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Column: Rumors make the sports world go round. Just ask Shohei Ohtani, Zach LaVine and Jason Benetti, among others.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:52 GMT

Speculation is the lifeblood of sports and only has increased over our lifetimes thanks to the internet, smartphones and the proliferation of sports-talk radio.Where will free-agent Shohei Ohtani wind up? Why did Jason Benetti really leave the Chicago White Sox? What makes Craig Counsell worth $40 million? Why is Zach LaVine so unhappy?Every day brings another topic to speculate about, and as interested observers we just can’t get enough. The past couple of weeks alone have given us enough juicy rumors to chew on for months.Shohei Ohtani to the Cubs is a rumor gaining steam, even as it doesn’t really compute.The most expensive free agent in baseball history reportedly wants to play for a West Coast team, and the Cubs’ biggest contract ever is the eight-year, $184 million deal they gave Jason Heyward in December 2015.Ohtani, the unanimous American League MVP, is a baseball unicorn who won’t pitch in 2024 but still figures to get $500 million or so, which would...

Tens of thousands of religious party supporters rally in Pakistan against Israel’s bombing in Gaza

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:52 GMT

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Tens of thousands of supporters from Pakistan’s main religious political party rallied in the eastern city of Lahore on Sunday against Israel’s bombing of Palestinians in Gaza and what it said is the world’s failure to protect Gazans.Amid anti-Israeli and anti-American slogans the emotionally charged crowd also called for jihad, or holy war. Earlier this month, Jamaat-e-Islami held massive rallies in the port city of Karachi and the capital, Islamabad.Supporters, including women and children, marched for several kilometers (miles) to reach the location of the rally, holding banners and posters with slogans opposing Israel and the United States and in support of the Palestinians.Senator Sirajul Haq, the JI chief, said the ongoing rallies in support of Palestinians around the world awaken world governments and give a voice to the innocent.He said the resolutions and words issued by the Organization for Islamic Cooperation will not work, and that Muslim rulers h...

Trump is returning to the US-Mexico border as he lays out a set of hard-line immigration proposals

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:52 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Donald Trump will return to the U.S.-Mexico border for a visit Sunday as he promotes a hard-line immigration agenda that would be far more expansive than the policies he pursued during his first term as president.Trump is scheduled to deliver remarks in Edinburg, Texas, after serving meals to National Guard soldiers, troopers and others who will be stationed at the border over Thanksgiving. He will be joined by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, a longtime ally and fellow border hawk who is expected to endorse the front-runner for the 2024 nomination during the visit, according to a person close to Trump who spoke on condition of anonymity before a formal announcement.Trump has been laying out immigration proposals that would mark a dramatic escalation of the approach he used in office and that drew alarms from civil rights activists and numerous court challenges.“On my first day back in the White House, I will terminate every open-borders policy of the Biden administ...

Voters back abortion rights, but some foes won’t relent. Is the commitment to democracy in question?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:52 GMT

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The statewide battles over abortion rights since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a constitutional right to abortion have exposed another fault line: the commitment to democracy.As voters in state after state affirm their support for abortion rights, opponents are acting with escalating defiance toward the democratic processes and institutions they perceive as aligned against their cause.Certain Republican elected officials and anti-abortion activists around the country have responded to losses at the ballot box by challenging election results, refusing to bring state laws into line with voter-backed changes, moving to strip state courts of their power to consider abortion-related laws and challenging the citizen-led ballot initiative process itself.“We.Are.Not.Done.,” Ohio state Rep. Jennifer Gross declared on the social media platform X two days after voters enshrined the right to abortion in the state constitution earlier this month. She and 25 other Republ...

Russian drones target Kyiv as UK Defense Ministry says little chance of front-line change

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:52 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian drones targeted Kyiv Sunday as the British Defense Ministry said there were “few immediate prospects” for major change along the Ukrainian front line as the war enters its second winter.Russia launched 20 Iranian-made Shahed drones overnight, targeting the Ukrainian capital and the Cherkasy and Poltava regions, according to a military statement. Ukrainian anti-aircraft systems shot down 15 of the drones.The overnight strike on Kyiv is the second attack on the Ukrainian capital in 48 hours, said the city’s Military Administration spokesperson, Serhii Popko.He said that the drones attacked Kyiv from different directions in waves that were “constantly changing vectors.”Preliminary reports indicated no casualties or critical damage, he said.The U.K. Defense Ministry said Sunday that there were “few immediate prospects of major changes in the front line,” with neither Russia nor Ukraine having made meaningful progress on the battlefield.In a statement, it sai...

