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Rodriguez wins big Alpine stage as Pogacar and Vingegaard lock horns again for Tour stalemate

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:59 GMT

MORZINE LES PORTES DU SOLEIL, France (AP) — Could the Tour de France be decided by time bonuses? Even on the toughest battleground, defending champion Jonas Vingegaard and two-time winner Tadej Pogacar could not separate themselves Saturday after a dramatic day in the Alps.Again in a class of their own, Pogacar and Vingegaard finished second and third respectively at the ski station of Morzine after another fierce fight that concluded a day of attrition in the 14th stage.The pair was well ahead of their struggling overall challengers at some point in the final ascent, the daunting Col of Joux Plane, but allowed stage winner Carlos Rodriguez to come back as the duo watched each other like track cyclists in a velodrome, waiting for an opening to get the biggest bonus at the top of the steep ascent. Vingegaard won this duel.Rodriguez, a Tour debutant from Spain riding for Ineos-Grenadiers, then moved away from the pair in the downhill leading to Morzine.Vingegaard kept the yellow jerse...

Skupski and Koolhof beat Granollers and Zeballos to win men’s doubles final at Wimbledon

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:59 GMT

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Neal Skupski became the second British player in the Open era to win the men’s doubles title at Wimbledon after teaming up with Wesley Koolhof on Saturday to beat Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 6-4, 6-4 in the final.It’s a first Grand Slam title for both Skupski and Koolhof, who lost in last year’s U.S. Open final.“To hold this beauty is very, very special,” said Koolhof, who is from the Netherlands, as he cradled the trophy on Centre Court.The top-seeded pair only faced one break point in the final, which they saved, and broke for a decisive 3-2 lead in the second set.Skupski joined Jonathan Marray as the only British players to win the men’s doubles title at Wimbledon in the professional era, which began in 1968. Marray did so in 2012.“This feeling at the moment, doesn’t get better,” Skupski said.He is also the first British man to win both the mixed doubles and men’s doubles at the All England Club since Leslie Godfr...

BRITISH OPEN ’23: Back to Royal Liverpool with all eyes on McIlroy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:59 GMT

HOYLAKE, England (AP) — So many players showed up at Augusta National with high hopes for the major championship season. In the 105 days between the opening rounds of the Masters and the British Open, so much hope has given way to a small measure of desperation.The British Open, which returns to Royal Liverpool for the third time in the last 17 years, is the last chance this year to win a major.“This is the last major for eight or nine months, and you don’t know what’s happening in 12 months’ time,” Adam Scott said with a wry smile, referring in part to so much chaos in golf with the battle-turned-partnership with Saudi-funded LIV Golf.“It does go quickly, especially the way our schedule has shifted,” Scott said. “Now this one is ‘Glory’s Last Shot,’ although you can’t use that punch line for The Open Championship. But it is.”No need reminding Rory McIlroy of that.Still fresh is the sting from the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club last month, when h...

Ben Wallace to step down as UK defense chief, The Times reports

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:59 GMT

U.K. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace plans to leave the government at the next Cabinet reshuffle and will not stand in the next general election, he told The Times newspaper.  Wallace informed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of his plans on June 16 but had hoped to make the announcement later in the summer, the newspaper reported late Saturday. A Cabinet reshuffle is expected by September. “I’m not standing next time,” Wallace was quoted as saying. But he ruled out going “prematurely” and forcing another by-election, the newspaper said.  “I went into politics in the Scottish parliament in 1999. That’s 24 years,” Wallace, who has been defense chief since July 2019, told the paper.  The development comes days after Wallace controversially said Ukraine should put more emphasis on showing “gratitude” to “doubting politicians” in the U.S. and other allied countries who might not be completely convinced of the need to maintain military and economic support to Kyiv as it defen...

