Recent from victories invigorating and underwhelming of their Euro 2024 openers, Turkiye and Portugal meet with an eye fixed on taking management of Group F after two video games. Turkiye’s 3-1 win over Georgia was one of many video games of the event up to now, a contest full of twists and turns till Kerem Akturkoglu carried the ball in direction of an empty objective to earn his aspect solely their second European Championships win since a run to the 2008 semis.

Portugal’s 2-1 victory over the Czech Republic was not fairly the identical thrill a minute encounter, a well-known sport for Cristiano Ronaldo and firm the place they lower than the sum of their spectacular elements even in victory. If that doesn’t change it’s onerous to see how they rank among the many foremost favorites to win all of it within the weeks forward. Right here is how one can watch the match and what you could know:

Viewing info

• Date: Saturday, June 22 | Time: 12 p.m. ET
• Location: Westfalenstadion — Dortmund, Germany
• TV: Fox | Dwell stream:  Fubo (attempt at no cost)
• Odds: Turkiye+480; Draw +300; Portugal -167

Group F outlook and permutations

Each Turkiye and Portugal go into this sport with comparable permutations dictating their path to the final 16. The winner of this sport will attain the knockout spherical as Group F leaders if there’s both a draw between Georgia and Czech Republic or the crew they beat within the first spherical of fixtures wins. Turkiye, then, must win and hope the Czechs don’t beat Georgia. For Portugal three factors of their very own and any for Georgia take them via as Group F winners.

June 18
Turkiye 3, Georgia 1
Portugal 2, Czechia 1

June 22
Georgia 1, Czechia 1
Turkiye vs. Portugal, 12 p.m. on Fox

June 26
Georgia vs. Portugal, 3 p.m. on Fox
Czechia vs. Turkiye, 3 p.m. on FS1

Crew information

Turkiye: Do not anticipate a lot altering of a successful crew from Vincenzo Montella, key man Hakan Calhanoglu would miss the sport with the Czech Republic if he receives a reserving however Turkiye’s precedence will likely be getting the purpose or factors that might have them set honest to make the knockout rounds.

Doable Turkiye XI: Gunok; Muldur, Akaydin, Bardakci, Kadioglu; Ayhan, Calhanoglu, Kokcu; Guler, Yildiz; Yilmaz

Portugal: Their opening win introduced with it acquainted questions over whether or not Cristiano Ronaldo will get the very best out of the gamers round him, who typically appear extra centered on feeding their captain than constructing possession play of their very own. Regardless the main scorer in males’s worldwide soccer is unlikely to make manner from Roberto Martinez’s XI. Rafael Leao may.

Doable Portugal XI: Costa; Cancelo, Dias, Pepe, Mendes; Palhinha, Vitinha, Fernandes; Silva, Ronaldo, Felix

Prediction

Turkiye may simply be feisty and aggressive sufficient to get one thing in entrance of what may properly be a crowd full of their supporters from Dortmund and past. PICK: Turkiye 1, Portugal 1

TOKYO (AP) — Onigiri is a ball of rice with one thing inside, just like how two slices of bread with one thing in between makes a sandwich. In the identical method that virtually each American has made and eaten a sandwich, so too have most Japanese eaten onigiri.

A Tokyo correspondent for The Related Press is sharing her primary onigiri recipe. It makes use of umeboshi (salted Japanese plums), however what you set inside could be absolutely anything — fish, meat, veggies, even cheese — so long as it suits and tastes good. Be happy to experiment.

Form your onigiri into the usual triangular type, or no matter enjoyable picture strikes your fancy. Wrap it with nori (dried seaweed). You should use one massive strip of nori or a number of bite-size items.

There aren’t any mounted guidelines. Some individuals sprinkle their onigiri with sesame seeds. Oboro kombu, or shaved kelp, is one other favourite. Or take pleasure in it plain.

