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Column: Chicago Cubs face a measuring stick for October with a weekend series against the MLB-best Atlanta Braves

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:24 GMT

The best team in baseball comes to Wrigley Field on Friday when the Atlanta Braves meet the Chicago Cubs for a three-game series.Shortstop Dansby Swanson faces his former teammates for the first time since signing a seven-year, $177 million deal in December, and the Cubs get a chance to prove their recent 13-3 stretch isn’t just a byproduct of a soft part of the schedule.If not for Lollapalooza, the Cubs-Braves series might be the hottest ticket in town. After their 5-3 victory against the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday night at Wrigley Field, the Cubs are 30-17 since June 9, the second-best winning percentage in baseball behind the Braves’ .705 (32-13).They’re 2 1/2 games behind the first-place Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central and two games back of the third wild-card spot.It’s a proverbial measuring-stick series for a Cubs team that’s barely over .500 but looking more and more like it could do damage in the postseason if it makes it — like last ...

Pioneering mothers are breaking down barriers to breastfeeding in Olympic sports

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:24 GMT

PARIS (AP) — When Clarisse Agbégnénou won her sixth world judo title, confirming the reigning Olympic champion as one of the athletes to watch at next year’s Paris Games, the French star’s smallest but greatest fan was less wild about her mother’s newest gold medal than she was about her breast milk.After a peckish day of few feeds — because mum had been busy putting opponents through the wringer — 10-month-old Athéna made amends that night.“She didn’t let my boobs out of her mouth,” Agbégnénou says. “I was like, ‘Wow, okay.’ I think it was really something for her.”Breastfeeding and high-performance sports were long an almost impossible combination for top female athletes, torn for decades between careers or motherhood, because having both was so tough.But that’s becoming less true ahead of the 2024 Olympics, where women will take another step forward in their long march for equality, competing in equal numbers with men for the first time, and with pio...

US employers add a still-solid 187,000 jobs in July; unemployment dips to 3.5%

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:24 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The job market has cooled over the summer. But it’s still strong enough to defy predictions that higher interest rates would tip the United States into recession. U.S. employers added 187,000 jobs last month, fewer than expected. But the unemployment rate dipped to 3.5% in a sign that the job market remains resilient.Hiring was up from 185,000 in June, a figure that the Labor Department revised down from an originally reported 209,000. Economists had expected to see 200,000 new jobs in July.Still last month’s hiring was solid, considering that the Federal Reserve has raised its benchmark interest 11 times since March 2022. And the Fed’s inflation fighters will welcome news that more Americans entered the job market last month, easing pressure on employers to raise wages to attract and keep staff.“This is a good strong report,” said Julia Pollak, chief economist at the jobs website ZipRecruiter. ”The worst fears that people had of a painful downtur...

Global food prices rise after Russia ends grain deal and India restricts rice exports

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:24 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Global prices for food commodities like rice and vegetable oil have risen for the first time in months after Russia pulled out of a wartime agreement allowing Ukraine to ship grain to the world, and India restricted some of its rice exports, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said Friday.The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in the international prices of commonly traded food commodities, increased 1.3% in July over June, driven by higher costs for rice and vegetable oil. It was the first uptick since April, when higher sugar prices bumped up the index slightly for the first time in a year. Commodity prices have been falling since hitting record highs last year in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Disrupted supplies from the two countries exacerbated a global food crisis because they’re leading suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other affordable food products, especially to nations in parts of Africa, the Middle East an...

Mississippi governor ignores low-budget challengers in GOP primary, focusing on Democrat in November

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:24 GMT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves barely acknowledges his two challengers in next week’s Republican primary — a clear indication that he expects to secure his party’s nomination.Reeves is already focusing his energy on defeating Brandon Presley, a utility regulator who is unopposed for the Democratic nomination. Reeves brings the power of incumbency, but Democrats are hoping the cousin of rock legend Elvis Presley can break Republicans’ 20-year hold on the governorship.Reeves’ Republican primary opponents, Dr. John Witcher and David Grady Hardigree, have never held public office. Reeves has won five statewide campaigns since 2003 — two for treasurer, two for lieutenant governor and one for governor.Unseating any governor is difficult, and the task is even larger when the incumbent has a hefty campaign fund. Reeves is sitting on more than $9 million, while Witcher has spent about $64,000 and Hardigree has spent less than $800.Witcher, 57, is a...

