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Endy Rodríguez hits his 1st major league home run to help the Pirates beat the Angels 3-0

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:34 GMT

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Endy Rodríguez appears right at home in the majors after acknowledging he was nervous playing in his first couple of big league games. The 23-year-old rookie catcher hit his first career homer and was behind the plate as five Pittsburgh Pirates pitchers combined on a five-hitter in a 3-0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday night.“It feels great to catch my first shutout and hit my first home run,” said Rodríguez, the third-ranked prospect in Pittsburgh’s farm system when he was called up Monday.Rodríguez sent a full-count slider from Gerardo Reyes into the elevated stands in right-center leading off the sixth inning. At 23 years and 57 days old, he became the youngest Pirates catcher to homer since Jason Kendall (23 years, 42 days) on Aug. 7, 1997, against the Marlins.“Anytime you check a box off I think it’s really important,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “He got the first hit the other night as a pinch-hitter and th...

Gelof hits first major league homer, Brown connects to help A’s snap skid against Astros, win 4-1

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:34 GMT

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Against a pitcher the caliber of Cristian Javier, Oakland manager Mark Kotsay appreciated his club’s patient approach to work counts and finally create some scoring chances.Jace Peterson hit a go-ahead two-run single in the sixth, Zack Gelof hit his first major league home run in the seventh and the Athletics snapped a nine-game losing streak to Houston by beating the Astros 4-1 on Saturday night.Seth Brown connected for his 10th homer in the eighth, his third straight year reaching double digits. With one out in the ninth, Tony Kemp made a catch on the wall in left with two runners on to rob pinch-hitter Yainer Diaz of at least an extra-base hit and help preserve the save by Trevor May.“The ball goes up you make a play, and whatever you can do to help the team win,” Kemp said. “I don’t think it would have cleared the fence but it definitely would have hit off the wall.” Houston starter Cristian Javier didn’t allow a hit until Gelof’s o...

As Spurs get ready for Wembanyama, a new practice home is taking shape

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:34 GMT

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — RC Buford has spent nearly a decade plotting this. He’s been all over the world, visiting 200 places, seeing what works for other teams. Ideas kept coming, not just from the basketball landscape, but from skiing and soccer and eSports and cycling and even Formula One. Hour after hour, day after day, he became more consumed by the idea and more immersed into how to make it reality.His task is almost done.The San Antonio Spurs — just in time for No. 1 overall draft pick Victor Wembanyama’s rookie season — are about to get a new practice home, one that might be among the most advanced in the world. It’s called The Rock at La Cantera, which will host the Spurs’ soon-to-be-ready new facility as part of what will be a $500 million complex by the time all the building at the site is completed. It’s not just a practice gym with a big locker room and some toys; it’s going to be part of what the team envisions as a “global center for excellence in human and athletic p...

Israel’s Netanyahu recovers from heart procedure while tensions surge over judicial overhaul plan

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:34 GMT

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was recovering in hospital on Sunday after an emergency heart procedure while opposition to his government’s contentious judicial overhaul plan reached a fever pitch and unrest gripped the country. Netanyahu’s doctors said on Sunday the heart pacemaker implantation went smoothly and that Netanyahu, 73, felt fine. According to his office, he was expected to be discharged later in the day. But tensions were surging as lawmakers were to begin a marathon debate Sunday morning over the first major piece of the overhaul, ahead of a vote in parliament enshrining it into law on Monday.Mass protests were set to continue. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets across Israel on Saturday night, while thousands marched into Jerusalem and camped out near the Knesset, or parliament, ahead of Monday’s vote.Netanyahu’s sudden hospitalization added another dizzying twist to an already dramatic serie...

Deck collapse at Montana country club leaves multiple people injured, police say

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:34 GMT

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A deck collapsed at a Montana country club, leaving up to 25 people injured on Saturday evening, police and news reports said. Emergency services responded to a report of a collapsed patio on the 3400 block of Briarwood Boulevard in Billings at 7:50 p.m., the Billings Police Department said in a statement posted on social media.There were “multiple individuals with injuries” but no fatalities and a large number of people were transported to local hospitals, Billings Police Lt. Matt Lennick said in the statement.News outlets including The Billings Gazette and KTVQ-TV identified the location as the Briarwood Country Club.Up to 25 people were transported to hospitals, KTVQ reported.Police shut down roads near the Billings Clinic and St. Vincent Healthcare to clear access to the hospitals, the Gazette reported.Dr. Clint Seger, CEO of the Billings Clinic, said in a statement that the hospital received six patients and was expecting another three. Another Billings C...

