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Pope creates 21 new cardinals who will help him to reform church and cement his legacy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:28 GMT

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis presided over a ceremony Saturday to create 21 new cardinals, including key figures at the Vatican and in the field who will help enact his reforms and cement his legacy as he enters a crucial new phase in running the Catholic Church.Among the new cardinals are the controversial new head of the Vatican’s doctrine office, Victor Manuel Fernandez, and the Chicago-born missionary now responsible for vetting bishop candidates around the globe, Robert Prevost.Also receiving red hats were the Vatican’s ambassadors to the United States and Italy, two important diplomatic posts where the Holy See has a keen interest in reforming the church hierarchy. Leaders of the church in geopolitical hotspots like Hong Kong and Jerusalem, fragile communities like Juba, South Sudan, and sentimental favorites like Cordoba, Argentina, filled out the roster.The ceremony in St. Peter’s Square took place days before Francis opens a big meeting of bishops and lay Catholics on c...

Este soldado perdió una pierna en una mina terrestre. Tras meses de rehabilitación en Ucrania y México, ahora está de vuelta en el frente

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:28 GMT

(CNN) — Un grupo de soldados ucranianos avanza rápidamente por un campo de entrenamiento de primera línea, superando obstáculos y disparando a objetivos lejanos. Están afinando sus habilidades de batalla aquí, mientras la contraofensiva de Ucrania contra las fuerzas rusas se desarrolla a pocos kilómetros al sur.Destaca un combatiente, Danilo, al que solo se identifica por su nombre de pila por motivos de seguridad. Es rápido y preciso, pero sus movimientos son diferentes.Una mirada más revela la razón de su ligera cojera: tiene una prótesis en el lugar donde solía estar la parte inferior de su pierna derecha.“Todavía estoy recuperando el estado que tenía antes”, dice Danilo a CNN con una sonrisa de satisfacción. “Todavía queda mucho trabajo por delante (…) Y aún más para llegar al estado perfecto”.Danilo perdió una pierna durante la explosión de una mina terrestre. (Crédito: Vasco Cotovio/CNN)Danilo perdió la parte inferior de su pierna derecha a ...

Collingwood beats Brisbane to win record-equaling 16th Aussie rules football title

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:28 GMT

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The Collingwood Magpies won a record-equaling 16th Aussie rules title with a thrilling four-point win over the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League grand final on Saturday.Bobby Hill kicked a career-best four goals in the Magpies’ 12.18 (90) to 13.8 (86) victory in front of 100,024 fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.Jordan De Goey kicked the go-ahead goal with five minutes to play before Collingwood hung on in the desperate final stages after losing key defender Nathan Murphy to a concussion before halftime.It was the Magpies’ first AFL premiership since 2010.___AP sports: https://apnews.com/sportsSource

NATO builds up forces in Kosovo as tensions with Serbia rise

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:28 GMT

NATO said on Friday it is increasing its peacekeeping presence in northern Kosovo as a result of escalating tensions with neighboring Serbia, as the U.S. called on Serbia to withdraw a military build-up on the border with Kosovo.The heightening of tensions comes after about 30 heavily armed Serbs stormed the northern Kosovo village of Banjska last Sunday. A Kosovo policeman and three of the attackers were killed in gun battles.“We need NATO because the border with Serbia is very long and the Serbian army has been recently strengthening its capacities,” Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti told the Associated Press. “They have a lot of military equipment from both the Russian Federation and China,” he said.“These people want to turn back time,” Kurti said. “They are in search of a time machine. They want to turn the clock back by 30 years. But that is not going to happen,” he said.Kosovo declared independence in 2008, but Belgrade and Moscow have ref...

With playoff bye, Orioles will soon receive 5 straight days off — as many as the last 8 weeks combined: ‘It’s huge’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:28 GMT

Over the past quarter-century, only once had the Orioles won their division. Perpetually battling beneath the behemoth New York Yankees and company, Baltimore took home a lone American League East title — in 2014 — in that time frame.But after defeating the Boston Red Sox, 2-0, on Thursday night, the Orioles locked in not only the divisional crown, but the best record in the American League, the club’s first time with that distinction since 1997. It’s Baltimore’s best baseball season in decades and the party in the Camden Yards bleachers carried into the clubhouse and the city.But now that the beer-covered plastic from the locker room celebration has been tossed aside and champagne has been shampooed out of hair, the practicality of the accomplishment comes into focus. Yes, the Orioles have added another divisional title.More pressingly, though, they will soon get to rest.As one of the AL’s top two division winners, the Orioles will not have...

