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Reds and Pirates square off for season opener

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:52:36 GMT

Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Cincinnati RedsCincinnati; Thursday, 4:10 p.m. EDTPITCHING PROBABLES: Pirates: Mitch Keller (0-0); Reds: Hunter Greene (0-0)FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK MLB LINE: Reds -140, Pirates +119; over/under is 8 1/2 runsBOTTOM LINE: The Cincinnati Reds host the Pittsburgh Pirates in the season opener.Cincinnati had a 62-100 record overall and a 33-48 record in home games last season. The Reds averaged 7.8 hits per game last season while batting a collective .235 and slugging .372.Pittsburgh had a 62-100 record overall and a 28-53 record in road games last season. The Pirates slugged .364 with a .291 on-base percentage as a team in the 2022 season.INJURIES: Reds: Lucas Sims: 15-Day IL (back), Luke Weaver: 15-Day IL (forearm), Vladimir Gutierrez: 60-Day IL (elbow)Pirates: Max Kranick: 60-Day IL (elbow)___The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.Source

Diamondbacks visit the Dodgers in season opener

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:52:36 GMT

Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Los Angeles DodgersLos Angeles; Thursday, 10:10 p.m. EDTPITCHING PROBABLES: Diamondbacks: Zac Gallen (0-0); Dodgers: Julio Urias (0-0)FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK MLB LINE: Dodgers -178, Diamondbacks +152; over/under is 7 runsBOTTOM LINE: The Los Angeles Dodgers start the season at home against the Arizona Diamondbacks.Los Angeles had a 111-51 record overall and a 57-24 record in home games last season. The Dodgers batted .256 as a team in the 2022 season with a .774 OPS.Arizona went 74-88 overall and 34-47 in road games last season. The Diamondbacks pitching staff had a collective 4.26 ERA last season while averaging 7.7 strikeouts and 3.2 walks per nine innings.INJURIES: Dodgers: Walker Buehler: 60-Day IL (elbow), Blake Treinen: 60-Day IL (shoulder), J.P. Feyereisen: 60-Day IL (shoulder)Diamondbacks: None listed.___The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.Source

UK set to house asylum seekers on barges and ex-military bases

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:52:36 GMT

LONDON — The U.K. will move away from using hotels and instead house asylum seekers in ex-army barracks and even potentially on a giant barge, the government will announce today.The plans — which come amid new and controversial efforts to curb cross-Channel migration — will be announced in the Commons Wednesday by Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick, who will point to the current £6.2m per day price tag for use of hotels.Jenrick will announce that people arriving in the country through unauthorized means will be housed in several ex-military sites across the U.K.According to multiple newspaper reports, the government also intends to move asylum seekers onto one or more giant disused barges, or onto ferries and cruise ships. The latter would emulate Scotland’s devolved government, which has housed Ukrainian refugees on cruise ships in Edinburgh and Glasgow due to a lack of appropriate long-term accommodation.Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab confirmed Wednesday morning that th...

Drive Sustainable Progress

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:52:36 GMT

King Charles III makes world debut as tour starts in Germany

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:52:36 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s new king will make his debut on the world stage Wednesday, three days later and 550 miles (885 kilometers) northeast of where he had intended.Although King Charles III will be greeted with a hearty “willkommen” in Berlin rather than “bienvenue” in Paris, his goals remain the same: to cement Britain’s improving relations with Europe and show that he can help the U.K. win hearts and minds abroad just as his mother did so successfully for seven decades.But the decision to cancel the first leg of his trip due to protests over planned pension changes in France may make it harder for Charles to make his mark during his first big international mission as monarch. And first impressions matter as Charles, 74, prepares for his coronation on May 6.“Charles will have fewer opportunities to present himself,” said said Arianne Chernock, a royal expert and professor of modern British history at Boston University. “This means that he’ll need to be very disciplined about usin...

