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Mathias leads Pirates against the Rockies after 4-hit performance

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 18:00:40 GMT

Pittsburgh Pirates (10-7, third in the NL Central) vs. Colorado Rockies (5-12, fifth in the NL West)Denver; Tuesday, 8:40 p.m. EDTPITCHING PROBABLES: Pirates: Vince Velasquez (1-2, 5.40 ERA, 1.58 WHIP, 10 strikeouts); Rockies: Jose Urena (0-2, 9.90 ERA, 2.50 WHIP, seven strikeouts)FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK MLB LINE: Pirates -112, Rockies -107; over/under is 12 1/2 runsBOTTOM LINE: The Pittsburgh Pirates play the Colorado Rockies after Mark Mathias had four hits against the Rockies on Monday.Colorado has a 5-12 record overall and a 3-5 record at home. The Rockies have a 5-1 record in games when they out-hit their opponents.Pittsburgh has a 10-7 record overall and a 7-4 record in road games. The Pirates have a 3-1 record in games decided by one run.The teams square off Tuesday for the second time this season.TOP PERFORMERS: Elias Diaz has four doubles and two home runs for the Rockies. Kris Bryant is 13-for-41 with two doubles, two home runs and four RBI over the last 10 games.Bryan Reynolds...

Braves try to keep win streak going against the Padres

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 18:00:40 GMT

Atlanta Braves (13-4, first in the NL East) vs. San Diego Padres (8-10, third in the NL West)San Diego; Tuesday, 9:40 p.m. EDTPITCHING PROBABLES: Braves: Spencer Strider (1-0, 3.38 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 27 strikeouts); Padres: Blake Snell (0-2, 7.62 ERA, 2.15 WHIP, 16 strikeouts)FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK MLB LINE: Braves -140, Padres +119; over/under is 7 1/2 runsBOTTOM LINE: The Atlanta Braves are looking to keep a seven-game win streak intact when they take on the San Diego Padres.San Diego is 4-7 in home games and 8-10 overall. The Padres have a 5-2 record in games when they scored at least five runs.Atlanta has a 9-1 record on the road and a 13-4 record overall. Braves hitters have a collective .454 slugging percentage to rank fourth in the majors.Tuesday’s game is the sixth time these teams square off this season. The Padres hold a 3-2 advantage in the season series.TOP PERFORMERS: Xander Bogaerts has three doubles and four home runs while hitting .362 for the Padres. Nelson Cruz is 1...

Giants come into matchup against the Marlins on losing streak

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 18:00:40 GMT

San Francisco Giants (5-10, fourth in the NL West) vs. Miami Marlins (9-8, third in the NL East)Miami; Tuesday, 6:40 p.m. EDTPITCHING PROBABLES: Giants: Alex Wood (0-0, 1.17 ERA, 1.57 WHIP, eight strikeouts); Marlins: Edward Cabrera (0-1, 4.63 ERA, 1.97 WHIP, 10 strikeouts)FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK MLB LINE: Giants -117, Marlins -102; over/under is 8 runsBOTTOM LINE: The San Francisco Giants look to stop their four-game skid with a victory against the Miami Marlins.Miami is 9-8 overall and 6-5 at home. The Marlins have a 7-1 record in games when they out-hit their opponents.San Francisco has a 3-6 record in road games and a 5-10 record overall. The Giants are 4-2 in games when they have more hits than their opponents.Tuesday’s game is the second time these teams square off this season.TOP PERFORMERS: Luis Arraez ranks fourth on the Marlins with a .455 batting average, and has four doubles, a triple, a home run, six walks and seven RBI. Arraez is 14-for-32 with a home run and five RBI...

Food prices surge at European Parliament

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 18:00:40 GMT

STRASBOURG — The price of food — and also much-needed coffee — at the European Parliament is set to increase between 6 and 14 percent from April as a result of inflation.Signs at the so-called Flower Bar and the MEPs’ restaurant, seen by POLITICO in Strasbourg on Monday, said the uptick is due to higher costs of ingredients, energy and salaries.David Gueble, the Parliament’s executive chef, said that they had been asking for a price rise for a long time. “We can’t sell at a loss,” the chef said. “For us it was vital to be able to continue working.”But he promised the costs would remain “attractive.”Signs said, “We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.”The increase will affect cafes and cafeterias used by officials, lawmakers and visitors at the European Parliament’s buildings in Strasbourg, Brussels and Luxembourg. “EP catering service providers are nonsubsidised in the three places of work,” a European Parliament spokesperson said. The ...

Green groups take EU Commission to court over sustainable investment list

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 18:00:40 GMT

NGOs are stepping up their fight against Brussels’ decision to label nuclear energy and natural gas as sustainable investments. Eight Greenpeace organizations on Tuesday plan to file a lawsuit at the Court of Justice of the EU against the European Commission over its decision to label nuclear and gas as sustainable in its so-called taxonomy, which aims to channel investor cash into the green transition. Legal charity ClientEarth, the WWF European Policy Office, Friends of the Earth Germany and Transport & Environment will file a similar lawsuit related to natural gas only. “By including gas and nuclear into the taxonomy, it has become the contrary of what it was meant to be,” said Nina Treu, director of Greenpeace Germany, which is among the Greenpeace organizations taking the EU executive to court. “Instead of hindering greenwashing, it has now become a tool for greenwashing.” The Commission’s complementary delegated act on nuclear and g...

