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MLB playoffs 2023: Astros and Diamondbacks advance to LCS, Phillies one win away

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 18:55:24 GMT

For the seventh consecutive season, the Houston Astros have advanced to the AL Championship Series.The surprising Arizona Diamondbacks are in the NLCS for the first time in 16 years. One more win by the Philadelphia Phillies, and baseball’s final four would be set.José Abreu homered for the third time in two games, a two-run rocket in the fourth inning that launched the Astros to a 3-2 win that eliminated the strikeout-prone Minnesota Twins in Game 4 of their Division Series on Wednesday night.Houston will host in-state rival Texas in Game 1 of the ALCS on Sunday, with three-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander scheduled to pitch for the defending World Series champion Astros in his 36th career postseason start.“They know us, and we know them,” Houston manager Dusty Baker said, “and it’s going to be a heck of a series.”In Phoenix, Geraldo Perdomo hit the first of Arizona’s record-setting four solo homers in the third inning, and the Diamondbacks swept the 100-win Los An...

What to know on the sixth day of the latest Israel-Palestinian war

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 18:55:24 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military is preparing for a possible ground operation in Gaza but the political leadership has not yet decided on one, Lt. Col. Richard Hecht told reporters Thursday as the latest Israel-Palestinian war rolled into a sixth day of fighting since Hamas launched its attack Saturday.Hamas said it’s seeking to end Palestinians’ suffering, which had become intolerable under unending Israeli military occupation and increasing settlements in the West Bank and a 16-year-long blockade in Gaza.People in Gaza spent the Wednesday night in darkness, surrounded by the ruins of pulverized neighborhoods as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to “crush and destroy” Hamas, with the support of a new war cabinet that includes a longtime opposition critic.Egypt has engaged with intensive talks with Israel and the United States to allow the delivery of aid and fuel through its Rafah crossing point. However, it pushed back against proposals to establish corrid...

Mikko Rantanen has 2 goals and 2 assists, Avalanche beat Kings 5-2 in opener

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 18:55:24 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mikko Rantanen is off to another quick start for the Colorado Avalanche.The Finnish forward became the third player in NHL history to have at least four points in consecutive season openers, leadingg the Avalanche to a 5-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night.Rantanen had two goals and two assists, joining Peter Stastny (1987 and ’88) as the only players in Avalanche/Nordiques history to accomplish that feat. Syd Howe also accomplished it for Detroit in 1943 and ’44.“Just excited I guess. I missed some of camp so I was just excited to play,” Rantanen said. “Playing with good players helps also.”Rantanen, who finished third in the league last season with a career-high and franchise-record 55 goals, missed the final week of training camp due to a lower body injury. He was healthy though in time for when the games started to count for real.Rantanen’s linemates also had strong openers. Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and two ...

SNP MP Lisa Cameron defects to Conservatives

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 18:55:24 GMT

Scottish National Party MP Lisa Cameron has announced she is defecting to the Conservatives. The MP for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow, told the Daily Mail she is switching sides due to what she called “toxic and bullying” environment within the SNP. Writing in the paper, she said: “I do not feel able to continue in what I have experienced as a toxic and bullying SNP Westminster group, which resulted in my requiring counselling for a period of 12 months in Parliament and caused significant deterioration in my health and wellbeing as assessed by my GP including the need for antidepressants.”Cameron has been outspoken on a range of issues in recent months, including her opposition to the Scottish government’s controversial legislation making it easier to legally change gender. Cameron was facing a battle in her own constituency to be reselected as the SNP’s parliamentary candidate.Her move to the Scottish Conservatives has been welcomed by the leader of the party, ...

Japan’s government will ask court to revoke legal status of Unification Church

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 18:55:24 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s government said Thursday it would ask a court to revoke the legal status of the Unification Church after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s assassination raised questions about the group’s fundraising and recruitment tactics.Education Minister Masahito Moriyama said the ministry proposed seeking the revocation after interviewing 170 people allegedly harmed by the fundraising tactics and other problems. The church failed to respond to dozens of questions during the hearings, he said.If its legal status is stripped, the church would lose its tax exemption privilege as a religious organization but can still operate. Decades of cozy ties between the South Korea-based church and Japan’s governing Liberal Democratic Party were revealed in the investigation of Abe’s 2022 assassination and have triggered public outrage. The man accused of shooting Abe at a campaign event allegedly told police he was motivated by the former prime minister’s links to the...

