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Diamondbacks withstand Realmuto hitting for the cycle to beat Phillies 9-8

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:32 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — Evan Longoria hit a three-run homer and the Arizona Diamondbacks withstood Philadelphia’s J.T. Realmuto hitting for the cycle to beat the Phillies 9-8 on Monday night.Two of baseball’s highest-scoring teams kicked off a four-game series by combining for 25 hits, including 10 for extra bases.Realmuto hit a solo homer in the first inning and a two-run triple in the third. He hit a double in the ninth inning to complete the cycle and scored on Bryson Stott’s single to cut Arizona’s lead to 9-8. Philadelphia’s Kody Clemens pinch-hit and thought he had hit a two-run homer off Miguel Castro, cheering as he circled the bases after the ball curled into the Phillies’ bullpen. The umpires ruled it a foul ball, confirmed it upon review and Castro struck out Clemens on the next pitch to end the game for his seventh save. Realmuto put the Phillies up 5-1 with his triple in the third inning, but the action picked up after the teams nearly came to...

Ending animal testing for good

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:32 GMT

It is a win-win situation: Developing animal-free safety methods and advancing safety science go hand in hand. Today, better safety science without animal testing is a scientific reality in many cases, but obstacles remain. One of them is that chemical regulations are still rooted in former safety science built on animal testing. To truly unlock the full power of existing non-animal safety science, we need regulatory change.Today’s customers are more astute and more conscious about the products they buy. People want to know what goes into them, where they come from, and what really sits behind the product labels. Is the product packaging environmentally friendly? Are ingredients sourced responsibly? Is a product tested on animals? These are just some of the wide-ranging ethical questions fueling shifts in consumer habits where science is an essential part of the solution.For more than 40 years, P&G has been working together with experts from academia, animal welfare organization...

POLITICO Pro Morning Energy and Climate UK: Shapps exclusive — Solar in space — Wind bonanza

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:32 GMT

Presented by SSE By CHARLIE COOPER and ABBY WALLACE PRESENTED BY View in your browser or listen to audioSNEAK PEEK— Grant Shapps tells Morning Energy and Climate UK why he thinks Britain doesn’t need its own version of the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act.— Shapps today also sets out new funding for solar panels in space. Industry says that for now they’d really appreciate more solar panels on Earth.  — There’s a huge pipeline of offshore wind projects to power the U.K.’s net zero transition. But can they get a grid connection?Good morning and welcome to the very first edition of POLITICO Pro Morning Energy and Climate!We’re here to be your one-stop shop for news, analysis and intel on the politics and the policy battles around the U.K.’s net zero transition. The climate debate (and the weather) in the U.K. are hotting up, with a general election only a year or so away. We’ll guide you through...

Why Berlusconi’s death makes Meloni stronger

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:32 GMT

When she arrives at Milan’s spectacular gothic Duomo cathedral for Silvio Berlusconi’s state funeral on Wednesday, Giorgia Meloni will be among the most prominent of the mourners. The very fact that Meloni is prime minister — Italy’s first woman to hold the post — owes a lot to Berlusconi’s own influence. He gave Meloni her first big break in frontline politics, making her the youngest government minister in Italian history at age 31 in 2008. Then last year, he was instrumental in triggering the downfall of Mario Draghi’s premiership, convening a meeting of right-wingers over lunch at his luxurious villa, at which they plotted to bring down the government. And again after Draghi’s demise, it was Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party, now a moderate centre-right movement, that allied with Meloni’s far-right group in a coalition deal that put her in power. But aside from being Meloni’s useful partner in the business of gaining power, Berlusconi provided the templat...

Bus driver facing charges in crash that killed 10 wedding guests denied bail in Australian court

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:32 GMT

CESSNOCK, Australia (AP) — A bus driver was driving too fast when the vehicle rolled on its side and hit a guard rail in heavy fog in an Australian wine region, killing 10 wedding guests and injuring 25 others, police alleged Tuesday.Brett Andrew Button, 58, was driving 35 passengers on a 20-minute journey from a wedding reception at the Wandin Estate Winery to the town of Singleton, both in the Hunter Valley wine region of New South Wales state, when the 2009 Volvo bus rolled at a roundabout late Sunday.Button had been in police custody but was released on bail when he appeared in the Cessnock Local Court on Tuesday charged with 10 counts of dangerous driving in relation to each death and one count of negligent driving.Earlier, acting Police Assistant Commissioner David Waddell alleged that Button “entered that roundabout driving in a manner that was inconsistent with the conditions.”“Obviously, the speed was too quick for him to negotiate that roundabout, causing the vehicle to fa...

