Cubs Rumors: Richard Bleier signs minor league deal with ChicagoThe Chicago Cubs' ongoing quest for additional arm support has brought MLB veteran Richard Bleier to the organization on a minor league contract, per Patrick Mooney of The Athletic. The 36-year-old is expected to suit up for Trip...

Lauren Hemp’s first-half strike was all it took for England to secure a vital 1-0 Nations League group-stage victory over Belgium in front of 28,321 at Leicester’s King Power Stadium. Belgium had entered the contest as Group A1 leaders but by the final whistle they had been knocked off the top spot by the Netherlands, while the Lionesses moved up to second place. The first of two October legs with the Red Flames also marked a return to England action for midfielder Fran Kirby, who came on as a substitute in the 65th minute after more than a year out due to a series of issues, including the knee injury and subsequent surgery that kept her out of contention for the World Cup. England need to finish top of the group to progress in the tournament, which also serves as a qualifier for next summer’s Paris Olympics. Both teams entered wearing black armbands in honour of England World Cup winner Sir Bobby Charlton, who died on Saturday morning. Niamh Charles – one of three changes for Sarina Wiegman – got herself involved early, linking up with Alex Greenwood before cutting into the penalty area, where a flurry of chances for the hosts ended with Chelsea defender Charles sending an effort over the crossbar. It was not long before the Lionesses were back on the prowl, Hemp forcing a quick one-handed reaction from Belgium goalkeeper Nicky Evrard, the ball bouncing threateningly loose from the one-handed stop but – to the relief of the visitors – away from any white shirts. The Red Flames finally broke free and won a corner, initially handled by England, but the ball remained inside the Lionesses’ half where it was quickly collected by Tessa Wullaert, who floated a cross into Justine Vanhaevermaet. The Everton midfielder connected and forced a save from Mary Earps, who spilled the stop and the ball clipped the post before she was able to cradle the rebound. England soon took the lead following a narrow miss from Millie Bright, who connected with Chloe Kelly’s corner and pinged a backwards header off the right post, but the ball took a favourable bounce into the path of Hemp, who turned it past Evrard with her left foot. Both sides had further first-half chances, with Earps forced into a precautionary dive when Wullaert’s effort deflected off Bright’s lower leg before Kassandra Missipo fired over. England missed an opportunity to make it two when Alessia Russo could not quite connect with Charles’ delivery across the face of goal and another late chance for the Arsenal summer signing landed squarely in Evrard’s arms for a simple stop. The Lionesses began the second half aggressively as Kelly’s cross deflected off Tine De Caigny in the area and into the path of Russo, who sent an effort over. Earps elicited a roar when she leapt to her left to deny substitute Sarah Wijnants, but while the hosts enjoyed double their opponents’ three attempts on target as the encounter entered its 70th minute, they still had just Hemp’s opener to show for it. Wiegman made two substitutions, swapping Russo for Rachel Daly and replacing Ella Toone with Kirby as England pushed for more, next through Greenwood, who aimed her free-kick for the top-right corner where it was tipped away by Evrard. The Lionesses survived a scramble in front of Earps and Wiegman made another change, bringing on Jess Park for Kelly as the 85th minute approached. England staged another late surge and perhaps should have scored more but – in the end – it was just Hemp who made it count. Read More Tyson Fury: Ngannou fight like Djokovic facing table tennis player at Wimbledon Matthew Mott wary of ‘raging favourites’ as England look to avoid further shame Pep Guardiola condemns Man City fans who sang offensive Sir Bobby Charlton chant Mikel Arteta calls for increased squad sizes as Arsenal suffer fresh injury blow ‘High chance’ Sandro Tonali plays for Newcastle this weekend despite 10-month ban Mike McMeeken’s move ‘out of comfort zone’ to Catalans earned England recall

Richemont reported higher first-quarter sales as a rebound in China outweighed a decline in the Americas. Sales rose

The typhoon that damaged homes and knocked out power on Okinawa and other Japanese islands this week is slowly moving west but is forecast to make a U-turn and dump even more rain on the archipelago

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Tilak Varma struck his first international half-century as India struggled to 152-7 after winning the toss and batting first in the second T20I against West...

