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Protesters try to disrupt Scottish Grand National horse race

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:51 GMT

AYR, Scotland (AP) — Animal rights protesters attempted to disrupt another big horse race in Britain on Saturday, when several people broke onto the track before the Scottish Grand National at Ayr.As soon as they were on the track, the protesters — some sporting pink Animal Rising T-shirts — were tackled by security staff and police, and the problem was soon brought under control.There was an increased security presence due to last week’s protest at the Grand National at Aintree, where 118 arrests were made by Merseyside Police and Animal Rising protesters were also involved.David Brown, managing director of the Ayr racecourse, praised the swift action of the police and security teams on course.“The police and security dealt with it like the consummate professionals that they are,” Brown said. “The race went off to time, there was no notable delay, and the professionalism of the team up here in Scotland was a credit to them. They dealt with it in a very efficient manner.”...

White Sox sign OF Stephen Piscotty to minor league contract

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:51 GMT

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The Chicago White Sox have signed veteran outfielder Stephen Piscotty to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Charlotte.The signing was announced before the White Sox’s game at the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday.Piscotty, 32, has spent parts of eight seasons in the majors with the St. Louis Cardinals (2015-17) and Oakland Athletics (2018-22). He was signed by the San Francisco Giants in February but was released on March 29.Piscotty has a .255 batting average and .324 on-base-percentage, with 93 homers and 354 RBIs in 726 career MLB games.In 42 games with Oakland last year, Piscotty hit .190 with five homers and 14 RBIs.The Athletics released Piscotty last August to allow for top prospect Shea Langeliers to gain experience down the stretch for the last-place team in the AL West.Piscotty joined the Athletics in a trade from St. Louis before the 2018 season that brought him closer to his home in Pleasanton. His mother, Gretchen, died in Ma...

Leicester out of EPL drop zone after beating Wolves

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:51 GMT

LEICESTER, England (AP) — Leicester ended a 10-match winless run by beating Wolverhampton 2-1 to climb out of the English Premier League relegation zone on Saturday.Thomas Castagne scored the winning goal in the 75th minute for Leicester, which came from behind for its first victory since Feb. 11 and in Dean Smith’s first home game in charge since replacing the fired Brendan Rodgers.Leicester jumped above Everton and Nottingham Forest in the standings and out of the bottom three with six games left.Wolves went in front in the 13th after Youri Tielemens was dispossessed in his own half. Matheus Cunha ran forward and clipped home a curling finish from just outside the area.Leicester equalized in the 37th after Jamie Vardy was brought down by Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa. Kelechi Iheanacho converted the spot kick after a stuttering run-up.___More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_SportsSource

Shannen Doherty files for divorce after 11-year marriage

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:51 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Actor Shannen Doherty of hit shows “Charmed” and “Beverly Hills, 90210” has filed for divorce from her husband, Kurt Iswarienko, after 11 years of marriage, her representative says.“Divorce is the last thing Shannen wanted,” publicist Leslie Sloane said in an emailed statement Saturday. “Unfortunately, she felt she was left with no other option.” In early 2020, Doherty, now 52, announced that she was battling a recurrence of breast cancer that had progressed to stage four, calling it “a bitter pill to swallow.”“I definitely have days where I say, ‘Why me?’ And then I go, ‘Well, why not me? Who else? Who else besides me deserves this?’ None of us do,” Doherty told “Good Morning America.”The actor first revealed she had breast cancer in 2015 and has charted her battle with the disease on social media. Doherty did not refer to the divorce development on Instagram, but in a post Friday wrote: “The only people who deserve to be in your life are the ones who...

Alcaraz beats Evans, will face Tsitsipas in Barcelona final

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:51 GMT

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz eased into the final of the Barcelona Open after seeing off Daniel Evans 6-2, 6-2 on Saturday.The second-ranked Alcaraz will face Stefanos Tsitsipas in Sunday’s final after the Greek advanced by beating Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 on the outdoor clay court.Alcaraz sealed his victory when he blasted a return under Evans’ racket as he made an approach.“Of course, how you reach a final is important for your confidence, and I head into tomorrow with a great feeling,” said Alcaraz, after not dropping a set in four matches. “Even so, we can’t just rely on how I have played and know that it will be a tough game.”Alcaraz, the U.S. Open champion, will be seeking his ninth career title and third of the year after triumphing in Buenos Aires and Indian Wells. If he beats Tsitsipas, his title in Barcelona will be his first that he has successfully defended.The 19-year-old Spaniard is 3-0 against Tsitsipas including a three-set vic...

