All posts tagged: Associated Press

Angel Reese Accepts Toronto Coach Sandy Brondello’s Apology for Inappropriate Comment

Angel Reese Accepts Toronto Coach Sandy Brondello’s Apology for Inappropriate Comment

Published by Sam Flores

ATLANTA (AP) — Angel Reese has accepted Toronto Tempo coach Sandy Brondello’s apology for an inappropriate comment about the Atlanta Dream star. “First, I appreciate Sandy’s apology, but I also appreciate the love and support that I’ve had for the last 48 hours,” Reese said before the Dream played the Chicago Sky on Sunday. “It has been very overwhelming with a lot of love and also other things. But I am grateful that the league did take action.” Brondello’s comment about Reese was picked up by the broadcast after Toronto player Nyara Sabally went down with an injury and was called for a foul following contact with Reese. Brondello apologized on social media and Reese posted “ARE WE SURPRISED?!” after the game, tagging Brondello’s account, followed by a clown face emoji. Brondello, who is in her first season with the expansion Tempo, is Australian. The “protected species” phrase is used in Australian sports to express frustration for a lack of calls against a player. However, in the U.S., the phrase suggests that someone isn’t human …

Dodgers Two-Way Star Shohei Ohtani Won’t Pitch for ‘Some Time’ Because of Left Knee Irritation

Dodgers Two-Way Star Shohei Ohtani Won’t Pitch for ‘Some Time’ Because of Left Knee Irritation

Published by Sam Flores

NEW YORK (AP) — Shohei Ohtani won’t make his next scheduled start on the mound because of left knee irritation and isn’t expected back in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ rotation for a while. Ohtani, however, still didn’t feel 100% while playing catch this weekend, so he and the Dodgers decided not to even test the knee with a bullpen session. The four-time MVP hasn’t pitched since July 3, when he threw a season-high 110 pitches over six innings in a no-decision against San Diego. Now, it’s unclear when he’ll return to the mound. “I would say that it’s going to be some time,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Sunday before his team split a day-night doubleheader with the New York Yankees. “It’s not going to be a day-to-day thing.” Roberts reiterated that Ohtani feels no knee pain when hitting. The slugger went 2 for 5 with two RBIs and a run during an 8-2 victory in the opener Sunday, and was back in the leadoff spot as the designated hitter for the nightcap. “We just …

Chinese Company Demands Compensation From the UK Over British Steel Nationalization

Chinese Company Demands Compensation From the UK Over British Steel Nationalization

Published by Sam Flores

BEIJING (AP) — The Chinese company that formerly owned British Steel demanded Sunday compensation from the U.K. government for investment losses following the nationalization of the manufacturer last week. The British government took operational control of the company last year after Jingye Group said that it was considering closing the blast furnaces at its Scunthorpe plant in northern England, the last in the United Kingdom to make “virgin steel” from raw materials. Jingye Group said in a WeChat statement that the nationalization move tarnished the credibility of the British government, spooked international investors and caused great losses to the company’s operation and British taxpayers’ funds. It also demanded that the U.K. government stop “trampling on international investment rules.” The Chinese company announced it had initiated negotiation procedures under relevant bilateral investment agreements, reserving all rights, including to international arbitration. Jingye said it will also represent British taxpayers seeking to hold the U.K. government and British Steel’s management legally liable. However, it did not specify how it would handle the case. “The U.K. disregarded Jingye’s continuous …

US Launches More Airstrikes Against Iran After Announcing Another Death of a Service Member

US Launches More Airstrikes Against Iran After Announcing Another Death of a Service Member

Published by Sam Flores

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United States conducted a new round of airstrikes early Monday targeting Iran after announcing the death of another American service member, and Iran fired missiles toward Jordan that risked widening the conflict into neighboring Israel. Step by step, the U.S. and Iran have inched closer to all-out war as last month’s interim deal meant to permanently end the fighting has crumbled and shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has largely stalled. Both sides have targeted civilian infrastructure relied on by millions of people, while benchmark Brent crude rose Monday above $90 a barrel, further fueling a global energy crisis sparked by the conflict. The U.S. military said the service member was killed in Iraq on Saturday during the “controlled detonation” of a downed Iranian drone. “We hit them very hard again tonight,” U.S. President Donald Trump said. “And we did that in honor of the” soldiers killed, he said. US launches ninth night of Iran strikes Earlier, the military said its strikes targeted Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard …

Red Sox Rally for 7-6 Victory Over Rays for 12th Straight Win

Red Sox Rally for 7-6 Victory Over Rays for 12th Straight Win

Published by Sam Flores

BOSTON (AP) — Wilyer Abreu hit two home runs – the second a go-ahead, two-run shot in the seventh inning that gave him four homers in two games — and the Boston Red Sox rallied for a 7-6 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday to extend their winning streak to 12 games. Victor Mesa Jr. had a go-ahead, two-run homer and Jonny DeLuca added a solo shot for the Tampa Bay Rays. Abreu’s shot off Garrett Cleavinger (2-3) capped a four-run inning that wiped out a 6-3 deficit. Ceddanne Rafaela had an RBI double and Masataka Yoshida had a run-scoring ground out in the inning. Ryan Watson (1-0) pitched two innings for his first major league victory and Aroldis Chapman got the final three outs for his 21st save. Trailing 3-2 in the fourth, the Rays jumped ahead with three runs. Mesa Jr. hit his homer into Tampa Bay’s bullpen and Yandy Díaz added an RBI single. DeLuca’s homer over the Green Monster made it 6-3 in the seventh. Making his second start …

