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Sophia Smith scores go-ahead goal as Portland edges North Carolina 2-1, takes over top spot in NWSL

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:16:57 GMT

Sophia Smith wasted little time in her return from the Women’s World Cup, scoring the go-ahead goal one minute after taking the pitch as a second-half substitute in Portland’s 2-1 victory over North Carolina on Sunday in Portland, Oregon.The win lifted Portland (8-4-4) over North Carolina (8-6-2) in the league standings, with 28 points to 26 points for the Courage, and capped the league’s weekend return to action after breaking for the Women’s World Cup.Smith, a member of the U.S. Women’s National Team and reigning NWSL MVP, chased down a pass from Morgan Weaver and converted from short range in the 69th minute.The Thorns were a player down for most of the match after Kelli Hubly was shown the red card in the 17th minute. North Carolina took advantage when Tyler Lussi converted the free kick. The goal was allowed following a VAR review.Portland tied the score in the 41st minute when Hannah Betfort right-footed a shot from the right side of the six-yard ...

Giakoumakis, Guzan lead Atlanta United to 2-0 win over Sounders

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:16:57 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — Giorgos Giakoumakis scored a goal in each half, Brad Guzan saved two shots to earn a clean sheet and Atlanta United defeated the Seattle Sounders 2-0 on Sunday night as the league returned to action after a five-week layoff for Leagues Cup play. Giakoumakis helped Atlanta United (10-7-8) grab the lead for good when he took a pass from defender Brooks Lennon and scored in the 11th minute. Giakoumakis added an insurance goal in the 65th minute, using Thiago Almada’s assist to score for a 12th time this season. Giakoumakis is in a four-way tie for second place, one behind the 13 goals of reigning MVP Hany Mukhtar of Nashville SC. Almada has 11 assists this season, second only to the 12 of FC Cincinnati’s Luciano Acosta.Atlanta United earned its second victory in its last 13 matches away from home. It is the first road win for either club in the series. Three of the five previous meetings ended in draws and both teams owned 2-1 victories at home. Atlanta Unite...

Women’s World Cup champion Spain poised for long run among soccer elite with talented young team

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:16:57 GMT

SYDNEY (AP) — Newly crowned Women’s World Cup champion Spain has established itself for a long run among soccer’s elite with its young and talented roster of rising stars.La Roja defeated England 1-0 in Sunday’s final for their first major tournament title. Over the course of the month-long event, Spain played through the turbulence of last year’s player rebellion and the injury-diminished role of two-time Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas. Aitana Bonmati, at just 25 years old, solidified her credentials as a top midfielder, and 19-year-old forward Salma Paralluelo proved to be a rising global star. “I know that this is the dream we’ve had since we were little. So right now it is difficult to comprehend. But when we get home, we’ll really know what we did,” Paralluelo said. “It’s something huge.”Spain joined Germany as the only two nations to win both men’s and women’s World Cup titles and Bonmati spoke about inspiring a g...

Bahamas stuns Argentina, moves closer to Paris Olympic basketball berth

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:16:57 GMT

SANTIAGO DEL ESTERO, Argentina (AP) — Bahamas has never sent its men’s basketball team to the Olympics. The island nation is one step closer to changing that.Eric Gordon scored 27 points, Buddy Hield added 17 and Bahamas stunned Argentina 82-75 to win one of the five Olympic pre-qualifying tournaments that were wrapping up around the world Sunday.The win sends Bahamas into another Olympic qualifying tournament in July 2024, one that will bring with it a chance to qualify for next summer’s Paris Games. Deandre Ayton had 10 points and 21 rebounds for Bahamas in the win over Argentina.Argentina — Olympic champions in 2004 — will miss the games for the first time since 2000.Other pre-qualifying tournament winners Sunday included Cameroon, Bahrain, Croatia and Poland.Cameroon was an 80-74 winner over Senegal to win in Nigeria; Bahrain finished 5-0 in a tournament in Syria; Croatia got 22 points and 11 rebounds to beat Turkey in another final; and Poland got past Bosnia and Herzegovina 76...

You can keep your money! Tory voters less keen on foreign investment, according to poll

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:16:57 GMT

LONDON — Conservative voters are now more protectionist in their views about foreign investment than Labour or Liberal Democrat voters, according to polling seen by POLITICO.The figures are a part of a set of polling results which show that the British public as a whole has grown wary of foreign direct investment (FDI) into Britain, particularly from China.New polling from communications and advisory firm Hanbury Strategy revealed that the average 2019 Labour voter was 51 percent positive about a foreign firm buying a British firm, while a 2019 Conservative voter was 47 percent positive.The average Lib Dem voter was 56 percent positive, according to the poll.The polling also shows that 39 percent of Conservative voters think overseas companies should not own British companies, compared to 33 percent of Labour voters and 33 percent of Lib Dem voters.Just 27 percent of Brits surveyed said they would be optimistic about foreign interests taking over a domestic company.Sentiment was sim...

