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Phillies aim to clinch NLDS in Game 4 against Braves

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 06:16:51 GMT

Atlanta Braves (104-58, first in the NL East during the regular season) vs. Philadelphia Phillies (90-72, second in the NL East during the regular season)Philadelphia; Thursday, 8:07 p.m. EDTPITCHING PROBABLES: Braves: Spencer Strider (20-5, 3.86 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 281 strikeouts); Phillies: Ranger Suarez (4-6, 4.18 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, 119 strikeouts)FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK MLB LINE: Braves -152, Phillies +129; over/under is 8 1/2 runsBOTTOM LINE: The Philadelphia Phillies and the Atlanta Braves play in Game 4 of the NLDS. The Phillies hold a 2-1 lead in the series, and will move on to the NLCS with a victory.Philadelphia is 90-72 overall and 49-32 in home games. The Phillies are 67-18 in games when they out-hit their opponents.Atlanta has a 104-58 record overall and a 52-29 record on the road. The Braves are 78-9 in games when they out-hit their opponents.Thursday’s game is the 17th time these teams meet this season. The Braves are up 9-7 in the season series.TOP PERFORMERS: Kyle Schwarb...

Buick LPGA Shanghai Par Scores

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 06:16:51 GMT

ThursdayAt Qizhong Garden Golf ClubShanghaiPurse: $2.1 millionYardage: 6,672; Par: 72First RoundWichanee Meechai34-32—66-6Maja Stark32-34—66-6Danlin Cai32-36—68-4Lauren Coughlin34-34—68-4Esther Henseleit35-33—68-4Danielle Kang33-35—68-4A Lim Kim32-36—68-4Alison Lee33-35—68-4Shuying Li35-33—68-4Yu Liu35-33—68-4Jasmine Suwannapura33-35—68-4Pavarisa Yoktuan33-35—68-4Jaravee Boonchant37-32—69-3Muni He35-34—69-3Moriya Jutanugarn35-34—69-3Mi Hyang Lee35-34—69-3Yuna Nishimura35-34—69-3Carlota Ciganda35-35—70-2Minami Katsu33-37—70-2Minjee Lee35-35—70-2Xiyu Lin35-35—70-2Azahara Munoz35-35—70-2Bailey Tardy34-36—70-2Xizihan Wang37-33—70-2Angel Yin35-35—70-2Weiwei Zhang32-38—70-2Celine Borge37-34—71-1Karis Davidson37-34—71-1Sei Young Kim34-37—71-1Frida Kinhult37-34—71-1Madelene Sagstrom34-37—71-1Kelly Tan35-36—71-1Gabriella Then38-33—71-1Miranda Wang37-34—71-1Ruoning Yin35-36—71-1Arpichaya Yubol35-36—71-1Peiyun Chien36-36—72EHye Jin Choi36-36—72EPerrine Delacour35-37—72EMina Harigae35-37—72ENas...

Buick LPGA Shanghai Scores

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 06:16:51 GMT

ThursdayAt Qizhong Garden Golf ClubShanghaiPurse: $2.1 millionYardage: 6,672; Par: 72First RoundWichanee Meechai34-32—66Maja Stark32-34—66Danlin Cai32-36—68Lauren Coughlin34-34—68Esther Henseleit35-33—68Danielle Kang33-35—68A Lim Kim32-36—68Alison Lee33-35—68Shuying Li35-33—68Yu Liu35-33—68Jasmine Suwannapura33-35—68Pavarisa Yoktuan33-35—68Jaravee Boonchant37-32—69Muni He35-34—69Moriya Jutanugarn35-34—69Mi Hyang Lee35-34—69Yuna Nishimura35-34—69Carlota Ciganda35-35—70Minami Katsu33-37—70Minjee Lee35-35—70Xiyu Lin35-35—70Azahara Munoz35-35—70Bailey Tardy34-36—70Xizihan Wang37-33—70Angel Yin35-35—70Weiwei Zhang32-38—70Celine Borge37-34—71Karis Davidson37-34—71Sei Young Kim34-37—71Frida Kinhult37-34—71Madelene Sagstrom34-37—71Kelly Tan35-36—71Gabriella Then38-33—71Miranda Wang37-34—71Ruoning Yin35-36—71Arpichaya Yubol35-36—71Peiyun Chien36-36—72Hye Jin Choi36-36—72Perrine Delacour35-37—72Mina Harigae35-37—72Nasa Hataoka34-38—72Ariya Jutanugarn36-36—72Gina Kim35-37—72Andrea Lee37-35—72Y...

Stark, Meechai take 1st-round lead at LPGA Shanghai in tour’s return to China after pandemic

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 06:16:51 GMT

SHANGHAI (AP) — Maja Stark and Wichanee Meechai each shot 6-under 66 on Thursday to take a two-stroke first-round lead at the LPGA Shanghai event in the tour’s return to China after the COVID-19 pandemic.Stark, one of three rookies on the European team which tied the Americans to retain the Solheim Cup last month in Spain, birdied four of her first six holes on the Qizhong Garden Golf Club course. Meechai overcame a first-hole bogey and finished strongly with a pair of birdies.“Playing the Solheim Cup gave me so much confidence,” Stark said. “A whole continent is looking for you to play well.”Americans Danielle Kang, Lauren Coughlin and Alison Lee and Chinese players Cai Danlin and Li Shuying were in a group at 68 and in a 10-way tied for third.Kang is going for her third straight victory in Shanghai after winning in 2018 and 2019.The field, representing 21 countries, features the top two players in the women’s world rankings, Lilia Vu (72 Thursday) and Women’s PGA champion Ru...

