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Thieves Rip Off U.S. Weapons as Shadow War in Syria Escalates

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:54 GMT

Thieves have made off with hundreds of thousands of dollars in artillery equipment, unspecified “weapons systems,” and specialized ammunition meant for U.S. forces in Syria and Iraq, according to exclusive documents obtained by The Intercept.The thefts, which occurred on, or in transit to, far-flung U.S. outposts in the region, remain unsolved. They are just the latest evidence of a persistent problem that has allowed enemy forces from ISIS in Iraq to the Taliban in Afghanistan to arm themselves — and even kill Americans and their foreign partners — at U.S. taxpayer expense.The previously unreported thefts illuminate America’s shadow wars in the region, where a U.S. contractor was killed and six other Americans were wounded last week in a suicide drone assault on a U.S. base in northeast Syria. The kamikaze airstrike on the outpost known as RLZ was one of roughly 80 attacks on American bases in Iraq and Syria since January 2021 that the U.S. has blamed on Iranian proxy groups. Presi...

Senegal’s top opposition leader found guilty of libel

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:54 GMT

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Senegal’s top opposition leader has been given a two-month suspended sentence after being found guilty of libel.Ousmane Sonko on Thursday was convicted of spreading false statements and will also have to pay about $330,000 to Minister of Tourism Mame Mbaye Niang, who accused the politician of defamation and public insults. “This is a historic day for Senegal. Many had said that the trial would not take place, but it did. This is a victory,” the Cabinet minister’s lawyer El-hadji Diouf told reporters in Senegal’s capital, Dakar.The case stems from accusations that Sonko, 48, made against the tourism minister during a news conference late last year. He had alleged the minister stole $47 million from a government agency.Security was tight around the courtroom Thursday, as small groups of people gathered in support of Sonko. Sonko was not present at the hearing. His lawyers had requested to postpone the trial, saying that Sonko was sick from tear ...

Día de apertura en el Nats Park: lo que debes saber si vas al primer juego

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:54 GMT

Ya sea que estés planeando salir para el “Opening Day” en Nationals Park, o simplemente pensando en ir a algunos juegos más adelante en la temporada, esto es lo que debes saber.¿Cuándo es el día de apertura 2023?El Día Inaugural oficial de Major League Baseball es el jueves 30 de marzo, ¡y los Nats están en la ciudad para ello!Los boletos están disponibles en línea aquí.¿Con quién juegan los Nats el día inaugural? ¿Cuál es el horario?Los Nats comenzarán su temporada el jueves contra los Bravos de Atlanta. El lanzador de los Nats, Patrick Corbin, hará su segunda apertura consecutiva en el Día Inaugural de este año.Una procesión de Budweiser Clydesdales encabezada por el campeón de la Serie Mundial Nats 2019 (y aficionado a “Baby Shark”) Gerardo Parra partirá de Nats Park (esquina de las calles First y N SE) a las 10:45 a. m. Parra saludará a los fanáticos y entregará obsequios (que incluyen recuerdos autografiados, según los Nats) en el camino. Aquí está la ru...

Lawyer: FTX founder likely challenging new crypto charges

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:54 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A lawyer for Sam Bankman-Fried signaled Thursday that the onetime cryptocurrency darling is challenging the validity of new charges added to an indictment after he agreed to be brought to the United States in December from the Bahamas rather than fight extradition.Attorney Mark Cohen told a Manhattan federal court judge that his 31-year-old client, a founder of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, was pleading not guilty to new charges lodged against him in recent weeks in what a prosecutor has labeled as one of the biggest frauds in American history.But Cohen quickly added that although he was pleading not guilty to the new charges, Bankman-Fried was not acknowledging that he can be tried on them. He didn’t elaborate and left the courthouse quickly just before his client was ushered to a waiting vehicle.Earlier this week, a rewritten indictment charged Bankman-Fried with a new conspiracy count, alleging that he violated the anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign C...

Table tennis plans to allow Russians back, on IOC advice

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:54 GMT

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Russian players are set to return to table tennis events after the sport’s governing body on Thursday followed the International Olympic Committee’s advice to let them compete as neutrals.The decision by the International Table Tennis Federation paves the way for players from Russia and its ally Belarus to end a year-long exclusion from competitions during Russia’s war in Ukraine. They could resume competing from May at the earliest “under strict conditions of neutrality” and can’t enter the world championships in late May because they have missed the qualification events, the ITTF said.Table tennis is following a framework presented by the IOC on Tuesday which also recommended excluding any Russians and Belarusians who are contracted to the military, and allowing them to only take part as individuals, not teams. The ITTF said it would create its own guidelines drawing on the IOC recommendations but didn’t commit to any spec...