Simple Onigiri, from AP’s Yuri Kageyama

Begin to end: 5-7 minutes

Servings: 5 rice balls (sufficient for 5 individuals, or only one massive eater)

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup water

1 ½ cup Japanese rice, cooked to fluffiness

Three umeboshi salted Japanese plums (out there at Asian meals shops; for smaller umeboshi, use one for every rice ball)

Two sheets of dried nori seaweed

Instructions

Add the salt to the bowl of water. Moist your fingers with the salted water, decide up a handful of cooked rice, nonetheless sizzling however cooled sufficient so your fingers don’t burn. Put umeboshi on prime. Choose up one other scoop of rice together with your different hand, place it on prime of the rice and umeboshi. Cup your fingers collectively, squishing gently. Flip a couple of instances in your fingers so the rice turns into a barely triangular ball. Wrap with nori.

Add any desired garnishes, corresponding to sesame seeds or kombu.

North American paper mills are beginning to use robotics for smelt spout cleansing. Supply: Valmet

Restoration boilers characterize a major capital expenditure within the pulp and paper business. Whereas a well-maintained boiler can final for many years, routine care of this method can current challenges. Upkeep duties are sometimes messy and dangerous for the operator, and plenty of duties are time-consuming and require full or partial boiler shutdown. This may hurt general productiveness and mill security.

One upkeep job that’s notably difficult within the care of restoration boilers is smelt spout cleansing. Whereas cleansing smelt spouts is crucial for environment friendly restoration boiler efficiency, it could pose critical security dangers to the operator when the spouts are cleaned manually.

These dangers embody the operator encountering molten smelt, inexperienced liquor, and scorching gasses, in addition to repetitive-motion again and shoulder accidents. Discovering operators who’re prepared to carry out these duties, coaching them, and retaining them over time have additionally change into a part of the problem.

To enhance operator security throughout smelt spout cleansing and enhance each operator and boiler productiveness, pulp and paper services now have automated robotic options that may tackle these harder duties.

Robotic expertise for smelt spout cleansing has been obtainable since 2008, but it surely has solely not too long ago entered North American paper mills. Its delayed entry has been largely on account of low numbers of latest restoration boiler installations, because the robotic requires a certain quantity of house that’s typically troublesome to allocate inside present operations.

Now, as North American operations are in larger want of the advantages that accompany smelt spout cleansing robots, they will spend money on retrofitting present restoration boilers with robotic options.

Good design removes limitations to robotics retrofits

For pulping operations, one of many largest limitations to adopting a smelt spout cleansing robotic is usually the quantity of house that’s required for the robotic to maneuver across the spout deck throughout the cleansing cycle. In lots of services, this space across the smelt spout programs is already tight, which is a part of what makes handbook smelt spout cleansing troublesome and dangerous for operators.

As automation designers have continued to spend money on understanding the protection and productiveness challenges confronted by the pulp and paper business, new options have emerged that take away this widespread barrier to including robotics.

As an illustration, one smelt spout cleansing robotic gives the choice of a standing mount or a dangling mount. All that’s required to make use of the hanging mount and place the robotic subsequent to the restoration boiler is a linear rail meeting.

The meeting permits the robotic to maneuver side-to-side alongside the spout deck to wash all spouts. Then, it strikes off the spout deck as soon as it completes the cleansing cycle. This configuration maintains enough room for the robotic to carry out its duties whereas additionally guaranteeing that operators can safely enter the realm to carry out different duties.

Protecting fencing and a number of entry and exit factors may even be included for added operator security and effectivity. Nearly all of retrofit work can usually be accomplished pre-outage, leaving ample time throughout the upkeep outage for robotic set up and commissioning.

Robots can relieve employee pressure however require cautious integration and deployment. Supply: Valmet

Smelt spout-cleaning robots confirmed within the area

In June 2023, Valmet put in its first smelt spout-cleaning robotic in North America on the Pixelle Specialty Options mill in Spring Grove, Penn. The brand new robotic performs a smelt spout cleansing cycle each half-hour — twice as typically as operators have been beforehand capable of carry out the identical job manually. Every cycle takes quarter-hour, and when the robotic shouldn’t be actively cleansing, it rests in its house place safely out of the way in which.

