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French pension protests mostly calm, uncollected trash grows

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:42 GMT

PARIS (AP) — A smattering of protests against President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to raise France’s retirement age from 62 to 64 took place Saturday, as uncollected garbage continued to reek in the streets of Paris and beyond amid a strike by sanitation workers. Largely non-violent protests were held in various French cities, including Nantes and Marseille, where protesters got past police to occupy the main train station for around 15 minutes. In the eastern city of Besancon, hundreds of demonstrators lit a brazier and burned voter cards.In Paris, an eerie calm returned to the French capital after the two consecutive nights of unrest. Police banned further gatherings on the Place de la Concorde, where protesters tossed an effigy of Macron into a bonfire as a crowd cheered Friday night. Police also prohibited gatherings on the Champs-Elysées avenue, where some protesters set fires earlier in the week after officers charged demonstrators to disperse them. Further protests were cal...

Leicester halts losing streak with 1-1 draw at Brentford

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:42 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Leicester halted a five-game losing streak in all competitions as Harvey Barnes’ second-half equalizer secured a 1-1 draw at Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday.Leicester’s poor run has seen it dragged into the tight fight against relegation, and the draw only keeps it one point above the drop zone. Mathias Jensen put the hosts ahead in the 32nd minute but Barnes raced away from the Brentford defense to run onto James Maddison’s through ball and calmly lifted his finish over goalkeeper David Raya.That denied Brentford manager Thomas Frank a 100th win in charge, but the team at least stretched its unbeaten run at home to 10 matches.Under-pressure Foxes manager Brendan Rodgers made a bold call by dropping goalkeeper Danny Ward in favor of Daniel Iversen, but his wait for a first clean sheet since the World Cup break goes on.Eighth-place Brentford finished the game with 10 men after substitute Shandon Baptiste was sent off in stoppage time for a wild l...

Leeds boosts EPL survival hopes in 4-2 win at Wolverhampton

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:42 GMT

WOLVERHAMPTON, England (AP) — Rasmus Kristensen scored just seconds after coming on and Leeds withstood a late comeback to beat Wolverhampton 4-2 and move out of the Premier League relegation zone on Saturday.Kristensen’s goal in the 62nd minute extended Leeds’ lead to 3-0 following strikes by Jack Harrison and Luke Ayling before Wolves got back into the match at Molineux.Kristensen had only been on for about 30 seconds before he shot the ball through Jose Sa’s legs after Wolves failed to deal with Harrison’s cross.Jonny’s volley from more than 35 yards out — after goalkeeper Illan Meslier’s headed clearance outside the area — made it 3-1 in the 65th and Matheus Cunha scored eight minutes later.But Wolves lost momentum when Jonny was shown a red card in the 84th for a reckless challenge on Ayling.Rodrigo added a fourth goal for the visitors in the seventh minute of stoppage time.Meslier made several key stops including getting his right hand on a point-blank ...

Unvaccinated Djokovic can’t travel to US, out of Miami Open

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:42 GMT

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Novak Djokovic withdrew from Miami Open again because he still can’t travel to the United States as a foreign citizen who is not vaccinated against COVID-19.Djokovic is out of the field for the event that begins next week, a tournament spokesman said Saturday. The 35-year-old from Serbia won that event six times, most recently in 2016.Djokovic is No. 1 in the ATP rankings and is tied with Rafael Nadal — who is injured and also won’t be in Miami — at 22 Grand Slam titles, the record for most won by a man. In 2023, Djokovic is 15-1 with two titles, including at the Australian Open in January.But he will now have missed the first two Masters 1000 events of the season. He pulled out of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, which ends this weekend, because he couldn’t get into the U.S. without having received any shots for the illness caused by the coronavirus.In 2022, Djokovic also missed the trips to Indian Wells, Miami and the U...

Leeds earns big win; Tottenham throws away lead in EPL

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:42 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Leeds climbed out of the Premier League relegation zone with a big win on Saturday while Tottenham’s grip on a top-four place loosened after it threw away a 3-1 lead at last-place Southampton. Leeds was in danger of wasting a 3-0 lead at Wolverhampton as the hosts pulled two goals back before going down to 10 men, and Rodrigo put the game away with the fourth goal in injury time. It’s just the second win in 13 league games for Leeds and lifts the team from 19th place up to 14th in the exceedingly tight lower half of the table. While the title race has long been a two-way fight between Arsenal and Manchester City, the relegation battle involves no fewer than nine teams who are in real danger of finishing among the bottom three. Only four points now separate 12th-place Crystal Palace and last-place Southampton, which rallied to draw 3-3 at home against Tottenham after being awarded a contentious penalty in injury time. James Ward-Prowse smashed that spot kick...

