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Turkey’s Erdogan slams peacekeepers for blocking road project in Cyprus and accuses UN force of bias

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:36:58 GMT

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s president on Monday criticized U.N. peacekeepers for blocking the construction of a road in ethnically divided Cyprus, calling the action “unacceptable” and accusing the peacekeeping force of bias against Turkish Cypriots.Speaking after a Cabinet meeting, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would not allow any “unlawful” behavior toward ethnic Turks on Cyprus, where his country maintains more than 35,000 troops in the Mediterranean island nation ’s breakaway northern third.Angry Turkish Cypriots last week punched and kicked a group of international peacekeepers that blocked crews working on a road that would encroach on the island’s U.N.-controlled buffer zone. The road is designed to connect the village of Arsos, located in the Turkish Cypriot north, with the multi-ethnic village of Pyla, which is located inside the buffer zone and abuts the Greek Cypriot south, where the island’s internationally recognized government is seated.“Preventin...

Cheems Balltze, the internet’s cheeseburger-loving dog, has died

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:36:58 GMT

Ball Ball, better known to his internet fans as Cheems Balltze Ball Ball, better known to his internet fans as Cheems Balltze (CNN) — Cheems Balltze, a little dog whose smiling face and stocky physique went viral in memes about his passion for cheeseburgers, has died after a short battle with cancer.The 12-year-old Shiba Inu, also known as Ball Ball, underwent thoracentesis surgery on Friday but never woke up, his owner, Kathy, wrote in a post on Instagram. She said Ball Ball was set to receive further treatment for his cancer after the operation.The chubby dog with a “round smiling face” was loved by many, his owner said. She asked fans not to be sad but instead to “remember the joy that Balltze brought to the wo...

Harbaugh informs team he will serve 3-game suspension for NCAA violations, AP sources say.

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:36:58 GMT

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh has informed his team and staff that he will serve a three-game suspension to start this season as part of the school’s self-imposed penalties for NCAA infractions, two people familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on Monday. The people spoke to AP on condition of anonymity because the school was notifying the NCAA of its intentions and preparing an official announcement.A suspension would take Harbaugh off the sideline for the second-ranked Wolverines’ home games against East Carolina, UNLV and Bowling Green. He will be permitted to coach the team during the week, as per NCAA rules.Michigan had proposed a four-game suspension as part of a negotiated resolution to the case, but the NCAA’s committee on infractions reportedly declined to accept that proposal.Michigan self-imposing a penalty does not end the case, which could still go to a hearing before the COI and take months to be resolved.Michigan received notice earlier this y...

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh tells team he will serve a three-game suspension to start this season, AP sources say

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:36:58 GMT

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh tells team he will serve a three-game suspension to start this season, AP sources say.Source

Barcelona’s American defender Dest moves to PSV on loan until end of season

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:36:58 GMT

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Barcelona reached a deal to loan American defender Sergiño Dest to Dutch club PSV Eindhoven on Monday until the end of the season.Barcelona said PSV has an option to make the transfer permanent, while the Spanish club “reserves the right to a percentage of any future sale of the player.” The percentage was not disclosed.The Netherlands-born Dest will join fellow American Ricardo Pepi, the forward who joined PSV last month on a five-year contract. “PSV were in touch with me every day and expressed a keen desire to get me on board, which was a good feeling,” Dest said. “I’m still the same player but I’ve gained a lot of experience and I’ve hopefully acquired a higher efficiency. I can’t wait to make my debut.”PSV’s technical director is former U.S. international Earnie Stewart.“Sergiño Dest was keen to join us, which we obviously liked,” Steward said. “He is a very skilful and creative defender who can help the team with his explosive power an...

