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1,100-year-old Hebrew Bible sells for $38M at auction in New York

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:24 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A 1,100-year-old Hebrew Bible that is one of the world’s oldest surviving biblical manuscripts sold for $38 million in New York on Wednesday.The Codex Sassoon, a leather-bound, handwritten parchment volume containing a nearly complete Hebrew Bible, was purchased by former U.S. Ambassador to Romania Alfred H. Moses on behalf of the American Friends of ANU and donated to ANU Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv, where it will join the collection, Sotheby’s said in statement.The manuscript was exhibited at the ANU Museum in March as part of a worldwide tour before the auction.Sotheby’s Judaica specialist Sharon Liberman Mintz said the $38 million price tag, which includes the auction house’s fee, “reflects the profound power, influence, and significance of the Hebrew Bible, which is an indispensable pillar of humanity.”It’s one of highest prices for a manuscript sold at auction. In 2021, a rare copy of the U.S. Constitution sold for $43 ...

Why Ecuador’s president dissolved the National Assembly, and what happens next

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:24 GMT

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — President Guillermo Lasso dissolved Ecuador’s National Assembly on Wednesday just as it was forging ahead with impeachment proceedings to remove the conservative leader from office over alleged mismanagement. In disbanding the assembly, the president, who denies any wrongdoing, made first use of the Ecuador presidency’s nuclear option under the constitution in conflicts with the legislative branch. WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? Elections must be called within three months, for both the assembly and presidency, and the winners will serve out what would otherwise have been the remainder of the terms of those elected officials, or until May 2025. Lasso can choose to run in the presidential election. In the meantime, he can rule by decree for up to six months.The move could deepen the country’s political turmoil and spark protests, as critics push back in part by noting that Lasso was himself on the verge of being ousted. Lasso appears to have the support of the a...

Man City beats Real Madrid 4-0 to advance to Champions League final

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:24 GMT

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Bernardo Silva scored twice as Manchester City advanced to the Champions League final with a 4-0 win against Real Madrid on Wednesday. City will play Inter Milan in Istanbul on June 10 when Pep Guardiola will get the chance to win European soccer’s elite competition for the third time as a coach. Bernardo scored in the 23rd and 37th minutes at Etihad Stadium, with Eder Militao’s own goal in the 76th and a stoppage-time strike from substitute Julian Alvarez sealing a 5-1 aggregate win. City is aiming to lift the Champions League for the first time in its history and has advanced to the final for the second time in three seasons. Madrid was going in search of a record-extending 15th European Cup, but was totally dominated in the second leg after the first match at the Santiago Bernabeu ended 1-1. Bernardo beat Thibaut Courtois at his near post to put City ahead after Erling Haaland had already forced two saves from the Madrid goalkeeper. Toni Kro...

Becky Hammon, Las Vegas Aces coach, denies bullying player over pregnancy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:24 GMT

HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon denied Wednesday that former Aces player Dearica Hamby was bullied on her team for being pregnant, saying any ill feelings between the two came from Hamby being traded.Hammon, one of the league’s marquee figures, said in a video call with reporters she did nothing to warrant discipline from the WNBA, which suspended her for two games without pay Tuesday after a monthslong investigation into Hamby’s allegations.“I’ll take my little lump on the chin and keep it moving,” Hammon said. “We’re bigger than this. It’s just not who the Aces are. It’s not who I am. And so, yeah, everybody’s disappointed in the situation, but at the end of the day, we know who we are and so we go to sleep every night in that truth.”Hammon said she once asked Hamby about her pregnancy, but didn’t get into the specifics of what she said.“I guess you’d have to ask for (the league’s) interpretation,” Hammon said. “But, yeah, that from my u...

EA Sports College Football game to pay players for likeness if they opt in

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:24 GMT

College football players will benefit financially from the use of their likenesses when EA Sports brings back its college football game for the first time since 2013.The gaming company says it wants “to bring an EA SPORTS college football experience back to our fans,” and will allow student-athletes to opt in or opt out of having their likeness included. Those that opt in will receive compensation.The company confirmed Wednesday that players who decide to opt out of EA Sports College Football will be replaced by generic avatars. It declined to discuss financial terms of the deal, such as whether more popular players will be compensated differently than less-known ones or whether their popularity will be tracked, and said its goal is to have all Division I FBS programs represented.EA Sports last issued a college football game in 2013.___AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/ap_top25. Sign up for the AP Top 25 newsletter here: https://lin...

