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With new team and beard, Aaron Hicks off to hot start with Orioles: ‘It allows me to be myself’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:59 GMT

Aaron Hicks looked different when he arrived in Baltimore.The Orioles saw plenty of Hicks for the eight years he played for the New York Yankees, but after he signed with Baltimore last week, he showed up to his new clubhouse with a new look.No longer having to abide by the Yankees’ strict no facial hair policy, Hicks has let his stubble grow out into a trimmed beard. But the change in appearance isn’t the only thing different with the veteran outfielder.The new-look Hicks is off to a torrid start in Baltimore, hitting .368 with a 1.087 OPS in his first six games as the fill-in for the injured Cedric Mullins.“If I keep hitting, I guess I gotta keep it,” Hicks said with a laugh.His facial hair isn’t the only thing that’s more relaxed. Hicks was released by the Yankees on May 26 after persistent struggles that date to 2021, but now he feels like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders.“I can just go play,” Hicks said. “I’v...

EU launches legal action against Poland over new Russian influence law

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:59 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union on Thursday launched legal action against member country Poland over a contentious new law that the nationalist government claims is meant to combat Russian influence but which critics say could be used to persecute opposition politicians.The European Commission said it believes that the new law “unduly interferes with the democratic process,” and that it “violates the principle of democracy,” and “rights to effective judicial protection.” The EU’s executive branch supervises respect of the bloc’s laws.The law was passed in May, ahead of expected general elections in autumn, and allows for the creation of a committee to investigate Russian influence in Poland. Critics argue that it would have unconstitutional powers, including the capacity to exclude officials from public life for a decade.It appears to have galvanized public support for the opposition. Over the weekend, around 500,000 people took part in a huge anti-government protest, according t...

No homecoming for Messi as Barcelona again fails to do enough to lure him back

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:59 GMT

MADRID (AP) — Once again, Barcelona couldn’t do enough to entice Lionel Messi.Nearly two years after the club was forced to let Messi go against his will because of its financial struggles, Barcelona again missed out on a chance to bring the World Cup winner back.The 35-year-old Messi announced Wednesday he would not return to Spain and instead said he was going to join Inter Miami in Major League Soccer.There had been hopes of a reunion between the Argentina great and the Spanish club where he thrived for nearly two decades before leaving to join Paris Saint-Germain, but in the end there was only more disappointment for both sides.Again, Barcelona’s finances kept the club from luring Messi back.The Argentine apparently wanted to return but didn’t want to go through the ordeal of not knowing whether the Catalan club would be able to sign him. He said he was told the club would have to either sell other players or lower salaries, and he didn’t want that to happen.“I reall...

Russia says top UN court should dismiss Ukraine’s case over Crimea and terrorism funding

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:59 GMT

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Russia urged judges at the United Nations’ highest court on Thursday to throw out a case brought by Ukraine against Moscow over the 2014 annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and the arming of rebels in eastern Ukraine before Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.“We appear before you today in order to demonstrate that Ukraine’s application must be dismissed because it is without any legal foundation. Nor does it have any factual evidence to back it,” Russian Ambassador to the Netherlands Alexander Shulgin told judges at the International Court of Justice.Lawyers for Ukraine said as hearings in the case opened Tuesday that Russia bankrolled a “campaign of intimidation and terror” by rebels in eastern Ukraine starting in 2014 and sought to replace Crimea’s multiethnic community with “discriminatory Russian nationalism.”Ukraine filed the case in 2017, asking the world court to order Moscow to pay reparations for attacks and crimes such as the ...

Knife attacker injures children, several others in French Alpine town

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:59 GMT

An attacker with a knife wounded children and adults in a town in the Alps on Thursday before he was quickly arrested, France’s interior ministry said.Interior Minster Gerald Darmanin said the attack took place in a square in the lakeside town of Annecy. In a short tweet, he said police have detained the attacker.“Several people including children have been injured by an individual armed with a knife in a square in Annecy,” he tweeted.An Interior Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak about the developing situation, said four children and two adults were wounded. The official cautioned that the number of wounded could evolve because the full details weren’t yet clear. The official said he had no details about the gravity of the injuries.A local lawmaker, Antoine Armand, tweeted that children were attacked on a playground. He called the attack “abominable.”In Paris, lawmakers interrupted a debate to hold a moment ...

