Putin offers Trump ice hockey match
Vladimir Putin proposed organising ice hockey matches between US and Russian NHL players during his phone call with Donald Trump on Tuesday, the Kremlin said.
The idea, which the Kremlin said Mr Trump supported, would see special games set up in both Russia and the US with teams composed of players from each country's top flight professional league.
There are around 60 Russian professional hockey players in the US and Canada's National Hockey League, while around a dozen Americans play in Russia's Kontinental Hockey League.
Details of the plan were featured at the very end of the Russian readout of the 90-minute-long call, in which Putin agreed to halt strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure for 30 days.
Russia is barred from competing in international hockey tournaments until at least 2026, but has historically maintained a strong rivalry with the US in the sport.
At the 1980 Winter Olympics, a US team made up of college players and amateurs upset a powerhouse Soviet team that had taken the gold medal at nearly every Olympic Games since 1954.
The US's 4-3 win was dubbed the 'miracle on ice' and is considered one of the country's greatest sporting moments.
In February 2020, Mr Trump brought members of the 'miracle' team on stage at a rally in Las Vegas.
The now middle-aged former players, most wearing Maga caps, stood alongside Mr Trump as he told the crowd that the match was 'one of the greatest moments in the history of sports'.
Last month, the US president was called into the US hockey team's locker room before a game against Canada, where he told players he had 'great respect' for them and that he was a 'hockey fan'.
Putin is also a well-known hockey fan and occasionally plays against government officials and retired professionals in exhibition matches broadcast on Russian television. In 2019, he scored eight goals in a game against former NHL stars in Sochi.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Report: D Evan Bouchard signs four-year deal with Oilers
July 1 - The Edmonton Oilers have re-signed Evan Bouchard, locking up one of the league's most versatile defensemen for four years, multiple reports said Monday. TSN reported the contact extension is valued at $42 million. Bouchard, 25, debuted with the Oilers in 2018-19, but has become a mainstay over the past four seasons. He has played in 326 of a possible 328 regular-season games and recorded 52 goals and 180 assists in that span. In the 2023-24 season, he totaled 82 points in 81 games played (18 goals, 64 helpers). The 2018 first-round selection has been a key figure in Edmonton's dynamic offense and back-to-back Western Conference titles. He has a blistering right-handed shot and amassed seven goals and 23 points during the Oilers' playoff run in 2024-25 after 32 points in 25 playoff games the year before. Additionally, Edmonton re-signed forward Kasperi Kapanen to a one-year deal worth $1.3 million, according to reports. The Oilers picked up the veteran of three other NHL teams after St. Louis released him 10 games into the 2024-25 season. He provided a spark in the playoffs, scoring three goals in 12 games, including the overtime game-winner in Game 5 vs. Vegas to propel Edmonton into the Western Conference finals. He added two goals in that series vs. the Dallas Stars. --Field Level Media
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Trump says he'll withhold money from New York if Mamdani becomes mayor
President Donald Trump has said that he will withhold funding for New York City if presumptive Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani becomes mayor after November's general election and doesn't do the 'right thing.' Trump called Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, a 'pure communist.' 'I think he admits it ... If he does get in, I'm gonna be president and he's gonna have to do the right thing or they're not getting any money. He's gotta do the right thing,' the president added. Trump claimed that Mamdani would be 'very bad for New York.' 'I used to say, we will never have a socialist in this country, no, but we'll have a communist. I mean, he's a communist and going to be mayor of New York,' he said. Mamdani appeared on NBC 's Meet the Press on Sunday morning, where moderator Kristen Welker gave him the chance to respond to Trump's comments. 'He's had a lot to say about your campaign. He called you a communist. Because he's the president, I want to give you a chance to respond directly to him. How do you respond? Are you a communist?' Welker asked. 'No, I am not. And I have already had to start to get used to the fact that the president will talk about how I look, how I sound, where I'm from, who I am, ultimately, because he wants to distract from what I'm fighting for,' said Mamdani. 'And I'm fighting for the very working people that he ran a campaign to empower, that he has since then betrayed. 'And when we talk about my politics, I call myself a Democrat socialist in many ways inspired by the words of Dr. King from decades ago, who said, 'Call it democracy or call it democratic socialism. There has to be a better distribution of wealth for all of God's children in this country,'' he added. 'And as income inequality has declined nationwide, it has increased in New York City. And ultimately, what we need, is a city where every single person can thrive.' Welker also grilled Mamdani on the phrase 'globalize the intifada.' She noted that he was recently asked about it, and he didn't 'condemn the phrase.' 'It's a phrase that many people hear as a call to violence against Jews,' said Welker. 'There's been a lot of attention on this issue, so I want to give you an opportunity to respond here and now. Do you condemn that phrase 'globalize the intifada?'' 'That's not language that I use,' said Mamdani. 'The language that I use and the language that I will continue to use to lead this city is that which speaks clearly to my intent, which is an intent grounded in a belief in universal human rights.' 'And ultimately, that's what is the foundation of so much of my politics, the belief that freedom and justice and safety are things that, to have meaning, have to be applied to all people, and that includes Israelis and Palestinians as well,' he added. Welker pressed on, asking again if Mamdani condemns the phrase. He said he has heard from Jewish New Yorkers who have shared their concerns with him amid recent attacks in Washington, D.C., and Boulder, Colorado. 'I've heard those fears, and I've had those conversations, and ultimately, they are part and parcel of why in my campaign, I've put forward a commitment to increase funding for anti-hate crime programming by 800 percent,' he said. 'I don't believe that the role of the mayor is to police speech in the manner, especially of that of Donald Trump, who has put one New Yorker in jail who has just returned to his family, Mahmoud Khalil, for that very supposed crime of speech.' 'Ultimately, what I think I need to show is the ability to not only talk about something but to tackle it and to make clear that there's no room for antisemitism in this city,' he added. 'And we have to root out that bigotry, and ultimately, we do that through ... actions. And that is the mayor I will be, one that protects Jewish New Yorkers and lives up to that commitment through the work that I do.' Welker went on to ask Mamdani if, as a self-described democratic socialist, he believes that billionaires have a right to exist. 'I don't think that we should have billionaires, because, frankly, it is so much money in a moment of such inequality, and ultimately, what we need more of is equality across our city and across our state and across our country,' he said. 'And I look forward to work with everyone, including billionaires, to make a city that is fairer for all of them.'
BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
Trans troops in US military 'in survival mode' as ban on serving kicks in
After 17 years in the US Army, Maj Kara Corcoran, 39, was preparing to graduate from an elite military leadership there was a days before the ceremony, Kara was told that she would need to conform to male regulations, which meant wearing male uniform and cutting the long blonde hair she had grown since she told the Army she identified as a woman in directive had come from the Pentagon, and filtered down through her chain of command at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas."Nothing about me is a man, but we're going to force me into male regs just so I can walk across the stage with my peers," she said in the hours leading up to the ceremony. "It's not my choice to cut my hair. I'm doing it because I have to."Kara is one of several thousand transgender people affected by a ban, announced by President Trump in January, that prevents them from serving in any job in the US military.A previous ban in his first term focused on new recruits and allowed some exceptions, particularly for those already serving. The 2025 policy removes virtually all of the figures say there are about 4,200 transgender service members in the US armed forces, however other estimates are much higher, at about 10,000. The new policy states that a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria - where a person feels their gender differs from their sex registered at birth - is "incompatible with the high mental and physical standards necessary for military service".An executive order outlined President Trump's position that "the Armed Forces have been afflicted with radical gender ideology" and that the policy would ensure staff were "free of medical conditions or physical defects that may reasonably be expected to require excessive time lost from duty for necessary treatment or hospitalization".The order also stated that "a man's assertion that he is a woman, and his requirement that others honor this falsehood, is not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member".A Gallup poll in February this year suggested that 58% of Americans "favor allowing openly transgender men and women to serve in the US military, but support has declined from 71% in 2019 and 66% in 2021".Critics have called the ban discriminatory and legal challenges have been filed from serving transgender officers and human rights February, the BBC has followed the lives of Maj Kara Corcoran and an officer in the Navy, Lt Rae Timberlake, as they navigate the uncertainty of their military careers. They have shared their thoughts and feelings in a personal capacity, not as spokespeople for the US military or other colleagues. A career in question Kara has spent most of her adult life in the US Army. Her combat deployments included time in Afghanistan where she was both a platoon leader and a company commander, when she was living as a man, before she transitioned. Since then, she says she has legally changed her name and gender and uses female people were disqualified from all jobs in the military until 2016, but over the past decade, as governments have changed, US policy has flip-flopped. 2016: Obama lifts ban on trans people serving, allowing them access to funding through the military for gender-related treatment2017: Trump announces ban on trans people serving, citing medical costs and potential disruptions2021: Biden signs order restoring the right of trans people to serve2025: Trump announces new ban and bases are told to initiate separation proceedings against personnel with gender dysphoria "For a long time, I stayed silent," says Kara. When she joined up in 2008, women were not allowed in combat positions married a woman and had children, although the relationship broke down and ended as she grappled with her came out as a transgender woman in 2018 and began her hormonal and surgical transition. She says she had the support of her commanding officers, who were still working to the previous set of guidelines, despite Trump's 2017 ban. She tells the BBC that the transition improved her ability to serve."It's made me more focused, more resilient," she says. "There's a common misconception that transitioning is a liability. For me, it's been the opposite." Now, with Trump's latest policy in effect, Kara has been told that unless she leaves voluntarily, she may be forced out of the service against her will through a process called involuntary separation happens when someone is discharged and they do not choose to leave of their own accord. It can affect any service member, not just people in combat well as losing their jobs, people can also potentially lose benefits, such as pensions, healthcare and disability Department of Defense said that if someone went involuntarily they may get half what they would get if they left voluntarily - the difference could be tens of thousands of this, Maj Kara Corcoran says she does not want to walk away."I'm not going to get voluntarily separated," she says. "I'll go through the involuntary separation and what that looks like and how horrific they want to make that for me and other service members." 