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Kelly throws 7 strong innings, Diamondbacks beat Braves 3-2 for 6th straight win

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:59:59 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — Big-time baseball is back at Chase Field and the suddenly surging Arizona Diamondbacks delivered in their first test.Merrill Kelly threw seven strong innings, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. ripped a two-run double and the D-backs won their season-high sixth game in a row by beating the Atlanta Braves 3-2 on Friday night.It was the opener of a series between two of the top teams in the National League. It’s no surprise the Braves are among that group, but the emergence of the Diamondbacks — who lost 110 games just two seasons ago — has caught some off guard.Arizona is now 12 games over .500 for the first time since 2018 and on its first six-game winning streak since 2020.“I think there was a little extra zoom in everybody’s behind today, knowing the Braves were in here,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. “We knew what was going on today and our guys stood tall in the middle of the ring.“I’m proud of that.”Miguel Castro worked a high-wire ninth for his sixth sa...

Dad-to-be Chris Bassitt pitches Blue Jays over Mets 3-0

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:59:59 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Chris Bassitt stood on the mound in the eighth inning as teammates patted him on the back. Manager John Schneider took the ball and offered the only words necessary: “Go be a Dad.”Taking the mound after a 91-minute rain delay and ready to rush back to Toronto as his wife went into labor, Bassitt shut down his former team on three hits to lead the Blue Jays over the New York Mets 3-0 on Friday.“I’m sure there’s a million things that are going through his mind, “ Schneider said. ”To kind of keep everything in check was really impressive.”Bassitt’s wife Jessica was due to give birth to their second child after daughter Landry. A private plane was ready to take Bassitt home as soon as he came out of the game and got to one of the New York area’s smaller airports.What was supposed to be a 7:10 p.m. start was pushed back by a storm, and the first pitch finally was thrown at 8:41 p.m. Schneider credited director of team travel Mike Shaw for delaying the plane...

India train crash kills over 280, hurts 900 in country’s deadliest rail accident in decades

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:59:59 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — Rescuers waded through piles of debris and wreckage to pull out bodies and free people on Saturday after two passenger trains derailed in India, killing more than 280 people. Hundreds of others were trapped inside more than a dozen mangled rail cars overnight in one of the country’s deadliest train crashes in decades.The accident, which happened about 220 kilometers (137 miles) southwest of Kolkata on Friday night, led to a chaotic scene as rescuers climbed atop the wrecked trains to break open doors and windows using cutting torches to free survivors.About 900 people were injured in the accident in Balasore district in the eastern state of Odisha, said P.K. Jena, the state’s top administrative official. The cause was under investigation.More than 288 dead bodies were recovered overnight and into Saturday morning, Sudhanshu Sarangi, director of Odisha’s fire department, told The Associated Press. He said more than 800 injured passengers were taken ...

Seattle Thunderbirds beat Peterborough 4-1 to reach Memorial Cup final

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:59:59 GMT

KAMLOOPS, British Columbia (AP) — Thomas Milic made 27 saves and the Seattle Thunderbirds became the fifth U.S. franchise to reach the Memorial Cup final, beating the Peterborough Petes 4-1 on Friday night in the semifinal game.Western Hockey League champion Seattle will face Quebec on Sunday for the title, with Hall of Fame goalie Patrick Roy stepping aside as coach of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League champion Remparts after the tournament.U.S. franchises have won four titles, the Portland Winterhawks in 1983 and 1998 and the Spokane Chiefs in 1991 and 2008. The Detroit Junior Red Wings (1995), Portland (2013) and the Erie Otters (2017) lost in championship games.Brad Lambert, Colton Dach, Kyle Crnkovic and Nico Myatovic scored for Seattle.Lambert opened the scoring with 4:28 left in the second period, beating goalie Michael Simpson with a backhander off a rebound.Dach made it 2-0 at 1:28 of the third, and Brennan Othmann countered for Peterborough at 2:41. Crnkovic restored t...

Joran van der Sloot sale de una prisión del sur de Perú hacia Estados Unidos

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:59:59 GMT

(CNN Español) — Bajo estrictas medidas de seguridad, este viernes Joran van der Sloot abandonó el penal de máxima seguridad en el sur de Perú con destino a Lima, donde será recluido en otra cárcel antes de ser entregado a las autoridades de Estados Unidos.Van der Sloot fue una de las últimas personas que vio con vida a la estadounidense Natalee Holloway en Aruba en 2005 antes de que ella desapareciera. Ahora está cumpliendo una pena de 28 años de prisión por la muerte de Stephany Flores, una joven de 21 años, ocurrido en 2012.Se trata de una entrega temporal, establecida en el tratado de extradición entre Perú y el país norteamericano, que permitirá que Van der Sloot pueda ser juzgado en Estados Unidos por los presuntos delitos de fraude y extorsión en perjuicio de Elizabeth Halloway, la madre de Natalee.El 19 de mayo CNN informó que Van der Sloot sería entregado en una fecha que “no excedería mediados de junio”, según afirmó entonces una fuente con conocimiento de...

