propose

A global truce for the duration of February’s 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina will be sought by hosts Italy.

Italy will submit a proposal for a worldwide ceasefire to the United Nations before next year’s Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani said.

As a concept, a global truce during the Olympics dates to the ancient games in Greece, where warring factions agreed to put down their arms for the duration of the event, so that athletes could safely travel to and from ancient Olympia.

Calls by Olympics organisers and the UN for global ceasefires have not been heeded on the occasion of modern-era Games since 1896, including the 2024 Paris Olympics. The Milano Cortina Games open on February 6 and run to February 22.

“In view of the Milano Cortina Olympics, we are presenting a proposal for an Olympic truce for all wars, including Ukraine and the Middle East, to the United Nations,” Tajani said on Tuesday.

“We must be champions of peace,” he said on the sidelines of an international conference in Rome. “We support the US plan (to end the war in Gaza), and, as Pope Leo has said, we must never give up hoping for peace.”

The 20-point plan presented by United States President Donald Trump, on which Israel and Hamas began indirect talks on Monday, is seen as the most promising initiative to end a war that has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians since October 7, 2023. The Hamas-led attack on Israel that day killed 1,200 people.

Tuesday marked the second anniversary of the war on Gaza.

In response to Gaza’s devastation and humanitarian disaster wrought by Israel’s military campaign, a number of major Western countries, though not Italy, have formally recognised Palestinian statehood, endorsing longstanding Palestinian aspirations to an independent homeland on Israeli-occupied land.

In Ukraine, the pro-Western government has been battling a Russian invasion for more than three and a half years, in Europe’s biggest armed conflict since World War II and one that has killed hundreds of thousands of people.

New director of rugby Dave Reddin, chief executive Abi Tierney and chair Richard Collier-Keywood have been involved in the plan.

It remains unclear whether the two future sides being proposed will be new entities or existing teams.

The WRU has, though, proposed that there will be two organisations which will each have a men’s and women’s team.

There could be 50 players in each men’s squad with a budget of £7.8m each, while the women’s squads will have 40 players apiece.

The WRU says there will be significantly elevated funding for each men’s squad, which would facilitate a radically different profile of talent and support.

The Union says the two squads would feature predominantly Welsh-qualified players, while there would be a rethink on non-Welsh qualified players.

The WRU would fund the two men’s and two women’s teams, all of which would be operated under licences, with the governing body giving any owners or investors responsibility for all commercial operations.

Phase one would involve the move of the two sides, men’s and women’s, operating on two sites.

There will also be a transition to contracting of players and staff within central national academies.

Phase two would involve the clubs moving to training at one site which will be known as a national campus.

This will be home to 400 people, including men’s and women’s national staff, professional and clubs staff and national academies. The men’s and women’s academies will be centralised.

The proposals include improving the standard of the Super Rygbi Cymru competition, which is the current level below the men’s fully professional game.

There is also a pledge to establish a senior women’s domestic competition, with an acceptance there is a current lack of high-quality club rugby below the Celtic Challenge, where Gwalia Lightning and Brython Thunder compete.

Durham chairman Phil Collins said in a statement on the club website, external: “We support the 18-county model but, believe the current 10/8 division structure lacks meaningful fixtures as the season progresses.

“The current structure produces a plethora of games in both divisions that do not have any meaning; teams involved in mid table games in the last third of the season onwards do not have any jeopardy… the teams involved cannot get into a title or promotion race and are safe from relegation.

“We don’t believe this produces the intensity of cricket that our great game needs and is something that both players and fans constantly comment on to us.”

The proposal also suggests the T20 Blast should be reduced in size and comprise three groups of six teams each, with the entire competition played before The Hundred begins.

The county said the plans have been drawn up following a Professional Cricketers’ Association survey, which found that 83% of players think the current schedule “harms physical wellbeing”, 72% saying it “hinders high performance”, and over two-thirds claiming mental health is affected by the intensity.

The statement added that other counties have proposed alternative structures, including an 8/10 and a 10/8 division split.

Collins said the idea will be discussed at a members forum on 30 July.

“These proposals aim to reduce workload, enhance performance, and offer more compelling cricket. We believe they represent the best way forward,” he added.

The ECB has been approached for comment.

June 10 (UPI) — The federal minimum wage would rise to $15 per hour, with annual cost-of-living increases based on inflation, in a proposed bipartisan measure.

Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Peter Welch, D-Vt., co-sponsored the bill that they have named the “Higher Wages for American Workers Act” and would increase the federal minimum wage from its current $7.25 per hour for non-exempt workers.

“For decades, working Americans have seen their wages flatline,” Hawley said on Tuesday in a joint press release with Welch.

“One major culprit of this is the failure of the federal minimum wage to keep up with the economic reality facing hardworking Americans every day,” Hawley added.

Welch said inflation and rising costs are making it too hard for families to afford basic necessities.

“We’re in the midst of a severe affordability crisis, with families in red and blue states alike struggling to afford necessities like housing and groceries,” Welch said.

“A stagnant federal minimum wage only adds fuel to the fire,” he continued. “Every hardworking American deserves a living wage that helps put a roof over their head and food on the table — $7.25 an hour doesn’t even come close.”

“Times have changed, and working families deserve a wage that reflects today’s financial reality,” Welch added.

Hawley said the current federal minimum wage is less than what a worker earned in 1940 when adjusted for inflation.

If the proposed federal minimum wage increase is passed into law, it would take effect on Jan. 1 and allow cost-of-living increases that match inflation in subsequent years.

Many states have respective minimum wage laws that exceed the current and proposed federal minimum wage, but a dozen still were at the federal minimum wage in 2024.

Many large employers also have higher minimum wages, including Walmart, which has paid its workers at least $14 an hour and often more since 2023.

President Joe Biden in 2021 ordered the federal government to pay contract workers at least $15 an hour.

California lawmakers in 2022 raised the state’s minimum wage for many fast-food workers to up to $22 an hour.

June 5 (UPI) — NATO defense ministers are proposing a 5% annual investment in defense spending by member nations to enhance defensive capabilities during a meeting in Brussels on Thursday.

The proposed defense investment plan would require member nations to invest 5% of their respective gross domestic products in defense, NATO officials announced.

The change would make NATO a “stronger, fairer, more lethal alliance and ensure warfighting readiness for years to come,” according to NATO.

The ministers’ plan describes “exactly what capabilities allies need to invest over their coming years … to keep our deterrence and defense strong and our one billion people safe,” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said.

U.S. supports increased NATO member spending

Many NATO members currently spend about 2% of their respective GDPs, which President Donald Trump has said is insufficient.

The 5% defense investment by NATO member states is virtually assured, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told media upon arriving for Thursday’s meeting.

“We’re here to continue the work that President Trump started, which is a commitment to 5% defense spending across this alliance, which we think will happen,” Hegseth said.

“There are a few countries that are not quite there yet,” Hegseth added. “I won’t name any names, [but] we will get them there.”

If approved during the upcoming NATO Summit, defense investments would require respective member nations to spend equal to 3.5% of GDP on core defense spending, plus 1.5% in annual defense and security investments, including infrastructure.

The two-day NATO Summit is scheduled to start on June 24 at The Hague.

Ukraine support and nuclear deterrence

An ad hoc NATO-Ukraine Council also met and reaffirmed NATO’s support of Ukraine and agreed that nuclear deterrence is its primary goal.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and European Union Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Minister Kaja Kallas joined the council to discuss support for Ukraine.

Rutte said NATO allies have pledged nearly $23 billion in security assistance for Ukraine in 2025 and are focused on preventing the use of nuclear weapons by Russia and other nations.

The final meeting of NATO ministers during the summit also affirmed the alliance’s focus on nuclear deterrence.

“Nuclear deterrence remains the cornerstone of alliance security,” Rutte said.

“We will ensure that NATO’s nuclear capability remains strong and effective in order to preserve peace, prevent coercion and deter aggression.”

Trump nominates U.S. general for NATO commander

Trump also nominated U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich to lead combined U.S. and NATO forces in Europe.

If approved during the NATO Summit, Grynkewich would become NATO’s supreme allied commander for Europe and commander of the U.S. European Command.

Trump is scheduled to attend the NATO Summit.

If approved by NATO member states, Grynkewich would replace current Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Chris Cavoli.

Grynkewich is an experienced fighter pilot, and his nomination affirms that the United States would continue to emphasize defensive security for Europe.

A U.S. officer has been NATO’s supreme allied commander since Gen. Dwight Eisenhower first held the post in 1951.