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Spain and Portugal welcome Morocco to 2030 World Cup bid

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:07:25 GMT

HARIA, Canary Islands (AP) — The leaders of Spain and Portugal welcomed the addition of Morocco to their 2030 World Cup bid, saying on Wednesday that the African nation will boost their chances of hosting the tournament.They made no reference to Ukraine, however, raising further doubts about the war-torn country’s participation in the bid after it was added to the Iberian candidacy last October.Morocco King Mohammed VI had announced on Tuesday that the country was joining the Spain-Portugal bid.“This puts the joint bid between Spain and Portugal in an even better position to be able to win this race and it would do a lot of good,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said. “It is a very positive message, and I believe that it improves our chances of being successful.”Morocco had committed to taking part in the 2030 contest more than four years ago, immediately after losing the vote for the 2026 tournament. It was in talks with the Iberian nations for a while.“This bid by the I...

Michael Cohen makes 2nd appearance before Trump grand jury

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:07:25 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The New York grand jury investigating Donald Trump was hearing more testimony Wednesday from Michael Cohen, who paid off a porn star in 2016 to keep her from going public about a claimed sexual encounter with Trump a decade before he was elected president.Cohen arrived at around 12:45 p.m. at the Manhattan building where the grand jury meets to give his second day of testimony.“I feel great,” he told reporters as he entered the building, adding that he had no sense on when the grand jury might be asked by prosecutors to make a decision about an indictment. Cohen said he didn’t expect to be back for a third day of testimony.In the waning weeks of the 2016 presidential campaign, Cohen said he made a $130,000 payment on Trump’s behalf to the porn actress Stormy Daniels, who at the time had been in negotiations to tell her story on television.Daniels says she had an unwanted sexual encounter with Trump in 2006. Trump says it never happened. The former preside...

Kansas coach Bill Self ‘day to day’ at March Madness

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:07:25 GMT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Bill Self’s status for Kansas’ opener in the NCAA Tournament was uncertain Wednesday, though assistant coach Norm Roberts said the Jayhawks remain hopeful he’ll be on the bench when they play Howard on Thursday.Kansas’ Hall of Fame coach was discharged from a Kansas City-area hospital Sunday, where he’d been recovering after a procedure to treat blocked arteries in his heart.Self attended practice at Wells Fargo Arena on Wednesday morning but did not participate in his team’s media availability.“He’s getting better all the time,” Roberts said. “We’re hopeful. Everything is day-to-day with him. If you ask our guys, he got after them today.”Roberts said Self missed the news conference so he could get some rest before the top-seeded Jayhawks begin play in the West Region.All-American Jalen Wilson said Self had good energy at practice.“Looking great,” Wilson said. “He’s excited. We’re all excited. Great to have him back with us...

Rodgers says he intends to play for Jets this coming season

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:07:25 GMT

Aaron Rodgers says his intention is to play for the New York Jets in the coming season as the four-time NFL MVP quarterback waits for the Green Bay Packers to trade him.Rodgers made his comments Wednesday during an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” on YouTube and Sirius XM. The 39-year-old Rodgers said he believes the Packers want to move on and make 2020 first-round pick Jordan Love their starting quarterback. “At this point, as I sit here, I think since Friday I’ve made it clear that my intention was to play and my intention was to play for the New York Jets,” Rodgers said. “I haven’t been holding anything up at this point. It’s been compensation the Packers are trying to get for me, kind of digging their heels in.”Packers president and CEO Mark Murphy has acknowledged the team granted the Jets permission to talk to Rodgers. The Jets sent a contingent that reportedly included owner Woody Johnson, coach Robert Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas to Rodgers’ home in Southern Cal...

