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Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates meet in game 2 of series

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 22:59:53 GMT

Pittsburgh Pirates (34-31, first in the NL Central) vs. Chicago Cubs (29-37, fourth in the NL Central)Chicago; Wednesday, 8:05 p.m. EDTPITCHING PROBABLES: Pirates: TBD; Cubs: Drew Smyly (5-4, 3.52 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 61 strikeouts)BOTTOM LINE: The Chicago Cubs play the Pittsburgh Pirates with a 1-0 series lead.Chicago has a 29-37 record overall and a 16-16 record in home games. The Cubs rank ninth in the NL with 74 total home runs, averaging 1.1 per game.Pittsburgh is 34-31 overall and 16-15 in road games. The Pirates have a 24-8 record in games when they record eight or more hits.The teams meet Wednesday for the second time this season.TOP PERFORMERS: Patrick Wisdom leads Chicago with 14 home runs while slugging .473. Christopher Morel is 4-for-27 with two home runs and six RBI over the last 10 games.Jack Suwinski leads the Pirates with 15 home runs while slugging .557. Ke’Bryan Hayes is 19-for-41 with three doubles, a triple, two home runs and nine RBI over the past 10 games.LAS...

Workers are historically stressed out and disengaged

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 22:59:53 GMT

New York (CNN) — Bored at work? Annoyed with your boss? You’re not alone.A new Gallup poll released Tuesday revealed that workers around the world are historically stressed, disengaged with their work and increasingly fighting with their bosses. Gallup’s “State of the Global Workplace 2023” examined how “employees feel about their work and their lives, an important predictor of organizational resilience and performance.”Survey results revealed that 59% of workers are “quiet quitting,” i.e. are not engaged; and 18% are “loud quitting,” which is the act of being actively disengaged (but still employed). Gallup estimated that low engagement is costing the global economy nearly $9 trillion.Gallup asked employees what would make their jobs better, and the majority of responses — perhaps surprisingly — didn’t address pay and benefits, but rather issues such as more autonomy, clear goals and being recognized for their contributions.Stress at work is at a record-high level, according to Gal...

Get out ‘world’s smallest violin’ for Boris Johnson, says UK Labour

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 22:59:53 GMT

LONDON — The opposition Labour Party isn’t amused by a war of words between Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his predecessor-but-one Boris Johnson.The two Conservative politicians are locked in an escalating row over a bid by Johnson — who quit as an MP Friday with a blast at Sunak and a separate parliamentary probe into his conduct — to put his allies in the unelected House of Lords. Their feud centers on Johnson’s resignation honors list, which allows a departing prime minister to appoint people to the second chamber and gift them titles. The appointments, vetted by the House of Lords Appointments Commission (HOLAC), had to be cleared by the British prime minister.Sunak has claimed Johnson asked him to “do something that I wasn’t prepared to do” by defying the vetting committee — but the former PM has argued Sunak is “talking rubbish.” It’s the latest sign of bad blood between Johnson and Sunak, who was once Johnson’s top finance minis...

Saudi Arabia’s MBS to meet Macron in Paris

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 22:59:53 GMT

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will meet French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Friday, an Elysée official said Wednesday, without providing details on the goal of the visit.In a statement released earlier Wednesday, the Saudi Royal Court said bin Salman was on his way to France for an “official visit.” MBS will meet with Macron, participate in the Summit for a New Global Financial Pact held in Paris next week, and attend a reception in the French capital next Monday supporting Saudi Arabia’s candidacy to host the Expo 2030 world’s fair.Relations between Paris and Riyadh are strong. The two leaders met for a working dinner in Paris last July, as France and Europe sought to find alternative energy suppliers amid Russia’s war on Ukraine.The meeting sparked criticism from rights groups, as it took place during bin Salman’s first trip to Europe since the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the kingdom’...

Investigation underway after driver in pickup truck crashes into house in Quincy

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 22:59:53 GMT

Police are investigating after a driver in a pickup truck crashed into a utility pole before slamming into a home in Quincy.Officers responding to a reported crash on Lafayette Street around found debris in the roadway and a pickup truck against a house.Crews were working to repair structural damage early Wednesday morning.The cause of the crash remains under investigation.No additional information was immediately available.This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

Orioles closer Félix Bautista on pace to shatter strikeout records: ‘The stuff is pretty much unmatched’