Bodily security limitations across the robotic additional defend the operators by triggering the robotic to freeze if the barrier is damaged. Operators can even remotely management the robotic’s cleansing frequency and cycles utilizing pre-programmed sequences. In the meantime, an onboard digital camera mounted on the robotic wrist permits for real-time inspection of the robotic’s efficiency and troubleshooting from the protection of the management room.

By automating smelt spout cleansing with a robotic, the producer added one other degree of security for its operators and improved productiveness by liberating them as much as carry out different vital duties. Moreover, the brand new robotic has helped increase the boiler’s liquor high quality, green-to-black liquor normal deviation, and smelt normal deviation by double digits.

Collaboration is essential

When retrofitting a smelt spout robotic to an present restoration boiler or planning a brand new set up, it’s necessary to decide on an automation designer that has business expertise and can collaborate on-site throughout the design part.

Since each operation and facility is completely different, the set up of a smelt spout cleansing robotic shouldn’t be a cookie-cutter course of. The designer must account for present parts across the spouts like piping, flex hoses and consider obtainable structural beams for his or her skill to help the robotic carriage and the linear rail.

A talented designer may even present an set up plan that avoids vital spout deck alterations, as modifications could be pricey and time-consuming.

Smelt spout cleansing robots are supposed to work with operators, not change them. Supply: Valmet.

Know-how works in concord with people

Automation typically comes with the belief of changing human labor, however that’s not the case with smelt spout cleansing robots. As a substitute, this expertise works in concord with boiler operators to extend their security. It additionally frees them as much as carry out different important restoration boiler duties.

Serving to operators really feel safer and fascinating them in a greater variety of duties all through their workday could make it simpler for pulp and paper producers to rent and retain personnel in these positions. With the efficiencies of automation and well-trained, skilled personnel, producers can enhance productiveness in lots of areas, making robotics retrofits well worth the funding.

In regards to the writer

Dan Morrison is Valmet’s product supervisor for Smelt Spout Programs and the Smelt Spout Cleansing Robotic. The Espoo, Finland-based firm is a number one international developer and provider of course of applied sciences, automation and providers for the pulp, paper and vitality industries.

Valmet and Körber not too long ago established a three way partnership to attach the FactoryPal platform with equipment experience to streamline digital optimization throughout the manufacturing traces of tissue store flooring and past.

After a number of unsuccessful makes an attempt, a pet known as Wild Thang was lastly topped the ‘world’s ugliest canine’.

The loll-tongued Pekingese, who’s eight years previous and from Coos in Oregon, gained the gong at this yr’s contest held in California on Friday.

Nearly all of opponents on the 2024 occasion, in Sonoma-Marin Truthful in Petaluma, had been rescue canine.

Wild Thang was recognized with canine distemper – which prevented the expansion of his enamel and prompted muscular dysfunction in his leg – as a pet.

His proprietor Ann Lewis, will obtain $5,000 (nearly £4,000) and the pair will seem on NBC’s The As we speak Present.

The World’s Ugliest Canine contest has been working for 50 years in accordance with its web site, and “speaks to the significance of advocating for the adoration of all animals and the advantages of adopting”.

Rome, a 14-year-old pug, took second place on the rostrum, simply forward of Daisy Mae, a white-coated mixed-breed in third.

Chinese language crested mixes, pug blended breeds and a Brussels-griffon/pub mig named Freddie Mercury had been among the many different contestants.

A panel of judges selected the winner, with members of the general public allowed to vote on-line for the folks’s alternative award, which went to 14-year-old pug Rome.

The judges included Gadi Schwartz, NBC Information correspondent; Linda Witong Abrahm, a human rights activist; and Fiona Ma,  California’s state treasurer.

The occasion’s web site reads: “The annual World’s Ugliest Canine Contest will not be about making enjoyable of “ugly” canine, however having enjoyable with some fantastic characters and displaying the world that these canine are actually lovely!”

