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Saudi sports minister says 2034 World Cup could be hosted in summer or winter despite desert heat

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:28 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — Saudi Arabia is looking into the possibility of hosting the 2034 men’s World Cup during the traditional months of June-July despite daily temperatures above 100 degrees F (38 C), according to the desert kingdom’s sports minister.In a rare interview since FIFA fast-tracked the 2034 tournament toward Saudi Arabia in October, Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Faisal told British broadcaster BBC that either a summer or winter tournament was possible.“Definitely we are studying both options to see what is the best option to host the World Cup,” the sports minister said in an interview in Jeddah published Friday.The assumption since the Saudi bid became the only 2034 candidate several weeks ago has been that the 48-team tournament will be played in November and December just as the 2022 tournament was in Qatar.In June, the average high temperatures are more than 104 F (40 C) in Riyadh and 100 F (38 C) in Jeddah by the Red Sea. In November, the averages are about 90 F...

US employers add a solid 199,000 jobs and unemployment falls, signaling a still-sturdy labor market

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:28 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s employers added a solid 199,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate fell, fresh signs that the economy could achieve an elusive “soft landing,” in which inflation would return to the Federal Reserve’s 2% target without causing a steep recession.Friday’s report from the Labor Department showed that the unemployment rate dropped from 3.9% to 3.7%, not far above a five-decade low of 3.4% in April. The unemployment rate has now remained below 4% for 22 straight months, the longest such streak since the late 1960s.November’s job gain was a reminder that many employers continue to hire, though last month’s increase was inflated by the return of about 40,000 formerly striking auto workers and actors, who were not at work in October but returned in November.The jobs report and other recent data portray an economy and a labor market that, while still sturdy, are downshifting back to pre-pandemic norms. Businesses are still hiring but are less desper...

Bradley Cooper atiende una “foodtruck” de comida en Nueva York

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:28 GMT

(CNN) — Bradley Cooper puede añadir “sandwichero” a su currículum.La estrella de la película “Maestro” les dio a algunos neoyorquinos un auténtico regalo con algunos philly cheesesteaks y, por supuesto, con él mismo, mientras trabajaba en una “foodtruck” o gastroneta de comida en West Village este miércoles.Cooper preparó y sirvió sándwiches junto a Danny DiGiampietro y Seth Braunstein de Angelo’s Pizzeria del sur de Filadelfia, su ciudad natal. El camión se llama Danny & Coop’s Cheesesteaks.En Instagram, DiGiampietro llamó a Cooper “un talento natural” en el negocio de la venta de comida.Laura Dern y Gigi Hadid se unieron a la fila mientras Cooper trabajaba.Cooper, quien protagonizó a un maestro chef en “Burnt” de 2015, también sirvió a personas no famosas en su hora de almuerzo.Los cheesesteaks cuestan diez dólares y las ganancias se destinan a organizaciones benéficas de alimentación.“El 100% de las ganancias de hoy ...

Former Jacksonville Jaguars employee accused of stealing more than $22 million has ‘serious gambling addiction,’ says lawyer

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:28 GMT

(CNN) — The former employee of the Jacksonville Jaguars who has been accused of stealing more than $22 million from the NFL team to fund a lavish lifestyle suffers from a “serious gambling addiction,” according to his lawyer.According to court documents filed in US District Court this week, Amit Patel is accused of wire fraud and illegal monetary transaction, stealing millions via the team’s virtual credit card (VCC) system over a four-year period.In a statement sent to CNN on Thursday, Patel’s attorney Alex King said that his client is “deeply remorseful and apologizes for his conduct” and that “approximately 99% of the funds misappropriated from the Jaguars’ VCC were gambling losses.”Patel primarily used the money to bet on football gambling websites, according to King, who added that “the losses were most significant in the final months leading up to the NFL’s investigation.”King said that shortly after his firing from the Jaguars in early 2023, Patel checked into a rehabilitatio...

Merkel moves further away from politics

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:28 GMT

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel has stepped back from the policy group linked to her center-right Christian Democrats. “I have simply outgrown this role,” Merkel said, according to people close to her, German news outlet Der Spiegel reported Friday. In late summer, Norbert Lammert, chairman of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), wanted to convince Merkel to run for the organization’s board. Merkel not only declined the offer, but she also left the CDU-affiliated think tank altogether. After being in office as chancellor for 16 years, Merkel retired from politics in 2021. Instead, she said she would try to focus on sleeping and reading. Merkel remains a member of the Christian Democrats.

