Pirates send 3B Ke’Bryan Hayes to Reds for reliever Taylor Rogers, a prospect and cash

July 31, 2025

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes catches a line drive hit by San Francisco Giants’ Wilmer Flores during the fourth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, July 29, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — When the Pittsburgh Pirates signed Ke’Bryan Hayes to a lengthy contract extension in the spring of 2022, both sides believed Hayes would be a vital part of a franchise-wide turnaround.

Three years later, the last-place Pirates are still running in place, and Hayes is moving on.

Pittsburgh traded the Gold Glove-winning third baseman to NL Central rival Cincinnati on Wednesday for veteran reliever Taylor Rogers, shortstop prospect Sammy Stafura and cash.

The swap gives the Reds an elite defender at the hot corner with a manageable contract. Hayes will make $7 million in 2026 and 2027 and $8 million in 2028 and 2029, with a club option of $12 million for 2030.

“He might be the best defender in baseball. If not, he’s right there,” Cincinnati manager Terry Francona said shortly after the deal was finalized. “We’re trying to find ways to get better. We care so much about trying to play clean baseball, and this will be a huge step in that direction.”

The Reds have used six different players at third this season. Noelvi Marte, who has been the primary third baseman of late, will move to the outfield.

Hayes finds himself going from last place to the playoff race. Cincinnati entered play on Wednesday three games behind San Diego for the National League’s third wild-card spot.

Reds president of baseball operations Nick Krall pointed to the trade as a sign the club is moving in the right direction. Cincinnati is chasing just its second postseason berth since 2013.

“If you’re selling, that means you’re losing,” Krall said. “So if you’re a buyer, you’re in position to potentially get to the postseason and see what happens. So you always want to be a buyer. That’s that’s the most important thing. These guys are playing really hard right now. You want that to continue and to give them support as best we can.”

Hayes, the son of former major leaguer Charlie Hayes and a first-round draft pick by the Pirates in 2015, struggled to find consistency at the plate following his splashy debut during the final month of the COVID-19-shortened season in 2020. He hit .376 with five homers in 24 games immediately after being called up, numbers that he didn’t come close to matching while playing a full 162-game schedule.

Hayes hit .236 with two home runs and 36 RBIs this season for the Pirates, who sit in last place in the NL Central thanks largely to an offense that ranks near or at the bottom in the majors in most significant statistical categories.

“We know where the hitting has been and sometimes a change of scenery can help,” Francona said. “He seems excited and we’re excited to have him and see where it goes.”

The Pirates have several internal options to replace Hayes in the short term, including Jared Triolo, who won a Gold Glove as a utility infielder in 2024.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Pittsburgh’s everyday shortstop this season, moved over to third for the Pirates’ series finale against San Francisco on Thursday.

Rogers remains an effective left-handed option out of the bullpen at 34. The 10-year veteran, an All-Star with Minnesota in 2021, is 2-2 with a 2.45 ERA in 40 appearances with the Reds this season.

Stafura, 20, was a second-round pick by Cincinnati in 2023. He is hitting .262 with four home runs and 48 RBIs in 88 games with Class A Daytona this season.

Hayes finished sixth in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2020 and appeared to hit full stride in 2023, when he had career highs in home runs (15), RBIs (61), doubles (31) and triples (7), while becoming one of the best defenders at his position.

Back injuries limited him to 96 games last season and while Hayes has been a fixture in the lineup this year, he’s been unable to be a difference-maker at the plate.

The move gives the Pirates some flexibility to find a third baseman with more offensive upside in the offseason, though it’s uncertain how the small-market club would address the position. Pittsburgh has almost exclusively used free agency to offer modest one-year contracts to veteran players in hopes of catching lightning in a bottle.

Dozens killed while seeking food in Gaza as United States envoy heads to Israel

July 31, 2025

(File Photo: Source for Photo: A Palestinian man displays the contents of humanitarian aid packages after they were airdropped into Zawaida, in the central Gaza Strip, Wednesday, July 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Karim Hanna)

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — At least 48 Palestinians were killed and dozens were wounded Wednesday while waiting for food at a crossing in the Gaza Strip, according to a hospital that received the casualties. The latest violence around aid distribution came as the U.S. Mideast envoy was heading to Israel for talks.

Israel’s military offensive and blockade have led to the “worst-case scenario of famine” in the coastal territory of some 2 million Palestinians, according to the leading international authority on hunger crises. A breakdown of law and order has seen aid convoys overwhelmed by desperate crowds.

U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, who has led the Trump administration’s efforts to wind down the nearly 22-month war and release hostages taken in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that sparked the fighting, will arrive in Israel on Thursday for talks on the situation in Gaza.

Wooden carts ferry the wounded as survivors carry flour

Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said the dead and wounded were among crowds massed at the Zikim Crossing, the main entry point for humanitarian aid to northern Gaza. It was not immediately clear who opened fire and there was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which controls the crossing.

Associated Press footage showed wounded people being ferried away from the scene of the shooting in wooden carts, as well as crowds of people carrying bags of flour.