Jabrill Peppers living up to first-round billing in second season with Patriots

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:28 GMT

FOXBORO — The season Jabrill Peppers is having with the Patriots is a perfect example of why Bill Belichick likes to roll the dice on one-time high draft picks.There is — sometimes — potential to be untapped in a former top prospect, and that seems to be exactly what Belichick has done with Peppers.But the 2017 first-round pick deserves most of the credit for how he’s turned his career around since tearing his ACL in 2021. And it probably helps that Peppers is his younger self’s own worst critic.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots extra points: Bill Belichick on ‘love’ for Terry Francona New England Patriots | The Patriots’ final practice before Cowboys game brings more good news New England Patriots | Pharaoh Brown recalls Bill O’Brien blocked his workout with Patriots years ago New England Patriots | Patriots mailbag: Could young receiver take snaps from JuJu Smith-Schuster? New Eng...

Cyprus hails Moody’s two-notch credit rating upgrade bringing the country into investment grade

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:28 GMT

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus on Saturday hailed a two-notch upgrade by credit ratings agency Moody’s to bring the east Mediterranean island nation back into investment-grade territory a decade after a financial crisis left the country on the brink of bankruptcy.President Nikos Christodoulides said he was “deeply satisfied” with the upgrade that he said was the culmination of years of fiscal discipline and will translate into attracting quality foreign investment and creating new jobs.“We unwaveringly continue on this path as a government … and so we will carry on with our governance,” Christodoulides said in a written message. “We will carry on buttressing our economy and expanding its dynamic course.”Moody’s said in its statement the upgrade from Ba1 to Baa2 with a concurrent change in outlook from positive to stable is due to previous and continuing economic, fiscal and banking reforms, as well as a significant drop in bad bank loans.The agency pointed to “sustained structural im...

Death toll from Pakistan bombing rises to 54 as suspicion falls on local Islamic State group chapter

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:28 GMT

QUETTTA, Pakistan (AP) — The death toll from a bombing in southwestern Pakistan as people celebrated the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday rose to 54 after two critically wounded patients died in hospitals overnight, officials said Saturday. A suspected suicide bomber or bombers blew themselves up Friday among a crowd in the Mastung district. It was one of the deadliest attacks targeting civilians in Pakistan in months. Nearly 70 people were wounded, including five who remain in very critical condition, authorities said. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack in Mastung, a district of Baluchistan province. But suspicion is likely to fall on the Islamic State group’s regional affiliate, which has claimed previous deadly bombings around Pakistan. IS carried out an attack days earlier in the same area after one of its commanders was killed there. Also Friday, a blast ripped through a mosque located on the premises of a police station in Hangu, a district in the northwestern K...

St. Paul high school coach charged with sexual contact with 15-year-old student

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:28 GMT

Prosecutors charged a St. Paul high school volleyball coach Friday with sexual contact with a 15-year-old student.Officers were called to Como Park Senior High School Thursday on a report of criminal sexual conduct and met with a teen who said Keng Cha, 29, “engaged her in sex on four occasions” from last fall to this month, according to a criminal complaint.She said that Cha had started texting her last year and, after about a month, asked her for sexual favors and nude videos. They had sex in the backseat of Cha’s vehicle and the last time was in the back parking lot of the high school on Rose Avenue, the complaint said.As officers were talking to the teen in the school office area, Cha sent texts to her, including one that asked, “Did you say anything to anyone about us?” the complaint said.Officers learned Cha was at the school with the athletic director, who was terminating his employment with the school district. Police took Cha into custody. He told po...

Horoscopes Sept. 30, 2023: Marion Cotillard, do something that makes you happy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:28 GMT

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Lacey Chabert, 41; Marion Cotillard, 48; Jenna Elfman, 52; Fran Drescher, 66.Happy Birthday: Recap your money management over the years, and you’ll discover a pattern that needs to be tweaked. Incorporate physical activity into your everyday routine, encouraging a healthier lifestyle. Be passionate about life, love and the things you decide to pursue. It’s your life, and it’s up to you to do something that makes you happy. Rid yourself of people and situations that bring you down. Your numbers are 3, 7, 22, 28, 35, 39, 43.ARIES (March 21-April 19): Recognize and separate good from evil. Speed things up to ensure you finish what you start and honor your promises. Share your feelings and intentions with someone you want to work with or have by your side. Make romance a priority. 3 starsTAURUS (April 20-May 20): Refuse to let emotions and temptation stand between you and the goal you want to reach. Put thought into your plans and turn the...