El papa Francisco recibió en audiencia al alcalde de Lisboa, Carlos Moedas

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:51 GMT

(CNN Español) — Lisboa, la capital de Portugal, se prepara para acoger el mayor evento para los jóvenes católicos: la Jornada Mundial de la Juventud, prevista del 1 al 6 de agosto.“Quiero saludarlos a ustedes, lisboetas, que están trabajando para preparar este encuentro de la juventud.  Estoy contento de volver a Lisboa y a Portugal”, dijo el papa Francisco en un video publicado en Twitter por el alcalde de Lisboa, Carlos Moedas.“Perdónenme del lío que se les va a armar entre ustedes, pero gracias por ser acogedores, gracias por poner ilusión en esta apertura de corazón. Les deseo lo mejor” y “gracias por todo este trabajo”, añadió el papa.El papa Francisco regala fragmentos de la cruz en la que Cristo fue crucificado para la coronación del rey Carlos IIIThe-CNN-Wire™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.Source

Aston Villa equalizes late to draw at Brentford in EPL

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:51 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Douglas Luiz grabbed a late equalizer as Aston Villa snatched a 1-1 draw at Brentford in the English Premier League to keep its aim of European qualification on track on Saturday.Ivan Toney looked to have secured a 100th win for Thomas Frank as Brentford manager with his 20th goal of the season in the 65th minute.But Villa has yet to not score in a match since Unai Emery was appointed manager last October, and Luiz kept up that record with a close-range finish in the 87th.Villa stayed in sixth place, and was two points behind Tottenham in fifth.Villa was unchanged from its 3-0 win over Newcastle last weekend, but was unable to match that dazzling display against a physical Bees side. All it had to show for an anemic first-half performance was Emi Buendia’s toe-poke, which forced an early save from David Raya, and a narrowly wide curler from John McGinn.At the other end, Bryan Mbeumo was giving Alex Moreno the runaround, flicking Toney’s pass over the full back’s head b...

Barcelona beats Chelsea 1-0 in Women’s CL semis 1st leg

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:51 GMT

LONDON (AP) — An early goal by Caroline Graham Hansen set up Barcelona’s 1-0 win at Chelsea in the first leg of their Women’s Champions League semifinal on Saturday.Graham Hansen put Barcelona ahead just four minutes into the match at Stamford Bridge when the Norway forward cut in from the right and drilled a long-range shot into the top corner.Substitute Marta Torrejón almost grabbed a second goal for the visitors when she headed off the post in the 82nd.The other semifinal on Sunday has Arsenal at Wolfsburg.The game was a rematch of the 2021 European final, when Barcelona routed Chelsea 4-0 to win its first continental title. Graham Hansen scored the fourth and final goal for Barcelona.Her latest goal gave Barcelona 36 in this competition, more than the other semifinalists. It was Graham Hansen’s first goal in this competition after missing most of the season with a thigh injury.“It was just one of these moments you get the ball, everything fits when you go for it and ...

Flambéed pizza thought to have sparked deadly Madrid restaurant fire

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:51 GMT

(CNN) — A fire believed to have been started by a flambéed pizza has killed two people and injured 12 others at a restaurant in the Spanish capital Madrid, city officials said Saturday.“It appears the fire started when a flambéed pizza was being served, which set fire to the decorations in the restaurant,” Madrid Mayor Jose Luis Martinez Almeida told Spain’s state television TVE at the scene on Saturday, hours after the late Friday night blaze.Spanish media reported that a specialty of the restaurant was a pizza in the flambé style – a cooking procedure where spirits are poured on the food and briefly set alight.“Firefighters told me it was a ferocious fire in the way it started and the smoke it generated, and if the fire station wasn’t just 100 meters (around 330 feet) away, the number of fatalities could have been higher,” said Almeida, speaking to TVE.Carlos Marin, a Madrid fire department night supervisor, said the restaurant ̶...

Looking Glass: What on earth could they be talking about?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:51 GMT

Two 20-year-old men returned their rental car to an agency in Izumo, Japan, but inadvertently left lots of drugs in the vehicle. They soon called in with an urgent message they had “forgotten something” and were coming back “to pick it up, so don’t you dare look at what’s inside.” Employees called the cops.YOU’LL NEVER GET ME, COPPER! … CRASH!: Detectives seeking to arrest a man on two felony warrants, who was hiding in the attic of his home in Cape Coral, Fla., spoke to him through an open hatch, and asked him to surrender. He refused, but soon crashed through the ceiling onto the floor below.DRAT! FOILED BY TECHNOLOGY!: An employee of a restaurant and sports bar in New Rochelle, N.Y., did not wish to go to work, so she sent Google Voice text messages threatening to “shoot up” the place and stating that there would be a “massacre.” The cops traced the phone number back to her apartment in the Bronx.YOU GOTTA’ LOVE TEXAS: Four armed men wearing masks stormed into a gas station conve...