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Swiss investigation of meetings between attorney general, FIFA’s Infantino set to be closed down

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:50:38 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — Special prosecutors in Switzerland are closing a years-long probe of the former attorney general who had undisclosed meetings with FIFA president Gianni Infantino during a sweeping investigation of international soccer.Swiss media reported Friday that Michael Lauber, who lost his job as the top Swiss federal prosecutor in the fallout from the Infantino meetings, was notified of the two special prosecutors’ intention to close their investigation.A lawyer for Lauber, Lorenz Erni, confirmed to The Associated Press in an email message he was told the case is being shut down.Special prosecutors Ulrich Weder and Hans Maurer did not immediately respond to requests for comment.FIFA said in a statement the “intended dismissal of this case is no surprise,” about three years after Infantino was put under suspicion by a previous special prosecutor appointed by Swiss lawmakers to first handle the investigation.Infantino is at the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand...

Phoenix plays Seattle, looks to stop road slide

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:50:38 GMT

Phoenix Mercury (9-20, 2-12 Western Conference) at Seattle Storm (8-21, 5-8 Western Conference)Seattle; Sunday, 6 p.m. EDTBOTTOM LINE: Phoenix will try to break its 10-game road skid when the Mercury face Seattle.The Storm are 5-8 against Western Conference opponents. Seattle ranks second in the Western Conference with 8.1 offensive rebounds per game led by Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu averaging 1.7.The Mercury are 2-12 in Western Conference play. Phoenix has a 3-11 record against opponents over .500.The teams meet for the fourth time this season. The Storm won 97-91 in the last matchup on Aug. 6.TOP PERFORMERS: Jewell Loyd is averaging 24.1 points and 3.4 assists for the Storm. Ezi Magbegor is averaging 13.1 points over the last 10 games for Seattle.Brittney Griner is averaging 18.2 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.7 blocks for the Mercury. Diana Taurasi is averaging 16.9 points over the last 10 games for Phoenix.LAST 10 GAMES: Storm: 4-6, averaging 76.2 points, 34.9 rebounds, 18.3 assists, 8...

New York takes on Indiana, looks for 7th straight road win

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:50:38 GMT

New York Liberty (22-6, 12-3 Eastern Conference) at Indiana Fever (8-22, 4-11 Eastern Conference)Indianapolis; Sunday, 3 p.m. EDTBOTTOM LINE: New York will try to keep its six-game road win streak intact when the Liberty play Indiana.The Fever are 4-11 against Eastern Conference opponents. Indiana ranks fourth in the Eastern Conference with 25.3 defensive rebounds per game led by NaLyssa Smith averaging 7.2.The Liberty are 12-3 against Eastern Conference teams. New York leads the WNBA with 24.1 assists per game led by Courtney Vandersloot averaging 7.9.The teams play for the fourth time this season. The Liberty won the last matchup 101-83 on July 23, with Betnijah Laney scoring 22 points in the victory.TOP PERFORMERS: Aliyah Boston is scoring 14.8 points per game with 8.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists for the Fever. Kelsey Mitchell is averaging 17.5 points over the last 10 games for Indiana.Sabrina Ionescu is averaging 17 points, six rebounds and 5.8 assists for the Liberty. Breanna Stew...

Sykes, Mystics to host Williams and the Sky

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:50:38 GMT

Chicago Sky (12-16, 3-11 Eastern Conference) at Washington Mystics (13-15, 6-9 Eastern Conference)Washington; Sunday, 3 p.m. EDTBOTTOM LINE: Brittney Sykes and the Washington Mystics host Courtney Williams and the Chicago Sky.The Mystics are 6-9 in conference play. Washington is fifth in the Eastern Conference scoring 80.5 points while shooting 42.5% from the field.The Sky are 3-11 against Eastern Conference opponents. Chicago is sixth in the WNBA giving up 83.5 points while holding opponents to 45.5% shooting.The teams play for the fourth time this season. In the last meeting on June 23 the Mystics won 80-59 led by 18 points from Elena Delle Donne, while Alanna Smith scored 13 points for the Sky.TOP PERFORMERS: Sykes is averaging 14.7 points, 3.7 assists and 2.2 steals for the Mystics. Natasha Cloud is averaging 14.0 points over the last 10 games for Washington.Williams is averaging 10 points, 5.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists for the Sky. Kahleah Copper is averaging 2.5 made 3-pointers...

Padres end skid, beating Diamondbacks 10-5 for Arizona’s 9th loss in a row

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:50:38 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — Xander Bogaerts had four hits and three RBIs and the San Diego Padres handed the Arizona Diamondbacks their ninth consecutive loss with a 10-5 victory Friday night.Bogaerts, who had his first four-hit game since signing with the Padres in the offseason, hit a two-run homer and Jake Cronenworth also homered as the Padres snapped their own four-game losing streak. Blake Snell (9-8) continued his mastery of the Diamondbacks, going six innings and giving up two hits and two runs.In addition to his offense, Bogaerts made a difficult catch over his shoulder in the second inning to take a hit away from Jake McCarthy.“I was just afraid of hitting (center fielder Trent) Grisham, he didn’t say anything, so I just figured he’s not close,” Bogaerts said.“It’s a nice way to start. We responded right away and kept adding on, something we haven’t been doing much this year. Those guys are fighting too.”Fernando Tatis had three of San Diego’s 14 hits and Juan Soto had an R...

