As far as we know, Shohei Ohtani did not agree to a contract with the MLB team on Friday.

The most anticipated free agency in recent memory hit a fever pitch over the weekend, with MLB fans spending all day thinking Ohtani was going to land with the Toronto Blue Jays. A day of great confusion, full of misinformation and conflicting reports.

Fans and many MLB free agents have been waiting weeks to sign what is expected to be the largest contract in league history. The Blue Jays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Angels all reported They were supposed to be finalists earlier in the week, but they all came out of the winter meetings without a deal for Ohtani.

So fans amused themselves. Here’s our best attempt at assembling a timeline of how the day played out.

8:39 am ET: Ohtani’s decision has been announced as imminent

Friday’s mayhem didn’t happen without some priming, and that came courtesy of MLB Network reporter John Morosi.

Morosi tweeted Friday morning that Ohtani’s decision was imminent, and reports could come as soon as that day.

Some Visitors Friday marked the six-year anniversary of Ohtani’s decision to sign with the Los Angeles Angels in his first outing in the MLB, adding some weight to the idea that the day was special. At the very least, this decision reinforced the idea that Ohtani’s timeline might be similar.

Blue Jays fans start flight tracking

As many fans noticed on social media, after Morosi’s statement, the Blue Jays quickly became the team to follow A private plane It was scheduled to take off from John Wayne Airport near Anaheim that morning and land in Toronto that afternoon.

More than 4,000 people is said to have started to follow That public flight tracker is the most followed flight on FlightAware.

It’s familiar behavior to anyone who follows college football closely. In that game, coaches departing for other schools are often escorted from local airports and sometimes greeted by fans at their destinations.

9:42 am: An opera singer says Yusei Kikuchi has rented a sushi restaurant

This is where we hit the really silly season.

One account, purportedly from an opera singer, said Blue Jays starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi reserved an entire sushi restaurant near Rogers Center, almost as if he were planning a big event for the team.

The statement was completely unsubstantiated, but had the kind of specificity that makes you wonder why anyone would make it. Over 1,000 retweets were received as the day progressed.

1:53 p.m.: A veteran Dodgers reporter says it’s the Blue Jays

Ohtani-to-Toronto (SHOW-eh? SHOW-j?) is the point of no return. Random fan speculation is one thing, but JP Hoornstra is a veteran reporter who has covered the Dodgers for more than a decade and a half at a Southern California news team.

Now writing with Dodgers Nation, Hoornstra Ohtani announced that he chose the Blue JaysCiting “multiple sources”.

2:03 pm: Not so fast mate

It took about 10 minutes for someone to throw cold water on the report.

Sportsnet reporter Ben Nicholson-Smith tweeted a direct denial of Hoornstra and Morosi’s statements, saying Ohtani had not made a decision and there was no timeline for a decision. Nicholson-Smith reiterated that the Blue Jays were the finalists for the event.

ESPN Alton Gonzalez A few minutes later he reported the same.

At this point, it was hard not to see some playfulness here. Hoornstra could have been wrong, yes, but it appeared he was right and the Blue Jays and Ohtani were in full denial mode, as teams often prefer to contain the announcement when it’s as big as Ohtani’s.

4:01pm: Morosi says Ohtani is on his way to Toronto

A few hours later, when Morosi jumped back on the bandwagon saying Ohtani was headed to Toronto, but without a signed contract, there was renewed excitement.

It was at this point that misinformation really started to spread. Many Accounts Tweeted video with blue checkmarks saying Ohtani has arrived in Toronto Original poster He said he showed up at the airport in Anaheim. There was a Christmas tree in the background, but the video wasn’t Friday.

5:11 p.m.: Ohtani is not on his way to Toronto

No less than five reporters soon tweeted that Ohtani had not traveled to Canada and was staying in Southern California. USA TODAY’S BOB NIGHTENGALE, Athlete Jim Bowden, Nicholson-Smith, Jon Heyman of the New York Post And Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register.

It’s the full “Friends” finale: Ohtani isn’t on the plane.

5:54 pm: We have located the occupants of the plane

A funny little footnote came from CBC News’ Devin Heroux, who confirmed that his outlet’s photographer was at Toronto Pearson International Airport and that Ohtani was not a passenger on the widely followed private jet.

Instead, Canadian businessman Robert Herjavec, best known as the host of the television series “Shark Tank,” was hired. Yes indeed.

