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Chicago Cubs — now back in playoff contention — need Drew Smyly to start getting better results

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:56 GMT

The Chicago Cubs have tried not to look too far ahead.The approach has served them well in their journey to get back above .500 and into the thick of playoff race. The Cubs (58-55) own the easiest remaining strength of schedule in the National League, according to FanGraphs, setting up opportunities to seize control of the division race. Their slate features nine more games against the Cincinnati Reds and Milwaukee Brewers, with their regular season ending in Milwaukee.Manager David Ross does not seem worried about the Cubs experiencing any letdowns when facing struggles teams out of playoff contention.“I think it has to be business as usual,” manager David Ross said Monday before the Cubs’ 11-2 loss to the New York Mets. “If I had a group that you feel like you had to have those conversations with, I would try to find ways to try to motivate, but these guys do a really nice job.”“It’s nice to continue to climb up the standings as we’r...

DeSantis replaces campaign manager in major shake-up

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:56 GMT

Gov. Ron DeSantis shook up his presidential campaign staff again Tuesday, replacing his campaign manager with his chief of staff in the governor’s office, according to reports.Outgoing manager Generra Peck, who shepherded DeSantis through his successful reelection campaign last year, will become chief strategist, The Messenger first reported.Chief of Staff James Uthmeier will move over to the DeSantis campaign side from the governor’s office. He is the latest state official to take an important position with the campaign, including spokespeople Bryan Griffin and Christina Pushaw.The shakeup comes just two weeks after the campaign let go of 38 staffers, including speechwriter Nate Hochman, who reportedly made and boosted a video that included DeSantis superimposed against a Nazi symbol, and director of research Kyle Lamb, who praised the video and said it “belongs in the Smithsonian,” according to Semafor.The campaign has also attempted to cut costs after burn...

Syria’s pharmacies syndicate says drug prices to increase 50% as the country’s pound hits a new low

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:56 GMT

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — The Syrian government decided to increase prices of drugs by 50%, the head of the pharmacies syndicate in Damascus said Tuesday, as the Syrian pound hit new a low in recent days.Hassan Derwan did not give a reason for the price hike in his interview with the pro-government daily Al-Watan. Earlier this year, prices were raised by between 50% and 80%.Syrian pharmaceutical companies mainly import raw materials in hard currencies which makes them susceptible to changes in the price of the Syrian pound. The companies have recently demanded to increase the price of their products to cope with the tumbling pound.Since Syria’s conflict erupted 12 years ago — killing nearly half a million people and displacing about 6.8 million others — the country’s currency has lost much of its value and now the vast majority of Syrians live in poverty.Back in 2011, a dollar was valued at 47 pounds. Last week, the dollar was valued at about 13,000 pounds on the parallel market while ...

Neighbors say a Chicago man charged with killing a 9-year-old girl was upset over noise

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:56 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — A man was charged with first-degree murder Monday after witnesses said a 9-year-old Chicago girl riding a scooter was fatally shot by someone upset over noise.The charge was filed against Michael Goodman, 43, in the death of Sarabi Medina, Chicago police announced. “It just didn’t make sense. None of it made sense,” neighbor Megan Kelle told the Chicago Sun-Times. “Everybody in the community would just tell him they are just kids having fun playing. Just let them be.” The shooting happened Saturday night in Chicago’s Portage Park neighborhood. Police were at Goodman’s apartment building Sunday, interviewing people and collecting evidence, hours after the shooting.“Before he shot her, he had said something about them being too loud,” Kelley said.After the shooting, Goodman was tackled by Sarabi’s father and shot during a struggle, according to a police report. He was taken to a hospital.“He ran over there, football-tackled this guy,”...

Movie Review: ‘Gran Turismo’ movie drifts into cliches and video game aesthetics

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:56 GMT

In 2006, a Nissan marketing executive had a truly insane idea to create a competition and an “academy” to turn gamers into race car drivers. Darren Cox saw an untapped market of potential car-buyers in Gran Turismo enthusiasts – the popular PlayStation racing simulator that first came on the market in 1997. And in the third year of the “GT Academy,” an actual star emerged in a 19-year-old British kid named Jann Mardenborough, who would go on to become a professional driver, just like he dreamed.It’s a fine and lucrative idea for a movie — an inspirational underdog story in which brands like Nissan and PlayStation, a Sony company which also owns the studio behind the movie, can take partial credit for and help underwrite. And it couldn’t come at a better time, when F1 is exploding in popularity in the United States thanks in part to the Netflix series “Drive to Survive.” But “Gran Turismo” has taken this opportunity and made the cliché version in this year of movies like “Barbie” and...

