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Orioles reset: How many All-Stars could Baltimore have? These five players deserve a hard look. | ANALYSIS

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:37:03 GMT

In 2016, the Orioles had five players make the All-Star Game. They’ve failed to have more than the minimum of one in the five Midsummer Classics since.All-Star voting is underway, with the first phase of fan voting ending June 22. It’s unlikely the Orioles will have five All-Stars as they did in 2016 with Manny Machado, Mark Trumbo, Matt Wieters, Brad Brach and Zach Britton. But it’s almost certain these Orioles will have more than the one they’ve had in each year since 2017.Through the first 40% of the season, five Orioles players are having All-Star caliber campaigns, and that’s not including center fielder Cedric Mullins, who was perhaps the club’s best player before a right groin strain put him on the injured list.Here are the five Orioles who could represent Baltimore at the All-Star Game this summer in Seattle, from least to most likely.Tyler WellsWith many starting pitchers having outstanding seasons in the American League, Wells’ pat...

Trump to campaign in New Jersey after answering felony charges in Miami

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:37:03 GMT

Hours after he’s due to make an historic appearance in a Miami courtroom Tuesday to face criminal charges alleging he mishandled sensitive classified material, former President Donald J. Trump plans to hit the campaign trail.Trump, 76, of Palm Beach, Florida, is scheduled to surrender himself to authorities in Miami at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, when he is expected to tell U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon he is not guilty of the 37 felony counts leveled against him. A full 31 of those charges pertain to his allegedly deliberate attempts to withhold classified government documents that the National Archives and Department of Justice had both demanded he relinquish after leaving office and which are detailed in a 49 page indictment unsealed ahead of the weekend.Through his campaign on Sunday, Trump announced he would follow the court date in Florida with an appearance at his property in New Jersey.“President Donald J. Trump, 45th President of the United States of America, will deliver remark...

Lucas: Chris Christie’s still a longshot, even with Trump indicted

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:37:03 GMT

Chris Christie is back.The question is whether he would be running for president had not Donald Trump, as expected, been indicted again, this time on far out and desperate federal charges over alleged mishandling of classified documents.Still, you have to hand it to the former governor of New Jersey.He is the only one of eight or so Republicans who ran against Donald Trump for president in the GOP primaries in 2016 who is now running again.He did not last very long back then, and probably won’t now, throwing in the towel after coming in sixth in the New Hampshire presidential primary.Yet, Christie, 60, a former two term governor, was in New Hampshire Tuesday where he announced his candidacy for president again.It is a given that Trump gets into people’s heads and drives them loco. This not only includes progressives who hate him, but Republicans like Christie as well.And he is going to drive his opponents even crazier as his popularity soars and his fundraising increases following t...

Mac Jones, Bill O’Brien and 5 things to follow at Patriots minicamp

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:37:03 GMT

School is almost out.The Patriots’ mandatory, three-day minicamp will kick off Monday outside Gillette Stadium before a summer recess. In recent months, Bill Belichick overhauled his offensive coaching staff, bolstered his weapons and restocked his defense with a widely lauded draft class. For the first time this year, the 2023 Patriots will take the field as a complete team.How will it all come together? Here are five things to follow in Foxboro:1. Mac’s chemistrySo far, so good.Mac Jones took every starting rep in Organized Team Activity (OTA) practices open to the media in prior weeks. He reportedly looked sharp and connected with several new targets, including tight end Mike Gesicki. Jones will set the tone for this offense, with his demeanor and work ethic, but most critically his performance.If he’s playing well, that will force everyone around him to elevate their performance, including possibly JuJu Smith-Schuster who did not participate in OTAs. And that m...

Philippines’ Mayon Volcano spews lava in gentle eruption, thousands warned to be ready to flee

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:37:03 GMT

LEGAZPI, Philippines (AP) — The Philippines’ most active volcano was spewing lava down its slopes on Monday, prompting officials to warn tens of thousands of villagers to be prepared to flee from their homes if the gentle eruption turns into a violent and life-threatening explosion.More than 13,000 people have left the mostly poor farming communities within a 6-kilometer (3.7-mile) radius of Mayon Volcano’s crater in mandatory evacuations since volcanic activity increased last week. But an unspecified number of residents remain within the permanent danger zone below Mayon, an area long declared off-limits to people but where generations have lived and farmed because they have nowhere else to go.With the volcano beginning to expel lava Sunday night, the high-risk zone around Mayon may be expanded should the eruption turn violent, said Teresito Bacolcol, director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. Bacolcol said if that happens, people in any expanded danger zon...

