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Pogacar hits the ground during Stage 17 of the Tour de France, but he gets back on his bike

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:59:00 GMT

COURCHEVEL, France (AP) — Two-time Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar crashed early in Stage 17 in the Alps on Wednesday but got back on his bike and continued racing.Pogacar, who trailed race leader Jonas Vingegaard by 1 minute, 48 seconds at the start, hit the ground a few kilometers into the 166-kilometer (103-mile) trek. He fell off at a moderate speed on an uphill section near the foot of the Col des Saisies after apparently touching the wheel of a rider in front of him.Pogacar was quickly back on his bike and continued racing to rejoin the main contenders, including Vingegaard, before a group of breakaway riders moved away from the pack.Stage 17 to the ski resort of Courchevel has been dubbed the Queen Stage of this year’s Tour. The last of four climbs is a 28.4-kilometer (17.6-mile) slog up Col de la Loze, before sweeping downhill to the finish line.Vingegaard, the defending champion after he dethroned Pogacar last year, destroyed the field in Tuesday’s time tr...

Surveillance video captures vandal breaking into Verizon store, stealing merchandise inside

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:59:00 GMT

A cell phone store was subjected to vandalism before the criminals left behind a trail of destruction and stolen merchandise. Surveillance footage from the scene captured the moments when a man, driving a white car, initiated the break-in by hurling a rock at the store window around 1:30 a.m., Wednesday.The targeted store, a Verizon located along the 9900 block of Southwest 40th Street, fell victim to the assailant’s destructive act. After the subject threw the rock, the windows shattered and he was able to gain access to the store. The aftermath revealed the extent of the damage, with the window completely smashed, leaving shards of glass scattered on the floor. Rows of cell phone displays were stripped bare, highlighting the intent of the criminal.Shantalle Guzman who works at the store expressed her dismay and inconvenience caused by the incident. “It’s a scary situation,” she said. “Inconvenienced now, I got to get the window fixed. You know, I woul...

The world’s most powerful passport for 2023 revealed

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:59:00 GMT

(CNN) — The jiggling and jostling atop the global passport rankings for 2023 just got a little more interesting.For five long years, Japan has been sitting pretty in the No.1 position in the Henley Passport Index, which measures global travel freedom in terms of how much visa-free and visa-on-demand access to the world different citizens enjoy.But for summer 2023, Japan’s been knocked down into third place and the new titleholder is Singapore, whose citizens are able to visit 193 destinations out of 227 around the world visa-free.And while Asia has long dominated the top of the leaderboard in the index created by London-based global citizenship and residence advisory firm Henley & Partners, Europe is bouncing back. Germany, Italy and Spain have all moved up into second place with visa-free access to 190 destinations, while Japan and South Korea are joined in the No.3 slot by Austria, Finland, France, Luxembourg and Sweden. Citizens from that particular magnificent seven enjoy ac...

Dog and his owners honored for helping recapture escaped inmate in Pennsylvania

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:59:00 GMT

WARREN, Pa. (WSVN) — Ron and Cindy Ecklund, along with their loyal canine companion, Tucker, were honored for their instrumental role in the recapture of escaped inmate Michael Burham. He told the couple he was camping before they realized who he was.The incident unfolded in the quiet suburbs of Pennsylvania when the Ecklunds discovered the unexpected presence of Michael Burham in their own backyard. The escapee, who had managed to evade authorities, found himself seeking refuge in a residential neighborhood.Cindy recounted the adrenaline-charged moments when they encountered Burham. “The second he stood up, we knew, like all of you, the pictures were everywhere,” said Cindy. “There is no way you could not look at him and know who it was. And at the time, we were told he was armed; he could be armed and dangerous, so it was our exit; you know we wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.”Although Ron saw the inmate, it was Tucker whose sharp barkin...

Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer fight over spiraling NHS waiting lists at PMQs

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:59:00 GMT

Prime minister’s questions: a shouty, jeery, very occasionally useful advert for British politics. Here’s what you need to know from today’s session in POLITICO’s weekly run-through.Housekeeping note: After two weeks in a row of low-energy battles between deputies Oliver Dowden and Angela Rayner at PMQs, Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer returned to the fray today. Don’t get used to seeing them though — the Commons will rise tomorrow for a six-week recess.What they sparred about: Politics is all about the pledges in 2023. On the day some actual progress was made towards one of Sunak’s core pledges to halve inflation, Starmer pressed the PM on another key promise: lowering NHS waiting lists, which are currently higher than they have ever been. What Sunak wanted to talk about: The PM tried to blame long health service waits on strikes in the public sector — and said Starmer should “unglue himself from the fence” and decide if he supports them or not.What Starmer wan...

