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Ace sprinter Mark Cavendish delays retirement to chase outright record for Tour de France stage wins

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:45 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — Ace sprinter Mark Cavendish wants another go at becoming the outright record-holder for most career stage wins at the Tour de France.Cavendish equaled cycling great Eddy Merckx’s record of 34 stage wins during the 2021 Tour, 13 years after his first success, and came close to winning a 35th in the seventh stage of the 2023 edition.After announcing his retirement earlier this year, Cavendish has now backpedaled and will compete with the Astana Qazaqstan team for one more season, including the Tour.“I was looking forward to not having to get up and train in any weather condition and not be away from home; spend time with the kids,” the 38-year-old Cavendish said on Wednesday. “Ultimately, I’d miss racing. I love racing. But I was happy, I was in a happy place, and I knew I could go out on top. Obviously, it wasn’t the finish I hoped for, crashing at the Tour de France.”Cavendish, the most successful sprinter in the race history, crashed out during the...

Lucu starts for France in Dupont absence against Italy at Rugby World Cup. Azzurri change front row

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:45 GMT

LYON, France (AP) — Maxime Lucu is at scrumhalf for the injured Antoine Dupont when France meets Italy in a winner-takes-all pool match on Friday for a place in the Rugby World Cup quarterfinals.Dupont’s serious facial injury in the 96-0 rout against Namibia two weeks ago gives Lucu his 18th test cap. Gregory Alldritt comes back in at No. 8 in the only other change. Anthony Jelonch switches to flanker and takes the spot of Francois Cros, who is among the reserves in place of Paul Boudehent. Lucu resumes his club pairing alongside Bordeaux Begles teammate Matthieu Jalibert. “When you play or train with someone every day, you get to know them. We get on really well and spend a lot of time together,” Lucu said on Wednesday. “We play for the same club, so bonds are formed, a bit like Antoine and Romain (Ntamack) at Stade Toulousain (Toulouse). Starting alongside each other is a big deal for both of us.”But it is a backup halves pairing for France, as Jalibert is a starter on...

Stock market today: Wall Street futures inch higher as bond yields stabilize, oil prices slide

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:45 GMT

Wall Street shifted toward gains before the opening bell Wednesday, a day after rising bond yields pressured stocks and dragged down the technology sector.Futures for the Dow Jones industrials and the S&P 500 each ticked up 0.2%.Bond yields stabilized somewhat overnight, with the 2-year Treasury retreating to 5.11% from 5.15% late Tuesday. The 10-year followed suit, falling to 4.75% from 4.80% after touching its highest level since 2007.When bonds are paying so much more in interest, they pull dollars away from stocks and other investments prone to bigger price swings than bonds. High yields also make borrowing more expensive for companies and households across the economy, which can hurt corporate profits.In addition to the pressure from the bond market, a report Tuesday showing that U.S. employers have many more job openings than forecast helped to drag down markets. A resilient U.S. labor market has fortified expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will keep interest rates...

Presidential elections get people to vote in Colorado, propositions not so much

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:45 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Even though 2023 is not a traditional election year, if you're a registered voter in Colorado, you will likely get a ballot in the mail sometime before November.There are two propositions on the ballot for Nov. 7, Proposition HH and Proposition II.Despite this, if history is any indication at least, most Coloradans will decide to skip the trip to the mailbox or local drop-off location. Voting guide: Breaking down the 2023 Blue Book FOX31 went through the data which showed fewer people submit votes when there isn't a presidential race on the ballot. Even fewer ballots are cast when there aren't any candidates to vote for.Presidential elections are popular, propositions are notColorado has had automatic voter registration since 2017 and has sent mail-in ballots to every registered voter since 2014. However, not every November election is created equal.Of the five years that FOX31 looked at, 2020 by far had the most ballots cast at 3,291,661.The other years weren't ev...

Denver ranks as one of the greenest cities in America

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:45 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Bike lanes, farmers markets, city parks, community gardens, all these common Denver practices put the Mile High City as one of the greenest cities in the country, according to a new study. WalletHub rated 100 of the largest cities on 28 “green” indicators, which include data like greenhouse gas emissions per capita, percent of green space, percent of commuters who drive and the number of smart-energy policies and initiatives. Condé Nast Traveler names Colorado ski resort as best in nation Out of the top 100 cities, Denver placed 13th.Top 20 greenest citiesSan Diego, CaliforniaHonolulu, HawaiiPortland, OregonWashington, D.C.Seattle, WashingtonSan Jose, CaliforniaSan Francisco, California Oakland, CaliforniaFremont, CaliforniaMinneapolis, MinnesotaIrvine, CaliforniaSacramento, CaliforniaDenver, ColoradoAlbuquerque, New MexicoMadison, WisconsinBuffalo, New YorkRiverside, CaliforniaSt. Paul, MinnesotaStockton, CaliforniaLong Beach, California Does your school rank a...

