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3 numbers that define left-hander Justin Steele’s lights-out start to the season for Chicago Cubs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:52 GMT

Left-hander Justin Steele might be the most underrated starter in the majors.Steele’s dominant stretch has helped the Chicago Cubs get off to a great start during a challenging early stretch. Back-to-back one-out walks in the third inning Tuesday represented the only time the San Diego Padres really tested Steele, who remained steady and in control into the sixth inning. Steele dropped his ERA to 1.19 after 5⅓ scoreless innings in the Cubs’ 6-0 win against the Padres at Wrigley Field.Catcher Yan Gomes tallied a four-hit game, including a two-run homer in the second that stood as the game’s lone runs until the eighth when he added an RBI single. Nico Hoerner’s three-run triple two batters later provided the exclamation point for the Cubs (13-9).The fifth shutout for the Cubs pitching staff tied a franchise record in the modern era for the most shutouts in the first 22 games of the season (1969, 1907 and 1902).“It’s just a testament to what we...

Giants fan’s viewers’ guide to the 2023 NFL Draft with possible targets at all positions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:52 GMT

The Giants have a ton of needs, and they’re picking at the back of all the NFL Draft’s rounds, which creates even more unpredictability and options for GM Joe Schoen.But there are still plenty of player names and positions connected to the Giants to keep an eye on for all 10 of the Giants’ picks in rounds one through seven.Here is a Giants fan’s viewer guide on some of the prospects to follow from Thursday through Saturday:FIRST ROUND: Corner is arguably the biggest need on Brian Daboll’s roster. So if one of the Giants’ “blue” corners — the color of their highest scouting grade — is available at No. 25, there is a good chance he would be the pick. Illinois’ Devon Witherspoon, Oregon’s Christian Gonzalez, Penn State’s Joey Porter Jr. and Maryland’s Deonte Banks are all highly thought of. There’s only one hitch: those top four corners on most experts’ big boards likely will be gone before ...

UK blocks Microsoft-Activision gaming deal, biggest in tech

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:52 GMT

By KELVIN CHAN (AP Business Writer)LONDON (AP) — British regulators on Wednesday blocked Microsoft’s $69 billion purchase of video game maker Activision Blizzard, thwarting the biggest tech deal in history over worries that it would stifle competition in the fast-growing cloud gaming market.The Competition and Markets Authority said in its final report that “the only effective remedy” to the substantial loss of competition “is to prohibit the Merger.” The companies have vowed to appeal.The all-cash deal faced stiff opposition from rival Sony and was also being scrutinized by regulators in the U.S. and Europe over fears that it would give Microsoft control of popular game franchises like Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Candy Crush.The U.K. watchdog’s concerns centered on how the deal would affect competition in cloud gaming, which involves streaming games to tablets, phones and other devices. That frees players from the need to buy expensive consoles and gaming computers.Cloud ga...

China says it will send peace envoy to Ukraine

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:52 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a phone call on Wednesday that his government will send a peace envoy to Ukraine and other nations, state media said, after Beijing said it wants to act as mediator in Russia’s war with the country.A government statement reported by state TV gave no indication whether the Chinese envoy would visit Russia.“China will send a special representative of the Chinese government on Eurasian affairs to Ukraine and other countries to conduct in-depth communication with all parties on the political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis,” the statement said.It made no mention of Russia or President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine last year.“There is no winner in a nuclear war,” the statement warned.China has tried to appear neutral in the war but has refused to criticize Moscow’s invasion. Xi and Putin issued a joint statement before the February 2020 attack saying their governments had ...

US to dock nuclear subs in SKorea for 1st time in 40 years

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:52 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Presidents Joe Biden and Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday will sign an agreement that includes plans to have U.S. nuclear-armed submarines dock in South Korea for the first time in more than 40 years, a conspicuous show of support to Seoul amid growing concern about nuclear threats by North Korea, according to senior Biden administration officials.The planned dock visits are a key element of what’s being dubbed the “Washington Declaration,” aimed at deterring North Korea from carrying out an attack on its neighbor. It is being unveiled as Biden is hosting Yoon for a state visit during a moment of heightened anxiety for both leaders over an increased pace of ballistic missile tests by North Korea over the last several months.The three senior Biden administration officials, who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity ahead of the official announcement, said that Biden and Yoon aides have been working on details of the plan for months and agreed that “occasion...