Aaron Rodgers says his intention is to play for New York Jets, he is waiting for Green Bay Packers to complete trade

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:07:25 GMT

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Aaron Rodgers says his intention is to play for New York Jets, he is waiting for Green Bay Packers to complete trade.Source

Alanis Morissette, John Mayer among headliners at new Ocean City music festival

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:07:25 GMT

The Oceans Calling music festival in Ocean City, Maryland, is hoping that its new dates and lineup this year will go on without a hitch, after last year’s first annual event was canceled due to unsafe weather from Hurricane Ian.The new dates are Sept. 29 through Oct. 1, with one-day and three-day passes available for the festival on the Ocean City Boardwalk.Music fans “Sitting, Waiting and Wishing” for this year’s lineup got news this week that Jack Johnson and “Ironic” singer Alanis Morissette will be headlining Friday’s list of acts. Also on Friday are bands Slightly Stoopid, Third Eye Blind, and O.A.R., which has local roots in Rockville.More Ocean City NewsMore Local NewsMore Maryland NewsJohn Mayer is “Free Fallin'” into Saturday’s headliner spot. Also on Saturday are Incubus, Sheryl Crow, and Jimmy Eat World.The Lumineers are headlining Sunday with Weezer, Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats and the Dirty heads al...

Workers dismantle Florida ride where teen fell to death

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:07:25 GMT

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Almost a year after a Missouri teen fell to his death, a 400-foot amusement ride was being dismantled this week in central Florida’s tourism corridor.A gigantic crane hovered Wednesday beside the towering ride in Orlando’s International Drive tourism district where 14-year-old Tyre Sampson fell in March 2022. A fence encircled the ride and blocked off parts of the nearby sidewalk and road. The ride’s dismantling was expected to take several days.Sampson, who lives in the St. Louis area, was visiting Orlando during spring break when he died from the fall.An autopsy showed that Tyre Sampson suffered numerous broken bones and internal injuries in the fall, which was ruled an accidental death. It showed Sampson weighed 383 pounds (173 kilograms), well above the ride manual’s weight limit of 287 pounds (130 kilograms).An initial report by outside engineers hired by the Florida Department of Agriculture said sensors on the ride had been adjusted manually to doub...

Row brewing as Jeremy Hunt shakes up pensions to keep doctors in work

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:07:25 GMT

LONDON — Contentious new pension measures in Jeremy Hunt’s budget — aimed at keeping senior doctors in work — have been described as a “huge giveaway” to the rich by the opposition Labour Party.In his spring budget announcement Wednesday, the U.K. chancellor said he was scrapping the pension “lifetime allowance” — the maximum amount it is possible to save in a pension pot before paying additional tax.Hunt framed the measure as a way keeping of keeping people in the U.K. workforce, particularly long-serving doctors who have warned they are paring back hours or retiring early to avoid being clobbered by the tax.But critics say Hunt’s move will be costly and are already questioning the difference it will make in keeping people in the labor market.“The announcement today is a huge giveaway to some of the very wealthiest,” Labour leader Keir Starmer told the House of Commons.The soon-to-be-abolished lifetime allowan...

Germany pitches e-fuel fix in car engine standoff with Brussels

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:07:25 GMT

BERLIN — The German government tried to defuse a growing conflict with the EU by proposing changes to green transport legislation in a letter sent Wednesday to the European Commission, according to an official who has seen the letter.The idea is to create a loophole for the continued sale of combustion engine cars after 2035 despite EU plans for a ban from that year.Berlin, along with allies, has dug in its heels over the 2035 measure, threatening to blow up already agreed EU car emissions legislation at the last minute.In a bid to defuse the standoff ahead of next week’s EU leaders’ summit, the German government sent a letter to the Commission spelling out what it wants in return for lifting its blockade. Environment ministers meet on Thursday for talks on heavy vehicle pollutant emission standards.The proposal includes carving out criteria for vehicles running only on e-fuels — synthetic alternatives to fossil fuels made from hydrogen and CO2 that can be used in t...

The lobbying effort to save the EU’s fossil boiler industry

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:07:25 GMT

There’s a boiler-sized loophole in proposed rules for renovating buildings to make them more efficient — and NGOs say that’s the result of industry lobbying.When the European Parliament voted Tuesday on a proposed a revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), MEPs agreed to phase out fossil fuel-fired boilers from households by 2040 at the latest — but with a catch. They added an amendment that will allow boilers in new buildings as long as they’re certified to run on renewable fuels like biofuels or hydrogen.Ahead of the vote, there was an intensive lobbying effort by boiler companies keen to ensure their industry isn’t wiped out in the effort to slash greenhouse gas emissions from buildings, according to a new report by NGOs European Environmental Bureau, the Environmental Coalition on Standards and Green Transition Denmark.The NGO report says that Liquid Gas Europe, a lobby group for EU liquid petroleum gas firms, created Rural Future...