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Women’s soccer in England to be run by independent organization in bid to set new standards

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:56:23 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Women’s soccer in England will be run by an independent organization rather than the Football Association from next year in a move aimed at setting new standards in the game.Clubs in the Women’s Super League and the second-tier Women’s Championship will operate under NewCo, whose first chief executive will be Nikki Doucet — a former investment banker and Nike executive.The FA has run the WSL since its formation in 2010 and the Championship since 2014, but announced plans last year for an independent equity to take over the commercial activities of the women’s game and give clubs greater control of their future.The Premier League has run men’s top-division soccer since 1992 and grown to become the world’s most popular and richest league.“The women’s professional game is in the strongest place that it has ever been thanks to the hard work of everybody involved in its development so far,” said Sue Campbell, director of women’s soccer at the Football Association, “but we f...

Defending champ UConn ready for Allen Fieldhouse and showdown with Kansas

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:56:23 GMT

Purdue is back on top of the AP Top 25 this week, but the team it replaced will still be in the spotlight this week.Kansas, the preseason No. 1, will return from the loaded Maui Invitational and attempt to pick up another marquee win when the fifth-ranked Jayhawks play defending national champion and fourth-ranked UConn on Friday night in Allen Fieldhouse.Rarely do top programs play each other on college campuses these days, opting instead for easy matchups against the likes of Eastern Illinois, which the Jayhawks played Tuesday night. The big-time showdowns have been increasingly pushed onto neutral floors in lucrative made-for-TV tournaments and events, such as the Maui Invitational, where the Jayhawks lost to fourth-ranked Marquette in the semifinals before rebounding to beat No. 10 Tennessee in the third-place game.“Whenever you play a tournament, exempt tournament, everybody wants to go into it thinking 3-0. In this field, I guarantee you all the coaches were thinking 2-1’s a g...

Bayern Munich extends goalkeeper Manuel Neuer’s contract by a year after comeback from injury

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:56:23 GMT

MUNICH (AP) — Bayern Munich gave goalkeeper and captain Manuel Neuer a one-year contract extension Tuesday after his successful return from a broken leg.The new contract is a sign of faith in the 37-year-old Neuer, who returned to action Oct. 28 for Bayern following more than 10 months out after he broke his leg while skiing. The announcement came a day before Bayern plays Copenhagen in the Champions League.Neuer’s contract had been due to expire at the end of the season. The one-year extension ensures he will still be a Bayern player when Germany hosts the European Championship next year and takes him through to the end of the 2024-25 season, when the Champions League final will be played at Bayern’s home stadium.“After my long injury, I’m back in full swing. It’s immense fun for me to be on the pitch with this team,” Neuer said in a club statement. “I’m sure that, together with the fans, we can achieve our big goals in the coming years — and obviously the 2025 Champion...

Live: Tribute service for former first lady Rosalynn Carter

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:56:23 GMT

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — A tribute service honoring the life of first lady Rosalynn Carter will take place Tuesday at Emory University in Atlanta.Among those expected to attend the service is her husband, former President Jimmy Carter, who is currently in hospice care."The fact that everything they did, they did together in such a collective way of being supportive of each other is just indicative of a 77-year marriage," said Paige Alexander, CEO of the Carter Center."She's not just his wife, but she's a force to be reckoned with herself." President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden are also set to be among the guests attending the service."The president and the first lady certainly look forward to being there and to offering, you know, offering their condolences," said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.All of the living former first ladies — Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush, Michelle Obama, and Melania Trump — are set to attend.Carter died on ...

Stephen Colbert cancels ‘Late Show’ episodes after suffering ruptured appendix

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:56:23 GMT

(CNN) — Stephen Colbert is calling in sick this week from his “Late Show” hosting duties.Colbert announced on Threads Monday that he has to cancel this week’s previously scheduled new episodes of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” as he recovers from surgery.“Sorry to say that I have to cancel our shows this week. I’m sure you’re thinking, “Turkey overdose, Steve? Gravy boat capsize?” Actually, I’m recovering from surgery for a ruptured appendix,” he wrote.Colbert added that he’s “grateful” for his doctor’s care, and extended his gratitude to his wife Evie McGee-Colbert and their kids for “putting up” with him.“Going forward, all emails to my appendix will be handled by my pancreas,” he joked at the end of his statement.Jennifer Garner, Baz Luhrmann, Patrick Stewart, Kelsey Grammer and Barbara Streisand were set to appear as guests on the “Late Show” starting Tuesday when the show returned from Thanksgiving break, with Grammy-winner Jon Batiste slated as Wednesday’s musical guest....