Herjavec at least had a sense of humor about the slow-motion accident around him, posting on Instagram that he would sign with the Blue Jays.

11:05 pm: Morosi apologizes

Morosi took a bow that day, apologizing for the “misinformation” that Ohtani was headed to Toronto. The tweet remains the same.

There’s a lot to learn on Friday — from the dangers of confirmation bias to the mechanics of flight tracking to the importance of waiting for multiple reliable sources. What we haven’t learned, at least for now, is where Ohtani will sign.

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UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States on Friday vetoed a United Nations resolution backed by all Security Council members and several countries that called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza. Supporters called it a terrible day and warned of more civilian deaths and destruction as the war entered its third month.

The United Kingdom abstained by a 13-1 vote in the 15-member House.

After the vote, US Ambassador Robert Wood criticized the council for failing to condemn the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, in which the militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, or acknowledging Israel’s right to self-defense. A halt to military action, he declared, would allow Hamas to continue to rule Gaza and “only sow the seeds for the next war.”

“Hamas does not want to see a lasting peace, it wants to see a two-state solution,” Wood said before the vote. “For that reason, while the United States strongly supports a lasting peace in which Israelis and Palestinians can live in peace and security, we do not support calls for an immediate ceasefire.”

of Israel Military campaign It killed more than 17,400 people in Gaza – 70% of them women and children – and injured more than 46,000, according to the Palestinian Authority’s health ministry, with many more trapped in the rubble. The ministry does not differentiate between civilian and militant deaths.

The foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey were all in Washington on Friday in a futile attempt to pressure the Biden administration to drop its opposition to the ceasefire. But their meeting with Foreign Secretary Antony Blinken took place after the UN referendum.

UAE Deputy Ambassador Mohammed Abu Shahab said the resolution, presented by his country before the vote, had gained nearly 100 co-sponsors in less than 24 hours, a reflection of global support for ending the war and saving Palestinian lives.

After the vote, he expressed deep disappointment at the US veto and warned that the Security Council, isolated from its mandate to ensure international peace and security, “appears disorganized”.

“If we can’t unite behind the call to end the relentless bombardment of Gaza, what message are we sending to the Palestinians?” asked Abu Shahab. “And what message are we sending to the public around the world who may find themselves in similar situations, really?”

Russia’s deputy UN ambassador Dmitry Polyansky called the referendum “one of the darkest days in the history of the Middle East” and accused the US of “executing thousands. Women and children.”

He said “history will judge Washington’s actions” in the face of what he called “merciless Israeli bloodshed.”

The council called an emergency meeting to hear from Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Section 99 was invoked The UN Charter enables the UN President to raise threats he sees to international peace and security. He warned “Humanitarian Disaster” in Gaza and urged the Council to call for a humanitarian ceasefire.

Guterres raised Article 99 – It has not been used at the UN since 1971 – because “there is a high risk of a total collapse of the humanitarian support system in Gaza.” The UN expects this to “completely disrupt public order and increase pressure for mass displacement into Egypt”.

Gaza is at “breaking point,” and a desperate population is at risk of starvation.

Guterres said the atrocities committed by Hamas against Israelis on October 7 “can never justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people”.

“While Hamas’s indiscriminate rocket attacks on Israel, and its use of civilians as human shields, violate the laws of war, such conduct does not absolve Israel of its own violations,” he stressed.

The UN chief described the “humanitarian nightmare” facing Gaza, citing intense, widespread and ongoing Israeli attacks from the air, land and sea that have reportedly hit 339 educational facilities, 26 hospitals, 56 health care facilities, 88 mosques and three churches.

Guterres said 60% of Gaza’s homes have been destroyed or damaged, about 85% of the population has been displaced, the health system is collapsing, and “nowhere in Gaza is safe.”

Palestine UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour told the council that Israel’s aim was “ethnic cleansing of the Gaza Strip” and “expulsion and forced displacement of the Palestinian people”.

“If you are against the destruction and displacement of the Palestinian people, you must be in favor of an immediate ceasefire,” Mansour said. “When you refuse to call for a ceasefire, you refuse to call for the only thing that can put an end to war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.”

Israel’s UN ambassador, Gilad Erdan, insisted that regional stability and the security of Israelis and Gazans “can only be achieved if Hamas is eliminated – not a minute earlier.”

