Belarus, and have been training Belarusian soldiers near the border with Nato-member Poland. Warsaw has moved thousands of its own troops to its border in response. Britain's Ministry of Defence said on Friday that it was "highly likely" Mr Prigozhin was dead and that his death "would almost certainly have a deeply destabilising effect" on Wagner, with the reported deaths of Mr Utkin and logistics chief Valery Chekalov compounding a "leadership vacuum", Mr Lukashenko said Wagner fighters would remain in Belarus. "Wager lived, Wagner is living and Wagner will live in Belarus," the president said. "The core remains here." "As long as we need this unit, they will live and work with us," he said. Elsewhere, on the battlefield in Ukraine – which has been subject to Russian invasion for 18 months – there was a significant attack on Russian-occupied Crimea involving dozens of drones. Russia's Defence Ministry said that 42 drones had been shot down over Crimea and 73 as a whole across across the last 24 hours. The attacks were the latest in a surge of similar incidents in recent weeks. Ukraine has said that destroying Russia's military infrastructure helps a counteroffensive than Kyiv began in June. President Volodymyr Zelensky told an international conference this week that Kyiv would "de-occupy" Crimea. Ukrainian military intelligence said it had assisted the navy this week in a "special operation" in which they landed units on the western tip of Crimea, had a firefight with Russian forces and raised a Ukrainian flag. Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report Read More The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary What next for the Wagner Group in Russia? Who is Yevgeny Prigozhin? Wagner chief presumed dead in plane crash What is the Wagner mercenary group led by Yevgeny Prigozhin?

By Shivansh Tiwary (Reuters) -The United Auto Workers (UAW) union on Friday voted in favor of authorizing a strike at

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Provides an overview of Xinjiang, including key dates and facts about this autonomous region of China.

The director of the British Museum has stepped down amid an investigation into the alleged theft of gold and artifacts from the famous London institution.

Provides an overview of Tibet, including key dates and facts about this autonomous region of China.