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Book Review: ‘Disobedient’ deftly paints the inspiring story of artist Artemisia Gentileschi

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:37:00 GMT

“Disobedient” by Elizabeth Fremantle (Pegasus Books)Artemisia Gentileschi’s painting skills quickly surpass her father’s, but society dictates that as a woman, she must stay home and protect her virtue. Art — with its unsavory types and naked models — isn’t exactly fit for a good Roman Catholic girl. And when her painting tutor attacks her, it sets off a cascade of seemingly insurmountable problems and impossible choices.Author Elizabeth Fremantle deftly paints Artemisia’s painful but inspiring story in her latest biographical fiction, “Disobedient.” Having already established herself as a writer who champions powerful female leads, Fremantle fleshes out the 17th-century artist who defied the limits placed upon her and became one of the best painters of the Baroque period. The book starts off with a magical rendition of Artemisia’s childhood, the day she witnesses a beheading. It’s thrilling and wonderful to see the world from the eyes of 6-year-old Artemisia to open the story...

3 passengers dead after passenger bus crashes on Pennsylvania interstate, state police say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:37:00 GMT

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A passenger bus carrying up to 50 people crashed and hit another vehicle on a Pennsylvania interstate, killing three bus passengers, state police said.The wreck happened during heavy rain around 11:50 p.m. Sunday on southbound Interstate 81 just north of Harrisburg, state police said. The bus drove off the roadway, struck an embankment and rolled onto its right side before hitting the back of a car that was stopped in the right lane of traffic, according to a crash report.The three passengers were declared dead at the scene, the police report said, and others suffered injuries that ranged from minor to severe. Matthew Oshiafi, a passenger on the bus, told Pennlive that he remembered a terrible screeching and shuddering before it crashed and flipped on its side. He said he was sitting in the last row of the bus that was covering a normal route between New York and Ohio.Oshiafi, 39, a New York City resident who was headed to Cincinnati to visit family, said the ...

USA TODAY SPORTS AFCA COLLEGE FOOTBALL COACHES POLL

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:37:00 GMT

USA TODAY SPORTS AFCA PRESEASON COLLEGE FOOTBALL COACHES POLL, Aug. 7, 2023.The USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll Top 25 with team’s records FROM LAST SEASON, total points based on 25 for first place through one point for 25th, ranking in last year’s final poll and first-place votes received.RecordPtsPvs1. Georgia (61)15-0164312. Michigan13-1151033. Alabama (4)11-2148954. Ohio State (1)11-2148545. LSU10-41294156. Southern California11-31228137. Penn State11-2118178. Florida State10-31145109. Clemson11-310781210. Tennessee11-2991611. Washington11-2941812. Texas8-58482513. Notre Dame9-48411814. Utah10-48391115. Oregon10-38201616. TCU13-2655217. Kansas State10-44401418. Oregon State10-33651719. Oklahoma6-7320NR20. North Carolina9-5315NR21. Wisconsin7-6309NR22. Mississippi8-5303NR23. Tulane12-2225924. Texas Tech8-5200NR25. Texas A&M5-7196NRDropped Out: No. 19 Mississippi State (9-4); No. 20 Troy (12-2); No. 21 UCLA (9-4); No. 22 Pittsburgh (9-4); No. 23 South Carolina (...

Mbappe’s standoff with PSG continues amid report that Neymar now wants to leave the French club

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:37:00 GMT

PARIS (AP) — As Kylian Mbappe’s transfer standoff with Paris Saint-Germain continues, it remains unclear if the star striker will even be in the squad when PSG begins its league season at home against Lorient on Saturday.And now Neymar’s future at the club suddenly looks uncertain as well. France’s leading sports daily L’Equipe reported on Monday evening that Neymar has told the club he wants to leave this summer, increasing the turmoil surrounding the defending French league champion. PSG said the club would not comment on Neymar’s situation, when contacted by The Associated Press. The 31-year-old Neymar, who joined for a world record fee of 222 million euros ($244 million) from Barcelona in 2017, is under contract until 2025. Mbappe, who also joined in 2017, wants to play for PSG this season and then leave on a free transfer once his contract runs out, when he could request a massive signing-on fee and a higher salary. He has been heavily linked with ...