Al-Saraya Field Hospital, where critical cases are stabilized before transfer to main hospitals, said it received more than 100 dead and wounded. Fares Awad, head of the Gaza Health Ministry’s emergency service, said some bodies were taken to other hospitals, indicating the toll could rise.

Israeli strikes and gunfire had earlier killed at least 46 Palestinians overnight and into Wednesday, most of them among crowds seeking food, health officials said. Another seven Palestinians, including a child, died of malnutrition-related causes, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on any of the strikes. It says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas, because the group’s militants operate in densely populated areas.

Israel has eased its blockade but obstacles remain

Under heavy international pressure, Israel announced a series of measures over the weekend to facilitate the entry of more international aid to Gaza, but aid workers say much more is needed.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, the leading world authority on hunger crises, has stopped short of declaring famine in Gaza but said Tuesday that the situation has dramatically worsened and warned of “widespread death” without immediate action.

COGAT, the Israeli military body that facilitates the entry of aid, said over 220 trucks entered Gaza on Tuesday. That’s far below the 500-600 trucks a day that U.N. agencies say are needed, and which entered during a six-week ceasefire earlier this year.

The United Nations is still struggling to deliver the aid that does enter the strip, with most trucks unloaded by crowds in zones controlled by the Israeli military. An alternative aid system run by the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, or GHF, has also been marred by violence.

More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire while seeking aid since May, most near sites run by GHF, according to witnesses, local health officials and the U.N. human rights office. The Israeli military says it has only fired warning shots at people who approach its forces, and GHF says its armed contractors have only used pepper spray or fired warning shots to prevent deadly crowding.

International airdrops of aid have also resumed, but many of the parcels have landed in areas that Palestinians have been told to evacuate while others have plunged into the Mediterranean Sea, forcing people to swim out to retrieve drenched bags of flour.

Deaths from malnutrition

A total of 89 children have died of malnutrition since the war began in Gaza. The ministry said that 65 Palestinian adults have also died of malnutrition-related causes across Gaza since late June, when it started counting deaths among adults.

Israel denies there is any starvation in Gaza, rejecting accounts to the contrary from witnesses, U.N. agencies and aid groups, and says the focus on hunger undermines ceasefire efforts.

Hamas started the war with its attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in which militants killed around 1,200 people and abducted 251 others. They still hold 50 hostages, including around 20 believed to be alive. Most of the rest of the hostages were released in ceasefires or other deals.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Its count doesn’t distinguish between militants and civilians. The ministry operates under the Hamas government. The U.N. and other international organizations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.

NYC gunman who killed four people in Manhattan wrongly targeting the NFL headquarters bought his rifle from his boss in Las Vegas

July 31, 2025

(File Photo: Source for Photo: This image from surveillance video obtained by The Associated Press shows Shane Tamura outside a Manhattan office building on Monday, July 28, 2025 in New York. (AP Photo)

NEW YORK (AP) — A man who killed four people at a Manhattan office building bought the rifle he used in the attack and the car he drove across country from his supervisor at a Las Vegas casino, authorities said Wednesday.

Shane Tamura, 27, fatally shot three people Monday in the building lobby before taking an elevator to the 33rd floor, killing a fourth victim and then ending his own life, according to police. The building housed the National Football League’s headquarters and other corporate offices.

In a note found on his body, Tamura assailed the NFL’s handling of concerns about chronic traumatic encephalopathy, and the former high school football player claimed he himself had the degenerative brain disease, according to police. Known as CTE, it has been linked to concussions and other head trauma.

At Tamura’s Las Vegas studio apartment, investigators found a note with a different troubled message, police said Wednesday. They said the note expressed a feeling that his parents were disappointed in him and included an apology to his mother.

Police said they also found a psychiatric medication, an epilepsy drug and an anti-inflammatory that had been prescribed to Tamura.

Investigating his movements as well as his mindset, detectives learned that he purchased the rifle and car from his supervisor at a job in the surveillance department at the Horseshoe Las Vegas, the New York Police Department said.

The supervisor legally bought the AR-15-style rifle he sold to Tamura for $1,400, police said, adding that they had erred in saying earlier that the supervisor supplied only parts of the rifle. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the gun sale was legal.

Police didn’t identify the supervisor, who has been forthcoming with them and hasn’t been charged with any crimes. Tamura had alluded to him, apologetically, in the note found in the gunman’s wallet after the rampage, police said.

Victims’ funerals begin

As investigators worked in both New York and Las Vegas, one of the victims, real estate firm worker Julia Hyman, was buried after a packed, emotional Wednesday service at a Manhattan synagogue.

Her uncle, Rob Pittman, said the 27-year-old lived “with wide open eyes” and “courage and conviction.”

Hyman had worked since November at Rudin Management, which owns the building and has offices on the 33rd floor. A 2020 graduate of Cornell University, she had been the captain of Riverdale Country School’s soccer, swimming and lacrosse teams in her senior year, school officials said.