Betts hits 2 HRs, Kershaw beats Yankees for 1st time in Dodgers’ 8-4 win

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:59:59 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Clayton Kershaw beat the Yankees for the first time with nine strikeouts over seven innings of four-hit ball, and Mookie Betts hit two more homers in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 8-4 victory over New York on Friday night.Betts hit a leadoff homer and an RBI single during Los Angeles’ six-run, eight-hit first inning against Luis Severino (0-1). Betts finished 4 for 4 with three RBIs in his second straight two-homer game for the NL-leading Dodgers, who got off to an impressive start in this high-profile interleague series.Kershaw (7-4) was 0-1 in four previous starts against the Yankees over his 16-year career, but the three-time Cy Young Award winner got a huge early cushion and didn’t falter after allowing early homers by Giancarlo Stanton and Josh Donaldson, who both returned from lengthy injury absences.Kershaw eventually retired his final seven batters, earning a standing ovation from Dodger Stadium after recording his final out. He has now beaten every...

San Diego prepares for Rock 'N’ Roll Marathon

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:59:59 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- The Rock 'N’ Roll Marathon is back for its 25th year, and runners are resting up for their big race. Saturday will kick off the weekend with a 5k through Balboa Park, but runners are being warned parking is going to be more difficult than in previous years. New bike lanes have shut down hundreds of parking spaces while Metropolitan Transit Service is trying to make up for the loss with runners utilizing mass transit.“There’s going to be thousands of riders, we are expecting a higher-than-average rate, so it’s best to be prepared," said Max Walther with the MTS. Allstate quietly stopped accepting new insurance applications from California homeowners Experts are telling runners to download the MTS pronto app to buy tickets seamlessly. The Saturday 5K is expected to shut down roads from 5:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. in the Balboa Park area. The official Rock ‘N’ Roll Marathon is set for Sunday. Roads and highways all over downtown San Diego are expected to be jammed from...

No winning ticket sold for Friday’s $70 million Lotto Max jackpot

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:59:59 GMT

There was no winning ticket sold in Friday’s Lotto Max $70 million draw.However, one of 10 available Maxmillion prizes of $1 million each was won by a ticket holder in the Prairies.The jackpot for the next draw on June 6 will be an estimated $70 million, with 16 $1 million Maxmillion prizes up for grabs.The Canadian Press

As anti-gay sentiment grows, more LGBTQ+ people seek to flee Uganda

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:59:59 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Pretty Peter flicked through frantic messages from friends at home in Uganda. The transgender woman is relatively safe in neighboring Kenya. Her friends feel threatened by the latest anti-gay legislation in Uganda prescribing the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality.”Frightened Ugandans are searching for a way to get out like Pretty Peter did. Some have stayed indoors since the law was signed on Monday, fearing that they’ll be targeted, she said.“Right now, homophobes have received a validation from the government to attack people,” the 26-year-old said, standing in a room decorated with somber portraits from a global project called “Where Love is Illegal.” “My friends have already seen a change of attitude among their neighbors and are working on obtaining papers and transport money to seek refuge in Kenya,” she said.That’s challenging: One message to Pretty Peter read, “Me and the girls we want to come but things a(re) too hard.” Another said tha...

Inside the penal colonies: A glimpse at life for political prisoners swept up in Russia’s crackdowns

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:59:59 GMT

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — When Alexei Navalny turns 47 on Sunday, he’ll wake up in a bare concrete cell with hardly any natural light.He won’t be able to see or talk to any of his loved ones. Phone calls and visits are banned for those in “punishment isolation” cells, a 2-by-3-meter (6 1/2-by-10-foot) space. Guards usually blast patriotic songs and speeches by President Vladimir Putin at him.“Guess who is the champion of listening to Putin’s speeches? Who listens to them for hours and falls asleep to them?” Navalny said recently in a typically sardonic social media post via his attorneys from Penal Colony No. 6 in the Vladimir region east of Moscow.He is serving a nine-year term due to end in 2030 on charges widely seen as trumped up, and is facing another trial on new charges that could keep him locked up for another two decades. Rallies have been called for Sunday in Russia to support him.Navalny has become Russia’s most famous political prisoner — and not just because o...