PETALUMA, Calif. — If at first you do not succeed…

Wild Thang took residence the prize for the 2024 World’s Ugliest Canine on the Sonoma Marin County Truthful on Friday.

It is the fourth time the 8-year-old Pekingese has competed within the contest.

He got here in second thrice earlier than clinching the crown.

Rome, a 14-year-old pug, was the runner-up and winner of the Folks’s Selection award.

“Rome is a tremendous pet. I imply he’s simply very personable. He’s very, he’s just about all people’s favourite,” stated Rome’s proprietor Michelle Grady.

There have been eight opponents on this 12 months’s contest.

The winner will get a trophy and $5,000.

NEW YORK (AP) — Weekend quantity two was simply as joyous for “Inside Out 2.”

The Pixar sequel collected $100 million in ticket gross sales in its second weekend, in keeping with studio estimates Sunday, setting a brand new file for an animated film in its follow-up body in theaters. The earlier greatest second weekend for an animated title was the $92 million for “The Tremendous Mario Bros. Film.” Solely six motion pictures ever have had higher second weekends.

In only a week and a half, “Inside Out 2” has grow to be 2024’s highest-grossing movie so far with $724.4 million globally, together with $355.2 million in U.S. and Canadian theaters. That passes the $711.8 million worldwide complete of “Dune: Half Two.” “Inside Out 2” will doubtless blow via the $1 billion mark in a few week, which might make it the primary movie since “Barbie” to take action.

The extent of the “Inside Out 2” success startled Hollywood, which had grown accustomed to decrease expectations because the movie trade watched ticket gross sales this 12 months stoop about 40% beneath pre-pandemic totals, in keeping with information agency Comscore, earlier than “Inside Out 2” got here alongside.

The file haul for “Inside Out 2,” although, recalled previous years when $1 billion grosses had been extra commonplace for the Walt Disney Co. It is usually a much-needed blockbuster for Pixar, which after experimenting with direct-to-streaming releases, reconsidered its film pipeline and strategy to mass-audience enchantment.

Now, “Inside Out 2,” which dipped a mere 35% from its $154 million home debut, is poised to problem “The Incredibles 2” ($1.2 billion) for the all-time high grossing Pixar launch. It might additionally steer the honored animation manufacturing facility towards extra sequels. Amongst its upcoming movies is “Toy Story 5,” due out in 2026.

For theater house owners, “Inside Out 2” might hardly have been extra wanted. But it surely additionally reminded exhibitors of how feast-or-famine the film enterprise has grow to be lately. Because the pandemic, motion pictures like “Barbie,” “Spider-Man: No Approach Dwelling” and “High Gun: Maverick” have pushed ticket gross sales to file heights, however fallow durations in between box-office sensations have grown longer. Ticket gross sales over Memorial Day final month had been the worst in three many years.

A few of 2024’s downturn might be attributed to release-schedule juggling attributable to final 12 months’s writers and actors strikes. The largest new launch over the weekend was Jeff Nichols’ bike gang drama “The Bikeriders,” a movie initially slated to open in 2023 earlier than the actors strike prompted its postponement.

“The Bikeriders,” starring Jodie Comer, Austin Butler and Tom Hardy, got here in on the excessive aspect of expectations with $10 million from 2,642 venues in its opening weekend. “The Bikeriders,” which value about $35 million to supply, was initially to be launched by Disney earlier than New Regency took it to Focus Options final fall.

The sturdy enterprise for “Inside Out 2” appeared to boost ticket gross sales usually. Sony Photos’ “Dangerous Boys: Trip or Die” held nicely in its third week of launch, gathering $18.8 million. It remained in second place. The “Dangerous Boys” sequel, starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, has grossed $146.9 million domestically to this point.

Subsequent week, the sci-fi horror prequel “A Quiet Place: Day One” and Kevin Costner’s Western epic “Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1″ will hope a few of the “Inside Out 2” success rubs off on them.

Estimated ticket gross sales for Friday via Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, in keeping with Comscore. Ultimate home figures will likely be launched Monday.

