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With sexism in Spanish soccer being scrutinized, women players strike for higher league wages

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 09:00:31 GMT

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — First, Spain’s Women’s World Cup winners said they would no longer play for their country as they fight sexism in the nation’s soccer federation. Now, Spain’s women’s league players are on strike and calling for what they call a dignified minimum wage.The Liga F — Spain’s women’s league — was supposed to kick off its second season on Friday, but instead its players are striking for the first two rounds of games.The strike comes with the nation immersed in the scandal caused by soccer federation president Luis Rubiales when he kissed a Spain player on the lips without her consent during the Aug. 20 awards ceremony in Sydney, Australia after Spain had beaten England in the final.Rubiales’ conduct caused outrage in Spain. It also has drawn attention away from the greatest achievement in the history of Spanish women’s soccer, which has undergone spectacular growth over the last decade but still is fighting for a pay raise that, if granted, would...

Coalition of world leaders calls for tripling renewable energy

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 09:00:31 GMT

Leaders from the EU, Africa and the Caribbean have issued a united demand for the world to set targets that would transform the global energy system before a child born today is halfway through primary school.In an article published Saturday on POLITICO’s website, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, President of Kenya William Ruto and Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley called for the world to set “a common horizon,” namely global goals to triple renewable energy capacity and double annual savings of energy use by 2030.They issued their statement in the wake of a dire U.N. report on the state of global climate efforts released Friday. Sultan Al-Jaber, the United Arab Emirates official leading the COP28 U.N. climate talks that start in November, was also a signatory on the article.“COP28 will offer the world a critical chance to course-correct on climate change,” they said in the article.The leaders have previously made these demands individually, but they said the...

Blocked radio transmission led to June close call between planes at San Diego International Airport: FAA

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 09:00:31 GMT

SAN DIEGO — Investigators said Thursday that a failed radio transmission and a distracted air traffic controller led to a close call between a Southwest Airlines jet and a smaller plane waiting to take off from San Diego in June.Both planes had been cleared to use the same runway. The National Transportation Safety Board said a controller told the crew of SkyWest plane to exit the runway, then directed the Southwest pilots to cut short their landing approach and instead circle around the airport.The call to the Southwest plane didn't go through, however — likely because the controller and the pilots were talking at the same time and their transmissions canceled each other, the NTSB said.After that, according to the NTSB, audio recorded by LiveATC captured a Southwest pilot saying, “Ah, is that an airplane on the runway?" The SkyWest crew said they heard that while they were moving to leave the runway. San Diego International Airport warns travelers about upcoming I-5 closure The ...

Japan’s foreign minister to visit war-torn Ukraine with business leaders to discuss reconstruction

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 09:00:31 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, accompanied by a number of business leaders, is visiting Ukraine on Saturday for talks with his counterpart to show support for the war-torn country and emphasize his country’s backing of sanctions against Russia, the Japanese foreign ministry said in a statement.Hayashi, who had been on a tour of the Middle East and Poland earlier this week, will meet with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Kyiv. This is his first visit since the war began over a year ago. His visit comes six months after Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s trip to Ukraine.Hayashi is also set to visit Bucha, one of the hardest-hit towns on the outskirts of Kyiv, said a Japanese foreign ministry official who requested anonymity, saying he is not allowed to speak to the media on the record.He also said Hayashi will convey Japan’s determination to support Ukraine’s economic recovery and reconstruction from the damages of war “from ...

Trudeau arrives at G20 Summit as most powerful countries focus on Global South

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 09:00:31 GMT

NEW DELHI — The G20 has kicked off in New Delhi, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arriving alongside other leaders from the world’s richest and powerful countries. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who wants to make this summit about the Global South, also welcomed the African Union as its newest permanent member.The European Union is the only other regional bloc that holds permanent membership.Trudeau will spend most of the day sitting in sessions with the other leaders, with the first one focused on “One Earth.”He will also meet with World Bank President Ajay Banga and U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on the sidelines of the summit.Later tonight Trudeau will attend the G20 leaders’ dinner hosted by Modi.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2023. The Canadian Press

The African Union is joining the G20, a powerful acknowledgement of a continent of 1 billion people

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 09:00:31 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The group of the world’s 20 leading economies is welcoming the African Union as a permanent member, a powerful acknowledgement of Africa as its more than 50 countries seek a more important role on the global stage.U.S. President Joe Biden called last year for the AU’s permanent membership in the G20, saying it’s been “a long time in coming.” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the bloc was invited to join during the G20 summit his country is hosting this week. The African Union has advocated for full membership for seven years, spokesperson Ebba Kalondo said. Until now, South Africa was the bloc’s only G20 member.Here’s a look at the AU and what its membership represents in a world where Africa is central to discussions about climate change, food security, migration and other issues.WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR AFRICA?Permanent G20 membership signals the rise of a continent whose young population of 1.3 billion is set to double by 2050 and make ...

