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Pittsburgh Pirates host the Chicago Cubs Saturday

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:51:45 GMT

Chicago Cubs (67-61, second in the NL Central) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (58-71, fourth in the NL Central)Pittsburgh; Saturday, 7:15 p.m. EDTPITCHING PROBABLES: Cubs: Javier Assad (2-2, 3.12 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 53 strikeouts); Pirates: Colin Selby (1-0, 7.27 ERA, 1.96 WHIP, 13 strikeouts)BOTTOM LINE: The Pittsburgh Pirates host the Chicago Cubs on Saturday.Pittsburgh has a 58-71 record overall and a 32-34 record at home. Pirates pitchers have a collective 4.51 ERA, which ranks ninth in the NL.Chicago has a 67-61 record overall and a 32-31 record in road games. The Cubs have a 32-19 record in games when they did not allow a home run.The matchup Saturday is the ninth time these teams meet this season. The Cubs have a 7-1 advantage in the season series.TOP PERFORMERS: Jack Suwinski ranks third on the Pirates with 38 extra base hits (17 doubles and 21 home runs). Liover Peguero is 9-for-35 with two home runs and five RBI over the past 10 games.Jeimer Candelario has 37 doubles, three triples an...

Diamondbacks host the Reds on home winning streak

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:51:45 GMT

Cincinnati Reds (67-63, third in the NL Central) vs. Arizona Diamondbacks (68-61, second in the NL West)Phoenix; Saturday, 8:10 p.m. EDTPITCHING PROBABLES: Reds: Brett Kennedy (1-0, 5.06 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, eight strikeouts); Diamondbacks: Zach Davies (0-0)BOTTOM LINE: The Arizona Diamondbacks will try to keep a six-game home win streak alive when they play the Cincinnati Reds.Arizona is 68-61 overall and 34-31 in home games. Diamondbacks hitters have a collective .419 slugging percentage to rank fifth in the NL.Cincinnati has gone 36-29 in road games and 67-63 overall. The Reds have the fifth-ranked team on-base percentage in the NL at .326.The teams meet Saturday for the sixth time this season. The Reds are up 3-2 in the season series.TOP PERFORMERS: Corbin Carroll leads the Diamondbacks with a .278 batting average, and has 24 doubles, six triples, 22 home runs, 49 walks and 63 RBI. Gabriel Moreno is 14-for-37 with two home runs and nine RBI over the past 10 games.TJ Friedl has a .275...

Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals play in game 2 of series

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:51:45 GMT

St. Louis Cardinals (56-73, fifth in the NL Central) vs. Philadelphia Phillies (70-58, second in the NL East)Philadelphia; Saturday, 7:15 p.m. EDTPITCHING PROBABLES: Cardinals: Dakota Hudson (5-0, 3.95 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 32 strikeouts); Phillies: Zack Wheeler (9-6, 3.64 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 165 strikeouts)FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK MLB LINE: Phillies -197, Cardinals +164; over/under is 9 runsBOTTOM LINE: The Philadelphia Phillies play the St. Louis Cardinals, leading the series 1-0.Philadelphia has a 37-25 record at home and a 70-58 record overall. The Phillies have a 49-31 record in games when they record at least eight hits.St. Louis has a 56-73 record overall and a 28-36 record in road games. The Cardinals have the fourth-ranked team slugging percentage in the NL at .430.Saturday’s game is the second meeting between these teams this season.TOP PERFORMERS: Kyle Schwarber has 15 doubles, a triple, 35 home runs and 83 RBI for the Phillies. Bryce Harper is 14-for-37 with a double, a triple, fi...

Novo Nordisk’s weight-loss drug cuts heart failure symptoms

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:51:45 GMT

Positive data for Novo Nordisk’s blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy keeps on coming: On Friday, the company reported benefits in people with heart failure.Announcing the results of a clinical trial at a scientific conference, Novo said a 2.4 milligram dose of semaglutide — sold under the brand name Wegovy — led to “large reductions” in symptoms related to heart failure, including physical limitations. They also reported improvements in exercise function compared with those who received a placebo.For example, one test analyzed the distance participants could walk in six minutes. On average, those who received Wegovy walked 21.5 meters, compared with 1.2 meters for those given a placebo.Adults who received the once-weekly shot also had greater weight loss, losing on average over 13 percent of their body weight compared with close to 3 percent with a placebo, after 52 weeks’ treatment. All people who enrolled in the STEP HFpEF study had heart failure with preserved ejection frac...

