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Freddie Freeman homers and gets 4 hits on his birthday, leading Dodgers past Padres 11-2

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:31 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Freddie Freeman’s locker was flanked by 8-foot-high pillars of blue balloons. A hefty box of cookies and a birthday cake sat nearby, gifts from the Dodgers’ kitchen staff for the slugger with a sweet tooth.“I’m a big snickerdoodle guy,” the seven-time All-Star said with a grin.From the clubhouse gifts to the crowd’s songs and dances, Freeman got plenty of love at Dodger Stadium on his 34th birthday. He reciprocated with a prolific performance in another win.Freeman homered, doubled and had four hits, Will Smith hit a three-run homer and Los Angeles trimmed its magic number for clinching the NL West to five with an 11-2 victory over the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night.Freeman was outstanding on his jersey giveaway night at Dodger Stadium, scoring a season-high four runs in front of thousands wearing his white No. 5 shirt — including 30 friends and family members. The crowd sang “Happy Birthday to You” in the second inning, and fans got up ...

Putin and Kim Jong Un begin talks as Russia seeks weapons

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:31 GMT

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was welcomed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday morning, with the two leaders set to discuss the supply of ammunition for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and the provision of satellite technology to Pyongyang. “Our friendship has deep roots, and now our country’s first priority is relations with the Russian Federation,” Kim told reporters at the Vostochny cosmodrome in Russia’s east, where he arrived after a lengthy trip on his armored train for his first trip to Russia since 2019, according to Russian state-owned newswire Ria Novosti.“Russia has now risen to defend its state sovereignty and defend its security to counter the hegemonic forces that oppose Russia,” the North Korean dictator added, echoing the Kremlin’s propaganda used to justify its aggression in Ukraine. Kim’s visit comes as Russia is seeking to buy artillery ammunition from North Korea for its invasion of Ukraine, where Russia is estimated to ...

Von der Leyen hits China with electric vehicle subsidy probe

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:31 GMT

BRUSSELS — European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced Wednesday she would launch an anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese electric vehicles, yielding to calls by France to hit back at surging imports.The announcement follows months of pressure from Paris and its proxies in industry and the European Commission to launch a probe into insurgent Chinese e-carmakers that have stolen a march on European manufacturers.“Global markets are now flooded with cheaper Chinese electric cars. And their price is kept artificially low by huge state subsidies. This is distorting our market,” von der Leyen said in her annual State of the European Union address.“So I can announce today that the Commission is launching an anti-subsidy investigation into electric vehicles coming from China. Europe is open for competition. Not for a race to the bottom.”Such a probe could open the way for Europe to impose additional levies against Chinese vehicles it reckons are ...

North Korea’s Kim vows full support for Russia’s ‘sacred fight’ after viewing launchpads with Putin

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:31 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un offered Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday his country’s “full and unconditional support” for Russia’s “sacred fight” to defend its security interests, in an apparent reference to the war in Ukraine, and said Pyongyang will always stand with Moscow on the “anti-imperialist” front.Kim also called North Korea’s relations with Russia “the first priority.” The leaders met at a remote Siberian rocket launch facility for a summit that underscores how their interests are aligning in the face of their countries’ separate, intensifying confrontations with the United States.Putin in his opening remarks welcomed Kim to Russia and said he was glad to see him. Putin listed economic cooperation, humanitarian issues and the “situation in the region” among the agenda items for their talks.The two men began their meeting at the Vostochny Cosmodrome, Russia’s most important domestic satellite launch center, with a tour o...

How Kim’s meeting with Putin at Russian spaceport may hint at his space and weapons ambitions

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:31 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Ending a global guessing game on when and where they would meet, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin convened at a rocket launch facility in Siberia on Wednesday in their first summit in four years.The talks between the two isolated, nuclear-armed leaders were expected to focus on expanding military cooperation amid their intensifying confrontations with the West.The decision to meet at Vostochny Cosmodrome, a major satellite launch facility, may communicate what Kim sees as the crucial next steps in his efforts to build a viable nuclear arsenal that could threaten the United States and its allies in Asia.Dangling North Korea’s vast stockpiles of munitions Putin likely covets for his war in Ukraine, Kim in exchange could ask for badly needed economic aid and sophisticated weapons technologies to advance his military nuclear program, experts say.Kim could push for Russian technology transfers on military reconnaissance satell...

