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Alex Palou dismisses ‘dominance’ of IndyCar despite 3 wins in his last 4 races

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:51 GMT

Alexander Rossi had bounced back from a mediocre weekend at Road America to turn some of the fastest laps in the opening IndyCar practice at Mid-Ohio when he was asked how one week transfers to the next — good or bad.“Just because you were good last weekend,” Rossi replied, “doesn’t mean you’re going to be good this weekend.”Unless you’re Alex Palou. Then you’re good every weekend.The 26-year-old Spaniard has won three of the past four races with the only outlier a fourth-place run in the Indianapolis 500, and he has yet to finish outside of the top 10 this season with two more top-five runs at Barber and Long Beach. The consistency coupled with the frequent trips to victory lane has Palou a whopping 74 points ahead of Marcus Ericsson in the standings.Oh, and he’s been on the podium his last two starts at Mid-Ohio with second- and third-place runs.“I wouldn’t say that it’s dominant, honestly. I would say that the points tha...

Adam Yates beats twin brother Simon Yates to win first stage of Tour de France

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:51 GMT

BILBAO, Spain (AP) — The Tour de France began with a family celebration in Basque Country.Adam Yates pulled away from his twin brother Simon Yates to win the Tour’s first stage on Saturday, with race favorites Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard finishing not far behind.The Yates brothers escaped to the front with about seven kilometers (four miles) to go and Adam had the strongest finish to take the initial yellow jersey in the three-week race that began in Basque Country territory in northern Spain.Adam and Simon Yates ride for different teams but joined forces to break away from the pack. Adam eventually pulled away in the final uphill stretch with about 400 meters (last quarter of a mile).“We worked together,” Adam Yates said. “I speak to him every day, we are close. To share this experience with him was really nice. I’m speechless, super happy.”Adam Yates has never won a Grand Tour race but also held the leader’s yellow jersey during the 2020 Tour de France. Simon Yates wo...

Macron postpones state visit to Germany as France braces for more turmoil

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:51 GMT

French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday postponed a long-planned state visit to Germany to deal with the worsening turmoil in France, in a clear sign of the gravity of the violent protests gripping the country.The killing of a 17-year-old of North African descent by a police officer on Tuesday has thrown France into chaos, sparking violent demonstrations in the Paris suburb of Nanterre, where the teen was shot. The violence has spread to other big cities.According to the latest estimates by France’s Interior Ministry, up to 1,300 rioters were arrested in the night between Friday and Saturday.The Élysée confirmed that Macron and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier spoke on the phone on Saturday, agreeing to postpone the high-level visit. “Given the internal situation, the president has indicated that he wishes to be able to stay in France for the next few days,” according to a statement. “The two presidents therefore agreed to postpone the visit to Germany to a later date,”...

Proud Boys members ordered to pay over $1 million in ‘hateful and overtly racist’ church destruction civil suit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:51 GMT

(CNN) — Members of the right-wing extremist group, the Proud Boys, have been ordered to pay more than a million dollars as part of a civil suit judgment involving the destruction of property in December 2020 at the predominantly Black campus of the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church in Washington, DC.DC Superior Court Judge Neal E. Kravitz approved Friday’s default judgment against Proud Boys members Joseph R. Biggs, Enrique Tarrio, Jeremy Bertino and John Turano, as well as the group’s limited liability corporation.In a blistering order, Kravitz described the “highly orchestrated” and “hateful and overtly racist conduct” from members of the Proud Boys during the “attack” on the Metropolitan AME church, in which a Black Lives Matter sign owned by the church was allegedly destroyed.CNN has reached out to attorneys for Tarrio and Biggs for comment on the judgment, and is attempting to locate attorney information for the other named defendants.A request...

Nets’ best trade offer for Damian Lillard includes four first-round draft picks

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:51 GMT

Four first-round picks, first-round pick swaps, second-round picks — and matching salary.It’s the best trade package the Nets can put together in a potential deal for Damian Lillard.The Portland Trail Blazers’ superstar guard ended a years-long charade when his official trade request became public on Saturday afternoon. The Nets are among the teams that have been linked to a potential deal with the Trail Blazers, alongside the defending Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat and a sudden Western Conference wild card: the San Antonio Spurs.The soon to be 33-year-old Lillard has a strong relationship with Brooklyn’s franchise cornerstone, Mikal Bridges, and Portland’s perennial All-Star has been linked to the Nets ever since Bridges was dealt as part of the Kevin Durant deal.Acquiring Lillard would immediately vault the Nets back into championship contention. Brooklyn would still have assets to strike subsequent deals to bolster the roster around a new tr...