Saudi Arabia wins vote to host 2030 World Expo

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:56:23 GMT

ISSY-LES-MOULINEAUX, France — Saudi Arabia will host the 2030 World Exhibition after winning a vote in Paris on Tuesday.Riyadh’s candidacy was endorsed by delegates from 119 countries during a ballot organized by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), the Paris-based organization which oversees World Expos. Riyadh was competing with South Korea’s Busan and Italy’s Rome, which got 29 and 17 votes respectively out of 165 total delegates who showed up for the vote.When the outcome was announced at the venue, supporters of the Saudi candidacy cheered and started singing. Saudi Arabia secured more than two-thirds of the total votes, meaning that under BIE rules there was no need to organize a second round of balloting. Riyadh’s victory comes after a long campaign to convince BIE delegates via a diplomatic offensive and opulent events. Saudi Arabia was particularly proactive in approaching other countries to propose investment opportunities, according to B...

Harvard, Penn and MIT presidents to testify before Congress on antisemitism

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:56:23 GMT

New York (CNN) — The presidents of Harvard University, MIT and the University of Pennsylvania are scheduled to testify before Congress next week at a hearing on antisemitism on campus, lawmakers announced Tuesday.The hearing, set for December 5, will be held by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. It comes as tensions have surged on some college campuses following the October 7 terror attacks by Hamas against Israel.Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx, who chairs the committee, is vowing to hold university leaders accountable for antisemitism in the wake of Hamas attack and amid the Israel-Hamas war.“College administrators have largely stood by, allowing horrific rhetoric to fester and grow,” Foxx said in a statement. “College and university presidents have a responsibility to foster and uphold a safe learning environment for their students and staff. Now is not a time for indecision or milquetoast statements.”According to the House committee, ...

Mystery homicide victim identified after 4 decades

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:56:23 GMT

The Bristol County District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday that they had determined the identity of an individual whose remains had been unidentified since they were found in Fairhaven in 1985.Using a genetic profile developed from DNA recovered from the remains, investigators were able to use forensic genetic genealogy to identify the victim as Keith Olsen, of Cranston, RI. Olsen was reported missing shortly after he was last seen on April 15, 1981. He was 27 at the time of his disappearance.Four years after his disappearance, on April 8, 1985, skeletal remains of a male were found by a driver stopped in the westbound breakdown lane of I-195 in Fairhaven, just past the Mattapoisett town line.Investigators at the time located nothing that could help them identify the skeleton, which showed evidence of inflicted trauma; the cause of death was determined to be a homicide.Authorities made multiple attempts to identify the individual through scientific efforts and appeals to ...

Justin Fields delivers late for Chicago Bears. Brad Biggs’ 10 thoughts on the win — the team’s 1st vs. NFC North foe in more than 2 years.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:56:23 GMT

10 thoughts on the Chicago Bears after their first win against an NFC North foe for Matt Eberflus and the club’s first since Nov. 25, 2021 — more than two years.You cannot make any sweeping conclusions from the final result Monday night at U.S. Bank Stadium after Cairo Santos knocked a 30-yard field goal through with 10 seconds remaining to lift the Bears to a 12-10 victory over the Minnesota Vikings. You can’t do it if you’re resisting the element of weekly referendums on coach, quarterback and others. But, boy, everyone involved needed this outcome.1. Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell was asked about the conservative approach and second-guessing the play caller is one of the first orders of business after a loss, right?Minnesota just had its second takeaway in just more than six minutes of the fourth quarter when safety Josh Metellus stripped quarterback Justin Fields and recovered the ball on the Bears’ 43-yard line.The Vikings just gone up 10-9 on...

Thanksgiving rescue: Baby sea lion saved from highway

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:56:23 GMT

CORONADO, Calif. -- Police officers in the City of Coronado made a unique and very cute rescue on Thanksgiving.A baby sea lion was attempting to cross State Route 75 near Leyte Road, a portion of highway that connects Coronado to Imperial Beach, when some good Samaritans stopped to help the baby animal cross the road. Full Moon: When to see November’s full beaver moon City of Coronado police officers arrived to rescue the little guy on Thanksgiving and were able to get it in a crate, but the animal had other ideas. When officers let the sea lion out of the crate at the ocean shoreline, it decided it didn't want to go and crawled back into the crate and refused to move, a post on the City of Coronado Police Department's Facebook page read. Hoodmaps San Diego: This crowdsourced map stereotypes cities SeaWorld San Diego arrived to take the little guy in and named it "Gobble" as the rescue happened on Thanksgiving. To report a sick, injured, entangled, or stranded live animal in S...