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Sierra Leone declares nationwide curfew after gunmen attack military barracks in the capital

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:25 GMT

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) (AP) — Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio declared a nationwide curfew Sunday after gunmen attacked military barracks in the West African nation’s capital, raising fears of a breakdown of order amid a surge of coups in the region.The unidentified gunmen attacked a military armory within the barracks in the capital, Freetown, early morning, Bio said in a statement posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, adding that they were driven back by security forces and “calm has been restored.”“As the combined team of our Security Forces continue to root out the remnant of the fleeing renegades, a nationwide curfew has been declared and citizens are encouraged to stay indoors,” he wrote.Bio was reelected for a second term in June in a disputed vote in which the main opposition party accused Sierra Leone’s electoral commission of conspiring with his party to rig the results.It was the country’s fifth presidential election since the end of a brutal 11-yea...

How South San Francisco went from not having a varsity team to winning the CCS Division V championship

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:25 GMT

Two years removed from having no varsity football team, South San Francisco completed a remarkable ascent Saturday with a 13-7 win over Santa Teresa for the Central Coast Section Division V championship at newly-opened MacDonald High School.“A great win,” SSF coach Kolone Pua said. “These guys hung in there. I told them all year we can make history.”The Warriors did it Saturday the way they’ve done it all season, with a physical style both offensively and defensively.South City ran 67 plays from scrimmage, 55 on the ground using a throwback full-house T-formation with two tight ends for a significant portion of the game, compared to 38 total plays for Santa Teresa.“That was the hardest hitting game I’ve ever been around,” Pua said.South San Francisco head coach Kolone Pua reacts after defeating Santa Teresa during their CCS Division V high school football championship game at MacDonald High School in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, Nov....

MLB Notes: What we know about Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s free agency

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:25 GMT

Yoshinobu Yamamoto has become one of the most highly coveted players to ever come out of Japan, and this week the 25-year-old right-hander officially hit the market.Yamamoto was formally posted by Nippon Professional Baseball on Monday, kicking off what is expected to be a highly competitive 45-day window for MLB clubs to bid on his services. Teams will have until 5 p.m. ET on Jan. 4 to sign Yamamoto, who is expected to command a deal worth in excess of $200 million.Outside of Shohei Ohtani, Yamamoto is the top free agent on the market. It’s not hard to see why.Yamamoto has posted preposterous numbers since making his professional debut as a teenager in 2017. Over seven NPB seasons, he’s gone 70-29 with a 1.82 ERA and 922 strikeouts in 897 innings. He has won the Sawamura Award, Japan’s equivalent to the Cy Young, each of the last three years, and this past season he posted a career-best 1.21 ERA over 164 innings with the Orix Buffaloes.Scouts believe Yamamoto̵...

Russia says it downed dozens of Ukrainian drones headed for Moscow, following a mass strike on Kyiv

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:25 GMT

Russian authorities on Sunday claimed that Ukraine tried to attack Moscow with dozens of drones overnight, just a day after Russia launched its most intense drone attack on Kyiv since the beginning of its full-scale war in 2022, according to Ukrainian officials. Russian air defenses brought down at least 24 drones over the Moscow region — which surrounds but does not include the capital — and three other provinces to the south and west, the Russian Defense Ministry and Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported in a series of Telegram updates. Neither referenced any casualties. Andrei Vorobyev, governor of the Moscow region, wrote on Telegram that the drone strikes damaged three unspecified buildings there, adding that no one was hurt. Russian Telegram channels reported that one drone crashed into a 12-story apartment block in the western Russian city of Tula, about 180 kilometers (113 miles) south of Moscow, injuring one resident and frightening others, Moscow’s Vnukovo and Domodedovo a...

Pope Francis to skip weekly window appearance a day after Vatican described him as having a mild flu

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:25 GMT

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis on Sunday was skipping his weekly appearance at a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square, a day after the Vatican said he had come down with a mild flu. In a brief statement, the Holy See’s press office said Francis would still recite the noon prayer, which is followed by his traditional blessing, from the chapel of the hotel on Vatican grounds where he lives. His prayer will be televised live and shown on big screens in the square, where thousands of people generally flock to see the appearance at the open window. On Saturday, the Vatican said the pope, whose 87th birthday is next month, was taken to a Rome hospital to have a CT scan to rule out pulmonary complications and that the exam was negative. Francis earlier this year was hospitalized for three days for what he later said was pneumonia and what the Vatican described as a case of bronchitis necessitating treatment with intravenous antibiotics. This weekend has been very windy and unusually chi...

