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Lakers beat Wolves in OT, Hawks top Heat in play-in openers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:52:13 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James had 30 points and 10 rebounds, and the Los Angeles Lakers claimed the seventh spot in the Western Conference playoffs with a grueling 108-102 overtime victory over the short-handed Minnesota Timberwolves in the NBA’s play-in tournament Tuesday night.Dennis Schröder scored 21 points and iced the win with two free throws with 8.4 seconds left for the Lakers, who will face second-seeded Memphis in the first round starting Sunday.Karl-Anthony Towns scored 24 points and Mike Conley hit three free throws with 0.1 seconds left in regulation to tie it for the Wolves, who will host New Orleans or Oklahoma City on Friday for the eighth spot and a first-round date with top-seeded Denver beginning Sunday. The Pelicans host the Thunder on Wednesday night.Anthony Davis had 24 points, 15 rebounds and one tremendously ill-advised foul on Conley, who scored 23 points. Los Angeles survived a back-and-forth meeting with Minnesota, which gave an inspired effort while pla...

Lakers outlast Wolves 108-102 in OT, advance to face Memphis

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:52:13 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James had 30 points and 10 rebounds, and the Los Angeles Lakers claimed the seventh spot in the Western Conference playoffs with a grueling 108-102 overtime victory over the short-handed Minnesota Timberwolves in the NBA’s play-in tournament Tuesday night.Dennis Schröder scored 21 points and iced the win with two free throws with 8.4 seconds left for the Lakers, who will face second-seeded Memphis in the first round starting Sunday.Karl-Anthony Towns scored 24 points and Mike Conley hit three free throws with 0.1 seconds left in regulation to tie it for the Wolves, who will host New Orleans or Oklahoma City on Friday for the eighth spot and a first-round date with top-seeded Denver beginning Sunday.The Pelicans host the Thunder on Wednesday night, and Minnesota must then beat the winner to reach the playoffs for only the third time in 19 seasons.Anthony Davis had 24 points, 15 rebounds and one tremendously ill-advised foul on Conley, who scored 23 points. L...

Burnes outduels Kelly, Brewers top Diamondbacks 7-1

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:52:13 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — Corbin Burnes has had a lot of great outings over the past few years for the Milwaukee Brewers.Manager Craig Counsell said Tuesday night might have been his very best.Burnes threw eight scoreless innings, Willy Adames broke up Merrill Kelly’s no-hit bid in the seventh inning by smashing a solo homer to center field, and the Brewers piled up runs late to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-1.“That’s as good of a start as Corbin has had in the big leagues,” Counsell said. “I thought he was just awesome.”Burnes (1-1) — the 2021 NL Cy Young Award winner — had two mediocre starts to begin the season but was excellent against the D-backs. The hard-throwing righty gave up three hits and struck out eight, navigating the D-backs’ lineup in just 89 pitches.“It’s about not hitting the panic button,” Burnes said. “It’s very easy to start to panic, start looking at things and dig into something that’s not there. So for me, I took a brief look at the mechanics, took a brief...

Amadio scores 2, leads Golden Knights past Kraken 4-1

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:52:13 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Michael Amadio had two goals and an assist, and the Vegas Golden Knights moved closer to claiming the Pacific Division with a 4-1 victory over the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday night.Edmonton’s 2-1 overtime victory over Colorado on Tuesday prevented the Knights from clinching the Pacific.Reilly Smith had a three-point game, scoring on the rebound of a shot by linemate Amadio. Smith also picked up assists on Amadio’s goals. Jonathan Marchessault scored on a 5-on-3 power play and William Karlsson had two assists for Vegas.Laurent Brossoit made 20 saves and ran his season record to 6-0-3, helped by a Vegas defense that allowed four shots on goal in the third period.Yanni Gourde scored for the Kraken.The Knights, who are 4-0-3 in their last seven games, lead the Pacific and Western conference with 109 points. They will face the Kraken again Thursday night in Seattle in the regular-season finale for both teams. A win gives Vegas the division title, while a loss, ...

Tree removal underway in Alpine to avoid fire danger prompts concern amongst residents

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:52:13 GMT

ALPINE, Calif. -- In an effort to prevent wildfires in at-risk areas ahead of this year's wildfire season in San Diego, an extensive tree and shrub removal is underway in the East County that clears anything posing a fire danger within a five-foot proximity of a structure, but the move is raising concern from some residents. “What we want to do is take anything that could be overhanging the roofline, cut that completely away," shared Alpine Fire Marshal Jason McBroom while taking to FOX 5 on a tour of one apartment complex in the area unveiling the fire risks just feet away from surrounding units. To alleviate the threat, a state law, SB 63, that went into effect last year is now underway in Alpine, requiring the removal of trees, shrubs and plants over 18 inches tall from homes, schools, businesses, or any structure in the area; something enforced by the Alpine Fire Protection District. “It’s like links in a chain. The tighter the chain, the stronger the community," McBroom said. ...

