Now it was time to deliver. “We’ve got to start showing results,” Baker said behind steely eyes. “When you needed us, we came. Now we need you.” Unless Bandar’s uncle King Fahd announced that Saudi Arabia would attend some part of Baker’s three-level peace conference, Baker stood little chance of generating pressure on Syria, the Palestinians or Israel. At an Oval Office meeting, President Bush pushed Bandar hard, too. “Tell my friend the king I need his help,” Bush said....

The Pirates announced on Saturday they were calling up shortstop Cole Tucker and outfielder Bryan Reynolds to make their major league debuts. They were slotted in first and fifth in Pittsburgh’s lineup, respectively, for its game against the Giants. MORE: Watch ‘ChangeUp,’ a new MLB live whiparound show on DAZN The team announced that it placed Starling Marte on the 10-day IL with an abdominal wall contusion and Erik Gonzalez on the 60-day IL with a left clavicle fracture to make room for Tucker and Reynolds....

Tuesday afternoon’s Pirates vs. Twins matchup in Minnesota was delayed, not because of inclement whether, or bees, or a cat, squirrel or any kind of live animal, but because of a drone hovering above the Target Field outfield. FAGAN: MLB should go all in with weird rules for 2020 To try to knock the four-prop drone on its electronic rear, players in both bullpens were attempting to hit the device with baseballs....

Pirlo’s former club Juventus have an eight-point lead at the summit as they seek a sixth successive league title, but Gonzalo Higuain’s return to Stadio San Paolo is expected to result in a fearsome atmosphere in Naples. The New York City FC midfielder, who won four league titles in four years during his time in Turin, praised Napoli’s style of football under coach Maurizio Sarri, but insisted Juve are going to remain Italy’s dominant force for some time to come....

The Portland, Ore., area has been hit hard by a number of storms this winter, and this weekend’s weather (the Detroit News noted freezing rain in the area) has made travel too dangerous. Conditiions are expected to be better Sunday. MORE: New Year’s resolutions for all 30 NBA teams Blazers star point guard Damian Lillard returned to action Thursday after missing five games with an ankle injury. He scored 21 points and dished out 10 assists in 36 minutes....

Pitino said Wednesday he “can go for a long time” thanks to the enthusiasm provided by recent Cardinals recruiting classes. Pitino said during a news conference discussing a roster that’s preparing to enter the tough Atlantic Coast Conference that his “passion and enthusiasm is better at 61 than it was at 31, and I had great passion back then.” Pitino is signed through 2021-22 after agreeing to a five-year contract extension in October 2012....

PKNP FC didn’t get the rub of the green when it was decided that only one team can play their quarterfinal second leg match at home in Perak Stadium. Perak The Bos Gaurus got the nod and will have their home leg actually be played at home on Sunday. Football Malaysia Limited Liability Partnership (FMLLP) announced the changes in the two fixtures after intervention from Ipoh’s City Council (MBI)....

Super League side PKNS FC have set a top five target and a trophy for PKNS FC to reach this coming season. Club president Siti Zubaidah Abdul Jabar said that head coach E. Elavarasan has brought in quality players to the squad, and she believes that with the help of the players who have been retained for this season, it’s not impossible for the Red Ants to reach the target set by them....

He eventually accepted a plea deal that included a two-year prison sentence and two years of supervised release. He missed the 2009 and 2010 seasons as a result. Had he taken the Cris Carter’s “fall guy” approach, maybe he would have been able to keep playing through his prime years. MORE: All-time dumbest sports injuries | Cris Carter apologizes for ‘fall guy’ comments Burress went into more depth about his experience....

Sony did object, but while the matter is in court a federal judge is allowing consumers to buy the $49 software package. As to whether the program works, the answer is yes, surprisingly well. NEWSWEEK tested the Virtual Game Station on a spanking-new 400MHz G3, and our game testers were delighted that once the program was installed (a process requiring a mere two mouseclicks), simply inserting a PlayStation disc into the CD-ROM drive would boot up the game–just as if the Mac were a Sony unit....

