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It’s not hard to see why. If you look around the Balkan battlefields, you can see a common result everywhere: total ethnic segregation. Slovenia–the most prosperous and peaceful of the former Yugoslav republics–is the only one that has always been ethnically “clean.” Croats cleansed their rebellious Serb minority in 1995 and turned Croatia into a one-nation state. Three years after the Dayton peace accords ended the war in Bosnia, the country’s multiethnic past is no more then a fading memory....

With Old Bay seasoning, perhaps. MORE: Winter meetings winners and losers | Life’s about to be a beach at Petco Park Jimmy’s Famous Seafood on Thursday posted messages on its social media accounts offering Davis — and the next two generations of his family — free crab cakes for life. Davis, 29, had a jumbo lump season in 2015, batting 262/.361/.562 with 47 homers and 117 RBIs in a career-high 160 games....

The humorous minimalist artwork comes from Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan and is titled Comedian. Two editions of the banana-and-duct-tape art were presented by French contemporary gallery Perrotin at Art Basel on Wednesday, and both sold for $120,000 apiece. Artnet reports the first edition was purchased by a French woman and the second edition by a French man on Wednesday. According to Artnet, after the sales of the first two editions, Perrotin gallery founder Emmanuel Perrotin called Cattelan and they agreed to sell a third edition for $150,000....

Newsweek contacted a dozen clerks of some of the busiest bankruptcy courts across the country, from New York to California, Illinois to Texas and Florida. Most are seeing a fall in cases compared to the same period a year before, but they are awaiting a coronavirus-related spike. “One of my colleagues described the bankruptcy filing situation as a tsunami. We are in the phase when the water retracts before the big wave hits,” Barry Lander, clerk of the U....

The Catalan side have been forced to speak out in the wake of reports suggesting that their Brazilian forward has emerged as a big-money target for Paris Saint-Germain. It has been suggested that the Ligue 1 side are willing to pay the €222 million (£197m) release clause in Neymar’s contract. Bet on Barca v Juventus in ICC Barca have, however, sought to quash the rumours by publicly announcing that they have no intention of parting with the 25-year-old....

Luis Enrique confirmed his imminent departure after Wednesday’s 6-1 dismantling of Sporting Gijon and that certainly did not appear to distract his men in any way as talisman Messi led from the front in a sensational display to see Barca retain their place at LaLiga’s summit, a point ahead of Real Madrid who have a game in hand. Barca played the first half with real freedom and carved Celta open several times before eventually breaking the deadlock through Messi, who applied a typically clinical finish after a fine run....

In a bid to revitalise the squad under new coach Unai Emery, the French giants have turned to Wolfsburg’s Julian Draxler to help add some much needed support for Edinson Cavani. With plenty of options in midfield and attack, though, coach Unai Emery will have to make a few adjustments to his team and his tactical set-up to accommodate the Wolfsburg player should he make the move in January....

The Blaugrana failed to find the back of the net on Merseyside, with their continental exploits curtailed shy of the last round once again by another humiliating loss for Ernesto Valverde’s side. Having swept their visitors away at Camp Nou last week with a 3-0 victory – thanks in no small part to Lionel Messi’s talismanic skill – the Catalan club were heavy favourites to reach the final at Wanda Metropolitano this season....

Pique headed the equaliser in a 1-1 draw against Barca’s neighbours in LaLiga on Sunday, celebrating by putting his finger to his lips and ‘shushing’ the home fans at RCDE Stadium. The centre-back made headlines after a recent Copa del Rey success against Espanyol by referring to the club multiple times as “Espanyol de Cornella” – a suburb of the Barcelona metropolitan area - rather than Espanyol de Barcelona....

Mascherano completed 90 minutes in midfield for Luis Enrique’s side as his team-mates could find no answer to Paulo Dybala’s first-half brace and a second-half header from Giorgio Chiellini. BVB puts in performance of the season in loss Barcelona posted a brief statement on their official website saying the 32-year-old was experiencing soreness in his left calf and will be assessed, with no anticipated time of absence stated. Mascherano has made 35 appearances for Barcelona across all competitions this season, predominantly at centre-back, while he played at right full-back during Saturday’s 2-0 loss at Malaga....

Arsenal fear Alexis will push through Man City move Barca had been pursuing the Italy international as a potential marquee acquisition this summer, even placing a valuation of €80 million on the 24-year-old. Club president Josep Maria Bartomeu believes that the player would “love” to move to Camp Nou, but accepts that a deal is unlikely due to PSG’s refusal to hold talks. “Clubs want to negotiate. Look at Verratti, for instance, a player we’re interested in signing, the coaches believe he is good enough to play in Barca’s midfield,” he told Mundo Deportivo....

Mathieu had been training with the Portuguese side with a view to earning a contract with the club, and Barca confirmed on Friday that they had agreed to terminate his contract at Camp Nou. Messi tax sentence lifted The Frenchman still had 12 months remaining on his deal with the Catalans but is not part of new manager Ernesto Valverde’s plans for the 2017-18 campaign. And, having done enough to convince Sporting, the Primeira Liga side have now confirmed that they have signed the 33-year-old....

Iniesta, 33, is set to leave the La Liga champions after 16 trophy-laden seasons with his boyhood club. The Spain international was initially expected to move to China, but uncertainty surrounds his future, with Australia and Japan also mooted as possible destinations. Gallop has confirmed that there are A-League clubs interested in Iniesta, while accepting there is going to be plenty of competition for the star’s signature. “I won’t name who, but I do understand that A-League clubs have expressed interest and that’s a start,” he told a news conference on Thursday....

Barca will make the trip to Madrid following the international break on October 14 without fans, the La Liga leaders announced on Wednesday. Blaugrana 13/10 for victory Applications for the match have been cancelled as Atletico cannot supply the tickets previously offered at the newly-built stadium, though 62 members who already made a purchase are guaranteed to attend. It comes after Barca defeated Las Palmas 3-0 behind closed doors at Camp Nou last week amid political tensions over the Catalan independence referendum....

The Spanish city was rocked after 13 people were killed and at least 50 injured when a van ploughed into pedestrians on La Rambla. Lionel Messi led the tributes for the victims, and he was joined by Barca team-mates Luis Suarez and Gerard Pique, as well as Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Sergio Ramos. And Camp Nou will pause pre-game on Sunday to honour those who lost their lives on the busy street....

Barcelona held 75 percent possession throughout the proceedings, but could not generate good chances, with just 10 total shots across the match to Frankfurt’s 15, most of which came in the final minutes as the hosts scrambled for a late miracle. The few chances Barcelona did create went begging, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang missing the biggest opportunity just after halftime. Kostic opened the scoring on a fourth-minute penalty after a foul by Eric Garcia, and there was little response from Barcelona....

Ernesto Valverde, whose side have won seven straight matches to kick off their La Liga campaign in style, insists there is no immediate need to rest the man he believes is the world’s best player. Messi 11/4 first scorer Messi scored a magnificent hat-trick for Argentina against Ecuador on Tuesday to lead his side to next year’s World Cup in Russia after they initially fell behind in the decisive qualifier before claiming a 3-1 victory....

JOHN BOWER HAKODATE, JAPAN AL & JEN GALLO BEAR, DELAWARE ANNETTE FISHER MARION, OHIO SEAN O’NEIL LONDON, ENGLAND