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New York takes on Las Vegas, seeks 6th straight road win

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:00 GMT

New York Liberty (10-3, 7-3 Eastern Conference) at Las Vegas Aces (13-1, 7-0 Western Conference)Las Vegas; Thursday, 10 p.m. EDTBOTTOM LINE: New York will try to keep its five-game road win streak alive when the Liberty play Las Vegas.The Aces have gone 7-0 in home games. Las Vegas is second in the WNBA with 21.9 assists per game. Chelsea Gray leads the Aces averaging 6.6.The Liberty are 5-1 on the road. New York ranks fifth in the Eastern Conference with 7.7 offensive rebounds per game led by Jonquel Jones averaging 2.0.The Aces and Liberty square off Thursday for the first time this season.TOP PERFORMERS: A’ja Wilson is scoring 19.6 points per game and averaging 9.4 rebounds for the Aces.Breanna Stewart is averaging 22.6 points, 10.3 rebounds, four assists, 1.6 steals and 1.7 blocks for the Liberty.LAST 10 GAMES: Aces: 9-1, averaging 91.3 points, 33.4 rebounds, 21.6 assists, 7.3 steals and 5.2 blocks per game while shooting 49.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged...

Boston leads Indiana against Phoenix after 20-point outing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:00 GMT

Indiana Fever (5-9, 3-5 Eastern Conference) at Phoenix Mercury (2-10, 1-8 Western Conference)Phoenix; Thursday, 10 p.m. EDTBOTTOM LINE: Indiana visits the Phoenix Mercury after Aliyah Boston scored 20 points in the Fever’s 88-80 loss to the Las Vegas Aces.The Mercury are 1-5 in home games. Phoenix is ninth in the WNBA with 33.0 points in the paint led by Brittney Griner averaging 9.3.The Fever are 4-5 on the road. Indiana is 3-6 against opponents over .500.The teams meet for the second time this season. The Mercury won 85-82 in the last matchup on June 11.TOP PERFORMERS: Griner is averaging 19.1 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.4 blocks for the Mercury.Boston is scoring 15.9 points per game and averaging 8.5 rebounds for the Fever.LAST 10 GAMES: Mercury: 2-8, averaging 78.6 points, 28.8 rebounds, 19.8 assists, 6.0 steals and 4.0 blocks per game while shooting 44.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 89.2 points per game.Fever: 4-6, averaging 85.7 points, 36.2 rebounds, 18...

Tribunal Supremo rechaza que una escuela pueda obligar a las niñas a llevar falda

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:00 GMT

WASHINGTON DC – El Tribunal Supremo de Estados Unidos rechazó este lunes pronunciarse en un caso sobre si una escuela en concesión en el estado de Carolina del Norte puede obligar a las alumnas a llevar falda, manteniendo en vigor la decisión de un tribunal de apelaciones, que el año pasado invalidó la medida.El colegio Charter Day, ubicado en el condado de Brunswick, trata de impulsar “valores tradicionales” e impuso el código de vestimenta para enfatizar la idea de que una mujer es “un frágil recipiente que los hombres deben cuidar y honrar”, según declaraciones de su fundador, Baker Mitchell, recogidas por la emisora de radio NPR.El centro fue demandado por un grupo de padres que argumentaba que las reglas de vestimenta limitaban la capacidad de sus hijas de participar en las actividades escolares durante el recreo y que eran discriminatorias, ya que les impedían llevar pantalones, como hacen sus compañeros.El Tribunal de Apelaciones del Cuarto Circu...

Ohtani still hasn’t decided whether he will participate in the Home Run Derby

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:00 GMT

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Shohei Ohtani already knows he is headed to the All-Star Game in two weeks. It remains unclear whether he will take part in the Home Run Derby in Seattle on July 10.“I don’t know when my next (pitching) start is and it really kind of depends on that. I haven’t thought that far ahead yet,” Ohtani said through his interpreter after the Los Angeles Angels beat the Chicago White Sox 4-2 Tuesday night. The two-way Japanese superstar leads the majors with 28 home runs, including 13 in June. He became the first American League pitcher in nearly 60 years to hit two homers and strike out 10 batters in a game in Tuesday’s victory.Ohtani led the AL with 2,646,307 votes to wrap up his third straight All-Star start at designated hitter. It is the second year the top vote-getters in each league in the first phase of online voting get starting spots.Ohtani participated in the 2021 Home Run Derby in Denver. He lost to Juan Soto 31-28 in the second swing-off ...

