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Orioles arbitration FAQ: What you need to know about Baltimore’s first big offseason decisions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:11 GMT

The first big decisions of the Orioles’ offseason are a week away.Baltimore had no contract options to sort out. None of its five free agents were going to receive the $20.325 million qualifying offer. The club has hardly any top prospects who need to be protected from the Rule 5 draft. So, the arbitration tender deadline next Friday marks the first significant offseason benchmark for the Orioles’ roster.Here’s what you need to know.What is arbitration?Arbitration is a system that provides pay raises to players who have established themselves as big leaguers but haven’t yet spent enough time in the majors to become free agents.Players who have at least three years of MLB service time but fewer than the six necessary to become a free agent are eligible, as long as they don’t already have a set salary through a guaranteed contract. A year of service time is equivalent to 172 regular-season days spent on the major league roster or injured list. A player ca...

Let’s survey the AFC North as Ravens prepare for second tour of NFL’s most competitive division

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:11 GMT

The Ravens are used to this claustrophobia.No matter how well they play — and that’s better than any other team in the NFL of late — they cannot break free from their three AFC North neighbors, all of whom would make the playoffs if the season ended now.“When you see how the division is stacked up now, it’s like you have no room to breathe,” linebacker Patrick Queen said.“It would be just terrible if everybody was not a good team in our division,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said, drawing laughs with his gentle sarcasm. “That’s my best answer. We respect these teams. This is a great division. There’s no doubt it’s the best division, it’s proven. We know the teams; these teams are real. When you’re in this division, you have to play them twice a year, you understand them. It’s not just this year.”The division sent multiple teams to the postseason each of the past three years, peaking with t...

Patriots mailbag: What is Mac Jones’ future beyond 2023 season?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:11 GMT

It’s a lost season for the Patriots, but they still have eight games left to play, so Bill Belichick and Co. might as well make the most of them.How do they do that? By assessing what they have for the future. We get into some of those future decisions in this week’s mailbag.Fans want to know about Mac Jones, Kayshon Boutte, top pass-catching prospects and more.@pats300levelpodWhat is the likelihood the Patriots pick up Macs 5th year option? If they do is it more likely due to their faith in Mac hoping he can turn it around after the situation he has been given on O the last year and a half Or is it that there aren’t suitable upgrades available?I’d say it’s looking unlikely at this point, especially if there is a regime change.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots offense gets bad news before flight to Germany New England Patriots | Patriots return key offensive starter to practice before Germany trip New England Patr...

These San Diego services are closed Friday in observance of Veterans Day

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:11 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Though the Veterans Day holiday falls on Saturday, Nov. 11, the City of San Diego will be closing all administrative offices and an array of services a day early.On Friday, Nov. 10, the city will begin honoring military veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces by temporarily halting the following: ‘Star of India’ to set sail Veterans Day weekend for first time in five years All City of San Diego administrative offices. Container sales (trash and recycling bins) at 8353 Miramar Place. All city libraries will be closed on Friday and will reopen for scheduled hours on Saturday, Nov. 11.City swimming pools and recreation centers.Public buildings in Balboa Park, including the Municipal Gym, Morley Field and Balboa Park Activity Center.Check with individual museums and other park attractions for their holiday schedules.  All city reservoirs with the exception of Murray and El Capitan. Tecolote Canyon Nature Center. &...

Conservative Muslims protest Coldplay’s planned concert in Indonesia over the band’s LGBTQ+ support

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:11 GMT

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Dozens of conservative Muslims marched in Indonesia’s capital on Friday, calling for the cancellation of Coldplay’s upcoming concert over the British band’s support for the LGBTQ+ community.Coldplay is renowned for interlacing its values with its shows, such as the band’s push for environmental sustainability. Lead singer Chris Martin has been known to wear rainbow colors and wave gay pride flags during performances.The Asian leg of Coldplay’s “Music Of The Spheres World Tour” includes a Nov. 15 concert at Jakarta’s Gelora Bung Karno stadium. More than 70,000 tickets were scooped up in less than two hours when sales opened in May. Jakarta is one of the band’s top streaming hubs with 1.6 million fans in the city.Critics say Coldplay’s show is suggestive, and that the band’s support for the LGBTQ+ community threatens to undermine Indonesia’s moral fiber and corrupt its youth.Nearly 100 demonstrators, many holding banners and sign...

Canada’s veterinarians are not OK

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:11 GMT

Everyone knows by now about health-care worker burnout. Nurses fleeing the profession. Doctors retiring early. And the absence of so many of both leaving more crucial work for their increasingly strained colleagues, and the system as a whole. What you may not know, is that things are much the same for vets and vet technicians across the country—and it’s taking a massive toll on the animal caregivers who remain.Lyndsay Armstrong wrote about veterinarian burnout for the Canadian Press, she says part of the issue may be the changing nature of the relationship between people and their pets. “The way that people have become quite obsessed with their animals, I think that the clients are now putting a bit more pressure on the vets, being a bit more harsh with them when they call,” says Armstrong, “we think of our pets like family, and we want them to be treated like family.”Canadians adopted an additional 500,000 pets during the pandemic, and right now there are fewer vets to care f...

Woman dead, man in custody following stabbing at Etobicoke condo

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:11 GMT

A woman is dead and a man is in custody following a stabbing in Etobicoke on Friday morning.Police responded to a call at a condo building in the area of The Queensway and Kipling Avenue around 6:10 a.m.A woman was found with stab wounds. She was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries and where she was pronounced dead.Police say a man was taken into custody and brought to hospital with minor injuries.

Biden and Xi will meet Wednesday for talks on trade, Taiwan and managing fraught US-China relations

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:11 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet Wednesday in California for talks on trade, Taiwan and managing fraught U.S.-Chinese relations in the first engagement between the leaders of the world’s two biggest economies in nearly a year.The White House has said for weeks that it anticipated Biden and Xi would meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco, but negotiations went down to the eve of the gathering, which kicks off Saturday.White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement the leaders would discuss the “continued importance of maintaining open lines of communication” and how the they “can continue to responsibly manage competition and work together where our interests align, particularly on transnational challenges that affect the international community.”China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Friday that Xi would attend APEC from Tuesday to Nov. 17 at Biden’s invita...

Blinken says 'far too many' Palestinians have died as Israel wages relentless war on Hamas

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:11 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday that “far too many” Palestinians have died and suffered as Israel wages a relentless war against the militant Hamas group in the Gaza Strip. He urged Israel to minimize harm to civilians and maximize humanitarian assistance that reaches them.Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, Blinken said recent Israeli moves to improve dire conditions in Gaza as its military pushes deeper into the strip — including pauses in military operations to allow Palestinians to move from northern to southern Gaza and the creation of a second safe corridor — are positive but they are not nearly enough.“Much more needs to be done to protect civilians and to make sure that humanitarian assistance reaches them," he said. "Far too many Palestinians have been killed, far too many have suffered these past weeks, and we want to do everything possible to prevent harm to them and to maximize the assistance that gets to them....

Chicago officer charged, relieved of police powers for hitting 8th grader

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:11 GMT

CHICAGO — A Chicago Police Department officer is charged after reportedly hitting an eighth grader while off-duty.Craig Lancaster, 55, is now facing felony aggravated battery charges. MORE INFO: Off-duty CPD officer under investigation after shoving 8th grader The police department said he has been relieved of his police powers.School surveillance video from Gresham Elementary shows the officer striking a 14-year-old boy last May.The video does not show the teen interacting with Lancaster before the incident. Lancaster will make his first court appearance next week.