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Booker has 45 points, Suns top Leonard-less Clippers 129-124

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:12 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Devin Booker scored 45 points, Kevin Durant added 26 and the Phoenix Suns beat the Kawhi Leonard-less Los Angeles Clippers 129-124 on Thursday night to take a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference playoff series.Leonard sat out because of a sprained right knee, the same injury that has sidelined fellow star Paul George since March 21. Leonard was hurt in Game 1, and played through it in Game 2, but afterward his condition didn’t improve.Norman Powell led the Clippers, scoring a career playoff-high 40 points on 14-of-22 shooting. Russell Westbrook added 30 points and 11 assists.Game 4 is Saturday in Los Angeles. Booker shot 18 for 29 and had seven rebounds, three steals and two blocks while playing a game-high 44 minutes. He scored 38 points in Game 2. With Leonard watching from the bench, the Clippers kept it close through the first half, when neither team led by more than six. The Clippers got within three on two free throws by Westbrook with 1:44 remaining. After a...

Oh baby: Betts returns from paternity list, plays shortstop

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:12 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — Mookie Betts had just rejoined the Los Angeles Dodgers when manager Dave Roberts asked if he was up for playing shortstop.“He said, ‘Whatever you need,’ and he took it from there,” Roberts said.No kidding.Betts was activated from the paternity list Thursday and made his first big league appearance at shortstop in the seventh inning of a 6-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs. He fielded a grounder up the middle in the eighth and started a nice double play.“A lot of fun,” Betts said. “That was like a dream come true.”Los Angeles also recalled right-hander Andre Jackson from Triple-A Oklahoma City. Right-hander Evan Phillips was placed on the paternity list, and infielder Yonny Hernández was optioned to the team’s top farm club.Betts’ wife gave birth to their second child Tuesday. He missed two games before rejoining the Dodgers ahead of a four-game series against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.With infielders Miguel Rojas and Chris Taylor hampered by injuries, Robert...

Stone scores twice to lift Golden Knights past Jets 5-2

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:12 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Mark Stone scored two third-period goals and assisted on another in just his second game since returning from back surgery to give the Vegas Golden Knights a 5-2 victory over Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night in Game 2 to even the first-round series.Chandler Stephenson and William Karlsson each had a goal and an assist, Jack Eichel scored his first career playoff goal and Phil Kessel and Alex Pietrangelo each had two assists. Laurent Brossoit made 31 saves.Stone’s goals were his first since January. He underwent back surgery Jan. 31 and returned in time for this game.Adam Lowry and Kevin Stenlund each scored for the Jets, and Connor Hellebuyck made 34 stops.Game 3 is Saturday afternoon at Winnipeg.Lowry scored on a power play at 9:18 of the first period, redirecting Neal Pionk’s shot from the point to give Winnipeg a 1-0 lead. It was his third goal in a row. He ended the series opener, a 5-1 Jets victory, with a power play goal and empty netter in the fina...

De Beyoncé al Papa: Twitter elimina las verificaciones de usuarios que no pagan la tarifa mensual

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:12 GMT

Esta vez es de verdad.Muchos de los usuarios de alto perfil de Twitter están perdiendo los cheques azules que ayudaron a verificar su identidad y distinguirlos de los impostores en la plataforma de redes sociales propiedad de Elon Musk.Después de varios comienzos en falso, Twitter comenzó a cumplir su promesa el jueves de eliminar los cheques azules de las cuentas que no pagan una tarifa mensual para conservarlos. Twitter tenía alrededor de 300,000 usuarios verificados bajo el sistema original de verificación azul, muchos de ellos periodistas, atletas y figuras públicas. Los cheques, que solían significar que Twitter verificó que la cuenta era quien dice ser, comenzaron a desaparecer de los perfiles de estos usuarios a última hora de la mañana, hora del Pacífico.Los usuarios de alto perfil que perdieron sus cheques azules el jueves incluyeron a Beyoncé, el Papa Francisco, Oprah Winfrey y el expresidente Donald Trump.Los costos de mantener las marcas van desde $8 por mes para usuario...

San Diego prepares for meteor shower

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:12 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A massive sky spectacle is expected to take place in the next 24 hours. The annual Lyrid meteor shower will peak Saturday night, but you don’t have to wait until then to catch the fun.For anyone looking to wish upon a “falling star,” now is your chance. This event will allow you to see up to 20 meteors per hour.It’s a cosmic show like no other. The Lyrid meteor shower expects to happen as we celebrate Earth Day, and Twyla Robinson is ready for it."There is a whole big universe out there. I studied astronomy before and cosmology and there is so much out there," Robinson said.According to NASA, the Lyrid meteor shower happens in late April and has been observed for 2,700 years."With this small scope under 100 bucks we’ve seen Mars and the rings around Saturn," Cathy Handezel said.She is with the San Diego County Chapter of the International Dark Sky and says while meteor showers are not rare International Dark Sky week celebrates what we share above. "We wa...

