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Ohtani’s second-straight MVP award cranks out extra editions in Japanese newspapers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:18 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Two-way star Shohei Ohtani is not only great for baseball — he’s also a blessing for Japan’s newspaper industry.Ohtani was named the first two-time unanimous Most Valuable Player when he won the American League honor on Thursday, immediately setting off a scramble around Tokyo’s Shibuya station for extra editions announcing the award.Ohtani, who has played his entire MLB career with the Los Angeles Angels, is now a free agent with speculation he could land baseball’s first $500 million contract. “I don’t particularly have a preference of which team I would like him to play for next season,” Ryota Kusaka, a high-school baseball player, said at the station. “But my support for him won’t change no matter which team he goes to.”The award was almost a foregone conclusion, but it again stoked pride in local Japanese that one of their own is the best in the world’s top baseball league.“Given Ohtani’s performance this season, I think it is no...

Isaiah Joe goes 7 for 7 on 3-pointers, Thunder send short-handed Warriors to fifth straight loss

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:18 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Isaiah Joe was 7 for 7 from 3-point range and scored a season-high 23 points, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 24 points and seven assists and the Oklahoma City Thunder sent the Golden State Warriors to their fifth straight loss with a 128-109 victory on Thursday night.Josh Giddey added 19 points and rookie Chet Holmgren had 13 points and 10 rebounds in his fourth double-double to help propel Oklahoma City to its fifth win in six games.The Thunder had won just one of their past 11 contests against the Warriors dating back to 2020-21. But Oklahoma City was firmly in control against a short-handed Golden State squad that grew more thin as the night went on.Warriors guard Stephen Curry (right knee soreness) and forward Draymond Green ( five-game suspension ) were unavailable, and guard Gary Payton II exited with a sprained left ankle in the second quarter. X-rays on Payton’s ankle came back negative, the team announced.Missing their leading scorer for a second str...

West’s 31 lead Nicholls State over South Alabama 102-97 in 3OT

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:18 GMT

MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — Jamal West scored 31 points as Nicholls State beat South Alabama 102-97 in triple overtime on Thursday in the Jaguar Classic.West had a layup at the buzzer to force overtime, tying the game at 68 and he made 1 of 2 free throws with a second left in the first OT, tying the game at 80. He also made 7 of 8 free throws in the third overtime to ice the game.West also had seven rebounds, six assists, and four blocks for the Colonels (2-2). Diante Smith added 19 points while shooting 7 for 16 (1 for 6 from 3-point range) and 4 of 4 from the free throw line, and he also had 10 rebounds and six steals. Robert Brown III shot 8 for 16, including 3 for 8 from beyond the arc to finish with 19 points, while adding seven rebounds and four steals. Brown had two triples in the final OT.The Jaguars (1-3) were led in scoring by Marcus Millender, who finished with 23 points, nine rebounds, 10 assists and two steals. Tyrell Jones added 18 points and six rebounds for South Alabama. Is...

Ravens QB Lamar Jackson shrugs off injury scare vs. Bengals: ‘We need to stop talking about this ankle’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:18 GMT

In a Thursday night game filled with injuries, it appeared Ravens star quarterback Lamar Jackson wasn’t going to escape unscathed.Late in the first quarter of Baltimore’s 34-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, Jackson scrambled away from pressure on third-and-4 from the Ravens’ 37-yard line and threw an underhand pass that fell incomplete as he was tackled out of bounds along the right sideline by Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson.Jackson remained down for a few moments and was tended to by trainers before getting up and heading to the bench. He later entered the blue medical tent but quickly emerged and gave a thumbs-up as he spoke to assistants on the sideline.The 2019 NFL Most Valuable Player returned to the game without missing any snaps and delivered a signature performance, completing 16 of 26 passes for 264 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 54 yards on nine carries.That first-quarter scare wasn’t the only one, however, as Jackson also slippe...

Ravens surge past Bengals, 34-20, in injury-filled prime-time battle: ‘We wanted to make a statement’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:18 GMT

It was a heavyweight fight between two of the NFL’s highest-paid quarterbacks. One delivered a knockout blow, while the other was simply knocked out.On a weird and raucous night filled with injuries, penalties and a deflected pass that turned into a touchdown with a somersault, Lamar Jackson completed 16 of 26 passes for 264 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Ravens to a 34-20 statement victory over their AFC North rival Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday at M&T Bank Stadium.Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, meanwhile, fell on his wrist, injuring it in the second quarter, and never returned. Cincinnati coach Zac Taylor said he believes Burrow suffered a sprained wrist, though losing the game might sting even worse.The victory keeps the Ravens (8-3) atop the division, while the Bengals (5-5) dropped 2 1/2 games back with seven to go after Baltimore’s season sweep.It was also sweet revenge for the Ravens, with Cincinnati having ended Baltimore’s season last year duri...