T. rex skeleton expected to fetch millions at Zurich auction

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 18:00:40 GMT

BERN, Switzerland (AP) — Interested investors may have to dig deep into their pockets to claim a giant Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton going up for auction on Tuesday — a first in Europe — that’s been dug up from three sites in the United States and could make the ultimate ornament for a tycoon’s abode or other eye-popping display.The 293 T. rex bones, assembled and erected into a growling 11.6-meter-long (38-foot-long) and 3.9-meter-high (12.8-foot-high) posture, are expected to fetch 5 million to 8 million Swiss francs ($5.6-$8.9 million) when it goes under the hammer at a Zurich auction house.Promoters say the composite T. rex — dubbed “Trinity” and drawn from three sites in the Hell Creek and Lance Creek formations of Montana and Wyoming — was built from specimens retrieved between 2008 and 2013. More than half of the restored fossil is “original bone material,” and Koller auction house says the skull is particularly rare and was remarkably well-preserved. “When din...

Indonesia dismisses rebel claim of army deaths in Papua

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 18:00:40 GMT

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia’s military chief on Tuesday dismissed a separatist group claim that they had killed more than a dozen government soldiers who were searching for a New Zealand pilot taken hostage by the rebels in the restive Papua region.Adm. Yudo Margono and the military’s top brass flew to the region on Monday after initial information said attackers from the West Papua Liberation Army, the armed wing of the Free Papua Movement, ambushed 36 government soldiers in the hilly district of Nduga in mountainous Papua Highlands province.Rebel spokesperson Sebby Sambom said in a statement on Monday that his group’s fighters were holding the remains of 12 soldiers, including nine who he said “were arrested and executed.” The rebels offered no proof to back up their statement. Margono confirmed only one fatality and said four other soldiers were missing. The rest returned to their post, he said. Four were wounded and were in stable condition and evacuated to a hospi...

Saudi foreign minister to visit Syria as relations thaw

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 18:00:40 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Saudi Arabia’s top diplomat is expected to arrive in the Syrian capital on Tuesday, the first official visit by an official from the kingdom in more than a decade, the Syrian government said. The visit by Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan to Damascus follows that of his Syrian counterpart, Faisal Mikdad, to Riyadh last week. The kingdom cut off diplomatic relations with Damascus in 2012, after the outbreak of Syria’s civil war. Syria and Saudi Arabia said last week they were moving toward restoring consular services and resuming flights between the two countries.Syria was widely shunned by Arab governments over Syrian President Bashar Assad’s brutal crackdown on protesters in a 2011 uprising that descended into civil war. The breakdown in relations culminated with Syria being ousted from the Arab League.However, in recent years, as Assad consolidated control over most of the country, Syria’s neighbors have begun to take steps toward rapprochement. T...

Longtime Lennon-Ono insider Elliot Mintz writing memoir

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 18:00:40 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — //EMBARGOED FOR 4:30A EASTERN; edited by Anthony McCartney; photo linked will time release to be live on the wire when embargo lift.Elliot Mintz, a longtime insider with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, will release a memoir next year that will weave in behind-the-scenes moments with the famous couple.The U.S. publisher Dutton and British publisher Transworld announced the deal with Mintz, who first met Lennon and Ono in the early 1970s and remained close to Ono after Lennon’s murder in 1980. The book is currently untitled.“I have waited fifty years to share my experiences with Yoko and John,” Mintz, 78, said in a statement Tuesday. This is the opportunity of a lifetime. It is a privilege to share my odyssey and include the reader in intimate portrayal of my two dearest friends.”Mintz, a spokesperson and radio and television host, has worked on various Lennon-Ono projects over the years, including hosting the radio documentary series “The Lost Lennon Tapes,” whi...

Reclusive Taliban leader releases end-of-Ramadan message

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 18:00:40 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The reclusive top leader of the Taliban released a message Tuesday lauding the changes in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover and the measures they imposed after seizing the country following two decades of war.The statement from Hibatullah Akhundzada was made public ahead of the Eid al-Fitr holiday later this week that marks the end of the fasting Muslim month of Ramadan. Akhundzada, an Islamic scholar, rarely appears in public or leaves the Taliban heartland in Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar province. He surrounds himself with other religious scholars and allies who oppose education and work for women.In recent months, Akhundzada appears to have taken a stronger hand in directing domestic policy, banning girls’ education after the sixth grade and barring Afghan women from public life and work, especially for non-governmental organizations and the United Nations.The message was distributed in five languages: Arabic, Dari, English, Pashto and Urdu. T...