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Devin McCourty unsurprised but impressed with how Patriots replaced him at free safety

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:42 GMT

FOXBORO — The Patriots proved that no one player can replace retired safety Devin McCourty on Sunday.For the first time in 13 years, we saw what a Patriots defense without McCourty looks like, and while the end result of the game obviously could have been better, the strategy of free safety-by-committee overall went well. The defense allowed just 18 points in the 25-20 loss to one of last year’s most high-powered offenses and held Jalen Hurts and Co. to just one touchdown.So, who replaced McCourty? A better question might be who didn’t?Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots extra points: Ezekiel Elliott endorses signing ex-Cowboys O-lineman New England Patriots | Patriots aren’t underestimating Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa ahead of Week 2 New England Patriots | Patriots-Dolphins injury report: Pats defensive back hurt Thursday, could affect Tyreek Hill plan New England Patriots | Why Patriots TE Mike Gesicki...

Patriots extra points: Ezekiel Elliott endorses signing ex-Cowboys O-lineman

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:42 GMT

FOXBORO — Patriots running back Ezekiel Elliott just finished settling into New England.On Thursday, Elliott told reporters he was finally having TV and cable installed at his new home. After weeks, he’s now comfortable with the playbook.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Devin McCourty unsurprised but impressed with how Patriots replaced him at free safety New England Patriots | Patriots aren’t underestimating Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa ahead of Week 2 New England Patriots | Patriots-Dolphins injury report: Pats defensive back hurt Thursday, could affect Tyreek Hill plan New England Patriots | Why Patriots TE Mike Gesicki can’t share much intel about his ex-Dolphin teammates New England Patriots | Patriots’ offense gets one piece of good news before Dolphins game But there is one change Elliott would like to make in Foxboro: adding former teammate and ex-Cowboys off...

Suspects sought after woman carjacked at gunpoint in Etobicoke

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:42 GMT

Police are searching for suspects after an armed carjacking in north Etobicoke on Thursday night.Officers responded to the area of Finch Avenue West and Islington Avenue around 7 p.m.Police say a woman was robbed of her car at gunpoint. No injuries were reported.No suspect information has been made available.The investigation is ongoing.CARJACKING:Finch Ave and Islington Ave area7:05 pm-reports of a carjacking-woman robbed of car at gunpoint-police o/s-confirmed carjacking-no reported injuries-ongoing investigation#GO2152771^lm— Toronto Police Operations (@TPSOperations) September 14, 2023

Libya seals off flooded city so searchers can look for 10,000 missing after death toll passes 11,000

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:42 GMT

DERNA, Libya (AP) — Libyan authorities sealed off an inundated city on Friday to allow search teams to dig through the mud and hollowed-out buildings for 10,000 people missing and feared dead after the official toll from flooding soared past 11,000. Authorities warned that disease and explosives shifted by the waters could take yet more lives.Two dams collapsed in exceptionally heavy rains from Mediterranean storm Daniel early Monday, sending a wall of water several meters high gushing down a valley that cuts through the city of Derna. The unusual flooding and Libya’s political chaos contributed to the enormous toll. The oil-rich state has been split since 2014 between rival governments in the east and west backed by various militia forces and international patrons.The disaster has brought rare unity, as government agencies across Libya’s divide rushed to help the affected areas. But relief efforts have been slowed by the destruction after several bridges that connect the city were ...

Czech court cancels lower court ruling that acquitted former PM Babis of fraud charges

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:42 GMT

PRAGUE (AP) — Prague’s High Court cancelled a lower court ruling that acquitted former Prime Minister Andrej Babis of fraud charges in a $2 million case involving European Union subsidies.The court returned the case for retrial to Prague’s Municipal Court, according information published in a database of court documents on Friday.The High Court issued the verdict a day earlier but didn’t make it immediately public.The Babis case involved a farm known as the Stork’s Nest, which received EU subsidies after its ownership was transferred from the Babis-owned Agrofert conglomerate of around 250 companies to Babis’ family members. Later, Agrofert again took ownership of the farm.The subsidies were meant for medium- and small-sized businesses, and Agrofert wouldn’t have been eligible for them. Agrofert later returned the subsidy.Prague’s Municipal Court also acquitted in January his former associate, Jana Nagyova, who signed the subsidy request. Babis pleaded not guilty and repeatedly said...