'The single dumbest phrase in military history' Others such as former US Navy Seal, Carl Higbie, support Trump's ban, though. Carl now hosts a TV show on the conservative network believes that transgender people are not fit for service in the US military, arguing that gender dysphoria may require ongoing medical care and accommodations that could affect deployability."You can't take Ritalin [which is used to treat ADHD] or certain types of prescription medications and be an eligible service member in combat. Why should you be on hormone therapy, which we know has sometimes emotional effects?" he asked if he thought that biological women, who may be on other medications containing hormones, such as treatment for the menopause, are fit to serve in the armed forces, he said: "I think there are certain times where we should be more concerned about killing bad guys than making sure that we have gender quotas on a combat operation." Listen to Inside the US trans military ban on BBC Sounds The ban on transgender service members is part of a broader shift in US military policy - Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, a Trump appointee and former army officer, has moved to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion programmes."I think the single dumbest phrase in military history is 'our diversity is our strength'," Hegseth said at a Pentagon event in in April, he posted on X that he "proudly ended" the Women, Peace and Security programme, an initiative to invite more women and girls to be part of conflict resolution. He called it a distraction from the core task of "war-fighting". A family on the brink of change Many had seen the policy shift coming. In the early hours of 6 November, when Donald Trump secured his victory in the 2024 US presidential election, Lt Rae Timberlake made a decision.A non-binary navy officer, Rae joined the Navy aged 17 and has served aboard the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and in the Middle falls under the trans umbrella because, although they were registered female at birth, they identify as neither male nor female and use they/them says that coming out as non-binary in 2020 and transitioning brought clarity to their identity. "The moment I heard the word 'non-binary', I knew it fit," they told the with the 2024 Trump victory, Rae felt the clock was ticking on their career. They requested to transfer from their West Coast base, to a base closer to family in the east, who could give them support. Rae, their wife and daughter moved in the middle of a school term, in the anticipation that a possible separation from the Navy was imminent."It felt like the safest move for us, in case I was forced to leave the service," says add that they weren't surprised by President Donald Trump's executive order in January, or a memorandum from the Department of Defense the following memo specified that military bases must identify service members diagnosed with or exhibiting symptoms of gender dysphoria. The final deadlines to come forward voluntarily were eventually set as 6 June for active-duty personnel and 7 July for reserve and National Guard May, the Department of Defense said 1,000 service personnel had self-identified as trans, but there has been no update of the number since military has 30 days from a deadline to start involuntary separation memo includes a provision for people to be considered for a waiver on a case-by-case basis. There are a few conditions including that staff must have "never attempted to transition to any sex other than their sex". By the time the memorandum was published, Rae had taken a new post in Maryland, and the family was adjusting to their new home."Watching Rae lose their career, it's painful," their wife, Lindsay, says. "We're in survival mode. We haven't had time to connect as a family. We just keep making hard choices."For Rae, the emotional cost has been high. They have decided they want more control over the future, so have requested to retire from the Navy, and believe that in doing so have self-identified for voluntary separation. The application hasn't been accepted yet, but Rae believes it will expect the financial implications to be substantial. Without completing 20 years of service, Rae says they will likely forfeit eligibility for a military pension. They estimate pension payments could have added up to about $2.5m (£1.8m) over the course of their retirement. A legal and political battle While the Department of Defense says the ban will maintain consistent medical and readiness standards across the forces, opponents, argue that the policy targets a vulnerable group lawsuits have been filed challenging its one high-profile ruling, a federal judge blocked the ban temporarily, citing concerns over its constitutionality and suggesting it discriminated based on gender identity. However, in April, the Supreme Court lifted the injunction, allowing the policy to move forward while litigation legal back-and-forth has left transgender service members in limbo. Rae has found job hunting in the civilian sector tough. "I applied for a position that had over 800 applicants in one day," they say, adding that civilian life will offer less security than the Navy. "It's competitive and daunting out there."But they say the next chapter is about not feeling "under threat for who I am". Looking ahead Kara didn't self-identify by the 6 June deadline, so is waiting to see if the military flags her for separation - the 30-day window means that should happen by 6 July. She will see what unfolds from US Department of Defense declined to give a statement to the BBC but pointed to previous statements saying it was committed to treating all service members impacted by the policy with dignity and respect. A US defence official said that "characterization of service will be honorable except where the Service member's record otherwise warrants a lower characterization".For now Kara remains at her base in Fort Leavenworth but is prepared to leave with little notice if she has to. She has turned her car into a mobile home with a chunky power bank, cooking equipment, and a fold-out mattress. "On top I've got an eight-gallon water tank. I fill it up, pump it with an air compressor, and I can take a shower out in the wild. At least I have somewhere to live."When she graduated from the leadership programme with distinction, after complying with male uniform and grooming standards, she said it "meant a lot, but how I had to do it felt like erasing my identity"."This is about people who've dedicated their lives to service, now being told they're no longer fit, not because of performance, but because of who they are."