White House holds first-ever summit on the ransomware crisis plaguing the nation’s public schools

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:56 GMT

The White House on Tuesday held its first-ever cybersecurity “summit” on the ransomware attacks plaguing U.S. schools, which has included hackers leaking sensitive student data such as medical records, psychiatric evaluations and student sexual assault reports. “If we want to safeguard our children’s futures we must protect their personal data,” first lady Jill Biden, who is a teacher, told the gathering. “Every student deserves the opportunity to see a school counselor when they’re struggling and not worry that these conversations will be shared with the world.”At least 48 districts have reported ransomware attacks this year — already three more than in all of 2022, according to the cybersecurity firm Emsisoft. All but 10 had data stolen, the firm reported.An October 2022 report from the Government Accountability Office, a federal watchdog agency, found that more than 1.2 million students were affected in 2020 alone — with lost learning ranging from three days to three weeks. Nearl...

Ukraine accuses Russia of targeting rescue workers with consecutive missile strikes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:56 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian officials on Tuesday accused the Kremlin’s forces of targeting rescue workers by hitting residential buildings with two consecutive missiles — the first one to draw crews to the scene and the second one to wound or kill them.The strikes Monday evening in the downtown district of the city of Pokrovsk killed at least seven people, including an emergency official, and wounded more than 80 others, most of them police officers, emergency workers and soldiers who rushed to assist residents, Ukrainian officials said.The Russian missiles slammed into the center of Pokrovsk in the eastern Donetsk region, which is partially occupied by Russia. Emergency crews were still removing rubble on Tuesday. The Iskander missiles, which have an advanced guidance system that increases their accuracy, hit within 40 minutes of each other, according to Donetsk Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said.Since the start of the war, Russia has used artillery and missiles to hit targets and then s...

Niger’s junta rejects a diplomatic visit by regional and UN officials over ‘atmosphere of menace’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:56 GMT

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — Niger’s military junta has refused the latest diplomatic attempt to reinstall the ousted president, rejecting a proposed visit by representatives of the West African regional bloc, the African Union and United Nations on Tuesday, according to a letter seen by The Associated Press.The letter cited “evident reasons of security in this atmosphere of menace” against Niger, two weeks after mutinous soldiers overthrew the country’s democratically elected leader. The regional bloc known as ECOWAS had threatened to use military force if the junta didn’t reinstate President Mohamed Bazoum by Sunday, a deadline that was ignored.On Monday, acting U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland met with the coup leaders and said they refused to allow her to meet with Bazoum, whom she described as under “virtual house arrest.” She described the mutinous officers as unreceptive to her appeals to start negotiations and restore constitutional rule.“These conver...

Brazil leader hopes that Amazon summit will bring back protections that the world needs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:56 GMT

BELEM, Brazil (AP) — For the first time in 14 years, Amazon rainforest nation leaders are meeting to protect the ecosystem and address the organized crime threatening it.Assembling Tuesday and Wednesday in the Brazilian city of Belem are members of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization. The 45-year-old alliance that has met only three times before. Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has said that he hopes the summit will spur it to start taking far-reaching and effective action.“It has never been so urgent to resume and expand that cooperation. The challenge of our era and the opportunities that arise will demand joint action,” Lula said at the start of the event on Tuesday morning. The Amazon stretches across an area twice the size of India, and two-thirds of it lies in Brazil. Seven other countries and one territory share the remaining third. Presidents from Colombia, Peru and Bolivia are attending, plus Guyana’s Prime Minister, Venezuela’s Vice Presiden...

S&P/TSX composite index dips alongside U.S. markets in Tuesday morning trading

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:56 GMT

TORONTO — Canada’s main stock market nudged southward in late-morning trading, in line with a bigger dip in U.S. markets.The S&P/TSX composite index dipped 125.19 points to 20,110.85, dragged down by metals and information technology stocks.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 402.14 points to 35,070.71. The S&P 500 index was down 51.34 points at 4,467.10, while the Nasdaq composite was down 222.68 points at 13,774.91.The Canadian dollar traded for 74.26 cents US compared with 74.88 cents US on Friday.The September crude oil contract was down 78 cents at US$81.16 per barrel and the September natural gas contract was up four cents at US$2.77 per mmBTU.The December gold contract was down US$9.10 at US$1,960.90 an ounce and the September copper contract was down eight cents at US$3.76 a pound.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 8, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD=X)The Canadian Press