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Freeman and Heyward homer, Dodgers beat Diamondbacks 7-0 for 3-game sweep

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:22 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Freddie Freeman and Jason Heyward hit two-run homers in the third inning, Mookie Betts had his 18th multi-hit game in August and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-0 on Wednesday night for a three-game sweep.The NL West leaders won their fourth in a row overall and fifth straight at home, outscoring the D-backs 23-5 in the series and finishing with their 13th shutout of the season. The Dodgers outhit the D-backs 38-20.Freeman hit his MLB-leading 51st double in the fourth, leaving him one shy of tying Johnny Frederick (1929) for most in franchise history. Betts, who singled in the first, reached on an infield single to short leading off the third. Freeman followed with a 440-foot blast — third-longest for the Dodgers this season — into right field for a 2-0 lead.David Peralta was safe at first on a fielding error by D-backs starter Brandon Pfaadt (1-7). That set up Heyward, who homered to right for a 4-0 lead.Max Muncy’s two-run RBI doubl...

Joveljic’s PK goal lifts Galaxy over Earthquakes 3-2

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:22 GMT

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Dejan Joveljic scored on a penalty kick in the 61st minute and the Los Angeles Galaxy held off the San Jose Earthquakes 3-2 on Wednesday night.Tyler Boyd gave Los Angeles (7-10-7) the lead in the 16th minute, using an assist from Raheem Edwards to score his sixth goal of the season. Jeremy Ebobisse put San Jose (9-9-8) ahead 2-1 with a goal in the 31st minute. It came two minutes after an own-goal by LA defender Calegari knotted the score. Jamiro Monteiro picked up an assist on Ebobisse’s eighth netter of the campaign.The Galaxy scored the equalizer five minutes into the second half when Riqui Puig took a pass from Edwin Cerrillo and scored for a fifth time this season.Joveljic’s third score of the season came after Edwards was fouled by San Jose defender Miguel Trauco.Jonathan Bond saved four shots for the Galaxy. Daniel de Sousa Britto had two saves for the Earthquakes. It was the second straight victory for LA and the second straight loss for t...

Palestinian driver rams truck into pedestrians at West Bank checkpoint, wounding 3

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:22 GMT

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A Palestinian driver slammed his truck into pedestrians at a busy checkpoint in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, wounding three people in the latest bloodshed in a relentless cycle of violence to roil the region.The violence comes a day after Israeli police shot and killed a 14-year-old Palestinian boy who stabbed a man in a Jerusalem light-rail station and after Palestinian militants detonated a bomb near a convoy of Israeli troops escorting Jewish worshippers to a holy site in the occupied West Bank, wounding four Israeli troops. The unrest is part of more than a yearlong wave of violence that has surged to levels unseen in the West Bank in some two decades. Israeli paramedics said they were treating three people, one critically, in the aftermath of the attack. According to Israel’s Defense Ministry, the driver sped away from the area and was stopped by security guards at a separate checkpoint nearby. The attacker’s condition was not immediat...

North Korea says it simulated nuclear attacks on South Korea and rehearsed occupation of its rival

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:22 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Thursday its latest missile launches simulated “scorched earth” nuclear strikes on South Korea and that it’s also been rehearsing an occupation of its rival’s territory in the event of conflict.Pyongyang has previously tested nuclear-capable missiles and described how it would use them in potential wars with South Korea and the U.S. But the North’s disclosure of detailed war plans reaffirmed its aggressive nuclear doctrine to intimidate its opponents, as it escalates its protest of the ongoing South Korean-U.S. military exercises that it views as a major security threat, observers say.North Korea’s military said it fired two tactical ballistic missiles from the capital on Wednesday night to practice “scorched earth strikes” at major command centers and operational airfields in South Korea, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.The North’s military said the missiles carried out their simulated strikes through air bursts,...

A building fire has killed at least 58 people, many homeless, in Johannesburg, authorities say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:22 GMT

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — At least 58 people died when a fire ripped through a multi-story building in Johannesburg that had been overtaken by homeless people, emergency services said Thursday.Spokesman Robert Mulaudzi said another 43 people were injured in the blaze that broke out in the predawn hours. He said the death toll was likely to still increase in what he described as effectively “an informal settlement.”“Over 20 years in the service, I’ve never come across something like this,” Mulaudzi said.A search and recovery operation was underway and firefighters were moving through the building, Mulaudzi said. The team had pulled 58 bodies out so far, he said, adding that more might be trapped inside.At least one child was among the dead, Mulaudzi said.Authorities said the fire had been largely extinguished, but smoke still seeped out of windows of the blackened building downtown. Strings of sheets and other materials also hung out of some windows. It was not clear if people had used tho...

