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Mookie Betts hits 29th homer and Freddie Freeman goes 3 for 4 as Dodgers rout lowly Athletics 10-1

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 17:42:59 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — All-Stars Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman put on a show early, then took the rest of the night off.Betts hit his 29th homer, Freeman went 3 for 4 and the Los Angeles Dodgers routed the lowly Oakland Athletics 10-1 on Wednesday night.Betts launched a 436-foot shot — his longest with the Dodgers — into the left-field pavilion off Hogan Harris (2-6) for his 70th RBI in the second, when Los Angeles scored four runs to lead 7-0. Betts doubled leading off the first and struck out before sitting down for good in the top of the fourth.Freeman hit his major league-leading 37th and 38th doubles and singled. He scored twice and drove in another run before being pulled in the seventh. He was 4 for 5 in a 7-3 win in the series opener.Although Atlanta’s Ronald Acuña Jr. is the favorite for NL MVP, Betts and Freeman are making their cases, too.“He’s definitely in the MVP conversation,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Freeman, “and Mookie is not that far behind ...

Madonna y Beyoncé posan con algunas de sus hijas en concierto de la gira ‘Renaissance’

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 17:42:59 GMT

(CNN) — Mientras Madonna continúa su recuperación después de una hospitalización reciente, se detuvo en un concierto de Beyoncé durante el fin de semana con tres de sus hijas a cuestas.Según las fotos publicadas en las Historias de Instagram de Madonna a principios de esta semana, el ícono de “Vogue” asistió al espectáculo “Renaissance” de la cantante de “Break My Soul” en el estadio Met Life en Nueva York con sus hijas, Mercy, Stella y Estere.“¡Gracias Queen B por tu magnífico espectáculo! ¡Mis hijas quedaron encantadas! Te amamos”, decía el texto en una de las fotos del concierto que publicó Madonna.La foto mostraba una vista del escenario, flanqueado por bailarines vestidos con trajes rosados, y capturó el momento en que Queen Bey rindió homenaje a la Reina del Pop con un texto que decía “reina madre Madonna” en pantallas de video gigantes.Madonna se siente afortunada “de estar viva” tras su hospitalizaciónMadonna ...

Davis hits tiebreaking double in 6th to back Webb’s first win in 5 starts, Giants beat D-backs 4-2

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 17:42:59 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Logan Webb loves seeing shortstop Brandon Crawford healthy and helping lead the charge behind him with sparkling defense.Crawford’s troublesome knee sure looked better when he legged out an RBI triple, too.J.D. Davis hit a go-ahead two-run double in the sixth inning to back Webb’s first win in five starts and the San Francisco Giants overcame an early two-run deficit to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-2 on Wednesday night.Webb (9-9) struck out five and walked one, allowing two runs on four hits over seven innings to snap a four-start winless stretch in which he was 0-2 since beating Colorado on July 9. Webb had just one win over his previous six outings.Crawford hit an RBI triple in the fifth following Davis’ leadoff single, then Isan Díaz tied it at 2 with a run-scoring single for his first hit of 2023.The 36-year-old Crawford came off the injured list Saturday after missing 12 games with inflammation in his left knee.“He’s amazing to watch da...

Slade Cecconi’s first strikeout a memorable one after replay review

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 17:42:59 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Slade Cecconi’s first career strikeout might go down as one of the most unique in the majors.The ball wound up stuck high in catcher Jose Herrera’s inner thigh.Just more than a month past his 24th birthday, the Arizona right-hander threw a 3-2 fastball to Giants leadoff man LaMonte Wade Jr. in the first inning of the Diamondbacks’ 4-2 loss to San Francisco on Wednesday night. The ball grazed off the knob end of Wade’s bat and Herrera somehow pinned the ball in his leg without letting it hit the ground. “I basically threw one right at him and Jose did a great job putting his cup on today. And we got the strikeout,” Cecconi said.Initially ruled a hit by pitch, the D-backs challenged the call and it was overturned to a strikeout.What a quirky way to get your first K. “I thought I hit him and I was just like, ‘All right next guy,’” Cecconi said. “And then I look over and they’re reviewing and they showed the video and it went knob to groin ar...

Why China is not as powerful as the West might think

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 17:42:59 GMT

President Xi Jinping wants to project China as a powerful trade partner — or dangerous adversary — to virtually any country hoping to be successful in the 21st century. “The rise of the East, and the decline of the West” is his motto. As Chinese growth rocketed and Western politicians fretted over how to respond, it became a national catchphrase, too.But among the Chinese people — and increasingly in the chancelleries and boardrooms of Europe — a different story is beginning to be told: Beijing’s march toward global economic domination may not be invincible after all. China managed only weak GDP growth after belatedly liberating itself from pandemic restrictions. The property market is in crisis and youth unemployment has risen to hazardous levels, with one estimate putting it at 50 percent. Private entrepreneurs increasingly live in fear of what the state will do to their businesses and consumers have stopped spending the way they did in the pre-COVID good times. In ...

