The offense-starved Pirates finally made an aggressive offseason move, agreeing to acquire two-time All-Star second baseman Brandon Lowe from the Rays as part of a three-team trade that also includes the Astros, sources confirmed to ESPN.

WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike told ESPN on Friday that despite the union's strike authorization vote amid their current negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement, the WNBA players still want to play next season.

The basketball league will require teams to submit injury reports closer to tipoff, an attempt to close one source of inside information.

Ms. Stefanik, a Republican congresswoman and staunch ally of President Trump, abruptly ended her bid to unseat Gov. Kathy Hochul and said she would not seek another House term.

Workers hauled up large letters spelling out Mr. Trumps full name to add to the white marble face of the building on Friday morning.

The shift would mean fewer shots recommended for children. But a Danish health official found the idea baffling, saying the United States was getting crazier and crazier in public health.

To prevent ramming attacks at Christmas markets, German officials have installed concrete blocks, chain barriers and, in one case, metal bollards removed by a hand-cranked crane.

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Tulane coach Jon Sumrall mourned the death of his father Friday, a day before the Green Wave make their College Football Playoff debut against Ole Miss.

Part of the first generation of women ordained in America, she presided over the first bar mitzvah in Krakow, still scarred by the Holocaust, in decades. It did not go smoothly.

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani said he did not know about the antisemitic posts and would not have hired the woman who made them if he had.

A lower-court judge had invalidated the package, saying shareholders had not been properly informed about the plan. Fridays ruling means the pay deal, worth about $139 billion now, can proceed.

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Here's what every team will be wearing for the first round of the College Football Playoff.

Four campuses across the country were abuzz over the weekend as the College Football Playoff came to town.

The Los Angeles Dodgers will pay a record $169.4 million luxury tax after winning their second straight World Series title.

Lt. Gen. Francis L. Donovan, a Marine general with expansive experience in special operations and the Middle East, would take over after the abrupt departure of the previous commander.

American forces struck dozens of suspected ISIS sites, making good on President Trumps vow to avenge two American soldiers and a civilian U.S. interpreter killed by the group last week.

Hundreds of people had rallied for the family in New York City after they were separated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in November.

Also, investigators seek a motive in killings at Brown and M.I.T. Heres the latest at the end of Friday.

The examination confirmed that the suspect had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. His body was found late Thursday in a storage unit in New Hampshire.

Jake Paul faces the toughest test of his career Friday against former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua. Follow live.

The NBA is considering potential policy changes to address tanking, increase the frequency of injury reporting and restrict what sportsbooks offer, according to a memo sent to all teams Friday.

The bill, which lawmakers passed in June, will be modified to more closely match a similar law in California, at Big Techs urging.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash at a North Carolina airport, which killed seven people, including the driver Greg Biffle and his wife and children.

The G.O.P. congresswoman who ran as a moderate but became an ultra MAGA Trump acolyte ultimately found herself undermined by the president and politically adrift.

The Kennedy Center installed President Trumps name on the facade of the arts center, which had been designated as a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy.

The bill, which would ensure that every train has a conductor and a driver, as most now do, was supported by the transit workers union and opposed by many transit advocates.