British comedian and TV star Paul O’Grady dies at 67

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:52:36 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Entertainer Paul O’Grady, who achieved fame as drag queen Lily Savage before becoming a much-loved comedian and host on British television, has died. He was 67.O’Grady’s partner Andre Portasio said he died “unexpectedly but peacefully” on Tuesday evening.“He will be greatly missed by his loved ones, friends, family, animals and all those who enjoyed his humor, wit and compassion,” Portasio said in a statement.Born in Birkenhead, near Liverpool, in 1955, O’Grady was working as a local-authority care worker when he began performing as Savage, a tart-tongued Liverpudlian drag queen.Savage became a fixture as a standup and talent-show host at London’s Royal Vauxhall Tavern, a landmark gay venue. O’Grady used his platform to speak out about LGBT rights at the height of the AIDS crisis, a time when the Conservative government of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was passing anti-gay laws.Lily Savage moved into television in the 1990s, including a stint hosting talk show “The ...

UBS brings back Ermotti as CEO with Credit Suisse deal ahead

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:52:36 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — UBS said Wednesday that it’s bringing back former CEO Sergio Ermotti to lead the Swiss bank as it moves forward with a government-orchestrated plan to take over struggling rival Credit Suisse.Ermotti, who was the bank’s top executive for nine years and led a turnaround following the 2008 global financial crisis, will take over next Wednesday from CEO Ralph Hamers. Hamers took up the job in November 2020 and will remain at UBS during a transition period “to ensure a successful closure of the transaction and a smooth handover,” the bank said in a statement.UBS credited Ermotti, who is now chairman of insurer Swiss Re, for having “cut its footprint” and changing the culture of the bank — and it pointed to his experience in bringing big financial institutions together. The hastily arranged, $3.25 billion deal for Credit Suisse aimed to stem the upheaval in the global financial system after the collapse of two U.S. banks and jitters about long-running troubles a...

Paris trash strike ends, smaller pension protest turnout

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:52:36 GMT

PARIS (AP) — Sanitation workers in Paris are set to return to work Wednesday amid heaps of trash that piled up over their weekslong strike as protests against French President Emmanuel Marcon’s controversial pension bill appeared to be winding down.Trash mounds of up to 10,000 tons along the French capital’s streets — reportedly equal to the weight of the Eiffel Tower — have become a striking visual symbol of opposition to Marcon’s bill raising the retirement age from 62 to 64. Clean-up crews were set Wednesday to start picking up debris from streets following fresh anti-pension reform protests a day earlier. CGT, the union representing sanitation workers, said it’s three-week-long strike was over Wednesday. They will join others who were legally requisitioned to earlier to help with the clean-up. “It’s good that the trash is collected. It’s very unsanitary, and some residents already have trouble with rats and mice. It can be dangerous if it’s left too long,” said...

Some in dry Somalia break Ramadan fast with little but water

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:52:36 GMT

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — This year’s holy month of Ramadan coincides with the longest drought on record in Somalia. As the sun sets and Muslims around the world gather to break their daily fasts with generous dinners, Hadiiq Abdulle Mohamed and her family have just water and whatever food might be at hand.Mohamed is among more than 1 million Somalis who have fled their homes in search of help while an estimated 43,000 people died last year alone. She and her husband and their six children now take refuge in one of the growing displacement camps around the capital, Mogadishu.Ramadan brought an increase in food prices for a country already struggling with inflation caused in part by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the withering of local crops by five consecutive failed rainy seasons. Millions of livestock that are central to people’s diets have died.Now food is even harder to come by for those displaced. For Ramadan, Mohamed and her family rely on well-wishers to provide their singl...

Assad reshuffles Syria’s Cabinet amid harsh economic crisis

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:52:36 GMT

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrian President Bashar Assad replaced several Cabinet ministers Wednesday amid a sharp increase in prices and worsening economic conditions during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, state media reported.SANA reported that Assad replaced the ministers of oil, internal trade, industry and social affairs and labor.The news agency did not give a reason for the government reshuffle, but it comes amid harsh public criticism over rising prices and food shortages during Ramadan, when observant Muslims abstain from eating and drinking from dawn to dusk.Syria’s economy hit its lowest point this year since the start of the conflict in 2011, with spiraling inflation, a currency plunge and sharp increase in food prices.It’s the result of years of war, Western sanctions, widespread corruption and a three-year economic meltdown in neighboring Lebanon.After a Feb. 6, earthquake hit Turkey and Syria and killed more than 50,000 people, Damascus’ ties with some Arab ...