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Djokovic expects to rev up his clay-court game at Italian Open

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:44:10 GMT

ROME (AP) — Novak Djokovic is right where he wants to be after a slow start to his clay-court season.Back at the Italian Open — the clay event where he’s had his most success.The top-ranked Serb is a six-time champion in Rome and six-time runner-up.“Historically throughout my career, Rome has always been a very nice tournament for me,” Djokovic said Thursday. “Hopefully it can serve, again, as a great, great springboard for me to what’s coming up in Paris where I want to play my best.”The French Open, the clay-court Grand Slam, starts at the end of the month, and Djokovic is hoping to add a third title at Roland Garros after his victories in 2016 and 2021.Djokovic is returning after three weeks off due to a lingering issue with his surgically repaired right elbow.In his previous two tournaments on red clay, Djokovic had consecutive early exits.He lost in the round of 16 at Monte Carlo to Lorenzo Musetti. Then Dusan Lajovic beat him in the quarterfinals of the Srpska Open in Bosnia a...

First Guaranty Bancshares: Q1 Earnings Snapshot

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:44:10 GMT

HAMMOND, La. (AP) — HAMMOND, La. (AP) — First Guaranty Banchshares Inc. (FGBI) on Wednesday reported first-quarter earnings of $2.9 million.The bank, based in Hammond, Louisiana, said it had earnings of 27 cents per share.The results missed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of three analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 32 cents per share.The bank holding company posted revenue of $44 million in the period. Its revenue net of interest expense was $25 million, which topped Street forecasts._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on FGBI at https://www.zacks.com/ap/FGBISource

Free speech, racial equity battles are playing out on Wisconsin campuses

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:44:10 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The fight over racial equity and free speech on Wisconsin college campuses is intensifying, mirroring a national battle as Republicans work to close campus diversity offices and demand that students and faculty treat conservative speakers with respect.In the past two weeks, the state’s top Republican announced a push to defund the University of Wisconsin System’s diversity efforts — a move the Democratic governor lambasted as ridiculous. Nonetheless, the UW System’s chief announced Thursday that he has barred schools from asking job applicants how they would support diversity.Meanwhile, a UW-Madison student has posted racial slurs online, triggering bitter protests but no announced discipline. And a state medical college canceled a diversity symposium featuring Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson out of concerns the discussion would be too disruptive, resulting in cries of bias from conservatives.Amid that backdrop, Republican legislative leaders held a heari...

Colorado Rapids player accused of match-fixing

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:44:10 GMT

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil will launch a national investigation into soccer match-fixing and the probe could have “international repercussions,” Justice Minister Flavio Dino said Wednesday. Dino's announcement follows a request from the Brazilian country's soccer confederation amid a sprawling state investigation that led local clubs and Major League Soccer's Colorado Rapids to suspend several footballers from its activities.The probe of the state of Goias initially targeted matches from last season in Brazil’s top flight, but has expanded into second-division matches. Prosecutors said some of the athletes were paid between 50,000 and 100,000 Brazilian reals ($10,000 to $20,000) to get booked or give penalties to their rivals. Broncos single-game tickets on sale after schedule announcement Brazil’s justice minister said on Twitter that the country's federal police will open a probe “due to the evidence of match-fixing in sports events, with inter-state and international repercussions...

Aventura 8th grader catches bus aide’s profanity-laced tirade; police, school investigating

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:44:10 GMT

Students were left shaken after a school bus monitor went on an angry, profanity-laced tirade, and one of those students caught the incident on video.The cellphone footage sent ripples through an entire community, triggering investigations from Aventura Police and Aventura City of Excellence School (ACES) Charter School.“[Expletive] if you touch me, I swear to God!” said the man working on the bus.The father of Mia, the eighth grader at ACES who recorded the video, said he is upset with what his daughter had to endure on the ride home from school Wednesday.Mia spoke with 7News about the incident on Wednesday.“He looked like he was ready to hit someone,” said Mia, who didn’t want to show her face on camera.She said she was on her way home from school on the bus when, she said, the bus aide started screaming at the driver.“Run, run your [expletive] mouth to these [expletive] kids again,” said the aide on the video. “I’m talking to ...