President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth salute as carry teams move the transfer cases with the remains of Iowa National Guard soldiers Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown, Iowa, and Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, Iowa, and civilian interpreter Ayad Mansoor Sakat, who were killed in an attack in Syria, during a casualty return, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025 at Dover Air Force Base, Del. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)2025-12-19T22:31:47Z WASHINGTONThe (AP) The Trump administration launched military strikes Friday in Syria to eliminate Islamic State group fighters and weapons sites in retaliation for an ambush attack that killed two U.S. troops and an American civilian interpreter almost a week ago. A U.S. official described it as a large-scale strike that hit 70 targets in areas across central Syria that had IS infrastructure and weapons. Another U.S. official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive operations, said more strikes should be expected.This is not the beginning of a war it is a declaration of vengeance. The United States of America, under President Trumps leadership, will never hesitate and never relent to defend our people, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on social media.The new military operation in Syria comes even as the Trump administration has said its looking to focus closer to home in the Western Hemisphere, building up an armada in the Caribbean Sea as it targets alleged drug-smuggling boats and vowing to keep seizing sanctioned oil tankers as part of a pressure campaign on Venezuelas leader. The U.S. has shifted significant resources away from the Middle East to further those goals: Its most advanced aircraft carrier arrived in South American waters last month from the Mediterranean Sea. Trump vowed retaliationPresident Donald Trump pledged very serious retaliation after the shooting in the Syrian desert, for which he blamed IS. Those killed were among hundreds of U.S. troops deployed in eastern Syria as part of a coalition fighting the militant group. Trump in a social media post said the strikes were targeting IS strongholds. He reiterated his backing for Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, who Trump said was fully in support of the U.S. effort.Trump also offered an all-caps threat, warning IS against attacking American personnel again.All terrorists who are evil enough to attack Americans are hereby warned YOU WILL BE HIT HARDER THAN YOU HAVE EVER BEEN HIT BEFORE IF YOU, IN ANY WAY, ATTACK OR THREATEN THE U.S.A., the president added.The attack was conducted using F-15 Eagle jets, A-10 Thunderbolt ground attack aircraft and AH-64 Apache helicopters, the U.S. officials said. F-16 fighter jets from Jordan and HIMARS rocket artillery also were used, one official added.U.S. Central Command, which oversees the region, said in a social media post that American jets, helicopters and artillery employed more than 100 precision munitions on Syrian targets.How Syria has respondedThe attack was a major test for the warming ties between the United States and Syria since the ouster of autocratic leader Bashar Assad a year ago. Trump has stressed that Syria was fighting alongside U.S. troops and said al-Sharaa was extremely angry and disturbed by this attack, which came as the U.S. military is expanding its cooperation with Syrian security forces.Syrias foreign ministry in a statement on X following the launch of U.S. strikes said that last weeks attack underscores the urgent necessity of strengthening international cooperation to combat terrorism in all its forms and that Syria is committed to fighting ISIS and ensuring that it has no safe havens on Syrian territory and will continue to intensify military operations against it wherever it poses a threat. Syrian state television reported that the U.S. strikes hit targets in rural areas of Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa provinces and in the Jabal al-Amour area near the historic city of Palmyra. It said they targeted weapons storage sites and headquarters used by ISIS as launching points for its operations in the region.IS has not said it carried out the attack on the U.S. service members, but the group has claimed responsibility for two attacks on Syrian security forces since, one of which killed four Syrian soldiers in Idlib province. The group in its statements described al-Sharaas government and army as apostates. While al-Sharaa once led a group affiliated with al-Qaida, he has had a long-running enmity with IS. The Americans who were killedTrump this week met privately with the families of the slain Americans at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware before he joined top military officials and other dignitaries on the tarmac for the dignified transfer, a solemn and largely silent ritual honoring U.S. service members killed in action.The guardsmen killed in Syria last Saturday were Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown. Ayad Mansoor Sakat, of Macomb, Michigan, a U.S. civilian working as an interpreter, also was killed.The shooting near Palmyra also wounded three other U.S. troops as well as members of Syrias security forces, and the gunman was killed. The assailant had joined Syrias internal security forces as a base security guard two months ago and recently was reassigned because of suspicions that he might be affiliated with IS, Interior Ministry spokesperson Nour al-Din al-Baba has said.The man stormed a meeting between U.S. and Syrian security officials who were having lunch together and opened fire after clashing with Syrian guards.___Associated Press writer Abby Sewell in Beirut, Lebanon, contributed. AAMER MADHANI Madhani covers the White House for The Associated Press. He is based in Washington. twitter mailto

Blake Griffin, Candace Parker, Jamal Crawford, the 1996 U.S. Olympic women's basketball team, Bruce Pearl and Kelvin Sampson are among the first-time nominees for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

The secretary of state held a marathon news conference, offering little news but more respect for reporters than most others in the Trump administration.

How The Times is covering the latest release of Epstein files.

In a previously undisclosed partnership, the Transportation Security Administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement are sharing data to identify passengers on upcoming flights whom ICE can arrest. Our reporter Hamed Aleaziz, who learned of this partnership, describes what to know about it and the ICE arrests that have followed.

Our writers and photographers were on the ground to find out what makes the destinations on our annual list rise above the rest.

Whats the real cost of motherhood? Heres what our readers said.

Kings center Domantas Sabonis, who has not played since Nov. 16 due to a partial meniscus tear in his left knee, will miss four to five more weeks, the team announced.

Several victims said they were frustrated by the heavy redactions of photos and documents that the Justice Department released on Friday.

The leading Republican candidate for Ohio governor is calling out his party for rising intolerance, including against Indian American immigrants and their children, like him.

Starting on Feb. 1, Rome will charge tourists a fee to go down into the basin of the famed 18th-century fountain. Not every one is happy (except Romans, who wont have to pay).

Anderson Silva wobbled Tyron Woodley with a vicious uppercut before cruising to a stoppage victory in Round 2 of their boxing match Friday night in Miami.

Newly released files show how Maria Farmer, who worked for Mr. Epstein in the 1990s, had urged the F.B.I. to investigate him. The case went nowhere for years.

The Los Angeles Kings traded center Phillip Danault to the Montreal Canadiens on Friday, ending speculation about his future with the team.

Victor Wembanyama joined an exclusive club Friday night, becoming just the third NBA player to record a block in 100 consecutive regular-season games.

The incident Friday evening shut down the Montclair-Boonton Line in Montclair, N.J.

No one knows the true toll of the massacre, and the city remains isolated. Now, refugee camps in Chad are flooded with newly displaced Sudanese.

The alleged gunmen in the shooting, Sajid Akram, 50 and his son, Naveed Akram, 24, were from Bonnyrigg, a diverse, multilingual suburb miles from Sydneys Bondi Beach.