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Royals agree with reliever Will Smith on $5 million deal for 2024, AP source says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:27 GMT

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Left-handed reliever Will Smith, who has won World Series rings the past three seasons with three different organizations, has agreed to a $5 million contract with the Royals, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press on Sunday.The 34-year-old Smith can also make a certain amount of performance bonuses, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal for the 2024 season was pending a physical.Smith began his big league career as a starter in Kansas City, then transition to the bullpen, where he has had the majority of his success. He has pitched for five other clubs, going to the All-Star Game with the Giants in 2019 and then winning the World Series in 2021 with the Braves, the following year with the Astros and this past season with the Rangers.Smith allowed four runs in five appearances for Texas this past postseason, including two in the World Series against Arizona.The Royals had one of the worst pitching...

Ukraine’s Zelenskyy visits Argentina in a bid to win support from developing nations

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:27 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to Buenos Aires to witness the swearing-in on Sunday of Argentina’s new president, Javier Milei.It is the Ukrainian leader’s first-ever trip to Latin America as Kyiv continues to court support among developing nations for its 21-month-old fight against Russia’s invading forces.Milei welcomed Zelenskyy at the presidential palace after his inauguration. The two shared an extended hug, exchanged words and then Milei, who has said he intends to convert to Judaism, presented his Ukrainian counterpart with a menorah as a gift. They were expected to have a longer one-on-one meeting later on Sunday.A political outsider who has railed against what he calls entrenched official corruption in Argentina and promised to uproot the political establishment, Milei ran on a pro-Western foreign policy platform, repeatedly expressing distrust of Moscow and Beijing.Zelenskyy phoned Milei shortly after the Argentine’s electoral v...

Man City beats Luton without Haaland to end 4-match winless run. Tottenham thrashes Newcastle 4-1

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:27 GMT

Without the injured Erling Haaland and trailing 1-0 to Luton at halftime, Manchester City was in danger of plunging into a full-blown crisis approaching the halfway point of its Premier League title defense.The defending champions managed to turn it round, though, as goals by Bernardo Silva and Jack Grealish in a three-minute span earned a 2-1 victory Sunday that ended their four-match winless run and trimmed the gap to first-place Liverpool to four points.If it wasn’t for the recovery in the second half, City manager Pep Guardiola would have stumbled into the worst streak of results in his coaching career, having never gone five matches without a win.That was the bleak scenario facing Guardiola and City after striker Elijah Adebayo headed in Andros Townsend’s cross at the back post in the second minute of first-half stoppage time to give Luton the lead at Kenilworth Road — five days after the promoted hosts blew a 3-2 lead against Arsenal to lose 4-3.Haaland was sidelined bec...

Tottenham powers to a 4-1 win over tired Newcastle. Richarlison scores twice

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:27 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Tottenham powered to its first Premier League win in six weeks by thrashing a tired-looking Newcastle team 4-1 on Sunday, with Richarlison scoring a goal in each half.Destiny Udogie — with his first Premier League goal — and Son Heung-min — from a late penalty — also scored for Spurs, which ended a five-game winless run that saw them plummet from the top of the standings to outside the top four.“We could have had more goals but our attacking play was as good as it has been for a while,” Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou said. “You can see Newcastle are running on fumes — we’ve gone through that and hopefully we are coming out the other side.”Saudi-owned Newcastle is paying the price for a lengthy injury list that has led to manager Eddie Howe fielding the same starting lineup for five straight games in all competitions. The team lacked energy and sprightliness, especially in midfield, and could have lost by a bigger margin at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium ahead of a must-...

Lauren Betts powers No. 2 UCLA to 95-78 win over 20th-ranked Florida State

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:27 GMT

UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) — Lauren Betts had 22 points and 18 rebounds to help No. 2 UCLA beat 20th-ranked Florida State 95-78 on Sunday at the Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase.Charisma Osborne and Angela Dugalic added 16 points each for the balanced Bruins (8-0), who had five players score in double figures. UCLA started the game scoring 13 of the opening 15 points and led 20-5 as Florida State made just one of its first 14 shots. Betts had six quick points as the Seminoles had little answer for the sophomore center’s 6-foot-7 frame. Florida State finally got going at the end of the quarter behind Carla Viegas’ five points to trail 26-17 after one.Florida State (7-3) hung around by hitting 3-pointers and only trailed 47-37 before the Bruins scored seven straight to go into the half up 54-40. Betts had 18 points at half, hitting nine of her 10 shots.The Seminoles collapsed inside against Betts in the second half and got within 64-55 late in the third quarter before the B...

