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Yankees catchers hope another rule change isn’t on the horizon

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:10:50 GMT

TAMPA — After a spring of change throughout Major League Baseball, players, coaches and fans will soon see how new rules impact contests that matter.Already, the pitch clock has shaved time off games. Bigger bases have led to more swipes. Shift restrictions have offered hope to pull hitters (when teams don’t exploit loopholes by using just two outfielders).But another potential change — the implementation of automated ball-strike systems, or ABS — has left some wary. That includes the Yankees’ catching tandem of Jose Trevino and Kyle Higashioka, two backstops who excel at pitch-framing. The skill would theoretically become obsolete — or at least significantly diminished — if MLB were to use so-called robo umps.There are two different versions of ABS. According to Baseball America’s Josh Norris, Triple-A and the Low-A Florida State League will use the systems this year. Some games will incorporate “Full ABS,” which means the...

‘Strong mayor of action’: Brad Bradford to run for Toronto’s top job

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:10:50 GMT

Toronto city councillor Brad Bradford says he will be running for mayor in the upcoming June byelection to replace John Tory.Bradford, the councillor for Beaches-East York, told Breakfast Television on Wednesday that he is no longer just considering running but will be registering to run once the nomination process opens.“I’m running to be a strong mayor of action for Toronto – delivering results to make the city safer, make life more affordable, and make it easier to get around,” he said in a tweet.His decision to run comes on the day city council meets for the first time since the resignation of the former mayor last month.One of the item’s on the agenda will be to declare the mayor’s office vacant, and once the office is officially vacated a bylaw will be passed requiring a byelection. If approved, nominations for candidates would open on April 3.The mayoral byelection is set for June 26 with advanced voting to begin on June 8.A number of high-...

Russia stops sharing missile test info with US, opens drills

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:10:50 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — A senior Russian diplomat said Wednesday that Moscow will no longer inform the U.S. about its missile tests, an announcement that came as the Russian military deployed mobile launchers in Siberia in a show of the country’s massive nuclear capability amid the fighting in Ukraine.Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in remarks carried by Russian news agencies that Moscow has halted all information exchanges with Washington after previously suspending its participation in the last remaining nuclear arms pact with the U.S. Along with the data about the current state of the countries’ nuclear forces, the parties also have exchanged advance warnings about test launches. Such notices have been an essential element of strategic stability for decades, allowing Russia and the United States to correctly interpret each other’s moves and make sure that neither country mistakes a test launch for a missile attack.The termination of missile test warnings app...

US futures follow world shares higher as bank anxiety wanes

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:10:50 GMT

BEIJING — Wall Street pointed higher early Wednesday as anxiety about the global financial system began to wane somewhat following three high-profile bank failures.Futures for the benchmark S&P 500 index were up 0.9% before the bell and futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.7%.Fears that banks around the world might be cracking under the strain of interest rate hikes to cool inflation temporarily pushed aside unease about slowing economic growth. Some calm has returned after regulators announced measures to shore up the system.“Clearly, investors have not completely lost their anxiety,” Robert Carnell and Min Joo Kang of ING said in a report.The failure of two U.S. banks and one in Switzerland creates a dilemma for central bankers who are trying to cool economic activity and bring down inflation that is near multi-decade highs.The Federal Reserve and central banks in Europe and Asia normally would hike rates further. But the bank failures showed institutions are v...

Czechs protest government bid to raise retirement age

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:10:50 GMT

PRAGUE (AP) — Czech labor unions on Wednesday joined with opposition parties to protest the government’s proposed bid to raise the retirement age by four years to 68.Some 2,000 protesters gathered Wednesday in front of government offices in the capital Prague to voice their opposition to the plan. “We definitely don’t agree,” read a letter ratified at the gathering. “We will defend ourselves,” Roman Durco, the head of the KOVO labor union group that organized the rally told the angry crowd.Labor and Social Affairs Minister Marian Jurecka recently appeared to backpedal on the original pension reform proposal but his ministry said in a statement said that the retirement age raise remains on the negotiating table.The government has yet to finalize the pension reform plan it says is necessary to make the system viable.Leaders from opposition parties with and without seats in parliament took part in the demonstration, including Andrej Babis, the populist billionaire chief of ...