The British Museum says it has recovered some of the stolen 2,000 items

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:51:45 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The head of trustees at the British Museum said Saturday that the museum has recovered some of the 2,000 items believed to have been stolen by an insider, but admitted that the 264-year-old institution does not have records of everything in its vast collection.Chairman of trustees George Osborne acknowledged that the museum’s reputation has been damaged by its mishandling of the thefts, which has sparked the resignation of its director and raised questions about security and leadership.Osborne told the BBC Saturday that 2,000 stolen items was a “very provisional figure” and staff were working to identify everything missing. The items include gold jewelry, gemstones and antiquities as much as 3,500 years old. None had been on public display recently.He said the museum was working with the antiquarian community and art recovery experts to get the items back.“We believe we’ve been the victim of thefts over a long period of time and, frankly, more could have been done to p...

Moscow airports suspend flights following latest reported drone strike

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:51:45 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A new drone attack on Moscow early Saturday forced a temporary shutdown of all three major airports serving the city, Russian state media reported. Officials blamed Ukraine for what appeared to be the latest of near-daily strikes on the Russian capital and the surrounding region. Kyiv has since early this year sought to take the 18-month-war into the heart of Russia, also saying recently that it was behind strikes on Russian military assets far behind the front lines.Russia’s defense ministry and Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said that a drone was shot down over the Istra district of the Moscow region, some 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of Red Square. Sobyanin said in a Telegram post that there were no immediate reports of any casualties or damage.According to Russia’s state Tass agency, the Sheremetevo, Domodedovo and Vnukovo airports all suspended flights for over an hour early on Saturday.Russian Telegram channels on Saturday posted videos, some of them appare...

A Palestinian dies a month after being shot during an Israeli raid in the West Bank

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:51:45 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Palestinian news agency reported Saturday that a 20-year-old died of wounds a month after being shot during an Israeli army raid in the occupied West Bank. The WAFA news agency said Ezzedin Kanan, from the town of Jaba near Jenin, was shot in the head on July 3 during one of the most intense Israeli military operations in the West Bank since an armed Palestinian uprising against Israel’s open-ended occupation ended two decades ago. Kanan’s death brings the total to 14 killed in the raid, which lasted two days and included airstrikes, hundreds of ground troops and bulldozers that were used to raze roads and buildings.The army claimed to have inflicted heavy damage on militant groups in the Jenin refugee camp and that it had confiscated thousands of weapons, bomb-making materials and caches of money during the raid.The ongoing violence in the West Bank has surged to levels unseen in nearly two decades, with more than 170 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire s...

Power returns to most of Kenya after a 14-hour outage, longest in recent memory, shuts down airport

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:51:45 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Electricity was being restored in most parts of Kenya on Saturday, 14 hours after the longest outage in recent memory, the majority government-owned power distributor said. There was still no clear explanation for the outage that hit on Friday night, shutting down the country’s main international airport, affecting major hospitals and even the president’s office compound.“I am really sorry for what has happened,” Transport Minister Kipchumba Murkomen said in a statement close to midnight. “There is no excuse worth reporting and there is no reason why our airport is in darkness.”Kenya Power later on Saturday said it had restored service in most areas. The outage came just weeks before Kenya’s government hosts the first Africa Climate Summit, where energy will be key on the agenda. Kenya gets almost all its energy from renewable sources, but infrastructure and alleged mismanagement remain an issue in the country of more than 50 million people.Kenya Power ha...

Germany’s Scholz vows a quick resolution to his coalition government’s latest standoff

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:51:45 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor OIaf Scholz is vowing that his coalition government will quickly resolve a dispute over child benefits that has marred attempts to put months of damaging public infighting behind it.Center-left Social Democrat Scholz leads a coalition of three parties that are broadly socially liberal. But their approaches to economic and other issues are often at odds, in particular between his two junior partners: the environmentalist, traditionally left-leaning Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats.The two squabbled at length earlier this year over a plan to replace fossil-fuel home heating systems, which helped drag down the government’s poll ratings. Top officials had hoped to project a more united image after the summer break, but more trouble erupted as the Cabinet held its first post-vacation meeting on Aug. 16. Lisa Paus, the Green minister for families, blocked a plan by Finance Minister Christian Lindner — the Free Democrats’ leader — for t...

Greek fire officials arrest 2 for arson as multiple wildfires continue to burn across the country

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:51:45 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek fire department officials arrested two men on Saturday for allegedly deliberately starting wildfires as hundreds of firefighters battle blazes that have been blamed for 21 deaths.One man was arrested on Evia for allegedly deliberately setting fire to dried grass in the island’s Karystos area. The fire department said the man confessed to having set four other fires in the area in July and August. A second man was arrested in the Larissa area in central Greece, also for allegedly deliberately setting fire to dried vegetation. Judicial authorities were informed in both cases. Officials have said arson has been to blame for several fires in Greece over the past week, although it is still unclear what sparked the country’s largest blazes, including one in the northeastern region of Evros and Alexandroupolis where nearly all the fire-attributed deaths have occurred, and another on the fringes of Athens.“Some … arsonists are setting fires, end...