MILAN, Italy--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 13, 2023--

Ukraine’s military claims its latest recapture of a key village in Bakhmut will act as a “springboard” for further offensive actions against Russia’s continuing invasion. Ukraine scored another victory recently when it recently recaptured village Klishchiivka that lies in the southern flank of Bakhmut, as its forces fought off Russian attempts to get back into the area. The war-torn country’s forces had last week also recaptured Andriivka, another village a few kilometres to the south of Klishchiivka, after earlier criticism alleged Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russian forces had slowed. Both settlements have been reduced to ghost towns and destroyed in the months of fighting for Bakhmut that had fallen into Russian hands in May this year. “Now we have gained a springboard for ourselves, which in the future will allow us to continue to develop offensive operations and liberate our land from the invaders,” Illia Yevlash, spokesperson for Ukraine’s troops in the east, said in a national telecast after they retook Klishchiivka. The battle inflicted “powerful damage” on many Russian-led units, he said. These included airborne units, the “Akhmat” battalion of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, Storm-Z military units comprising Russian criminals, the Russian General Staff’s military intelligence and motorised rifle units. Mr Yevlash said the recapture of Klishchiivka will help Ukraine fire deeper and precise strikes on Russian targets in the Donetsk region, several kilometres south of Bakhmut. “In addition, this exposure of the flanks, in particular the southern flank, will allow us to further move more conveniently into the depths of the enemy’s positions and deliver more accurate and deeper strikes using various artillery systems, FPV drones and other available weapons,” the official said. Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday lauded his troops. “Today I would like to particularly commend the soldiers who, step by step, are returning to Ukraine what belongs to it, namely in the area of Bakhmut,” Mr Zelensky said in his nightly address. He thanked the successful units – the 80th airborne assault brigade, the 5th assault brigade, the “glorious 95th” and a national police assault brigade – in the address. Mr Zelensky’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak said, “Ukraine always gets its own back”. Deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar confirmed the recapture on Sunday and posted a video of Ukrainian forces displaying the national flag on ruined buildings even as the fighting could be heard in the background. She said Russian forces were still trying to regain lost positions in the region despite losing out on the territorial fight over the control of the village. “Today we had to fight off enemy’s attacks all day,” she said. Klishchiivka had a pre-war population of around 400 and falls 9km south of Bakhmut. The country’s military analysts said liberation of settlements near Bakhmut will propel Ukraine’s forces to advance from the southern flank in the Bakhmut, and give them control of the heights in the region. The Institute for the Study of War cited geolocated footage shared by Ukrainian officials and said the recapture was of “strategic significance”. “The liberation of Klishchiivka, as well as continued Ukrainian tactical gains northwest of Bakhmut, are tactical gains of strategic significance because they are allowing Ukrainian forces to fix a considerable portion of Russian airborne (VDV) elements in the Bakhmut area,” the US based think-tank said. Meanwhile, explosions were heard in Sevastopol and smoke was seen rising from a prominent landmark just kilometres away from the Crimean city as Ukrainian forces announced they were carrying out a joint intelligence operation in the region illegally annexed by Russia in 2014. Read More New explosions at Sevastopol as Ukraine launches fresh drone strikes on Crimea Ukraine liberates village near Bakhmut amid Russian losses in east and south China's foreign minister Wang Yi heads to Moscow after meeting US national security adviser

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The mother of Tampa Bay’s Randy Arozarena joined her son on the field Tuesday to throw a ceremonial first pitch before the Rays opened their AL Wild Card Series against the Texas Rangers

The United States on Thursday denounced the scourge of human trafficking, calling out forced labor and the little-known but growing problem of boys and young...