Ban or embrace? Colleges wrestle with AI-generated admissions essays.

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 09:00:31 GMT

Rick Clark, executive director of undergraduate admission at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and his staff spent weeks this summer pretending to be high school students using artificial intelligence chatbots to fill out college applications.The admissions officers each took on a different high school persona: swim team captain, Eagle Scout, musical theater performer. Then they fed personal details about the fictional students into ChatGPT, prompting the AI chatbot to produce the kind of extracurricular activity lists and personal essays commonly required on college applications.Clark said he wanted to get a handle on how AI chatbots might reshape the admissions process this fall — the start of the first full academic year that the tools will be widely available to high school seniors — and come up with guidance for students applying to Georgia Tech.“Students on some level are going to have access to and use AI,” Clark said. “The big question is: How do we want to direct them, k...

De La Salle beats St. Francis to dodge first 0-3 start in nearly a half century

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 09:00:31 GMT

MOUNTAIN VIEW — Has an early-season victory ever felt so good?In its first trip to St. Francis since its historic loss there two years ago, De La Salle had to dig deep Friday night to avoid what would have been the program’s first 0-3 start in 48 years.Clinging to a four-point lead with less than nine minutes to go, the Concord powerhouse finally dialed up the plays that pushed the team to victory.When it ended, De La Salle prevailed 35-17 as quarterback Toa Faavae ran for three touchdowns and Dominic Kelley carried 25 times for 135 yards and one TD.“I am happy for these kids,” coach Justin Alumbaugh said. “It’s a young group. We’re trying to learn how to win. It’s very gratifying. It was awesome to see our offensive line look like a De La Salle offensive line. We were getting off the ball, and our runners looked like De La Salle runners. They were breaking tackles.“This was a De La Salle win against a very good team. Those guys ...

Perfectly timed call helps Monte Vista hold off Bellarmine, remain perfect

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 09:00:31 GMT

DANVILLE – The Monte Vista High School football team hit Bellarmine with one big play after another Friday night – only to see the Bells bounce back seemingly every time.Finally, the Mustangs put the visitors from San Jose away, using a play they kept in their back pocket — only to use it at the perfect time — to deliver the knockout blow.Quarterback Brayden Turner evaded a blitz on fourth down and found running back Julian McMahan open in the flat for a 25-yard touchdown pass with 2:15 left in the fourth quarter to help the Mustangs post a 40-30 nonleague win over Bellarmine and improve to 3-0 for the second time in three years.The touchdown capped an 11-play, 80-yard drive in which the ball went to McMahan 10 times. On the late score, Turner, on his fifth touchdown pass of the game, threw over a blitzing defensive back to an open McMahan, who scrambled into the zone untouched.“We had been talking about that play call literally the entire week,” said McMahan, who scored...

High school football: McClymonds runs over Bishop O’Dowd in long-awaited Oakland showdown

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 09:00:31 GMT

OAKLAND – When Tajir Golden needed a breather after juking and cutting en-route to 140 yards and two touchdowns, his McClymonds teammate John “Sharky” Tamale took the baton, rushing for 137 yards and two TDs on an even 10 carries. As is so often the case on Friday nights, the duo spearheaded a crushing Warriors running game that wore down a spirited but ultimately overmatched Oakland opponent in a 45-0 victory. So what made this game any different from the dozens of other similar routs that have taken place at “the Mackhouse” over the past decade and a half?Well, this time, it wasn’t an Oakland Athletic League rival being run over on Myrtle Street. It was Bishop O’Dowd, the once-powerful private school program from the MVAL-WACC, that took its lumps against the reigning 2-AA NorCal champion. OAKLAND – McClymonds coach Michael Peters (white shirt on right) and Bishop O’Dowd coach Hardy Nickerson Sr. (black shirt on left) talk before the game. McClymonds and Bishop O...