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Manchester City signs Croatia center-back Joško Gvardiol from Leipzig

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:04 GMT

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Manchester City signed Croatia center-back Joško Gvardiol from Leipzig for 90 million euros ($99.2 million) on Saturday, ranking him among the most expensive defenders in soccer history.The 21-year-old Gvardiol, known as “Little Pep” because of his name’s likeness to City manager Pep Guardiola, is one of the most highly rated defenders in the world and enhanced his reputation with impressive performances for Croatia at the World Cup last year.He signed a five-year contract with City, which won a treble of trophies last season: the Premier League title, Champions League and FA Cup.“Anyone who saw Manchester City play last season knows they are the best team in the world,” Gvardiol said. “To win the treble says everything you need to know about the quality this team has. To be joining City is something very special for me and my family.”At Leipzig, Gvardiol won the German Cup in back-to-back seasons and played in the Champions League.The tr...

Vigil held as search for missing Greenbelt teacher continues

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:04 GMT

(new Image()).src = "https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=9be9c680-c459-4acb-af21-654a2ccca384&cid=c2ffed0c-3624-46c0-b10f-97c976d290a3";cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "9be9c680-c459-4acb-af21-654a2ccca384",mediaId: "58249e08-8f17-4c01-b7cc-6bca2011cd13"}).render("ac6ecdb4a0ea4bb3b0118b672726f714"); });Still holding out hope that a missing Maryland teacher might be found, the Greenbelt community gathered Friday night to rally around each other in honor of 60-year-old Mariam Toure.Toure, who also goes by the name of Mariam Sylla — or “Madam Sylla” as she’s known by students — is a teacher at the Dora Kennedy French Immersion School in Greenbelt.Saturday marks one week since she mysteriously disappeared.“It’s going to be a burden that all of us carry until she is back home,” said Teria Cason, a parent who has had children enrolled at the French Immersion School for 10 years running. “The hardest part is not having closure, not knowing...

Can the Orioles win the World Series for the first time in 40 years? The 1983 team sure thinks so.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:04 GMT

There aren’t many similarities between the 1983 Orioles and the 2023 Orioles.The old club was veteran-laden with a new manager, a few Hall of Famers and an established pedigree as one of the best teams in the major leagues for the previous two decades. The current team is youth-driven, catapulting itself out of a rebuild and into relevance.But former center fielder Al Bumbry, one of the approximately 20 players from the 1983 team back in Baltimore this weekend to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the franchise’s last championship, said these Orioles have something those Orioles also had.“I think the biggest thing that we all talk about is the camaraderie that the players had, the connections that the players had,” Bumbry said. “Everybody’s rooting for the other players, there’s not a whole lot of individual guys and it’s not displayed in the way they play. The best teacher or the best guide of success is winning, and they’ve star...

‘Monster hunters’ wanted in new search for the mythical Loch Ness beast

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:04 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The Loch Ness Centre in Scotland is calling for “budding monster hunters” and volunteers to join in what it dubs the largest search for the Loch Ness Monster since the 1970s.The visitor attraction said this week that modern technology such as drones that produces thermal images of the lake will “search the waters in a way that has never been done before.”The new surface water search for the fabled “Nessie,” planned for the weekend of Aug. 26 and 27, is billed as the largest of its kind since the Loch Ness Investigation Bureau studied the loch for signs of the mythical beast in 1972. The Loch Ness Centre is located at the old Drumnadrochit Hotel, where in 1933 manager Aldie Mackay reported spotting a “water beast” in the loch, the largest body of freshwater by volume in the United Kingdom and one of its deepest. The story kicked off an enduring worldwide fascination with finding the elusive monster, spawning hoaxes and hundreds of eyewitness accounts. Numerous theories ...

Ukrainian drones hit a Russian tanker near Crimea in second sea attack in a day

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:04 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian drones hit a Russian tanker in the Black Sea near Crimea late Friday night, according to Russian officials and video circulating on social media.The strike was the second sea attack involving drones in one day, after Ukraine struck a major Russian port earlier on Friday in an attack that underlined Kyiv’s growing naval capabilities as the Black Sea becomes an increasingly important battleground in the war.The attacks follow Russian strikes on Ukrainian ports after Moscow nearly three weeks ago withdrew from a key grain-export agreement that allowed Ukraine to sell millions of tons of grain on world markets.“The Sig tanker…suffered a hole in the engine room near the waterline on the starboard side, presumably as a result of a sea drone attack,” Russia’s Federal Agency for Marine and River Transport wrote on Telegram, adding that there were no casualties among the 11 crew members.Vladimir Rogov, a Kremlin-installed official in Ukraine’s partially o...

