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Orioles hiring Braves bullpen coach Drew French as pitching coach

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:35:29 GMT

For the fourth time in his career, Drew French will succeed Chris Holt as a team’s pitching coach.The Orioles will hire French, the Atlanta Braves’ bullpen coach for the past three seasons, as their pitching coach, a source with direct knowledge of the team’s plans confirmed to The Baltimore Sun. Holt had been Baltimore’s pitching coach the previous three years in addition to serving as the organization’s director of pitching, but he will focus on the duties of the latter role going forward.As the pair of coaches climbed the Houston Astros’ minor league system, French, 39, replaced Holt, 54, as an affiliate’s pitching coach three straight seasons from 2016 to 2018. Holt spent 2018 as Houston’s minor league assistant pitching coordinator before joining the Orioles as their minor league pitching coordinator the next year. He was one of the organization’s first hires under executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias, a f...

American diplomat Henry Kissinger dies at 100

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:35:29 GMT

Former diplomat and presidential adviser Henry Kissinger died on Wednesday at the age of 100, his consulting firm announced Wednesday night. Kissinger died at his home in Connecticut, according to a statement from Kissinger Associates. Known for a sprawling career in national security and foreign policy, Kissinger served as national security adviser from 1969 to 1975 under President Nixon. While serving as security adviser, Nixon appointed him as the 56th Sectary of State, becoming the first person to ever serve as both secretary of state and national security adviser.He remained secretary of state under former President Ford, who then removed him from his role as national security adviser. Kissinger, born in 1923 as Heinz Alfred Kissinger, spent the beginning of his life in Germany before his family, who is Jewish, immigrated to the U.S. after the Nazis seized power. Once in the U.S., Kissinger changed his name to Henry. He went on to se...

Five things to know about Henry Kissinger, a dominant figure in global affairs in the 1970s

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:35:29 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who died Wednesday at age 100, exerted far-reaching influence on global affairs under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford between 1969 and 1977, earning both vilification and the Nobel Peace Prize. Here are five things to know about his life in government and beyond:HIS PORTFOLIOFor eight restless years — first as national security adviser, later as secretary of state, and for a time as both — Kissinger played a dominant role in foreign policy. He conducted the first “shuttle diplomacy” in the quest for Middle East peace. He used secret negotiations to restore ties between the United States and China. He initiated the Paris talks that ultimately provided a face-saving means to get the United States out of war in Vietnam. And he pursued detente with the Soviet Union that led to arms-control agreements.HIS BOSSKissinger’s power grew during the turmoil of the Watergate scandal, when the politically attuned diplomat took ...

Japan plans to suspend its own Osprey flights after a fatal US Air Force crash of the aircraft

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:35:29 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Japan plans to suspend its own Osprey flights after a U.S. Air Force Osprey based in Japan crashed into waters off the southern coast during a training mission, officials said Thursday. Tokyo has also asked the U.S. military to stop all Ospreys operating in Japan except for those searching for victims of crash.A senior Defense Ministry official, Taro Yamato, told a parliamentary hearing that Japan plans to suspend flights of Ospreys for the time being, but there were few other immediate details. A U.S. Air Force Osprey based in Japan crashed during a training mission Wednesday off of the country’s southern coast, killing at least one of the eight crew members.The cause of the crash and the status of the seven others on board were not immediately known, Japanese coast guard spokesperson Kazuo Ogawa said. The coast guard planned to continue searching through the night.The Osprey is a hybrid aircraft that takes off and lands like a helicopter, but during flight it can rota...

Henry Kissinger, secretary of state under Nixon and Ford, dead at 100

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:35:29 GMT

Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, the diplomat with the thick glasses and gravelly voice who dominated foreign policy as the United States extricated itself from Vietnam and broke down barriers with China, died Wednesday, his consulting firm said. He was 100 years old.With his gruff yet commanding presence and behind-the-scenes manipulation of power, Kissinger exerted uncommon influence on global affairs under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, earning both vilification and the Nobel Peace Prize.Decades later, his name still provoked impassioned debate over foreign policy landmarks long past.“No doubt my vanity was piqued,” Kissinger later wrote of his expanding influence. “But the dominant emotion was a premonition of catastrophe.”A Jew who fled Nazi Germany with his family in his teens, Kissinger in his later years cultivated the reputation of a respected statesman, giving speeches, offering advice to Republicans and Democrats alike and mana...