No fruit, ham a luxury: Hungary food prices spike most in EU

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:12 GMT

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Magdolna Gozon nibbles spicy green peppers from a fruit and vegetable stall at a sprawling indoor market in Budapest, sampling them to make sure they’re hot enough for a soup she’s cooking.The 83-year-old retiree can’t afford to buy more if they don’t have enough kick — not with her small pension and Hungary facing the biggest spike in food prices in the European Union. “I don’t buy fruits. We got potatoes from the municipality, so we don’t have to buy that, but onions became expensive,” said Gozon, who has stopped buying dairy and rarely shops for meat. Food prices have risen dramatically across Europe in recent months, jumping 19.6% in March from a year earlier and becoming the main driver of inflation as energy costs have fallen. But in Hungary, food prices have surged more than 45% over the year, according to EU statistics office Eurostat, far surpassing the next highest figure of just over 29% in Slovakia.Such price h...

Sri Lankan protesters demand justice for Easter 2019 attacks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:12 GMT

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Thousands of Sri Lankans held a protest in the capital on Friday, demanding justice for the victims of the 2019 Easter Sunday bomb attacks that killed nearly 270 people.The protesters demanded the government uncover who they said were the real conspirators behind the attacks on three churches — two Catholic and one Protestant — that included simultaneous suicide bombings during Easter celebrations on April 21, 2019. Three tourist hotels were also targeted, killing 42 foreigners from 14 countries.Thousands of people including Catholic clergy on Friday lined up for a silent protest on both sides of the main road connecting the capital, Colombo, with the country’s international airport. They blamed the government for not taking adequate measures to deliver justice for the victims of the bombings and punish those responsible.The protesters, dressed in white and black, held one another’s hands, forming a human chain. They displayed placards and banne...

Hong Kong bishop invites head of China’s state-backed church

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:12 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Hong Kong’s Roman Catholic bishop on Friday said he had invited a leader of the Communist Party-controlled group for Catholics in mainland China to visit his city, in a high-profile gesture aimed at improving strained Vatican relations with Beijing.Bishop Stephen Chow said Joseph Li, who also is archbishop of Beijing in China’s state-recognized church hierarchy, appeared to be “quite positive” about the invitation, according to public broadcaster RTHK. The report gave no indication when Li might visit.Chow announced the invitation on the last day of a five-day trip to Beijing, the first by a bishop of Hong Kong in nearly three decades. Last month, the bishop said that his visit underscores the mission of the Hong Kong Diocese to be a bridge church and promote exchanges between the two sides. But the trip came as the Vatican and Beijing are again split over the power to appoint bishops.China and the Vatican severed diplomatic ties in 1951, following the Communists’ ris...

Women’s soccer team plays to keep Mariupol in spotlight

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:12 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — In an empty stadium in Ukraine’s capital, a group of women soccer players draped in blue-and-yellow flags are getting ready for the match of the day.As at every game these days, they observe a minute of silence for those who died because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.The logo on their uniform reads: “Mariupol is Ukraine.”They are members of Mariupol Women’s Soccer Team. The eastern port city was devastated and captured by Russian forces last year after more than two months of stiff resistance by outmanned and outgunned Ukrainian forces, turning Mariupol into a worldwide symbol of Ukrainian defiance.The city is now under Russian occupation, illegally annexed in September by the Russian president.Refusing to give up, five original players from Mariupol have formed a new team based in Kyiv, recruiting members from all over the country.Their goal? Not only to keep their place in the league but also to remind everyone that despite the Russian occupation that will s...

US urges NATO vigilance for signs Russia could use nuclear weapon

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:12 GMT

The US and its NATO allies must remain alert for signs Russian President Vladimir Putin could use a tactical nuclear weapon in a "managed" escalation of his war in Ukraine, the second-highest US diplomat said on Tuesday (18 April).Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman issued the warning during the opening session of an annual NATO arms control conference that was being held in North America for the first time since its inception in 2004."We have all watched and worried that Vladimir Putin would use what he considers a non-strategic tactical nuclear weapon or use some demonstration effect to escalate, but in an managed risk escalation," Sherman said. "It is very critical to remain watchful of this."Putin's 25 March announcement that Russia is preparing to station tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus "is his effort to use this threat in a managed way", Sherman said.Tactical nuclear weapons are designed for battlefield gains or for use against limited military targets.Puti...