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Cactus League report: ‘A rough night’ for Dylan Cease — while a Cubs pitcher opens some eyes in bid for a bullpen spot

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:31 GMT

It was a “mental game” for the likes of the Chicago White Sox’s Oscar Colás and Romy Gonzalez, who watched Thursday’s game along with coaches from the dugout.Catcher Carlos Pérez had two hits and one RBI for the Sox in a 5-4 loss to Team Colombia in an exhibition game at Camelback Ranch.“(Colás is) off from the physical stuff but not from the mental side of it or the development side of it,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “The guys who are there and not in the game, the young guys coming up, it’s a mental game for them. We have to take full advantage of that.”Jameson Taillon didn’t let a long three-run first inning derail his outing Thursday against the Cincinnati Reds. The veteran right-hander got the work in he wanted, going 3⅔ innings in the Cubs’ 8-6 comeback win, their eighth straight Cactus League victory.“Sometimes days like that can be valuable,” said Taillon, who gave up four hits...

WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH 2023: New York Liberty play it forward

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:31 GMT

The championship buzz is building for the New York Liberty’s coming season. Thanks to recent signings and trades that added Breanna Stewart, Courtney Vandersloot and Jonquel Jones to the roster, players and staff feel New York City’s WNBA team is poised for glory.“We want to bring the championship back to New York,” said Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello, referencing the 1973 Knicks NBA championship win, the last time a city team won it all.“It’s been a great offseason, and we had the ability to bring great players in. They complement the players we have, and I am excited to get to the work,” Brondello continued.Liberty CEO Keia Clarke is just as optimistic about the coming campaign. “There is something exciting going on. We have a long legacy of fans and partners and this is the third season in our Barclays home. We want to restore our place as New York City’s team,” Clarke said.New York is known as a basketball town, and...

Many kids need tutoring help. Only a small fraction get it

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:31 GMT

David Daniel knows his son needs help.The 8-year-old spent first grade in remote learning and several weeks of second grade in quarantine. The best way to catch him up, research suggests, is to tutor him several times a week during school.But his Indianapolis school offers Saturday or after-school tutoring — programs that don’t work for Daniel, a single father. The upshot is his son, now in third grade, isn’t getting the tutoring he needs.“I want him to have the help,” Daniel said. Without it, “next year is going to be really hard on him.”As America’s schools confront dramatic learning setbacks caused by the pandemic, experts have held up intensive tutoring as the single best antidote. Yet even as schools wield billions of dollars in federal COVID relief, a small fraction of students have received school tutoring, according to a survey of the nation’s largest districts by the nonprofit news organization Chalkbeat and The Associated Press.In eight of 12 school systems that provided d...

Iran, Saudi Arabia agree to resume relations after tensions

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:31 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran and Saudi Arabia on Friday agreed to reestablish diplomatic relations and reopen embassies after years of tensions between the two countries, including a devastating attack on the heart of the kingdom’s oil production attributed to Tehran. The deal, struck in Beijing this week amid its ceremonial National People’s Congress, represents a major diplomatic victory for the Chinese as Gulf states perceive the United States slowly withdrawing from the wider Middle East. It also comes as diplomats have been trying to end a yearslong war in Yemen, a conflict in which both Iran and Saudi Arabia are deeply entrenched. The two countries released a joint communique with China on the deal, which apparently brokered the agreement. Chinese state media did not immediately report on the deal. Iranian state media posted images and video it described as being taken in China with the meeting. It showed Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National...

German police: 6 dead in Jehovah’s Witnesses hall shooting

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:31 GMT

HAMBURG, Germany (AP) — A former member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses shot dead six people at a hall belonging to the congregation in the German city of Hamburg before killing himself after police arrived, authorities said Friday. Police said an unborn baby also died, without clarifying whether the baby’s mother was among the dead. Eight people were wounded, four of them seriously.There was no immediate indication of a possible motive for Thursday night’s attack, which stunned Germany’s second-biggest city, but prosecutors said there was no evidence for a terrorist link. Chancellor Olaf Scholz, a former Hamburg mayor, described it as “a brutal act of violence.”Hamburg’s top security official said officers who arrived just minutes after receiving the first emergency call at 9:04 p.m. A special operations unit that was nearby reached the site at 9:09 and was able to separate the gunman from the congregation, Hamburg’s state Interior Minister Andy Grote said.“We can assume that they...

