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Libyan governing body’s vote to replace its head adds uncertainty to the country’s split politics

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:09:56 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — One of Libya’s top governing bodies elected a new head on Sunday, in a development that could further fracture the country already split between two rival administrations. Members of the Supreme Council of State, which is separate from both of the governments and is based in the capital of Tripoli, voted for Mohamed Takala to be the body’s new leader. Takala would take over from former head Khaled el-Meshri, a powerful figure who had been key in negotiations over the country’s election laws. Both the voting and count were live-streamed on local Libyan news channels. The final count was announced in favor of Takala, 67-62. The council did not immediately issue any statements on the outcome of the election. The introduction of a new leader at the helm of a key political institution could add more uncertainly to the country’s already deeply divided politics.The international community and the United Nations have repeatedly said that nationwide elect...

Anderson not playing, Ramírez in lineup as MLB sorts out discipline following wild brawl

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:09:56 GMT

CLEVELAND (AP) — Tim Anderson is not in Chicago’s starting lineup Sunday and Cleveland’s José Ramírez is playing as Major League Baseball weighs likely discipline following a fight and wild brawl in Saturday night’s game.Anderson and Ramírez threw punches at second base, and the Guardians’ All-Star third baseman knocked down the White Sox shortstop with an overhand right to the chin. Anderson was dazed by the blow.Both players were ejected, along with Cleveland manager Terry Francona, third base coach Mike Sarbaugh, closer Emmanuel Clase and Chicago manager Pedro Grifol.Before Sunday’s series finale, Grifol said Anderson isn’t injured and this was a planned off day for the 30-year-old. Chicago also is resting Andrew Benintendi and Andrew Vaughn.“He’s OK,” Grifol said of Anderson. “He was going to get a day off today just like Bennie and Vaughn. It might not look that way, but it is what it is.”Grifol did not want to discuss specifics of the ...

Megan Rapinoe leaves her final Women’s World Cup with pride after a long career

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:09:56 GMT

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Megan Rapinoe wanted a different finish for her final Women’s World Cup. Even with the disappointing conclusion, she was grateful for her wildly successful run with the U.S. national team.Rapinoe’s World Cup career ended on Sunday in the Round of 16, when the United States lost to Sweden on penalties after a scoreless draw. The outspoken 38-year-old announced last month that this would be her last international tournament.“I wish we were moving on and I could guarantee a championship and all that,” she said. “But it doesn’t take anything from this experience, or my career in general. I feel so lucky and so grateful to play as long as I have, and to be on the successful teams that I have.”Known for her bright hair colors, Rapinoe teared up as she spoke to reporters after the match. She missed her penalty kick, as did teammates Kelley O’Hara and Sophia Smith.“I’m ready in a lot of ways to be done,” she said. “I feel...

Kane scores 4 goals in potential Tottenham farewell amid interest from Bayern Munich

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:09:56 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Harry Kane scored four goals in a preseason game for Tottenham on Sunday as speculation continues to swirl about his future amid interest in the striker from Bayern Munich.The England captain, who has one year left on his contract at Tottenham, is reportedly the subject of a take-it-or-leave-it offer from Bayern of more than 100 million euros ($110 million).Kane started the friendly game at home against Shakhtar Donetsk and scored the first four of his team’s goals in a 5-1 win that highlighted his importance to Tottenham.The 30-year-old Kane was given a standing ovation by Tottenham fans after being substituted late in the game, and he applauded back. He then returned to the field to applaud fans after the final whistle.He could leave for free next year if he stays for this season and doesn’t sign a new contract at Tottenham, where he has played as a professional since 2010.Tottenham and Bayern have held talks about Kane, and Bayern honorary president Uli ...

Moscow pounds Ukraine with missiles and drones, strikes medical center

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:09:56 GMT

KYIV ­— Russia hit Ukraine with a barrage of missiles and drones overnight, including a strike on a medical center that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy labeled a war crime.The attack started Saturday evening and continued until the early hours of Sunday, Ukraine’s Air Force said in a statement Sunday morning. It followed a Ukrainian assault on a Russian tanker in the Black Sea early Saturday.Ukrainian air defense managed to shoot down 30 missiles and 27 drones, the Air Force said. But Ukrainian officials did not disclose any information about at least five missiles fired against Ukraine last night, including three Kinzhal cruise missiles.“Kinzhals and Kalibr cruise missiles hit Motor Sich [in the Zaporizhzhia region] and hit our Khmelnytskiy region. Our defense forces shot down part of the missiles,” Zelenskyy said in a video statement. Motor Sich is a Ukrainian aircraft-engine manufacturer based in Zaporizhzhia that produces engines for the military-industria...