Mets Notebook: Steve Cohen met with Pete Alonso after trade rumors involving star surfaced

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 17:42:59 GMT

KANSAS CITY — Pete Alonso is still a Met. But following the Tuesday trade deadline, the question becomes, for how much longer?One day after word leaked that the Mets were looking into a potential trade of their homegrown first baseman, Steve Cohen came to town to talk to the slugger. The owner of the Mets pulled aside several different players in the Kauffman Stadium visitor’s clubhouse Wednesday afternoon, one day after the club shed significant talent at the trade deadline.Alonso was one of them. Cohen said he received a promise from the three-time All-Star that he would continue to play hard for the rest of the season. But Alonso is only under team control for one more season, so he would be a steal for a contending team on the trade market and would net the team a haul of prospects.“We love him as a Met,” Cohen said. “He’s an integral part of the Mets. He’s still with us for another year and we hope we work things out. Even with [outfiel...

What you need to know about Trump’s arraignment and upcoming trial in Jan. 6 probe

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 17:42:59 GMT

By Dave Goldiner, New York Daily NewsFormer President Donald Trump will face arraignment Thursday after his historic indictment for allegedly trying to overturn the 2020 election, a scheme that culminated with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.Trump says he will turn himself in to authorities and will plead not guilty at the initial hearing in Washington, D.C., before a federal magistrate judge.The four-count indictment accuses Trump of scheming with six unindicted co-conspirators to stay in power in what amounted to an unprecedented coup after he lost the election to President Joe Biden.Trump, 77, is likely to seek delaying his trial until after the 2024 vote when he hopes to return to the White House and order the case scrapped.But it’s far from clear that such stalling tactics will work with Judge Tanya Chutkan, who has already presided over 31 trials of Trump loyalists charged in the Jan. 6 attack.What will happen at Trump’s arraignment?Trump could appear remotely via vide...

Niger’s civil society mobilizes the nation to fight for freedom from foreign interference

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 17:42:59 GMT

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — Niger ‘s ruling junta and civil society groups called on the nation to mobilize in the capital on Thursday to fight for the country’s freedom and push back against foreign interference.“We are talking about the immediate departure of all foreign forces,” Mahaman Sanoussi, interim coordinator for the M62 civil society group that’s organizing the protest, told The Associated Press. “(We’ll mobilize) against all forms of threats to continue the struggle for the sovereignty of the people. The dignity of the Nigerian people will be respected by all without exception.”The march falls on the West African nation’s independence day from its former colonial ruler, France, and as anti-French sentiment spikes, more than one week after mutinous soldiers ousted the country’s democratically elected president. Protests are expected throughout the capital, Niamey, to push back against foreign meddling.The coup has been strongly condemned by We...

Israeli protesters are calling for democracy. But what about the occupation of Palestinians?

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 17:42:59 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel is being rocked by a wave of mass protests calling for the country’s democracy to be upheld. But the pro-democracy movement lacks any clear message of opposition to Israel’s open-ended military rule over millions of Palestinians. This contradiction reflects a widely held belief among Jewish Israelis that the conflict with the Palestinians is both intractable and somehow separate from Israel’s internal strife.Critics of the protest movement, including Palestinians, say this is a significant blind spot and that such selective advocacy of democratic ideals shows how disconnected Israelis are from the harsh reality of those living under Israel’s occupation.“It’s so ironic that they’re talking and protesting for democracy while at the same time it’s been a dictatorship for Palestinians for 75 years,” said Diana Buttu, a Palestinian commentator. “They’re afraid that their own privileges and rights are going to somehow be affected, but they won’t make the connection...

Bank of England set to join Fed in raising interest rates again amid high UK inflation

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 17:42:59 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England is set to raise interest rates Thursday for the 14th time in a row to a fresh 15-year high and keep the door open for further increases in the months to come as it tries to tamp down persistently high inflation.Most economists think the U.K. central bank will increase its benchmark rate by a quarter of a percentage point, to 5.25%.There had been fears, certainly among hard-pressed households and businesses, that the bank would repeat its outsized half-point increase from June. But figures last month showing that inflation fell more than anticipated to 7.9% eased the pressure to act as aggressively again.“With inflation still four times the 2% target, the Bank of England has little choice but to raise the bank rate again and leave the door open to further hikes in upcoming meetings,” said Kallum Pickering, senior economist at Berenberg Bank.Though the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank raised rates last week, they are thought to be ne...