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French soccer league struggling with violence, discriminatory chanting and low-scoring matches

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:54:08 GMT

There’s been discriminatory chanting in the stands, a team bus pelted with stones, a game called off because of crowd trouble, and precious few goals on the field. The French soccer league is making headlines for all the wrong reasons this season. And now even the French government is calling for something to be done about it. After 13 rounds of games this season, the number of incidents is worrying officials who have been dealing with an upsurge of violence in stadiums over the past two campaigns. According to Interior minister Gerald Darmanin, more than 100 police officers were injured in soccer-related incidents last season, and 870 people were detained. And there is no sign of abatement. “There’s no other sport with this level of violence,” Darmanin said recently. In October in Montpellier, a match was stopped in added time after fans threw a firework from the stands that landed next to Clermont goalkeeper Mory Diaw. The Senegal player had to be taken off on a stretcher, b...

Al menos tres personas murieron y otras resultaron heridas tras tiroteo en Jerusalén, según autoridades locales

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:54:08 GMT

Autoridades israelíes en el lugar de un tiroteo en Jerusalén el 30 de noviembre. (Foto: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters)Al menos tres personas murieron y seis resultaron heridas tras un tiroteo en Jerusalén este jueves, según las autoridades locales.“Los terroristas son del este de Jerusalén. Iban armados con un fusil M-16 y una pistola. Llegaron con un coche y abrieron fuego contra los civiles”, dijo este jueves el jefe de la Policía, Doron Turgeman.Turgeman añadió que los atacantes fueron abatidos por dos soldados y un civil.Una de las víctimas fue declarada muerta en el lugar de los hechos por el servicio de rescate Magen David Adom, y otras dos fueron declaradas muertas en el hospital Shaare Zedek.En una actualización separada, la Unidad del Portavoz de la Policía de Israel dijo que los atacantes abrieron fuego contra civiles en la estación de autobuses aproximadamente a las 7:40 am hora local de este jueves.El lugar del ataque ha sido acordonado y se está llevando a cabo una b...

Dortmund gaining confidence in Bundesliga after Champions League success. But Leverkusen is up next

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:54:08 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Borussia Dortmund’s success in the Champions League is giving it confidence it can recover its faltering Bundesliga campaign.Dortmund defeated AC Milan 3-1 away on Tuesday to reach the knockout stage of Europe’s premier competition despite a poor start to what many regarded as the toughest group with big-spending Paris Saint Germain and Newcastle.The German team lost 2-0 at PSG in its first game, followed up with a scoreless draw with Milan at home, but recovered with back-to-back wins over Newcastle before Tuesday’s win in Italy.“It’s a real statement to qualify from the group already in the fifth match-day,” Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl said. “Not many believed we could do it.”Part of the reason for that is Dortmund’s patchy form in the Bundesliga so far this season. The team ended a run of three games without a win in the league last weekend with a 4-2 victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach, but had looked set for more disappointment after finding itself...

Baking Connections: How DC is fueling the craze for pastries with an Asian twist

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:54:08 GMT

This is part one of “Baking Connections,” a series on three local bakers and the popular baked goods with Asian flavors they are bringing to the D.C. region.D.C.-area bakers are expanding the palates of pastry lovers by introducing them to baked goods infused with Asian flavors — from pandan coconut doughnuts and black sesame mochi rolls to matcha almond croissants.This bakery niche became incredibly popular nationwide during the COVID-19 pandemic and has been gaining steam in the D.C. area since. WTOP spoke to three bakers who have concocted modern twists on classic recipes and, along the way, built on their unique pastry education to take Asian-inspired baking in completely different directions.The ArtistAt Rose Ave Bakery in Woodley Park, the pastries are artfully displayed behind a glass counter: from the Spam musubi croissants beautifully drizzled with unagi sauce, stuffed with caramelized spam and sprinkled with furikake, to the perfectly sugar-dusted doughnuts with ever-chang...

Tribute band recreates the Beatles' 1964 Red Rocks show

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:54:08 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — The Beatles' first American tour rocked the U.S. in 1964. Now, a band is recreating the experience, which is just about the closest you can get to seeing the iconic Beatles performance at Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre. 1964 The Tribute is a band that pays homage to the Beatles. Using 38 years of research, they captured the essence of the Beatles in the early 60s with period instruments, vintage costumes, hairstyles, mannerisms and voices. They play songs from the pre-Sgt. Pepper era. Full list of concerts at Red Rocks in 2024, so far The band is performing at Red Rocks because it's one of only four original concert sites still remaining from the Beatles' tour in 1964. During their first American tour, their Red Rocks show wasn't a huge hit. This was the only concert on that tour that didn’t sell out.Only three-fourths of the seats sold. Tickets went for $6.60, according to the amphitheater. 10 of the most notable performances at Red Rocks Now, you get a chance ...

