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Five for Fighting cross-checks The Anthem and thinks Ovechkin can catch Gretzky

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:15:24 GMT

(new Image()).src = "https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=9be9c680-c459-4acb-af21-654a2ccca384&cid=c2ffed0c-3624-46c0-b10f-97c976d290a3";cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "9be9c680-c459-4acb-af21-654a2ccca384",mediaId: "74441803-5a48-4fa9-9f97-13c28901c328"}).render("b61a3f6c65a446ad9b6d05c833006a3c"); });Hear our full chat on my podcast “Beyond the Fame with Jason Fraley.” toggle audio on and off change volume download audio WTOP's Jason Fraley previews Five for Fighting at The Anthem (Part 1) $(function () { $('.wtop-audio-container .fa-play').on('click', function(){ var audio_filename = $('div.wtop-audio-file').data("mp3-url"); ...

Mets host the Brewers on 3-game home losing streak

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:15:24 GMT

Milwaukee Brewers (41-37, first in the NL Central) vs. New York Mets (35-43, fourth in the NL East)New York; Tuesday, 7:10 p.m. EDTPITCHING PROBABLES: Brewers: Julio Teheran (2-2, 1.53 ERA, .88 WHIP, 23 strikeouts); Mets: David Peterson (0-0)FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK MLB LINE: Mets -143, Brewers +121; over/under is 9 runsBOTTOM LINE: The New York Mets look to break their three-game home losing streak with a win over the Milwaukee Brewers.New York has a 35-43 record overall and a 17-16 record at home. The Mets have a 23-15 record in games when they scored at least five runs.Milwaukee has gone 19-19 in road games and 41-37 overall. Brewers pitchers have a collective 4.00 ERA, which ranks fifth in the NL.Tuesday’s game is the fifth time these teams meet this season. The Brewers are up 4-0 in the season series.TOP PERFORMERS: Pete Alonso has six doubles, a triple and 24 home runs for the Mets. Francisco Lindor is 9-for-30 with two doubles, three home runs and 10 RBI over the past 10 game...

Padres visit the Pirates to begin 3-game series

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:15:24 GMT

San Diego Padres (37-41, fourth in the NL West) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (35-42, fourth in the NL Central)Pittsburgh; Tuesday, 7:05 p.m. EDTPITCHING PROBABLES: Padres: Yu Darvish (5-6, 4.84 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 85 strikeouts); Pirates: Rich Hill (6-7, 4.45 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 76 strikeouts)FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK MLB LINE: Padres -188, Pirates +160; over/under is 9 runsBOTTOM LINE: The Pittsburgh Pirates host the San Diego Padres on Tuesday to begin a three-game series.Pittsburgh is 18-19 at home and 35-42 overall. The Pirates have a 21-4 record in games when they scored five or more runs.San Diego is 37-41 overall and 17-19 on the road. The Padres have the fifth-best team ERA in MLB play at 3.74.The teams meet Tuesday for the first time this season.TOP PERFORMERS: Andrew McCutchen has nine doubles and nine home runs for the Pirates. Bryan Reynolds is 9-for-31 with three doubles, a home run and two RBI over the last 10 games.Fernando Tatis Jr. has 17 doubles, 15 home runs and 36 RBI while hitting ....

Phillies bring road win streak into game against the Cubs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:15:24 GMT

Philadelphia Phillies (40-37, third in the NL East) vs. Chicago Cubs (37-39, third in the NL Central)Chicago; Tuesday, 8:05 p.m. EDTPITCHING PROBABLES: Phillies: Ranger Suarez (1-2, 3.50 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 42 strikeouts); Cubs: Jameson Taillon (2-5, 6.54 ERA, 1.55 WHIP, 45 strikeouts)FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK MLB LINE: Phillies -130, Cubs +108BOTTOM LINE: The Philadelphia Phillies will try to keep a six-game road win streak going when they visit the Chicago Cubs.Chicago has a 20-17 record in home games and a 37-39 record overall. The Cubs have the 10th-best team ERA in baseball at 3.91.Philadelphia has gone 19-23 on the road and 40-37 overall. The Phillies have the 10th-best team batting average in MLB play at .257.Tuesday’s game is the fourth time these teams square off this season.TOP PERFORMERS: Nico Hoerner has a .282 batting average to lead the Cubs, and has 13 doubles, three triples and five home runs. Dansby Swanson is 14-for-40 with two home runs and eight RBI over the past 10 g...