A senior Hamas commander in charge of northern Gaza was killed in the war, the militant group says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:25 GMT

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hamas says one of its top commanders has been killed in the war with Israel.The militant group announced the death of Ahmed al-Ghandour on Sunday, without saying when or where he was killed. He is the highest-ranking member of the group known to have been killed in the war, which was sparked by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack into Israel.Al-Ghandour was a high-ranking member of the group’s armed wing and Hamas’ top commander in northern Gaza.He had survived at least three Israeli attempts to kill him, going back to 2002, according to the Counter Extremism Project, an advocacy group based in Washington.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The tense cease-fire between Israel and Hamas appeared to be back on track early Sunday after the release of a second group of militant-held hostages and Palestinians from Israeli prisons, but the swap followed an hourslong delay that underscored the truce’s fra...

Letters: Do they not have anything to contribute to the well-being of our country?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:25 GMT

They do not have the common good in mindI have so much to be thankful for this year. Yet, we’re a year from the next ‘big’ election and already the evil rhetoric has begun.  Apparently the people behind the “big money” movements don’t have anything to contribute to the well-being of the country or the state. So they denigrate.Then there are the recent revelations of lies and cover-ups in our twin city several years ago — cover-ups of malfeasance at the highest levels of city and state government committed with no accountability to the electorate. We can’t blame that on those mentioned above. That is by our people who display no ethics or morals. They do not have the “common good” in mind. And we accept it?I have recently re-read some of the works of Alexis de Tocqueville and Thomas Paine. Mr. Tocqueville lost most of his family, not because of anything they had done but because of who they were. Thomas Paine, in his “...

Horoscopes Nov. 26, 2023: Peter Facinelli, decide what’s best for you

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:25 GMT

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Peter Facinelli, 50; Garcelle Beauvais, 57; John McVie, 78; Rich Little, 85.Happy Birthday: Caution and discipline will help ward off mistakes this year. You’ll have plenty of opportunities, but being selective will be necessary to come out on top. Refuse to let anyone lead you astray. Step up, ask questions and decide what’s best for you. A take-charge attitude and aggressive search for the truth will protect you from anyone taking advantage of your kindness and generosity. Your numbers are 3, 11, 24, 32, 35, 41, 47.ARIES (March 21-April 19): Set yourself up for an adventure. Choose to be around people who enjoy the same things as you, but don’t move too quickly or believe everything you hear. Bide your time and listen attentively, and you’ll recognize who makes you feel most comfortable. Romance is favored. 3 starsTAURUS (April 20-May 20): Build a solid base and take advantage of an opportunity to move forward or learn somethin...

Bridge: Nov. 26, 2023

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:25 GMT

A man and his young son are out walking, and the son picks up an acorn and asks his father to explain what it is.“In a nutshell, it’s a tree,” is dad’s reply.In a nutshell, the goal on defense is to win enough tricks to beat the contract. To achieve that goal, the defenders adopt a plan. It may be to set up or win tricks in a hurry (if dummy may have a good side suit declarer can use to discard losers); it may be to lead trumps to stop him from winning extra trump tricks. The defenders may go passive, preferring safe leads and letting declarer struggle.In today’s deal, West has four trumps and two trump entries. A reasonable plan is to force declarer to ruff so that he runs out of trumps, and control passes to the defenders. Since clubs is the suit with which the defense can force declarer, West starts with the ace and a second club.South ruffs, leads a heart to dummy and lets the ten of trumps ride. West must be careful. If he takes the queen and leads...

Word Game: Nov. 26, 2023

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:25 GMT

TODAY’S WORD — FELDSPAR (FELDSPAR: FELD-spar: Any of a group of rock-forming minerals.)Average mark 52 wordsTime limit 60 minutesCan you find 62 or more words in FELDSPAR?TODAY’S WORD — FELDSPAR fade false fare fear feral flap flare flea fled earl lade lapse lard lase laser lead leaf leap dale dare deaf deal dear drape safe safer sale seal sear self sepal serf slap sled spade spar spare spear sped spread pale paler pare parse peal pear pearl pedal pelf plea plead pled alder aped aper apse rale rase rasp read real reapTo purchase the Word Game book, visit WordGameBooks.com. Order it now for just $5 while supplies last!RULES OF THE GAME:1. Words must be of four or more letters.2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed.3. Additional words made by adding a “d” or an “s” may not be used. For example, if “bake” is used, “baked” or “bakes” are not allowed, but “bake” and “baking” are admissible.4. Proper nou...