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Louisiana granted extra time to draw new congressional map that complies with Voting Rights Act

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:52 GMT

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana lawmakers now have until the end of January to draw and pass new congressional boundaries to replace a current map that a federal judge said violates the Voting Rights Act by diluting the power of the state’s Black voters.However, several questions still linger — including if and when the GOP-dominated Legislature will return to the Capitol and, most of all, if lawmakers will be able to agree on a map. Baton Rouge-based U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick issued a two-week extension Thursday afternoon, giving lawmakers extra time to construct a congressional map, the American Civil Liberties Union confirmed to The Associated Press. The new redistricting deadline is Jan. 30. The ACLU is representing the plaintiffs.Outgoing Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards does not plan on calling lawmakers back to Baton Rouge to draw a new map, spokesperson Eric Holl said Sunday. However, the extension will give incoming Gov.-elect Jeff Landry, a Republican, the chance t...

Washington to play Texas in semifinal at Sugar Bowl. Huskies beat the Longhorns in 2022 bowl meeting

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:52 GMT

Washington will meet Texas in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on Jan. 1.It will be a rematch of last year’s Alamo Bowl — but this time the stakes are much, much higher.No. 2 seed Washington (13-0) won the Pac-12 championship with a 34-31 win over Oregon in the conference championship game on Friday.No. 3 seed Texas (12-1) jumped four spots from No. 7 in the CFP rankings Sunday after winning the Big 12 championship with a 49-21 win over Oklahoma State. The Longhorns are leaving the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference next season.This will be the sixth all-time meeting between Washington and Texas, and fourth straight in a bowl. The semifinal will be a bowl rematch of quarterbacks Michael Penix Jr. of Washington and Quinn Ewers of Texas. Washington held off a late rally by the Longhorns to win 27-20 in the Alamo Bowl last year.The Huskies have won eight of their last nine games by single digits, including the last four in a row by a tot...

India beats Australia by 6 runs in fifth Twenty20 cricket match to win the series 4-1

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:52 GMT

BENGALURU, India (AP) — Pacers Mukesh Kumar and Arshdeep Singh shared five wickets as India beat Australia by six runs in their fifth Twenty20 cricket international on Sunday to win the series 4-1.Kumar took 3-32 in four overs, while Singh (2-40) overturned an expensive spell with a fine last over as India restricted Australia to 154-8 in reply to 160-8.Shreyas Iyer hit 53 runs off 37 balls for India.India already had an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series after it won the fourth game in Raipur by 20 runs. It also won the first two T20s in Visakhapatnam and Thiruvananthapuram by two wickets and 44 runs, respectively. Australia’s sole victory came in the third match in Guwahati where the tourists won by five wickets, thanks to Glenn Maxwell’s fourth international T20 hundred.Skipper Matthew Wade won a fourth consecutive toss Sunday and Australia chose to bowl first.Both sides made one change each. Left-arm pacer Singh came in for Deepak Chahar for India while Australia sel...

Man kills 4 relatives in Queens knife rampage, injures 2 officers before he’s fatally shot by police

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:52 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A man killed four relatives, including two children, in a knife attack at their New York City home early Sunday, then set the building on fire and stabbed two police officers before one of them fatally shot him, officials said.The rampage took place before dawn at a house in Far Rockaway, a seaside section of Queens.Police were summoned to the home at about 5:10 a.m. when a “young female caller” dialed 911 and said her cousin was killing her family, the NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey said at a morning news briefing.When the officers pulled up to the driveway, they stopped a man leaving the area with luggage and after just a few seconds, he drew a knife and attacked.One of the officers was stabbed in the area of his neck and chest, the other was slashed in the head before one of them shot the assailant, Maddrey said. An 11-year old girl was found in front of the house and taken to a hospital, where she was later pronounced dead from stab wounds.Police ...