Bill Blair says he oversaw culture change at Toronto police, not everyone agrees

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:04 GMT

OTTAWA — As he settles in to the corner office in Ottawa’s National Defence headquarters, Bill Blair is feeling pretty comfortable in his new role. This is his fourth ministerial job since 2018, when he was put in charge of border security and organized crime reduction. Blair has also overseen the departments of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness — roles where he’s been in close contact with the military. “I want to make sure that they have the support, the resources, the training, the equipment that they need in order to be there for Canadians,” Blair said in an interview.Anita Anand’s departure as defence minister less than two years after she took over, pledging to change the military’s culture and tackle the sexual misconduct crisis that had seen a slate of top generals removed from their positions, came as a surprise to many. When the cabinet shuffle was announced, she and Blair both seemed prepared to respond to questions about t...

Hundreds visit Red Lake dispensary on first day of recreational marijuana sales

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:04 GMT

By Daltyn LofstromRED LAKE, Minn. — Tuesday marked a historic occasion for the Red Lake Nation and the state of Minnesota as people from near and far visited Red Lake’s NativeCare dispensary for the first day of recreational marijuana sales in the state.As the first dispensary to open up shop in the entire state, several hundred eager patrons waited in line for a chance to step inside NativeCare once 11 a.m. rolled around.Foot traffic inside the dispensary was limited to a few people at a time while everyone else waited outside. While initially met with blue skies, a torrential downpour dampened the day by the afternoon.However, the rain did not extinguish the excitement, as hardly anybody stepped out of line and instead held tarps above their heads, determined to keep their hard-earned spots.“I was handing out tar paper, trash bags, rain suits, anything we had available,” Red Lake Tribal Secretary Sam Strong said after the rain subsided, “but nobody moved. We had a canopy to stand ...

Ask Amy: Flights to the family cabin become nail-biters

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:04 GMT

Dear Amy: My wife and I are lucky in semi-retirement to have a cabin in the mountains, a two-hour flight away. We visit this property about once a month.We also take a two-week vacation in Europe each year.The problem: I like to be at the airport with time to spare, so I don’t mind sitting for even an hour before boarding.My wife, on the other hand, loves to cut it close.It’s like she goes into slow motion at home the day of the flight.She seems to find a million last-minute things to do. I always volunteer to help get them done.We have missed one flight outright and at least three or four others each year are nail biters (we leave the luggage in the car in order to make the flight!).We solved a monthly family gathering issue of how long to stay by taking separate cars. I can leave after two hours, she can stay four or five, but a solution to the flying issue eludes us.One of us can’t really get on a plane without the other.After the missed flight she did better fo...

Bridge: Aug. 5, 2023

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:04 GMT

“Simple Saturday” columns focus on basic technique and logical thinking.If you want to procrastinate, there is no time like the present. Drawing all the missing trumps is often a priority for declarer, but many reasons exist to wait — maybe indefinitely.At today’s five clubs, South ruffed West’s second high heart and took the A-K of trumps, hoping to draw all four missing trumps. West failed to cooperate by pitching a diamond, so South shrugged and conceded a trump to East.TOP SPADESSouth won the diamond return and took his A-K-Q of spades, but East discarded. South ruffed a spade with dummy’s last trump, but his fifth spade was a loser. Down one.When a defender remains with a sole outstanding high trump, declarer usually tends to his other business, ignoring that missing trump. After South takes the A-K, he must abandon trumps. He cashes the top spades, ruffs a spade, leads a diamond to his hand and ruffs his last spade. The defense gets one trum...

Horoscopes Aug. 5, 2023: Jesse Williams, set high standards

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:04 GMT

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Lolo Jones, 41; Jesse Williams, 42; Jonathan Silverman, 57; Maureen McCormick, 67.Happy Birthday: Explore the possibilities, but don’t sign up for something that stresses your budget or interferes with what’s important to you. Balance and integrity will be necessary when faced with peer pressure or unreliable people. Aim to nurture what’s good in your life, and set high standards and goals that help you reach your dreams. Make peace a priority. Your numbers are 8, 15, 21, 29, 33, 38, 44.ARIES (March 21-April 19): Simplify your life, make plans that aren’t taxing, stick to a budget and surround yourself with people you love. Refuse to let anyone complicate your life or coerce you into something you don’t want to pursue. Protect yourself financially, emotionally and physically. 3 starsTAURUS (April 20-May 20): Let your intelligence override temptation. Someone will lure you down a path that can taint your reputation. Control ...