Death toll rises to 80 in Maui wildfires as survivors begin returning to communities in ruins

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:50:38 GMT

LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — The death toll has risen to 80 as a result of the wildfires that decimated parts of the island of Maui this past week, officials in Hawaii said Friday.The number of confirmed fatalities in the 9 p.m. announcement by the County of Maui increased from the previous figure of 67.Gov. Josh Green had previously warned the death toll would likely rise as search and rescue operations continue. Authorities set a curfew from 10 p.m. until 6 a.m. Saturday.“The recovery’s going to be extraordinarily complicated, but we do want people to get back to their homes and just do what they can to assess safely, because it’s pretty dangerous,” Green told Hawaii News Now.Cadaver-sniffing dogs were deployed to search for the dead, Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen Jr. said.Blackened hulks of burned-out cars, the pavement streaked with melted and then rehardened chrome. Block after block of flattened homes and businesses. Incinerated telephone poles and elevator shafts rising from ash...

IS claims responsibility for an attack that killed 20 Syrian soldiers, and vows to keep fighting

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:50:38 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for an ambush in eastern Syria that killed at least 20 government soldiers and wounded others, warning that such attacks will continue.IS sleeper cells still carry deadly attacks despite their defeat in Syria in 2019. The group once controlled large parts of Syria and Iraq where they declared a caliphate in 2014.The Friday night statement said IS fighters ambushed two army trucks in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour using different kinds of weapons. IS claimed that 40 members of the Syrian military were killed and 10 were wounded.Syrian opposition activists said the Thursday night attack on a bus carrying soldiers near the town of Mayadeen killed at least 20 soldiers and wounded others. State media said several soldiers were killed and wounded, without giving a breakdown.“Let the whole world know that our allegiance to our leaders is practiced with deeds and not words and our Jihad is going on until Doomsday,” IS sa...

South Koreans rally in Seoul against Japanese plans to release treated nuclear wastewater into sea

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:50:38 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Anxious about Japan’s impending release of treated nuclear wastewater from the tsunami-damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant, hundreds of South Koreans marched in their capital on Saturday. Protesters called for Tokyo to abandon the plans, and expressed anger toward Seoul for endorsing the discharge despite alleged food safety risks.Saturday’s rally was the latest of weekslong protests since the International Atomic Energy Agency approved the Japanese discharge plans in July, saying that the process would meet international safety standards and pose negligible environmental and health impacts.The safety of the wastewater release plans has also been advocated by the government of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who in recent months has actively taken steps to repair long-strained ties with its fellow United States ally in the face of growing North Korean nuclear threats.The Japanese government has said the wastewater release is set to start this summer...

Russia downs 20 drones over Crimea following a spate of attacks on Moscow

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:50:38 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia thwarted an attack by 20 Ukrainian drones targeting Moscow-annexed Crimea overnight, the Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday.Fourteen drones were shot down by Russian air defenses and a further six were jammed electronically, the ministry said in a Telegram post. No casualties or damage were reported.The overnight attacks followed three consecutive days of drone attacks on the Russian capital, Moscow. Firing drones at Russia, after more than 17 months of war has little apparent military value for Ukraine, but the strategy has served to unsettle Russians and bring home to them the conflict’s consequences.Drone attacks have increased in recent weeks both on Moscow and on Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014 — a move that most of the world considered illegal. Kyiv officials neither confirmed nor denied Ukraine’s possible involvement in the attempted attacks. Elsewhere, Russia claimed Saturday it had regained control of the village of Urozhain...

Guatemalan presidential candidate Sandra Torres leans on conservative values, opposing gay marriage

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:50:38 GMT

SAN JUAN SACATEPEQUEZ, Guatemala (AP) — Over the past decade, Guatemalan presidential candidate Sandra Torres has been drifting rightward on the political spectrum as she repeatedly has tried to win the presidency.Now, in her third bid, the former first lady has drafted an evangelical pastor as her running mate and is leaning heavily on her firm commitments to keeping abortion and same-sex marriage illegal in Guatemala.Her opponent in the Aug. 20 runoff, Bernardo Arévalo of the progressive Seed Movement, also has said Guatemala’s abortion ban should remain untouched. But he has declined to make any such declaration on same-sex marriage, saying only that his government would be against any sort of discrimination, without elaborating. Torres made a recent campaign stop in jeans and a national soccer team jersey at a school in San Juan Sacatepequez, an impoverished suburban city of more than 250,000, where she told several hundred supporters that she wanted the government to resp...