It’s been a while since Playboy shareholders had any cause for celebration. The company’s stock price had lost almost two thirds of its value last year, before it began rebounding slightly in recent weeks. In the first quarter of 2001, Playboy Enterprises reported a loss of almost $12 million. The empire’s flagship magazine has seen its circulation fall significantly from its peak in the 1970s. As the tech bubble burst, last year the company postponed a spinoff of its Playboy....

Twelve months later, the PGA Tour returns to TPC Sawgrass with the golf schedule back to normalcy and 48 of the top 50 players in the world scheduled to tee off at golf’s “fifth major.” Highlighting the field is Bryson DeChambeau, who’s coming off a win at last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational. The long-driving DeChambeau is paired with world No.1 Dustin Johnson and No. 4 Collin Morikawa to form up the super group which will command much of the attention to start the tournament....

George Bush’s vow to be the education president has so far consisted of more talk than action. School reformers say his midterm grade is, at best, a solid C. This week Bush will get a chance to pull up that grade when he releases what is being billed as a far-reaching–and perhaps even revolutionary–education plan. With the public increasingly angry and anxious about schools, the president is under pressure to deliver....

What no one can figure out, though, is what associate dean Stephen LeMenager and possibly others wanted to do with the information. Knowing in advance whether a student had been accepted by a rival college could give Princeton an edge in the all-important race for “yield”: the percentage of admitted students who actually attend (if X has been accepted at Yale, her first choice, then you can safely turn her down)....

Here's a primer of what will be new when teams take to the track. We'll go in the order the driver and/or team finished the season in the standings. Kevin Harvick: Harvick leaves Richard Childress Racing and replaces Ryan Newman at Stewart-Haas Racing. The No. 39 team will change its number to the No. 4. This team also will have a new crew chief. Rodney Childers, formerly crew chief of the Michael Waltrip Racing car driven primarily by Mark Martin and Brian Vickers, replaces Matt Borland, who will continue at SHR as vice president of engineering....

Alli 6/5 to score v Watford The England international’s form has dipped markedly in recent weeks, his travails coinciding with a poor run of results for Spurs. Alli has only scored one Premier League goal since August and struggled to make an impact in defeats to Manchester United, Arsenal and Leicester City, as well as a 1-1 draw with West Brom. Spurs have dropped to seventh in the table as a result of their run, prompting particular scrutiny on the performances of Alli, but Pochettino insists critics must not forget that he is only 21....

Ronaldo: I’m the best player in the world Pochettino’s men are the only undefeated side remaining in the Premier League after a 2-0 victory over Manchester City prior to the international break. But, Spurs are looking at seven games in 23 days in all competitions, a busy period Pochettino is wary of. “It is very important now, these next seven games,” the Argentinian told reporters. “We need to manage and handle all the players....

The Sprint Cup and Camping World Truck series head to Pocono Raceway for practice, qualifying and racing starting Friday. The Xfinity Series will be in Iowa for action on Friday and Saturday. MORE: Busch wins Indy race | Gordon’s take | Photos The Pennsylvania 400 Sprint Cup Series race will be run Sunday at 1:30 p.m. ET. It’ll cap a weekend of activities at Pocono that includes the Pocono Mountains 150 Camping World Series race....

Pogba has had a mixed season for club and country, prompting questions over his place in the France team as well as his own future at Old Trafford. However, he looks set to play for Les Bleus in their World Cup opener against Australia on Saturday and Ferdinand believes he has the ability to leave his mark on the world stage. “Pogba has the ability to go out there and dominate the World Cup....

User @silkalmondmilk_ers explained on TikTok that she combined the two chemicals, which can be used separately for cleaning, while she was tidying up the kitchen—and accidentally created a deadly gas. The caption on the video read: “I accidentally cleaned the kitchen with bleach and vinegar and now we’re all stick in the same room on the phone with poison control.” In the clip, the couple, another woman, a dog and @silkalmondmilk_ers are huddled together in a bedroom while waiting for the situation to resolve....