Erdogan sets May 14 election date as he seeks to extend rule

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:31 GMT

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is seeking to extend his two decades in power, on Friday formally set the country’s parliamentary and presidential elections for May 14 — a month earlier than scheduled despite last month’s devastating earthquake.The elections could be the country’s most significant vote in decades. It will determine whether the country will take a more democratic path or continue on the increasingly authoritarian course set by the strongman politician.Erdogan has ruled over Turkey since 2003 — first as prime minister and as president since 2014 — but this year’s elections could be his most challenging. The country is struggling with a troubled economy, soaring inflation and the aftermath of the powerful earthquake that killed more than 46,000 people and left hundreds of thousands of people across 11 Turkish provinces sheltering in tents or temporary accommodation.Many have criticized his government’s response to the earthquake and ac...

BMO Financial Group signs deal to acquire Air Miles loyalty rewards program

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:31 GMT

TORONTO — BMO Financial Group has signed a deal to acquire the Air Miles loyalty rewards program from LoyaltyOne Co.Financial terms of the agreement were not immediately available.Air Miles president Shawn Stewart says the deal will have no impact on collectors’ reward miles balances or on their ability to collect and redeem miles. The deal has been proposed as part of LoyaltyOne’s proceeding under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act. The process will include a sale and investment solicitation process to seek any other interest in the Air Miles business and will require court approval.Air Miles has nearly 10 million active collector accounts.This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 10, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:BMO)The Canadian Press

Weekend need to know: COVID-19 third anniversary ceremony, March Break; road closures

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:31 GMT

Schools out for a week starting this weekend as elementary and secondary schools are taking their annual March Break from March 13 to 17.Family-friendly events around the city are happening this weekend and some are going throughout the week. Click here for a list of more things to do with family during the break.Toronto also marks the third anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic with a ceremony on Saturday.There’s are no scheduled subway closures this weekend. But some new and ongoing road closures continue in the city.Also, keep in mind that Daylight Saving Time returns this weekend, which means clocks spring forward an hour at 2 a.m. on Sunday.Here’s what’s happening this weekend:Top eventsCOVID-19 third anniversary ceremonyThe City of Toronto is marking the third anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic with a gathering and public art installation.The installation is called The Burn and can be viewed at Nathan Phillips Square from Saturday at sunset to Sunday at suns...

Travellers warned to plan ahead when going away for March Break

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:31 GMT

March Break travellers are warned to use caution and plan ahead when travelling out of Toronto, and are urged give themselves plenty of extra time if they are catching a flight on Friday at Toronto Pearson Airport.As many as 250,000 passengers are expected to travel through Pearson this weekend, a 30 per cent increase from the same time last year.Passengers are asked to check in ahead of time, have valid government travel documents and give at least three hours to get through security lines.Toronto is also expected to see another round of snow hit the city, that will have an impact on flights including delays and cancellations.4 to 8 cm of snow is expected to hit the ground by the time the system passes, with snow expected to start falling around noon and will taper off by late evening.Pearson cancelled almost 40 per cent of all flights – departing and arriving – after the storm on Mar. 3, and delays and other operational changes are made as required due to the weather.The airport a...

In the EU’s inflation crisis, the humble egg takes the cake

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:31 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — The humble egg has become a star performer for all the wrong reasons as inflation has hit households across the European Union extremely hard over the year. The EU’s statistical agency Eurostat announced Friday that the average price of an egg — that important staple for poor families and gourmet cooks alike — had risen by 30% over the year to January 2023, becoming a symbol of how the cost of living has hit everyone in the 27-nation bloc.Even if the latest inflation figures show that annual inflation in the 20-nation eurozone has started to decline to 8.5% in February, the sector of food, alcohol and tobacco continued to rise and stood at 15%. And then, eggs outperform just about all. Two years ago, egg inflation still stood at a lean 1%, rising to 7% the year after before reaching 30% in February. Egg prices were whipped up the most in the Czech Republic, rising 85% over the year, followed closely by two other central European nations — Hungary (80%) and Slov...