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Morocco picked 2025 Africa Cup of Nations host, 2027 goes to neighbors Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:27 GMT

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) — Morocco being picked Wednesday to host soccer’s Africa Cup of Nations in 2025 was expected.It was a surprise, however, that the 2027 tournament was awarded to East African neighbors Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania when its bid rivals included soccer powers Senegal and Egypt.The Confederation of African Football’s president Patrice Motsepe announced the winners after votes by its executive committee.Morocco was heavily favored to get the 2025 AFCON, when the 2022 World Cup semifinalist is also currently part of an innovative Europe-led joint bid for the 2030 tournament with Spain and Portugal, and possibly Ukraine. Morocco’s bid opponents were a Benin-Nigeria co-host plan and Zambia after Algeria this week withdrew its candidacy from both the 2025 and ’27 contests. Guinea previously was picked for 2025 but was stripped of hosting by CAF.East Africa has not staged the biennial tournament since Ethiopia was the 1976 host.The delayed 2023 edition of the 24-team tournament...

Paychex: Fiscal Q1 Earnings Snapshot

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:27 GMT

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — Paychex Inc. (PAYX) on Wednesday reported fiscal first-quarter profit of $419.2 million.The Rochester, New York-based company said it had net income of $1.16 per share. Earnings, adjusted for pretax gains, were $1.14 per share.The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.12 per share.The payroll processor and human-resources services provider posted revenue of $1.29 billion in the period, which also beat Street forecasts. Eight analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $1.28 billion._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on PAYX at https://www.zacks.com/ap/PAYXSource

More than yellow aspens: Which trees turn which colors in Colorado?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:27 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- Colorado has some of the best places in the country for fall colors, and arborists expect it to be a more vibrant-than-average foliage season. You'll see shades of reds, purples, orange, yellow and gold, depending on the tree.Not all trees change color or even shed foliage, but for those that do, there is a science behind it. Ever wondered why all of the aspen trees shift from bright green to a bright golden yellow? These trees in Denver parks are ‘famous’ celebri-trees Colors change depending on several factors including tree species, health, weather, elevation and environmental factors.Chemistry of changing colorsLike any color palette, leaf colors depend on pigments. According to the Forest Service, there are three pigment types responsible for the autumn colors.Chlorophyll is what gives leaves their green color via photosynthesis. In other words, chlorophyll is what allows plants to use sunlight to produce sugars and foods. Its continual synthesizing throughou...

Jigsaw returns with a vengeance in 10th installment in ‘Saw’ franchise

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:27 GMT

It’s spooky season, and that means, time to cuddle up with your boo and watch a scary movie.But, with the “Saw” franchise returning, expect more screams than snuggles. Deco’s Alex Miranda is here with more.I wanna play a game.Maybe you have a feet, or a car, or public transit. Use it, to see “Saw X” in theaters this weekend.If you do, you’ll live to see another episode of Deco Drive, and maybe, I’ll you snuggle you too.Tobin Bell: “Hello, everyone. It’s time to play a game.”Twisted serial killer John “Jigsaw” Kramer is back with a vengeance in “Saw 10.”Tobin Bell: “Unlike many of us who look around us and complain about the world or some aspect of the world but do nothing, he does something.”In the 10th installment of the horror flick, John travels to Mexico for a risky and experimental medical procedure. Or so he thinks.Determined to be no ones fool, Jigsaw rounds the team up for a...

Family of woman found dead in the woods in Orlando sues sheriff and deputies for allegedly not properly investigating her disappearance

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:27 GMT

(CNN) — The family of a 19-year-old woman found dead in the woods near her Orlando, Florida, apartment is suing the Orange County sheriff’s office and two deputies for negligence and civil rights violations over their handling of the 2021 case, according to a lawsuit filed Monday.Miya Marcano, a Valencia College student who went missing from her apartment in the Arden Villas complex on September 24, 2021, was found dead in a wooded area on October 2. Her hands and feet were bound and her mouth covered in tape, officials said.Marcano’s parents filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the apartment complex and its management partner, the Preiss Company, with all sides settling out of court last month for an undisclosed amount, court records show.Now, two years after her death, attorneys for the Marcano family have filed a lawsuit in the Orange County Ninth Judicial Circuit Court alleging the sheriff’s office and two of its deputies had enough evidence to save Marcano’s life or lead...

