Longtime Penguins defenseman Kris Letang out at least a month due to fractured foot

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang will miss at least four weeks with a fractured foot.

The club announced the extent of the injury on Saturday before the surging Penguins faced the New York Rangers. Pittsburgh coach Dan Muse said Letang, who is in his 20th season, injured the foot duringa 6-2 victory over Chicagoon Thursday.

Letang's absence comes with the Penguins surging into the Olympic break. Pittsburgh is 6-0-2 in its last eight games to move into second place in the Metropolitan Division.

The 38-year-old Letang has three goals and 22 assists in 50 games this season for the Penguins. He is currently three points shy of 800 for his career.

Letang's injury comes at a potentially fortuitous time for Pittsburgh with the NHL set to take an extended break for the 2026 Winter Games in Milan Cortina, which start next week. The Penguins not participating in the Olympics will be off from Feb. 6 to Feb. 25.

AP NHL:https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

byAlpha World
in , , ,
January 31, 2026

Longtime Penguins defenseman Kris Letang out at least a month due to fractured foot

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang will miss at least four weeks with a fractured foot. ...
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Paul George admits to taking 'improper medication' for mental health issue after NBA suspends him for 25 games

The NBA suspended Philadelphia 76ers forward Paul George 25 games without payfor violating the league's anti-drug program. In a statement to ESPN on Saturday,George admitted to taking "improper medication" for a mental health issue.

"Over the past few years, I've discussed the importance of mental health, and in the course of recently seeking treatment for an issue of my own, I made the mistake of taking an improper medication," George said in the statement.

"I take full responsibility for my actions and apologize to the Sixers organization, my teammates and the Philly fans for my poor decision making during this process."

George added: "I am focused on using this time to make sure that my mind and body are in the best condition to help the team when I return."

George's suspension will begin Saturday night, when the Sixers host the New Orleans Pelicans, the league announced. When he's eligible to return, the Sixers will have a mere 10 games remaining in the regular season, starting with a March 25 home matchup against the Chicago Bulls.

In his 16th NBA season, the 35-year-old George is averaging 16 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game on 42.4% shooting for a Philadelphia team that's 26-21 and sixth in the Eastern Conference.

The nine-time All-Star and six-time All-NBA selection is in his second season with the Sixers aftersigning a maximum four-year, $212 million contract with the franchise in the summer of 2024.

George's suspension could have an impact on Philadelphia's trade-deadline approach. His 25-game ban will cost him $11,742,294,according to NBA salary cap analyst Yossi Gozlan, who reported Saturday that, in turn, the Sixers will receive a luxury tax credit worth half that amount.

As a result, per Gozlan, the Sixers will be only $1.3 million above the luxury tax line. In saving more than $5 million in luxury tax payments, it will be easier for the Sixers to duck out of the tax before the deadline without disrupting a roster that has Philadelphia back in playoff contention, after last season's injury-riddled nosedive saw the team miss the postseason for the first time since 2016-17.

Paul George's 25 game suspension will cost him $11,742,294.The Philadelphia 76ers will receive a luxury tax credit worth half that amount ($5,871,147).This brings the Sixers from $7 million above the luxury tax line to just $1.3 million above it.

— Yossi Gozlan (@YossiGozlan)January 31, 2026

"Obviously, we've been ducking the tax the last couple of years, so hopefully we keep the same team," Sixers star center Joel Embiid told reporters after a 113-111 win over the Sacramento Kings on Thursday,per ESPN. "I love all the guys that are here. I think we got a shot.

"I don't know what they're going to do, but I hope that at least we got a chance to just go out and compete because we got a good group of guys in this locker room, and vibes are great."

While George is the Sixers' third-leading scorer this season, his availability in Philadelphia has been a concern since he arrived. The 6-foot-8 wing played 74 games in 2023-24, his final season with the Los Angeles Clippers, but he hadn't played more than 56 games in any of his prior four seasons.

After joining Embiid and then-reigning NBA Most Improved Player Tyrese Maxey to form a "Big 3" in Philly, George appeared in just 41 games for the Sixers last season.

Hemissed the start of the 2024-25 campaign with a bone bruise in his hyperextended left knee. Not long after he returned,he missed more time with a similar injury. Then he missed games with a finger injury in January.

By mid-March,the Sixers shut down Georgedue to both a left adductor muscle injury and a left knee injury. At that point, Embiid was already done for the season, too.

Georgedidn't make his debut this season until Nov. 17after he underwent offseason knee surgery, which sidelined him for the first 12 games.

The Sixers teamed up Embiid and Maxey with George in an attempt to finally get over the Eastern Conference semifinals hump. That trio has shared the court together this season for a total of 365 minutes over 17 games, per ESPN.

byAlpha World
in , , ,
January 31, 2026

Paul George admits to taking 'improper medication' for mental health issue after NBA suspends him for 25 games

The NBA suspended Philadelphia 76ers forward Paul George 25 games without payfor violating the league's anti-drug pro...
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Puerto Rico considers pulling out of WBC after insurance keeps stars off team

The World Baseball Classic will be without several of its top stars because they have been unable to acquire insurance coverage in case they are injured during the tournament.