Malaysia questions Goldman Sachs lawsuit over 1MDB settlement, saying it’s premature

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 18:55:24 GMT

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — The Malaysian government questioned Thursday a move by Goldman Sachs to file for arbitration in a dispute connected with the multibillion-dollar looting of a sovereign wealth fund. Johari Abdul Ghani heads a task force to recover assets lost from fund known as 1MDB. He said it’s too early for arbitration since talks are still underway to resolve the conflict and accused the U.S. bank of trying to shift attention away from its payment obligations. Under a 2020 deal, Goldman Sachs paid Malaysia $2.5 billion to resolve criminal charges over the 1MDB saga. It also guaranteed it would help recover $1.4 billion in 1MDB assets. including $500 million by August 2022. If it failed, it had to cough up $250 million as an interim payment. The two sides are at odds over the interim payment. Malaysia says Goldman Sachs failed to recover the agreed amount last year and must pay the $250 million. The bank disagreed.Johari said the government has extended the deadline f...

Germany offers Israel military help and promises to crack down at home on support for Hamas

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 18:55:24 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Germany is offering military help to Israel and promising to crack down on support for the militant Hamas group at home following the group’s attack on Israel. Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday underlined Germany’s historical responsibility for Israel’s security.The Defense Ministry said it agreed to an Israeli request to use up to two of five Heron TP combat drones that are currently leased by the German military and were already in Israel for the training of German servicepeople. And Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in Brussels that Israel has requested ammunition for warships, a request that will now be discussed.Scholz told the German parliament that he has asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to inform Germany of any needs, “for example the treatment of wounded.”“At this moment, there is only one place for Germany — the place at Israel’s side,” he told lawmakers. “Our own history, our responsibility arising from the Holocau...

Hollywood studios break off strike talks with actors, who slam ‘bullying tactics’

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 18:55:24 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Talks bitterly broke off between Hollywood actors and studios late Wednesday, killing any hopes that the three-month strike by performers would come to an end anytime soon. The studios announced that they had suspended contract negotiations, saying the gap between the two sides was too great to make continuing worth it, despite an offer as good as the one that recently ended the writers strike. The actors union decried their opponents’ “bullying tactics” and said they were wildly mischaracterizing their offers.On Oct. 2, for the first time since the strike began July 14, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists had resumed negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents studios, streaming services and production companies in strike talks. When negotiations resumed with writers last month, their strike ended five days later, but similar progress was not made with the actors union. ...

In the news today: Trudeau in Yellowknife, Canadian citizen killed in Israel

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 18:55:24 GMT

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed on what you need to know today…Prime Minister Trudeau visits YellowknifePrime Minister Justin Trudeau is continuing his tour of the fire-ravaged Northwest Territories today in Yellowknife.Trudeau is scheduled to make a housing announcement then attend a roundtable discussion with the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce.The capital’s 20,000 residents were forced out of their homes for three weeks in the summer due to an encroaching wildfire.Family mourns death of daughter with deep Ottawa connections killed in IsraelA Canadian citizen has been killed by Hamas militants in Israel according to the head of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa.CEO Andrea Freedman announced that Adi Vital-Kaploun was killed after Hamas militants stormed her kibbutz near the Israeli border with the Gaza Strip.The family said Vital-Kaploun was driven at a young age to be successful, having completed a master’s de...

Greenpeace files securities complaint against Suncor over climate risk disclosures

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 18:55:24 GMT

CALGARY — An environmental group has lodged a formal complaint with the Alberta Securities Commission over Suncor Energy Inc.’s climate risk disclosures.Greenpeace Canada says Suncor may have failed to provide full, true and plain disclosure of all material facts in its forward-looking financial statements.Greenpeace senior energy strategist Keith Stewart says the Calgary-based oil giant used to prepare an annual report on climate-related risks, which included the disclosure of business strategy risk and the potential for stranded assets in a low-carbon future.Stewart says Suncor stopped disclosing the expected impacts on the company’s business strategy and profitability in various climate scenarios this year.He says this change in disclosure comes as the company appears to be doubling down on fossil fuels by selling off its renewables assets and purchasing a larger stake in the Fort Hills oilsands mine.Suncor put out a 52-page climate report earlier this year in which it deta...