Chicago White Sox trade reliever Aaron Bummer to the Atlanta Braves in a 6-player deal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:18 GMT

Reliever Aaron Bummer is on the move.The Chicago White Sox dealt the left-hander to the Atlanta Braves late Thursday for right-handed pitcher Mike Soroka, left-hander Jared Shuster, infielders Nicky Lopez and Braden Shewmake and right-hander Riley Gowens.A long-standing presence in the bullpen, Bummer went 5-5 with a 6.79 ERA, 79 strikeouts and 15 holds in 61 appearances during 2023. He went 14-15 with a 3.84 ERA in 289 career outings during seven seasons with the Sox.Soroka, 26, went 2-2 with a 6.40 ERA and 29 strikeouts in seven games (six starts) with the Braves. He spent most of the 2023 season with Triple-A Gwinnett, going 4-4 with a 3.41 ERA, 92 strikeouts and a .205 opponents average in 17 starts.He finished second in the National League Rookie of the Year voting in 2019 after going 13-4 with a 2.68 ERA and 142 strikeouts in 29 starts.Soroka has a 17-8 career record with a 3.32 ERA and 200 strikeouts in 44 games (43 games) during parts of four major-league seasons with the Br...

Live updates | With communications down, UNRWA warns there will be no aid deliveries across Rafah

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:18 GMT

Despite the dire need for humanitarian aid in Gaza, there would be no deliveries across the Rafah border crossing from Egypt on Friday, according to the communications director for the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees. Gaza appeared to be left with downed communications systems for a second day Friday, halting cross-border deliveries of humanitarian supplies even as aid agencies warned that most people in the Gaza Strip already do not have adequate food or clean water. A severe lack of fuel in the Gaza Strip shut down all internet and phone networks Thursday, the main Palestinian telecom provider said, effectively cutting off the besieged territory from the outside world. “We have seen fuel and food and water and humanitarian assistance being used as a weapon of war,” Juliette Touma, a spokesperson for UNRWA, the aid agency for Palestinian refugees, said Thursday.At least 11,470 Palestinians — two-thirds of them women and minors — have been killed since the war began, ...

At a Global South summit, Modi urges leaders to unite against challenges from the Israel-Hamas war

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:18 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged leaders of developing nations to unite in the face of growing challenges due to the Israel-Hamas war as he convened a virtual summit of more than 100 countries Friday.“This is the time when the countries of the Global South should unite for the greater global good,” Modi said in a speech, referring to developing nations.The Voice of Global South Summit was convened to follow up on decisions made during the Group of 20 top world economies meeting in September that New Delhi claimed was a diplomatic success and where the African Union was added as a member.India sees itself as a leader of the Global South and says the world should make progress on key issues important to these countries.“We are more than 100 countries but our priorities are similar,” Modi said at the summit, while emphasizing on issues critical to developing nations, including resource efficiency, poverty reduction and food security.“Voice of the Global South ...

At talks on cutting plastics pollution, plastics credits are on the table. What are they?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:18 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Two groups that want reduced plastics production published a report Friday highly critical of plastics credits, calling them a flawed tool that won’t help with worldwide pollution from the material.The groups — Break Free From Plastic and the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives — said the credits often amount to corporate greenwashing. They issued their report in Nairobi on the sidelines of United Nations-led negotiations for a treaty aimed at cutting plastics pollution.They analyzed publicly available databases of two prominent proponents of plastic offsetting, the accreditor Verra and the Plastic Credit Exchange marketplace. Their report cited “serious flaws” in financing, transparency and basic auditing, and said credits being issued for plastic incinerated in cement kilns were substituting one form of pollution for another. Verra, the world’s leading certifier of carbon offsets, said in a presentation alongside the talks that plastic cr...

Commission sends request for information to Amazon under the Digital Services Act

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:18 GMT

The European Commission has formally sent Amazon a request for information under the Digital Services Act (DSA). The Commission is requesting Amazon to provide more information on the measures it has taken to comply with obligations related to risk assessments and mitigation measures to protect consumers online, in particular with regard to the dissemination of illegal products and the protection of fundamental rights, as well as on compliance of recommender systems with the relevant provisions of the DSA.Amazon must provide the requested information to the Commission by 6 December 2023. Based on the assessment of Amazon's replies, the Commission will assess next steps. This could entail the formal opening of proceedings pursuant to Article 66 of the DSA.Pursuant to Article 74 (2) of the DSA, the Commission can impose fines for incorrect, incomplete, or misleading information in response to a request for information. In case of failure to reply by Amazon, the Commission may decide t...