Jets, Falcons honor the late Greg Knapp by running MetLife Stadium steps

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:52 GMT

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — New York Jets coach Robert Saleh and several team staffers, along with members of the Atlanta Falcons honored the late Greg Knapp by running the steps inside MetLife Stadium before the teams’ game Sunday.Knapp, a longtime NFL assistant coach, died on July 22, 2021, when he was hit by a car while riding a bicycle near his home in California. He was 58. Knapp had a longtime tradition of running the stairs in the stands a few hours before games, and Jets and Falcons coaches and staffers participated in the “Knapp Stair Climb” before team warmups Sunday in support of The Coach Knapp Memorial Fund to raise funds for distracted driving awareness.As part of this weekend’s “My Cause, My Cleats” initiative around the NFL, several members of the Jets and Falcons are representing The Coach Knapp Memorial Fund, including New York general manager Joe Douglas and special teams coordinator Brant Boyer, and Atlanta assistant coaches Matt Schaub and T.J. Yate...

Trees for Troops helps military families celebrate the holiday season

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:52 GMT

toggle audio on and off change volume download audio WTOP's Luke Lukert on a program that gives servicemembers and their families a free Christmas tree for the holiday season $(function () { $('.wtop-audio-container .fa-play').on('click', function(){ var audio_filename = $('div.wtop-audio-file').data("mp3-url"); if( typeof gtag === "function" ){ gtag('event', 'post_audio', { 'play': audio_filename, 'permalink': window.location.href }); } }); }); Servicemembers and their families will receive a free Christmas tree just i...

College Football Playoff is set: Top seed Michigan vs. Alabama in Rose Bowl, Washington vs. Texas in Sugar Bowl

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:52 GMT

GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP) — College Football Playoff is set: Top seed Michigan vs. Alabama in Rose Bowl, Washington vs. Texas in Sugar Bowl.Source

Burmester wins South African Open Championship by three shots for second straight win on home soil

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:52 GMT

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Dean Burmester secured back-to-back wins at home after shooting a 4-under 68 in the final round of the South African Open Championship. Burmester started Sunday two shots off the lead. He made six birdies and two bogeys in tricky conditions to finish at 11 under overall for a three-stroke victory. He won the Joburg Open last week.Italian Renato Paratore (70), Sweden’s Jesper Svensson (71) and South African Ryan van Velzen (73) tied for second.Van Velzen shared the overnight lead with countryman Jayden Schaper (74), who finished tied for fifth on 7 under overall.The 34-year-old Burmester now has four European tour victories. “Back-to-back. I’ve never done that before so that was special. It’s obviously one as a South African that I’ve always wanted to win,” Burmester said. “It’s a tournament I watched growing up and I watched a lot of legends.”He appeared in danger of failing to make the cut — or having to pull out of the tournament — after not feeling...

Europe’s far right flexes anti-Brussels muscles as it launches EU campaign

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:52 GMT

FLORENCE, Italy — Europe’s right-wing leaders fired the opening salvo of their promised EU-wide election campaign at a rally of the hardline Identity and Democracy (ID) group in Florence on Sunday.Following the surprise win of anti-Islam leader Geert Wilders in November general elections in the Netherlands, the ID’s Euroskeptic firebrands vowed to change the political dynamic in Brussels as they addressed some 2,000 supporters at a 16th-century fortress in Italy’s Renaissance capital.“Another Europe without socialists in charge is possible and is needed,” said Matteo Salvini, the leader of Italy’s right-wing Lega (League) party, which hosted the rally of the ID’s 14 constituent parties.Wearing glasses and a black turtleneck, Salvini said he and his allies aimed to make ID the third-largest group in the European Parliament after the center-right European People’s Party (EPP) and the center-left Socialists & Democrats. ID is currently the sixth-largest group with...

NATO should be ready for ‘bad news’ from Ukraine, Stoltenberg warns

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:52 GMT

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned that the Western military alliance should be ready for bad news from the Ukrainian front as Kyiv continues to defend against Russia’s all-out invasion.“Wars develop in phases,” Stoltenberg said in an interview Saturday with German broadcaster ARD. “We have to support Ukraine in both good and bad times,” he said.“We should also be prepared for bad news,” Stoltenberg added, without being more specific. His comments come as Western allies debate over ammunition and financial aid for Ukraine, and as Moscow boosts its troop levels. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Friday to increase the number of soldiers by some 170,000 to a total of 1.3 million.The front lines have moved little in recent months despite Kyiv’s counteroffensive during the summer. But the Ukrainians have used cruise missiles to push back the Russian fleet in the Black Sea and have caused damage deep in Russian territory“T...