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Central US is now getting worst of the drought. Corn crops are stressed, rivers are running low

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:26 GMT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Mike Shane’s Illinois farm got a nice soaking on May 8, shortly after he planted his corn crop. Since then, rain has been hard to come by.Plenty of storms have ventured close only to fizzle out before making it to Shane’s 200-acre spread near Peoria.“It comes across the Mississippi River and then just disappears,” Shane, 47, said. “My corn looks absolutely terrible right now.” Without substantial rain soon, “I just don’t see any hope for it,” he said.Heavy rain over the winter eased the drought in the West, but now the middle of the country is extraordinarily dry. Crops are stressed, rivers are running low, and cities and towns are anxiously hoping for a break in the weather.Experts say the drought in the central U.S. is the worst since at least 2012, and in some areas, is drawing comparisons to the 1988 drought that devastated corn, wheat and soybean crops. This year, although temperatures have been generally mild through the spring and early days of summer, rainfa...

United States winger Weah has medical test at Juventus ahead of potential transfer from Lille

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:26 GMT

TURIN, Italy (AP) — United States winger Tim Weah was welcomed by about 100 enthusiastic Juventus fans as he arrived Thursday for his medical test ahead of a potential transfer to the Italian club.Weah signed autographs and posed for selfies with fans, who loudly chanted his name. Some were also waving American flags.The 23-year-old Weah, who is the son of former FIFA Player of the Year and current Liberian President George Weah, is set to sign a five-year contract with Juventus, according to Italian media reports.His father also played in Italy, for AC Milan.Weah has played for Lille since 2019. Before that he was on loan at Celtic from Paris Saint-Germain.He won three French league titles with PSG and Lille and also helped Celtic to the Scottish title.Weah has played 31 times for the United States, scoring four goals. He was part of the squad that reached the last 16 at last year’s World Cup in Qatar.___AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_SportsSource

Liverpool great Robbie Fowler heads to Saudi Arabia as coach of Al-Qadisiyah

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:26 GMT

KHOBAR, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Former Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler was hired as coach of Saudi Arabian team Al-Qadisiyah on Thursday. In a summer that has seen a host of Europe’s top players head to the lucrative Saudi Pro League, Fowler is taking over a team in the oil-rich kingdom’s second tier.The club confirmed the former England striker’s appointment on its Twitter channel. “Robbie Fowler.. one of the most famous players in Liverpool and the English Premier League.. coach for Qadisiyah,” it tweeted. Fowler is one of Liverpool’s most celebrated players, having scored 183 goals in two spells with the Premier League club. Leeds and Manchester City were among the other teams he played for. He has not hit such heights in his managerial career, which has seen him coach Thai team Muangthong United, Australia’s Brisbane Roar and East Bengal in the Indian Super League. Al-Qadisiyah did not state the length of his contract. Saudi Arabia has embarked on an am...

Counting down the best new TV series of 2023

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:26 GMT

Are you looking for a new show to watch now that “Succession,” “Barry” and “Ted Lasso” are over?Every day this week, WTOP’s Jason Fraley is counting down the best new TV series in 2023 so far.There’s one rule — the show must have aired episodes of its first season this year, so you unfortunately won’t find return seasons of “Abbott Elementary,” “The Bear,” “Ghosts,” “Reservation Dogs” or “Yellowstone.”So, without further ado — on with the list!Best New TV Series of 2023:10. ‘Extraordinary’ (Hulu)While we’ve seen evidence of superhero fatigue at the box office this year, the small screen introduced the British superhero comedy “Extraordinary” on Hulu. The eight-episode series follows 25-year-old Jen (Máiréad Tyers), the only one without super powers in East London. That premise may sound a little like “Encanto,” but it’s a funny romp as her best friend Carrie (Sofia...