Musician Kauan Okamoto alleges talent manager assaulted him

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:52:13 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — When Johnny Kitagawa told one of the boys staying at his luxury house to go to bed early, everyone knew “it was your turn.” That was among the recollections shared Wednesday by musician Kauan Okamoto, then 15, about allegedly being sexually assaulted by Kitagawa, a powerful figure in the Japanese entertainment world. The Associated Press does not usually identify victims of alleged sexual assault, but Okamoto has chosen to identify himself in the media.Okamoto was part of the backup boys’ group Johnny’s Jr., which also worked as a talent pool for Johnny & Associates, a talent agency managing male idol actors and singers.He remembered the sound of Kitagawa’s slippers pitter-pattering down the hallway. He turned over in bed, feigning sleep. Sometimes Kitagawa handed him a 10,000-yen ($100) bill the morning after when no one was looking, like in the elevator, according to Okamoto.That continued for four years, starting in 2012 and lasting until Okamoto left Johnny &...

As Ukraine war drags on, civilians’ mental health needs rise

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:52:13 GMT

KRAMATORSK, Ukraine (AP) — Huddled in the back of a café near the train station where a missile killed dozens of people a year ago, Nastya took slow, deliberate breaths to calm herself. Overnight, her neighborhood had been bombed again, and she just couldn’t take any more.Heeding her parents’ advice, the 20-year-old woman had visited the nearby psychiatric hospital that morning — a place that also bore the scars of war after being repeatedly bombed, including by a missile that destroyed part of the building last September. But the staff swept up the shattered glass, shoveled away the debris and carried on working, determined to stay in Kramatorsk, in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, to help those in need. For Nastya, it was a lifeline. “After today’s shelling, I could no longer cope with anxiety, the feeling of constant danger,” the speech therapy student said, giving only her first name to talk last month about the difficult decision to seek mental health care. The stigma of ...

Fishing regulators need more transparency, ocean groups say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:52:13 GMT

MOMBASA, Kenya (AP) — Some regional fisheries management organizations that were set up by the United Nations to measure and conserve fish populations — but are difficult to hold to account — need to be more transparent about how they make their rules and regulations if fish species are to be protected and maintained for people reliant on healthy fish stocks for their livelihoods, conservation agencies and fishing industry players say.The 50-some regional fisheries management organizations worldwide bring together local, coastal states and bigger international players to regulate how companies and countries can fish in waters worldwide in a way that best conserves populations of fish and other ocean species based on scientific evidence. For years, these regional regulators have been accused of undemocratic practices that favor large, industrial fishers but now several conservation groups are banding together to renew calls for a culture change.A coalition of conservationists and mar...

Companies skeptical about Egypt’s push to ease industry ties

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:52:13 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — In Egypt, state-owned companies bottle water, make dry pasta and cement, and run gas stations and fish farms. Two of the most powerful economic players in the North African country have long been the government and military. For years, they have faced criticism from economists and international lenders that this approach is stifling economic growth.Increasing pressure, brought on by high inflation and a currency crisis, led Egypt to vow things would finally change.The government said it started to sell stakes in March in some of the 32 state-owned companies it’s promised to privatize, from petrochemical firms to banks. The policy announced in December is part of reforms linked to a loan from the International Monetary Fund but still allows the state to work in key sectors like health, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, oil and gas, insurance and more.Business leaders and analysts are skeptical. Several told The Associated Press that they expect the government and milit...

Firing in Indian army station kills 4 soldiers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:52:13 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — A firing incident inside a military station in northern India killed at least four soldiers early Wednesday, an army statement said.The statement didn’t give details, saying only that quick reaction teams were activated, and the area cordoned off and sealed. Indian media reports quoted state police officers as saying that the incident in the army camp in Bhatinda in Punjab state bordering Pakistan did not appear to be a terror attack.The shooting took place as the state was on a high security alert a day ahead of Baisakhi, a major Sikh and Hindu festival marking the start of the harvesting season.Punjab had suffered a bloody insurgency in 1980s that led to the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards at her official residence in New Delhi in 1984. It triggered deadly violence against Sikhs in northern India by her Hindu supporters. India accuses neighboring Pakistan of supporting the insurgency in Indian-controlled Kashmir an...