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Chicago Cubs are watching the standings in a tight NL wild-card race: 4 takeaways from their series in Detroit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:51:18 GMT

With their sights set on winning a division title, the Chicago Cubs weren’t focusing on the National League wild-card chase.Next week’s three-game series at Wrigley Field against the first-place Milwaukee Brewers should be a chance to narrow the 3 1/2-game margin between the NL Central rivals, and the Cubs have Jameson Taillon, Justin Steele and Kyle Hendricks set up to start.But beggars can’t be choosers, and if the wild card is the Cubs’ only path to the postseason, they’ll take it.“I probably check (the wild-card standings) this year more than in the past,” manager David Ross said with a grin Wednesday morning.Of course, there was no need to check them in 2021 and ‘22, when the Cubs were out of contention by this point.“This is what’s so much fun to me about baseball — getting into this time of the year and rooting against the teams around you,” Ross said. “It’s funny, with all candidness, I can&#...

‘I wouldn’t have wanted to do it with anyone other than him’: Ken Williams and Rick Hahn on their time in the Chicago White Sox front office

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:51:18 GMT

Ken Williams and Rick Hahn were together when the Chicago White Sox reached baseball’s pinnacle, winning the 2005 World Series.Williams was the general manager at the time and Hahn in the role of assistant GM. In October 2012, Williams became the executive vice president with Hahn becoming the GM.The Sox went through a rebuild after the 2016 season in the hopes of that ultimate success again. It didn’t pan out that way, with the team in a free-fall this season. The pair were relieved of their responsibilities Tuesday by Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf.Both released statements late Tuesday, reflecting on their long tenures in the organization.“Rick Hahn, my friend,” Williams said in part of his statement. “We didn’t accomplish what we set out to do, but I wouldn’t have wanted to do it with anyone other than him. He is one of the smartest people I know and I am confident, if given the chance, I will see him reach the pinnacle of success.“We man...

What’s next for the Chicago White Sox front office? A report lists Chris Getz and Dayton Moore as names to watch.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:51:18 GMT

Yasmani Grandal recalled going through front office changes early in his major-league career with the San Diego Padres.The catcher is experiencing it again as a veteran with the Chicago White Sox.“Usually that happens when a team doesn’t perform,” Grandal said Wednesday.The Sox announced an overhaul Tuesday, firing executive vice president Ken Williams and general manager Rick Hahn.“Definitely shocking,” Grandal said. “But the one thing I’ve learned in this game is that it’s also a business. Things like this happen all the time.”The Sox have followed up a disappointing 2022, where they went 81-81 and missed the playoffs, by taking a huge step back at 50-77.“We just haven’t reached that potential,” said shortstop Tim Anderson, who returned to the lineup Wednesday after serving his five-game suspension. “We have to continue to try to get better. We haven’t got to where we need to be.”The Sox won ...

Reports: NATO-member Norway to donate F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, becoming third country to do so

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:51:18 GMT

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — NATO-member Norway will donate F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, whose forces are embroiled in a difficult counteroffensive against Russia, Norwegian media said Thursday. The reports came as Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre was visiting Kyiv.There was no official confirmation of the plan, which was reported by Norwegian broadcasters NRK and TV2.Norway would be the third European country after the Netherlands and Denmark to donate F-16 planes.Ukraine has long pleaded for the sophisticated fighter jets to give it a combat edge. It recently launched a long-anticipated counteroffensive against the Kremlin’s forces without air cover, placing its troops at the mercy of Russian aviation and artillery.In February, oil-rich Norway announced that it is donating 75 billion kroner ($7 billion) to Kyiv as part of a five-year support package, making Norway one of the world’s biggest donors to Ukraine.The money will be split evenly between military and humanitarian ...

Turkey’s central bank raises interest rates again in another sign of normalizing economic policy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:51:18 GMT

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s central bank raised its key interest rate by an aggressive 7.5 percentage points on Thursday, in a new sign of a return to more traditional economic policies under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.The bank hiked its policy rate to 25% as it continues to backtrack from a rate-cutting course set by Erdogan, which has been blamed for inflaming a cost-of-living crisis. Many households have been left struggling to afford rent and basic goods as inflation has surged.Erdogan has long argued that lowering interest rates helps fight inflation, a theory that runs contrary to traditional economic thinking. Central banks around the world have been hiking rates to bring consumer price rises under control following the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s war in Ukraine. The Turkish central bank, however, started cutting rates in late 2021 under pressure from Erdogan.After winning reelection in May, Erdogan appointed a new economic team, signaling a return to more conventio...