Colorado Springs woman has 68 pet tarantulas and counting

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:54:08 GMT

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KXRM) — For many families, a bark or meow greets them at the front door. For one household in Colorado Springs, there are multiple pets inside that are much quieter, but will immediately get your attention.Liz Lopez was determined to conquer her arachnophobia and began to research all things about tarantulas. Soon after, she was confident enough to confront her phobia and adopt her very first pet tarantula. "I bought my very first tarantula back in August of 2020 in my local reptile shop down at Scales 'N Tails," Lopez said. "She is an Arizona Blond Tarantula (Aphonopelma chalcodes) that I still own today." Biden visits Boebert’s district to reject Republican criticism of green policies Research brought reassurance, and that first spider would start the pack and pave the way for many more. "I wanted to overcome my fear. Of course I did research, plenty of research, first before buying one," Lopez explained.Liz Lopez got her first spider to help her get...

EU ambitions are ‘glue’ holding Balkans together, North Macedonia says

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:54:08 GMT

BRUSSELS — North Macedonia’s Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani called on the EU to move faster on integrating the six Western Balkans countries — or risk a return of ethnic conflicts to the region.“North Macedonia is multi-ethnic, multicultural … The only narrative that has subordinated these conflicting narratives and has become a glue for all these narratives is the European Union,” Osmani told POLITICO during a visit to Brussels. “So you have all groups, social, cultural, religious, ethnic, all share the same ideal: the EU,” the foreign minister added.All six countries from the region — North Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and Kosovo — have applied for EU membership, with varying degrees of progress.All countries but Kosovo have been granted candidate status but, in most cases, negotiations to join have been stalled for years.Brussels opened accession negotiations with North Macedonia in July 2022, and the country is currently g...

Matt Hancock at the COVID inquiry: All the cringe-inducing moments

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:54:08 GMT

LONDON — It’s Matt Hancock’s world, we just live in it. Britain’s controversial former health secretary has been rolling with the punches Thursday as he faces a two-day grilling by the official inquiry into the coronavirus pandemic.Hancock — who quit in scandal after a coronavirus rule-breaching affair with an aide was exposed — is a divisive figure in Westminster, and has rarely been out of the headlines since leaving government. An unauthorized reality TV stint saw him kicked out of the Tory party, while the leak of thousands of his private WhatsApps earlier this year shed an unflattering light on the government he served in.He’s also taken heavy flak for his response to the virus in the inquiry — set up to learn lessons — so far. Now he gets to put his side across.Greatest hits include the ex-No.10 Downing Street aide Dominic Cummings calling Hancock a “proven liar;” former Deputy Cabinet Secretary Helen MacNamara claiming Hancock would say things in meetings that “we’d discover ...

Emmanuel Macron to head to Qatar after COP28

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:54:08 GMT

French President Emmanuel Macron will visit Qatar on Saturday after meeting regional leaders at the COP28 in Dubai, with discussions expected to focus on the hostages held by Hamas, according to an Elysée Palace official.The French president will also hold talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Israeli President Isaac Herzog on the sidelines of the climate summit in Dubai.Macron’s visit to Israel, the West Bank, Egypt and Jordan last month was marred by controversy when the president suggested creating a international coalition to defeat Hamas, an idea which rang alarm bells in Arab nations.Macron will be flying to the United Arab Emirates Thursday to meet regional leaders before kicking off his COP28 program Friday afternoon.In Doha, the French president is expected to press Qatar to seek the liberation of more hostages who are being held by Hamas since the October 7 attacks on Israel. Qatar has been playing a mediation ...

UK energy chief reveals Cabinet split over Bidenomics

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:54:08 GMT

LONDON — U.K. Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho has signaled a Cabinet split over Bidenomics, after praising the impact of a massive U.S. green subsidy scheme. Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which has poured hundreds of billions of dollars into subsidies and tax breaks for U.S. clean energy firms, has been widely criticized by senior U.K. government figures including Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch, who branded it “protectionist.”But Coutinho, a close ally of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, told an event on Wednesday night that moves in the U.S. and EU to increase green subsidies are a “welcome thing,” with the potential to drive down prices in the U.K. and elsewhere.Badenoch slammed the IRA in February, arguing it was likely to “create problems with the supply chain for everybody else.” “I don’t think it is a good idea,” she said. The minister stands by her comments, an aide said.“One of the things that we have seen over the past year i...