“So the only real path to ensuring peace lies in supporting Israel’s mission – not calling for an absolute ceasefire,” he told the council. “Israel dedicated itself to eliminating Hamas’s capabilities for the sole reason that such atrocities would never happen again. And unless Hamas is destroyed, such atrocities will continue.

In Washington, Jordan’s top diplomat told reporters that Israel’s bombing and killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza are war crimes and threaten to destabilize the region, the United States and the world for years to come.

“If people don’t see it here, we see it,” Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi added: “We see the challenges of talking to our people. Everyone says we’re not doing anything because despite all our efforts, Israel continues these massacres.

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Associated Press writers Ellen Knickmeyer and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed.

Whenever the Steelers hit a rough patch, a portion of the team’s fan base begins clamoring for a coaching change. Amidst the team’s current struggles, will take place Home losses that make history Against two winning teams, the noise is back.

And it’s probably louder than ever.

Will the Steelers move on from Mike Tomlin? With three coaches since 1969, it just wasn’t their way. With no losing seasons in his first 16 years on the job, it’s unthinkable to expect the Steelers to fire Tomlin if they miss the playoffs and fail to finish .500 or better.

That doesn’t mean it’s not time for a change. It begs the question whether Tomlin thinks it’s time to leave. He has one year left on his contract. He could end it and become a free agent; That’s something few NFL coaches ever do. He could resign, sit out a year, and come back to a new team in 2025 (with compensation to Pittsburgh).

Or the Steelers could trade Tomlin after the upcoming season.

At a time when there is plenty of speculation about whether another team will try to hire Patriots coach Bill Belichick (with or without a loss), why not call the Steelers about Tomlin?

Between the two coaches, Tomlin would be the more desirable. He’s 20 years younger, which means he’ll be a coach longer than Belichick.

And Tomlin has done well. Of course, it’s been 15 years since his only Super Bowl win. Yes, the Steelers haven’t won a playoff game since 2016. However, many teams have done worse than the Steelers over the last 17 years.

Continued relevance is more important to franchises than a once-in-a-generation Super Bowl run. Each year competing teams sell all their tickets – and they see those tickets actually get used. That means overpriced drinks, hot dogs and other items on game day. More prime time games. And, as a result, a lot of money.

Check out the teams looking for new coaches. Think what Tomlin could do for the Generals, Chargers, Bears or Buccaneers.

Again, this isn’t about whether the Steelers will fire him. It’s about whether Tomlin will be ready and willing to step up. And whether the Steelers will make a reasonable demand for compensation is a question of whether Tomlin will have another year of coaching before he has the ability to go anywhere as a rare NFL commodity.

A head coaching free agent.

A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from the West Coast with another batch of satellites for SpaceX’s Starlink network Friday at 12:03 a.m. PST (3:03 a.m. EST / 0803 UTC).

The Starlink 7-8 mission launched from Space Launch Complex 4E at the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, launched in a southeasterly direction, and aimed for an orbit of 183×178 mi (295×286 km), inclined at 53 degrees to the equator. SpaceX’s webcast ran into technical problems and the liftoff didn’t show. It was six days, 13 hours, 43 minutes and 57 seconds since the last launch from SLC-4E, marking the fastest turnaround for SpaceX’s West Coast launch pad, beating the previous record set on Oct. 29, 2023, by nearly 36 hours.

The first stage booster, making its 13th flight, previously launched NROL-87, NROL-85, Sara-1, SWOT, Transporter-8, Transporter-9 missions. And six previous Starlink delivery missions. After completing its burn, the first stage landed on the drone ship ‘Of Course I Still Love You’, parked about 400 miles downstream (644 km) in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California.

SpaceX confirmed in a social media post that the deployment of the 22 Starlink satellites would occur an hour after the launch. This is the 40th release of the V2 Mini Starlink model since its launch earlier this year. This new version is much larger than the previous V1.5 satellites and features improved antennas and larger solar panels, and is capable of delivering four times more bandwidth.

SpaceX recently announced earlier this year that it has signed up more than two million subscribers in more than 60 countries for its Starlink Internet service. Ahead of Friday’s Starlink 7-8 mission, it had launched 5,559 satellites, according to figures compiled by Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Space Flight Database. Of these, 5,186 satellites are in orbit and 5,147 appear to be working normally.

Rep. Jamal Bowman, DNY., voted Thursday to pull the fire alarm in a congressional building while the House was in session in September to consider a vote to fund the government.