A Crimea shipyard is on fire after a Ukrainian attack that damaged 2 ships and injured 24 people

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:31 GMT

A Ukrainian attack on a strategic shipyard in Russia-annexed Crimea wounded 24 people, damaged two ships undergoing repairs and caused a fire at the facility Wednesday, Russian authorities reported. The attack in the port city of Sevastopol, which serves as the main base for Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, took place as Moscow launched drones against southern Ukraine’s Odesa region. The pre-dawn onslaught there damaged port and civilian infrastructure in the region’s Izmail district – not far from the Crimean city — and wounded seven people, three seriously, Gov. Oleh Kiper said.Ukraine’s air force said it intercepted 32 of 44 Shahed-type drones launched over the country overnight, most of them directed toward the southern parts of the Odesa region.The Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014 in an act that most of the world considered illegal, has been a frequent target since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukr...

Australian authorities protect Outback town against huge wildfire

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:31 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Emergency crews were working to protect the Outback Australian town of Tennant Creek with containment lines on Wednesday as a huge wildfire threatened the remote community of 3,000.The fire has scorched 10,000 square kilometers (3,900 square miles) of grass and scrubland in the Northern Territory east of Tennant Creek, a former gold mining town.Police Acting Commander James Gray-Spence said authorities had worked through the night to burn protective containment lines east and south of the town.“There is a high level of confidence that those containment lines are in place, planned and prepared,” Gray-Spence told Australian Broadcasting Corp.Wildfires are common across Australia’s northern tropical region during the current dry season that will end when the monsoons arrive during the Southern Hemisphere summer.Because water is in short supply across the region, fire fighting largely involves excavating fire breaks with earthmoving equipment.But teams were al...

Rescuers retrieve over 2,000 bodies in eastern Libya wrecked by devastating floods

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:31 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — Rescuers have found more than 2,000 bodies as of Wednesday in the wreckage of a Libyan city where floodwaters broke dams and washed away neighborhoods. Officials fear the death toll could exceed 5,000 in the nation made vulnerable by years of turmoil and neglect.Mediterranean storm Daniel caused deadly flooding in many eastern towns, but the worst-hit was Derna. As the storm pounded the coast Sunday night, Derna residents said they heard loud explosions when the dams outside the city collapsed. Floodwaters washed down Wadi Derna, a river running from the mountains through the city and into the sea.More than 2,000 corpses were collected as of Wednesday morning and over half of them had been buried in mass graves in Derna, said eastern Libya’s health minister, Othman Abduljaleel. Rescue teams were working day and night to recover many other bodies scattered in the streets and under the rubble in the city. Some bodies were retrieved from the sea.The startling devastation p...

New Scope 3 report sent to the SEC ahead of Climate Week

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:31 GMT

Orbitas, who provide data to the US government and work with seven other countries, are releasing a new report ahead of Climate Week that assesses the financial risks US businesses and investors face from overseas Scope 3 deforestation emissions in vital commodities such as beef, coffee, palm oil, cocoa, and rubber imported into the US. The report highlights that the total value at risk to US investors across three different scenarios ranges from $7.28 billion to $114.98bn. The report is being sent to the SEC this evening (13 September). The report authors have been engaging governments on climate related financial risks and regulations, including mandatory climate emission disclosures for several years. Specifically with the US government they’ve engaged the FDIC, CFTF, SEC, and Federal Reserve. Other governments engaged include Canada, Finland (as co-chair of the Coalition of finance ministers during Glasgow period), Germany, UK, Chile, Brazil, and Mexico. Additionally, they engag...

Dear Abby: Does my husband’s brother deserve another chance after what he did?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:31 GMT

DEAR ABBY: I am a man who has been married to my husband for two years. My problem is his brother.Related ArticlesAdvice | Dear Abby: Her selfish husband acts like he doesn’t remember the hell she went through Advice | Dear Abby: If I wear this T-shirt, people might guess the secret I’ve only told my husband Advice | Dear Abby: Why do I meet so many dumb men? Advice | Dear Abby: The houseguests know my sheet rule but they refuse to comply Advice | Dear Abby: I’m worried about my 12-year-old’s serious dating He tries to sabotage our marriage every chance he gets — from making rude comments to propositioning me and sending me nude pics of himself.The other problem is, my husband always takes his brother’s side. He knows his brother is dysfunctional but insists I should keep giving him another chance even though, when I have, it never turns out well.What should I do?̵...