Russia expelling 10 Norwegian diplomats in tit for tat move

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:52 GMT

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Ten Norwegian diplomats in Moscow were ordered to leave Russia Wednesday, in what Oslo said was “an act of revenge” for its move this month to expel 15 Russian diplomatic staff for alleged spying.Norway’s ambassador to Moscow was informed that ”10 of our diplomats at the embassy in Moscow have been declared undesirable in Russia,” Norwegian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Ragnhild H. Simenstad said in an email. They must leave Russia “within a short time.” The Russian Foreign Ministry said the ambassador had been summoned to protest Oslo’s decision to expel 15 Russian diplomats. The ministry added that it will take other measures in response to “unfriendly actions by Oslo,” including restrictions on hiring Russian personnel for the Norwegian diplomatic missions.”We regard the Russian decision as an act of revenge,” Simenstad said, adding that Norway’s diplomats in Russia carry out ordinary diplomatic work.On April 13, Norway said the Russians it was exp...

Ex-Harvard prof to be sentenced for lying about China ties

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:52 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — A former Harvard University professor convicted of lying to federal investigators about his ties to a Chinese-run science recruitment program and failing to pay taxes on payments from a Chinese university is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday.Charles Lieber, 64, the former chair of Harvard’s department of chemistry and chemical biology, was convicted in December 2021 of two counts of filing false tax returns, two counts of making false statements and two counts of failing to file reports for a foreign bank account in China.Prosecutors in court documents recommended three months in prison, a year of probation, a $150,000 fine and restitution to the Internal Revenue Service of $33,600.Lieber’s attorneys asked that their client, who no longer works at Harvard and has a form of incurable blood cancer, be spared prison time and get a probationary sentence or home confinement instead.Prosecutors said Lieber knowingly hid his involvement in China’s Thousand Talents Plan — a ...

Dutch court bars return of African migrants to Italy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:52 GMT

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Netherlands’ top administrative court ruled Wednesday that immigration authorities can’t send migrants back to Italy, because they face possible human rights violations there — a decision that will likely put further pressure on the strained Dutch asylum system.The ruling came in cases brought by two migrants, a Nigerian and a man who claims to be from Eritrea. Both entered Europe via Italy. The Nigerian applied for asylum three times in Italy before applying in the Netherlands, and the other man arrived in Italy but didn’t seek asylum there, according to the Council of State.Successive Italian governments have pressed their European Union partners for years, largely in vain, to take in many of the hundreds of thousands of asylum-seekers who reach Italy’s Mediterranean shores. Most risk the dangerous, expensive sea voyage in hopes of finding family or work in northern Europe, but EU rules require them to apply for asylum in the cou...

Singapore executes man for helping buy 2 pounds of cannabis

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:52 GMT

HONG KONG (AP) — Singapore on Wednesday executed a man accused of coordinating a cannabis delivery, despite pleas for clemency from his family and protests from activists that he was convicted on weak evidence.Tangaraju Suppiah, 46, was sentenced to death in 2018 for abetting the trafficking of 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of cannabis. Under Singapore laws, trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis may result in the death penalty.Tangaraju was hanged Wednesday morning and his family was given the death certificate, according to a tweet from activist Kirsten Han of the Transformative Justice Collective, which advocates for abolishing the death penalty in Singapore.Although Tangaraju was not caught with the cannabis, prosecutors said phone numbers traced him as the person responsible for coordinating the delivery of the drugs. Tangaraju had maintained that he was not the one communicating with the others connected to the case.At a United Nations Human Rights briefing Tuesday, spokesperso...

China’s Xi, Ukraine’s Zelenskyy discuss Ukraine war by phone

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:52 GMT

Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke by phone Wednesday for the first time since Russia’s invasion, two months after Beijing said it wanted to act as a peace mediator in the war against Ukraine and after Xi visited Moscow last month.Zelenskyy said he had “a long and meaningful phone call” with Xi. His press officer, Serhii Nykyforov, said Zelenskyy and Xi spoke for nearly an hour.“I believe that this call, as well as the appointment of Ukraine’s ambassador to China, will give a powerful impetus to the development of our bilateral relations,” Zelenskyy said in a Facebook post without elaborating.Ukraine’s presidential office said more details of what was said would be published later in the day.In China, the phone call was reported by state media. China Central Television said Beijing intends to send an envoy to Kyiv to discuss “a political settlement” for the war.Talks between the two leaders had been anticipated for wee...