“Su cuerpo flotaba en un canal”: así hallan a joven mexicana desaparecida en Alemania

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:37:00 GMT

CIUDAD DE MÉXICO – María Fernanda Sánchez Castañeda, la joven mexicana que cursaba estudios en Berlín, Alemania, fue encontrada muerta a dos semanas de su desaparición, sin que hasta el momento se conozca qué ocurrió con ella y sean numerosas las preguntas que surgen al respecto.El hallazgo de su cuerpo flotando en un canal de un barrio periférico fue comunicado el sábado de manera escueta por las autoridades alemanas y replicado en México por la secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores, que ha reiterado su intención de seguir acompañando a los padres de la joven de 24 años, que había llegado a Berlín cinco meses antes.“La persona desaparecida fue encontrada sin vida por un transeúnte en el canal de Teltow en Adlershof esta tarde. De acuerdo con el conocimiento actual, no se puede asumir ninguna culpa de terceros. Nuestra Kripo [policía criminal] está investigando”, se indicó en Alemania en un mensaje en Twitter.Más tarde, las autoridades alemanas detallaron en un escueto...

Column: It’s not conference realignment. It’s consolidation and no one is safe in the dash for cash

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:37:00 GMT

Don’t call it conference realignment. Call it college football consolidation. Recent history suggests few are safe from being the next to get squeezed out.And even if your school makes the cut it can come with a cost.What was once a Big Six in major college football conferences became a Power Five and is now down to four after the Big 12 and Big Ten, motivated by a dwindling pool of television network dollars, carved up the Pac-12 over the course of about 36 hours last week.The previous time college football lost a power conference was right before the Bowl Championship Series was transformed into the College Football Playoff in 2014. Don’t think it is a coincidence the latest hit came one year before the CFP — and the revenue it creates — expands.“Once USC and UCLA went to the Big Ten (last year), I knew this was all going to happen,” former Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese said. “We now have total chaos.”The Pac-whatever might survive, but it will never be the same.Trang...

International Tower: Q2 Earnings Snapshot

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:37:00 GMT

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — International Tower Hill Mines Ltd. (THM) on Monday reported a loss of $1.5 million in its second quarter.The Vancouver, British Columbia-based company said it had a loss of 1 cent per share._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on THM at https://www.zacks.com/ap/THMSource

Firefighter from Boulder killed while on duty in Oregon

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:37:00 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — A 21-year-old firefighter from Boulder was killed while working for the U.S. Forest Service in Oregon.According to the Forest Service, Benjamin Charles Sapper was killed in an on-duty accident on Aug. 4 near Powers, Oregon. He was employed by the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest and worked as a first-year hand crew member in the Gold Beach Ranger District. “This is a devastating loss of one of our own Gold Beach firefighters. We have a tight-knit community on the Gold Beach and Powers Ranger Districts, and we stand together in grief and support for his family, friends, and fellow firefighters during this heartbreaking time,” said Gold Beach District Ranger Kailey Guerrant.   3 killed when firefighting helicopters collide in Southern California, officials say Sapper graduated from Boulder High School and the University of Colorado with a bachelor's degree in applied mathematics."He joined the Forest Service out of a desire to serve the community and be...

Firefighting helicopters collide over Southern California desert, killing 3 in crash

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:37:00 GMT

CABAZON, Calif. (AP) — Two firefighting helicopters collided while responding to a blaze in Southern California, sending one to the ground in a crash that killed all three people on board. The accident late Sunday afternoon in the desert about 85 miles (137 kilometers) east of Los Angeles involved a huge Sikorsky S-64E and a smaller Bell 407. “Unfortunately, the second helicopter crashed and tragically all three members perished, which included one Cal Fire Division chief, one Cal Fire captain and one contract client pilot,” Cal Fire Southern Region Chief David Fulcher told a news conference early Monday. Fulcher did not identify the victims. Firefighter from Boulder killed while on duty in Oregon Cal Fire and Riverside County Fire Department resources had been dispatched to a structure fire near the intersection of Broadway Street and South Ronda Avenue in the community of Cabazon shortly after 6 p.m. That blaze spread into surrounding vegetation and a full wildland fire dispatch...

Ex-Minneapolis officer unrepentant as he gets nearly 5 years in George Floyd killing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:37:00 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Tou Thao, the last former Minneapolis police officer convicted in state court for his role in the killing of George Floyd, did not show any repentance or admit any wrongdoing as he was sentenced Monday to 4 years and 9 months.Thao had previously testified that he merely served as a “human traffic cone” when he held back concerned bystanders who gathered as former Officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, knelt on Floyd’s neck for 9 1/2 minutes while the Black man pleaded for his life on May 25, 2020.A bystander video captured Floyd’s fading cries of “I can’t breathe.” Floyd’s murder touched off protests worldwide and forced a national reckoning of police brutality and racism.At his sentencing hearing, Thao said he never intended to hurt anyone that day. He spoke at length about his growth as a Christian during his 340 days behind bars but denied any responsibility for Floyd’s death. In rambling remarks full of biblical references, he drew parallels with the suffe...