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Bill Madden: Anthony Volpe, Oswald Peraza and the Yankees’ shortstop dilemma

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:45:14 GMT

TAMPA — For the much-maligned Yankee farm system, this spring is the best of times and the worst of times.The best of times is Jasson Dominguez, the young switch-hitting phenom center fielder, who is living up to all the accompanying hype from when the Yankees signed him for $5.1 million out of the Dominican Republic as the No. 1 rated international prospect in 2019. As of Friday, Dominguez was 7-for-16 with three homers, seven RBI and a 1.526 OPS in Grapefruit League play as the cries of “Martian” (his colorful and appropriate nickname for his “out-of-this-world” five-tool talent) have been resonating through the stands of George M. Steinbrenner Field.More best of times has been the emergence of Jersey-bred fan favorite Anthony Volpe from longshot in the shortstop sweepstakes to the frontrunner in the early going of spring.It has been a while since there has been this much rookie buzz in the Yankee camp. For other than Aaron Judge (and granted he’...

Saudi deal with Iran worries Israel, shakes up Middle East

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:45:14 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — The news of the rapprochement between long-time regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran sent shockwaves through the Middle East on Saturday and struck a symbolic blow for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has made the threat posed by Tehran a public diplomacy priority and personal crusade.The breakthrough — a culmination of more than a year of negotiations in Baghdad and more recent talks in China — also became ensnared in Israel’s internal politics, reflecting the country’s divisions at a moment of national turmoil. The agreement, which gives Iran and Saudi Arabia two months to reopen their respective embassies and re-establish ties after seven years of rupture, more broadly represents one of the most striking shifts in Middle Eastern diplomacy over recent years. In countries like Yemen and Syria, long caught between the Sunni kingdom and the Shiite powerhouse, the announcement stirred cautious optimism.In Israel, it caused disappointment — along with a ...

Landmine blast kills 2, injures 1 in SW Pakistan

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:45:14 GMT

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — A landmine struck the convoy of a politician in Pakistan’s southwest, killing two of his private bodyguards and critically wounding a third, a local official said Saturday.Baluchistan Assembly member Sardar Khan Rind was going to his native town of Suni when his bodyguards’ vehicle was struck by a landmine in the Sunni Shoran area of Kacchi Bolan district, said deputy commissioner Sami Ullah. They died at the scene of the blast, which is around 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the provincial capital Quetta. Rind escaped unhurt. No one has immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.The province has long struggled with a low-level insurgency by the Baluchistan Liberation Army and other small separatist groups demanding independence from the central government in Islamabad.Authorities claim to have quelled the insurgency but violence has persisted. The province has also seen attacks by militants from both the Pakistani Taliban and the Islamic S...

Gas prices surge in New Jersey, around nation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:45:14 GMT

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Gas prices surged in New Jersey and around the nation at large, but analysts say the increase could be short-lived amid a recent drop in demand and the cost of crude oil.AAA Mid-Atlantic says the average price of a gallon of regular gas in New Jersey on Friday was $3.30, up 10 cents from last week. Drivers were paying $4.37 a gallon on average a year ago at this time.The national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline was $3.47, up eight cents from last week. Drivers were paying $4.31 a gallon on average a year ago at this time.Analysts say less expensive oil and fewer people fueling up their vehicles usually lowers prices at the pump. If that continues, they say, prices are likely to drop despite some recent upward price pressure due to the switch to more expensive summer blend gasoline, which has a lower volatility to limit evaporative emissions that normally increase with warm weather.The Associated Press

Why is Ontario suspending so many licenses?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:45:14 GMT

There are indeed medical reasons that require your driver’s licence to be suspended. But there are a host of other issues, everything from depression to cold sores, that have been cited as medical reasons in licence suspensions in Ontario. What’s happening here?At the core of the issue are MCRs — medical condition reports that can often trigger an automatic suspension, even for a condition that doesn’t impact driving, or a condition the driver may not even have. Why is Ontario handing out hundreds of thousands of these suspensions? Who benefits from all these filings? And what recourse do people have when their ability to drive—and with it, often, their livelihood—is taken away?GUEST: Declan Keogh, Investigative Journalism Bureau

