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South Africa’s Women’s World Cup captain says team has resolved pay dispute

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:58 GMT

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — South African players are committed to playing in the Women’s World Cup following disputes around player and support staff pay, and the team captain on Saturday assured fans back home they are fully focused on their upcoming tournament matches.Team captain Refiloe Jane confirmed that all disputes with the South African federation had been settled before the tournament’s start, including the guarantee of $30,000 to each player that had previously been promised by FIFA.“All the contractual disputes that we had were resolved,” Jane said at a news conference ahead of Sunday’s opener against Sweden. “We came into New Zealand having sorted all our problems. And when we left South Africa, we assured the nation that everything has been in order. So coming into this tournament our focus has been just focusing on football.”Earlier this month, the majority of the national team did not play a warm-up match against Botswana in protest of FIFA’s group payment ...

Without much offense, Vietnam plays tough against US in Women’s World Cup debut

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:58 GMT

AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) — Left bruised, bandaged and limping, the Vietnamese still managed to walk off the pitch smiling.Entering its World Cup -opening match Saturday against the United States, Vietnam was expected to suffer a defeat similar to the 2019 Thailand team, which lost to the Americans 13-0 to open that tournament.After all, the top-ranked United States has won four World Cup titles and Vietnam was making its tournament debut. But in a match where Vietnam failed to get off a shot, its defensive intensity kept it in the game.Final score: United States 3, Vietnam 0. “I think that’s the point of Vietnam is to frustrate us, is to make it hard for us to break them down,” American forward Alex Morgan said after the game. “I think there were ebbs and flows of the game that were frustrating at times, but I think that at the end of the day, we just have to capitalize on the chances that we get.”The Vietnamese were “tough in tackles,” U.S. head coach Vlatko Andonovski said, but ...

France seeks better Women’s World Cup result after falling short in Paris four years ago

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:58 GMT

AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) — Four years after France fell flat in the Women’s World Cup as the host country, Les Bleus return to the global stage with a new coach determined to dethrone the United States. France hoped to contend for the 2019 tournament title but was eliminated by the Americans in the quarterfinals in Paris. The plan for a better result this year was nearly derailed in February when captain Wendie Renard quit the team “to protect my mental health” and two other players followed her exit. The French federation vowed to look into the situation and in March fired coach Corinne Diacre with a year remaining on her contract. The team replaced her with Hervé Renard, who resigned as coach of Saudi Arabia’s men’s team to take the job. Hervé Renard led Saudi Arabia to an upset over eventual winner Argentina in the men’s World Cup in November and, when he leads France against Jamaica on Sunday in a Group F match in Sydney, he will be just the second coac...

Japanese players wear black armbands at Women’s World Cup to remember royal family member

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:58 GMT

HAMILTON, New Zealand (AP) — Japanese players wore black armbands in their Women’s World Cup opener against Zambia on Saturday following the death of Fumiko Tottori, the mother of Japanese Princess Takamado. The princess is the honorary patron of the Japan Football Association, and her mother, Tottori, 96, died Tuesday in Tokyo. FIFA granted the association’s request to wear the bands as a tribute.The Japanese team wore the armbands days after New Zealand and Norway held a moment of silence ahead of the tournament’s opening match after two men were killed in a shooting in downtown Auckland.Before the tournament, FIFA announced it would permit team captains to wear eight specially designed armbands unveiled earlier this month.The eight armband designs were based on anti-discriminatory themes including inclusivity toward Indigenous peoples, ending domestic violence and creating gender equality. ___AP Women’s World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-womens-world-cup ...

Protesters try to storm Baghdad’s Green Zone over the burning of Quran and Iraqi flag in Denmark

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:58 GMT

BAGHDAD (AP) — Hundreds of protesters attempted to storm Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses foreign embassies and the seat of Iraq’s government, early Saturday following reports of the burning of a Quran carried out by a ultranationalist group in front of the Iraqi Embassy in Copenhagen.They were pushed back by security forces, who blocked the Jumhuriya bridge leading to the Green Zone, preventing them from reaching the Danish Embassy.The protest came two days after people angered by the planned burning of the Islamic holy book in Sweden stormed the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad. Protesters occupied the diplomatic post for several hours, waving flags and signs showing the influential Iraqi Shiite cleric and political leader Muqtada al-Sadr, and setting a small fire. The embassy staff had been evacuated a day earlier.Hours later, Iraq’s prime minister cut diplomatic ties with Sweden in protest over the desecration of the Quran.An Iraqi asylum-seeker who bur...