Bruins make Milan Lucic signing official

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:51 GMT

The Bruins have been very busy on free agency on Saturday, signing five players while staying firmly in the bargain section of the market.According to multiple reports, the B’s signed forward James van Riemsdyk to a one-year, $1 million contract.The 34-yer-old right left wing played the last four years back with the team that had originally drafted him second overall in 2007, the Flyers. Last season, van Riemsdyk had just 12-17-29 totals in 61 games, but he had 24 goals the season before. His highest goal total came in 2017-18 when he had 36 for the Maple Leafs.If Tyler Bertuzzi signs elsewhere as expected, the 6-foot-3, 208-pound van Riemsdyk would serve as a decent replacement as the net-front presence on the power play. That is an area of the game in which he excels.The B’s have also reportedly signed 24-year-old right shot center Morgan Geekie, who had his best season in 2022-23 in Seattle with 9-19-28 while playing 10:27 per game. The signing was reportedly for two ...

Rooming house revival: Canadian cities look to single-room homes amid housing crunch

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:51 GMT

MONTREAL — Rooming or boarding houses are regaining favour with some Canadian cities as a way to offset a lack of affordable homes, but experts warn there are pitfalls to the once-popular form of urban housing.On Tuesday, Montreal executive committee member Benoit Dorais told reporters that the city was applying its right of first refusal to purchase about 100 privately owned rooming houses, in which a person rents a single private room, and shares amenities such as bathrooms or kitchens. The move means the city has the right to match an offer to purchase them if they come for sale. He said Montreal had already purchased four of the homes and was looking to buy more, describing them as “the principle solution to fight homelessness.” “Generally this is what you can afford, and that’s why it’s the last step before you’re going in the street,” he said. Dorais was at the unveiling of a new rooming house that will become home for 20 vulnerable wo...

Venus Williams is back at Wimbledon at age 43 and ready to play on Centre Court again

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:51 GMT

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Asked two days before her 24th Wimbledon begins whether she’s still excited to play tennis at this level, Venus Williams quickly answered: “It’s so much fun.”The next question Saturday was about being on tour without her younger sister, Serena, who wrapped up her career at last year’s U.S. Open. The reply: “Not as much fun.”There is still a big-swinging, Grand Slam-winning member of the Williams family in women’s tennis, and it’s 43-year-old Venus, who recently returned to action after about five months away with a hamstring injury she called “a nightmare.”That followed a 2022 in which she participated in just four contests — all in August or September, meaning she missed the season’s initial three Grand Slam tournaments, including Wimbledon — and a 2021 in which she accumulated only a dozen.“I haven’t played a lot of matches in the last few years, and not by choice. I wanted to be here and I couldn’t,” said the elder Williams, who will meet two-time major ...

US land managers call off pesticide spraying near the Rio Chama to kill invasive grasshoppers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:51 GMT

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Federal land managers have called off plans to spray pesticides near the Rio Chama in northern New Mexico as part of an effort to eradicate invasive grasshoppers. The decision announced Thursday by the Bureau of Land Management followed an outcry by environmentalists and others who worried that dispersing 670 gallons (2,536 liters) of carbaryl — a potent neurotoxin — would also kill bees, monarch butterflies and other insects vital to the area’s ecosystem. Although the U.S. Agriculture Department conducted an environmental assessment earlier this year, the Bureau of Land Management said additional analysis and outreach was needed. “Due to the time needed to carry out additional analysis, the project cannot be achieved this season and will no longer take place. We will continue to work on this important issue in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service,” said Pamela Mathis, the BLM’s Taos field manage...

2 men charged after young girl bitten by loose dogs in Scarborough

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:51 GMT

Two men have been charged after a young girl was attacked and bitten by two dogs in Scarborough earlier this week.Police say a woman and her daughter were walking on Midland Avenue near Lawrence Avenue East around 7:15 a.m. on June 28 when they were attacked by two guard dogs that had escaped from a nearby business. Police previously confirmed that the girl was bitten by at least one of the dogs and was taken to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. Police did not provide the age of the young girl but paramedics believe she’s approximately five or six years old.Police have arrested 39-year-old Noor Ashaqzai and 51-year-old Abdulrahman Zmarai and charged both with criminal negligence causing bodily harm. The men are scheduled to appear in court on August 8. The attack came more than a month after parents of students at Rawlinson Community School near Oakwood Avenue and St. Clair Avenue West were warned about multiple reports of dogs off leashes attacking people aft...