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Gary Phillips: With his future uncertain, all eyes are on Shohei Ohtani

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:15:14 GMT

ANAHEIM — With the Yankees in town and trade rumors swirling around Shohei Ohtani, Japanese reporters were hard at work in Anaheim earlier this week.For much of the group, Ohtani — not his Angels — is the beat. That means covering and writing about every little thing he does. That can be more challenging on some days than others, as there are only so many ways to describe Ohtani’s greatness without sounding stale. And even the two-way sensation has quiet games, which can leave Japanese reporters without much to say while racing against inconvenient deadlines in their home country.But the impending free agent’s future has dominated the baseball landscape recently, and the Yankees series provided several storylines. Even though the pinstripers seem like an unlikely landing spot for Ohtani for several reasons, Japanese reporters still made it a point to question visiting Yankees writers about the theoretically possible pairing.On Monday, this Yankees beat ...

First day of Comic-Con wraps up with parties

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:15:14 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Comic-Con is back! The annual convention kicked off in the Gaslamp Quarter Thursday. The sold-out four-day event will see 50,000 to 60,000 people a day and about 200,000 for the weekend. For Ruth Clawson and Salomon Rojas, Comic-Con is a tradition. “I’ve been to Comic-Con for over 25 years," Clawson said. "I really love going upstairs and hearing all the panels." Don’t have a Comic-Con badge? Check out these events that don’t require one The San Diego Convention Center is one part of this massive event. Movie studios and production companies transformed businesses in the Gaslamp into interactive experiences for all to enjoy, whether you have a pass or not. Convention Center doors closed at 7 p.m. Thursday, but that was not the end of day 1.Thousands filled the streets and lined up for the many after parties and celebrations, including the sixth annual fandom party at the Hard Rock Hotel. There was music, food and costumes.A combination that continues to bring people b...

Stock market today: Asian shares are mixed as investors weigh weakness in the tech sector

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:15:14 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Shares were mixed Friday in Asia after the latest rally on Wall Street fizzled, with big declines for Tesla, Netflix and other big tech-oriented stocks.Hong Kong, Seoul and Bangkok advanced while Tokyo, Shanghai and Sydney declined. U.S. futures edged higher and oil prices also climbed. Taiwan’s Taiex 0.8% fell after TSMC, the world’s biggest manufacturer of computer chips, said it expects its sales to fall 10% this year as demand wanes. It also said it would not meet a 2024 target for starting production at a factory under construction in Arizona. TSMC’s shares fell 3.1%.Japan reported consumer inflation edged higher in June, from 3.2% to 3.3%, but mainly due to increases in electricity rates. Price increases excluding energy and volatile food costs fell. That eases pressure on the central bank to adjust the ultra-lax monetary policy that it has kept in place for over a decade to counter sluggish economic growth. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index lost ...

Sunak’s Conservatives suffer 2 big defeats but avoid a wipeout in trio of UK special elections

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:15:14 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s governing Conservative Party suffered two thumping defeats Friday in a trio of special elections but avoided a drubbing after holding onto former premier Boris Johnson’s seat in suburban London.Though the main opposition Labour Party and the smaller centrist Liberal Democrats overturned massive Conservative majorities to win a seat apiece, the Conservatives found some crumbs of comfort in their narrow success in Uxbridge and South Ruislip in west London.Still, the results of Thursday’s elections, if replicated at a likely general election next year, would certainly see Labour emerge as the biggest single party, possibly with a sizeable overall majority.Labour won the seat of Selby and Ainsty in northern England, with the 25-year-old candidate Keir Mather managing to secure the party’s second largest swing at a special election since 1945. “This is a historic result that shows that people are looking at Labour and seeing a changed party...

Propaganda tool? Bargaining chip? What North Korea may have in mind for Travis King

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:15:14 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — So what will North Korea do about the first U.S. soldier in decades to flee into its territory? Its official media have yet to mention Pvt. Travis King, there’s little precedent for his situation and guesses about the country’s next steps vary widely.Unauthorized crossings across the Koreas’ heavily fortified border are extremely rare. The few Americans who crossed into North Korea in the past were a few soldiers, missionaries, human rights advocates or those simply curious about one of the world’s most cloistered societies. North Korea has used a varied playbook in its handlings of them.Defecting soldiers, like Charles Jenkins or James Dresnok in the 1960s, were treated as propaganda assets, showcased in leaflets and films projecting anti-U.S. hatred and praising the North’s regime.Other Americans were detained, criticized and handed harsh penalties based on confessions of anti-state activities they later said were coerced. Behind-t...