Jags re-sign Herndon, Gotsis in moves to keep team intact

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:42 GMT

The Jacksonville Jaguars are bringing back cornerback Tre Herndon and defensive lineman Adam Gotsis, the latest moves to keep the bulk of last year’s AFC South champions intact.Both players agreed to terms Saturday and are expected to sign deals next week.Herndon agreed to a one-year, $2.6 million deal that’s full guaranteed, according to a person familiar with negotiations who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because financial details were not disclosed. Gotsis’ deal is for two years. Herndon started one game last season while playing mostly in a nickel cornerback role. He finished 34 tackles, five pass breakups and a fumble recovery. The Jags are still likely to select a cornerback with one of their nine picks in next month’s NFL draft, but Herndon is expected to compete for the nickel role. He’s started 30 games over five NFL seasons, all with Jacksonville.Gotsis has 19 tackles, nine quarterback hits and 1 1/2 sacks last season...

Ukraine cheers rollover of grain deal, but Russia objects again

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:42 GMT

A deal allowing Ukrainian grain exports to pass through the blockaded Black Sea has been extended for 120 days, Ukraine announced Saturday, but Russia again griped that it would only assent to a full rollover if its own exports of food and fertilizer are freed up.Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov thanked “all our partners for sticking to the agreements” in a tweet Saturday afternoon. “Due our joint efforts, 25M tons of Ukrainian grain” have been “delivered to world markets,” he said.The announcement comes after a week of wrangling after Russia said Monday that it had agreed to extend the Black Sea grain initiative but only for 60 days. Moscow again dug its heels in on Saturday, however, despite objections from Kyiv and reminders from the United Nations and Turkey that the original agreement foresees a minimum 120-day extension.The deal — described by aid groups as a lifeline for food insecure countries — was due to expire on Saturday.&nbs...

Inside the cases around 3 fired Boston Police officers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:42 GMT

The city spent 60 pages laying out the case against the three officers it announced it had fired, according to documents, including 38 on anti-vaccine-mandate leader Shana Cottone.In the end, the Boston Police Department sustained two of three allegations against Officer Joe Abasciano, one of two against Officer Michael Geary and 21 of 24 against Cottone, then a police sergeant. All three were fired, with Geary getting the ax following his October hearing and Cottone and Abasciano this past Monday.The short version of the five dozen pages provided by the city upon records request is that Boston Police chief administrative hearing officer Deputy Superintendent Richard Dahill sustained complaints against Cottone over allegations related to actions she took as she opposed the city’s vaccine mandate, and Abasciano and Geary over tweets they made related to when supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.Both Cottone and Abasciano plan to challe...

MBTA to keep Green Line speeds capped at 25 mph ‘at least’ through Saturday

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:42 GMT

Speeds will remain capped at 25 mph on the Green Line “at least” through the end of service on Saturday, an MBTA spokesperson said.Interim General Manager Jeffrey Gonneville said Friday that he was “optimistic” the MBTA would be in a position to lift the full line speed restriction on Saturday morning, but issues with sign placement hindered those tentative plans.“The MBTA continues to prioritize safety and at this time cannot lift the Green Line line-wide speed restriction as further evaluation and validation of specific locations are needed,” spokesperson Lisa Battiston said.The agency tweeted Saturday that crews identified speed signs that needed to be relocated to implement “block” speed restrictions, while running a Green Line test train in areas where track defects had previously been identified.“The MBTA has identified 30 speed limit signs that need to be relocated on the Green Line, and that work is taking place (Saturday...

Bob Raissman: Aaron Rodgers is obsessed with managing the message … ‘I’ll speak for myself’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:42 GMT

As an organization, the Jets have their share of media circuses going back to the summer of 1969 and Joe (Willie) Namath’s tearful press conference “retirement” over the Bachelors III controversy.There was also craziness over the coming of Bret Favre, Tim Tebow, Rex Ryan and others. Now, if a deal can be reached between the Jets and the Packers, Aaron Rodgers will not only become Gang Green’s next quarterback but its microphone potentate too.Rodgers doesn’t need any of the Jets PR consultants or in-house spin doctors. In his own mind, he is the de facto boss of his own media shop. After 18 years with Green Bay, Rodgers has become a master of controlling his own content. It could be about football, darkness retreats, immunization or the effect of ayahuasca. There is enough evidence to say he is obsessed with managing the message.Rodgers figured out how to put a variety of media platforms to work for him. The way he orchestrated the timing of his Wednesda...