M-DCPS board approves 20 social studies textbooks amid controversy

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 06:16:51 GMT

In a unanimous decision, the Miami-Dade County Public School (M-DCPS) board has given the green light to 20 social studies textbooks for kindergarten through 12th grade schools, aligning them with the state’s new academic standards. The move, however, has sparked opposition and concerns from some quarters.The approval comes as a significant milestone in the ongoing debate surrounding Florida’s academic standards. The new standards had initially faced pushback, with one notable concern being that students might learn that slaves somehow benefited from their experiences.The M-DCPS board was swift to address this concern, clarifying that such material is not included in the approved textbooks. Nevertheless, doubts linger among some skeptics.“The standards are full of government-approved indoctrination, the government in K-12 defining what patriotism is, defining moral values, defining virtues, starting in kindergarten,” expressed one critic.The public now has a ...

Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf’s family stuck in Gaza and ‘terrified’

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 06:16:51 GMT

LONDON — Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf’s parents-in-law are trapped in Gaza and fearing for their lives amid renewed conflict with Israel, his wife has said.The Scottish National Party leader’s mother-in-law and father-in-law have been trapped in Gaza since Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel on Saturday. The couple, who are from Dundee, travelled to Gaza last week to see a sick relative and other family, including multiple young grandchildren.In an interview with the BBC, Yousaf’s wife Nadia El-Nakla said her parents were “caught up in a war situation.”“My mother says that there is continual bombardment from land, sea and air,” she said, adding that her family had hoped to escape on Tuesday but found that the Rafah border between Gaza and Egypt was bombed and inaccessible. All Israeli border crossings have been closed.“They are just terrified, absolutely terrified, about what is to come and what is happening right now as we ...

Russia attacks Ukraine’s Danube ports with drones

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 06:16:51 GMT

KYIV — Russia once again launched a large-scale attack on Ukraine’s Danube ports infrastructure overnight.“Our air defense forces shot down 10 Shahed drones over Odesa region, but, unfortunately, there are also hits,” Oleg Kiper, head of the Odesa regional military administration, said in a statement Thursday morning.Ukrainian officials recorded damage to port infrastructure and residential buildings in the Ismail district of the Odesa region on the Danube River. “Fires broke out on the spot; they have already been extinguished. An elderly woman received thermal burns,” Kiper said.The latest attack on ports near the Romanian border happened two days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Bucharest, where he and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis agreed to deepen cooperation on Ukrainian grain transit through Romanian territory. Zelenskyy sees cooperation with Romania both on the Black Sea and on land as the way to find other export corridors for Ukraine’s grain.“The pr...

Palestinians rush to buy food and struggle under strikes as Israel readies possible ground operation

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 06:16:51 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Palestinians lined up outside bakeries and grocery stores in Gaza on Thursday after spending the night surrounded by the ruins of pulverized neighborhoods darkened by a near-total power outage. Israel launched new airstrikes and said it was preparing for a possible ground invasion.International aid groups warned that the death toll in Gaza could mount after Israel stopped all deliveries of food, water, fuel and electricity and the tiny enclave’s crossing with Egypt closed. The war — which was ignited by a bloody and wide-ranging assault on Israel by Hamas militants — has already claimed at least 2,500 lives on both sides.Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, an Israeli military spokesman, told reporters Thursday that forces “are preparing for a ground maneuver if decided,” but that political leaders have not yet ordered one. A ground offensive in Gaza, whose 2.3 million residents are densely packed into a sliver of land only 40 kilometers (25 ...

Former agent of East Germany’s Stasi agency is charged over the 1974 border killing of a Polish man

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 06:16:51 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — A former member of communist East Germany’s secret police has been charged with murder over the killing of a Polish national at a border crossing in divided Berlin in 1974, prosecutors said Thursday.The indictment against the 79-year-old man, whose name wasn’t released, was filed at the state court in the German capital.It relates to an incident on March 29, 1974, in which a 38-year-old Polish man took a fake bomb to the Polish Embassy to try to force an unhindered exit to West Berlin, prosecutors said in a statement.East Germany’s secret police, the Stasi, allegedly decided to feign authorizing the man’s exit. Its employees provided him with exit documents and accompanied him to a border crossing at the Friedrichstrasse railway station in East Berlin, prosecutors said.They said that the suspect, age 31 at the time, was tasked with rendering the Polish man “harmless.” After the Pole had passed the final checkpoint, the suspect allegedly shot him...

Grand National to reduce number of horses to 34 and soften fences in bid to make famous race safer

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 06:16:51 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The Grand National is implementing a series of significant changes, taking effect from next year, in an effort to make the world’s most famous steeplechase safer for horses and jockeys.They include reducing the field from 40 horses — the size since 1984 — to 34, softening the fences by using foam and rubber toe boards, and moving the first fence closer to the start to stop horses building up too much speed.The race will also start earlier in the day, so the course stays as soft as possible, and the horses will set off from a standing start.Sixteen horses have died in the Grand National since the turn of the century. The race, which takes place over 30 fences and typically in front of 70,000 spectators at Aintree and a global TV audience, is among the biggest occasions on the British sporting calendar and is also regarded as one of the most dangerous horse races in the world because of the size of the fences.“I believe that a competitive, fair and safe Randox Grand Nati...