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Maryland’s longtime elections administrator to retire

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:17:48 GMT

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland’s longtime elections administrator is retiring.Linda Lamone, who is 80, announced her plans to retire during a Maryland State Elections Board meeting on Wednesday.Lamone has been the state’s elections administrator since 1997. She said she will step down around Sept. 1.The state administrator of elections is the chief election official in Maryland. The administrator oversees the functions of the state elections board and supervises the operations of local boards of elections. The administrator also receives and audits financial reports of candidates.During her long tenure, Lamone survived a push for her removal during former Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich’s administration. Leaders in the Democratic-controlled legislature blocked the move. A law was enacted at the time to require that four out of five state elections board members vote for the administrator’s removal.A measure to change that law is before lawmakers this session. ...

Aaron Judge homers in 1st AB as new Yankees captain

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:17:48 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge rang in opening day the same way he marked many nights last season: with a home run.In his first game as New York Yankees captain, Judge hit a solo drive in the first inning off San Francisco’s Logan Webb on Thursday, a 422-foot shot into the netting above Monument Park in center field.Judge took a strike on the 39-degree day at Yankee Stadium, then hit a thigh-high cutter on the outside part of the plate for a 109 mph drive and his first opening day home run.Judge hit an American League record 62 home runs last year, one more than Roger Maris’ total with the 1961 Yankees.He became a free agent and considered signing with his home-area Giants, then struck a $360 million, nine-year deal to remain with the Yankees.___AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_SportsSource

Gunshot injuries surged in US during pandemic, CDC says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:17:48 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — For every American killed by gunfire, an estimated two or more more survive, often with terrible injuries — a fact that public health experts say is crucial to understanding the full impact of guns on society.A new government study highlights just how violent the recent past has been in America by showing a surge in people wounded by gunshots during the pandemic, when the number of people fatally shooting each other – and themselves — also increased.During the first two years of the COVID-19 outbreak, the number of people injured by gunfire rose 40%, compared with 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a study published Thursday. In 2022, gun injuries tapered off, but were still 20% higher than before the pandemic.Gun injuries rose similarly for men and women over the past three years, while the largest proportional increase occurred among children younger than 15, a subset that remains a small fraction of the overall problem.Experts say t...

New NHLPA head Walsh quickly figuring out player priorities

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:17:48 GMT

Marty Walsh is still fresh in his new job as head of the NHL Players’ Association and trying to learn what members of the union want.It didn’t take long to figure out a couple of priorities.The former U.S. Secretary of Labor and Mayor of Boston knows players want to get back on the ice for a major international tournament and that they do not want to pay any more money into escrow. With talks ongoing to hold another World Cup of Hockey and a discussion on significantly raising the salary cap upcoming, Walsh has a clear starting point long before collective bargaining talks resume in a couple of years.“When I get asked the question about whether I’d be interested in seeing the cap go up, my answer is yes, and my follow-up to that was that the players are not interested in raising the escrow right now,” Walsh said at his introductory news conference Thursday, in which topics ranged from finances and relationships to player participation in Pride night warmups and internati...

1 year ago, scenes of horror emerged from Ukraine’s Bucha

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:17:48 GMT

BUCHA, Ukraine (AP) — The cratered roads have been repaved and the damaged houses are gradually being repaired. But the scenes that emerged from this town near Kyiv a year ago, after it was retaken from Russian forces, have indelibly linked its name to the savagery of war. On the northwestern fringes of the Ukrainian capital, Bucha had been occupied by Russian troops for about a month, taken as they swept toward Kyiv at the start of the invasion of Ukraine that began in late February 2022. When they withdrew, they left behind scenes of horror.Bodies of civilians lay where they had fallen, beside their bicycles, in their cars, on the sides of roads, in yards, buildings and homes.“They were bodies of people in civilian clothing — women, old men, younger men” scattered in the streets, said Associated Press photographer Vadim Ghirda, one of the first journalists to enter Bucha right after the Russian withdrawal.Many appeared to not have been dead for very long, looking almost as if they...

