Acuña hits 2 of Braves’ 5 homer, Olson hits 47th in 8-5 win over Cardinals

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:25:26 GMT

Acuña  hits 2 of Braves’ 5 homer, Olson hits 47th in 8-5 win over Cardinals ATLANTA (AP) — Ronald Acuña Jr. hit two of Atlanta’s five home runs, Matt Olson increased his major league-leading total to 47 and the Braves beat slumping Adam Wainwright and the St. Louis Cardinals 8-5 on Thursday night.Acuña raised his season total to 34 homers with his third multihomer game this season and the 12th of his big league career. Olson homered for his fourth straight game, and Michael Harris II and Travis d’Arnaud also went deep for major league-best Atlanta (91-48), which leads second-place Philadelphia by 14 games in the NL East.Max Fried (7-1) allowed three runs and six hits in six innings, improving to 5-0 in his last seven starts. He is 5-0 in his career against the Cardinals.Wainwright (3-11), pitching in his home state of Georgia for the final time against the team that drafted him in 2000, allowed six runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings, including four solo home runs. He is stuck at 198 wins, losing seven straight starts and dropping to 0-10 in 11...

Coco Gauff tops Karolina Muchova to reach the US Open final. The match was delayed by a protest

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:25:26 GMT

Coco Gauff tops Karolina Muchova to reach the US Open final. The match was delayed by a protest NEW YORK (AP) — Coco Gauff never wavered. Not when a big lead in the first set evaporated. Not when match point after match point went by the wayside. And not, most distracting of all, when her U.S. Open semifinal against Karolina Muchova was interrupted for 50 minutes Thursday night by environmental activists — one of whom glued his bare feet to the concrete floor in the stands.It’s been rather obvious for quite some time that Gauff is no ordinary teenager. Now she is one win away from becoming a Grand Slam champion.Gauff, a 19-year-old from Florida, reached her first final at Flushing Meadows by defeating Muchova 6-4, 7-5 on what was anything but an ordinary evening.The toughest part for Gauff might have been closing out the victory: She needed six match points to get it done, raucously supported by a loud, partisan crowd that chair umpire Alison Hughes repeatedly implored to quiet down.After failing to convert one match point while serving for the win at 5-3, then another four in...

Ionescu breaks single-season 3-point record as Liberty win 8th straight, beating Sparks 96-89

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:25:26 GMT

Ionescu breaks single-season 3-point record as Liberty win 8th straight, beating Sparks 96-89 NEW YORK (AP) — Breanna Stewart scored 25 points and Sabrina Ionescu broke the single-season 3-point record to help New York beat the Los Angeles Sparks 96-89 on Thursday night, giving the Liberty eight straight wins.New York (32-7) moved a half-game behind Las Vegas for the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. The Liberty close out the season on Sunday at home against Washington. The Aces have a home-and-home series with Phoenix on Friday and Sunday.The loss put the Sparks (16-23) a half-game behind Chicago for the final playoff spot. The Sky own the tiebreaker between the teams so Los Angeles would have to win at Seattle on Sunday and have Chicago lose its final two games.Ionescu topped Diana Taurasi’s single-season 3-point mark and now has 124 this year. “It’s an honor, any time you’re able to pass arguably the greatest basketball player that ever played in the WNBA,” Ionescu said.The Liberty’s star guard missed all eight of her shots in the first half, including six 3-pointer...

Colorado family of 5 hit head-on by suspected drunk driver near Seattle

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:25:26 GMT

Colorado family of 5 hit head-on by suspected drunk driver near Seattle DENVER (KDVR) — A Colorado family of five is lucky to be alive after being in a serious crash on Labor Day near Seattle.The Mori family was driving to the Seattle airport Monday morning for their flight back to Colorado when a suspected drunk driver hit their car head-on.The father, Yoichi, was driving, while the mother Tomo was in the front seat. Their three children — Sambi, Inori and the youngest, Kishin — were asleep in the back seat."He sees bright lights, like right in front of him, and it was a car that was driving the wrong direction on I-5 and the car hit us, mainly half of our car, the passenger's side. That was the first shock," daughter Sambi said, recalling the crash. Boulder stabbing suspect arrested again shortly after being freed from jail The driver who initially hit them was going the wrong way down Interstate 5. A semi-truck behind them tapped the car but drove into the wall to avoid further damage.The father and his daughters, Sambi and Inori, were the least in...

US 6 to stay closed overnight after wildfire damage near Wolcott

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:25:26 GMT

US 6 to stay closed overnight after wildfire damage near Wolcott DENVER (KDVR) -- Fire crews were working Thursday to contain a "large scale" wildland fire along Interstate 70 in Eagle County.According to the Eagle River Fire Protection District, the fire is between the interstate and Eagle River near the Horn Ranch Open Space. The fire started after a vehicle crashed and ignited dry grasses in the area. FOX31 Newsletters: Sign up to get breaking news sent to your inbox "This is an ever expanding, challenging incident with wind and weather also being a factor," a post from the fire district said.I-70 was closed in both directions between mile points 147 and 160, but the westbound lanes reopened around 5:20 p.m. and the eastbound lanes after 9 p.m. U.S. Highway 6 is closed between mile points 150 and 160 because of damaged power poles and was expected to stay closed overnight.I-70 detour: Northern alternate routeDrivers were urged to use the northern alternate route to avoid the closure, as the interstate is expected to last several hours. The d...

