TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A former Israeli prime minister who served briefly as a mediator at the start of Russia's war with Ukraine says he drew a promise from the Russian president not to kill his Ukrainian counterpart. Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett emerged as an unlikely intermediary in the war's first weeks, becoming one of the few Western leaders to meet President Vladimir Putin during the war in a snap trip to Moscow last March. While Bennett's mediation efforts appear to have done little to end the bloodshed that continues until today, his remarks, in an interview posted online late Saturday, shed light on the backroom diplomacy and urgent efforts that were underway to try to bring the conflict to a speedy conclusion in its early days. In the five-hour interview, which touched on numerous other subjects, Bennett says he asked Putin about whether he intended to kill Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “I asked ‘what’s with this? Are you planning to kill … [Read more...] about Former Israeli PM: Putin promised not to kill Zelenskyy
Benjamin netanyahu
Wine Walk: All eyes are on the grapes in the Texas High Plains
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 With over 80 percent of the grapes being produced on the Texas High Plains, all eyes are on the weather there. The nights have been in the low 50s with afternoon temperatures in the low to mid-90s. This allows the red grapes to hang for longer periods of time, allowing the grapes to reach an advanced stage of maturity. In other words, expect an awesome red grape harvest in Texas. Further to the east near Tyler at Kiepersol Winery, their grapes are also experiencing classic opportunities for superior grape quality. Kiepersol Winemaker and Enologist Michael McClendon told me "The year 2017 blessed us with an abundance of both quality and quantity fruit. And on cue, the season gave us time between ripening to allow us to complete some primary fermentations in order to make space for the remainder of the crop. Even with that time to rearrange tank space, the winery is bursting at the seams … [Read more...] about Wine Walk: All eyes are on the grapes in the Texas High Plains
Herta improves, stays top after Thermal IndyCar test Day 1
Listen to this article The Andretti Autosport-Honda ace lapped the 17-turn 2.9-mile course in 1min39.3721sec, clocking an average speed of 111.110mph, on his 17 th of 23 laps. However, unlike this morning’s session, several other drivers broke beneath the 100sec barrier, and his nearest pursuer was Rahal Letterman Lanigan-Honda’s sophomore Christian Lundgaard, a mere 0.0046sec in arrears, despite losing five minutes of track time as punishment for bringing out a red flag with a spin. Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda’s Alex Palou, the 2021 IndyCar champion, was third fastest, ahead of another Andretti driver, Romain Grosjean. Reigning and two-time IndyCar champion, Team Penske’s Will Power, was fastest of the Chevrolet runners, 0.1969sec off top spot with his 23 rd of 26 laps, narrowly edging his longtime rival Scott Dixon in the second Ganassi entry. The Juncos Hollinger Racing-Chevrolet team showed superbly, with Callum Ilott clocking seventh fastest, and multiple TC2000 … [Read more...] about Herta improves, stays top after Thermal IndyCar test Day 1
Ericsson leads third IndyCar test session at Thermal
Listen to this article Ericsson, fresh from receiving his ‘Baby Borg’ from BorgWarner Inc. in honor of his 2022 Indy 500 triumph, took only four laps of the 3.076-mile 17-turn track to lower the IndyCar lap record at the venue to 1min38.4223sec, an average speed of 112.182mph. But Rahal Letterman Lanigan-Honda’s Christian Lundgaard, who was second quickest in yesterday afternoon’s session, also delivered a 112mph effort to claim second fastest, albeit 0.1459sec slower. Kyle Kirkwood, who replaces Alexander Rossi in Andretti Autosport-Honda’s line-up for 2023, was fastest representative for Michael Andretti’s squad, 0.3662sec off top spot. Team Penske’s two-time and reigning champion Will Power left it until the dying minutes to punch in Chevrolet’s best time of the session, shading teammate Scott McLaughlin by a mere 0.035sec. Felix Rosenqvist was top representative for Arrow McLaren-Chevrolet, but as he did twice yesterday, the Swede spun and stalled , bringing out a … [Read more...] about Ericsson leads third IndyCar test session at Thermal
Kirkwood ends final test session on top, Ericsson tops Day 2
Listen to this article Kirkwood lapped the 17-turn 3.076-mile course in 1min38.8279sec, an average speed of 111.721mph, but it fell 0.4sec short of Ericsson’s benchmark for Ganassi from this morning’s session . The series sophomore, who is about to embark on his first season with Andretti Autosport-Honda, might have improved still further, had he not suffered a brake fire after a mild off-course excursion. That caused one of five red flags, with both Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske-Chevrolet falling off the asphalt, along with Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren-Chevrolet and Christian Lundgaard of Rahal Letterman Lanigan-Honda. A mere 0.0125sec behind Kirkwood was the impressive Callum Ilott, whose Juncos Hollinger Racing team has impressed in its first test since expanding to two cars. Ilott’s rookie teammate Agustin Canapino ended the fourth session in 20 th , 0.85sec adrift of his teammate, but ahead of two RLL cars, both Ed Carpenter Racing cars and … [Read more...] about Kirkwood ends final test session on top, Ericsson tops Day 2
Martin Brundle: F1 ‘not quite enough of a show’ with 10 teams, 20 cars on the grid
Martin Brundle hopes to see two new teams enter Formula 1 and beef up the grid to 24 cars, to add to the ‘show’ in place in the sport. The FIA officially opened its application process for up to two new teams to get onto the grid from the 2025 season onwards, with General Motors confirming to PlanetF1.com their intent to submit their joint application with Andretti Autosport through Cadillac. Panthera Team Asia boss Benjamin Durand also spoke to PlanetF1.com and confirmed his interest in entering Formula 1 in future, when the FIA’s ‘expressions of interest’ process was announced at the beginning of January. Applications are set to close at the end of April, before decisions are made by the FIA and Formula One Management (FOM) and the current teams themselves by the end of June, with the teams all receiving a vote on whether new constructors are allowed onto the grid, per the current terms of the Concorde Agreement. This makes adding teams to the grid far from a guarantee, … [Read more...] about Martin Brundle: F1 ‘not quite enough of a show’ with 10 teams, 20 cars on the grid