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Ian Happ homers twice to help Cubs rout Reds 16-6

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:31 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — Ian Happ homered twice and the Chicago Cubs easily overcame an early deficit to beat the Cincinnati Reds 16-6 on Wednesday night.Cristopher Morel, Dansby Swanson and Seiya Suzuki also went deep to help push the Cubs within three games of the NL Central lead and two games back in the wild-card race.Morel and Gomes each extended their hitting streaks to 10 games, and Michael Fulmer (2-5) pitched 1 2/3 innings of no-hit ball in relief of Drew Smyly.“I think the (most) impressive part is getting down early and fighting back … it’s not just the homers,” Happ said. “Getting on base, (hitting) the singles that lead to getting pitchers deep in pitch count, and then being able to take advantage of it.”Joey Votto hit two homers off Smyly, who allowed five runs in 4 2/3 innings. Spencer Steer and TJ Friedl also homered for Cincinnati.Reds starter Brandon Williamson gave up five runs on four hits in 4 1/3 innings, striking out a season-high seven batters. Buck Farmer (3-5) was th...

Woman’s escape from cinder block cell likely spared others from similar ‘nightmare,’ FBI says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:31 GMT

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A woman who escaped her kidnapper by punching her way out of a homemade cinder block cell at a home in southern Oregon likely saved other women from a similar fate, authorities said, by alerting them to a man they now suspect in sexual assaults in at least four more states.Negasi Zuberi posed as an undercover police officer when he kidnapped the woman in Seattle, drove hundreds of miles to his home in Klamath Falls and locked her in the garage cell until she bloodied her hands breaking the door to escape, the FBI said Wednesday. Zuberi, 29, faces federal charges that include interstate kidnapping, and authorities said they are looking for additional victims after linking him to the other assaults. Authorities have not yet said publicly in which states those attacks took place. “This woman was kidnapped, chained, sexually assaulted, and locked in a cinderblock cell,” Stephanie Shark, the assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s Portland field office, said ...

Lawsuit filed against DougCo School Board for racial discrimination

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:31 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- A group of parents is suing the Douglas County School District for racial discrimination, a lawsuit obtained by FOX31 said.The parents claim their children have been the target of repeated acts of bullying and harassment because of their skin color.The allegations in the 45-page complaint are disturbing. It states that Black and biracial students at Castle Rock Middle School have been called racially offensive names on a regular basis. It also mentions that they were the targets of violent conversations -- like lynchings and shootings.FOX31 investigated the concerns of one parent in May who claimed her son has been a victim of constant harassment and bullying since 2018. She is one of the parents named in this federal lawsuit, among others. Castle Rock mom alleges bullying, racism in school district The lawsuit also describes racial profiling of Black students by teachers and staff, and zeros in on a Snapchat group filled with over 100 students.Screenshots show th...

US orders pull-out of many embassy personnel in Niger

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:31 GMT

The U.S. government is ordering many U.S. embassy personnel to temporarily leave Niger amid the country’s military coup.The State Department announced Wednesday evening that it was ordering “non-emergency U.S. government personnel” and their families to leave Niger. A core group of staffers will remain, and the facility will not close. But the embassy has “suspended routine services, and is only able to provide emergency assistance to U.S. citizens in Niger.” Such orders typically apply primarily to American citizens and it was not immediately clear if it would apply to non-U.S. citizens employed by the embassy.The decision was made “out of an abundance of caution,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in the announcement. He noted that “commercial flight options are limited.” It was not clear how or exactly when the embassy personnel and their relatives could be taken out, but chartered flights are a potential option.The decision to pull U.S. diplomats out of the West ...

Rishi Sunak could get mobbed (and bag a trade deal) when he heads to India

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:31 GMT

LONDON — Rishi Sunak might struggle to set pulses racing at home. But Downing Street hopes for a different story when the U.K. prime minister visits India next month.His ascent has already been hailed by the country’s press. “Indian son rises over the empire” read a headline by major broadcaster NDTV as Sunak entered Downing Street last year. The Times of India ran a piece on the shift “from age of empire to Rishi Raj.”As Sunak prepares to travel to India for the first time since he took office, U.K. officials believe the prime minister — born in Southampton to parents of Indian descent and with strong family ties there — will receive a warm welcome.“There’s going to be enormous excitement about Rishi,” a senior member of the U.K. government who has already travelled to India for G20 meetings this year said.“Every single Indian person I spoke to asked about Rishi — they regard it as a sort of reverse takeover, having been the subject of colonial rule by Britain. Now some...