US: Russia seeks arms-for-food deal with North Korea

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:17:48 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House on Thursday said it has new evidence that Russia is looking again to North Korea for weapons to fuel the war in Ukraine, this time in a deal that would provide Pyongyang with needed food and other commodities in return.It’s the latest accusation that Russia, desperate for weaponry and restricted by sanctions and export controls, is turning to “rogue” nations to help it continue to prosecute the 13-month-old war.“As part of this proposed deal, Russia would receive over two dozen kinds of weapons and munitions from Pyongyang,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said. “We also understand that Russia is seeking to send a delegation to North Korea and that Russia is offering North Korea food in exchange for munitions.”The administration has previously declassified intelligence to present evidence that Iran sold hundreds of attack drones to Russia over the summer and that the Wagner Group, a private Russian military company, ...

Policía Federal de Brasil cita al expresidente Jair Bolsonaro por el caso de las joyas

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:17:48 GMT

(CNN) — La Policía Federal de Brasil citó al expresidente Jair Bolsonaro para que compareciera ante las autoridades este miércoles, en el marco de una investigación sobre joyas no declaradas que Arabia Saudita le regaló a la Presidencia durante su mandato presidencial, según informó CNN Brasil, afiliada de CNN.Las joyas consisten en tres cajas de artículos de lujo valorados en millones de dólares regalados por la familia real saudita durante la visita de Estado de Bolsonaro a Riad en 2019. Dos de las cajas fueron transportadas de regreso a Brasil por ayudas del gobierno y fueron aprehendidas por la aduana en su momento. Una de las cajas aún permanece en posesión de Bolsonaro, según CNN Brasil.Este jueves, Bolsonaro dijo a la emisora local Jovem Pan que las joyas están registradas, documentadas y “listas para ser entregadas sin ningún problema”.“No sé por qué tanto alboroto, si creen que es algo que hice mal, estoy muy feliz porque no hay nada de qué acusarme&...

Police looking for people connected to deadly hit-and-run on Sheridan

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:17:48 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — The Denver Police Department is looking to identify three people who may be connected to a deadly hit-and-run on Monday.According to the Denver Police Department, on Monday at 10:43 p.m., a pedestrian was struck and killed by an unknown driver at the intersection of North Sheridan Boulevard and West 10th Avenue.DPD said the driver was traveling northbound when they allegedly hit the pedestrian who was crossing on Sheridan. The driver fled the scene without checking on the victim. Man sentenced to 96 years for ‘random act of road rage’ Officers did locate the suspected vehicle a short distance away, but could not locate the driver. The car has visible damage to the right side of the hood, and the windshield is shattered on the driver's side. This vehicle was located a short distance away from a deadly hit-and-run on Sheridan. (Metro Denver Crime Stoppers)DPD released photos of three people who may be connected to the deadly hit-and-run.Police are looking to contact ...

Air Force shows off fighter jets ahead of Homestead Air Show

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:17:48 GMT

Prior to this weekend’s Wings Over Homestead Air Show, members of the U.S. Air Force showed off a pair of fighter jets at Miami International Airport. County officials, along with the media, got a sneak peek of the Air Show when pilots landed two F-16 Falcon fighter jets, Thursday morning. Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and Miami-Dade Aviation Department officials were on hand. In addition to the USAF Thunderbirds flying six F-16 Fighting Falcons, the Wings Over Homestead Air Show will feature modern military demonstrations, vintage aircraft, the top civilian aviators, military vehicles, and aviation-related items on the ground for up-close viewing by the public. The event takes place this weekend at the Homestead Air Reserve Base and is expected to draw more than 100,000 attendees.

Fraud inquiry launched into EU transport chief’s free Qatar flights

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:17:48 GMT

The EU’s anti-fraud office has opened an investigation into Henrik Hololei, the EU’s departing transport chief, following POLITICO’s revelations that he accepted free flights on Qatar Airways.The fresh probe comes shortly after Hololei resigned from his position as director general of the European Commission’s transport department on Wednesday amid mounting scrutiny over the free trips, which came while his team negotiated a major aviation deal with the Gulf state. Hololei approved the flights himself — a procedure that was allowed at the time. The rules were later changed following the revelations.“We can confirm that OLAF has opened an investigation into the matter,” said the agency, formally known as OLAF, in a statement to POLITICO. The probe, the agency’s press office stressed “does not mean that the persons/entities involved have committed an irregularity/fraud.”OLAF is tasked with investigating EU budget fraud and misconduct...