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Ian Happ accidentally hits Willson Contreras in the head on a swing, setting off fireworks in the Chicago Cubs-St. Louis Cardinals game

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:08:20 GMT

Almost exactly one year ago, Ian Happ and Willson Contreras waited out their Cubs futures at Busch Stadium on trade deadline day, the potential end to their time in Chicago and as teammates.They crossed paths again Thursday in St. Louis as opponents caught within the fluky moments of the sport that quickly spiraled out of control for the Cardinals.Happ hit Contreras in the head on his backswing during the first inning of the Cubs’ 10-3 win that moved them to .500. The knock cut and bloodied Contreras’ scalp, forcing him out of the game. Happ hugged Contreras, who pressed a towel to his head and was helped back to the dugout.When Happ stepped back into the batter’s box to resume his at-bat against Miles Mikolas, the right-hander threw a fastball up and in to Happ, who dodged the pitch. Mikolas didn’t miss with the next one, hitting Happ on his right glute. It prompted the umpire crew to gather to discuss the situation and deemed Mikolas intentionally drilled H...

Trade rumors swirl around Chicago White Sox starter Lance Lynn: ‘Everyone around the league is telling me I’m gone’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:08:20 GMT

Lance Lynn described Wednesday as unique.“I know when you wake up at 8 a.m. and everyone thinks you’ve been traded to three different teams, it’s different,” the Chicago White Sox starter said Thursday afternoon.Various reports popped up with the Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers and Texas Rangers among the teams pursuing the right-hander.“When you wake up and there are three different teams you’ve supposedly been traded to, that’s the world we live in now,” Lynn said. “News gets out that’s not true. Next thing you know you just have to answer questions about it.”Lynn carried on and was on the mound that evening for the City Series game against the Cubs at Guaranteed Rate Field.“There’s been no communication, nobody told me that anything’s close or anything like that, so you’ve just got to go pitch,” Lynn said.Lynn allowed seven runs on seven hits with five strikeouts and two walks in 4...

Patriots skill player ‘day to day’ in absence from training camp

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:08:20 GMT

FOXBORO — Patriots running back/wide receiver Ty Montgomery was not present for Friday’s training camp session after leaving practice early a day prior.Montgomery suffered an apparent leg injury on a pass from third-string quarterback Trace McSorely during team drills. McSorey’s pass was off-target, causing Montgomery to collide with linebacker Terez Hall. Montgomery stayed on the field for a half-speed walk-through before departing. Hall was also limited in Friday’s session.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Matthew Judon deserves a pay raise from Patriots; what would it look like? New England Patriots | Patriots’ JuJu Smith-Schuster indirectly compares Mac Jones to QB greats New England Patriots | Patriots training camp Day 2: JuJu Smith-Schuster emerges, other receivers fade, Matt Judon sits New England Patriots | Rhamondre Stevenson, Matt Judon limited on Day 2 of Patriots training camp New England Patriot...

Moscow accuses Ukraine of firing missile at town in southern Russia

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:08:20 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces pounded a key village on Friday that Ukraine claimed to have recaptured in its grinding counteroffensive in the country’s southeast, while Moscow accused Kyiv a firing a missile at a city in southern Russia that officials there said wounded 15 people.President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, meanwhile, marked Ukraine’s Statehood Day by reaffirming the country’s sovereignty — a rebuke to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who used his claim that Ukraine didn’t exist as a nation to justify his invasion.“Now, like more than a thousand years ago, our civilizational choice is unity with the world,” Zelenskyy said in a speech outside St. Michael’s Monastery in Kyiv. “To be a power in world history. To have the right to its national history – of its people, its land, its state. And of our children – all future generations of the Ukrainian people. We will definitely win!”He also honored servicemen and handed out first passports to young citize...

As crews contain Europe fires, Pope Francis sounds alarm on climate threat to ‘our common home’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:08:20 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Pope Francis urged governments to do more to fight climate change and protect “our common home” as improving weather conditions Friday helped firefighters contain wildfires in Greece, Italy and other countries in southern Europe.Francis, who has been outspoken on environmental issues, sent a telegram of condolences to Greece, where wildfires killed five people over the past week, including the pilots of a water-dropping aircraft. The pope noted that successive heat waves have exacerbated the dangers of the summer fire season. He offered his prayers for firefighters and emergency personnel in particular.“(I hope) that the risks to our common home, exacerbated by the present climate crisis, will spur all people to renew their efforts to care for the gift of creation, for the sake of future generations,” Francis said.Fueled by the heat waves and strong gusts of wind, wildfires in Europe’s Mediterranean region have kept travelers and residents on alert. In Gr...