Greece: Terror suspects offered money to target Jewish site

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:10:50 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek authorities said police were continuing searches in Athens and other parts of the country Wednesday following the arrest of two suspects accused of planning an attack at Jewish center in a busy downtown area of the Greek capital. The two men, described of being of Pakistani origin but not further identified, were charged Tuesday with terrorism offenses, while a third man believed to be in Iran was charged in absentia. Rabbi Mendel Hendel, who runs the Chabad Jewish center, said he learned about the planned attack on the news. “Thank God we are safe. We’re grateful that this act of terrorism was prevented,” Hendel said in a statement with his wife Nechama e-mailed to the Associated Press. “We would like to publicly thank the Greek authorities.” Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu late Tuesday said his country’s intelligence agency Mossad helped Greece prevent the terrorist attack. A statement from his office maintained the attacker...

Baseball in 2023: A whole new ball game

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:10:50 GMT

In today’s Big Story podcast, baseball is well over a century old, and it has historically resisted change. It has also been losing relevance by the year, as the game gets slower and allegedly less exciting. Baseball has been withering on the vine, but a set of rule changes in Major League Baseball aims to reverse that trend.Shi Davidi is a senior baseball columnist at Sportsnet, he joins The Big Story to discuss the rationale behind the new rule changes, and how players have been adapting to them thus far.“When the utilization of information becomes so good that it’s negating parts of the sport, the only option you have is to legislate the rules around the sport, to create the gaps that used to exist,” he said.For the first time in decades, baseball will look and feel different. So what will these changes do to the sport, and its audience? And will this be enough to fix baseball?You can subscribe to The Big Story podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google and Spotify.You can also find...

Portugal: Muslim center stabbings not seen as terror attack

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:10:50 GMT

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Authorities in Portugal said Wednesday that the fatal stabbings of two women at an Ismaili Muslim center in Lisbon was not being treated as a potential act of terrorism. Investigators have found no indication the man detained in the knife attack was involved in extremist activities, Luis Neves, the head of Portugal’s Judicial Police, said during a news conference.“There is no sign whatsoever, not one, that suggests this person was radicalized,” Neves said. “This is not being viewed as a terror crime.”Police said Tuesday they were investigating the stabbings as a possible terror act. At least one person was wounded along with the Portuguese staff members who died. Local Afghan community representatives have identified the suspect as an Afghan refugee who was known to have psychological problems after his wife died at a refugee camp in Greece. The man had integrated into Western life and exhibited no radical behavior in his habits, friendships or social m...

United Airlines flight makes emergency landing in Houston

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:10:50 GMT

HOUSTON (AP) — A United Airlines flight bound from Houston to Rio De Janeiro has returned to Bush Intercontinental Airport for an emergency landing shortly after takeoff, the airline said.Flight 129 returned to the airport Tuesday night because of “a mechanical issue,” according to a statement from United Airlines.The airline did not describe the nature of the problem and an airport spokesperson did not immediately return messages for comment Wednesday morning.The airline said the plane landed safely, passengers got off and United Airlines made arrangements to get them to their destination.The flight tracking website FlightAware reported the aircraft was a Boeing 767 flying to Rio De Janeiro that departed Houston at 8:52 p.m. and returned to the airport, landing at 10:50 p.m.The Associated Press

Man struck, killed in Northwest Side intersection

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:10:50 GMT

CHICAGO — A man was struck and killed early Wednesday morning in a Northwest Side intersection.At around 5 a.m., police responded to the intersection of Armitage and Cicero on the report of pedestrian struck. Police said a 56-year-old man was driving southbound on Cicero when he struck a 46-year-old man in the intersection.The man was transported to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The driver was issued traffic citations. ‘Tranq dope’: Xylazine continues to rip through area as DEA issues nationwide alert No other information was provided.