A man lies in a Kenya morgue. His family says he’s one of at least 35 shot dead by police this month

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:58 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — At the morgue, the bullet was still lodged in Douglas Kalasinga’s head. His family said they couldn’t afford an autopsy. At least 35 civilians have been shot dead by police in Kenya this month during protests over new taxes and the rising cost of living, and Kalasinga’s loved ones believe he’s one of them.“It is as if the police wanted to kill him because they aimed straight at his head,” his uncle, David Wangila, told The Associated Press on Friday.An interior ministry spokesperson referred requests for comment to the police, who didn’t respond.Wangila said the 27-year-old was struck on Thursday while at work, pushing a handcart of water cans instead of taking part in the national demonstrations called by the political opposition.As his family viewed his body, Kenyan human rights groups raised a chorus of outrage.Data shared with the AP by a police watchdog, the Independent Medico-Legal Unit, showed 35 people were killed by police across the country in such de...

Dear Abby: This guy I just met has gotten very creepy online

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:58 GMT

DEAR ABBY: I recently met this guy at a private event. We got to talking, and he gave me his social media information. We have been messaging each other ever since.He has been acting increasingly obsessed, and it’s making me uncomfortable. He acts like we’ve known each other for years.Related ArticlesAdvice | Dear Abby: My teen’s phone has deranged her life, but I’m not allowed to take it away Advice | Dear Abby: Am I out of line in asking my college daughter to be an RA? Advice | Dear Abby: My neighbor found out my income and is spreading lies about me Advice | Dear Abby: What if I don’t want to say grace? Advice | Dear Abby: Even the dogs have more say over my own life than I do I don’t know how to tell him I don’t want to talk to him anymore. What are your thoughts?RESERVED GUY IN MASSACHUSETTSDEAR RESERVED GUY: My thought is that because his messages are maki...

No hubo ganador el viernes; se dispara a $820 millones el premio mayor del Mega Millions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:58 GMT

El premio mayor del Mega Millions subió a $820 millones tras no reportarse un ganador en el sorteo del viernes.AP informó que el estimado del próximo sorteo se distribuirán a un ganador que elija una anualidad pagada durante 29 años.El próximo sorteo está programado para el martes 25 de julio. Mega Millions: los números ganadores de los $720 millones del sorteo del viernes CNBC: principales razones por las que los trabajos podrían desaparecer, y no se debe a la inteligencia artificial EL SORTEO DEL VIERNESEstos fueron los números ganadores del viernes: 29, 40 , 47, 50 ,57, 25 y el Megaplier 2X.Sin embargo, tras nadie ganarse el premio mayor en el sorteo de los $720 millones, este aumentó a $820 millones con un valor en efectivo de $422.0 millones.Según The Associated Press, la última vez que un jugador de Mega Millions ganó el primer premio fue el 18 de abril.QUÉ OPCIONES TIENE EL GANADOR Cuando alguien gana un premio mayor de lot...

Canada’s Chrystia Freeland shares her biggest fear for Ukraine

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:58 GMT

Chrystia Freeland is not worried about Ukrainian resolve. She’s worried about the rest of the West.Freeland, Canada’s deputy prime minister and at times a key global player in the multilateral sanctions campaign against Russia, was asked at the Aspen Security Forum on Friday what concerns her most about the war on Ukraine.“My biggest fear for Ukraine, actually, is us,” she said during an armchair conversation with POLITICO editor-in-chief Matthew Kaminski. “I worry about … our collective ability to stay the course.”Freeland said her anxiety has consistently been tempered by public support in Canada and like-minded nations for Ukraine’s war effort.“Political leaders have been surprised on the upside by the commitment of their own citizens to support Ukraine,” she said. “People don’t have to come to the Aspen Security Forum to understand there are basic principles at stake. This is democracy versus dictatorship. This is the right of people to defend the sovereignty of their own border...

A 5-run 1st inning and poor defense hurt Lance Lynn and the Chicago White Sox in a 9-4 loss to the Minnesota Twins

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:58 GMT

The first inning has not been kind to Lance Lynn this season.It was another tough first for the Chicago White Sox starter Friday against the Minnesota Twins. And the defense didn’t help the cause.Alex Kirilloff and Byron Buxton homered during a five-run first as the Twins defeated the Sox 9-4 in front of 31,339 at Target Field.The Sox had a chance to get out of the inning with significantly less damage.With one out, Edouard Julien hit a liner off the left-field wall and tried to take second. Andrew Benintendi’s throw was there in plenty of time, but Elvis Andrus couldn’t hold on to the ball and Julien was safe. Andrus was given an error on the play.Kirilloff followed with a home run, giving the Twins a 2-1 lead.Max Kepler reached on an infield hit when Andrus ranged to the hole, fielded but couldn’t make a throw. Matt Wallner walked and Buxton hit a first-pitch fastball over the wall for a three-run homer.“It was a long first inning, but at the same tim...