D.C

Trae Young has yet to play a game for the Washington Wizards.

The four-time All Star has, however, already been ejected from a game as a member of the team.

That happened Monday night, three days before Young’s expected debut for the team that acquired him in a trade with the Atlanta Hawks on Jan. 7. He has not played in an NBA game since Dec. 27 because of knee and quadriceps injuries.

Earlier on Monday, Young posted a video on Instagram that showed him in Wizards gear and ended with “3/5” on the screen, indicating the date Washington hosts the Utah Jazz later this week. Before his team’s game against the Houston Rockets on Monday night, Wizards coach Brian Keefe said Young was trending toward being able to play in the Utah game.

Still, Young was in street clothes and watching the Rockets-Wizards game on the bench at Capital One Arena. During the third quarter, Houston’s Tari Eason shoved Washington’s Jamir Watkins to the floor, an incident that did not draw a whistle from the referees.

A few seconds later, after a foul was called on Eason for a different incident involving Watkins, Young stepped onto the court while yelling at referee Jacyn Goble apparently over the previous no-call against Eason. Goble called a technical foul on Young, then spoke with crew chief Tony Brothers and umpire Marat Kogut.

Brothers then announced that the technical foul had been called on Young for running onto the court and that Young had been ejected from the game. Eason also was ejected.

Young gave high fives to fans as he left toward the locker room. He did not speak to reporters after the Wizards’ 123-118 loss but joked about his ejection on X.

“Don’t expect me to get ejected too many more times D.C.,” Young wrote, adding a crying-with-laughter emoji, “but I’m definitely bringing that energy & competitiveness when I’m back for my brothers!”

After the game, Keefe praised Young for having his fellow player’s back.

“I think he was just sticking up for his teammates, which I thought was great,” Keefe told reporters. “Obviously, the refs missed a call in which our guy got knocked down, and I loved how our teammates stuck with him. So, whatever happened in that moment, I was actually proud of him because he stuck up for his teammates and I really care about that type of stuff.”

Keefe added that it’s an example of the type of engagement Young has shown since he’s joined the team.

“It’s nothing that he’s not been doing the whole time since he’s been here,” Keefe said. “He’s talking to everybody in every timeout. He sees so much. He has so much stuff to share. He’s completely engaged in the whole game. So I am not surprised that he stood up [for] his teammates. That’s the type of guy he is, and we’re lucky to have him.”

Feb. 7 (UPI) — The first meeting of the newly formed Board of Peace is planned in the nation’s capital on Feb. 19 after 26 member nations received invitations from U.S. officials on Friday.

The United States created the Board of Peace during the World Economic Forum last month in Davos, Switzerland, which is focused on promoting global peace.

Its first meeting would be on Feb. 19 at the White House, and four nations so far, plus the United States, plan to send representatives, Axios reported.

The date is problematic for some member states because it coincides with the state of the Muslim holiday of Ramadan, which starts on Feb. 17 and runs through March 19.

The Board of Peace was formed to ensure a lasting cease-fire and peace in Gaza, which has been enduring violence between Hamas and Israeli forces as each accuses the other of cease-fire violations that led to retaliatory attacks.

Gaza mediators in Turkey, Egypt and Qatar have weighed disarming Hamas, but the Israel Defense Forces on Tuesday reported finding 110 mortar rounds, rockets and other military hardware wrapped in UNRWA blankets and hidden among humanitarian aid supplies in southern Gaza.

The IDF on Friday struck a residential building in Khan Yunis it said held a Hamas arms depot.

Before launching the strike, IDF officials warned civilians to leave and did not strike it until after determining all non-combatants had left.

Such incidents are among those that the Board of Peace is tasked with preventing while moving forward with the next phase of a peace agreement signed last year that is designed to permanently end the violence and fighting in Gaza and much of the Middle East.

Some have criticized the Board of Peace’s creation, saying it undercuts the United Nations and its mission of trying to ensure global peace.

President Donald Trump and others have said the United Nations is ineffective and has become more of a political organization instead of a peacemaker.

Feb. 6 (UPI) — A group of prominent Nigerian religious and traditional leaders visited Washington, D.C. this week seeking understanding and support for addressing their country’s critical security situation as a result of ethnic and religious based violence.

The group comprised three Christian leaders, both Catholic and Protestant, and three Muslim imams, one of whom is also a traditional ruler in Zamfara state in northwestern Nigeria.

Last Wednesday they briefed international stakeholders on the current state of the security crisis in Nigeria and discussed interfaith action priorities with potential international partners.

Ambassador Sam Brownback, former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, and chairman of the 2026 International Religious Freedom Summit underscored the urgency of the situation. He told the working group, “If this moment is not wisely used, you could lose the country. I fear this is the road this is starting down without sustainable solutions. You don’t have a lot of time.”

The virtual disappearance of state sovereignty in certain rule areas where armed groups extort taxes, requisition harvests, and hijack local government was a central issue of concern. In addition, estimates of internally displaced people, or IDPs, as a result of armed conflict range from 3.5 to 8 million. Most IDPs are forced to live in hastily assembled refugee camps.

“This should not be possible in 2026,” said Cardinal John Onyaikan, one of the visiting faith leaders.

Nigeria’s fragile security situation had directly affected members of the visiting group. Alhaji Hassan Attihuru, the Emir of Bungudu, in Zamfara state, challenged the idea that kidnappings and killings were targeted on religious grounds. He himself had been kidnapped by members of his own Fulani people who were fellow Muslims.

Rev. John Hayab is a Baptist minister in Kaduna State, and the country Director of Global Peace Foundation Nigeria. Students at a school his church ran were kidnapped and held for ransom. His son was one of a small group that managed to escape into the nearby forest.

The group’s visit to America was a follow-up to the Abuja High-Level Interfaith Dialogue, convened by the Global Peace Foundation Nigeria last December. The meeting produced a blunt statement challenging the federal government to do more to combat the violence.

It also established a Joint Interfaith Advocacy Committee on Freedom of Religion and Belief that agreed to increase peace messaging to affected communities and track progress on reducing incidents of violence.

Attending the dialogue in D.C. from the American side were representatives of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, Global Impact, Religious Freedom Institute, Alliance Defending Freedom, the U.S. State Department, and American University.

Cardinal Onyaikan told those present, “Our problems are self-inflicted so we need our own solutions. But no nation is an island, so we also need support.”

The dialogue was co-sponsored by the Global Peace Foundation, Religious Freedom Institute, and Pepperdine University.

Summing up the meeting, Fr. Canice Enyiaka, Global Peace Foundation Director of African Peace Initiatives said, “Bringing the experience and insights of faith leaders here to Washington is very important because of the seriousness of the current crisis. Religious faith is a powerful force in Nigeria and I am grateful for all the organizations supporting religious freedom and human rights represented here.”

Yesterday, the Nigerian group met with Rep. Riley Moore (R-WV)who has been vocal about the violence suffered by Christians in Nigeria. He is said to be preparing a report on the security threats to Nigerian Christians for President Trump with options for how the U.S. government should respond.

The visiting group briefed him on the complexities of the situation and the role that interfaith cooperation at the leadership level can play in addressing it. Moore agreed to continue to receive their input after their return to Nigeria.