No team has been hit harder than Puerto Rico, which couldn't secure insurance coverage for several of its biggest names in Francisco Lindor, Carlos Correa, Jose Berrios and Emilio Pagan.

Puerto Rican officials are so frustrated that they have considered pulling out of the WBC, federation presidentJosé Quiles revealed.

The Major League Baseball Players Association said that Lindor is unable to play in the WBC because of an elbow procedure early in the offseason, although he will be fine to participate in spring training for theNew York Mets.

"Francisco is obviously disappointed that he was be unable to participate," the MLBPA said in a statement. "However, because of WBC insurance constraints, he is ineligible to play in WBC games. He was participate fully in all spring training activities."

Francisco Lindor and Jose Altuve in 2025.

Houston Astros All-Star second baseman Jose Altuve was also denied insurance and won't be able to play for Venezuela in the WBC.

"Due to the criteria for WBC insurance coverage, Jose Altuve was looking forward to participating in the WBC and representing Venezuela, but unfortunately is not eligible to do so," the MLBPA said in a statement.

Venezuela will also be without Dodgers World Series hero Miguel Rojas, who announced on his Instagram account that he was also denied insurance.

"Today I am very sad," he wrote in Spanish. "A true shame I can't represent my country and put that flag on my chest."

<p style=$765,000,000: Juan Soto, New York Mets (2025-39)

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=$700,000,000: Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers (2024-33)

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=$500,000,000: Vladimir Guerrero, Jr., Toronto Blue Jays (2026-39)

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=$426.5 million: Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels (2019-2030)* includes extension

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=$365 million: Mookie Betts, Los Angeles Dodgers (2020-32)

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=$360 million: Aaron Judge, New York Yankees (2023-2031)

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=$350 million: Manny Machado, San Diego Padres (2023-33)

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=$341 million: Francisco Lindor, New York Mets (2022-31)

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=$340 million: Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego Padres (2021-34)

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=$330,000,000: Bryce Harper, Philadelphia Phillies (2019-31)

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=$325 million: Giancarlo Stanton, Miami Marlins (2015-2027) – traded to New York Yankees in 2017

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=$325 million: Corey Seager, Texas Rangers (2022-31)

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=$325,000,000: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Los Angeles Dodgers (2024-35)

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=$313.5 million: Rafael Devers, Boston Red Sox (2024-33) - traded to San Francisco Giants in 2025

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=$300 million: Trea Turner, Philadelphia Phillies (2023-33)

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=$292 million: Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers (2014-2023)* includes extension

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=$288,777,777: Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals (2024-34)

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=$280 million: Xander Bogaerts, San Diego Padres (2023-33)

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=$275 million: Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees (2008-2017)

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=$260 million: Nolan Arenado, Colorado Rockies (2019-26) - traded to St. Louis Cardinals in 2021, traded to Arizona Diamondbacks in 2026

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=$252,000,000: Alex Rodriguez, Texas Rangers (2001-10)

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=$245 million: Stephen Strasburg, Washington Nationals (2020-26)

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=$245 million: Anthony Rendon, Los Angeles Angels (2020-26)

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=$240,000,000: Kyle Tucker, Los Angeles Dodgers (2026-29)

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=$240 million: Albert Pujols, Los Angeles Angels (2012-2021)

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=$240 million: Robinson Cano, Seattle Mariners (2014-2023) – traded to New York Mets in 2019

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=$225 million: Joey Votto, Cincinnati Reds (2012-2021)

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> $218,000,000: Max Fried, New York Yankees (2025-32) <p style=$217 million: David Price, Boston Red Sox (2016-2022) – traded to Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=$215 million: Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers (2014-2020)

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=$215 million: Christian Yelich, Milwaukee Brewers (2020-28)

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=$214 million: Prince Fielder, Detroit Tigers (2012-2020) – traded to Texas Rangers in 2013

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=$212 million: Austin Riley, Atlanta Braves (2023-32)

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=$210 million: Corbin Burnes, Arizona Diamondbacks (2025-30)

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=$210 million: Max Scherzer, Washington Nationals (2015-2021)

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=$209.3 million: Julio Rodriguez, Seattle Mariners (2023-34)

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> <p style=$206.5 million: Zack Greinke, Arizona Diamondbacks (2016-2021) – traded to Houston Astros in 2019

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> $202,000,000: CC Sabathia, New York Yankees (2009-17) <p style=$200 million: Carlos Correa, Minnesota Twins (2023-28) - traded to Houston Astros in 2025

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />

MLB's $200+ million contracts

$765,000,000: Juan Soto, New York Mets (2025-39)

The inability to secure insurance kept three-time Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw from participating in the WBC in 2023 because of his back issues. Now that he's retired, there's no need for insurance and he'll be on this year's USA team.

MLB requires all players on their 40-man roster to have an insurance policy that protects the team if a player sustains and injury during the WBC that requires them to miss games during the regular season. Most of the insurance issues are over a player's prior injury history.

Players like Edwin Diaz and Altuve who were injured in the 2023 WBC were covered by insurance policies, and were still paid, but not by the team.