Kylian Mbappé Passes Lionel Messi for Career World Cup Scoring Record With 22 Goals

Kylian Mbappé Passes Lionel Messi for Career World Cup Scoring Record With 22 Goals

Published by Sam Flores

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Kylian Mbappé made history at the World Cup on Saturday. He would have preferred a different outcome. The France star moved past Argentina’s Lionel Messi for the career World Cup scoring record with 22 goals, scoring twice in a 6-4 loss to England in Saturday’s third-place match. Mbappé finished this World Cup with 10 goals, two more than Messi in the race for the Golden Boot, which is awarded to the tournament’s top scorer. Should he remain ahead of Messi after Argentina plays Spain in Sunday’s final, he would become the first player to win the Golden Boot twice. “I would have preferred not to be the top scorer in history,” Mbappé told Fox Sports in French, “and play in the match tomorrow.” Les Bleus missed out on a chance at playing in their third straight World Cup final when they lost to Spain in the semifinals. Mbappé scored eight goals to win the Golden Boot four years ago in Qatar, where France lost to Messi and Argentina in a …

McIlroy Accuses DeChambeau of Trying to ‘Hold the Tournament Hostage’ at British Open

McIlroy Accuses DeChambeau of Trying to ‘Hold the Tournament Hostage’ at British Open

Published by Sam Flores

SOUTHPORT, England (AP) — Rory McIlroy saved one of his best shots at the British Open on Saturday for Bryson DeChambeau. The world No. 2 didn’t hold back when asked for his thoughts on DeChambeau’s conduct late Friday, when the American was involved in a lengthy, heated post-round exchange with rules officials as they reviewed whether he had inadvertently improved the path of his swing on the fifth hole. DeChambeau was penalized two shots and there were doubts over whether he would show up for the weekend. The extraordinary late-evening scenes also delayed the release of the tee times for Saturday’s third round. “I won’t pretend to be up here and defend Bryson,” McIlroy told reporters after shooting a 1-under 69 in the third round. “I’m not particularly fond of him. I think a lot of it is performative. I think a lot of it’s for attention.” “To hold the tournament hostage like that,” McIlroy continued, “and to have all of us — players, volunteers, everyone — waiting on him to depart, I didn’t feel …

Safety Fears Limit Ebola Response in Congo, With More Than 12 Attacks Recorded

Safety Fears Limit Ebola Response in Congo, With More Than 12 Attacks Recorded

Published by Sam Flores

BUNIA, Congo (AP) — At least a dozen attacks on health facilities and workers have been recorded during Congo’s Ebola outbreak as safety fears restrict the response in the worst-affected region, authorities said Saturday. Many of the attacks have been carried out by angry mobs who have stormed treatment centers or targeted response teams in the field, Pierre Akilimali, incident manager for the Ebola response, said at a press briefing in Bunia, the capital of Ituri. The attacks are not limited to healthcare teams and affect frontline workers like burial teams, according to Dr. Adelard Lufongola, operations manager for the Ebola response. “Members of the various response teams have been held captive in some health zones. Teams responsible for safe and dignified burials have been threatened and continue to be threatened in some cemeteries and within several communities,” Lufongola said at the briefing. Ebola spreads in the human population through contact with bodily fluids such as vomit, blood or semen, and with contaminated surfaces and materials. Traditional funerals in which loved ones wash and prepare …

Trump Shifts His Tone on Jimmy Carter While Grappling With Iran, Inflation and His Own Legacy

Trump Shifts His Tone on Jimmy Carter While Grappling With Iran, Inflation and His Own Legacy

Published by Sam Flores

WASHINGTON (AP) — Jimmy Carter used to be one of President Donald Trump ’s favorite political targets, a catchall foil for feckless Democrats that he could jeer at to make himself look strong and decisive. But lately, Trump’s sentiments on the 39th president have become more wistful as he faces some of the same challenges the late Carter did. Those include the war in Iran with no end in sight — and now escalating as the U.S. moves to control the Strait of Hormuz — and inflation, a drag on the economy Trump hasn’t tamed despite long insisting that his business background would wipe it out. The comparison seems to be on Trump’s mind, too. Asked last month why he didn’t dispatch U.S. Special Forces into Iran to forcibly remove its enriched uranium, he responded, “I didn’t feel like being Jimmy Carter.” That recalled the failed 1980 raid to free U.S. hostages that killed eight American servicemen. Trump also said in March that the unsuccessful mission “cost them the election” against Ronald Reagan in 1980, …

US Military Launches New Airstrikes to ‘Swiftly Punish’ Iran for Deaths of US Troops

US Military Launches New Airstrikes to ‘Swiftly Punish’ Iran for Deaths of US Troops

Published by Sam Flores

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. military said that it carried out new airstrikes against Iran on Sunday to “swiftly punish” the country’s Revolutionary Guard after an attack on a base in Jordan killed two American service members, left one missing and four requiring hospitalization. The strikes were designed to further degrade Iran’s ability to restrict the traffic of oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. Central Command said. The waterway accounted for roughly 20% of global oil supplies before the war. Iran effectively closed the strait to shipping traffic after the war started with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Feb. 28. The new strikes came after the U.S. military announced its first troop deaths from direct Iranian fire since the opening days of the war, following a drone and missile attack on a base in Jordan on Friday. The dead were not identified, and Central Command didn’t offer any further details on the deaths. Since the war began, 16 U.S. service members have been killed and over 430 wounded. Strikes target …