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Red Sox Midseason Report Card

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:00:59 GMT

The Red Sox have taken some big hits, but here at the All-Star break the club is still in the hunt.After finishing the first half with eight wins in its last nine games, Boston now find itself just two games out of the playoffs and only one game back of the struggling New York Yankees. Despite having nearly its entire starting rotation and middle infield corps wiped out for large stretches of the season, the Red Sox have found a way to stay afloat.So who’s carried their weight, and where do the Red Sox need to see improvement down the stretch? Here is a position-by-position look at how the Red Sox have performed through the first half.Catchers: BGoing into the season with Connor Wong and Reese McGuire as the full-time catching tandem was risky, but so far the duo has more than gotten the job done.Wong has broken out as one of the best everyday catchers in the big leagues. He currently ranks sixth in MLB in wins above replacement (1.9), only a fraction behind Baltimore Orioles ...

‘Grinder’ Austin Hays represents Orioles as All-Star starter: ‘He’s wound to play’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:00:59 GMT

Austin Hays won’t have long between when he reaches center field at T-Mobile Park and the start of Tuesday night’s All-Star Game. But within that handful of minutes, he’ll reflect on a lifetime.“When the first pitch is thrown and I’m standing out there,” Hays said, “I’ll just really be able to sit in that moment and think about how far I’ve been able to come.”Hays, 28, will bat seventh and start in center for the American League as one of four Orioles who made his first All-Star team, individual recognition for a team that holds the major leagues’ third-best record (54-35) after the first half of the season.Hays will represent Baltimore alongside catcher Adley Rutschman and relievers Félix Bautista and Yennier Cano. Each has had a different journey to this moment. Rutschman, a 2019 first overall draft pick, has long seemed destined for All-Star status. Bautista was released as a teenager and spent nearly a decade...

Campus visits and travel by Supreme Court justices put them in the company of big money donors

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:00:59 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — When Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas headlined a 2017 program at McLennan Community College in Texas, his hosts had more than a speech in mind. Working with the prominent conservative lawyer Ken Starr, school officials crafted a guest list for a dinner at the home of a wealthy Texas businessman, hoping an audience with Thomas would be a reward for school patrons -– and an inducement to prospective donors.Before Justice Elena Kagan visited the University of Colorado’s law school in 2019, one official in Boulder suggested a “larger donor to staff ratio” for a dinner with her. After Justice Sonia Sotomayor confirmed she would attend a 2017 question-and-answer session at Clemson University and a private luncheon, officials there made sure to invite $1 million-plus donors to the South Carolina college. The Associated Press obtained tens of thousands of pages of emails and other documents that reveal the extent to which public colleges and universities have seen vi...

German businessman’s dismembered body found in freezer in Thailand with chainsaw and hedge clippers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:00:59 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — The dismembered body of a missing German businessman was found in a freezer inside a house in southern Thailand, police said Tuesday.Tawee Kudthalaeng, the police chief in the town of Nong Prue, said the body of 62-year-old Hans-Peter Mack was discovered at about 11 p.m. Monday. Mack had been missing for a week.Investigators located his body by using security camera videos from the area, Tawee said. He did not elaborate, but photos and video published by Thai media showed the freezer in the bed of a black truck with a man squatting next to it. Mack was last seen driving his Mercedes sedan in Pattaya, a coastal city in southern Thailand, according to a missing person announcement distributed by his family that offered a reward of 3 million baht ($86,000) for information leading to his return. Crowds gathered outside the gates of the house where his body was discovered and watched as forensic teams in white coveralls, hair nets and blue gloves pored over the scene. Vide...

Elderly man in hospital following overnight house fire in Mississauga

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:00:59 GMT

An elderly man is in hospital after a two-alarm fire broke out at a home in Mississauga overnight.Emergency crews responded to the fire on Forest Hill Drive, near Eglinton Avenue and Mississauga Road, around 1:10 a.m. Tuesday.Paramedics tell CityNews an elderly man was taken to hospital in stable condition.  A firefighter and another elderly man were treated at the scene.Mississauga fire chief Deryn Rizzi tweeted that crews were greeted with “heavy smoke” and a “deep seated fire.”In the tweet sent at 3:15 a.m., Rizzi said firefighters were re-entering the home after “exterior water application and ventilation efforts.”The fire has since been knocked down.There is no word on the cause. The Investigation is ongoing.

