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Messi’s status for US Open Cup final on Wednesday remains unclear

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:11:19 GMT

Lionel Messi’s status remains unclear for Inter Miami’s U.S. Open Cup final match against Houston on Wednesday night.The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner was subbed out of a match against Toronto on Sept. 20 in the first half because of a leg issue, and did not play in the team’s 1-1 tie at Orlando on Sunday. That was the third match he missed in its entirety — two for club, one for country — in the last two weeks.Messi was not on the field for the portion of a training session that was available to reporters on Tuesday. Speaking at a post-practice news conference at the team’s headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Inter Miami coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino said no decision on Messi’s status will be made before Wednesday.“It’s a handicap when you don’t have the best player in the world,” Inter Miami midfielder Sergio Busquets said.The nature of Messi’s leg problem remains unclear. Fatigue was originally cited for Messi’s absences, an...

FIFA moving 100+ jobs to Coral Gables from Zurich as legal department transfers to 2026 World Cup base

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:11:19 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — FIFA is moving more than 100 jobs from its Swiss headquarters to Florida, where a growing workforce is already working on organizing the 2026 World Cup.FIFA informed staff on Tuesday that its entire legal department and the audit, compliance and risk management teams will move from Zurich to Coral Gables near Miami — a city whose status on the global soccer map is growing after Lionel Messi’s move to play in MLS for Inter Miami.“The move is planned to be fully operational in August 2024,” FIFA told staff in an email seen by The Associated Press.“The FIFA office is a permanent office that will share space initially with the (FIFA 2026 World Cup) team at the Coral Gables premises in Florida,” said the email attributed to secretary general Fatma Samoura, who is leaving the world governing body at the end of the year.FIFA previously needed more staff based in the United States after making the organization of World Cups an in-house affair instead of relying on host n...

‘It’s my birthday!’: Hialeah man arrested for birthday hot tub indecency at Key Largo resort

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:11:19 GMT

A man from Hialeah was taken into custody after, officials said, he celebrated his birthday by exposing himself in a hot tub at a Key Largo resort.According to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, 34-year-old Julio Daniel Rodriguez Coipel was taken into custody Monday and is charged with indecent exposure following an incident at the Playa Resort & Spa. Deputies responded just before 7:30 a.m. on August 20 after witnesses reportedly saw Rodriguez Coipel, in the nude, engaging in inappropriate behavior in a hot tub. His actions were within the view of a female employee, officials said.When confronted by a male employee, Rodriguez Coipel reportedly shouted, “It’s my birthday today!” before fleeing on foot toward U.S. 1. Deputies said at some point later, Rodriguez Coipel got into a vehicle and drove back to Miami-Dade County. Throughout their investigation, deputies were able to confirm that August 20 was indeed Rodriguez Coipel’s birthday. That inform...

UEFA to let Russian junior teams back into football competitions

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:11:19 GMT

European football’s governing body UEFA on Tuesday announced it would re-admit Russian youth teams into continental football competitions during this season. Russian international and club teams have been banned by UEFA since the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, but that is now set to change once the governing body finds a “technical solution” for under-17 boys and girls teams.In a statement, UEFA said it is “aware that children should not be punished for actions whose responsibility lies exclusively with adults and is firmly convinced that football should never give up sending messages of peace and hope.“It is particularly aggrieving that, due to the enduring conflict, a generation of minors is deprived of its right to compete in international football,” UEFA added. “For these reasons, the UEFA executive committee has decided that Russian teams of minor players will be readmitted to its competitions in t...

US envoy says Kosovo attack ‘coordinated and sophisticated’

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:11:19 GMT

The United States has concluded that a weekend attack by suspected Serbian militia in northern Kosovo, leaving one officer and three gunmen dead, was intended to destabilize the region and is warning of potential further escalation between the longtime enemies.  “We know it was coordinated and sophisticated,” U.S. Ambassador to Kosovo Jeffrey M. Hovenier told POLITICO, adding the gunmen appeared to have had military training. “The quantity of weapons suggests this was serious, with a plan to destabilize security in the region.”Kosovo police said a group of about 30 heavily armed Serbs ambushed a police patrol early Sunday, killing one officer and injuring another, before fleeing and taking refuge in a nearby Orthodox monastery. The three gunmen were killed in an ensuing shootout with police and two were arrested. Most of the Serbian gunmen managed to sneak out of the monastery and escape on foot, Kosovo authorities said.Western officials said the incident reflected heightened g...

