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Mack turns back on defender for game winner and South Carolina beats Virginia Tech

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:52 GMT

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — B.J. Mack made the go-ahead basket with 20 seconds left and South Carolina prevented Virginia Tech from getting off a shot on its next possession and the Gamecocks beat the Hokies 79-77 on Friday night.In the first game played between the programs since 1997, Myles Stute scored 21 points shooting 7 for 11 including 5 for 6 from 3-point range, Mack scored 19 and secured six rebounds, Talon Cooper and reserve Jacobi Wright each scored 12 and Meechie Johnson scored 11 for the Gamecocks (2-0).On his game winner, Mack methodically backed down Mylyjael Poteat on the left side, drove to the baseline and converted the reverse layup. Following a Hokies (1-1) timeout, South Carolina disrupted a dribble-handoff attempt a few feet beyond the 3-point line to force a turnover to all but end it.Mack missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with two seconds left, and an errant heave attempt by the Hokies sealed it.Sean Pedulla scored 26 points, Hunter Catoor 13 and Lynn Kidd 12 for ...

Markkanen, Clarkson each score 26 points, Jazz hold off Grizzlies 127-121

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:52 GMT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Lauri Markkanen and Jordan Clarkson each scored 26 points and the Utah Jazz held off the Memphis Grizzlies 127-121 on Friday night in the NBA In-Season Tournament.John Collins added 18 and Ochai Agbaji had 15 to help the Jazz snap a four-game losing streak in their tournament opener. George, the 16th overall pick last summer, started his second consecutive game and had 11 assists.Desmond Bane led Memphis with 37 points, one short of his career high. An NBA-worst 1-8 and are 0-2 in the tournament, the Grizzlies are without star guard Ja Morant while he serves a 25-game suspension to start the season. He was penalized for a second online video showing him flashing a handgun.Bismack Biyombo added 15 points and 14 rebounds for Memphis. Jacob Gilyard, a two-way player starting his first game, Luke Kennard and Jaren Jackson Jr. each had 14 points each, with Jackson ejected in the third quarter.The Grizzlies’ frustration reached the peak in that third quarter. U...

Paradise Lost: South Florida seniors struggling to keep roof over their heads due to rising housing costs

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:52 GMT

Florida’s housing crisis is putting the state’s most vulnerable population at risk. While seniors should be enjoying their retirement, some are fighting homelessness and struggling to keep a roof over their heads. Here’s Karen Hensel with our special assignment series, “Paradise Lost.”The golden years. That is what 82-year-old Gustavo Medrano and his wife were looking forward to when they moved to Century Village in Pembroke Pines two years ago.Gustavo Medrano: “I came here to relax. These are the last days of my life. I don’t know how long I’m going to be here.”But golden is not how he would describe his life now. He’s afraid his money will run out because of increases in his monthly condo fees.Gustavo Medrano: “They want to charge us $200 increase, supposedly because of the insurance companies.”Like many seniors, Gustavo lives on Social Security, and the $200 monthly increase is stretching his limited budget.G...

Bulgaria’s Russian gas games rile Europe

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:52 GMT

BRUSSELS — When it comes to Russia’s energy empire, Bulgaria is giving with one hand and taking with the other — and Europe is getting fed up.Last month, Sofia hit Russia with a new tax on gas exports to the EU — an attempt by the country’s new, reformist administration to burnish its Western-friendly credentials and hammer the Kremlin’s war chest. But the move has infuriated Bulgaria’s neighbors and the country’s own pro-Russian president, who has asked the highest court to review its legality.Experts also say the government can’t claim the country is truly getting tough on Russia: Earlier this year, the country struck a gas deal with Turkey that could help Moscow regain its stranglehold over the EU’s energy supplies. The contradiction highlights the fine line Bulgaria has long walked within Europe. On the one hand, the country is keen to shake off its historical reputation as Moscow’s stooge in the EU after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Yet even Bulgari...

New Brunswick RCMP looking for armed suspect in Sussex, warn public to avoid Main St.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:52 GMT

New Brunswick RCMP say they’re searching for an armed suspect in the town of Sussex.Mounties say a male is reported to be carrying a firearm “with dangerous intent” in the Main Street area of the town.Police say the suspect is male, approximately 19 years old, wearing a blue coat and grey jogging pants.The suspect is said to be travelling on foot.Police are warning the public to avoid the area and shelter in place.RCMP say there is a heavy police presence in the area.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 11, 2023.The Canadian Press

Why Spain’s acting leader is offering a politically explosive amnesty for Catalan separatists

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:52 GMT

MADRID (AP) — Spain’s acting Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez ’s chances of forming a new coalition minority government following an inconclusive election in July were greatly boosted this week after reaching an agreement with a tiny party he surely hoped he would never have to rely on.The deal is with Together for Catalunya, also known as Junts — a group bent on achieving independence for the northeastern region of Catalonia that’s headed by Carles Puigdemont, who fled Spain after leading a failed illegal secession bid in 2017 that brought the country to the brink.Key to the agreement signed Thursday is a massively controversial amnesty that could benefit Puigdemont and thousands of other secessionists. But the proposal, backed by several smaller left-wing parties, has roused the ire of the conservative and far-right opposition parties that represent roughly half the country’s population. Many in the judiciary and police are also opposed.Here is what you need to know about ...