Israeli authorities evict Palestinian family from Jerusalem home after decades-long legal battle

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:00:59 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli authorities on Tuesday evicted a Palestinian family from their contested apartment in Jerusalem’s Old City, the family said, capping a decades-long legal battle that has come to symbolize conflicting claims to the holy city. Activists say the Ghaith-Sub Laban family’s eviction is part of a wider trend of Israeli settlers, backed by the government, encroaching on Palestinian neighborhoods and cementing Israeli control by seizing property in east Jerusalem. Israel describes it as a simple battle over real estate, with settlers claiming the family are squatters in an apartment formerly owned by Jews. Earlier this year, Israel’s Supreme Court struck down the family’s final appeal, capping a 45-year-long legal battle over their right to live in the apartment. Police officers came to Nora Ghaith-Sub Laban’s house in Jerusalem’s Old City early Tuesday morning, forced open the door and removed the family, said her son, Ahmad Sub-Laban. He sai...

Book sales, a lure for money and more takeaways from the AP investigation into Supreme Court ethics

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:00:59 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a monthslong inquiry, which included reviewing tens of thousands of pages of documents from more than 100 public records requests, The Associated Press has examined what happens behind the scenes when Supreme Court justices travel to colleges and universities for lectures and other events. The AP learned the identities of donors and politicians invited to events with justices, details about the perks that have accompanied the school visits and information about how school trips have helped advance books sales.Some of the key takeaways:BOOK SALESThe documents reveal how university visits are a convenient way for justices to sell their own books. That’s especially true in the case of Justice Sonia Sotomayor, a prolific author who has kept the court’s most active travel schedule over the past decade, according to the records reviewed by the AP.Emails and other documents show that Supreme Court staff members have been directly engaged in facilitating book sales by a...

Live Updates | Lithuania and allies beef up security for NATO summit

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:00:59 GMT

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Follow along for updates on the summit of the NATO military alliance in Lithuania’s capital:What to know: — Turkey’s decision to end opposition to Sweden’s NATO membership boosts summit— Sweden’s rocky road from neutrality toward NATO membership— What is NATO doing to help Ukraine in the war with Russia?— Ukraine, defense plans and Sweden’s membership top summit agenda—— Lithuania and several of its allies have beefed up security for the NATO summit, with as many as 12,000 troops backed by warships, air defense systems and artillery deployed for the two-day meeting. Lithuanian authorities say almost 50 foreign delegations with 2,400 representatives are gathering in Vilnius, including 40 presidents or prime ministers and up to 150 other high-ranking politicians.Germany supplied Patriot missile defense for the summit that starts Tuesday, while Spain provided short- to medium-range NASAM ground systems.The summit in Lithuania’s capital is being hel...

Spain’s right-wing opposition leader puts Socialist prime minister on defensive in election debate

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:00:59 GMT

MADRID (AP) — Spain’s right-wing opposition leader put Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on the defensive in an election TV debate that saw both leaders accusing each other of pacting with parties they deem dangerous for Spain.The debate late Monday between Popular Party leader Alberto Feijóo and Sánchez, watched by some 6 million, was the first and only between the two main candidates ahead of July 23 elections. Most polls tip the Popular Party, or PP, to win the elections but it will likely need the support of the extreme right-wing party Vox to form a majority.Such a victory would bring an end to the Socialist-led leftist minority coalition in power since 2019, and see yet another European country swinging to the right.The 100-minute unruly debate featured both leaders interrupting and accusing each other of telling lies and misleading voters. Experts in Spain say debates rarely shift voter intention.Sánchez tried repeatedly to get Feijóo to confirm or deny that he would ent...

Panda twins born in South Korea for the 1st time

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:00:59 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A giant panda has given birth to twin cubs at a theme park in South Korea.Ai Bao gave birth to the cubs, both female, last Friday at the Everland theme park near Seoul, the park’s operator, Samsung C&T resort group, said in a statement Tuesday.It’s the first time that panda twins have been born in South Korea, the resort group said.Both Ai Bao and her newborns are in good health, it said.Decades of conservation efforts in the wild and study in captivity saved the giant panda species from extinction, increasing its population from fewer than 1,000 at one time to more than 1,800 in the wild and captivity. The life expectancy of a giant panda in the wild is about 15 years, but in captivity they have lived to be as old as 38. The South Korean resort group said it will observe the cubs’ health and growth conditions to determine when to unveil them to the public. Meanwhile, the group said it will use social media to show off the cubs.Ai Bao and her male mate,...