Author: THE CONNECTING NEWSPAPER

The Tampa Bay Rays need a temporary home for the 2025 season, and a division rival is going to help them out.  Tropicana Field, the Rays’ regular home stadium, was heavily damaged last month by Hurricane Milton and will not be ready until the 2026 season.  The temporary solution — Steinbrenner Field in Tampa Bay, the spring training home of the New York Yankees.  Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner released a statement on the agreement on Thursday afternoon. As far as temporary solutions go, it is probably as good as the Rays and their fans could have possibly hoped for because…

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The late season storm is forecast to bring heavy rains to flood-prone Central America before moving east towards the US.A new tropical storm in the Caribbean is threatening to bring life-threatening rains to Central America before heading to Mexico and the United States as tropical storm warnings have been issued. The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) on Thursday forecast “potentially catastrophic flash flooding and mudslides” in Honduras over the next few days. Tropical Storm Sara was about 85km (50 miles) from the east coast of Nicaragua and Honduras on Thursday with maximum sustained winds of 65km/h (40mph), just below tropical…

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A fire on the roof of a 44-story luxury apartment building sent plumes of dark smoke into the New York City skyline on Thursday. The fire in the Hudson Yards mixed-use development on Manhattan’s west side was first reported at about 11:30 a.m., the city fire department said. It was declared under control about 40 minutes later. About 80 firefighters responded to the blaze. There were no reports of injuries, a fire department spokesperson said. The fire was on the rooftop of a luxury apartment tower on Tenth Avenue and West 36th Street called The Set, where an unfurnished one-bedroom apartment rents…

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Over 1 million registered voters cast their ballots at around 2,000 polling stations, and the Somaliland National Electoral Commission (NEC) began vote counting soon after. Results are expected by November 21, according to NEC Chairman Muse Hassan Yusuf, who reported that minor technical issues at some polling centers were successfully resolved. The election saw incumbent President Muse Bihi Abdi, from the Kulmiye party, seeking a second term against two rivals: Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi of Waddani and Faisal Ali Warabe of UCID. The election is Somaliland’s fourth since declaring independence in 1991, a status yet to be internationally recognized. Amidst the…

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Nigerian music superstar Davido has officially announced the launch of his new football club, 30BG Sports Club, which will compete in the Lagos Liga 2024.The Lagos Liga X handle broke the news on Wednesday, November 13, 2024, stating, “THE WAIT IS OVER! Introducing 30BG Sports Club to Lagos Liga 2024. The 001 has landed.”Davido, known globally for his high-energy performances and chart-topping hits, is now venturing into sports, bringing his renowned spirit and drive to the league with 30BG Sports Club.The Lagos Liga, set to kick off in December 2024, promises intense matches as Davido’s 30BG Sports Club faces off…

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Tom Thibodeau is known for being a taskmaster. His minutes management has been a discussion point among NBA fans for close to a decade. However, there’s no denying that Thibodeau’s approach works. He has rebuilt the New York Knicks, taking them from obscurity to a genuine contender in the Eastern Conference. Thibodeau also had similar success during his time coaching the Chicago Bulls. Therefore, his track record far outweighs the negative talking points surrounding his hardline approach on the sidelines.  Timberwolves guard Donte DiVincenzo recently appeared on the “Young Man and the Three” podcast and defended his former coach. “Thibs gets his rap…

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The number of people dying due to the war in Sudan is likely far higher than previous estimates, according to a new study. Released on Wednesday by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine’s Sudan Research Group, the report estimates that more than 60,000 people have died in the Khartoum region alone during the first 14 months of the war. The study found that 26,000 people have died as a direct result of the violence and noted that starvation and disease are increasingly becoming the leading causes of death reported across Sudan. Abdulazim Awadalla, programme manager at the Sudanese…

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Five months after suspending the vehicle-tolling initiative aimed at funding transit upgrades, Gov. Kathy Hochul put congestion pricing back on track Thursday — and squarely in the sights of President-elect Donald Trump.At a Midtown news conference as packed as a rush-hour train, Hochul announced that motorists driving south of 60th Street in Manhattan will begin paying a once-daily $9 toll on Jan. 5.The tolls would kick in just over two weeks before the White House return of Trump, who has vowed to “TERMINATE Congestion Pricing in my FIRST WEEK back in office.”The governor’s latest reversal on the first-in-the-nation plan came…

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The announcement of Udobong (Udy) Ntia as a member of NNPCL’s executive leadership, responsible for overseeing Upstream operations, was met with a collective sigh of relief across the industry. “Finally,” one industry colleague remarked. “Whew, that’s a big one,” said another. “Now, we move,” was the simple but optimistic message I received from a third friend, who then immediately picked up the phone for a twenty-two-minute conversation. We speculated on how Udy came to be appointed, what he understood about the current state of affairs at NNPCL, what his mandate might entail, and—most importantly—what key performance indicators (KPIs) would define…

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There’s a common misconception around sampling in Afrobeats that needs clarification.Over the years, artists have often drawn inspiration from other musicians’ works—whether old or new—to create fresh tracks, and Afrobeats as a genre wholeheartedly embraces this culture.Interestingly, musical inspiration can come from a range of sources beyond just other songs. Movie scenes, motivational quotes, and even snippets of conversation can all spark new musical ideas, and vice-versa. Sampling has become the most popular term associated with this practice, though it’s often mistaken for interpolation due to their similarities.To clarify: a sample involves directly using a snippet of an original recording…

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