Submit your Article

Weston McKennie's busy year continues to take flight with ESPN reporting Wednesday that the United States men's national team midfielder is close to a contract extension with his club Juventus, Reuters reported. 

With Juventus since 2021, including a short loan to Leeds United in 2023, McKennie's contract was set to expire at the end of the current season in Italy's Serie A. His new deal reportedly will go 2030.

McKennie has scored 15 goals in 161 appearances since 2021 for Juventus. In 62 games with the national team, since 2017, he has 11 goals, according to Reuters. 

Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe will miss the second leg of their Champions League playoff against Benfica due to a knee injury, with the Spanish club not naming him in their squad for Wednesday's game, Reuters reported. 

Real manager Alvaro Arbeloa said that it was a mutual decision between player and club doctors, for Mbappe to miss the game as he tries to recover fully from a knee injury he has been nursing.

The injury caused him to miss games in December and January while he also did not play in their LaLiga game against Real Sociedad earlier this month, according to Reuters. 

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers on Wednesday said he will resign from teaching at Harvard University at the end of the academic year, amid the continuing fallout from his ties to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Reuters reported. 

"I have made the difficult decision to retire from my Harvard professorship at the end of this academic year," Summers said in a statement.

Summers, also a former president of Harvard, has been under fire since the U.S. House Oversight Committee released documents detailing an ongoing personal correspondence between Summers and Epstein. No evidence of wrongdoing by Summers has surfaced, according to Reuters. 

Bill Gates "took responsibility for his actions" and addressed his links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a meeting with staff from his charitable foundation, the organisation said, BBC reported. 

"Bill spoke candidly, addressing several questions in detail," the Gates Foundation said in a statement.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that Gates apologised to staff, said he had two affairs with Russian women which Epstein later found out about, and in relation to the late financier said: "I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit."

US and Iranian officials are due to meet in Geneva on Thursday for a third round of indirect talks, as President Donald Trump threatens to strike Iran if a nuclear deal is not reached, BBC reported. 

The discussions come amid the largest US military build-up in the Middle East since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, and with Iran vowing to respond to an attack with force.

The talks are seen as a last-ditch effort to prevent a conflict, but the chances of an agreement remain unclear, according to BBC. 

Australia's prime minister has apologised for calling a former Australian of the Year and sexual abuse survivor "difficult", saying it was only in reference to the hardships she has faced, BBC reported. 

During a one-word response game, Anthony Albanese used the adjective to describe Grace Tame, who was named the 2021 Australian of the Year for her advocacy for child sexual abuse survivors.

Tame, 31, said the description was "misogynist's code for a woman who won't comply. History tends to call her 'courageous'."

In preparation for the upcoming House of Representatives (HoR) elections, polling stations situated in the border region have been under surveillance. 

To ensure a peaceful election process, security agencies from Koshi Province and Sunsari district initiated monitoring of these polling stations on Wednesday. 

With the election date (March 5) drawing near, representatives from the Nepal Police, Armed Police Force, and National Investigation Department have inspected the polling stations in the district,  Sunsari Chief District Officer Basudev Ghimire said. 

He noted that inspections were carried out at polling stations in Barju, Dewanganj, Harinagar, and the Koshi rural municipalities of Sunsari, which are adjacent to the Indian border. 

Chief District Officer Ghimire elaborated that the inspections were aimed at collecting data on the physical conditions of the polling centers, identify sensitive areas, develop crowd management strategies, and prepare for emergency scenarios. 

Security officials in Sunsari have pledged to remain on high alert throughout the election period to deter any unwanted incidents, it has been said.

The Election Commission has mandated that hospitals and health facilities maintain health workers on standby for the upcoming House of Representatives elections set for March 5. 

Emphasizing that the administrative processes for the elections are proceeding as per the Commission's approved schedule, the Commission has ordered that provisions be made for emergency health assistance at polling stations for staff, security forces, and voters who may require it during the elections, said Narayan Prasad Bhattarai, Joint Secretary and spokesperson for the Commission. 

He mentioned that the Commission has sought necessary support from all local levels via the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration. Additionally, the Commission has communicated with the Ministry of Health and Population and the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration to ensure that doctors, health workers, and medical supplies are prepared in hospitals and health facilities nationwide to deliver essential and emergency medical services.