British man detained after climbing 72nd floor of Seoul skyscraper

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:37:03 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A British man was detained after climbing more than half way up the world’s fifth-tallest skyscraper in Seoul with only his bare hands on Monday, authorities said.More than 90 emergency, police and other personnel were dispatched to Seoul’s 123-story Lotte World Tower, after the man was spotted scaling the building on Monday morning, the Seoul fire agency said in a statement.The man, in his 20s, reached the 72nd floor, which is about 310 meters (1,020 feet) high, before officials took him to a gondola lift and moved him inside the building, the statement said.South Korean media reports identified the man as free climber George King-Thompson. The reports said he was carrying a parachute and told police that he wanted to BASE-jump from the top of the building.Fire and police authorities didn’t immediately confirm the man’s name or his motive. Police confirmed they took custody of the man for an investigation, but didn’t provide further details.The fire agency...

Greece: 90 migrants rescued from US-flagged yacht in distress

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:37:03 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Authorities in southern Greece said Monday that 90 migrants, including 37 children, have been rescued from a U.S.-flagged yacht believed to be sailing from Turkey to Italy.The rescue took place on Sunday after a passenger made a distress call off the Greek island of Kythira, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) southwest of Athens. The coast guard said three vessels were involved in the rescue of 35 men, 18 women, 27 boys and 10 girls from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Iraq, and Egypt.Two of the passengers were later arrested on smuggling charges and detained, while the others were taken to a nearby mainland port for registration.Smugglers in recent years have used yachts and sailboats, often later discovered to have been stolen at Turkish marinas, to try and avoid detection along routes to Europe. They often bypass Greece and head to the southern Italian mainland, which provides easier access to Central European countries.The longer trip to Italy is also more...

Work begins in Spain to exhume bodies of 128 Franco victims buried anonymously at mausoleum

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:37:03 GMT

MADRID (AP) — Initial forensic work was to begin Monday to try to exhume the bodies of 128 victims of late dictator Francisco Franco’s forces who are among tens of thousands of people buried anonymously in wooden boxes underground in a mausoleum. The team of some 15 forensic experts, archeologists, scientific police and odontologists will work on extracting samples of the remains at the Valle de Cuelgamuros mausoleum, formerly known as the Valle de los Caídos, or Valley of the Fallen, and try to match them with DNA of surviving relatives. A special laboratory has been set up within the mausoleum.More than 30,000 Franco victims are buried without identification in the mausoleum. The 128 the experts are looking for are the ones whose families have so far asked for their bodies to be identified and returned. The experts do have some indications of where the boxes are that they are looking for.The exhumations, if successful, will be the first for victims under Spain’s historical m...

Russia’s improved weaponry and tactics pose challenges to Ukraine’s counteroffensive

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:37:03 GMT

Ukrainian troops are probing Russian defenses as spring gives way to a second summer of fighting, and Kyiv’s forces are facing an enemy that has made mistakes and suffered setbacks in the 15-month-old war. But analysts say Moscow also has learned from those blunders and improved its weapons and skills.Russia has built heavily fortified defenses along the 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line, honed its electronic weapons to reduce Ukraine’s edge in combat drones, and turned heavy bombs from its massive Cold-War-era arsenal into precision-guided gliding munitions capable of striking targets without putting its warplanes at risk.The changing Russian tactics along with increased troop numbers and improved weaponry could make it challenging for Ukraine to score any kind of quick decisive victory, threatening to turn it into a long battle of attrition.U.S. Joint Chiefs chairman Gen. Mark Milley said in an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday that while Ukraine’...

Toronto, GTA under special weather statement with wet, muggy start to work week

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:37:03 GMT

It’s a wet and muggy start to the work week with some much needed rain falling across the GTA on Monday.A special weather statement is in effect for Toronto and neighbouring regions calling for heavy rain until the afternoon.“Rain associated with a low pressure system will continue to push into the region early this morning and tapering off this afternoon,” reads the statement from Environment Canada. “Heaviest rainfall is expected later this morning.”The weather agency is calling for rainfall amounts of 30 to 50 millimetres, but says there is some “uncertainty with rainfall amounts and the exact track of the low.”Environment Canada says an upgrade from a weather statement to a warning could be required.Special Weather Statement for rain at times heavy continues this morning for #Toronto GTA and a large portion of southern Ontario. It’s a windy, wet morning. Give yourself some extra time!— Jill Taylor (@JillTaylorCity) June 12, 2023Cit...