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Longoria homers in return to Oracle Park, but SF Giants get last laugh against NL West leaders

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:40 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO — Evan Longoria, who called Oracle Park home for five seasons, hammered a 436-foot home run onto the netting in center field on the second pitch he saw Friday night in his return with the Arizona Diamondbacks. His former teammates took the slugging from there, though.A line drive shot from rookie catcher Patrick Bailey, who hadn’t played above High-A during Longoria’s tenure in a Giants uniform, put the finishing touches on a five-run sixth inning that proved to be the difference in the San Francisco’s 8-5 win to start a three-game weekend series against the leaders of the National League West.With their 11th win in their past 12 games, the Giants (43-33) pulled within 2½ games of the D-backs (46-31) for the division lead. Brandon Crawford made a sensational diving play behind the bag at second base to record the final out, clinching Camilo Doval’s National League-leading 21st save.“We’ve got a fun group in here,” said starter ...

Por qué Rusia investiga al jefe del grupo Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:40 GMT

(CNN) — Yevgeny Prigozhin, el jefe del grupo privado de mercenarios Wagner, parece estar cayendo rápidamente en desgracia en Moscú, después de que el viernes soltara una diatriba contra el ejército ruso y prometiera tomar represalias contra sus dirigentes.El servicio de inteligencia nacional ruso, el FSB, abrió una causa penal contra Prigozhin, acusándole de “llamar a la rebelión armada”. También instó a sus propios mercenarios a detenerlo.Esto es lo que debes saber¿Qué hizo Prigozhin?El viernes, Prigozhin acusó al ejército ruso de atacar un campamento de Wagner y matar a un “gran número” de sus hombres. Prometió tomar represalias con fuerza, insinuando que sus fuerzas “destruirían” cualquier resistencia, incluidos los controles de carretera y los aviones.“Somos 25.000 y vamos a averiguar por qué hay tanto caos en el país”, dijo.Prigozhin más tarde se retractó de su amenaza, afirmando que sus críticas a la cúpula militar rusa era...

Smith’s hat trick leads Thorns to 4-2 win over Spirit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:40 GMT

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Sophia Smith scored three goals and the Portland Thorns defeated the Washington Spirit 4-2 in a National Women’s Soccer League match on Friday night.Smith, one of the players selected earlier this week for the U.S. national team headed to the World Cup next month, leads the NWSL with 10 goals this season. Smith beat a trio of defenders from outside the box for her first goal in the 11th minute, but Ashley Hatch equalized some two minutes later for the Spirit. It was Hatch’s seventh goal this season.Smith’s second goal was another strike from outside the box in the 23rd. Ashley Sanchez opened the second half with a goal to tie it up again for the Spirit before Smith got her third in the 47th. Morgan Weaver added a final goal for the Thorns in the 63rd to make it 4-2. The match was a battle of the two leading teams in the league. With the victory, the Thorns (7-2-4) moved atop the standings ahead of the Spirit (6-2-5). It was the last club match...

McKennie, Dest suspended by CONCACAF for games they weren’t playing in

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:40 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — American midfielder Weston McKennie and defender Sergiño Dest were suspended by soccer’s governing body for North and Central America and the Caribbean from games they weren’t scheduled to play in, a result of their ejections from the Nations League semifinal against Mexico.CONCACAF said Friday that McKennie must serve a four-game suspension and Dest a three-game ban as a result of on-field conduct during the June 15 game. Mexican defender César Montes also was given a four-match suspension and defender Gerardo Arteaga was given a three-match ban.Dest and McKennie are not on the roster for the CONCACAF Gold Cup, which starts Saturday. The U.S. Soccer Federation on June 12 announced a mostly junior varsity roster for the tournament, and the USSF said those games will count toward the suspension.Montes and Arteaga are on Mexico’s Gold Cup roster.CONCACAF’s discipline statement did not mention the homophobic chants by Mexican supporters that caused ...