Alabama GOP proposals for second Black district are unlikely to win court approval, experts warn

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:15:14 GMT

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama lawmakers say they’re trying to satisfy a landmark Supreme Court order to draw a new district giving a voice to Black voters, but with hours to go before a court-ordered deadline Friday, experts say Republican proposals fall far short of what the law requires. The Republican-controlled state House and Senate will meet Friday and could advance separate plans increasing the share of Black voters in Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District. Legislative leaders say they intend to meet the deadline, meaning the two chambers must compromise on one plan.Both plans preserve the current Black majority of the 7th District. But neither plan comes close to creating a second Black majority district in a state that is 27% Black. A three-judge panel ruled in 2022 that the current legislative map likely violates the federal Voting Rights Act and said any map should include two districts where “Black voters either comprise a voting-age majority or something quite cl...

Man with thousands of bullets and a grenade attacked police, killing officer. What was his plan?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:15:14 GMT

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — It was a routine collision on a busy Fargo street. But after Mohamad Barakat drove past, armed with 1,800 rounds of ammunition, numerous firearms and a grenade, tragedy ensued.After the shooting ended on July 14, one police officer was dead, and two other officers as well as a woman in the crash were wounded, leaving authorities wondering what further carnage Barakat might have been planning. Officer Zach Robinson, the only officer in the melee who was not wounded, fatally shot Barakat with bystanders crouched nearby. More details are expected at a briefing Friday.Barakat, a 37-year-old who briefly trained as an emergency responder at a nearby community college, had no criminal record. No social media presence.But then he saw the collision. With police and firefighters tied up helping, Barakat began “stalking his way in and sizing up his opportunity,” North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley told reporters Wednesday in the most detailed update yet.Barak...

By pulling out of the Ukrainian grain deal, Russia risks alienating its few remaining partners

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:15:14 GMT

By pulling out of a landmark deal that allowed Ukrainian grain exports through the Black Sea, Russian President Vladimir Putin is taking a gamble that could badly damage Moscow’s relations with many of its partners that have stayed neutral or even been supportive of the Kremlin’s invasion of its neighbor.Russia also has played the role of spoiler at the United Nations, vetoing a resolution on extending humanitarian aid deliveries through a key border crossing in northwestern Syria and backing a push by Mali’s military junta to expel U.N. peacekeepers — abrupt moves that reflect Moscow’s readiness to raise the stakes elsewhere.Putin’s declared goal in halting the Black Sea Grain Initiative was to win relief from Western sanctions on Russia’s agricultural exports. His longer-term goal could be to erode Western resolve over Ukraine and get more concessions from the U.S. and its allies as the war grinds toward the 17-month mark.The Kremlin doubled down on terminating the gra...

California court will consider anti-discrimination law in hearing over racist texts by officers

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:15:14 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A judge was expected on Friday to consider whether Northern California police officers who exchanged racist text messages violated a state law aimed at stamping out racism in the criminal justice system.A group of Antioch Police Department officers have been asked to testify in a San Francisco Bay Area courtroom on heavily redacted text messages made public in April by the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s office that also used derogatory, homophobic and sexually explicit language, with officers bragging about falsifying evidence and beating up suspects.Defense attorneys were expected to argue before Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge David Goldstein that their clients, two of them mentioned in released messages, were unfairly targeted based on their race. The state’s Racial Justice Act prohibits the state from pursuing or securing criminal convictions or sentences on the basis of race, ethnicity or national origin.Goldstein threw out gang char...

Russia threatens global food security

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:15:14 GMT

The Black Sea Grain Initiative, also known as the "grain deal" - has been terminated. This is a direct result of Russia's unilateral withdrawal from it, as other participants - Turkey and the UN - were in favour of prolonging the agreement. In addition, the Russian Federation has disavowed its security guarantees for the route used to export grain from Ukrainian seaports, which can be interpreted as their intention to attack merchant ships that will be in this sector of the Black Sea from 18 July 2023, Dispatches, IFBG.Russia has tried to press ahead with the fulfilment of the terms of the grain agreement before. It has constantly violated the stable algorithm of registration and inspection of ships entering and leaving Ukrainian ports. In its turn, Moscow uses its Black Sea ports unhindered, and Russian ships do not undergo any inspections in the Bosporus. Thus, Russia can quietly use these circumstances to receive military cargoes and continue its war against Ukraine.Putin does no...