Diaz missed the entire 2023 season when he suffered a complete patellar tendon tear in his right knee celebrating Puerto Rico's win over the Dominican Republic. Altuve suffered a broken right thumb when he was hit by a pitch from Team USA pitcher Daniel Bard. He missed the first 43 games of the 2023 season.

There have been no publicly known cases of any player this year who were prevented from joining Team USA because of an inability to acquire insurance.

Yet, perhaps no one in the tournament is taking a bigger financial risk than two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal of the Detroit Tigers. He's a free agent after the season and is expected to secure the largest contract by a pitcher in MLB history, perhaps exceeding $400 million.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:World Baseball Classic 2026 insurance won't let Francisco Lindor play

byAlpha World
in , , ,
January 31, 2026

Puerto Rico considers pulling out of WBC after insurance keeps stars off team

The World Baseball Classic will be without several of its top stars because they have been unable to acquire insurance co...
Read More
Italy investigates church painting of angel restored to look like Meloni

ROME, Jan 31 (Reuters) - An angel in a church in central Rome has been restored to look like Italian ​Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a national newspaper reported on ‌Saturday, prompting the culture ministry to investigate and Meloni to laugh off the affair.

In ‌a front-page story, la Repubblica daily was the first to note that one of two angels in a chapel of the Basilica of St Lawrence in Lucina had been altered to resemble the ⁠49-year-old conservative, Italy's first ‌female prime minister.

The article ran with before-and-after pictures of the painting. It said the angel had previously ‍looked like a "generic cherub".

The culture ministry said it had instructed Rome's top art heritage official to carry out a same-day inspection of the restored painting ​before "deciding what to do next".

The opposition Five Star Movement complained: "We ‌cannot allow art and culture to risk becoming a tool for propaganda or anything else, regardless of whether the face depicted is that of the prime minister."

The parish priest, Daniele Micheletti, told ANSA news agency that the decorations in the chapel had recently ⁠been touched up following water damage. The ​originals dated only to 2000, so ​were not under any heritage protection.

The restoration was carried out by the same artist who created the original ‍painting, Bruno Valentinetti. ⁠He disputed the suggestion he had altered the image, telling reporters: "I restored what was there before... 25 years ago".

As for ⁠Meloni, she posted a picture of the disputed painting on Instagram, with the ‌caption "No, I definitely don't look like an angel", with ‌a laughing emoji.

(Reporting by Alvise Armellini)

byAlpha World
in , , ,
January 31, 2026

Italy investigates church painting of angel restored to look like Meloni

ROME, Jan 31 (Reuters) - An angel in a church in central Rome has been restored to look like Italian ​Prime Minister Gior...
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Demonstrators in Milan protest ICE unit at Winter Olympics

MILAN (AP) — Hundreds of demonstrators gathered Saturday in Milan to protest the deployment of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during the upcomingWinter Olympics, unbothered by the fact that agents would be stationed in a control room and not operating on the streets.

The protest in Piazza XXV Aprile, a square named for the date of Italy's liberation from Nazi fascism in 1945, drew people from the left-leaning Democratic Party, the CGIL trade union confederation and the ANPI organizations that protect the memory of Italy's partisan resistance during World War II, along with many other people.

Organizers handed out plastic whistles, which participants blew as music blared from a van. The protest was as much against the news that agents from adivision of ICE would participatein security for the U.S. delegation as against what many of those present said they saw as creeping fascism in the United States.

"No thank you, fromMinnesotato the world, at the side of anyone who fights for human rights,'' read one banner. "Never again means never again for anyone,'' read another, and "Ice only in Spritz,'' a reference to a popular aperitif, read yet another.

The ICE agents to be deployed to Milan are not from the same unit as the immigration agents cracking down in Minnesota and other U.S. cities.

News of the deployment of ICE agents has provoked a backlash in Italy. Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala has said they were not welcome. Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi has been called to Parliament to testify about the deployment this week.

Protester Silvana Grassi held a sign that read "Ice = Gestapo." She said the scenes of ICE agents in Minneapolis shooting and killing protesters and detaining children were deeply upsetting.

"It makes me want to cry to think of it,'' Grassi said. "It's too terrible. How did they elect such a terrible, evil man?''

Homeland Security Investigations, an ICE unit that focuses on cross-border crimes, frequently sends its officers to overseas events like the Olympics to assist with security. The ICE arm at theforefront of the immigration crackdownin the U.S. is known as Enforcement and Removal Operations, and there is no indication its officers are being sent to Italy.

"Even if it's not the same ones, we don't want them here,'' Grassi said.

Paolo Bortoletto, also holding a banner, was aware that the officers would have an investigative and not a street role.

Still, he said, "We don't want them in our country. We are a peaceful country. We don't want fascists. It's their ideas that bother us."

The Olympics begin Feb. 6 with an opening ceremony that will be attended by U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

byAlpha World
in , , ,
January 31, 2026

Demonstrators in Milan protest ICE unit at Winter Olympics

MILAN (AP) — Hundreds of demonstrators gathered Saturday in Milan to protest the deployment of U.S. Immigration and Custo...
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