The 214 to 191 vote was largely along party lines, with Democratic Reps. Chris Pappas of New Hampshire, Jahana Hayes of Connecticut and Mary Klusenkamp Perez of Washington voting yes, along with other Republicans.

Democratic Reps. Glenn Ivey of Maryland, Susan Wild and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, Deborah Rose of North Carolina and Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland, Republican, voted against it.

Representative. Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., on Tuesday introduced a privilege motion to censure Bowman. The House on Wednesday rejected a Democratic motion to kill McClain’s resolution in a party-line vote of 201 to 216.

Bowman admitted to pulling the alarm when Republican lawmakers tried to vote on the spending measure in the Cannon House office building in September. He said in a statement after the incident that he had accidentally set off the alarm when he saw a door that was normally open for votes but would not be open that day.

Bowman pleaded guilty in October to improperly pulling a fire alarm. Under a deferred prosecution agreement, he was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and apologize to the U.S. Capitol police chief, after which prosecutors would drop the pending charges of violating the statute.

Former Rep. George Santos, R.N.Y., had introduced a resolution to expel Bowman last week, but Santos himself was expelled from the House before the resolution could come to a vote.

Republicans have accused Bowman of trying to delay a government funding vote by pulling the trigger. In September, then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., called for Bowman to be punished and compared the incident to the Capitol riots on Jan. 6, 2021.

McCarthy was quoted as saying “when other people came in they wanted to change how they were treated and what was going on in the building.”

But Bowman said his actions were accidental.

“I want to be very clear that this was not me, in any way, trying to delay any vote. It was the opposite — I was trying to rush the vote, which I eventually did and joined my colleagues in a bipartisan effort to keep our government open,” he said in a statement at the time. .

“I’m ashamed to admit that I activated the fire alarm, mistakenly thinking it would open the door,” he added. “I regret this and apologize for the confusion this has caused.”

A partisan clash between Senate Republicans and Democrats over border policy is threatening efforts to send badly needed foreign aid to key U.S. allies as time and money run out for Ukraine.

Senate negotiators vowed to continue trying to reach a deal after Republicans blocked an advance on foreign aid Wednesday evening, protesting the package’s lack of changes to border and immigration policy. As the 2023 congressional calendar draws to a close, the impasse among negotiators has taken on a renewed sense of urgency.

The Senate has been struggling for weeks as it ties immigration and border security policy — one of Congress’s historically most divisive issues — to a legislative package to send aid to key U.S. allies, Israel and Ukraine. Republicans’ insistence on changes to border policy has led to heightened tension on Capitol Hill, turning into a closed-door showdown earlier this week.

Lawmakers are only in session next week before they break for a weeklong vacation, but senators have already called for them to stay on vacation until a deal is reached.

“If I had to be here on Christmas Day, I would be here,” Sen. Joan Tester, Democrat of Montana, told reporters ahead of the failed vote, explaining that the bill was too important to reach the deal she had been pushing for. Compromise is required on both sides.

The lead Republican on the border talks, Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, has vowed to continue to try and negotiate a path forward on border policy, even as several senators in the leadership and caucus have signaled that it may not end before they do. of the year.

“This is not the end,” Lankford said from the Senate floor after the vote to advance the foreign aid package failed.

The actual vote tally was 49 to 51, short of the 60-vote threshold to proceed. At the end of the vote, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer changed his vote to “no” — a procedural step that would allow the measure to be brought back in the future.

Schumer said Wednesday represented a “sad night” after the failed vote, but added that Democrats are “committed to working very hard to find a solution to this impasse.”

Republicans have insisted on tying up foreign aid Along with major border security policy changes. A consensus was negotiated, but no bilateral agreement was reached on the contentious issue.

The standoff comes amid Israel’s war against Hamas and Ukraine’s war against Russian aggression. White House Gave a stern warning Funds for Ukraine ran out earlier this week and failure to secure an agreement to approve aid would present significant national security risks.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said ahead of the vote that Republicans would block the bill when it comes up for consideration because they believe it does not adequately address border security.

“Senate Republicans are going to refuse to shut down a bill that seriously ignores America’s key national security priorities. As we have said for weeks, legislation that does not include policy changes to secure our borders will not pass the Senate,” he said on the Senate floor.

Schumer has accused Republicans of being “hostages” because the path to aid for Ukraine and Israel is unclear.