Zelenskyy visits area flooded by destroyed dam as five reported dead in Russian-occupied city

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:59 GMT

KHERSON, Ukraine (AP) — Five residents of a Russian-occupied city next to a breached dam have died in massive flooding triggered by the catastrophe, its Kremlin-appointed mayor said Thursday, the first official report of deaths from one of the largest environmental crises since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine more than 15 months ago. Vladimir Leontyev, the Russian-appointed mayor of Nova Kakhovka, told Russian state TV that two other people who had gone missing following Tuesday’s dam breach had been found, and efforts were underway to evacuate them. Officials say at least 4,000 people have been evacuated from both the Russian and Ukrainian-controlled sides of the Dnieper river, which has become part of the front line between the fighting forces.On the Ukrainian-controlled western bank, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived Thursday to evaluate the response to damage caused by the dam breach. He wrote on his Telegram account that he was helping assess efforts to evacuate civi...

Europe’s economy has shrunk. For households that are hurting, it’s just numbers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:59 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The European economy contracted slightly at the end of last year and beginning of 2023, revised figures showed Thursday, underlining the impact of the loss of Russian natural gas and high inflation on consumer spending.The economic growth figure for the 20 countries that use the euro currency was revised down from zero to minus 0.1% for the fourth quarter of 2022. The number for the first three months of this year also was downgraded from scant 0.1% growth to minus 0.1%.That means the eurozone endured two consecutive quarters of declining output, which is one definition of recession often used in political and economic discussions, dubbed a “technical” recession. However, the economists on a panel that declares eurozone recessions use a broader set of data, including unemployment figures. European labor markets have held up relatively well to recent economic shocks. Unemployment is at its lowest level since before the creation of the euro in 1999, hitting 6.5% in April...

Blinken announces $150M in aid for Syria, Iraq at Saudi conference on combatting Islamic State group

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:59 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday that the U.S. would provide nearly $150 million in aid for areas in Syria and Iraq that were liberated from the Isamic State extremist group.He spoke at a ministerial conference hosted by Saudi Arabia on combatting the group, which no longer controls any territory — but whose affiliates still carry out attacks across Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS includes more than 80 countries and continues to coordinate action against the extremist group, which at its height controlled large parts of Syria and Iraq. Blinken said the U.S. pledge is part of new funding amounting to more than $600 million.“Poor security and humanitarian conditions. Lack of economic opportunity. These are the fuel for the kind of desperation on which ISIS feeds and recruits,” he said, using a common acronym for the extremist group. “So we have to stay committed to our stabilization goals.”Blinken ...

Bomb explodes in Afghanistan during a memorial ceremony for a Taliban official

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:59 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A bomb exploded Thursday in Afghanistan’s northeastern Badakhshan province during a memorial ceremony for a deputy governor who was killed in another blast two days earlier, a Taliban official said.The latest explosion occurred near Nabawi mosque during a funeral for Mawlavi Nisar Ahmad Ahmadi, the deputy governor of Badakhshan. He was killed by a car bomb on Tuesday alongside of his driver in Faizabad, the capital of Badakhshan.Moazuddin Ahmadi, the provincial director of information and culture, confirmed the explosion but couldn’t provide other detail. He said there are casualties and an investigation is ongoing.Local sources who spoke on condition of anonymity say the blast happened inside the mosque where Taliban officials and local people attended the memorial ceremony.The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s car bombing that killed deputy governor and his driver. Ten people were also wounded in the blast.Ahmadi was wounded in the exp...

Tipping backlash: These Americans are giving the least in 2023, study finds

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:59 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – From tip screens at self-serve airport kiosks to 30% suggested amounts at coffee shops, tipping in 2023 has a majority of Americans fed up, a new survey found.A Bankrate survey of 2,437 U.S. adults, ages 18 to 77, found that people in the U.S. are, on average, tipping less for everyday services in 2023 than in years prior, with some even saying they don't tip at all when it comes to haircuts, rideshares and even sit-down restaurants.“Few topics elicit as many passionate opinions as tipping,” Bankrate Senior Industry Analyst Rossman said. “There’s so much confusion regarding who to tip, and if so, how much. A lot is changing, as technology makes it easier to tip some people and harder to tip others – as travelers who are short on cash can attest.” Why are the default tipping screens set so high? While 66% of Americans have a negative view of tipping, according to the study, some are hitting "no tip" on the swivel tablet more than others. Men, Gen Zers, and millennials a...