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The reviews are in and the new MLB jerseys are — well, mixed. Spring training has begun, and players and fans are very eager for the start of the new season, but the debut of the new jerseys has created a stir on and off the field.   Last week Major …

This year will be one of the most challenging for democracy yet. Election deniers tone down their claims as they run again this year. And astronomers believe they have discovered the universe’s brightest object.  Here’s what to know today. This year will see more elections than ever. But don’t call …

HONG KONG — Soccer star Lionel Messi said his failure to play in an exhibition game in Hong Kong had nothing to do with “political reasons” and that he has a “special relationship” with China, where officials responded angrily to his absence. The Argentinian player was in the Chinese territory …

Food crisis in Gaza has worsened significantly, U.N. report warns TEL AVIV — The mounting food crisis in Gaza has “worsened significantly,” with almost all of the babies and pregnant women in the enclave grappling with “severe food poverty,” a new report warned today. Over 90% of babies aged 6 …

At least 17 Republican candidates who put false claims about the 2020 election at the center of their 2022 and 2023 statewide campaigns are running for office again in 2024. But this time around, most of them aren’t making the debunked claims that the race was stolen from Donald Trump …

WASHINGTON — Two years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the country has become one of the most mine-littered nations on the planet. Eleven of Ukraine’s 27 regions are strewn with mines, according to Human Rights Watch. All told, about 30% of Ukraine’s territory is infested with land mines, an area roughly …

Julian Assange’s lawyers will begin their final U.K. legal challenge on Tuesday to stop the WikiLeaks founder from being sent to the United States to face spying charges. The 52-year-old has been fighting extradition for more than a decade, including seven years in self-exile in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London and the last five …

WASHINGTON — Five D.C. United fan groups said Monday they’ll remain quiet for the first four matches this season to protest the Major League Soccer team’s partnership with Saudi Arabia. D.C. United took a preseason trip to the Middle Eastern country, playing four exhibition games there from Jan. 30 to Feb. 9. …

Meanwhile, Trump has heaped praise on autocrats and admitted he would act like a dictator, albeit only on “Day One” of his presidency. He rejects these criticisms, defending his norm-busting approach as an attempt to “reclaim our democracy from Washington corruption.” The anxiety is palpable across the Atlantic. Belgian Prime …

President Joe Biden raised a combined $42 million in January for committees supporting his re-election effort, fueled by seven-figure hauls from small-dollar donors in the days following Donald Trump’s victory in the leadoff Iowa GOP caucuses. The Biden campaign, the Democratic National Committee and other affiliated fundraising committees had $130 …

SEOUL, South Korea — Trainee doctors in South Korea collectively walked off their jobs Tuesday to escalate their protest of a government medical policy, triggering cancellations of surgeries and other medical treatments at hospitals. The Health Ministry urged them to return to work immediately, saying they must not endanger the …

A human leg has been found abandoned on a New York subway track, police said, sparking an investigation into who it once belonged to and how they lost it. The NYPD said the leg was found at about 1 p.m. ET on Saturday in the Concourse neighborhood of the Bronx, …

NEW DELHI — Indian farmers who have been protesting for a week to demand guaranteed crop prices have rejected a proposal from the government, and say they will continue their march to the capital, New Delhi. The protesting farmers began their march last week, but their efforts to reach the …

Russian authorities have detained a woman who is a Los Angeles resident and dual national on suspicion of treason for raising funds to support Ukraine in its defense against the Kremlin’s invasion. The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg said early Tuesday that the …

HONG KONG — China’s coast guard briefly boarded a Taiwanese tourist boat, a Taiwan official said Tuesday, escalating a dispute with the Beijing-claimed island over the deaths of two Chinese fishermen. China said Sunday that it would strengthen law enforcement activities and carry out regular patrols around Kinmen, a small …

DOHA, Qatar — A United Nations-sponsored conference on Afghanistan aimed at improving dialogue with the country’s Taliban rulers has ended after the administration’s representatives failed to show up. The Taliban-led foreign office refused to attend the meeting in Doha when the U.N. rejected its demand to act as Afghanistan’s sole …

A group of cyclists east of Seattle fended off cougar in a rare attack over the weekend that left a woman with injuries to her neck and face, authorities said. The injured cyclist, identified by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife as an adult woman, was in stable condition. …

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Astronomers have discovered what may be the brightest object in the universe, a quasar with a black hole at its heart growing so fast that it swallows the equivalent of a sun a day. The record-breaking quasar shines 500 trillion times brighter than our sun. The …

The investigation into yet another deadly crash of a U.S. military Osprey aircraft in late November is looking at a possible mishap involving the aircraft’s propeller rotor gear box, U.S. officials familiar with the preliminary findings say. The accident, in which a U.S. Air Force V-22 Osprey crashed into the …

Capital One Financial is set to acquire Discover Financial Services in a $35.3 billion all-stock deal. Under the agreement, Discover shareholders would receive 1.0192 Capital One shares for each Discover share or about a 26% premium from Discover’s Friday closing price of $110.49. The companies said they expect the deal to close in late …