Stock market today: Asian markets lower after Japanese factory activity and China services weaken

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:22 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets were mostly lower Thursday after Japanese factory activity and Chinese service industry growth weakened.Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul declined. Tokyo gained. Oil prices edged lower.Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index rose 0.4% on Wednesday after the U.S. government cut its estimate of economic growth for the second quarter to a still-robust level.Traders hope that and this week’s updates on hiring and consumer inflation will convince the Federal Reserve prices are under control and no more interest rate hikes are needed.Official data showed Japanese factory activity shrank by 2% from the previous month in July. A survey of Chinese service industries showed activity weakened in July but still was expanding.“Things could be worse. But markets are not likely to take too much comfort from this set of data,” said Rob Carnell of ING in a report.The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.6% to 3,119.06 while the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo advanced 1% ...

UBS reports huge 2Q profit skewed by Credit Suisse takeover, foresees $10B in cost cuts

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:22 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — Swiss bank UBS announced Thursday plans to save $10 billion in costs as it moves ahead with “full integration” of longtime rival Credit Suisse’s domestic operations, as UBS released its first earnings report since the government-orchestrated merger to help stave off a possible global financial meltdown.The announcement came as the Zurich-based bank reported a whopping $29 billion in pre-tax profit in the second quarter. But underlying profit before taxes came in at $1.1 billion, which excludes some $29 billion in negative goodwill, integration costs and other impacts of the Credit Suisse takeover.In a separate statement, Credit Suisse, calling itself a UBS subsidiary following the completion of the deal on June 12, announced a loss of 8.9 billion Swiss francs ($10.1 billion) as it wrapped up its accounting for all of 2023.UBS appeared to make no mention of one of the major outstanding questions: how many of Credit Suisse’s 50,000 employees would be kept on....

Tampa Bay area gets serious flooding but again dodges a direct hit from a major hurricane

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:22 GMT

Last year it was Hurricane Ian that drew a bead on Tampa Bay before abruptly shifting east to strike southwest Florida more than 130 miles (210 kilometers) away. This time it was Hurricane Idalia, which caused some serious flooding as it sideswiped the area but packed much more punch at landfall Wednesday, miles to the north.In fact, the Tampa Bay area hasn’t been hit directly by a major hurricane for more than a century. The last time it happened, there were just a few hundred thousand people living in the region, compared with more than 3 million today.“Tampa Bay avoided the worst again,” Brian McNoldy, a senior research associate at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric and Earth Science, said via email. “A lot of it comes down to luck. It’s happened before ( 1848, 1921 ) and will happen again.” Many in the area live in low-lying neighborhoods that are highly vulnerable to storm surge and flooding they have rarely before experienced, which some ...

With an election looming, New Zealand lawmakers wrap up rowdy final session

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:22 GMT

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand lawmakers rushed Thursday to pass legislation and criticize opponents during a rowdy final day of the nation’s 53rd Parliament.With an election looming in six weeks, lawmakers will now switch focus to the campaign trail. Opinion polls indicate the opposition conservatives hold a slight edge over the incumbent liberals.Lawmakers took just two hours to introduce and pass a new bill to ensure some violent sexual offenders will be kept under long-term supervision. Then a fiery debate session began, with loud cheers, laughter and groans. At one point, environmental protesters interrupted by unfurling a banner saying there were too many cows, before security guards escorted them out. Nicola Willis, deputy leader of the opposition, took aim at Grant Robertson, the finance minister.“Does he think he has been a good steward of taxpayers’ money when government spending is up 80%, our hospitals are in crisis, educational achievement is in ...

Tropical Storm Idalia descends on North Carolina after pounding Florida, Georgia and South Carolina

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:22 GMT

PERRY, Fla. (AP) — Tropical Storm Idalia descended on the Carolinas on its way out to the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday, leaving a trail of flooding and destruction throughout the Southeast that stretched back to its landfall as a hurricane in Florida.Rescue and repair efforts continued in the areas the storm passed Wednesday and there was no immediate word on the toll from the ferocious winds and inundating waters, but authorities counted at least one death.The storm left as many as a half-million customers without power in Florida and other states at one point as it ripped down power poles and lines. Still, it was far less destructive than feared, providing only glancing blows to Tampa Bay and other more populated areas as it came ashore with 125 mph (201 kph) winds in rural Florida.The weakening storm still packed winds of up to 60 mph (96 kph) as it blasted through Georgia and South Carolina on Wednesday evening. It was expected to reach the North Carolina coast Thursday and roll o...