Mississippi prosecutor who excluded Black jurors is resigning after more than 30 years

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:26 GMT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A white Mississippi district attorney has resigned after more than 30 years on the job, during which he prosecuted a Black man six times in the shooting deaths of four people and excluded Black people from juries in a practice that led the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the man’s conviction and death sentence.Doug Evans is stepping down Friday, six months before his term ends. He did not immediately return a phone call Thursday seeking comment.He unsuccessfully ran for a judgeship in 2022 and was not seeking reelection as district attorney this year in a north-central Mississippi district that covers seven counties.Evans has been in office since 1992, and his jury selection tactics were scrutinized for years. His exclusion of Black jurors caused the Supreme Court to overturn the final conviction of Curtis Flowers in June 2019, with Justice Brett Kavanaugh citing a “relentless, determined effort to rid the jury of Black individuals.”Flowers stood trial six...

Man United agrees to $69 million deal to sign Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount, AP sources

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:26 GMT

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Manchester United has agreed to sign midfielder Mason Mount from Chelsea for 55 million pounds ($69 million).The agreement was confirmed Thursday by two people with knowledge of the negotiations, which have been on-going since the end of the Premier League season.The people spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal has not been publicly announced.Mount will sign a five-year contract, with the option of a further 12 months.United will also have to pay a further 5 million pounds ($6.3 million) based on meeting certain targets.___James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson___AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_SportsSource

Suspect in gender class stabbing at Canadian university to be charged with hate crime, official says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:26 GMT

TORONTO (AP) — A suspect in the stabbing of a professor and two students during a class on gender issues at a university in the Canadian city of Waterloo will be charged with a hate crime, an official told The Associated Press on Thursday. The suspect, a former student of the university, has been taken into custody after the stabbing on Wednesday, police said. An official familiar with the matter confirmed that the suspect will be charged with a hate crime and that is expected to happen on Thursday. The official, who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter, spoke on condition of anonymity.Court documents have identified the suspect as Geovanny Villalba, 24. The wounds were non-life-threatening, police said, adding that the motive for the attack at the University of Waterloo wasn’t immediately clear. The suspect was being questioned by investigators.Nick Manning, associate vice president of communications for the University of Waterloo, confirmed that the suspec...

Paris-area town imposes overnight curfew in response to rioting over police killing of teen

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:26 GMT

NANTERRE, France (AP) — A Paris region town of 54,000 people says it’s putting an overnight curfew in place, stretching through the weekend, in response to rioting triggered by the deadly police shooting of a suburban teenager. The town of Clamart, in the French capital’s southwest suburbs, announced the extraordinary measure Thursday in a statement on its website. It said the overnight curfew would start at 9 p.m. and last until 6 a.m. – from Thursday night through to Monday. It cited “the risk of new public order disturbances” for the decision, after two nights of urban unrest. “Clamart is a safe and calm town, we are determined that it stay that way,” it said.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below. A police officer in a Paris suburb was handed a preliminary charge of voluntary homicide Thursday after the deadly shooting of a 17-year-old that triggered two nights of riots, as the French government vowed to restore order and crack down on a violence that h...

Turkey’s president condemns Quran burning in Sweden, signals it’ll obstruct NATO membership

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:26 GMT

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday condemned a Quran-burning protest in Sweden, signaling that this would pose another obstacle to the country’s bid for NATO membership.Speaking to members of his Justice and Development Party, Erdogan equated “those who permitted the crime” to those who perpetrated it.Swedish police allowed the protest outside a mosque in central Stockholm citing freedom of speech after a court overturned a ban on a similar Quran-burning. “We will eventually teach Western monuments of hubris that insulting Muslims’ sacred values is not freedom of thought,” Erdogan said.Erdogan implied that Turkey wasn’t ready to lift its objections that are holding up Sweden joinint NATO. “We will put forward our reaction in the strongest possible way until there is a concerted effort to combat the enemies of Islam as well as terrorist organizations.”Sweden applied to join NATO last year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the milit...

Paris region town announces overnight curfew through the weekend in response to rioting over teen’s shooting death

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:26 GMT

CLAMART, France (AP) — Paris region town announces overnight curfew through the weekend in response to rioting over teen’s shooting death.Source