Work to reduce parking, add bike lanes in High Park to begin next week

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:08:20 GMT

Work aimed to improve visitor access and roads in High Park is set to begin early next week.The project is part of the ‘High Park Movement Strategy’ that was approved by city council in May. It will result in a new main vehicle entrance, reduced parking, and new bike lanes installed inside the park.The city says work will kick off on Monday and should wrap up by Aug. 5. Most of the work will be done during evening hours to minimize the impact on visitors.Changes visitor can expect when the work is finished:The West Road and parts of Colborne Lodge Drive, south of Grenadier Café, will be car-free at all timesThe main vehicle entrance will be at Parkside Drive and High Park Boulevard and will be open Monday to Friday and closed on weekends and holidays. Visitor vehicles will not be permitted to enter at Bloor Street WestVisitor vehicle access will be provided to the Children’s Garden, Colborne Lodge Drive and the Spring Road Parking lot at all timesPublic parking spaces wi...

Canadian venture capital funding bounces back in Q2 but first half lags behind 2022

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:08:20 GMT

TORONTO — CPE Analytics says Canadian venture capital funding rose in the second quarter following a pullback in the first three months of 2023, but funding levels for the first half of the year are still well off what they were for the first six months of 2022. The financial data firm says there were $1.95 billion in disbursements during the second quarter after $1.3 billion in the first three months.The $3.25 billion is total disbursements in the first half of the year compares with $4.72 billion in the first six months last year, when rising interest rates started to significantly affect funding. It says the rise in the second quarter was driven by a return of U.S. investors, who so far this year have invested $1.43 billion, accounting for 44 per cent of total funding for the half compared with 40 per cent by Canadian investors.Among Canadian provinces, Ontario was the top venture capital recipient for the first half, securing $1.59 billion, ahead of Quebec’s $696 million, ...

US price and wage increases slow further in the latest signs of cooling inflation

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:08:20 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Signs that inflation pressures in the United States are steadily easing emerged Friday in reports that consumer prices rose in June at their slowest pace in more than two years and that wage growth cooled last quarter.Together, the figures provided the latest signs that the Federal Reserve’s drive to tame inflation may succeed without triggering a recession. A price gauge closely monitored by the Fed rose just 3% in June from a year earlier. That was down from a 3.8% annual increase in May, though still above the Fed’s 2% inflation target. On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.2% from May to June, up slightly from 0.1% the previous month. Last month’s sharp slowdown in year-over-year inflation largely reflected falling gas prices, as well as milder increases in grocery costs. With supply chains having largely healed from post-pandemic disruptions, the costs of new and used cars, furniture and appliances also fell in June. A measure of “core” prices, which e...

Three dead, three injured in crash in Quebec’s Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean region

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:08:20 GMT

SAGUENAY, Que. — Three people were killed and three others were injured in a two-vehicle crash Thursday evening in Quebec’s Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean region.Quebec provincial police say the collision between a compact car and a truck occurred about 6 p.m. on Highway 172, near Ste-Rose-du-Nord, Que., about 185 kilometres northeast of Quebec City.Police say they no longer fear for the lives of the three injured.Authorities say their initial investigation suggests the head-on collision may have been provoked by a driver attempting to pass another car on the highway.The 28-year-old driver of the compact and his 26-year-old female passenger, who were both from the region, died in the crash, as did a 73-year-old passenger in the truck who was believed to be from Newfoundland and Labrador.Investigators and collision-reconstruction specialists were called to shed light on the circumstances surrounding the fatal crash.This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 28, 2023.The C...

Merger talks end between large health care systems in Minnesota, South Dakota

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:08:20 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A merger that would have created one of the largest health service companies in the Upper Midwest has been scrapped.Minneapolis-based Fairview Health Services and Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based Sanford Health announced Thursday that they would not proceed with the merger they had been discussing since late last year. It would have created a system with more than 50 hospitals and about 78,000 employees.This is the second time in a decade that the two companies considered a merger but failed to complete it, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.The latest attempt drew fierce opposition at the University of Minnesota, which has a partnership with Fairview. The university sold its teaching hospital to Fairview in 1997 and opposed the idea of an out-of-state entity owning the University of Minnesota Medical Center in Minneapolis. The merged system would have been based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota’s largest city.Statements from the two companies’ CEOs stat...