UPS plans to hire more than 100,000 holiday workers this year, on par with last year

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:27 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — UPS plans to hire more than 100,000 workers — at higher pay than a year ago — to help with the holiday rush this season, in line with hiring the previous three years.As part of a tentative five-year contract agreement with the Teamsters union approved last month that included a bump up in pay and other benefits for part-time and full time workers, seasonal package drivers will start with hourly pay of $23, while package handlers will get $21 for the holiday period.That compares with last year’s $21 per hour for drivers and $15.50 for package handlers, according to Matt Lavery, UPS’s director of global sourcing, recruiting and onboarding.Despite increased pay for the seasonal UPS workers, the job market is still tight, and it’s uncertain how challenging it will be to find workers, Lavery said.“We do have a good package to offer everybody with an industry-leading pay, but we still haven’t seen those (job) numbers change,” he said. “So we’re hopi...

Target says it will close nine stores in major cities across four states because of theft and organized crime

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:27 GMT

New York (CNN) — Target is closing nine stores in major cities across four states, claiming theft and organized retail crime have made the environment unsafe for staff and customers – and unsustainable for business.The big box chain is part of a wave of retailers – both large and small – that say they’re struggling to contain store crimes that have hurt their bottom lines. Many have closed stores or made changes to merchandise and layouts.Nevertheless, skeptics say stores have not provided enough information to back up their claims, and at least one retailer said theft was an exaggerated issue.“We cannot continue operating these stores because theft and organized retail crime are threatening the safety of our team and guests, and contributing to unsustainable business performance,” Target said in a statement. “We know that our stores serve an important role in their communities, but we can only be successful if the working and shopping environment is safe for all.”It’s not clear tha...

Russia’s Wagner troops are back on the battlefield, Ukraine says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:27 GMT

KYIV — Mercenaries from the Russian Wagner Group are back fighting on the front line in Ukraine, a senior Ukrainian military official told POLITICO on Wednesday.Several hundred fighters from the group once ruled by now-dead warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin were spotted fighting in the ranks of different Russian military units on the eastern front, said Colonel Serhiy Cherevatyi. Wagner mercenaries had fought in Ukraine until May when they finally occupied the remains of Bakhmut, a Donetsk region town which was razed during nine months of brutal fighting. Wagner was notorious in Ukraine for mercilessly decapitating Ukrainian soldiers and killing civilians.After Wagner was thrown into disarray following an aborted insurrection against the Kremlin in June led by Prigozhin — who subsequently died in a fiery plane crash in August — many of its troops were either welcomed to Belarus by its ruler Alexander Lukashenko or deployed to African countries where Russia has interests....

‘Where are France, America and Charles Michel?’ Armenians rage as 50,000 flee Nagorno-Karabakh

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:27 GMT

KORNIDZOR, Armenia — Ethnic Armenians are venting their frustration at the EU’s failed attempts to mediate in the growing humanitarian crisis over the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh — as more than half of the territory’s residents now appear to have fled, fearing ethnic cleansing by Azerbaijan’s army. Baku’s lightning advance into Nagorno-Karabakh last week — and the subsequent refugee exodus — is a stinging diplomatic failure for the EU, which had staked significant political capital in trying to style itself as a peacemaker. European Council President Charles Michel became a prominent personality in the region, and EU observers were deployed to observe the Armenia-Azerbaijan frontier. Ultimately, however, the EU now looks unlikely to turn to sanctions against Azerbaijan as it is unwilling to rock relations with a nation that it calls a “crucial” partner on natural gas supply. On Wednesday morning, Armenian officials told POLITICO that 50,200 peopl...

France’s Niger debacle marks end of an era in Africa

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:27 GMT

PARIS — France’s days as a military power in Africa are numbered. French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to withdraw from Niger signals the end of an era for France — one marked by military interventions in the West African Sahel region, and a sense in Paris that its former colonies in Africa were still in some way France’s private preserve. For more than two months, Macron took a defiant stance, ignoring the ultimatum set by the junta in Niger, who came to power in July after a military coup. France refused to engage with the junta leaders or move on their demands to remove French troops stationed in the country to fight terrorism. But in the face-off between France and the putschists, Paris blinked first. On Sunday, Macron announced that France would gradually withdraw its 1,500 soldiers by the end of the year and that France’s ambassador, who had been living under quasi house arrest in the capital Niamey, would be brought home. The ambassador, Sylvain It...