Biden to host Zelenskyy at White House amid stalled negotiations over Ukraine aid

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:27 GMT

President Joe Biden will host President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine at the White House on Tuesday, as negotiations on an aid deal for the country remain stalled in Congress.Zelenskyy’s visit will “underscore the United States’ unshakeable commitment to supporting the people of Ukraine as they defend themselves against Russia’s brutal invasion,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter.The meeting is the latest White House effort to apply pressure on Congress, where a deal that would deliver emergency aid to Ukraine seems to have reached an impasse.In a letter to congressional leaders last week, White House budget chief Shalanda Young warned that inaction before the end of the year on a new round of funding threatens to “kneecap Ukraine on the battlefield.”

Saudi-led fight against COP28 deal shows ‘panic,’ German climate envoy says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:27 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The full-scale resistance that oil-exporting countries are mounting against a COP28 deal to end fossil fuel use is a sign of “panic,” said Germany’s climate envoy. Last week, as ministers descended on the U.N. climate talks in Dubai, the OPEC cartel of oil-rich nations urged its 13 members, including Saudi Arabia, and OPEC+ countries to reject any agreement that aimed to slash fossil fuel production. The appeal sparked contentious debate over the weekend as officials tried to finalize a deal before COP28’s scheduled end on Tuesday. But to Jennifer Morgan, Germany’s special envoy for international climate action, the letter was also a rare admission from the oil industry that these climate talks pose an existential threat to its business model.“They obviously felt they needed to engage,” Morgan said in response to a question from POLITICO while speaking to a group of reporters. “Whether it was a bit of panic, whether it was a bit of realization...

Column: Baseball circus surrounding the Shohei Ohtani courtship was one for the record books

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:27 GMT

Shohei Ohtani wound up where almost everyone expected from the start Saturday when he agreed to a record 10-year, $700 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers.It is the biggest contract in North American team sports, and its reverberations will be felt in baseball for years after surpassing the next-highest MLB deal, Mike Trout’s 12-year, $427 million contract signed in 2019, by $273 million.But the story of the Ohtani courtship was a long and twisting road that had baseball fans engrossed for weeks, especially in the 24 hours before the deal was agreed upon, when an errant report and social media speculation had the entire country of Canada on edge over an alleged trip Ohtani took to Toronto on a private jet.As it turned out, tracking Ohtani’s phantom flight to Toronto on Friday afternoon to find out whether baseball’s unicorn would shock the world and sign with the Blue Jays was a colossal time-waster for fans with social media accounts and plenty of time to wa...

Trump says he won’t testify Monday at his New York fraud trial and sees no need to appear again

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:27 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump said Sunday he has decided against testifying for a second time at his New York civil fraud trial.In a social media post, the former president said that he “VERY SUCCESSFULLY & CONCLUSIVELY” testified last month and saw no need to appear again.Trump had been expected to return to the witness stand Monday as the last big defense witness in the case, which threatens his real estate empire and cuts to the heart of his image as a successful businessman.Trump announced he was canceling his testimony in an all-capital letters, multipart statement on his Truth Social platform, writing: “I WILL NOT BE TESTIFYING ON MONDAY.”Trump was often defiant and combative when he testified on Nov. 6. He sparred with the judge and slammed New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is suing him. Trump defended his wealth and denied wrongdoing.When he was questioned by the state lawyers who are suing him, he often responded with lengthy diatribes. Trump’s verbose a...

Guyana agreed to talks with Venezuela over territorial dispute under pressure from Brazil, others

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:27 GMT

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — The government of Guyana, under pressure from neighboring Brazil and a Caribbean trading bloc, agreed Sunday to join bilateral talks with Venezuela over an escalating territorial dispute.The century-old dispute between the two South American nations recently reignited with the discovery of masses of oil in Guyana. The government of Nicolas Maduro, through a referendum last week, has claimed sovereignty over the Essequibo territory, which accounts for two-thirds of Guyana and lies near big offshore oil deposits.Even as troops mass on both sides of the shared Venezuela-Guyana border, Guyana President Irfaan Ali said Sunday that his country will meet on the Eastern Caribbean island nation of St. Vincent on Thursday to discuss where border lines between the two nations are drawn.But any agreement is likely to be hard won with flaring tensions on both sides.“I have made it very clear that on the issue of the border controversy, Guyana’s position is non-neg...