Thai women activists end hunger strike, vow to keep up fight

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:45:14 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Two Thai women activists gave up their hunger strike of more than seven weeks, announcing Saturday they have decided it is better to live so they can continue their unfinished fight for political and judicial reforms.Tantawan “Tawan” Tuatulanon, 21, and Orawan “Bam” Phuphong, 23, had been on hunger strike since Jan. 18, much of that time refusing water as well. Refusing all liquids in addition to food can cause permanent injury and even death if carried on for an extended period, and doctors several times had announced they were seriously at risk.“Tawan and Bam would like to announce to the public that they have ended their hunger strike and will accept treatment to use their lives in continuing their fight as there has been no response from the court,” said a statement released on their behalf on social media.It said the two are now in a hospital under close medical supervision because of concern for damage the hunger strike might have caused to their kidneys a...

Bomb kills 1, wounds 8 at press award event in Afghanistan

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:45:14 GMT

JALALABAD, Afghanistan (AP) — A bomb exploded Saturday during an award ceremony for journalists in Afghanistan’s Mazar-e- Sharif city, killing at least one person and wounding eight, including children, officials said.The blast happened at the Tabian Farhang center in Mazar-e Sharif, the capital of Balkh province, as journalists gathered for the award event at 11 a.m., said Mohammad Asif Waziri, the local police spokesman. Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Nafi Takor said later that five journalists and three children were wounded. The blast killed a security guard, he said. It came two days after a bomb in Mazar-e-Sharif killed the provincial governor, Daud Muzmal, and two others. Four were wounded.Among the journalists wounded was Najeeb Faryad, a reporter for Ariana News television station, who said he felt like something hit him in the back, followed by a deafening sound before he fell to the ground. Hujatullah Mujadidi, who heads the Association of Free Journalists of Afghanist...

TV hit ‘The Last of Us’ expected to bring more filming opportunities to Alberta

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:45:14 GMT

EDMONTON — The HBO TV series “The Last of Us” has not only made many Albertans proud to recognize their province on screen, but the wildly popular post-apocalyptic show is also expected to bring in more filming opportunities. Alberta is no stranger to the film industry, with movies “The Revenant,” “Interstellar” and “Brokeback Mountain” also shot in the province.With “The Last of Us” achieving paramount success, Travel Alberta says it’s anticipating more filmmakers will want to use the province’s diverse landscape for shooting.Vice-president of Travel Alberta Tannis Gaffney says it’s also hoping for an increase in tourism.“We’re optimistic for a busy summer season in Alberta and we’re hoping this is going to add more interest and more destination awareness,” said Gaffney. “Not necessarily just for Canadians, but we’re hoping that this really reaches the American audience...

Oscars race: Clock ticks for film buffs to binge on nominees

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:45:14 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A film buff from Oklahoma City, Elyssa Mann has scant time to waste, needing to cross just four more movies off her Oscars binge list before Sunday’s Academy Awards broadcast: Two animated films, one for cinematography and another for costume design.In the San Francisco Bay Area, Steve Tornello has just one left — the latest “Avatar” — before he can fairly judge all 10 of the Best Picture nominees.In the perfect multiverse, time would bend to allow time-strained movie buffs to watch anything anywhere, all at once. But in the real world, not the googly eyed one, time keeps ticking and that makes things difficult for diehard film fans hoping to fill every bracket in their personal Oscars scoresheets.“I have four Oscars movies left in my quest to watch all the ones nominated for picture/acting/craft etc,” Mann wrote in a tweet, “and this somehow feels insurmountable.”As it is, Sunday morning’s time change (don’t forget to spring forward) wi...

UK protest backs health staff as doctors prepare to strike

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:45:14 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Thousands of protesters marched through London to the British prime minister’s residence on Saturday to support health care workers who have held a series of strikes over pay and conditions in the state-funded National Health Service.Almost 40,000 junior doctors, who form the backbone of hospital care, are due to walk out across England for three days starting Monday. NHS England said the doctors’ strike would be even more disruptive than recent walkouts by nurses and ambulance staff.The NHS said it would “prioritize resources to protect emergency and critical care, maternity care and where possible prioritize patients who have waited the longest for elective care and cancer surgery,” but thousands of appointments and procedures will be canceled during the 72-hour strike.A wave of strikes has disrupted Britons’ lives for months, as workers demand pay raises to keep pace with double-digit inflation. As well as health care workers, teachers, train drivers, airport baggag...