Japan’s Toyota announces initiative for all-solid state battery as part of electric vehicles plan

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:32 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Toyota plans to make an all solid-state battery as part of its ambitious plans for battery electric vehicles, the company said Tuesday, amid mounting criticism Japan’s top automaker needs to do more to fight climate change.Toyota Motor Corp. aims for a commercial solid-state battery as soon as 2027. Charging time, one of the main drawbacks of electric vehicles, will get shortened to 10 minutes or less, the company said in a statement. It plans to deliver 1.5 million EVs in 2026 by expanding its battery EV lineup and developing technology. “With the evolution of the vehicle’s operating system, the next-generation battery EV will also enable customization of the ‘driving feel,’ with a focus on acceleration, turning and stopping,” it said.EV owners usually have charging stations in their homes and keep their cars plugged in overnight to recharge. That’s one of the main reasons Toyota has long insisted that hybrids are a better solution. A hybrid recharges as the car runs, ...

Nuggets’ Bruce Brown on impending free agency: “I want to stay.”

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:32 GMT

As champagne flowed and cigar smoke filled the Nuggets’ home locker room, Bruce Brown couldn’t help but revel and soak in the moment.“I want to stay,” he told The Denver Post.“Look at us,” he said. “Celebrating the Finals, winning the Finals. This is what you come to the NBA for, to win at the highest level.”Brown has a player option for next season worth $6.8 million. If he declines it, the most the Nuggets can offer is $7.7 million. Asked why he wanted to return, Brown was effusive about the culture Denver’s established.“It’s a perfect fit,” Brown said. “And money is not everything. The money will come. So I’m not worried about that right now.”Michael Porter Jr. raved about the teammate Brown was, hinting that he was due a significant payday.“Bruce has been huge for us all playoffs,” Porter said. “We’re excited for him because he’s going to get paid. He’s going to get paid. … We just kept telling him be aggressive, even though his fi...

UN nuclear watchdog concerned over water levels at Ukraine plant

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:32 GMT

The UN atomic watchdog said on Sunday (11 June) that it needs wider access around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant to check "a significant discrepancy" in water level data at the breached Kakhovka dam used for cooling the plant's reactors.International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Grossi, who is to visit the plant this week, said that measurements the agency received from the inlet of the plant showed that the dam's water levels were stable for about a day over the weekend."However, the height is reportedly continuing to fall elsewhere in the huge reservoir, causing a possible difference of about two metres," Grossi said in a statement."The height of the water level is a key parameter for the continued operability of the water pumps."The destruction of the Kakhovka hydropower dam in southern Ukraine last week has flooded towns downstream and forced thousands of people from their homes.Both the Kakhovka hydropower dam and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant have been occupied by Russia ...

Kherson's unending nightmare: Occupation, shelling and floods

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:32 GMT

For Kherson resident Iryna Radetska, the catastrophic flooding of her city after the giant Kakhovka dam was destroyed is the latest chapter in more than a year of wartime suffering."They say a new love kills the old one. Maybe it's the same with tragedy," said 52-year-old Radetska, who is deputy head of a school in the southern Ukrainian city.Few places have felt the extent of suffering that Kherson has since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year. Few people bore the brunt of it harder than Radetska, who said she has survived imprisonment, beatings and rockets.The city, which had a peacetime population of 280,000, was occupied by Russian forces on March 2, 2022. It was liberated by Ukrainian troops in early November, but since then has been regularly shelled by Russian forces from the east side of the Dnipro River.In the latest setback, large areas of Kherson and villages nearby were submerged last week after the Kakhovka dam, 55 km (35 miles) upstream, was destroyed. Kyiv an...

UK unemployment rate edges down unexpectedly as number in work hits record high

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:32 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Official figures show that Britain’s unemployment rate has fallen unexpectedly as the number of people in work hit a record high and rose past its pre-pandemic level for the first time.The Office for National Statistics said Tuesday that the jobless rate fell to 3.8% in the three months to April, from 3.9% in the previous quarter. Most economists were expecting the rate to edge up to 4%.As the unemployment rate fell, the agency said, the country’s employment rate rose to 76% from 75.9%, with the number of people in work at an all-time high of 33.1 million.Darren Morgan, director of economic statistics at the agency, said the “biggest driver” in recent jobs growth is health and social care, followed by hospitality.The agency also found that wages rose sharply, a development that may cause concern at the Bank of England, which is widely expected to raise interest rates once again next week. Source