Apple will update iPhone 12 in France after regulators said it emitted too much radiation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:42 GMT

PARIS (AP) — Apple has agreed to install updates for the iPhone 12 in France after French regulators ordered the company to stop selling the model because it emits electromagnetic radiation levels that exceed European Union standards.The company, which just unveiled its newest generation of iPhones, insists the 12 model is safe and the phones have been certified in countries around the world since its introduction in 2020. It says the problem raised by the French government agency that manages wireless communications frequencies is “related to a specific testing protocol.”The French agency said the iPhone 12 recently failed one of two types of tests for electromagnetic waves capable of being absorbed by the body. On Tuesday, France’s government ordered a halt to sales of the iPhone 12 and told Apple to issue a software update to address the problem or face a recall.Apple said in a statement Friday that it “will issue a software update for users in France to accommodate the protocol ...

AP Election Brief | What to expect in Pennsylvania’s special election

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:42 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — For the third time in less than eight months, a special election will decide control of the narrowly divided Pennsylvania House of Representatives and provide political reinforcements to either the commonwealth’s Democratic governor or its Republican-controlled Senate.On Tuesday, voters in the heavily Democratic 21st legislative district will choose a replacement for former state Rep. Sara Innamorato, who stepped down in July to focus on her bid to be Allegheny County’s next county executive. Her resignation bumped Democrats from a one-vote majority in the chamber to a 101-101 tie with Republicans.The Democratic nominee is Lindsay Powell, director of Workforce Strategies for InnovatePGH, an economic development nonprofit, and a former aide to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and former Pittsburgh Mayor William Peduto. She faces GOP nominee Erin Connolly Autenreith, a real estate agent and chairwoman of the Shale...

Bus with migrants crashes as Italy transfers new arrivals to relieve pressure on Lampedusa island

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:42 GMT

ROME (AP) — A bus reportedly transporting recently arrived migrants slammed into a truck north of Rome early Friday, killing the two drivers, as Italy accelerated the transfers of migrants north to try to relieve pressure on the Sicilian island of Lampedusa.Ten people were also injured in the crash on the A1 highway near Fiano Romano, Italy’s fire rescue service said. Italian media said the bus had been transporting the migrants north to Piedmont after they arrived in recent days on Lampedusa and were ferried to the Italian mainland.Lampedusa, which is closer to Africa than the Italian mainland, has been overwhelmed this week by thousands of people hoping to reach Europe from Tunisia, which has replaced Libya as the main base of operations for migrant smuggling operations in the Mediterranean.The Italian Red Cross said some 700 new arrivals had been transferred off Lampedusa on Thursday and 2,500 more transfers were planned for Friday to try to relieve pressure on the island’s refug...

Daughter of long-detained activist in Bahrain prepares to travel to island kingdom on Friday

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:42 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A daughter of a long-detained human rights activist in Bahrain plans to return to the island kingdom Friday to press for the release of her father, even as she faces imprisonment herself. Maryam al-Khawaja will be accompanied by a phalanx of other activists including the secretary-general of Amnesty International, Agnès Callamard, seeking to prevent authorities from immediately detaining her. Her trip comes as her father, 62-year-old Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, has resumed a hunger strike to protest the conditions of his yearslong imprisonment on internationally criticized charges stemming from him leading 2011 Arab Spring demonstrations in Bahrain. The trip also renews pressure on Denmark, where both al-Khawajas have citizenship, and the U.S., which signed a new defense understanding with Bahrain this week during a trip to Washington by its crown prince. “So I’m on my way,” Maryam al-Khawaja said in a video posted online. “I want to thank the peop...

Workers are on strike at all 3 Detroit auto makers for the first time in their union's history

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:42 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — About 13,000 U.S. auto workers stopped making vehicles and went on strike Friday after their leaders couldn’t bridge a giant gap between union demands in contract talks and what Detroit’s three automakers are willing to pay. Members of the United Auto Workers union began picketing at a General Motors assembly plant in Wentzville, Missouri; a Ford factory in Wayne, Michigan, near Detroit; and a Stellantis Jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio.It was the first time in the union’s 88-year history that it walked out on all three companies simultaneously as four-year contracts expired at 11:59 p.m. Thursday.The strikes will likely chart the future of the union and of America’s homegrown auto industry at a time when U.S. labor is flexing its might and the companies face a historic transition from building internal combustion automobiles to making electric vehicles.If they last a long time, dealers could run short of vehicles and prices could rise, impacting a U.S. economy already unde...