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Barcelona and Real Madrid return to action after injuries to Gavi, Vinícius and Camavinga

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:25 GMT

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Barcelona and Real Madrid will be without three of their top young players when the Spanish league returns this weekend, after they were injured during the international break.Barcelona lost 19-year-old Gavi for the rest of the season when the all-terrain midfielder tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and damaged his lateral meniscus during Spain’s final European Championship qualifier. Spain was already qualified for next year’s tournament in Germany before it beat Georgia 3-1 on Sunday.National team coach Luis de la Fuente has come under criticism in Spain’s sports media for not substituting Gavi when his knee buckled inward during a collision with an opponent. He played on for a few minutes only to collapse in tears before limping off. He will now undergo surgery that will most likely also rule him out for Spain at Euro 2024.Gavi, despite his age, has emerged as a key player for Spain and for his club. He is Barcelona’s best tackler in mi...

Restaurant review: Panam Kebab

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:25 GMT

Place Fernand Cocq 14What’s good? Panam kebab’s motto is “fast food good” — quick meals that leave you feeling healthy, rather than bloated. You pick between a döner bread or a platter — filled with your choice of falafel, chicken or halloumi. Most of their food is homemade, such as their marinated cucumber, white and red cabbage, and pickled onions. The hand-cut fries are thin and crispy, making them extra crunchy after being double-fried, and they come with a handful of sauces to pick from. You can also kick your caffeine levels up with the popular Club-Mate drink inspired by Argentina’s famous national tea.What’s not? The platter was delicious, but it was perhaps a little light on halloumi and grilled veggies.Vibe: The restaurant’s logo is a man with a mullet and sunglasses cutting a döner — and the posters inside the restaurant mirror the funky vibe. The interior design is modern and hip: You order from the open kitche...

Former Boy Scout leader pleads guilty to sexually assaulting New Hampshire boy decades ago

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:25 GMT

BRENTWOOD, N.H. (AP) — A former Boy Scout leader and camp counselor in New Hampshire has been sentenced to a year in jail for sexually assaulting a boy in his troop decades ago.Michael Brady, 44, pleaded guilty Nov. 14 to engaging in a pattern of aggravated felonious sexual assault and to endangering the welfare of a child, the Rockingham County attorney’s office said Wednesday. As part of a plea agreement, he was sentenced to 12 months in jail, plus a six- to 15-year prison sentence that will remain suspended if he pays restitution to the victim and meets other conditions.Prosecutors said the assaults took place in the late 1990s and early 2000s in Kingston while Brady was the victim’s Boy Scout master and camp counselor. County Attorney Patricia Conway praised the “bravery and integrity” of the now-adult victim, saying he “stood strong and determined to do the right thing in the face of adversity.”Conway said the sentence reflects that the case presented challenges giv...

US warship shoots down attack drones over the Red Sea

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:25 GMT

(CNN) — A US warship shot down “multiple one-way attack drones” launched from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen on Thursday morning local time, according to the United States Central Command.In a statement, CENTCOM said the USS Thomas Hudner shot the drones down while it was on patrol in the Red Sea, adding that there had been no damage to the ship or injuries sustained by the crew.Tensions have increased in the Red Sea region since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, with Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels claiming to have fired ballistic missiles and drones toward Israel.On Sunday, the Galaxy Leader cargo ship was hijacked by the Houthis in the Red Sea with about 25 crew members on board.The United States demands “the immediate release” of the cargo ship and crew seized by the Houthis in the Red Sea, State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said Monday.

Thanksgiving: A time for football, awkward conversations at dinner table

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:25 GMT

Thanksgiving and football are joined at the hip.Or is it the wing?Unless you’re Lions coach Dan Campbell.An unabashed ham, Campbell is an unapologetically a ham fan. He’ll force down fried turkey. But he’ll throw your dressing/stuffing to the dogs, along with that cranberry sauce.Celtics star Jayson Tatum is also a ham guy.“Candied yams, dressing, and ham” to be more specific.Tatum’s teammate, Jaylen Brown, is a fan of “dressing” and “mac and cheese.”I mean, who isn’t?Bill Belichick is traditionalist when it comes to both football and Thanksgiving. The Hoodie is a big fan of both turkey and high school games on Turkey Day. Belichick was raised in Maryland, which shares a similar high school football-Thanksgiving Day lineage to that found in New England.Of course, no state does high school and Thanksgiving Day football like the Commonwealth.As it should be, since the first Thanksgiving occurred in Plymouth 402 years ago.Thanksgiving Day football can be traced back t...