1. “Inside Out 2,” $100 million.

2. “Dangerous Boys: Trip or Die,” $18.8 million.

3. “The Bikeriders,” $10 million.

4. “The Garfield Film, $3.6 million.

5. “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” $3.6 million.

6. “If,” $2.8 million.

7. “The Exorcism,” $2.4 million.

8. “Thelma,” $2.2 million.

9. “The Watchers,” $1.9 million.

10. “Ghost: Ceremony Right here Ceremony Now,” $1.5 million.

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Connor McDavid was held with out a level, so Leon Draisaitl and the Edmonton Oilers’ different high gamers stepped as much as put them one win from the Stanley Cup.

Draisaitl made his first main affect within the remaining by organising Warren Foegele’s early purpose, Adam Henrique and Zach Hyman scored within the second interval and the Oilers compelled a Sport 7 by beating the Florida Panthers 5-1 in Sport 6 on Friday evening.

“On the finish of the day, we play to win and that is going to be the toughest recreation for us,” Draisaitl mentioned. “Now we have to convey our recreation once more.”

They’re the primary workforce to tie the ultimate after falling behind 3-0 within the collection because the Detroit Pink Wings in 1945. The Oilers have the possibility Monday evening in Dawn to affix the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs as the one NHL groups to return all the best way again from that deficit to hoist the Stanley Cup.

“There was an unshakable perception,” Hyman mentioned. “It doesn’t matter what occurred all year long, we at all times believed we may pull by way of. Regardless of how dire the circumstances, we predict now we have an opportunity. It was an extended season dealing with adversity which ready us. The following one would be the hardest. It feels unbelievable to do it in entrance of this crowd. To have an opportunity to win now, that is our first alternative to win.”

The chance to make hockey historical past and finish Canada’s three-decade-long Cup drought exists solely after McDavid’s heroics with 4 factors apiece in Video games 4 and 5 to take the Oilers from the brink to perception. This was the primary time in his nine-year profession they’ve received a recreation through which he didn’t have a degree or put a shot on internet.

Draisaitl, his longtime operating mate from Germany who has additionally been league MVP and thought of among the many greatest gamers on the earth, lit the spark in Sport 5 after being largely ineffective towards the Panthers.

“He’s a horse,” defenseman Darnell Nurse mentioned. “He’s at all times displaying up on the greatest moments. You take a look at all his playoff performances, he’s probably the greatest to ever do it.”

Draisaitl obtained the puck at heart ice, skated round and thru Florida defenders and put the puck on the tape of Foegele’s stick for a tap-in that Sergei Bobrovsky had almost no likelihood of stopping. That, after all, didn’t cease the fired up sellout crowd of 18,000-plus from mockingly chanting, “Ser-gei! Ser-gei!” beginning earlier than the anthems and regularly all through the evening.

The goalie everybody calls “Bob” was hardly guilty, although, with errors in entrance of him additionally contributing to the 2-on-1 rush that ended with Henrique beating Bobrovsky off a 2-on-1 rush off an ideal move from Mattias Janmark. The Panthers in entrance of their goaltender appeared tight and timid and in contrast to the juggernaut that reached the ultimate for a second consecutive 12 months and received the primary three video games to maneuver to the verge of the primary title in franchise historical past.

“Now we have one recreation to go,” Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov mentioned. “We have been prepared proper from the begin to play a seven-game collection, and nothing adjustments now. We obtained up three, they usually performed three good video games. Now it’s as much as us to win at residence.”

Florida had simply six photographs on internet halfway by way of the sport and completed with 21. Persevering with a pattern of being there when the Oilers want him probably the most, Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner made well timed saves to stymie the Panthers, permitting only a purpose to Aleksander Barkov lower than 90 seconds into the third interval.

“He’s been lights out once we’ve wanted him,” Janmark mentioned of Skinner.