Biden says he’s an optimist. But his dire warnings about Trump have become central to his campaign

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:52 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden ends nearly every speech by saying he’s “never been more optimistic” about the country’s direction. But lately he also has begun painting a vision of a catastrophic future for the United States — that is, if Donald Trump returns to the presidency.Biden in recent days has accused the former Republican president of being “determined to destroy American democracy” and being out for “revenge” and “retribution.” Biden’s reelection campaign is sending more emails with stark warnings: “Trump’s America in 2025: A Unilateral National Abortion Ban” and “Trump’s America in 2025: Mass Detention Camps.” Trump has proposed the largest operation to arrest and deport migrants in U.S. history. He has not endorsed a a federal ban on abortion. Contrasting Biden and Trump was always going to be central to the Democratic president’s 2024 strategy. But there was a time when Trump only merited short and derisive mentions...

Tiny beetle to the rescue of N.S. hemlocks attacked by woolly invasive insect

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:52 GMT

FREDERICTON — On comfortable beds of wood shavings inside multiple boxes, 3,600 Laricobius nigrinus beetles made overnight journeys last month from the forests of British Columbia all the way to southwestern Nova Scotia.The Lari, as the beetles are affectionately nicknamed by some scientists who study them, were imported to help protect hemlocks from the woolly adelgid, an invasive species that came from Japan.“The idea is that this first year is a kind of a pilot project to see if this insect will survive Nova Scotia’s winters,” said Lucas Roscoe, research scientist with the Canadian Forest Service. “As the project develops, we’ll be monitoring the beetle on the landscape and looking for it and seeing if it’s tracking these hemlock woolly adelgid populations across the landscape.”The woolly adelgid, about the size of a peppercorn, was first seen in southwestern Nova Scotia in 2017 and has since spread northward, he said.After landing on a t...

135 Canadians on list of people cleared to leave Gaza via Egypt on Sunday

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:52 GMT

A new batch of people with ties to Canada desperate to flee escalating violence in the Gaza Strip has been approved to leave the besieged territory as of today. The names of 135 Canadians are now on a list of foreign passport holders cleared to cross into Egypt via the Rafah land crossing. That list is updated daily by Gaza’s General Authority for Crossings and Borders.A notice shared on the authority’s Facebook page tells those cleared for travel to arrive at the border by 7 a.m. local time.The most recent update from Global Affairs Canada, provided on Friday, said 376 Canadians, permanent residents and their relatives have been able to leave the Palestinian territory through the Rafah crossing.The current conflict began on Oct. 7 when Hamas militants killed an estimated 1,200 Israelis in brutal surprise attacks, taking another 240 people hostage.Israel declared war on Hamas, began an airstrike campaign and cut off food, fuel, water and supplies to Gaza, which is h...

St. Louis metro's dry Sunday turns into a wet Monday commute

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:52 GMT

ST. LOUIS -- A dry Sunday but a wet start to the workweek in the St. Louis metro today, increasing clouds, wind SE 10, high 60.  Tonight:  cloudy, spot rain developing late, low 45. Monday: showers likely; high 50, low 41.  Tuesday:  showers ending, windy, cold, with clearing late; rainfall estimate widespread . 5", high 49, low 32.  Wednesday: windy and cold, high 48, low 28. Thanksgiving Thursday:  partly cloudy and cold, high 51, low 33.  Friday:  increasing clouds, high 48, low 33.

Hazelwood gas station scene of shooting after heated dispute

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:52 GMT

ST. LOUIS -- An argument between two men escalated into a shooting in Hazelwood. Police responded to a gas station on Lindbergh, near Elm Grove Lane. One man was shot, and another man is currently in custody.The victim was taken to the hospital for evaluation but is expected to be okay. Investigators do not believe the two men knew each other. The incident occurred around 9:30 p.m. on Saturday night. If you have any information, Hazelwood police encourage you to contact them at 314-838-5000.