Police: Teen shot, killed near Roosevelt High in Northwest DC

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:24 GMT

A teenage boy has died after he was found suffering from a gunshot wound in the parking lot of Theodore Roosevelt High School in Northwest D.C. on Wednesday afternoon, police said.Police said that a 17-year-old boy was shot outside the Petworth high school following an altercation. It is currently unknown if the suspect involved was another student or not.The teenager, who was a student at the high school, was transported to a local hospital where officials attempted lifesaving maneuvers before he succumbed to his injuries and died, police said.At a press conference following the shooting, Assistant Chief of Police for Patrol Services North Morgan Kane announced that the boy was shot with a handgun outside of the school. Kane reports that multiple gunshots were heard from inside the school, but it is unknown if there was an exchange of gunfire.She also said police are working with the school’s officers, who were inside the school at the time of the shooting, to review video fo...

Attempted murder charges for 2 Prince George’s Co. teens in school bus assault

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:24 GMT

Prince George’s County police announced in a statement Wednesday that two of the three suspects involved in an assault of a middle school student aboard a bus earlier this month have been arrested and are being charged as adults.The suspects in custody were identified as a 14-year-old boy from Suitland and a 15-year-old boy from Temple Hills. Police did not release their names. They are being charged with attempted first- and second-degree murder, assault and other weapons-related charges.An active search is underway for the third suspect.On Monday, May 1, authorities say three people dressed in black boarded a school bus near Iverson Street and Sutler Drive in Oxon Hill as a bus driver was completing an after-school drop-off route. Police say three suspects then assaulted the lone remaining student on the bus, pushing him towards the back and firing a gun that malfunctioned three times. Ammunition was recovered from the scene by police, police said.A bus aide and the bus driv...

Who’s who in the debt limit fight: Meet the four negotiators who could save the US from default

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:24 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy are turning to a select group of negotiators to help work out a deal to increase the nation’s borrowing authority and avoid the economic carnage that could ensue if the U.S. defaults on its debts.The negotiators are racing to beat a deadline of June 1. That’s when the Treasury Department says the government could begin defaulting on its debts for the first time in history. And while White House and congressional aides have been meeting on a daily basis, there has been concern that there were too many people in the room and not the right people. Here’s a look at the “closers” — those Biden and McCarthy have appointed to get a deal done:REP. GARRET GRAVES, Louisiana RepublicanGraves, 51, is serving his fifth term in office representing a congressional district that includes Baton Rouge, which he won with more than 80% of the vote in November. He had entertained the idea of running for governor in Louisiana but opte...

Denver weather: Widespread rain showers in forecast next 2 days

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:24 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Denver's weather will turn cloudy and wet again Thursday into Friday. This storm system will bring less rain than last week's showers but it will still be a cooler and wet two days with the potential for minor flooding. Weather tonight: Late showersMost of the scattered storms that develop Wednesday afternoon will be concentrated on the Eastern Plains and in northern Colorado. Late Wednesday night, a round of scattered rain showers will push through the Front Range. Temperatures will fall into the upper 40s overnight in Denver with mostly cloudy skies. Weather tomorrow: Soggy Thursday Denver and the Front Range will wake up with mostly cloudy skies and isolated showers. The best chance for rain will come Thursday afternoon, through the evening, and into early Friday morning. Temperatures will be cooler, in the mid-60s, due to the morning clouds. If the clouds dissipate early, the afternoon rain will come in the form of scattered storms. If the clouds hold into t...

Montana becomes first state to ban TikTok; law likely to be challenged

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:24 GMT

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Montana became the first state in the U.S. to completely ban TikTok on Wednesday when the state's Republican governor signed a measure that's more sweeping than any other state's attempts to curtail the social media app.The measure is expected to be challenged legally and will serve as a testing ground for the TikTok-free America that many national lawmakers have envisioned.Some lawmakers, the FBI and officials at other agencies are concerned the video-sharing app, owned by the Chinese tech company ByteDance, could be used to allow the Chinese government to access information on American citizens or push pro-Beijing misinformation that could influence the public. TikTok says none of this has ever happened. YouTube’s recommendations send violent and graphic gun videos to 9-year-olds: study When Montana banned the app on government-owned devices in late December, Gov. Greg Gianforte said TikTok posed a “significant risk” to sensitive state data. More t...