‘Grim Reaper’: Harvard Medical School faces 2 more lawsuits over alleged human body parts trafficking ring

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:59 GMT

One of two new lawsuits filed against Harvard in the wake of bombshell allegations a morgue employee was stealing and selling body parts donated to the university’s medical school reveals the employee may have identified as the “Grim Reaper.”The U.S. Attorney’s office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced on June 14 an alleged “nationwide network of individuals bought and sold human remains stolen from Harvard Medical School and an Arkansas mortuary,” which implicated HMS morgue employee Cedric Lodge, 55, of Goffstown, N.H., and four others, including his wife, Denise Lodge, 63.“This ghoulish black market was allowed to flourish in plain sight by an HMS morgue employee whose lack of respect for the dead was obvious to anyone who scrutinized his behavior; it is alleged that he drove to work each day and presumably parked in the HMS parking lot with a license plate identifying him as the ‘GRIM-R’ — as in, the grim reaper,” a new lawsuit targeting the university filed at th...

Apartment fire displaces 10 in South Bay

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:59 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A Saturday morning apartment fire in the Nestor neighborhood has left 10 people displaced, fire officials confirmed to FOX 5.The San Diego Fire-Rescue Department says crews responded to reports of a structure fire on the 2000 block of Iris Avenue shortly before 7 a.m. Man struck by vehicle in Midtown The blaze was located at a residential four-unit apartment building, and SDFD says crews have since extinguished the fire.According to fire officials, no one was home in the unit where the fire started. There were no injuries reported in connection to this incident.A total of 10 residents were displaced due to fire and smoke damage. They are being assisted by the Red Cross. SDFD says the cause of the fire is unknown at this time, but arson isn't suspected.

Lionel Messi makes it official by signing with Inter Miami and Major League Soccer

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:59 GMT

Lionel Messi has finalized his deal to join Major League Soccer, and after years of planning and pursuing, Inter Miami has landed a global icon.Messi’s contract became official Saturday, a little more than five weeks after he declared that he would be coming to Inter Miami. The team will introduce him Sunday night at its stadium in Fort Lauderdale, and the first home match of the Messi era could be as early as Friday in a Leagues Cup match against Cruz Azul.A formal news conference is scheduled for Monday, and his first training session with his new club is expected on Tuesday. The club previously announced that Messi’s deal will be for 2 1/2 seasons and will pay him between $50 million and $60 million annually — putting the total contract value between $125 million and $150 million in cash alone.“BIENVENIDO 10,” the team posted Saturday on Twitter.Welcome, Messi, indeed.“We are overjoyed that the greatest player in the world chose Inter Miami CF and Major League S...

The Rev. Jesse Jackson steps down as leader of civil rights group he founded in 1971

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:59 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — The Rev. Jesse Jackson announced Saturday that he will step down as president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the Chicago-based civil rights group he founded more than 50 years ago.Jackson, 81, announced his resignation during a quiet farewell speech at the organization’s annual convention, where the group paid tribute to him with songs, kind words from other Black activists and politicians, and a video montage of Jackson’s 1984 and 1988 presidential campaigns. Jackson, who has dealt with several health problems in recent years and uses a wheelchair, capped the proceedings with muted remarks. Flanked by his daughter, Santita Jackson, and his son, U.S. Rep. Jonathan Jackson, the once-fiery orator spoke so softly it was difficult to hear him.“I am somebody,” he said. “Green or yellow, brown, Black or white, we’re all perfect in God’s eyes. Everybody is somebody. Stop the violence. Save the children. Keep hope alive.”The Rev. Frederick ...

One man seriously injured in York region shooting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:59 GMT

One man is in hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries following a shooting in York region.York region police say they were called to an area on Steeles Avenue near Weston Road around 1 p.m.Multiple people believed to be involved in the incident fled the scene before police arrived. Paramedics transported one man to hospital with gunshot wounds. He was listed in serious condition. There is no word on suspect descriptions at this time.

At least 4 killed in mass shooting in small Georgia city, county spokeswoman says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:59 GMT

HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) — A county government official in Georgia says at least four people have been killed in a mass shooting in a small community south of Atlanta. A statement from Henry County officials said police were still investigating an “active shooter incident” that occurred late Saturday morning at a subdivision in Hampton, a city of about 8,500 people about 40 miles (65 kilometers) south of Atlanta.“I can confirm that four people are deceased,” county government spokeswoman Melissa Robinson told The Associated Press by phone. “As of right now, the suspect is still at large.”Police in Hampton, Georgia, planned to release more details at a Saturday afternoon news conference.Several local law enforcement agencies were assisting, as was the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. GBI spokeswoman Nelly Miles said she had no information other than that GBI agents had been asked to help. The Associated Press