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 22:59:53 GMT

With the way he’s dominated opposing hitters since he debuted in 2022, it’s hard not to have confidence when Félix Bautista jogs out of the Orioles’ bullpen for a save.That feeling, manager Brandon Hyde said, reminds him of one other pitcher he’s shared a uniform with. That same pitcher is the one whose strikeout record Bautista is chasing this season.With 64 punchouts in 31 innings, Bautista’s 18.6 strikeouts-per-nine-innings rate is on pace to shatter the record Aroldis Chapman set in 2014 with the Cincinnati Reds. Chapman struck out 17.7 batters per nine that season — the highest for any qualified starter or reliever — amid a stretch as perhaps the greatest strikeout pitcher in the history of the sport.But Bautista, in just his second major league season, could make history if he keeps up his unprecedented strikeout rate. With a triple-digit fastball, a filthy splitter and an imposing presence at 6-foot-8, Bautista is giving Hyde fla...

Silvio Berlusconi’s polarizing force in Italy remains strong as his funeral is held in Milan

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 22:59:53 GMT

MILAN (AP) — Silvio Berlusconi’s legacy — positive or negative — was being hotly debated among Italians as the nation prepared for a national day of mourning and a state funeral in Milan’s Gothic-era Duomo cathedral on Wednesday.Most Italians identify Berlusconi, a media mogul, soccer entrepreneur and three-time former premier, as the most influential figure in Italy over recent decades. But they remain sharply divided on whether his influence was for the better or worse. They are split over whether the three-time former premier merits all the fuss and ceremony.Berlusconi died at the age of 86 on Monday in a Milan hospital where he was being treated for chronic leukemia. His family held a private wake Tuesday at one of Berlusconi’s villas near Milan, the city where he made his billions as the head of a media empire before entering politics in 1994.Political opponents are questioning not only the decisions of Premier Giorgia Meloni’s government to hold a state funeral — an hono...

York police officer seriously injured after Canada Post truck strikes cruiser

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 22:59:53 GMT

A police officer is seriously injured after a crash involving a Canada Post truck near the Toronto and Markham border.Emergency crews responded to a collision on Steeles Avenue near Woodbine Avenue around 2:20 a.m. on Wednesday.Police tell CityNews a Canada Post truck struck a York Regional Police cruiser.A male officer, the lone occupant in the cruiser, was taken to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. No other injuries were reported.The Toronto Police Service’s collision unit will be investigating the circumstances surrounding the crash.Steeles was closed in both directions from Woodbine to Don Mills Road for the investigation.Road closure: Steeles Ave WB & EB at Hwy 404. Please avoid area and take alternate routes if possible. #AuroraOPP, @YRP & @TorontoPolice on scene. Updates to follow. ^nm https://t.co/iE8W2r9Onu— OPP Highway Safety Division (@OPP_HSD) June 14, 2023

18-year-old trainee accused of shooting 3 soldiers at firing range on Japanese army base, killing 2

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 22:59:53 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — An 18-year-old army trainee shot three fellow soldiers at a firing range on a Japanese army base Wednesday, killing two of them, officials said.The suspect was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder at the scene in Gifu prefecture in central Japan, police said. The suspect fired a rifle at the soldiers during a shooting exercise at the Hino Kihon firing range, police said. The Ground Self Defense Force, Japan’s army, confirmed that two of those wounded were later pronounced dead at a hospital.Army Chief of Staff Gen. Yasunori Morishita said the suspect joined the military in April and the three soldiers were assisting his shooting exercise as instructors. “An organization that handles weapons should never allow an incident like this to happen,” Morishita said at a news conference. “As head of the army, I take this very seriously.”Morishita said he has ordered a temporary suspension of exercises involving shooting and explosives across the country while the army inves...

Lebanese lawmakers fail in yet another attempt to elect president, end power vacuum

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 22:59:53 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanese lawmakers failed Wednesday in yet another attempt to elect a president and break a seven-month power vacuum that has roiled the tiny Mediterranean country.The session — the twelfth try to pick a president — broke down after the bloc led by the powerful political party and militant group Hezbollah withdrew following the first round of voting, breaking the quorum. Hezbollah’s preferred candidate, Sleiman Frangieh, the scion of a political family close to the ruling Assad family in Syria, trailed behind his main rival, Jihad Azour, a former finance minister and senior official with the International Monetary Fund, in the first round of voting.Azour, who is supported by the opposition to Hezbollah and some of its nominal allies, received 59 votes to 51 for Frangieh, while 18 lawmakers cast blank ballots, protest votes or voted for minority candidates. However, Azour failed to reach the two-thirds majority needed to win in the first round.The meeting came aft...