Toronto-area pianists, choreographers among Ontario performing arts award winners

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:35:29 GMT

TORONTO — A Métis playwright, a pianist who combines baroque and Middle Eastern music and a dance industry veteran are among the winners of this year’s Johanna Metcalf Performing Arts Prizes. The Metcalf Foundation awarded five Ontario artists $25,000 each, plus $10,000 for their selected proteges. The winners named at a Toronto ceremony include Métis playwright, actor and Toronto theatre director Keith Barker with protégé Chris Mejaki; and Brampton-born pianist and composer John Kameel Farah, with protégé Evan Pointner.Other Toronto-area winners include choreographer and dancer Natasha Powell, with her protégé Raoul Wilke; composer and music educator Suba Sankaran, with protégé Shirsha Chakraborty; and orchestra composer Roydon Tse, with protégé Sami Anguaya. The five winners, chosen from a list of 15 finalists, have all been producing and showing work for at least a decade. The remaining 10 finalists will each receive $2,000. Organizers say the prizes — dubbed “Johannas̶...

Leaked document says US is willing to build energy projects in case Snake River dams are breached

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:35:29 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — The U.S. government is willing to help build enough new clean energy projects in the Pacific Northwest to replace the hydropower generated by four controversial dams on the Snake River, according to a leaked Biden administration document that is giving hope to conservationists who have long sought the removal of the dams as a key to restoring depleted salmon runs.Still, Congress would have to agree before any of the Lower Snake River dams in Washington state are removed, and that’s unlikely to happen in the near future.The document is a draft agreement to uphold 168-year-old treaties with four tribes in the Pacific Northwest that preserved their right to harvest fish in the river, among other things. The Columbia River Basin was once the greatest salmon-producing river system in the world, with at least 16 stocks of salmon and steelhead, according to the document. But today, four are extinct and seven are listed under the Endangered Species Act. Conservationists...

Travis Kelce 'loves watching' Connor Bedard, wants to try out playing goalie at Blackhawks practice

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:35:29 GMT

Superstar tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs and Taylor Swift love interest Travis Kelce shared praise for the Chicago Blackhawks rookie sensation Connor Bedard Wednesday, and said he wouldn't mind lacing up some skates at a Blackhawks practice in the near future.On "New Heights," a podcast hosted by him and his his older brother, Philadelphia Eagles all-pro center Jason Kelce, the two were debating which football players they would choose for their personal starting fives if they were to take on a group of NHL players in a game of hockey. Jason Kelce mentioned he would take Tyreek Hill to play left wing just based purely on speed. Travis Kelce replied with, "we're assuming everyone can skate," and that's when the conversation took a tangent toward Chicago's young phenom.“This is like the rookie that the Blackhawks just got that I was talking about," Travis Kelce said. "Connor Bednar, or Bed-Bendard — I don’t even know how to say his last name. I just know I love watching that dud...

Man arrested after Naperville man found dead in Bolingbrook parking lot in 2022

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:35:29 GMT

BOLINGBROOK, Ill. -- U.S. Marshals have taken a Bolingbrook man into custody in connection to the shooting death of a 38-year-old Naperville man nearly one year later.According to the Bolingbrook Police Department, officers responded to the 600 block of West Boughton Road on reports of suspicious circumstances in a parking lot just after 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 6. 2022. ORIGINAL: Naperville man found shot to death inside car in Bolingbrook parking lot Upon arrival, authorities discovered 38-year-old Eric Stubblefield had been shot multiple times in a vehicle parked in the parking lot. He was pronounced dead at the scene.Sammy L. Gibson, 58, of Bolingbrook, was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals in Milwaukee in connection to the shooting death of Stubblefield on Tuesday, Nov. 21.Gibson faces two counts of first degree murder and one count of concealment of a homicide charges.

Austin FC pays $15K worth of groceries at H-E-B for families

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:35:29 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- It was a surprise for the Austin H-E-B shoppers when their grocery bills were fully paid for by members of Austin FC on Tuesday in north Austin."There are people, who especially this time of year, have a difficult time making ends meet and it's things like this we are able to take care of a $100, $200 or $300 grocery bill and it makes a big difference," said Andy Loughnane, Austin FC president. Austin FC paid for $15,000 worth of groceries at the H-E-B on North Lamar at Rundberg Lane. The head coach, sporting director and president were there to greet shoppers at the checkout. This is part of the Austin FC's Season of Giving, according to the team.Austin FC player Diego Fagúndez surprises H-E-B customers by paying for their groceries as part of a "Surprise and Delight" event hosted by Austin FC and H-E-B. (KXAN Photo/Ed Zavala) Austin FC coach Josh Wolff surprises H-E-B customers by paying for their groceries as part of a "Surprise and Delight" event hosted by Austi...