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Sale stars again on mound, Red Sox snap skid by beating Diamondbacks 7-2

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 15:13:27 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — Chris Sale threw five strong innings, Kiké Hernández smacked a two-run homer and the Boston Red Sox snapped a four-game losing streak by beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-2 on Friday night.It was Sale’s fourth consecutive impressive outing, raising hope that the veteran right-hander is ready to bounce back after four injury-filled seasons. The 34-year-old gave up one run on four hits while striking out three and walking one.After a rough first few starts this season, the seven-time All-Star is now 5-2 with a 4.72 ERA.The Red Sox jumped ahead 3-0 in the second. Rookie Triston Casas and Connor Wong both hit run-scoring doubles while Raimel Tapia drove home the third run with a single through the right side.Boston went up 5-0 on Hernández’s two-run homer into the left-center seats in the fourth. The Red Sox finished with 14 hits, including three each for Alex Verdugo and Casas.It was another mediocre outing from D-backs rookie Brandon Pfaadt (0-2), who gave ...

Washington beats Louisiana 8-0 in 5 innings to open super regional

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 15:13:27 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — Sydney Stewart and No. 9 hitter Rylee Holtorf hit two-run homers in a five-run fourth inning and Washington beat Louisiana 8-0 in five innings on Friday night in Game 1 of the best-of-3 Seattle Super Regional.SilentRain Espinoza hit a ground-rule double to drive in the first run of the game and Stewart and Holtorf homered to cap the rally as the Huskies (42-13), ranked sixth in the coaches poll, took a 5-0 lead. Alana Johnson delivered a two-run single in the bottom of the fifth and Holtorf singled in Johnson for the mercy-rule victory.Ruby Meylan (18-5) allowed two hits and four walks, striking out seven in the complete-game win.Sam Landry took the loss for Louisiana (50-15). She allowed three runs on three hits and two walks in 3 1/3 innings. The Huskies tagged reliever Chloe Riassetto for five runs — four earned — in 1 1/3 innings.The super regional winner advances to the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Washington can eliminate the Ra...

Thousands of exhausted South Sudanese head home, fleeing brutal conflict

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 15:13:27 GMT

RENK, South Sudan (AP) — Tens of thousands of exhausted people are heading home to the world’s youngest country as they flee a brutal conflict in neighboring Sudan.There’s a bottleneck of men, women and children camping near the dusty border of Sudan and South Sudan and the international community and the government are worried about a prolonged conflict. Fighting between Sudan’s military and a rival militia killed at least 863 civilians in Sudan before a seven-day ceasefire began Monday night. Many in South Sudan are concerned about what could happen if the fighting next door continues. “After escaping danger there’s more violence,” said South Sudanese Alwel Ngok, sitting on the ground outside a church. “There’s no food, no shelter, we’re totally stranded, and I’m very tired and need to leave,” she said.Ngok thought she’d be safe returning home after fleeing clashes in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, where she watched three of her relatives killed. She and her five chi...

No winning ticket sold for Friday’s $60 million Lotto Max jackpot

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 15:13:27 GMT

There was no winning ticket sold in Friday’s Lotto Max $60 million draw.However, one of six available Maxmillion prizes of $1 million each was won by a ticket holder in Ontario.The jackpot for the next draw on May 30 will be an estimated $65 million, with eight $1 million Maxmillion prizes up for grabs.The Canadian Press

Ukraine soccer league set for a title-deciding game in a remarkable, war-hit season

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 15:13:27 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — Two soccer teams exiled from cities in war-battered eastern Ukraine play each other Sunday in the safer western part of the country with the league title at stake.The showdown between competition leader Shakhtar Donetsk and second-place Dnipro-1 at Arena Lviv can be decisive in a soccer season that is finishing on schedule in remarkable circumstances. The stadium was one of four in Ukraine, including Shakhtar’s home in Donetsk, secure enough in 2012 from Russian aggression to co-host that year’s European Championship with Poland.Shakhtar leads by five points and needs just a draw this weekend to secure the title ahead of the last scheduled round on June 4.“I think it will maybe be one of our best matches ever,” Ukrainian league chief executive Ievgen Dykyi told The Associated Press this week in a call from Kyiv. “Because the situation now is really hard and all the players understand about this.”In Dnipro on Friday, the Russian military struck a medical cli...