Brazil’s Lula whines about French, Italian palace food

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:00 GMT

Brazil’s president isn’t happy. This time it’s with European palace food. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Tuesday criticized the quality and size of the portions he was served on recent visits to two of the world’s global culinary capitals: Paris and Rome.“I had lunch with Macron and with President Matarella. Two palace meals, which are not that great,” said the Brazilian president in an interview on his YouTube channel.The 77-year-old left-wing leader said that he doesn’t enjoy food at official state dinners because “everything is tiny and restricted,” according to the Brazilian outlet O Globo.“There isn’t a big tray for you to choose and get what you want. It’s that little bit that you eat,” said Lula. “I honestly can’t get used to this. I need quantity. It may be gluttony on my part, but I like quantity.”The Brazilian president told his listeners that he misses traditional Brazilian recipes such as “rabada or galinhada” when traveling abroad...

Supreme Court rejects novel legislative theory but leaves a door open for 2024 election challenges

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:00 GMT

The U.S. Supreme Court shot down a controversial legal theory that could have changed the way elections are run across the country but left the door open to more limited challenges that could increase its role in deciding voting disputes during the 2024 presidential election.The court’s 6-3 ruling Tuesday drove a stake through the most extreme version of the so-called independent state legislature theory, which holds that legislatures have absolute power in setting the rules of federal elections and cannot be second-guessed by state courts. That decision cheered voting rights groups.“We beat back the most serious legal threat our democracy has ever faced today,” said Kathay Feng of Common Cause, whose lawsuit challenging congressional districts drawn by North Carolina’s Republican-controlled legislature triggered the case.But for some critics of the theory, the danger is not entirely past.The court found that state courts still must act within “ordinary bounds” when revi...

Muslims at Hajj pilgrimage brave intense heat to cast stones at pillars representing the devil

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:00 GMT

MINA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of Muslim pilgrims on Wednesday braved intense heat to perform the symbolic stoning of the devil during the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.With morning temperatures rising past 42 degrees Celsius (107 degrees Farenheit), huge crowds of pilgrims walked or took buses to the vast Jamarat complex just outside the holy city of Mecca, where large pedestrian bridges lead past three wide pillars representing the devil.Using pebbles collected the night before at a campsite known as Muzdalifa, the pilgrims stone the pillars. It’s a reenactment of the story of the Prophet Ibrahim — known as Abraham in Christian and Jewish traditions — who is said to have hurled stones at Satan to resist temptation.The ceremony was marred by tragedy on a number of occasions in the 1990s and 2000s, when hundreds died in stampedes during the stoning ritual. Saudi authorities have since built an expanded network of massive pedestrian bridges and redesigned the...

Norway approves 19 oil and gas projects, saying the resulting investments are worth over $19 billion

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:00 GMT

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Norway announced Wednesday it approved 19 oil and gas projects on the Norwegian continental shelf, saying the total investments are worth over 200 billion kroner ($19 billion).“The projects are also an important contribution to Europe’s energy security,” said Terje Aasland, Norway’s minister for petroleum and energy.Norway was the only net exporter of oil and gas in Europe, he said, adding, “By carrying out these projects we ensure new production from the latter half of the 2020s, so that we can maintain high Norwegian deliveries.”The projects consist of new developments, further development of existing fields, and investments in projects for increased extraction at existing fields.Norway, one of the world’s wealthiest countries due to its vast oil and gas reserves, said earlier this month that it wants to open parts of its continental shelf for commercial deep-sea mining in line with the country’s strategy to seek new economic opportunities and redu...

Canadians come up short on citizenship test: A look at what’s In The News for today

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:00 GMT

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed on what you need to know today. Citizenship test and Canada DayCanadians’ hearts may be brimming with pride as Canada Day approaches, but a new poll suggests their minds aren’t full of the knowledge they would need to pass a citizenship test.In a survey of more than 1,500 Canadian adults, Leger (LEH”-zhay) found that only 23 per cent would pass the citizenship test, based on their answers to 10 randomly selected questions.People who wish to become Canadian need to answer 20 questions about citizens’ rights and responsibilities, as well as Canada’s history, geography, economy, government, laws and symbols. They need to get 75 per cent of them right to pass — but the average score of the Canadians who were surveyed was only 49 per cent.Ottawa urged to back Washington in pipline disputeA progressive public policy think tank is urging the federal government to side agains...

France heightens security after unrest prompted by police shooting of 17-year-old

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:00 GMT

NANTERRE, France (AP) — France’s government on Wednesday announced heightened police presence around Paris and other big cities and called for calm after scattered violence erupted over the death of a 17-year-old delivery driver who was shot and killed during a police check.The death prompted nationwide concern and triggered unrest in multiple towns. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said 31 people were arrested, 25 police officers injured and 40 cars burned in overnight unrest.The tensions focused around the Paris suburb of Nanterre, where lawyers say 17-year-old Nael M. was killed Tuesday during a traffic check. The police officer suspected of firing on him was detained and faces potential manslaughter charges, according to the Nanterre prosecutor’s office. Videos purported to be of the incident were “extremely shocking,” Darmanin said, pledging a full investigation. The images show two police officers leaning into the driver-side window of a yellow car, before the vehicle p...