Florida lawmakers to convene amidst censorship debate in schools

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:45 GMT

In the midst of a nationwide observance of National Banned Books Week, Florida lawmakers are set to convene Wednesday morning to tackle a pressing issue that has captured the nation’s attention – the rise of censorship in classrooms.The contentious debate over book banning in the Sunshine State has escalated since Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law new legislation governing what can be read in Florida’s schools.As Florida Democratic Party leaders gear up to address what they describe as a disturbing uptick in censorship within Florida schools, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz pointed out that Florida leads the nation in the removal of books from school libraries, with over 1,400 titles being taken off the shelves.Many of these removals have been attributed to Governor Ron DeSantis’ “Parental Rights in Education Law.” “We want parents to be armed with the ability to make sure their kids are in a safe environment,” said the Flor...

Paris bedbugs: It’s not a big deal, says French transport chief

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:45 GMT

There has been “no resurgence” of bedbugs on public transport in Paris and people should not “fall into psychosis or anxiety” about the little critters, French Transport Minister Clément Beaune said Wednesday.The tiny insects have been spotted on public transport in Paris and across France over the past few weeks, raising alarm among residents and public officials, who have asked the government to take action to fight this “scourge” ahead of the 2024 Olympics.But during a crisis meeting on Wednesday, Beaune said that all recent bedbug reports — 37 cases have been reported to railway firm SNCF and a dozen reported to Paris’ public transport operator RATP — have been checked and “zero are proven.”“There … may be cases in the coming weeks or in the coming months, as there are in all major cities and major metropolis,” Beaune said. “It is not a phenomenon that arose now.”Beaune said his department will strengthen protocols, produce quarter...

Ukraine’s accession would cost €186B, EU estimates

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:45 GMT

BRUSSELS — Integrating Ukraine into the European Union could mean some €186 billion in EU funds flowing to the country over seven years, according to an internal note of the Council of the EU seen by POLITICO. Enlarging the EU further to include six Balkan countries, as well as Georgia and Moldova, would impose a further burden of around €74 billion on the EU budget, the document added.Enlargement is set to be a main discussion point in a meeting of EU leaders later this week in the Spanish city of Granada. The European Union is preparing to open accession negotiations with Ukraine, with a formal announcement expected as soon as December.The Council document, first reported by the Financial Times, is the first official exercise of what future enlargement could mean for the EU budget. The note outlines opportunities, such as a larger internal market and more political clout on the global stage. But it also warns about “very significant challenges” on issues ranging f...

Rishi Sunak still thinks he can win. Try telling his Tory party

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:45 GMT

MANCHESTER, England — Against all the odds, Rishi Sunak thinks electoral victory is in his sights. His restive Conservative Party is going to take some convincing.Wrapping up his first Conservative conference as leader and U.K. prime minister on Wednesday, Sunak vowed to “tell it as it is” and “lead in a different way,” as he talked up having “the courage to change direction.” Pitching himself as a “radical” willing to challenge the status quo, he declared: “It is time for a change and we are it.”But in bars and restaurants around Manchester this week, MPs and activists say victory is a long shot — and they aren’t convinced Sunak has yet cooked up a recipe for success.“We’re not talking about what we can do for people’s lives — it feels like quite a cagey appeal right now,” a former Cabinet minister said of Sunak’s pitch, warning it felt more like a strategy for minimizing losses.Others are determined to keep hope alive. “Our voters are grump...

Rishi Sunak tries to distance himself from 13 years of the Tories in conference speech

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:58:45 GMT

LONDON — Rishi Sunak tried to pitch himself as the change candidate in his first address to the Conservative Party conference as prime minister — and distanced himself from 13 years of Tory government by scrapping a flagship policy backed by his predecessors.“I will tell it as it is,” Sunak told assembled Conservative activists. “I will lead in a different way, because that is the only way to create the sort of change in our politics and in our country that we all desperately want to see.”With the Conservatives facing the possibility of electoral oblivion at the hands of a Labour Party with a big polling lead, Sunak is trying to reverse his party’s fortunes by moving away from what he described as “30 years of a political system that incentivizes the easy decision, not the right one.”For Sunak, this means setting himself apart from the policies of previous prime ministers wearing both Labour and Tory stripes. In a move seen as part of this p...