FLPD continues investigation into carjacking, kidnapping incidents

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:36:58 GMT

The Fort Lauderdale Police Department (FLPD) is still investigating two kidnapping and carjacking incidents that occurred in the downtown area last week after authorities apprehended a suspect on Friday. The first carjacking and kidnapping incident happened in a downtown parking lot on Saturday morning, where the subject robbed a couple at gunpoint while they were sitting in their car. The driver escaped while a woman in the passenger seat was driven away by the subject. A similar incident happened on Friday morning before police officers passed out flyers, featuring a sketch of the person of interest. Residents in the community were urged to contact Crimestoppers if they had any information about the incident. Although authorities have found similarities between the occurrences, definitive connections and the identity of the suspect remain uncertain at this time. Moments after police distributed the flyers, several police departments engaged in a pursuit of a vehicle that...

Miami man arrested in Key Largo for boat theft

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:36:58 GMT

A 22-year-old Miami man wanted for boat theft in Broward County, found himself in custody after an arrest by the Monroe County Sheriff in Key Largo on Sunday.According to MCSO, Cristian Urquiza Valdes is facing more than just the boat theft allegations. In addition to the Broward County warrant, he was charged with possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.Acting on received information that Urquiza Valdes might be located in Monroe County, the Sheriff’s Office conducted an operation leading to his arrest. The arrest occurred on U.S. 1 near Mile Marker 98.2, involving a Ram truck, around 3:50 p.m.During the investigation, authorities discovered a small quantity of marijuana inside the vehicle.Urquiza Valdes was taken into custody and subsequently transported to jail.

Driver dies in Belchertown crash that damaged home, parked cars

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:36:58 GMT

A 19-year-old man died Sunday after a crash that also damaged a home and multiple cars in Belchertown, state police said. State police in a statement said a trooper first tried to stop the 19-year-old driver of a Nissan Altima around 8:45 p.m. Sunday evening on the southbound side of Route 202. Police said the driver sped away.Citing a preliminary investigation, police said the car appeared to have later hit a mulch bed further down Route 202 and launched into the air before hitting a rock wall, a large tree and a light post. Police said the Altima hit another car parked in the driveway of a nearby house and ultimately came to rest outside the house after hitting one of the structure’s exterior walls. The crash, police said, ejected the driver from his car and threw the car’s engine block into the second floor of a second nearby home. A third car was also damaged.Police said the driver was pronounced dead at the scene. He had not been publicly identified as of Monday...

After 48 years and an author’s true crime book, police make arrest in Pennsylvania cold case

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:36:58 GMT

Amanda Yeager | The Baltimore Sun (TNS)BALTIMORE — Joanna Sullivan remembers the helicopter on a hot summer day.Sullivan was 9, going on 10 years old, on Aug. 15, 1975, when another young girl, Gretchen Harrington, went missing in her hometown of Broomall, Pennsylvania. Gretchen, who was 8, disappeared while walking from her house to vacation Bible school.Sullivan and her friends were at the pool when they heard the police helicopter whirring overhead. It was an unusual event in the Philadelphia suburb, also known as Marple Township, and 48 years later, she said, “the memory is so clear.”Gretchen’s body was found two months later and her death was ruled a homicide. But the case remained unsolved and the mystery stuck with Sullivan, now editor-in-chief of the Baltimore Business Journal, who decided during the coronavirus pandemic to dig deeper into Gretchen’s disappearance. Last October, she published a book, “Marple’s Gretchen Harrington Tragedy: Kidnapping, Murder and Innocence Los...

The Yankees are right where they’re supposed to be

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:36:58 GMT

The Yankees haven’t won in more than a week, are 11-22 in the second half and are on pace for their worst season since 1992.And they’re right where they’re supposed to be.That’s according to the Pythagorean winning percentage formula, the tried-and-true formula that uses a team’s run differential to calculate what its record should be. Following Sunday’s loss — the Yankees’ eighth in a row — they fell to 60-64, right in line with the Pythagorean expected win-loss record of 59-65.That formula has largely found the Yankees’ record to align with their offensive and pitching production all year. When Aaron Judge went down with a toe injury on June 3, the Yankees were 35-25 against an expected 34-26 record. On July 4, the Yankees’ actual 48-38 record again nearly mirrored their expected 47-39 mark.Coming off a 99-win season and an American League East title, the Yankees expected to be back in the World Series mix in 2023 w...