Surveillance footage captures alleged armed robber stealing cash register from restaurant in Hialeah

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:44:10 GMT

A crook with a gun targeted a South Florida restaurant. According to police, the suspect entered the restaurant, drank some coffee, and then left. But when he returned to the eatery, the suspect was armed with a gun. Surveillance footage showed the suspect, thirty-five-year-old Alejandro Oscar Perez Mujica, armed with a gun as he walked into the San Lazaro Cafeteria, at 2400 W 2nd Ave.“At the moment, the restaurant was open,” Hialeah Police Officer Scarlett Hernandez said.It was around 9 a.m. on Monday, May 1 when Mujica entered the restaurant. “There were two employees at the establishment at the time,” Hernandez said. Mujica was then see pulling out a gun before he walked over towards the back of the restaurant. “And went behind the counter, selected and took with him a cash register containing $3,000,” Hernandez said. Surveillance footage captured Mujica quickly exiting the eatery. Officers tracked down the accused armed robber and arrested him...

Crash reportedly involving child on I-75 in Davie shuts down NB lanes near Griffin Road

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:44:10 GMT

A violent crash on Interstate 75 in Davie that reportedly involved a child has led to the closure of all northbound lanes near Griffin Road.Davie Fire Rescue units responded to the scene on the northbound express lanes, Thursday afternoon.7SkyForce hovered above the scene just before 4:45 p.m., after the northbound lanes were shut down.A rescue chopper was seen landing on the highway, and a first responder approached one of the vehicles involved with a stretcher.Officials urge drivers to avoid the area and seek alternate routes.Please check back on WSVN.com and 7News for more details on this breaking story.

Dead baby found in Lakeland dumpster, police say

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:44:10 GMT

LAKELAND, Florida (WFTS) — A newborn baby boy was found dead inside a bag in a dumpster on Thursday morning in Lakeland, Police Chief Sam Taylor said during a press conference.Taylor estimated the baby was less than 10 hours old. He said the placenta and umbilical cord were still attached.Taylor said the baby was found by a man going through the dumpster behind Just Move on South Florida Avenue.The baby’s body is now with the Medical Examiner, Taylor said, to determine the cause of death. The baby was viable, according to Taylor, who said, “I would actually refer to it as a baby.”Taylor said there were two locations down the road where the baby could have been left under the state’s Safe Haven Laws.Safe Haven Laws allow a newborn up to seven days old to be taken to any Safe Haven facility recognized by state law anonymously and without fear of prosecution. The babies can be surrendered to any hospital, fire station, or EMS station that has a full-time s...

South Florida immigration groups condemn DeSantis’ newly signed immigration bill

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:44:10 GMT

As the migrant crisis makes national headlines due to the looming expiration of title 42, Florida’s latest restrictions on immigrants is getting mixed reactions. Immigration groups on Thursday condemned the latest immigration bill that was signed into law by Florida Gov. Ron Desantis, which adds new restrictions on undocumented immigrants.“It’s inconceivable that in a state where immigrants are a critical and a crucial part of the community, a state that has been home for millions of immigrants, the governor and his legislature have decided to attack and despise the people who actually build the economical and cultural prosperity in Florida,” said Adelys Ferro, who is with the Venezuelan-American Caucus.The same sentiment was felt in Little Haiti where the Family Action Network Movement, a local group that helps immigrant families, along with some local leaders, spoke up against the governor.“At the end of the day, when you look at what the Florida Legislature have done ...

Europe First: Macron hits the gas in transatlantic subsidy race with EU carmaking cash

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:44:10 GMT

PARIS — Emmanuel Macron took his war of words with Washington to the mat Thursday by proposing a concrete counter to Washington’s electric car subsidies — a move likely to further heighten transatlantic tensions. France, home to major carmakers like Renault and Stellantis, will tailor its existing measures that encourage green vehicle purchases to specifically reward European manufacturers by the end of this year, the president said, calling on the rest of the European Union to take similar action.“We will be the first European country to reform the criteria for the allocation of the car bonus,” Macron said in a speech at the Elysée Palace during an event on re-industrialization, where EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton also took the floor. “It’s a small revolution that we want to bring to the European level,” Macron said.Macron has been a combative voice hitting out at the subsidies under Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, whi...