Latest news with #Japa
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Shohei Ohtani's 22-pitch BP session — that included a 97 mph offering — created a buzz: 'The stuff is there'
NEW YORK — At 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Shohei Ohtani climbed a big league hill for the first time in 614 days. It wasn't in front of a sold-out crowd. The Citi Field gates hadn't even opened. There were no fielders. The catcher called balls and strikes. His opponents were a pair of rookie teammates and a member of the Dodgers coaching staff who hadn't faced professional pitching in nine years. Officially, it was just a live batting practice session, a low-stakes environment for a recovering pitcher to ease back into competition. But because it was Ohtani, the session morphed into a can't-miss event. That it was the three-time MVP's first time pitching against hitters since his second career reconstructive elbow surgery, only added to the anticipation. 'You know, I've gotten so used to seeing him as a hitter,' Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters afterward. 'And so to see him on the mound just solely as a pitcher, it was different. And certainly exciting for all of us.' As Ohtani readied to throw, a gaggle of his teammates assembled together behind a protective net set up near home plate. Dozens more Dodger players, coaches and team employees watched from the dirt track in foul territory down the third-base line. Across the diamond, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza and a handful of his players followed along from the home dugout. Media members, television cameras and photographers dotted the otherwise empty stands, jostling for the best possible view of the show. Only with Ohtani does the mundane feel so momentous. 'It was pretty cool,' Dodgers rookie catcher Dalton Rushing, who struck out in his one at-bat against Ohtani, opined afterward. 'You come out here and you basically have the whole clubhouse sitting here watching him off the mound. It's been a big topic around baseball. Everyone wants to see his first live BP. Glad I could give the people what they wanted to see.' Ohtani threw 22 pitches across five different at-bats. The velocity clocked in at 94-95 miles per hour, although it reached as high as 97, according to pitching coach Mark Prior. Ohtani called upon his entire arsenal: fastball, sinker, cutter, sweeper, splitter. Rookie infielder Hyeseong Kim made solid contact twice, including a firm comebacker into Ohtani's glove on the first plate appearance. Rushing received just one at-bat, a strikeout during which he swung through a dastardly breaking ball. 'The stuff is there,' Prior ensured. Shohei's reactions during live BP. 😂 — Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 25, 2025 Dodgers game-planning coach JT Watkins also took two at-bats, adding a touch of levity. Since Ohtani wasn't comfortable facing any of his right-handed hitting teammates at this stage, Watkins, who played minor league ball with the Red Sox, volunteered to stand in. He punched out in his first at-bat, before drawing a walk in his second, much to the delight of the Dodgers assembled. Through it all, Ohtani looked notably at ease. So often the Japanese superstar attacks his craft with an unmistakable seriousness, a fierce intensity. And while he took a deep breath before each pitch, re-calibrating his focus, Ohtani was particularly expressive between his offerings. Happy, borderline giddy, about being back on a mound. Despite this milestone moment, the path forward, for this singular force, remains murky. Asked what would happen next, Prior was understandably vague. 'He's gonna DH tonight, and we're gonna go from there," Prior said. "And then he's gonna play tomorrow. He's gonna DH tomorrow, and we'll go from there, you know?' The stressors and hurdles Ohtani faces in his rehab process are unlike any other player in MLB history. Nobody else has ever attempted to return from elbow surgery while simultaneously providing elite production as a hitter. Ohtani reminded everyone of that outrageous reality a few hours after his bullpen session, when he cranked the second pitch of the evening 411 feet for an upper deck moonshot off Mets starter Kodai Senga. It was the Dodgers' lone run in Sunday's 3-1 defeat. SECOND PITCH OF THE GAME? HELLO, SHOHEI. — Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 25, 2025 The reigning MVP is hitting .295/.388/.638 with 18 home runs and 11 steals. Last season, his first as a full-time DH, Ohtani became the first player to blast at least 50 homers and steal at least 50 bags. For a Dodgers team operating with thinner margins than expected, Ohtani's pitching timetable has taken on added importance. But while his pitching would be a welcome boon for a staff depleted by injury, his offense is downright indispensable. The Dodgers have slow-played Ohtani's return to pitching, in large part because they need him to continue hitting. This baseball behemoth has and can withstand a lot; a sustained period without one of the game's most dynamic bats would be a stress test they'd rather avoid. That's what makes the on-mound comeback precarious. The fourth pitch he threw on Sunday was a firm comebacker off Kim's bat that Ohtani coolly snared. It wasn't hit hard enough to be described as dangerous, but the suddenness of the play served as a subtle reminder: The road ahead carries real risk. But only Ohtani could even dare to walk it.
News18
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- News18
Virat Kohli's Comment Goes Viral Post Vrindavan Trip With Anushka: 'Do I Look Pooja-Path Types?'