As Typhoon Khanun makes a U-turn, residents of Okinawa brace for another lashing with wind and rain

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:24 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Residents of Japan’s southwestern islands were warned of high winds and rain Friday through the weekend as Typhoon Khanun made a U-turn and is now moving back east.The Japan Meteorological Agency said Khanun was heading to Okinawa and nearby islands that were already lashed by its winds and rain earlier this week.Khanun had sustained surface winds of 126 kph (78 mph) with higher gusts Friday afternoon, the JMA said. Up to 15 centimeters (5.9 inches) of rain was expected in the Okinawa region by Saturday and up to 30 centimeters (11.8 inches) in the Amami region, an island group belonging to the main southern island of Kyushu, by Sunday, the JMA said.Khanun was stronger on its first pass, with sustained winds of 180 kph (111 mph), when it crossed the islands Tuesday, damaging homes and knocking out power. The Okinawa prefectural government said 47 people were injured, three of them seriously. Two deaths were being investigated as typhoon-related but are not include...

New York authorities identify woman whose remains were found along Long Island coast

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:24 GMT

HAUPPAUGE, N.Y. (AP) — Law enforcement authorities said Friday they’ve identified a woman whose remains were found as far back as 1996 in different spots along the Long Island coast, some of them near the Gilgo Beach locations of bodies investigators believe were left by a serial killer.The woman, who investigators had called the “Jane Doe No. 7,” was Karen Vergata, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said Friday. She was 34.He said she disappeared around Feb. 14, 1996, and had been living in Manhattan.Her partial remains were first discovered in 1996 on Fire Island. More of her bones were later found near Gilgo Beach in 2011.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.HAUPPAUGE, N.Y. (AP) — Law enforcement authorities in New York have scheduled a news conference Friday to announce a new development in their investigation of multiple sets of human remains found along the Long Island coast, some of which have been blamed on the work of a serial...

Enbridge sees $1.8 billion profit in Q2 as Mainline pipeline settlement reached

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:24 GMT

CALGARY — Enbridge Inc. says its most recent quarter delivered a profit of $1.8 billion as it reached a settlement with shippers for tolls on its Mainline pipeline system and moved toward proceeding with its Rio Bravo pipeline project.The Calgary-based pipeline giant says its second-quarter profit compared with $450 million a year earlier.Enbridge’s first-quarter profit amounted to 91 cents per share for the quarter ended June 30 compared with 22 cents per share in the same quarter a year earlier.On an adjusted basis, Enbridge said it earned 68 cents per share, up from an adjusted profit of 67 cents per share a year earlier.The result matched the average analyst estimate for adjusted profit per share, according to estimates compiled by financial markets data firm Refinitiv.The company says its financial results come as it reached a seven-and-a-half-year agreement in principle on its Mainline pipeline that is subject to regulatory approvals.This report by The Canadian Press was...

California judge arrested in connection with wife’s killing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:24 GMT

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — A Southern California judge has been arrested in connection with the slaying of his wife, authorities said Friday.Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson was arrested late Thursday after police received reports of a shooting in an Anaheim home and found the judge’s wife, Sheryl Ferguson, shot inside, Anaheim police said.She was pronounced dead at the scene, and the 72-year-old judge was arrested and taken to jail, police said in a statement. No additional details were released.A message was sent to Anaheim police asking whether Ferguson has an attorney. Ferguson serves as a judge in a courthouse in the Orange County city of Fullerton. He previously worked in the Orange County District Attorney’s office, and prosecuted drug cases, according to the North Orange County Bar Association.The court declined to provide additional information about the allegations. “Although no case has been filed with our Court, when appropriate we will take al...

Weekend need to know: Toronto Caribbean Carnival, food festivals, August long weekend

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:24 GMT

It’s the August long weekend, which also means the Toronto Caribbean Carnival, several food festivals, and VELD music festival are back on in the city.There are no scheduled subway closures, and the QEW Burlington Skyway will remain open all weekend. However, there are other road closures in place for events and construction.Many businesses will either be closed or operating on reduced hours on the August Civic Holiday. Click here for a full list of what’s open and closed.Here’s what’s happening this weekend:Top eventsToronto Caribbean CarnivalCarnival weekend is here!The excitement began with extraordinary costumes at the King and Queen Showcase at Lamport Stadium on Thursday. Check below for what else is happening for Carnival each day this long weekend:Pan AliveThe sounds of steelpan music for the Pan Alive event is happening Friday at Lamport Stadium at 7 p.m.The annual Steel Pan Showcase is a night filled with live-performances, showcasing steel pan renditions...