Russian mercenary chief who declared rebellion to oust defense minister confirms he reached military HQ in Russian city

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:40 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian mercenary chief who declared rebellion to oust defense minister confirms he reached military HQ in Russian city.Source

Putin in crisis: Wagner chief Prigozhin declares war on Russian military leadership

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:40 GMT

Vladimir Putin is facing a major military crisis after Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin declared war on Moscow’s own defense ministry, claiming Kremlin officials had killed thousands of his soldiers.In a statement issued Friday night, the FSB security agency said it had “legally and reasonably begun criminal proceedings” against the Wagner Group warlord “for the organization of armed insurrection.” Russian media outlet TASS reported Saturday morning that Putin plans to make an address soon. Prigozhin claimed he had pulled his troops back from Ukraine and into the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, and vowed: “If anyone gets in our way, we will destroy everything!” The outspoken mercenary commander also threatened to move on Moscow if his demands were not met, and Russian authorities responded by saying the key highway from Moscow to the south was blocked. POLITICO could not verify the claim that Wagner troops had entered Rostov and Prigozhin did not presen...

Want a climate-friendly flight? It’s going to take a while and cost you more

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:40 GMT

When it comes to flying, going green may cost you more. And it’s going to take a while for the strategy to take off.Sustainability was a hot topic this week at the Paris Air Show, the world’s largest event for the aviation industry, which faces increasing pressure to reduce the climate-changing greenhouse gases that aircraft spew.Even the massive orders at the show got a emissions-reduction spin: Airlines and manufacturers said the new planes will be more fuel-efficient than the ones they replace.But most of those planes will burn conventional, kerosene-based jet fuel. Startups are working feverishly on electric-powered aircraft, but they won’t catch on as quickly as electric vehicles.“It’s a lot easier to pack a heavy battery into a vehicle if you don’t have to lift it off the ground,” said Gernot Wagner, a climate economist at New York University.That means sustainable aviation fuel has become the industry’s best hope to achieve its promise of net zer...

In Iran, a restorer brings back to life famed Cadillac Sevilles once assembled in the country

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:40 GMT

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — The sleek, polished dark blue 1978 Cadillac Seville eased slowly out of a showroom near Iran’s capital, its driver carefully inserting the 8-track tape that came with it to blast the sounds of a time long since past. The Sevilles, once assembled in Iran, represented the height of luxury in the country just before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. General Motors had partnered with an Iranian firm to build the sedans, selling them for two-and-a-half times the price in America at the zenith of the country’s oil wealth.Today, Khosro Dahaghin’s passion for restoring the cars means he carefully examines each frame, component and stitch of the Sevilles in Iran, a challenge that’s only grown as parts become scarce, the vehicles get older and as the country faces U.S. sanctions over its nuclear program. “The most luxurious and the most special car that was assembled in Iran was Cadillac Iran,” Dahaghin told The Associated Press as he wore a necklace bea...

As Greece’s center-right heads for a landslide, fringe parties jostle to squeeze into Parliament

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:40 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — With the formerly ascendant, Nazi-inspired Golden Dawn party broken, its leadership in prison, and the anti-Western left defanged, Greece’s political fringes are looking more gauche than sinister.Still, up to five small parties — three on the far right and two on the far left — could conceivably reach the 3% support needed to enter Parliament in Sunday’s repeat elections, despite a swing back to mainstream politicians as the scars of Greece’s 10-year financial crisis gradually heal.That would increase the parties in Parliament from five to a maximum nine, sapping the majority of the center-right New Democracy, or ND, which is expected to retain its 20-percentage-point lead from a first vote last month but wants an absolute majority to avoid the need to form a coalition. If ND finds it can’t govern alone, it could seek a third election during the August peak holiday season.The small parties’ performance “will affect the outcome, as the mo...

Arizona executive order safeguards abortion seekers and providers from prosecution

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:40 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs on Friday signed a sweeping executive order to protect anyone involved with a legally obtained abortion from prosecution.The order bans local prosecutors from bringing abortion-related charges and state agencies from assisting in any criminal investigations without a court order. In addition, Arizona will not honor any extradition requests for people wanted for assisting, providing or seeking an abortion.Only Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, will be able to oversee abortion-related prosecutions. “I will not allow extreme and out of touch politicians to get in the way of the fundamental right Arizonans have to make decisions about their own bodies and futures,” the Democratic governor said in a statement. “I will continue to fight to expand access to safe and legal abortion in any way that I can.”Under the order, Hobbs will also create a special council to make recommendations on how to expand access to sexual and reproductive h...