Schumer warned on Tuesday that “those who think that without more help from Congress, Ukraine will collapse, democracy in Europe will suffer, and Vladimir Putin will stop in Ukraine, history’s clear and unambiguous warnings are willfully ignored.”

Republican senators have warned they are on track to go into recess without passing the amendment, a clear message to their Democratic colleagues who they say are not paying enough attention to border security.

Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn told CNN, “It’s becoming more and more clear that we can’t send a supplemental course, and I think that’s terrible.

“If I were a betting man, I’d say right now that unless we’re here at the end, I don’t know how you’re going to land this before the holidays. But we’ll see,” said Senate GOP Whip John Thune. “Maybe all of a sudden, there’s a convergence of views about the need to do this.”

President Joe Biden made an urgent call for Congress to provide aid for Ukraine in an impassioned speech Wednesday.

“Make no mistake: today’s vote will be remembered for a long time. Also, history is going to judge those who turned their backs on the freedom struggle. “Putin cannot be allowed to win,” Biden said.

Senate Democrats have released a legislative text for a $110 billion defense assistance package, which includes funding for Israel and Ukraine and humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza. The bill contains border security provisions, but no bilateral agreement has been reached on the issue.

In November, the GOP controlled the House A bill was passed $14.3 billion in aid to Israel. Democrats, however, took issue with the bill over enacting funding cuts to the Internal Revenue Service and the fact that it did not include aid to Ukraine.

Speaker Mike Johnson has also emphasized the importance of border security. “Any national security package must start with the security of our own border,” he told a news conference on Tuesday.

Johnson blamed Democrats for failing a Senate procedural vote on aid to Israel and Ukraine because they did not comply with the GOP’s demands on the border, a vote that showed they needed to come to the table to find a solution.

“Now that Senator Schumer has demonstrated that there is insufficient support for his partisan approach, House Republicans are reiterating what we have said: Any additional national security legislation must protect our own border,” Johnson said in a statement. “The American people deserve nothing less.”

This story and topic have been updated with additional improvements.

CNN’s Haley Talbot and Betsy Klein contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON — Rep. Kevin McCarthy, who became the first speaker to be ousted from office midway through a congressional term, announced Wednesday that he will resign at the end of this month.

His departure is a blow to his successor, Speaker Mike Johnson, and House Republicans, further reducing an already narrow GOP majority and making it even more challenging to pass legislation in 2024.

“Regardless of odds or personal costs, we did the right thing. That may seem unusual in Washington these days, but delivering results for the American people is still celebrated across the country,” McCarthy, R-Calif., wrote. A op-ed In The Wall Street Journal.

“I have decided to leave the church at the end of this year to serve in new ways in America. I know my work has just begun,” he said.

“I will continue to recruit our nation’s best and brightest to run for elected office,” McCarthy added. “The Republican Party is expanding every day, and I am committed to offering my experience to support the next generation of leaders.”

According to McCarthy’s timeline, he will leave before a Feb. 13 special election to replace ousted Rep. Jorge Santos and cut the Republican majority to 220 members to 213 Democrats. That means House Republicans are just three votes away from having to pass Democratic-backed measures.

McCarthy linked his retirement announcement with a video on X.

“I sit here today having served as your whip, as your leader, and as the 55th Speaker of the House,” he says in the video, citing a list of accomplishments he’s proud of. “We ran our government and paid our troops when wars broke out all over the world. … I have faith in this country.”

“Now, it’s time to pursue my passion in a new arena,” McCarthy said, without elaborating on his next move.

McCarthy was ousted as speaker on October 3, and a contentious contest ensued to replace him. Representative. Matt Gates, R-Fla. Led by eight Republican rebels, the Speaker was forced out for the first time in history. Later that night, McCarthy said he feared “the institution will fall today” and that he had made a mistake in helping elect some of those eight GOP lawmakers.

Some McCarthy allies warned that House vacancies could spell trouble for Republicans in the new year.

“Congratulations on the Freedom Caucus for one and 105 delegates kicking out our own for another,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, R-Ga., said In X. “I promise the Republican voters didn’t give us the majority to crash the ship. I hope no one dies.”

McCarthy’s departure has been long-awaited since his ouster, although his decision to leave before the end of his term will create new headaches for his party.

He represents a solidly Republican district in Bakersfield, California, that his party is likely to capture when it goes before voters again.