Official: Germany will impose checks on borders with Poland and Czech Republic

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:11:19 GMT

BERLIN — German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser will announce temporary checks on Germany’s borders with Poland and the Czech Republic in an attempt to curb an influx of asylum seekers, a German official told POLITICO.Faeser plans to announce “temporary controls at selected border crossings” on Wednesday, according to the official. The checks, the official added, will begin “within the next days.”German leaders have come under increasing pressure to crack down on asylum seekers entering the country, many of whom are now crossing over the borders of Poland and the Czech Republic. Some 204,000 people requested asylum in Germany within the first eight months of 2023, 77 percent more than the same period last year.

Poland moves to extradite Ukrainian SS veteran who was applauded in Canada

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:11:19 GMT

Poland’s Education Minister Przemysław Czarnek said Tuesday he has “taken steps” toward extraditing Yaroslav Hunka, a 98-year-old Ukrainian Nazi veteran who was honored by Canadian parliamentarians last week.During Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to Canada last Friday, House Speaker Anthony Rota introduced Hunka as a Canadian-Ukrainian war hero, prompting a standing ovation from parliamentarians.But the tribute triggered a wave of criticism from Jewish organizations, advocacy groups and leaders across the world, because Hunka fought with the First Ukrainian Division — also known as the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division, which served under command of the Nazis in Adolf Hitler’s World War II fight against Russia’s Red Army.“In view of the scandalous events in the Canadian Parliament, which involved honoring, in the presence of President Zelenskyy, a member of the criminal Nazi SS Galizien formation, I have taken steps towards the possible extradition...

Reports of odor lead to evacuation at elementary school in Rowley

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:11:19 GMT

Students are back in class at Pine Grove Elementary in Rowley after reports of a strange odor prompted staff to evacuate the building.Posting on the school’s Facebook page, officials said the building was evacuated around 10 a.m. after “an odor of natural gas” was noticed in the school’s music room.All children and personnel were able to evacuate as authorities began to investigate the matter, according to the school. One student and one staff member were taken to a hospital out of what officials said was an abundance of caution.After sweeping through the area, the Rowley Fire Department later determined there was no natural gas leak in the building.By 11:30 a.m., students were allowed back into the building.In an update, officials said the source of the odor was traced to an HVAC unit on the building’s roof. The school added that multiple HVAC units were turned off as a result and would remain off until they were fully-evaluated.

Dighton police chief charged with insider trading will resign

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:11:19 GMT

DIGHTON, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts police chief charged with insider trading that allegedly netted a group of men more than $2.2 million in illegal profits will resign.Dighton Police Chief Shawn Cronin is among five men charged in the insider trading scheme. Dighton Board of Selectmen Chairman Peter D. Caron said in a statement Tuesday that Cronin will resign Saturday.“On behalf of the community, the Board would like to thank Chief Cronin for his dedicated service to the Police Department, the Town, and its residents,” Caron said.According to federal investigators, Dighton reserve officer Joseph Dupont, a friend of Cronin, was vice president of Boston-based Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. when he learned that the firm was going to purchase another company, Portola Pharmaceuticals Inc. Dupont allegedly told Cronin about the deal in April 2020, before it was made public.Alexion’s acquisition of Portola, which is based in South San Francisco, California, was publicly announced on the ...

US government and 17 states sue Amazon in landmark monopoly case

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:11:19 GMT

(CNN) — The US government and 17 states are suing Amazon in a landmark monopoly case reflecting years of allegations that the e-commerce giant abused its economic dominance and harmed fair competition.The groundbreaking lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission and 17 attorneys general marks the US government’s sharpest attack yet against Amazon, a company that started off selling books on the internet but has since become known as “the everything store,” expanding into selling a vast range of consumer products, creating a globe-spanning logistics network and becoming a powerhouse in other technologies such as cloud computing.The complaint alleges Amazon unfairly promotes its own platform and services at the expense of third-party sellers who rely on the company’s e-commerce marketplace for distribution.For example, according to the FTC, Amazon has harmed competition by requiring sellers on its platform to purchase Amazon’s in-house logistics services in order to secure the best ...