Morocco debates how to rebuild from September quake that killed thousands

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:52 GMT

MOULAY BRAHIM, Morocco (AP) — When a historic earthquake struck Morocco in September, Ahmed Aazab tightly hugged his wife and four children as their home’s brick walls tumbled around them.The roof collapsed, shattering clay pots in the kitchen and trapping picture frames and homework assignments beneath rubble. When the ground finally stopped shaking, the construction worker shepherded his five loved ones to a park. Then he rescued his father, mother and aunt, who were trapped in his childhood home nearby. For centuries, families in towns like Moulay Brahim in Morocco’s High Atlas mountains constructed their homes of stone and bricks, which they made by tightly ramming handfuls of muddy earth into molds. Now they face the daunting task of rebuilding from the quake and villagers and architects are debating just how.From Mexico to Hawaii, the question of rebuilding communities without changing them for the worse arises in the aftermath of virtually all-natural disasters. In Morocco, K...

2 charter school teachers ousted for teaching 1st graders about ‘genocide in Palestine’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:52 GMT

A public charter school located at a Los Angeles Jewish synagogue has ousted two teachers for sharing "a lesson on the genocide in Palestine" with first graders, school officials announced on Friday.The teachers are employed by Citizens of the World Charter School, which has classrooms at Adat Ari El Synagogue in the San Fernando Valley, and the lessons were among several points of conflict.In the days after Hamas militants crossed the Gaza border and attacked Israeli civilians, the synagogue hung Israeli flags around its campus, Senior Rabbi Brian Schuldenfrei explained at a news conference on Friday.On Oct. 16, Schuldenfrei says he received an email from the charter school's principal relaying the concerns of "certain teachers" and asking when the flags would be removed. Sheriff: Not enough evidence yet to bring charges in death of Jewish demonstrator "I know that this is a time to hold your community close, and perhaps the flags are intended for that - but do you know how long ...

Werewolves of Brooklyn

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:52 GMT

Shooter Jennings honors songwriting legend Warren Zevon with a 21-song salute.There are covers, there are tributes, and there are homages. But when Shooter Jennings took the stage with his crackerjack Werewolves of Los Angeles lineup, the frontman hollered out the evening’s raison d’être: “Let’s celebrate this motherfucker!”In 21 songs performed one day post-Halloween, the 44-year-old progeny of Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter did just that. The sold-out crowd at Brooklyn Made cheered as the band, with Jennings on piano, dove joyously into the marching beat of Warren Zevon’s 1978 gem “Lawyers, Guns and Money.” Past-middle-aged white guys — think gray hair, glasses, and T-shirts extolling NRBQ and Billy Joe Shaver — shouted along with every word, fists raised.Nashville-born Jennings was in his early 20s when Zevon died, on September 7, 2003; the young musician/burgeoning producer had never seen Zevon perform, nor had he met him. But as this show, as well as the email interview I did...

Bay Area high school football playoffs: Friday’s scores, Saturday’s schedule

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:52 GMT

Central Coast SectionOpen/Division INo. 8 Salinas (7-3) at No. 1 Serra (10-0), Saturday, 1 p.m.No. 7 Wilcox 52,  No. 2 St. Francis 28No. 3 St. Ignatius 21, No. 6 Valley Christian 17No. 4 Los Gatos 28, No. 5 Archbishop Riordan 14Note: The first-round winners in the top half of the bracket will play for the Open Division championship in Week 2 of the playoffs. The loser of the Open Division championship will play the winner of the bottom half of the bracket for the Division I championship in Week 3 of the playoffs.Division IINo. 6 Monterey (7-3) at No. 3 Sacred Heart Prep (6-4), Saturday, 1 p.m.No. 2 Soquel 35, No. 7 Carmel 14No. 5 Menlo 30,  No. 4 Live Oak 28No. 8 Christopher 32, No. 1 Archbishop Mitty 28Division IIINo. 6 Scotts Valley 33, No. 3 Aragon 21No. 7 Alisal 20, No. 2 Capuchino 17No. 4 Palma 38, No. 5 Hollister 10No. 1 Menlo-Atherton 49, No. 8 Hillsdale 37Division IVNo. 3 Branham 41, No. 6 Greenfield 14No. 2 Mountain View 49, No. 7 Burlingame 21No. 5 Leigh 21,  No. 4 North S...