Madagascar president on course for reelection as supporters claim they were promised money to vote

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:25 GMT

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (AP) — Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina is on course for reelection in a vote boycotted by most opposition candidates, while supporters of his party claimed they had been promised money in return for backing him.Rajoelina had received 60% of the votes after 68% of polling stations declared their results by late Wednesday, according to the national electoral commission. It put him on course for a third term as leader of the Indian Ocean island of 28 million.Rajoelina, a former DJ and mayor of the capital, Antananarivo, was president of a provisional government in Madagascar in 2009-2014 after a coup. He was elected president in 2019 and gained a degree of notoriety during the coronavirus pandemic by promoting a herbal drink as a cure for COVID-19.The leadup to last Thursday’s election was marked by protests against Rajoelina led by opposition candidates. Security forces fired tear gas grenades at the demonstrators and two opposition candidates susta...

Turkey’s central bank hikes interest rates again as it tries to tame eye-watering inflation

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:25 GMT

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s central bank delivered another huge interest rate hike on Thursday as it tries to curb double-digit inflation that has left households struggling to afford food and other basic goods.The bank pushed its policy rate up by 5 percentage points, to 40%, marking its sixth big interest rate hike in a row focused on beating down inflation that hit an eye-watering 61.36% last month.President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has long been a proponent of an unorthodox policy of cutting interest rates to fight inflation and had fired central bank governors who resisted his rate-slashing policies. That runs counter to traditional economic thinking, and many blamed Erdogan’s unusual methods for economic turmoil that has included a currency crisis and an increasingly high cost of living. Other central banks around the world have raised interest rates rapidly to target spikes in consumer prices tied to the rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic and then Russia’s war in Ukraine...

Ukraine says 3 civilians killed by Russian shelling and Russia says a drone killed a TV journalist

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:25 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian shelling killed three civilians in southeastern regions of Ukraine, Kyiv authorities said Thursday, while a Russian television journalist was reported to have died from injuries he sustained in a Ukrainian drone attack.Southern Ukraine’s Kherson region received eight nighttime artillery barrages, killing a 42-year-old man in his apartment building and wounding another man, the Ukrainian presidential office said.Russian shelling also killed two people in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, the office said. It was not possible to independently verify the reports. Long-range Russian shelling that hits civilian areas has been a hallmark of Moscow’s 21-month war in Ukraine.Meanwhile, Russian state media reported that TV journalist Boris Maksudov died after being wounded in a drone attack while working in southern Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia regionMaksudov, who worked for Russian state television channel Russia 24, was hit Wedn...

Retailers ready to kick off unofficial start of the holiday season just as shoppers pull back

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:25 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Retailers are kicking off the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season on Friday with a bevy of discounts and other enticements. But executives are growing concerned with a spending slowdown that could temper sales on the day after Thanksgiving as well as throughout the holidays.Shoppers, powered by a solid job market and steady wage growth, had demonstrated a resilience that confounded economists and ran counter to sour sentiments expressed in opinion polls. Such spending, while cautious, came despite higher prices in the grocery aisle and higher borrowing costs. But consumers are now coming under more pressure from dwindling savings, increased credit card debt and still stubborn inflation. In fact, shoppers cut their buying in October, ending six straight months of gains. Shoppers have gotten some relief from easing inflation, but many goods and services like meat and rent are still far higher than they were just three years ago.The latest quarterly results ...

Tens of thousands of protesters demanding a restoration of Nepal’s monarchy clash with police

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:25 GMT

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Riot police used batons and tear gas to halt tens of thousands of supporters of Nepal’s former king who attempted to march to the center of the capital on Thursday to demand the restoration of the monarchy and the nation’s former status as a Hindu state.The protesters, waving the national flag and chanting slogans supporting former King Gyanendra, gathered on the edge of Kathmandu and attempted to move toward the center of the city. Riot police blocked them, beating them with bamboo batons and firing tear gas and a water cannon. There were minor injuries on both sides.Authorities had banned protests in key areas of the city prior to the rally.“We love our king and country more than our lives. Bring back the monarchy. Abolish the republic,” the crowd chanted.Supporters of the former king came to Kathmandu from all over the country to demand the return of the monarchy that was abolished in 2008. They accused the government and political parties of corrupt...