EU must accept there won’t be a united Cyprus, Turkish Cypriot leader says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:28 GMT

NICOSIA — The EU is missing the point with cycles of diplomacy focused on a federal unification of Cyprus and has to accept a two-state solution on the divided island, Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar says.“They [the EU] keep doing the same thing, nothing is changing,” Tatar said in an interview with POLITICO in his office in Cyprus’ divided capital. “Federal settlement plans have been discussed for 50 years; nothing has been achieved. The United Nations knows this, Europeans know this, and they come up every six months with the same thing: that you should sit at the table to discuss Cyprus settlement on a federal basis.”Cyprus has been divided into a Turkish Cypriot north and a Greek Cypriot south since Turkish forces invaded in 1974, in response to a Greek-backed coup. Ankara does not recognize the Republic of Cyprus, an EU member state that is otherwise recognized internationally as the sole sovereign authority over the whole island. The Turkish Cypriot north is recognize...

Astronaut Frank Rubio lost a valuable tomato in space. But his colleagues just found it

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:28 GMT

(CNN) — Perhaps nowhere in the universe is a fresh, ripe tomato more valuable than on the International Space Station, where astronauts live for months at a time subsisting mainly on prepackaged, shelf-stable goods.That’s why astronaut Frank Rubio became the central figure in a lighthearted whodunnit that has taken months to solve.After Rubio harvested one of the first tomatoes ever grown in space earlier this year, according to the astronaut, he admitted he misplaced it.“I put it in a little bag, and one of my crewmates was doing a (public) event with some schoolkids, and I thought it’d be kind of cool to show the kids — ‘Hey guys this is the first tomato harvested in space,’” Rubio said during an October media event. “I was pretty confident that I Velcroed it where I was supposed to Velcro it … and then I came back and it was gone.”In the microgravity environment of space, anything not anchored to a wall is at risk of floating away — destined to spend eternity hidde...

Bill Belichick opens up about what Army-Navy Game at Gillette Stadium means to him

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:28 GMT

With the Patriots’ Week 14 game out of the way, head coach Bill Belichick can direct his full attention to another meaningful matchup scheduled in his backyard this weekend.The annual Army-Navy game will take place at Gillette Stadium on Saturday at 3 p.m. Belichick will be involved in the festivities as the guest picker on ESPN’s “College GameDay.”Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots teammate defends JuJu Smith-Schuster after breakout game New England Patriots | Ezekiel Elliott draws unique praise out of Bill Belichick after Patriots win New England Patriots | Patriots’ Bailey Zappe explains where his confidence comes from after Week 14 win New England Patriots | Callahan: Patriots’ upset in Pittsburgh feels bittersweet in the big picture New England Patriots | Bailey Zappe leads Patriots to 21-18 win over Steelers with impressive first half And it’s the first time in years that B...

Healey nominates Mass. Solicitor Elizabeth Dewar to serve on Supreme Judicial Court

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:28 GMT

Gov. Maura Healey nominated state Solicitor Elizabeth “Bessie” Dewar to serve on the state’s highest court Friday, clearing one of two Supreme Judicial Court picks the governor was handed this year.Dewar will fill outgoing Justice Elspeth Cypher’s seat, who plans to retire on Jan. 12, 2024 after serving as an associate justice on the Supreme Judicial Court for nearly seven years.Healey said Dewar is a “consensus builder who has significant experience working with the Supreme Judicial Court and also a deep passion for the important work that the court does.”“She is a true student of the institution, and I am confident that she is the right person to fill this seat in this pivotal moment for the court,” Healey said in a statement.All seven members of the court were selected by former Gov. Charlie Baker, stretching back to Associate Justices Frank Gaziano and David Lowy, whose oaths were administered days apart in August 2016.Advocates quickly praised Healey’s nomination of Dewar...

Bailey Zappe’s impressive win still not enough for Bill Belichick to name him Patriots future starting QB

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:28 GMT

It would be a major shock if Bailey Zappe was not the Patriots’ starting quarterback next Sunday against the Chiefs.But Bill Belichick still won’t announce that decision.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots teammate defends JuJu Smith-Schuster after breakout game New England Patriots | Ezekiel Elliott draws unique praise out of Bill Belichick after Patriots win New England Patriots | Patriots’ Bailey Zappe explains where his confidence comes from after Week 14 win New England Patriots | Callahan: Patriots’ upset in Pittsburgh feels bittersweet in the big picture New England Patriots | Bailey Zappe leads Patriots to 21-18 win over Steelers with impressive first half “I’m not gonna get into the future plans right now,” Belichick said Friday morning. “We have a little bit of extra time this weekend. We’ll kind of recalibrate things a little bit. But certainly Bailey’s done a good job....