Dodgers visit the Rockies to begin 3-game series

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:15:24 GMT

Los Angeles Dodgers (43-34, third in the NL West) vs. Colorado Rockies (31-49, fifth in the NL West)Denver; Tuesday, 8:40 p.m. EDTPITCHING PROBABLES: Dodgers: Clayton Kershaw (9-4, 2.72 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 103 strikeouts); Rockies: Connor Seabold (1-3, 5.88 ERA, 1.48 WHIP, 43 strikeouts)FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK MLB LINE: Dodgers -306, Rockies +247; over/under is 12 runsBOTTOM LINE: The Colorado Rockies host the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday to start a three-game series.Colorado has an 18-20 record in home games and a 31-49 record overall. The Rockies have gone 10-6 in games when they hit two or more home runs.Los Angeles is 19-19 on the road and 43-34 overall. The Dodgers have the fourth-best team slugging percentage in MLB play at .443.The matchup Tuesday is the third time these teams meet this season.TOP PERFORMERS: Ryan McMahon has 20 doubles, three triples, 12 home runs and 41 RBI for the Rockies. Elias Diaz is 9-for-36 with a double, three home runs and eight RBI over the past 10 games....

Britain’s plan to deport migrants to Rwanda will cost £169,000 per person

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:15:24 GMT

LONDON — The U.K. government’s plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda will cost upwards of six figures per person — if it ever gets off the ground. A Home Office economic assessment released Monday night revealed that the Rwanda plan — which was announced in spring 2022 but is yet to see a single flight take off amid legal challenge — will cost an estimated £169,000 per migrant.According to the government department’s own figures, it will cost an estimated £63,000 more to relocate an asylum seeker than it would to keep them in the U.K. The Home Office has pointed to a deterrent effect it believes the plan will have on those seeking to come to the U.K.Then-Home Secretary Priti Patel signed the relocation agreement with Rwanda’s foreign minister last year as part of efforts to curb high-levels of cross-Channel migration in small boats.The plan has faced a number of court challenges over human rights concerns, and the first scheduled flight in June 2022 was bloc...

Key EU nature law in jeopardy after committee rejection

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:15:24 GMT

The EU’s flagship nature law failed to pass a key committee vote Tuesday, jeopardizing a key pillar of the bloc’s Green Deal plans. Lawmakers in the European Parliament’s environment committee (ENVI) voted 44 in favor to 44 against on adopting a position on the contentious Nature Restoration Law. A tie amounts to rejection, as it means there is no majority in favor.The legislation, an ambitious plan to return the Continent’s degraded natural areas to a healthy state, will nevertheless go to a plenary vote in the Parliament; the vote is scheduled for July 11.With two other committees having already voted against the proposal, ENVI’s failure to submit a position on the bill means MEPs will now have three weeks to find a compromise that’s acceptable to a majority in the whole Parliament, or risk rejection of the entire law.The backlash against the Nature Restoration Law was led by conservative MEPs and farmers’ groups, who claimed that the proposed rules threaten farmers’ li...

Hungary’s Judit Varga will lead Orbán’s party in EU elections, report says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:15:24 GMT

Hungarian Justice Minister Judit Varga will run in the European Parliament election next year as the ruling Fidesz party’s lead candidate, government-affiliated media reported Tuesday.Varga, whose portfolio includes EU affairs, is a well-known personality in Brussels for her confrontational rhetoric, social media posts criticizing EU institutions and deep loyalty to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.But she is also regarded in EU circles as a polyglot who knows Brussels well and as someone the relatively isolated Hungarian government can still dispatch to sit down with European officials. A lawyer by profession, Varga worked at the European Parliament as an adviser for Hungarian MEPs between 2009 and 2018. She was then plucked out of obscurity and made a minister of state for EU relations, the beginning of a meteoric rise through the ranks of Orbán’s associates, culminating in her appointment as jus...

Russia drops charges over Wagner mutiny, reports say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:15:24 GMT

Russian authorities have closed the mutiny probe into the Wagner Group, run by warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin, state-owned media reported Tuesday.“During the investigation of the criminal case initiated by the investigative department of the Russian Federal Security Service on June 23 under Article 279 of the Criminal Code on the fact of an armed mutiny, it was found that its participants on June 24 stopped the actions directly aimed at committing a crime,” said a statement from Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), RIA Novosti reported. “Given this and other circumstances relevant to the investigation, the investigating authority issued a decision to terminate the criminal case on June 27,” said the security service.RIA also reported that preparations were underway to transfer heavy military equipment from the Wagner Group to Russia’s official armed forces.Prigozhin — who has railed against Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of...

German ruling parties finalize deal on controversial heating law

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:15:24 GMT

BERLIN — Germany’s three ruling parties agreed late Monday on final details of a green energy law to phase out gas and oil heating, paving the way for the bill to be adopted next week ahead of the German Bundestag’s summer recess. Senior lawmakers from Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) agreed on the fine print of the heating law, a cornerstone of Germany’s efforts to reduce greenhouse emissions, a spokesperson for the SPD confirmed to POLITICO.The spokesperson could not immediately provide details of the agreement but said it is based on broader guidelines agreed by the parties earlier this month and that link key deadlines to municipal heating planning.Disputes over the law almost caused a government crisis last month. The Greens and their Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck had pushed for an ambitious rollout but faced fierce criticism not only from the opposition but also the liberal FDP. Habeck, once...