VENICE, Italy (AP) — Genoa midfielder Ruslan Malinovskyi will undergo surgery on Sunday, a day after a horrific-looking lower-leg fracture during a Serie A match at Venezia.
Malinovskyi attempted to clear a ball near his goal early in the second half when he caught his studs on the turf. His right ankle turned under him and faced the wrong way.
The 31-year-old Ukraine international was in clear agony as he lay on the field and he was immediately embraced by his goalkeeper.
Other teammates also rushed over and the players had their heads in their hands after seeing the seriousness of the injury.
He was stretchered off to applause from the whole stadium.
“The player Ruslan Malinovskyi, who suffered a right ankle injury during today’s match, has dislocated joints and a fractured fibula,” Genoa said in a statement on X. "The player will undergo surgery tomorrow. We look forward to seeing you soon, Ruslan!”
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Albania's Taulant Seferi, center, and Rey Manaj take the ball in front of Ukraine's Ruslan Malinovskyi during the UEFA Nations League soccer match between Ukraine and Albania in Prague, Czech Republic, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Genoa's Ruslan Malinovskyi and Roma's Niccolo Pisilli, left, in action during the Serie A soccer match between Genoa and Roma at the Luigi Ferraris Stadium in Genoa, Italy, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (Tano Pecoraro/LaPresse via AP)
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — President Joe Biden is showcasing the Indo-Pacific partnership he has nurtured since taking office as he hosts the leaders of Australia, Japan and India in his hometown Saturday with an eye on his legacy as well.
When Biden entered the White House he looked to elevate the so-called Quad, which until then had only met at the foreign minister level, to a leader-level partnership as he tried to pivot U.S. foreign policy away from conflicts in the Middle East and toward threats and opportunities in the Indo-Pacific. This weekend's summit is the fourth in-person and sixth overall gathering of the leaders since 2021.
Biden put a personal touch on the engagement — potentially the last of the group before he leaves office on Jan. 20 — by opening his home in Wilmington, Delaware, to each of the leaders and hosting a joint meeting and formal dinner at the high school he attended more than 60 years ago.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida came for the meetings before their appearances at the U.N. General Assembly in New York next week.
“You guys have heard the president say many times that all politics is personal, all diplomacy is personal,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters as meetings were set to get underway. “And developing personal relationships has been core to his approach to foreign policy as president. So opening his home to the leaders of India, Japan and Australia is a way of him showing, not just saying, but these leaders matter to him.”
On Friday afternoon, Biden welcomed Albanese to his home on a pond in a wooded area several miles west of downtown. On Saturday, he hosted Kishida and Modi for talks at his house. Later, he will bring all the leaders together for talks at Archmere Academy in nearby Claymont.
Sullivan described the vibe of the meeting with Albanese as “two guys — one at the other guy’s home — talking in broad strokes about where they see the state of the world.” He said Biden and Albanese also swapped stories about their political careers.
Reporters and photographers were prohibited from covering Biden’s individual meetings with the leaders, and Biden does not plan to do a news conference — a question-and-answer appearance that is typical at such international summits.
As part of the summit, the leaders were set to announce new initiatives to bolster maritime security in the region — with enhanced coast guard collaboration through the Pacific and Indian oceans — and improve cooperation on humanitarian response missions. The measures are meant to serve as a counterweight to an increasingly assertive China.
Biden and Modi had been expected to discuss Modi's recent visits to Russia and Ukraine as well as economic and security concerns about China. Modi is the most prominent leader from a nation that maintains a neutral position on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Sullivan said “that countries like India should step up and support the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity” and that “every country, everywhere, should refrain from supplying inputs to Russia’s war machine.”
The gathering was also an opportunity for Biden and Japan's Kishida to bid each other farewell. Biden and Kishida, who are both stepping away from office amid sliding public support, count the tightening of security and economic ties among the U.S., Japan and South Korea as one of their most significant accomplishments. The two leaders sat down for their wide-ranging, one-on-one conversation on Saturday morning.
The improved relations between Japan and South Korea, two nations with a deep and complicated history that have struggled to stay on speaking terms, have come amid worrying developments in the Pacific, including strides made by North Korea in its nuclear program and increasing Chinese assertiveness.
Biden commended Kishida for demonstrating “courage and conviction in strengthening ties” with South Korea, according to the White House. They also discussed China's “coercive and destabilizing activities" in the Pacific, Russia's war against Ukraine and emerging technology issues.
The U.S. and Japan are negotiating through a rare moment of tension in the relationship. Biden, as well as presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, have opposed a $15 billion bid by Japan’s Nippon Steel to take over American-owned U.S. Steel.
Biden administration officials indicated this week that a U.S. government committee's formal assessment of the proposed deal has yet to be submitted to the White House and may not come until after the Nov. 5 election.
Sullivan pushed back against speculation that the expected timing of the report could suggest Biden is having second thoughts about his opposition to the deal.
The Biden administration promised that the leaders would issue a joint statement containing the strongest-ever language on China and North Korea to be agreed upon by the four countries.
The White House said the leaders later Saturday will rollout a new collaboration aimed at reducing cervical cancer in the Indo-Pacific. The announcement is related to Biden’s Cancer Moonshot Initiative, a long-running passion project of the president and his wife, Jill Biden, aimed at reducing cancer deaths. The Bidens’ son Beau died in 2015 at age 46 of brain cancer.
As Biden’s time in office draws down, the White House also was celebrating the bipartisan, bicameral formation of a “Quad Caucus” in Congress meant to ensure the longevity of the partnership regardless of the outcome of the November election.
Madhani reported from Washington
On this photo provided by AAP IMAGE, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attends a question time at Parliament House in Canberra, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (Mick Tsikas/AAP Image via AP)
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves towards the crowd as he arrives to address the election rally in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)
President Joe Biden's speaks with football players at Archmere Academy in Claymont, Del., Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, during a walkthrough visit ahead of his meetings with world leaders there on Saturday. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
