DALLAS (AP) — The Washington Nationals will have the No. 1 overall pick in the amateur draft next summer after winning the lottery in a drawing of ping-pong balls at the winter meetings Tuesday. Unlike last year, when the Nationals were ineligible after initially coming out with the top spot, they will get to make the first pick in July in Atlanta, the site of the All-Star Game. Washington was ineligible for a top-six pick last year because the collective bargaining agreement states a team that pays into the revenue-sharing plan cannot have a lottery selection in back-to-back years. The Nationals chose outfielder Dylan Crews with the No. 2 pick in 2023. The Los Angeles Angels have the second pick for next summer. Seattle, Colorado, St. Louis and Pittsburgh round out the top six. A weighted lottery among the 18 teams that failed to make the playoffs this season determined the order of picks for the third year in a row. The Nationals went in with a 10.2% chance, the fourth-best odds, for getting the No. 1 pick. Colorado and Miami, both 100-loss teams, had the best odds at 22.45%, ahead of the Angels at 17.96%. Miami instead ended up with the seventh pick. Seattle got the No. 3 overall pick after having a 0.53% chance to get the No. 1 pick, the second-worst odds among 16 eligible teams. The 121-loss Chicago White Sox, who had the most losses of any major league club since 1900, were not eligible for the draft lottery since they had one of the top six picks last year (No. 5) and is a team that pays into the revenue-sharing plan. The CBA also doesn’t allow teams that receive money in revenue sharing to have lottery picks three years in a row. That made the Athletics (69-93) ineligible for the lottery — they picked fourth last year after having the No. 6 selection in 2023. Chicago instead got the 10th pick, one spot ahead of Oakland — the highest possible positions for those two teams because of their recent lottery picks. AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLBHuman Rights Secretariat workers denounced that the government terminated the contracts of 400 staff members in December, jeopardizing the operation of several dictatorship memorial sites. The secretariat ended 2023 with over 1,000 workers but cuts continued throughout the year: the workforce is currently just under 800. This means that the recent layoffs have slashed the Secretariat staff by 50%. The justice ministry, the official body running the secretariat, ordered 2,500 layoffs across all dependencies. Paula Eugenia Donadio, a representative of state-workers union ATE, told the Herald that the layoffs endanger the functioning of dictatorship memorial sites run by the secretariat. The memorials are repurposed former clandestine detention centers that operated during the 1976-1983 military dictatorship. According to human rights organizations, these centers were instrumental in the forcible disappearance of over 30,000 people. The memorial sites in danger of closing are Automotores Orletti, Virrey Ceballos, El Olimpo, and Club Atlético (Buenos Aires City), Faro de la Memoria (Mar del Plata), and El Vesubio (Buenos Aires province). “If there are no workers to organize visits, or just open and close their doors, they are at risk of shutting down, as are all areas of the Human Rights Secretariat,” Donadío added. Donadío said that other functions of the Human Rights Secretariat are also at risk. Among other things, they assist victims of past and current human rights violations, give human rights training, run the National Memory Archive, are in charge of safeguarding documentation, and are in charge of the Haroldo Conti Cultural Center. The workers are organizing a symbolic hug on Friday, 5 p.m., to the building of the Human Rights Secretariat building, which functions at the ESMA, a dictatorship memorial site itself. Their goal is to “denounce and repudiate the dismantling of the policies of memory, truth and justice, and human rights policies” they claim Justice Minister Mariano Cúneo Libarona and Human Rights Secretary Alberto Baños have been carrying out. “Argentines are aware that this a step backward to places where we do not want to return, we believe that the Secretariat of Human Rights is part of the democratic construction of the country and that is also what we want to defend,” Donadío said. Ever since he was on the campaign trail, President Javier Milei has sought to undermine Argentina’s memory policies, which aim to commemorate and seek justice for victims of the country’s last dictatorship. He has called human rights violations committed during the dictatorship the result of “a war” and has questioned the number of 30,000 desaparecidos . Those comments quickly became state policy. Human rights organizations have warned that the government fired experts, spread denialist rhetoric, and flouted international commitments. On November 14, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights granted three hearings on the situation in Argentina, including one on memory, truth, and justice policies. In the hearing, Baños was dismissive towards Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo head Estela de Carlotto. He also claimed that the civilian team working on the Armed Forces’ archives dismantled them, calling the team a “group of vigilantes.” Baños said that the spirit of this administration is to guarantee “complete memory” — a phrase also used by denialist groups that support the so-called “two-demon theory,” a rhetorical device that equates the violence of the Armed Forces and left-wing armed groups.
Sensex ends marginally lower, Nifty settles below 23,750 The IT sector declined by 0.4%, with Infosys dropping 1.1%, making it the biggest drag on the Nifty 50. Financial indices also saw losses. Welcome to a brand-new episode of ET Market Watch! Your daily dose of market updates, stock movements, trends & more. This is your host Neha V Mahajan, Let's dive into it Top Highlights: Domestic Markets: Benchmark indices closed marginally lower due to declines in financial and IT stocks. Sensex: -67.30 points (-0.09%) at 78,472.87 Nifty 50: -25.80 points (-0.11%) at 23,727.65 Sectoral Performance: IT sector fell 0.4%, with Infosys down 1.1%, being the biggest Nifty 50 drag. Financial indices also slid: Nifty Financial Services: -0.2% Nifty Bank: -0.2% Nifty PSU: -0.6% Stock Spotlight: PG Electroplast gained over 1% after signing a manufacturing agreement with Whirlpool of India. Global Markets: MSCI Global Index rose 0.65%, aided by Wall Street gains. Chinese markets advanced over 1% following pro-active fiscal policy announcements. Nikkei 225 slipped 0.3%, Hang Seng added 1.1%, and Shanghai Composite rose 1.3%. Currency Watch: Indian Rupee hit an all-time low of 85.2075 against the U.S. Dollar, pressured by strong greenback demand. Dollar Index stood at 107.93 (+0.11%). Crude Oil: Brent crude gained 0.69% to $73.13 per barrel, supported by a positive short-term market outlook.Who Stays and Who Goes: The Game of Switching Sides
Another Dow Record Helps Make Week a WinnerQatar tribune New DELHI: The European Space Agency (ESA) has sent two small satellites into space from India, where they are to carry out a precise formation flight for the first time. The mission, known as Proba-3, is designed to provide insights into the outermost layer of the Sun’s atmosphere and to prepare for similar projects with multiple satellites in the future. One day later than originally planned, a launch vehicle from the Indian Space Research Organisation (IRSO) lifted off on Thursday from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on the south-eastern coast of India with the European satellites on board. The launch was successful, the ESA announced on the social media platform X, and the satellites have been placed in their intended orbit. (DPA) Copy 06/12/2024 10Qatar tribune Dhaka: A special court in Bangladesh has ordered a ban on the dissemination across media platforms and social networks of “hate speech” from ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, officials said on Thursday. A two-judge panel of the International Crimes Tribunal, led by Golam Mortuza Mozumder, issued the order following a prosecution request to prevent the spread of alleged hate speech by the ousted leader. The court also directed authorities to remove any such material already broadcast, and ensure that no further dissemination occurs, prosecutor Golam Monawar Hossain told reporters The South Asian country’s interim administration initiated legal proceedings through the tribunal against Hasina. (DPA) Copy 06/12/2024 10Texas defense backing up claim as nation's best heading into SEC title game against Georgia