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Israeli army says Palestinian militants fire rocket from Gaza into Israel, testing cease-fire

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:14 GMT

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinian militants fired a rocket into southern Israel on Sunday, less than 24 hours after a cease-fire was declared ending a five-day clash that killed 33 Palestinians and two people in Israel.The cease-fire had appeared to be holding before Sunday’s launch, which the army said landed in an open area of southern Israel. There was no claim of responsibility, and no immediate Israeli response.But the launch presented an early test for the Egyptian-brokered truce.The latest round of Gaza fighting was sparked Tuesday when Israeli jets killed three top commanders from the Islamic Jihad militant group in response to earlier rocket launches from Gaza. Those killings set off a barrage of militant fire and the conflagration threatened to drag the region into another all-out war until Egypt mediated a cease-fire that took hold late Saturday.While the calm appeared to bring a sense of relief to Gaza’s 2 million people and hundreds of thousands of Is...

Djokovic overcomes mid-match lapse to beat Dimitrov at Italian Open; Swiatek wins

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:14 GMT

ROME (AP) — Novak Djokovic’s clay-court game is still a work in progress.The 22-time Grand Slam champion had to overcome a mid-match lapse before beating Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 on Sunday to reach the fourth round of the Italian Open.Struggling with his footwork, complaining about the conditions of the clay on Campo Centrale and protesting line calls, Djokovic lost four consecutive games to hand the second set to Dimitrov, who won 12 straight points at one point during that stretch.But Djokovic raised his game when it counted most, broke Dimitrov in the opening game of the third, and improved to 11-1 in his career against the Bulgarian.“The crowd got into it and kind of got behind him and of course with the energy of the place, the (entire) match changed,” Djokovic said. “I dropped my level a bit. But luckily I managed to find it right away in the first game, make that crucial break and kind of shape the momentum to my side. So I’m really pleased with the way I closed out the ...

Israeli army says rocket fired from Gaza into Israel, testing cease-fire with Palestinian militants

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:14 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli army says rocket fired from Gaza into Israel, testing cease-fire with Palestinian militants.Source

Stuttgart rues missed chance in 1-1 draw with Leverkusen

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:14 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Stuttgart missed the chance to escape the Bundesliga’s relegation zone on Sunday when it was held 1-1 at home by Bayer Leverkusen.Two penalties ensured a share of the points, though Stuttgart will rue Exequiel Palacios’ equalizer as it left the team second from bottom on 29 points with two rounds remaining.Serhou Guirassy opened the scoring with a penalty in the 57th minute, temporarily lifting Stuttgart ahead of Bochum on goal difference, but Palacios replied with another spot kick 13 minutes later to leave Stuttgart in a direct relegation place.Hertha Berlin was last on 25 points, four points behind Stuttgart, while Schalke (30 points), Bochum (31) and Hoffenheim (32) also remain in danger.Leipzig hoped to reclaim third later Sunday with a win over visiting Werder Bremen.___More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_SportsSource

Why passed property tax bill caused controversy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:14 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- Republican House Minority Leader Mike Lynch and Democratic House Speaker Julie McCluskie discussed the recent passing of a property tax bill that caused some controversy between the parties. Republicans walked out of the House in the legislative session’s final hours, upset with the Democrats’ bill on property taxes. How to challenge what you owe in property taxes “If we would have had the tools afforded to us in the constitution without having rules keeping us from the debate going, the bill would have never survived,” Lynch told "Colorado Point of View" host Matt Mauro this week.Gov. Jared Polis and those who support the bill said it will provide much-needed property tax relief while ensuring local services are not hurt and also put more money toward education.“The last two sessions, we have brought forward property tax reductions for Coloradans, but we felt like it was time to invest our energy into a longer-term solution,” McCluskie said. Mauro also ...