Zimbabwean women are reduced to cheerleaders in the upcoming election, activists say

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:34 GMT

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — In a large hall at the headquarters of Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU-PF party, women responded with roaring cheers when President Emmerson Mnangagwa described them as the party’s “backbone” whose votes are vital to victory in elections scheduled for August.At a recent opposition rally, women with the face of their male party leader emblazoned on dresses and skirts sang, danced and promised to vote for change — never mind that the election again represents a status quo where women are largely limited to cheerleading.It appears worse this year because the number of women candidates has plummeted, despite women constituting the majority of the population and, traditionally, the biggest number of voters.“We have some of the best laws and policies on gender equality and women representation, but that’s just on paper. The reality on the ground is that the role of women in politics is restricted to being fervent supporters and dependable voters,” said Marufu Mandevere, a h...

Voting begins in Spain in an election that could see another EU country swing to the right

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:34 GMT

MADRID (AP) — Polling began Sunday in Spain in a general election that could make the country the latest European Union member to swing to the political right.Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called the early election after his Spanish Socialist Workers Party and its far-left partner, Unidas Podemos, took a severe beating in local and regional elections in May. Sánchez has been premier since 2018.Most opinion polls for Sunday’s voting have put the right-wing Popular Party, which won the May vote, ahead of the Socialists but likely needing the support of the extreme right Vox party if they want to form a government.Such a coalition would return a far-right force to the Spanish government for the first time since the country transitioned to democracy in the late 1970s following the nearly 40-year rule of dictator Francisco Franco. A PP-Vox government would mean another EU member has moved firmly to the right, a trend seen recently in Sweden, Finland and Italy. Countries such as Germany an...

Russia’s Zvonareva banned from entering Poland for WTA 250 tournament

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:34 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Russian tennis player Vera Zvonareva has been banned from entering Poland for a WTA 250 tournament in Warsaw, Poland’s Ministry of the Interior says. A communique on the ministry website says the Border Guard on Friday prevented entry by the former world No.2, who flew in from Belgrade, on a French visa. She remained in the transit zone of the Warsaw airport and on Saturday flew to Podgorica, Montenegro. Zvonareva, currently ranked 60th, was to take part in the PNB Paribas Warsaw Open tournament that begins Monday. The 38-year-old player was still on the event’s participants’ list on Sunday. WTA said in a statement it was evaluating the situation. Poland, which supports Ukraine in its war against Russia’s aggression, said that Zvonareva was on a banned list and has not been allowed into the country for reasons of state and public security.The communique stressed that Poland is consistent in opposing the “regime of (Russian and Belarusian Presidents Vladim...

The 1975 cancels its shows in Jakarta and Taipei after band’s same-sex kiss controversy in Malaysia

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:34 GMT

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — British pop rock band The 1975 announced on Sunday it was canceling its shows in Jakarta and Taipei after the Malaysian government cut short a music festival in the wake of the band’s lead singer slamming the country’s anti-gay laws and kissing a male bandmate during their performance.The 1975 was scheduled to have a performance at We The Fest, Indonesia’s annual summer music festival, in Jakarta on Sunday night, part of their 2023 Asia tour.“The 1975 regret to announce that their forthcoming shows in Jakarta and Taipei will no longer be going ahead as planned,” the group said in a statement posted on We The Fest’s social media platforms on Sunday. They added that the decision was not made lightly “but unfortunately due to the current circumstances, it is impossible to proceed with the current shows.”Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, does not prohibit LGBTQ rights except in the conservative Aceh province. Matt Healey, the lead ...

Israel’s Netanyahu recovers from heart procedure while judicial overhaul plan moves forward

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:34 GMT

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was recovering in hospital on Sunday after an emergency heart procedure while opposition to his government’s contentious judicial overhaul plan reached a fever pitch and unrest gripped the country. Netanyahu’s doctors said on Sunday the heart pacemaker implantation went smoothly and that Netanyahu, 73, felt fine. According to his office, he was expected to be discharged later in the day. But tensions were surging as lawmakers began a marathon debate over the first major piece of the overhaul, ahead of a vote in parliament enshrining it into law on Monday.Mass protests were set to continue. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets across Israel on Saturday night, while thousands marched into Jerusalem and camped out near the Knesset, or parliament, ahead of Monday’s vote.Netanyahu’s sudden hospitalization added another dizzying twist to an already dramatic series of events that are ce...