The primary time Barkov obtained the puck previous him, 10 seconds after Henrique scored, the purpose got here off the board when Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch efficiently challenged for offside. A prolonged evaluate discovered Sam Reinhart entered the offensive zone maybe an inch or much less earlier than the puck, the announcement of which was adopted by a roar from followers.

“I really didn’t assume it was that shut,” Knoblauch mentioned. “In my thoughts, it was positively offside.”

That was not the loudest Rogers Place obtained, and there have been loads of candidates for that distinction. The decibel meter proven on video screens reached 113.8 when the Oilers stepped on to the ice to the tune of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman.”

It might need approached that noise degree when Ryan McLeod and Nurse scored empty-netters within the remaining minutes, setting off chants of “We wish the Cup!” “We wish the Cup!” and a wild celebration on the viewing social gathering outdoors.

That was the fever pitch of a metropolis that was awash in a sea of blue and orange downtown within the hours earlier than puck drop. Friday would possibly as properly have been a vacation in Edmonton, the house of almost 1,000,000 individuals now absolutely capable of let themselves dream of the Oilers including one other white championship banner to the rafters — and accomplish that in probably the most inconceivable means doable.

“We’re simply excited to maintain our season going,” McDavid mentioned. “That’s what it’s been about. One recreation at a time, someday at a time. Wanting ahead to the following one.”

___

AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL

Copyright 2024 The Related Press. All rights reserved.

It was an exhilarating begin to Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix as George Russell remarkably bolted from fourth on the grid into the lead by the primary nook – charging his well beyond a bunch of rival drivers.

Making a surprising getaway, Russell cleared Mercedes group mate Lewis Hamilton, Purple Bull’s Max Verstappen after which the pole-sitting McLaren of Lando Norris with a sweeping transfer across the outdoors of Flip 1.

PIRELLI STRATEGY GUIDE: What are the potential race methods for the Spanish Grand Prix?

Verstappen additionally obtained the leap on Norris to run second, whereas Hamilton held fourth over the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, because the automobiles behind squabbled for place however saved it clear.

Russell’s lead proved to be short-lived, although, with Verstappen passing him initially of the third lap to take over on the entrance of the sphere and start to edge away from the competitors.

Hit go on the video participant above to relive the race begin in Spain and sustain with the remainder of the motion on our devoted reside weblog.

The Norris Trophy is given yearly to the highest defenseman within the NHL as voted on by the Skilled Hockey Writers Affiliation

This season, Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks, Roman Josi of the Nashville Predators and Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche are the finalists.

The award will probably be given to one in all these defensemen throughout the NHL Awards on June 27 on the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN).

Whereas we wait to seek out out the winner, NHL.com writers Adam Kimelman, Mike Zeisberger and Mike G. Morreale debate the deserves of every finalist on this Awards version of State Your Case.

With all due respect to Cale Makar and Roman Josi, the Vancouver Canucks defenseman was one of the best within the NHL this season for a staff not many predicted would end second within the Western Convention. In his first season as captain of the Canucks, Hughes performed an enormous position by main all gamers at his place with 92 factors, 75 assists and 17 major power-play assists whereas averaging a team-high 24:41 in 82 video games to assist Vancouver (50-23-9) to its first 50-win season since 2011-12. He is the sixth defenseman in NHL historical past to have a minimum of 92 factors in a season by the age of 24 or youthful, and had 9 video games with a minimum of three assists, one thing solely two others on the place have achieved in a single season: Bobby Orr (4 occasions) and Ray Bourque (1993-94). Here is one other stat that boggles the thoughts: Hughes is already second on the Canucks’ all-time scoring record amongst defensemen with 333 factors in 365 video games. Alexander Edler is first with 409 factors in 925 video games. Hughes additionally set the Canucks report for plus-minus in a single season (plus-38). Reality is, Hughes is among the greatest skaters within the League, and that features all positions, and his hockey IQ will get higher and higher with age. Moreover, Vancouver managed 56.4 % of all photographs generated 5-on-5 when Hughes was on the ice this season, which ranked increased than Makar (52.8) and Josi (53.4). — Mike G. Morreale, senior draft author