Russia, China look to advance agendas at BRICS summit of developing countries in South Africa

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:16:57 GMT

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Russia and China will look to gain more political and economic ground in the developing world at a summit in South Africa this week, when an expected joint dose of anti-West grumbling from them may take on a sharper edge with a formal move to bring Saudi Arabia closer.Leaders from the BRICS economic bloc of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will hold three days of meetings in Johannesburg’s financial district of Sandton, with Chinese premier Xi Jinping’s attendance underlining the diplomatic capital his country has invested in the bloc over the last decade-and-a-bit as an avenue for its ambitions.Russian President Vladimir Putin will appear on a video link after his travel to South Africa was complicated by an International Criminal Court arrest warrant against him over the war in Ukraine. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will be at the summit alo...

More hearings begin soon for Summit’s proposed CO2 pipeline. Where does the project stand?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:16:57 GMT

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Public utility regulators in Iowa will begin a hearing Tuesday on a proposed carbon dioxide pipeline for transporting emissions of the climate-warming greenhouse gas for storage underground that has been met by resistant landowners who fear the taking of their land and dangers of a pipeline rupture.Summit Carbon Solutions’ proposed $5.5 billion, 2,000-mile pipeline network would carry CO2 from 34 ethanol plants in five states to North Dakota for storage deep underground — a project involving carbon capture technology, which has attracted both interest and scrutiny in the U.S.North Dakota regulators earlier this month denied a siting permit for Summit’s proposed route in the state, citing myriad issues they say Summit didn’t appropriately address, such as cultural resource impacts, geologic instability and landowner concerns. On Friday, Summit petitioned regulators to reconsider. Other similar projects are proposed around the country, including...

Zimbabwe’s president, a former guerrilla fighter known as ‘the crocodile,’ is seeking reelection

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:16:57 GMT

HARARE, Zimbabwe — ## Scheduled to move Monday August 21 0600 GMT with photos and video. Initial edit by Gerald Imray. ##HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa is a former guerrilla fighter and bodyguard who responded to being fired as vice president by unseating Robert Mugabe, his own mentor and one of the world’s longest-ruling leaders, in a coup.Mnangagwa is now seeking reelection for a second term as president in a vote this week that could see the ruling ZANU-PF party extend its 43-year hold on power in the southern African nation struggling under international sanctions. Zimbabwe has been governed by ZANU-PF ever since it won independence from white minority rule in 1980.Mnangagwa’s nickname — “the crocodile” — fits well for a man praised by supporters for his political cunning and criticized by others for a ruthless streak.Mnangagwa replaced the autocratic Mugabe as president after a military-led coup in 2017, won a disputed election in 20...

Commission to assess the proposed acquisition of Autotalks by Qualcomm

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:16:57 GMT

The European Commission has accepted the requests submitted by 15 EU member states to assess the proposed acquisition of Autotalks by Qualcomm under the EU Merger Regulation (‘EUMR').These referral requests reached the Commission after it had invited member states to make a referral request. Qualcomm is a global US-based semiconductor manufacturer serving various industries, including the automotive sector where its chipsets enable vehicles to communicate directly with each other and with their surrounding environment (vehicles-to-everything (‘V2X') communications). Autotalks is an Israeli semiconductor manufacturer specialized in V2X semiconductors.The proposed acquisition does not reach the notification thresholds set out in the EUMR, and it was not notifiable in any member state. Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden submitted initial referral requests to the Commission pursuant to Article 22(1) of the EUMR. This provision allows member states to reque...

A bus crashes off the road in central Turkey, leaving 12 passengers dead

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:16:57 GMT

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A passenger bus veered off the road and crashed into a roadside ditch in central Turkey on Monday, killing 12 people and injuring 19 others, officials said.The driver of the bus lost control of the vehicle, which crossed into the oncoming lane and then plunged into the ditch near the central Turkish city of Yozgat, Gov. Mehmet Ali Ozkan said.The bus was traveling from Sivas — some 240 kilometers (150 miles) east of Yozgat — to Istanbul.Ozkan said 11 of the passengers died at the scene of the crash while one died later in the hospital.The injured passengers were being treated in nearby hospitals and one of them was in serious condition, he said.The cause of the crash was under investigation, Ozkan said, adding that it appeared to be the result of “carelessness” by the driver.The Associated Press