Cat 5 Hurricane Lee charges through open Atlantic waters as it approaches northeast Caribbean

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:25:26 GMT

Cat 5 Hurricane Lee charges through open Atlantic waters as it approaches northeast Caribbean SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Hurricane Lee whirled through open waters on Thursday, and as forecasters warned, it has become the first Category 5 storm of the Atlantic season.Lee was not expected to make landfall while on a projected path that will take it near the northeast Caribbean, although forecasters said tropical storm conditions are possible on some islands. Meteorologists said it was too early to provide details on potential rainfall and wind gusts.The Category 5 hurricane was located about 705 miles (1,130 kilometers) east of the northern Leeward Islands. It had winds of up to 160 miles per hour (257 kilometers per hour) and was moving west-northwest at 14 mph (22 kph).The storm was expected to grow even more powerful late Thursday and remain a major hurricane into next week.“Lee continues to strengthen at an exceptional rate,” the National Hurricane Center said.U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday was given the hurricane’s latest trajectory and details of prepa...

Woman to tear down North Miami-Dade treehouse she called home for 17 years after incurring $40K in fines

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:25:26 GMT

Woman to tear down North Miami-Dade treehouse she called home for 17 years after incurring $40K in fines The treehouse that a South Florida woman had called home for over nearly two decades is coming down because, she said, mounting fines from the county are forcing her to move out.Speaking with 7News on Thursday, Shawnee Chasser said she wants as few barriers as possible separating her from nature.“I’ve always lived outdoors. For me, it’s the only way to live,” she said. “I have to hear the rain and the wind at night. If I don’t, I go crazy, and I’m claustrophobic.”For the past 17 years, Chasser’s tree house up high and the living room and kitchen below have been her sanctuary — for her, her children and her grandchildren.“When it rains, we go dance in the rain,” she said.But when it rains, it pours.In 2015, there was a complaint about her property in North Miami-Dade that got Code Enforcement involved. They determined her living situation was not safe, and it needed to be torn down or brought up to code.Chasser d...

Labs: the (overlooked) building block of Universal Health Coverage

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:25:26 GMT

Labs: the (overlooked) building block of Universal Health Coverage Hepatitis C (HCV) — a potentially life-threatening virus that infects 1.5 million new people around the world every year — is highly treatable if diagnosed early.[1]Unfortunately,  access to quality screening is far from universal. Countries like Egypt — one of the countries with the highest prevalence of HCV in the world — demonstrate the impact screening can have. In 2015, HCV was prevalent in an estimated 7 percent of the country’s population and accounted for 7.6 percent of the country’s mortality, presenting a significant health care and societal burden.[2]But since then, Egypt has turned a corner. In 2018, the Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population launched a massive nationwide HCV screening and treatment campaign as part of its 2014-2018 HCV action plan.[3] The campaign’s results were inspiring: by July 2020, Egypt had screened more than 60 million people[3] and treated 4 million residents.[2] Today, Egypt is set to be the world’s first country to eliminate HCV withi...

Liz Truss’ sacked chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng speaks of ‘emptiness’ after Downing Street

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:25:26 GMT

Liz Truss’ sacked chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng speaks of ‘emptiness’ after Downing Street LONDON — Former U.K. Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng spoke out about the “numbness” and “emptiness” top politicians feel after being ousted from office.Kwarteng was sacked 38 days into Liz Truss’ short-lived and chaotic premiership last year. He presided over the “mini-budget,” which precipitated market turmoil, an emergency intervention from the Bank of England, and was gutted within days.Speaking to POLITICO’s Westminster Insider podcast, Kwarteng said he felt “let down” by his longstanding friend and political ally Truss. He revealed the two have not spoken about his dramatic firing since it took place.In an episode about what former prime ministers do after leaving office, Kwarteng gave a frank assessment of politicians who are “adrenaline junkies” and likened top jobs to being in an “action movie.”Speaking about how ex-leaders feel after office, Kwarteng said: “These people, political people, but I think particularly people who get to the top, they...

Larger than life puppet begins 6,000 mile journey from Boston to San Diego to raise awareness and for refugees 

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:25:26 GMT

Larger than life puppet begins 6,000 mile journey from Boston to San Diego to raise awareness and for refugees  A larger than life puppet went on parade through the streets of Boston and Cambridge Thursday, arriving in the area as part of a mission to raise awareness and donations for refugees. The puppet’s name is Little Amal. Standing 12-feet tall, she has already been touring the world.Now, she is scheduled to travel 6,000 miles to San Diego as part of a journey that started with Thursday’s event.“Once we get going like we did today, we don’t stop,” said Little Amal Producer David Lan. Modeled after a 10-year-old Syrian refugee, Amal has visited 15 countries. The complex puppet is controlled by three puppeteers, with one on each hand and a third inside walking on stilts. Lan has been with Amal from her beginnings two years ago and said Amal has been asked to appear all over the world. “She has a vast online family,” Lan said. “…You go, ‘OK, something of value is happening here.’” Amal’s visit to the Boston area comes as Gov. Maura Healey has declared a state ...