As Elizabeth Holmes heads to prison for fraud, questions remain about her motives

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 15:13:27 GMT

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — As Elizabeth Holmes prepares to report to prison next week, the criminal case that laid bare the blood-testing scam at the heart of her Theranos startup is entering its final phase.The 11-year sentence represents a comeuppance for the wide-eyed woman who broke through “tech bro” culture to become one of Silicon Valley’s most celebrated entrepreneurs, only to be exposed as a fraud. Along the way, Holmes became a symbol of the shameless hyperbole that often saturates startup culture.But questions still linger about her true intentions — so many that even the federal judge who presided over her trial seemed mystified. And Holmes’ defenders continue to ask whether the punishment fits the crime.At 39, she seems most likely to be remembered as Silicon Valley’s Icarus — a high-flying entrepreneur burning with reckless ambition whose odyssey culminated in convictions for fraud and conspiracy.Her motives are still somewhat mysterious, and some supporters say fed...

Texas’ GOP-held House set for impeachment proceedings against Attorney General Ken Paxton

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 15:13:27 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas’ GOP-led House of Representatives was set to hold historic impeachment proceedings against Attorney General Ken Paxton on Saturday as the scandal-plagued Republican called on supporters to protest a vote that could lead to his ouster. The House scheduled an afternoon start for debate on whether to impeach and suspend Paxton from office over allegations of bribery, unfitness for office and abuse of public trust — just some of the accusations that have trailed Texas’ top lawyer for most of his three terms. The hearing sets up what could be a remarkably sudden downfall for one of the GOP’s most prominent legal combatants, who in 2020 asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Joe Biden’s electoral defeat of President Donald Trump. Only two officials in Texas’ nearly 200-year history have been impeached. Paxton, 60, has called the impeachment proceedings “political theater” based on “hearsay and gossip, parroting long-disproven claims,” and an attemp...

A growing number of LGBTQ+ Russians seek refuge from war, discrimination in Argentina

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 15:13:27 GMT

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Anastasia Domini and wife Anna Domini walked hand in hand on a recent sunny day in Argentina’s capital while their four restless children played nearby.It’s a common sight in a country where same-sex marriage has been legal for more than a decade. But the couple, who got married shortly after arriving in Buenos Aires early last year, still remember the fear they felt when they first decided to hold hands in public after leaving Russia, which explicitly outlawed same-sex marriages in 2020.“It was really scary,” Anastasia Domini said, but “we were looking around and really, really nobody was looking.”For the Dominis, who changed their last names so they could more convincingly pretend to be sisters in Russia, the stroll exemplified how much their lives had changed since they moved, joining an increasing number of LGBTQ+ Russians who decided to leave their homeland and settle in Argentina to escape discrimination and the war with Ukraine.Over the pa...

3 robbery suspects arrested after pursuit, standoff in La Verne

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 15:13:27 GMT

Three robbery suspects were arrested after leading officers on a pursuit and barricading inside a home in La Verne on Wednesday.The suspects were identified as Anissa Virgen, 19, Erica Mireles, 29, and Victor Hugo Benitez, 30, according to the Glendora Police Department.Police responded to reports of the trio stealing from a Kohl’s store in Glendora where Benitez was allegedly taunting an employee while armed with brass knuckles and a taser.When officers arrived, the suspects fled the scene in a stolen vehicle, leading police on a pursuit that ended in La Verne.All three suspects jumped out of the vehicle and ran off into a neighborhood, police said. The two female suspects entered a nearby home and hid inside a closet while the homeowner was present.The male suspect, Benitez, jumped the fences of several homes before entering a residence while the homeowner was also inside.Two female suspects entering a victim's home arrested after leading officers on a pursuit in La Verne on May 2...

NCS softball playoffs: How California captured its first section title – ‘This was our year to be great’

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 15:13:27 GMT

MORAGA – Though gold medals were draped around their necks, the California softball team’s attention wasn’t focused on the hardware they had earned after defeating San Ramon Valley 5-1 in the North Coast Section Division I title game. Instead, they looked and listened to coach Tony Bari, who told the underclassmen to cherish the school’s first section championship. “Freshmen, this doesn’t happen every year,” Bari declared in a postgame speech. Alyssa Villarde, among the many circled around Bari in the Saint Mary’s College outfield, was a senior who appreciated the message. “It means a lot, because all of us seniors started with the COVID year so it was hard from the get-go,” Villarde said. “I’m super-excited, because it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We’d never even been this far.”MORAGA – California players Shayla Santolucito (left) and Kaitlyn Le (right) embrace as the San Ramon Valley players watch from the dugout. San Ramon Valley and California played in an NCS...