Putin to dodge summit in South Africa over arrest warrant

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:59:00 GMT

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who faces an international arrest warrant for war crimes committed in Ukraine, will not attend a summit of BRICS countries in South Africa next month, the South African presidency said Wednesday.“By mutual agreement, President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation will not attend the Summit but the Russian Federation will be represented by Foreign Minister, Mr Sergey Lavrov,” the South African government said in a statement.In March, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against Putin over the forced transfer of children to Russia after the invasion of Ukraine.The warrant put South Africa — which has enjoyed a historically close relationship with Russia, and has refused to cut ties with the Kremlin — in a tight spot.As a signatory to the ICC, it would have been bound to enforce the warrant and arrest Putin if he visited the country for a planned leaders’ summit of the BRICS countries — Bra...

UK apologizes to veterans for LGBT ban as damning review published

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:59:00 GMT

LONDON — British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak apologized to LGBT people who were prevented from serving in the country’s military, as a damning review found a decades-long ban had left “a stain on the illustrious history of the U.K.’s armed forces.”Speaking in the House of Commons as a state-ordered review of the impact of the 1967-2000 ban was published, Sunak criticized “an appalling failure on the British state, decades behind the law of this land.”“As today’s report makes clear, many endured the most horrific sexual abuse and violence, homophobic bullying and harassment, all whilst bravely serving this country,” the U.K. prime minister said. “Today, on behalf of the British state, I apologize.” While homosexuality was partly-decriminalized in England and Wales in 1967, the British military continued to regard it as incompatible with service until the turn of the century. The report, chaired by retired judge and member of the Hou...

Everything the chief of MI6 told us about Russia, China and AI today

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:59:00 GMT

On the 55th anniversary of the Prague Spring, the head of Britain’s secret intelligence service sat down with POLITICO’s Anne McElvoy — a journalist with deep experience reporting from behind the Iron Curtain — to talk about Russia, Wagner warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin, China and AI in spycraft.In the rare exclusive interview, Richard Moore issued a thinly-veiled recruitment call to Russians who’ve become disillusioned with their leadership while assessing that President Vladimir Putin was “under pressure” internally after a mutiny by mercenaries exposed his weakness.“Join hands with us — our door is always open,” Moore — known as “C” inside the agency — said in a speech at a POLITICO event hosted by the British embassy in Prague.The MI6 chief, who rose to lead the agency in 2020 after a career in diplomacy, repeatedly referred to Prague’s history as a center of resistance against Russian dominance as a parallel to current times. While the...

Reliever Evan Phillips ‘wasn’t quite ready’ for the Orioles’ land of opportunity. He’s seized it with the Dodgers.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:59:00 GMT

Evan Phillips walked into the manager’s office at Triple-A Norfolk’s Harbor Park in the summer of 2021, knowing one of two outcomes awaited him.He allowed himself to be hopeful, to think that his boyhood team, the Orioles, needed him again and he was getting called back up. Phillips’ numbers with Norfolk weren’t ideal, but he felt he had thrown better of late and believed he could contribute something to a team heading to the bottom of the major league standings for the second time in four years.Instead, that early August meeting was to inform Phillips of his release, his time with Baltimore ending just after his three-year anniversary of joining the organization he had rooted for since being born on the Eastern Shore.Nearly two years later, he’s made it back to Camden Yards, returning this week as the Los Angeles Dodgers’ closer and one of the best relievers in baseball.“Baltimore will always be special to me,” Phillips said from the ...

B.C. port strike returns, docs show nuke plans getting updated: In The News for today

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:59:00 GMT

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed on what you need to know today.Strike resumes, shutting down B.C. ports againBritish Columbia’s ports are facing an uncertain future after the longshore workers union rejected a tentative mediated deal and resumed strike action that had been put to a temporary halt only last week.The International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada says in Tuesday’s decision to go back to picket lines that “employers have not addressed the cost of living issues” faced by workers in the last few years.The union representing about 7,400 workers who were previously on strike from July 1 to 13 says its priority has always been to protect its jurisdiction, and that position “has not changed.”A late-night joint statement was released by the Minister of Labour, Seamus O’Regan, and Transport Minister Omar Alghabra, confirming the employers’ association agreed to the terms ...