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Taylor Swift is Spotify’s most-streamed artist of 2023, ending Bad Bunny’s 3-year reign

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:20 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — It’s her, hi — Taylor Swift is Spotify’s 2023 most-played artist.According to Spotify Wrapped, Swift was 2023’s most-streamed artist globally, raking in more than 26.1 billion streams since January 1. That means the pop powerhouse has dethroned Puerto Rican reggaetón star Bad Bunny, who held the coveted title for three years in a row beginning in 2020.He’s in the number two slot in 2023, followed by The Weeknd in third, Drake in fourth, and regional Mexican musician Peso Pluma in fifth.It’s not such bad news for Bad Bunny, however: his 2022 album “Un Verano Sin Ti” was Spotify’s most-streamed album for the second year in a row, raking in 4.5 billion global streams. In that category, Taylor Swift’s “Midnights” trails in second, with SZA’s “SOS” in third. All three albums were released last year.The top five is rounded out with The Weeknd’s 2016 album “Starboy” and Karol G’s “Mañana Será Bonito,” the only 2023 release ...

Kraft’s newest Mac & Cheese is ditching cheese

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:20 GMT

New York (CNN) — Kraft’s new Mac & Cheese is ditching the cheese and going vegan.For the first-time ever, the household staple is going plant-based with a new version of the boxed favorite that contains a dairy-free alternative to its signature cheese. It’s called “Kraft NotMac&Cheese” and will soon roll out on grocery store shelves in two flavors — original and white cheddar with shells — each priced at $3.49 per box.Kraft partnered with NotCo., a company that makes plant-based foods, to create the new mac and cheese alternative, which is in response the growing hunger for “better-for-you” products from American consumers.The company is joining a growing trend: Plant-based product sales surged 19% last year to $11 billion, according to research firm NIQ.But there’s a risk for Kraft, too: Customers who have tried dairy-free alternatives sometimes don’t like the taste – and they often don’t give brands a second chance.“Curiosity is a major factor in trying plan...

NFL power rankings, Week 13: Ravens enter bye looking like the class of the AFC

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:20 GMT

Each week of the NFL season, The Baltimore Sun will rank all 32 NFL teams. The rankings will take into account not just weekly performance, injuries and roster depth, but how well each team measures up as Super Bowl contenders.Here are the rankings heading into Week 13:1. Philadelphia Eagles (10-1, No. 1 last week)Last week: Win vs. Bills, 37-34 (OT)Up next: vs. 49ersTrailing 17-7 at halftime against an AFC contender for the second straight week, the Eagles once again showed their resolve by pulling out another win in dramatic fashion. This time, it was Jake Elliott’s game-tying 59-yard field goal with 20 seconds left in regulation and quarterback Jalen Hurts’ 12-yard touchdown run in overtime that secured the victory. There are plenty of nits to pick with this team, including long stretches of stagnant offense and poor run defense, but it keeps finding a way to win against some of the league’s best teams. With Hurts playing like a Most Valuable Player candidate, t...

The Orioles will soon reach at least $1.3 billion in public benefits since 1988. They’re expected to ask for more.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:20 GMT

Thirty-five years after the Orioles announced their arrival in Baltimore, then-Gov. William Donald Schaefer introduced a “distinguished visitor” to mark the end of a meeting that would redefine the MLB team’s relationship with the state of Maryland.The Oriole Bird came into the conference room and rallied the elected officials and bureaucrats with a chant of “O-R-I-O-L-E-S.”The occasion — final approval of a state-of-the-art, taxpayer-funded stadium in exchange for the Orioles’ long-term commitment to Baltimore — came on the heels of the painful departure a few years earlier of the NFL’s Colts. The baseball club’s 1988 deal promised a “no-escape” lease and years of economic benefits in exchange for significant financial investment from the state.Another 35 years have passed and Maryland officials are again on the verge of devoting valuable state resources to lock the team in for another three decades. Negotiatio...

Israel compares Hamas to the Islamic State group. But the comparison misses the mark in key ways

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:20 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — It has become an Israeli mantra throughout the latest war in Gaza: Hamas is ISIS.Since the bloody Hamas attack on Oct. 7 that triggered the conflict, Israeli leaders and commanders have likened the Palestinian militant group to the Islamic State group in virtually every speech and public statement. They point to Hamas’ slaughter of hundreds of civilians and compare their mission to defeat Hamas to the U.S.-led campaign to defeat IS in Iraq and Syria.But in many ways, these comparisons miss the mark by ignoring the home-grown origins and base of support for Hamas in Palestinian society and by assuming that this deeply embedded movement can be stamped out like a brush fire.These miscalculations may already have led to unrealistic expectations in Israel for victory. They also complicate fledgling efforts by the U.S. and other international mediators to end the war, which has devastated Gaza, displaced more than three-quarters of its population and killed over 13,300 Pa...