Man arrested in connection with Myles Standish State Forest shooting in Plymouth

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:09:56 GMT

A man was arrested Saturday in connection with a shooting in Myles Standish State Forest last month that left one man dead. John Geovanni Pires Monteiro Macedo, 20, was arrested in New Bedford without incident.Monteiro Macedo is accused of shooting and killing Robert Aponte-Flores, 25, on July 12. Police said before the shooting, multiple witnesses saw Monteiro Macedo and the victim in an altercation in the state forest.Monteiro Macedo is scheduled to be arraigned Monday in Plymouth District Court on one count of murder.

Israel kills 3 suspected Palestinian militants as West Bank violence shows no signs of slowing

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:09:56 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli troops on Sunday killed three alleged Palestinian militants in the northern West Bank, further escalating a wave of violence in which two other people, including a young Palestinian man believed to have been gunned down by extremist Jewish settlers, were killed in fighting over the weekend.The Israeli army said it shot the three men near the Jenin refugee camp — the site of a large-scale military operation last month. It said the three men had just exited the camp and were on their way to carry out an attack and that an M-16 rifle was recovered from their vehicle.The Hamas and Islamic Jihad militant groups condemned the killings, though it was not immediately known if the three men belonged to either organization. Israel identified the leader of the group as Naif Abu Tsuik, 26, saying he was a “leading military operative” from the camp.The Jenin camp is known as a militant stronghold. Last month, the army carried out a two-day offensive in the camp, killing ...

Death toll from train derailment in Pakistan rises to 30 with 90 others injured, officials say

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:09:56 GMT

MULTAN, Pakistan (AP) — A train derailed in southern Pakistan on Sunday, killing 30 people and injuring more than 90 others as rescue operations completed by early evening, officials said. Ten cars of a Rawalpindi-bound train derailed and some overturned, near the Pakistani town of Nawabshah, trapping many passengers, said senior railway officer Mahmoodur Rehman Lakho.Local television showed rescue teams extracting women, children and elderly passengers from damaged and overturned cars. Some of the injured were lying on the ground crying for help while locals gave out water and food. AP photos showed derailed train cars sprawled across or near the tracks.Senior police officer Abid Baloch said from the scene of the accident that the rescue operation was complete: dozens of the injured had been brought to safety and the last flipped car cleared. He said women and children were among the dead and injured.Expressing grief over the loss of life, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif prayed durin...

Ukraine replaces Soviet coat of arms with trident on towering Kyiv landmark

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:09:56 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine has replaced the Soviet emblem that once adorned one of the nation’s most recognizable landmarks with the country’s coat of arms.The symbolic move is part of a wider shift throughout Ukraine to reclaim the country’s cultural identity from the Soviet past amid Russia’s ongoing invasion.Erected in 1981 as part of a larger complex housing Ukraine’s national World War II museum, the Mother Ukraine monument stood on the right bank of the Dnipro River in Kyiv, facing eastwards toward Moscow.Created in the image of a fearless female warrior, the 200-foot-tall (61-meter-tall) statue previously held a sword and a shield emblazoned with the Soviet coat of arms: a crossed hammer and sickle surrounded by ears of wheat.On Sunday, that emblem was replaced with the Ukrainian tryzub, the three-pronged trident that was officially adopted as the coat of arms for independent Ukraine on February 19, 1992.Workers began removing the old coat of arms in late July, but poor wea...

DeSantis’ retaliation against Disney hurts Florida, former governors and lawmakers say

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:09:56 GMT

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Saying Gov. Ron DeSantis has followed the autocratic examples of governments in Russia and China, a group of mostly Republican former high-level government officials has called the Florida governor’s takeover of Disney World’s governing district “severely damaging to the political, social, and economic fabric of the State.”The group of former governors, U.S. House members and presidential administration officials filed a “friend of the court” brief on Wednesday in Disney’s federal lawsuit against DeSantis and his appointees to the board of Disney World’s governing district. Disney’s lawsuit says the Republican governor violated the company’s free speech rights by taking over the district after Disney publicly opposed Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law, which banned classroom lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades.The group’s goal in filing the brief last week is to demonstrate “how the path the ...