Relatives and colleagues of another victim, security guard Aland Etienne, remembered him at a gathering at his union’s office. The unarmed Etienne, who leaves a wife and two children, was shot as he manned the lobby security desk.

“We lost a hero,” younger brother Smith Etienne said. “He didn’t wear no cape. Had no fancy gear. He wore a security officer’s uniform.”

Police were preparing for a funeral Thursday for Officer Didarul Islam. A member of the force for over three years, he was killed while working, in uniform, at a department-approved second job providing security for the building.

Funeral arrangements for Etienne and the fourth victim, investment firm executive Wesley LePatner, haven’t been made public.

An NFL employee who was badly wounded in the attack is expected to survive.

Detectives scour for clues in Las Vegas

Teams of New York City detectives continued working Wednesday in Las Vegas, where they had a warrant to search Tamura’s locker at the Horseshoe casino and were awaiting warrants to search his phone and laptop, police said. They also planned to speak to his parents.

Besides the note and medication at his apartment, they found a tripod for his rifle, a box for a revolver that was found in his car in New York, and ammunition for both guns, the police department said.

Police have said Tamura had a history of mental illness, but they haven’t given detail. In September 2023, he was arrested on a misdemeanor trespassing charge after allegedly being told to leave a suburban Las Vegas casino and becoming agitated at being asked for his ID. Prosecutors later dismissed the case.

His psychiatric history would not have prevented him from legally purchasing the revolver just last month.

Nevada is among 21 states with a red-flag law that allows for weapons to be taken from people if courts determine they pose a risk to themselves or others. First, relatives or law enforcement must seek a so-called extreme risk protection order.

A new state law, effective this month, also lets officers confiscate firearms in the immediate vicinity of someone placed on a mental health crisis hold.

“These laws only work if someone makes use of them,” said Lindsay Nichols, policy director of the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

Russia hits Ukrainian capital Kyiv in missile and drone attack, killing 6 people and wounding 52

July 31, 2025

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Women react outside a destroyed apartment building after a Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, July 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia attacked Ukraine’s capital with missiles and drones overnight, killing at least six people including a 6-year-old boy and wounding 52 others, authorities said Thursday.

The casualties numbers were likely to rise, Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said. A large part of a nine-story residential building collapsed after it was struck, he said.

Rescue teams were at the scene searching for people trapped under the rubble.

Yana Zhabborova, 35, a resident of the damaged building, woke up to the sound of thundering explosions, which blew off the doors and windows of her home.

“It is just stress and shock that there is nothing left,” said Zhabborova, a mother of a 5-month-old infant and a 5-year-old child.

Russia fired 309 Shahed and decoy drones, and eight Iskander-K cruise missiles overnight, the Ukrainian air force said. Ukrainian air defenses intercepted and jammed 288 strike drones and three missiles. Five missiles and 21 drones struck targets.

Meanwhile, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said Thursday that it had shot down 32 Ukrainian drones overnight.

A drone attacked had sparked a blaze at an industrial site in Russia’s Penza region, local Gov. Oleg Melnichenko said. He didn’t immediately give further details other than to say that there were no casualties.

In the Volgograd region, some trains were also halted after drone wreckage fell on local railway infrastructure, state rail operator Russian Railways said.

Russia’s Defense Ministry also said that its forces took full control of the strategically important city of Chasiv Yar in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region.

Ukrainian officials, who typically don’t confirm retreats, didn’t immediately comment.

Russian and Ukrainian troops have battled for control of Chasiv Yar for nearly 18 months. It includes a hilltop from which troops can attack other key points in the region that form the backbone of Ukraine’s eastern defenses.

A report on Thursday from Ukraine’s Army General Staff said there were seven clashes in Chasiv Yar in the past 24 hours. An attached map showed most of the town as being under Russian control.

DeepState, an open-source Ukrainian map widely used by the military and analysts, showed early Thursday that neighborhoods to the south and west of Chasiv Yar remained as so-called gray zones, or uncontrolled by either side.

The attack targeted the Kyiv, Dnipro, Poltava, Sumy, Mykolaiv regions, with Ukraine’s capital being the primary target, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram.

“Today, the world once again saw Russia’s answer to our desire for peace with America and Europe,” Zelenskyy said. “New demonstrative killings. That is why peace without strength is impossible.”

He called on Ukraine’s allies to follow through on defense commitments and pressure Moscow toward real negotiations.

Plumes of smoke emanating from a partially damaged building and debris strewn on the ground. The force of the blast wave was powerful enough to leave clothes hanging limply from trees.

At least 27 locations across Kyiv were hit by the attack, Tkachenko said, with the heaviest damage seen in the Solomianskyi and Sviatoshynskyi districts.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he’s giving Russian President Vladimir Putin a shorter deadline — Aug. 8 — for peace efforts to make progress, or Washington will impose punitive sanctions and tariffs.

Western leaders have accused Putin of dragging his feet in U.S.-led peace efforts in an attempt to capture more Ukrainian land.

Dr. Alistair Erskine appointed as first Highmark Health Chief Information Digital Officer

July 31, 2025