Last Updated: Virat Kohli's old 'Do I look pooja-path types?' quip resurfaces as he visits Vrindavan with Anushka Sharma after Test retirement. Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma recently made a serene trip to Vrindavan, just a day after the former India captain announced his retirement from Test cricket. The couple visited spiritual guru Premanand Ji Maharaj in a moment that many fans interpreted as symbolic. Amid this visit, a throwback of Kohli's humorous 2016 quote, 'Do I look the pooja-path types?", has resurfaced online and is gaining traction once again. The comment, originally made at a T20 World Cup press conference, was in response to a light-hearted question from a journalist about whether he resorted to prayer during high-pressure moments. The viral moment is especially striking now, as Kohli has become increasingly vocal about his spiritual practices in recent years. He, along with Anushka, has made several spiritual visits across the country from Ujjain's Mahakaleshwar Temple to Neem Karoli Baba's ashram in Uttarakhand. In the video shared by ANI from Vrindavan, the duo is seen arriving in a local taxi, dressed modestly and wearing face masks, clearly attempting to keep a low profile. While at Premanand Ji Maharaj's ashram, Kohli was also spotted holding a digital Japa counter, a device used for mantra chanting. The contrast between Kohli's earlier public persona and his present self has not gone unnoticed. In that same 2016 press conference, Kohli had acknowledged his growth: 'When I started, a lot about me was wrong… I was the tattoo guy, the one who wore stylish clothes… I make sure I do all the hard work and hope it pays off one day." Anushka too, has often addressed their low-key approach to fame. In an earlier interview with Anupama Chopra, she said, 'We are very awkward with the fame we have. We don't embrace the fame and the stardom." First Published: May 16, 2025, 03:05 IST
Business Times
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Business Times
Joseph Nye, who coined ‘soft power', dies at 88
[WASHINGTON] Joseph Nye, a versatile and influential political scientist and US policymaker who coined the term 'soft power,' a concept of nations gaining dominance through attractiveness now scoffed at by US President Donald Trump, has died, Harvard University announced on Wednesday (May 7). He was 88. Nye, who died on Tuesday, first joined Harvard's faculty in 1964 and served as dean of the Harvard Kennedy School as well as in positions under presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. The author of 14 books and more than 200 journal articles, the neo-liberal thinker studied topics as varied as arms control and pan-Africanism but became best known for developing the term 'soft power' in the late 1980s. As opposed to hard power, such as weapons and economic sanctions, soft power includes values and culture that can win over others. 'Soft power – getting others to want the outcomes that you want – co-opts people rather than coerces them,' Nye wrote in a 2004 book on the topic. Among other examples, he pointed to growing US influence in Latin America when Franklin Roosevelt instituted a 'good neighbour policy' and, conversely, how the Soviet Union lost Eastern Europe through brutality even as Moscow's hard power grew. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Friday, 2 pm Lifestyle Our picks of the latest dining, travel and leisure options to treat yourself. Sign Up Sign Up Trump, since returning to office in January, has sharply reduced US soft power, including through dismantling foreign assistance and cracking down on international students, and has sought to ramp up military spending. In responses to AFP in February about how he saw Trump's second term, Nye wrote: 'Trump does not really understand power. He only thinks in terms of coercion and payment.' 'He mistakes short-term results for long-term effects. Hard coercive power (such as a threat of tariffs) may work in the short term while creating incentives for others to reduce their reliance on the US in the longer term,' he wrote to AFP by e-mail. 'Our success over the past eight decades has also been based on attractiveness.' But he said that US soft power had seen cycles in the past, pointing to the unpopularity of the United States during the Vietnam War. 'We will probably recover somewhat after Trump, but he has damaged trust in the US,' he wrote. Nuclear thinker Nye acknowledged the limitations of soft power alone. In his book, he wrote: 'Excellent wines and cheese do not guarantee attraction to France, nor does the popularity of Pokemon games assure that Japan will get the policy outcomes it wishes.' Nye was considered a possible national security advisor if John Kerry won the White House in 2004. He was also particularly active on Japan, where former president Barack Obama considered appointing him ambassador. Always attentive to soft power, Nye took to the opinion pages of The New York Times in 2010 to criticise some in the Obama administration for seeking to play 'hardball' with a new, inexperienced Japanese government over base relocation, calling for a 'more patient and strategic approach' to the longtime US ally. Much of Nye's time in government was focused on nuclear policy. He argued that the risk of nuclear weapons could have deterred major powers from entering World War I – but that the spread of nuclear weapons since the end of the Cold War posed new dangers. 'He was proudest of having contributed both intellectually... and practically (in the Carter and Clinton administrations) to preventing nuclear war,' fellow Harvard scholar Graham Allison said. AFP
Zawya
11-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Zawya
Nigeria set to develop Diaspora City, attract foreign investors —Musawa
The Federal Government has launched the Motherland Africa 2025 Carnival to position Nigeria as a hub for African culture, investment, and tourism. Speaking at the event in Abuja, Minister of Arts, Culture, and Creative Economy, Barrister Hannatu Musa Musawa, emphasized the administration's commitment to attracting Nigerians in the diaspora, encouraging foreign investment, and curbing the 'Japa syndrome.' Musawa highlighted plans to develop Diaspora City as part of a broader strategy, Destination 2030: Nigeria Everywhere, aimed at leveraging Nigeria's rich heritage and economic potential for global engagement. She described the carnival as a catalyst for sustained connections between the diaspora, investors, and travelers, fostering deeper ties with Nigeria's dynamic experiences. The Minister also announced the 'See Motherland Through Your Eyes' competition, inviting participants to showcase Nigeria's landscapes, communities, and traditions through visual storytelling. She called on government agencies, ministries, and private sector partners to collaborate in shaping Nigeria's tourism and investment landscape, emphasizing that the initiative provides a strategic platform for long-term partnerships to drive economic growth and enhance global cultural exchange. Managing Director of Discover Motherland Africa, Mrs. Chidimma Nwankwo, described the initiative as a transformative movement reconnecting the Nigerian diaspora to their roots while unlocking cultural pride and investment opportunities. She urged the global diaspora to experience Nigeria not just as visitors but as active participants in a redefined vision of tourism. The initiative features cultural exchanges, business exhibitions, a travel hub, a citizenship-by-investment program, and a closing concert celebrating music and heritage.