US economic growth for last quarter is revised up to a 5.2% annual rate

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:20 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Shrugging off higher interest rates, America’s consumers spent enough to help drive the economy to a brisk 5.2% annual pace from July through September, the government reported Wednesday in an upgrade from its previous estimate.The government had previously estimated that the economy grew at a 4.9% annual rate last quarter.Wednesday’s second estimate of growth for the July-September quarter confirmed that the economy sharply accelerated from its 2.1% rate from April through June. It showed that the U.S. gross domestic product — the total output of goods and services — grew at its fastest quarterly rate in nearly two years.Consumer spending, the lifeblood of the economy, rose at a 3.6% annual rate from July through September — still healthy but a downgrade from the previous estimate of 4%. The economy also received a lift from companies building inventories in anticipation of future sales. Also driving the third quarter growth was an uptick in spending a...

Pakistan acquits ex-Premier Nawaz Sharif in a graft case. He’s now closer to running in elections

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:20 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A Pakistani court acquitted former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a graft case on Wednesday, removing a major obstacle for him to run in parliamentary elections in February. The Islamabad High Court’s decision comes weeks after it restored Sharif’s right to appeal a 2018 conviction in a case relating to the purchase of luxury apartments in London. Sharif, who served as prime minister three times, returned to Pakistan in October, after four years of self-exile abroad to avoid serving out a 10-year prison sentence on corruption charges. Sharif’s acquittal leaves only one more legal hurdle standing between him and an election run. He also needs to be acquitted on another set of graft charges, related to his seven-year sentence for failing to disclose how his family set up a steel mills in 1999. Sharif, who had appealed the first graft conviction last week, was in court on Wednesday and welcomed the ruling. “I am grateful … God has made us victor...

UK’s Sunak ramps up criticism of Greek leader in Parthenon Marbles spat

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:20 GMT

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak escalated his war of words with the leader of Greece on Wednesday, accusing Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis of trying to “grandstand” over the disputed Parthenon Marbles and breaking a promise to the U.K. government.Mitsotakis, meanwhile, said the dispute had helped draw international attention to Greece’s longstanding claim to the artifacts, part of a 2,500-year-old frieze that was taken from Athens in the early 19th century by British diplomat Lord Elgin and are on display in the British Museum.The two European allies with center-right governments have been at loggerheads since Monday, when Sunak called off a scheduled meeting with Mitsotakis hours before it was due to start.During the British prime minister’s weekly question period in the House of Commons on Wednesday, Sunak said “it was clear that the purpose of the meeting was not to discuss substantive issues for the future, but rather to grandstand and relitigate issues of t...

Sri Lanka says it struck a deal with creditors on debt restructuring to clear way for IMF funds

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:20 GMT

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka said Wednesday that it has reached an agreement in principle with a group of creditors including India and Japan on debt restructuring, a crucial move toward unlocking a second installment of a $2.9 billion bailout package from the International Monetary Fund.The agreement with the Official Credit Committee covers approximately $5.9 billion of outstanding public debt and consists of a mix of long-term maturity extension and reduction in interest rates, a statement from the country’s Finance Ministry said.It also said the agreement will facilitate a swift approval by the IMF Executive Board of the review of Sri Lanka’s IMF-supported program, allowing for the next tranche of IMF financing of about $334 million to be disbursed. The IMF said in September Sri Lanka’s economy was recovering, but it needed to improve its tax administration, eliminate exemptions and crack down on tax evasion.Sri Lanka declared bankruptcy in April 2022 with more than...

Gay couple in Nepal becomes the 1st to officially register same-sex marriage in the country

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:20 GMT

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — A gay couple in Nepal on Wednesday became the first in the nation to receive official same-sex marriage status. The Himalayan nation is one of the first in Asia to allow it.“After 23 years of struggle we got this historic achievement, and finally Maya and Surendra got their marriage registered at the local administration office,” said Sunil Babu Pant, an openly gay former parliamentarian and leading LGBTQ+ rights activist.Pant was present with Surendra Pandey and Maya Gurung when they registered their marriage at the Dorje village council office, located in the mountains west of the capital, Kathmandu.Earlier this year, Nepal’s supreme court issued an interim order enabling the registration of same-sex marriages for the first time.Officials had initially refused to register the marriage. The couple and Pant filed cases with the Kathmandu District Court and High Court, but their pleas were rejected.According to Pant, the Home Ministry this week made chan...