Drug dealer found guilty of killing 9-year-old girl in UK

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:54 GMT

LONDON (AP) — A drug dealer was convicted Thursday of killing a 9-year-old girl in the English city of Liverpool when he fired at a man who was trying to push his way into her house to escape the gunman.Thomas Cashman, 34, was found guilty by a jury at Manchester Crown Court in the fatal shooting of Olivia Pratt-Korbel on Aug. 22, 2022, as her mother tried to prevent the intended victim from barging into their home. He will be sentenced on Monday.Cashman admitted to being a “high-level” cannabis dealer but denied being the gunman. Olivia’s mother, Cheryl Korbel, and the target of the attack, Joseph Nee, were also injured in the shooting.“Thomas Cashman is a ruthless criminal who recklessly pursued another man, with no consideration of the consequences,” prosecutor Maria Corr said after the verdict. “He refused to display any guilt or remorse, denying his involvement throughout and putting Olivia’s family through the torment of a lengthy trial.”The case has shaken the city of Liverpo...

Former congressman, Senate candidate Galifianakis dies at 94

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:54 GMT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A funeral will be held this weekend for former Democratic U.S. Rep. Nick Galifianakis, who represented central North Carolina for several years before two unsuccessful Senate bids – the first against archconservative Jesse Helms. Galifianakis died on Monday at age 94, according to obituary information from Hall-Wynne Funeral Service in Durham. Galifianakis, who had Parkinson’s disease for several years, died at a Raleigh retirement community, a family spokesman, Jack Pinnix, told The News & Observer of Raleigh.A Durham native, son of Greek immigrants and Duke University graduate, Galifianakis was an attorney and ex-Marine first elected to the General Assembly in 1960. He was elected to Congress to 1966 and became a rising star in the party while serving three terms. In 1972, Galifianakis defeated U.S. Sen. B. Everett Jordan in the Democratic primary but that November lost to the Republican Helms, then a Raleigh television commentator. It became a watershed y...

AP Women’s Basketball Coach of Year List

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:54 GMT

2023 — Teri Moren, Indiana2022 — Kim Mulkey, LSU2021 — Brenda Frese, Maryland2020 — Dawn Staley, South Carolina2019 — Kim Mulkey, Baylor2018 — Muffet McGraw, Notre Dame2017 — Geno Auriemma, UConn2016 — Geno Auriemma, UConn2015 — Sue Semrau, Florida State2014 — Muffet McGraw, Notre Dame2013 — Muffet McGraw, Notre Dame2012 — Kim Mulkey, Baylor2011 — Geno Auriemma, UConn; Katie Meier, Miami; and Tara VanDerveer, Stanford2010 — Connie Yori, Nebraska2009 — Geno Auriemma, UConn2008 — Geno Auriemma, UConn2007 — Gail Goestenkors, Duke2006 — Sylvia Hatchell, North Carolina2005 — Joanne P. McCallie, Michigan State2004 — Joe Curl, Houston2003 — Geno Auriemma, UConn2002 — Brenda Oldfield, Minnesota2001 — Muffet McGraw, Notre Dame2000 — Geno Auriemma, UConn1999 — Carolyn Peck, Purdue1998 — Pat Summitt, Tennessee1997 — Geno Auriemma, UConn1996 — Angie Lee, Iowa1995 — Geno Auriemma, UConnSource

AP Women’s Coach of the Year Voting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:54 GMT

(Selected by the 28-member national media panel that selects the weekly Top 25)Teri Moren, Indiana12Dawn Staley, South Carolina8Lynne Roberts, Utah5Kenny Brooks, Virginia Tech3Source

Macron unveils plan to save water amid climate change toll

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:54 GMT

SAVINES-LE-LAC, France (AP) — President Emmanuel Macron launched a broad plan on Thursday to ensure that France has sovereignty over its water resources, growing increasingly scarce because of climate change, challenging farmers, drying lakes and leaving some households without water running from their faucets.The water problem is urgent, he said, affirming that climate change will deprive France of 30% to 40% of available water by 2050.Macron’s trip to a town in the Hautes-Alpes region of southwest France that that has suffered water shortages gave him a chance to change the topic and briefly escape the daily criticism and protests triggered by his decision to revise the pension system and increase the retirement age from 62 to 64. It also was an opportunity to address climate change, a topic that concerns youth. Students and other youth have been increasingly present at protest marches, but have enlarged their demands to address an array of topics like ecology and climate ch...