Mayors of Istanbul and Ankara cry foul over reporting of Turkey’s election results

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:14 GMT

ISTANBUL — Two of Turkey’s most senior opposition politicians, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş, cried foul over the way the state-run Anadolu news agency was reporting results of Turkey’s election on Sunday night, saying it was giving a distortedly high early count to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. In its results based on 30 percent of ballots counted at 7.30 p.m., Anadolu reported that Erdoğan was racing ahead with 54 percent of the vote, while his challenger for the presidency Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu had only 40 percent. Anadolu’s early numbers are highly contentious because they are widely used as the feed for live election coverage on TV. The opposition argues the state agency is deliberately releasing data from electoral districts in favor of Erdoğan and his AK party first — and holding back numbers on opposition ballots — so that election observers might lose heart and not wait for every last vote to be counted.For this reason, the opp...

Yankees Notebook: Aaron Boone’s unpredictable bullpen remains effective, Carlos Rodon resumes throwing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:14 GMT

The Yankees bullpen which was once loaded with prominent names such as Aroldis Chapman and Zack Britton has a much different look this season. It hasn’t always been pretty, but it’s been effective as the group of lesser-known relievers has pitched to a 3.24 bullpen ERA which ranks fourth in baseball.Aaron Boone’s use of his stable of relievers has been unpredictable — thanks in part to injuries to Jonathan Loaisiga (elbow) and Tommy Kahnle (biceps) on the IL — as seemingly none of his pitchers have a cemented role with the absence of a lockdown closer as the most glaring vacancy. Clay Holmes entered the season as the presumptive ninth-inning arm but his 4.11 ERA and inconsistency since the second half of 2022 have forced the Yankees’ skipper to do a lot of mixing and matching.“The good part about it is, I feel like we got a lot of really good options,” Boone said before Sunday’s series finale against the Rays. “And obviousl...

Jalen Brunson scores 38 points, goes the distance as Knicks top Heat to force Game 6

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:14 GMT

The Knicks needed a hero to keep their season alive. Jalen Brunson strapped on the cape.Backed by strong efforts from his sidekicks RJ Barrett and Julius Randle, Brunson played all 48 minutes — a rarity in today’s NBA, even under the must-win circumstances like Wednesday — and carried the Knicks through a rollercoaster of a 112-103 victory.His gutsy performance cut New York’s series deficit to 3-2, with Friday’s Game 6 in Miami fast approaching. And in the short meantime, Brunson can collect his kudos.“What can you say about the guy?” Tom Thibodeau said. “He’s incredible.”Brunson did it all at Madison Square Garden, scoring and making whatever plays the circumstances dictated while finishing with nine rebounds and seven assists. Despite zero rest, the point guard’s production never tapered. His ten points in the fourth quarter were timely and necessary.Then the 26-year-old was all business in his postgame presser.R...

Ja Morant flashes gun on Instagram Live again, gets suspended again

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:14 GMT

NBA superstar Ja Morant was suspended by the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday after he flashed a gun on social media again.Morant, 23, had been suspended by the team and the NBA in March after he showed off a gun while filming himself in a Denver-area nightclub.That suspension included a public reconciliation process, in which Morant spent two days in a counseling program in Florida and then sat down for an apology interview with ESPN’s Jalen Rose.But on Saturday night, one of Morant’s friends hopped on Instagram Live while riding in a car with Morant in the driver’s seat. The man then panned over to Morant, who appeared to be holding a gun in his left hand.The Grizzlies’ season ended two weeks ago with a first-round playoff series loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, but the team still released a statement Sunday announcing that Morant had been suspended again.“We are aware of the social media video involving Ja Morant,” the Grizzlies said. “He is su...

Partial results in Turkey’s election show President Erdogan leading, state-run news agency says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:14 GMT

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Early returns from Turkey’s national election Sunday had President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with a solid lead after some 47% of ballot boxes were counted, the Turkish state-run news agency said, while the longtime leader’s main challenger disputed the numbers that showed him trailing. Erdogan, who has governed Turkey as either prime minister or president for two decades, had 52.2 of the vote from the partial count, compared to 41.9% garnered by opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the Anadolu Agency reported.In the run-up to the election, opinion surveys had indicated the increasingly authoritarian Erdogan narrowly trailed his challenger. The race had appeared to be shaping up as the toughest re-election bid of the Turkish leader’s 20-year rule of his NATO member nation. With the partial results showing otherwise, members of Kilicdaroglu’s center-left, pro-secular Republican People’s Party, or CHP, disputed Anadolu’s numbers, contendi...