Building collapse in Nigeria’s capital leaves two people dead while many are feared trapped

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:51:18 GMT

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Rescue crews were searching for survivors Thursday after a building collapse in Nigeria’s capital left two people dead while many others are feared trapped, emergency officials said.The two-story building in the densely populated Garki district of the capital Abuja collapsed during a downpour late Wednesday, witnesses said. It served both as a shopping center and a residential block and some of those trapped were believed to be shoppers.Nkechi Isa, spokeswoman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the city said 37 people have so far been pulled alive from the rubble. She said the rescue efforts would continue until the rubble has been searched. Crews used an excavator and a bulldozer to clear away debris in search of survivors. A large crowd of people who gathered on the street where the building had stood cheered as crews pulled out survivors. Others awaited news about their missing relatives.Samuel Japhet narrowly escaped the collapse after en...

Firefighters in Greece struggle to control blazes in country’s northeast and near Athens

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:51:18 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Firefighters struggled Thursday against strong winds and hot, dry conditions to tame multiple wildfires burning for days in northeastern Greece and on the fringes of the country’s capital.The wildfires have left 20 people dead over the last week. Eighteen of those, including two boys aged between 10 and 15, are believed to be migrants who crossed the nearby border with Turkey. Their bodies were found by firefighters near a shack in a burnt forest area in northeastern Greece.Sixty firefighters have been injured battling the flames, fire department spokesman Ioannis Artopios said Thursday.Elsewhere in Europe, fires on Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands, northwestern Turkey near the border with Greece, Portugal and Italy were being brought under control, officials said.Greece’s Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias said arson was to blame for some of the blazes near Athens.“Some … arsonists are setting fires, endangering ...

Mercenary chief Prigozhin is presumed to have died in a plane crash seen as the Kremlin’s revenge

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:51:18 GMT

Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and some of his top lieutenants were presumed dead in a plane crash — widely seen Thursday as an assassination to avenge a mutiny that challenged President Vladimir Putin’s authority.The founder of the Wagner military company and six other passengers were on a private jet that crashed Wednesday soon after taking off from Moscow, with a crew of three, according to Russia’s civil aviation authority. Rescuers found 10 bodies, and Russian media cited anonymous sources in Wagner who said Prigozhin was dead. But there has been no official confirmation.At Wagner’s headquarters in St. Petersburg, lights were turned on in the shape of a large cross, and Prigozhin’s supporters created an improvised memorial outside. By Thursday afternoon, a small pile of red and white flowers lay outside the building, along with Wagner flags and candles.Meanwhile, police cordoned off the field where the plane crashed a few hundred kilometers (miles) north of Mos...

Regulator’s review of over 30 Swiss banks finds shortcomings in money-laundering controls

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:51:18 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — Switzerland’s financial markets authority said Thursday that an in-depth review of more than 30 banks conducted this spring found that “a large number” failed to meet basic requirements for analyzing the risk of money laundering. The authority, known as FINMA, said the review was prompted by repeated signs of shortcomings in money-laundering risk analysis during its regular visits to financial institutions. The poor assessment of the banks — which were not identified by name — is significant because Switzerland ranks No. 1 worldwide in wealth management. Consulting firm Boston Consulting Group, in its Global Wealth Report 2023 released in late June, projected that Hong Kong is poised to eclipse Switzerland as a booking center for wealth by 2025.Switzerland has long had a reputation for banking secrecy, though some money-laundering experts say it has at least partially cleaned up its act in recent years — such as by exchanging more information to help combat...

As Toronto faces budget pressures in billions, Mayor Chow and committee to talk new taxes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:51:18 GMT

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow is set to convene publicly Thursday with some of her closest council allies for a special meeting to review the city’s long-term budget woes, with a new surtax on luxury homes and higher on-street parking fees up for discussion.The executive committee will meet for the first time under Chow to talk through a major report outlining Toronto’s budgetary outlook, which details a combined $46.5 billion in operating and capital pressures over the next decade.The city, which is facing an immediate $1.5 billion hole, is looking at how it can increase revenue in the wake of major deficits stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.In a bid to tackle Toronto’s daunting financial forecast, the report from the city manager and interim chief financial officer considers several new revenue measures, including a progressive surtax on the luxury homes and hiking the vacant home tax from one to three per cent.The report also recommends asking the province to perm...