Orioles lose to Jays, 4-1, after Fujinami plunks 2 with bases loaded in sloppy 6th: ‘I wanted to get an out so bad’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:31 GMT

Shintaro Fujinami, the Orioles’ lone bullpen addition ahead of Tuesday’s trade deadline, brings tremendous upside. Wednesday’s outing showed his downside.Inheriting two runners from rookie starter Grayson Rodriguez with two outs in the sixth of Baltimore’s matchup with the Toronto Blue Jays, Fujinami issued a four-pitch walk, then hit consecutive batters, allowing both of Rodriguez’s runners to score before an error by shortstop Jorge Mateo brought in another. The three scores in a hitless inning provided the final margin in Baltimore’s 4-1 defeat at the Rogers Centre.“I wanted to get an out so bad,” Fujinami said through interpreter Issei Kamada. “Grayson was doing a great job today. I didn’t want to give up a run, and I just put too much pressure on myself.”At the cost of sending No. 30 prospect Easton Lucas to the Oakland Athletics, Fujinami was a tantalizing acquisition for the Orioles (66-42), with his high-veloc...

Chicago White Sox snap their scoreless streak at 26 innings, but still suffer 11-1 blowout loss to the Texas Rangers: ‘We have to figure it out’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:31 GMT

Dylan Cease didn’t make it out of the second inning.Pedro Grifol was ejected in the third.The Chicago White Sox offense, meanwhile, put up zero after zero for the third straight game.It was another tough night for the Sox, who were blown out by the Texas Rangers 11-1 on Wednesday in front of 28,735 at Globe Life Field.“It was a rough one,” Cease said of his start. “Not enough strikes, not enough execution and they did a good job of hitting it.”The Sox lost for the ninth time in 11 games and are a season-high 23 games under .500 at 43-66.The rough times continued for the Sox offensively as they saw a scoreless streak extend to 26 innings before Seby Zavala hit a home run with two outs in the eighth.“We’re hitting too many groundballs,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “They’re pitching us down in the zone and we’re hitting too many groundballs. We chased quite a bit today, too. We’re not putting good swings on hittable...

Gas prices increase for ninth day in San Diego County

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:31 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Gas prices are soaring across the country and here at home in San Diego during the peak of summer.“Oil prices are going up and they are pushing gas prices up around the country. That is because of increased trading activity related to the effects of the Saudi oil production cut now being felt in the marketplace, as well as that lack of Russian oil,” said Marie Montgomery, spokesperson for AAA Southern California.In San Diego County, the price of gas has gone up for nine consecutive days, bringing the county average to about $5.10 Wednesday.The current average is the highest amount per gallon drivers have seen since last November.“I notice. I’m trying to save a penny I can right now and it seems like everything is going up these days,” Jacob Ardis said. 2 San Diego spots among best mom-and-pop shops in US: Yelp San Diegans are paying about 12 cents more per gallon than they were a week ago and 21 cents more than one month ago.“I definitely try to look for the cheapest ...

Human remains found in search for Australian army helicopter that crashed at sea with 4 crew aboard

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:31 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The search for an Australian army helicopter that crashed at sea killing four people during a military exercise with the United States last week found human remains but not the black box crucial to explaining the tragedy, an officer said on Thursday.Retrieving the bodies of the four air crew and the black box flight data recorder have been the main priorities since an MRH-90 Taipan helicopter crashed on July 28 during a nighttime operation in the Whitsunday Islands off the northeast Australian coast.An underwater drone spotted the human remains and part of the cockpit at a depth of 40 meters (131 feet) on Wednesday, said Army Lt.-Gen. Greg Bilton, who is coordinating the operation.“The debris field is consistent with a catastrophic, high impact” with the ocean surface, Bilton told reporters.The Australian navy would soon deploy specialized equipment to retrieve the wreckage and remains, he said.The search and recovery operation, which has involved the U.S....

Hurricane Dora intenstifies far from Mexico’s Pacific coast, poses no threat to land, officials say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:31 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Dora grew into a major Category 3 hurricane Wednesday far off Mexico’s western Pacific coast but will not be a threat to land, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.Officials said Dora was located 700 miles (1,130 kilometers) southwest of the southern tip of Baja California, packing winds of 125 mph (205 kph). It was moving west, away from land, at 16 mph (26 kph).Forecasters say that while the storm is expected to grow even stronger with winds as high as 145 mph (235 kph), it will probably weaken by later in the week.The Associated Press