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Los Angeles heads to Minnesota for conference showdown

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 13:01:05 GMT

Los Angeles Sparks (3-3, 3-3 Western Conference) at Minnesota Lynx (1-6, 0-3 Western Conference)Minneapolis; Sunday, 7 p.m. EDTBOTTOM LINE: Minnesota plays Los Angeles in a matchup of Western Conference teams.Minnesota finished 8-10 in Western Conference games and 7-11 at home during the 2022-23 season. The Lynx averaged 82.4 points per game last season, 15.2 from the free throw line and 20.4 from beyond the arc.Los Angeles finished 13-23 overall last season while going 6-12 in Western Conference action. The Sparks averaged 17.8 points off of turnovers, 9.2 second chance points and 21.1 bench points last season.INJURIES: Lynx: Diamond Miller: out (ankle), Natalie Achonwa: out (personal).Sparks: Jasmine Thomas: out (knee), Katie Lou Samuelson: out (personal).___The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.Source

Fever play the Mercury in non-conference action

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 13:01:05 GMT

Phoenix Mercury (1-4, 1-4 Western Conference) at Indiana Fever (1-5, 1-4 Eastern Conference)Indianapolis; Sunday, 5 p.m. EDTBOTTOM LINE: The Indiana Fever host the Phoenix Mercury in out-of-conference play.Indiana finished 3-15 at home last season while going 5-31 overall. The Fever averaged 18.0 assists per game on 28.4 made field goals last season.Phoenix finished 15-21 overall a season ago while going 4-14 on the road. The Mercury averaged 81.1 points per game last season, 33.2 in the paint, 16.5 off of turnovers and 9.4 on fast breaks.INJURIES: Fever: None listed.Mercury: Skylar Diggins-Smith: out (personal).___The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.Source

Atlanta hosts Connecticut following Bonner’s 41-point outing

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 13:01:05 GMT

Connecticut Sun (7-2, 4-1 Eastern Conference) at Atlanta Dream (2-4, 1-2 Eastern Conference)College Park, Georgia; Sunday, 4 p.m. EDTBOTTOM LINE: Connecticut takes on the Atlanta Dream after DeWanna Bonner’s 41-point game in the Sun’s 94-77 victory against the Las Vegas Aces.Atlanta went 8-10 at home and 5-13 in Eastern Conference games during the 2022-23 season. The Dream averaged 78.5 points per game last season, 13.5 from the free throw line and 22.8 from 3-point range.Connecticut went 25-11 overall and 11-7 in Eastern Conference games during the 2022-23 season. The Sun averaged 85.8 points per game last season, 39.7 in the paint, 19.2 off of turnovers and 12.6 on fast breaks.INJURIES: Dream: Aari McDonald: out (torn labrum), Danielle Robinson: out (knee).Sun: None listed.___The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.Source

Brandon Hyde and Orioles veterans say it’s harder to be a young player in MLB today. Here’s why.

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 13:01:05 GMT

When Kyle Gibson was a rookie with the Minnesota Twins, he was once scared that a few of the club’s veterans were going to make him swim in the fountain at Kansas City’s Kauffman Stadium.Gibson was playing catch with a frisbee with pitchers Mike Pelfrey and Kevin Correia when it fluttered into the fountain. Gibson, 23 years old at the time, was sure he was going to be the one who had to jump into the water to retrieve it.“I just remember saying in my head, ‘Please, no, don’t make me do this,’” Gibson recalled with a smile. “But then Correia thankfully goes, ‘Nah, it’s hot out here anyway, I want to take a swim.’ Two minutes later, they’re both swimming in the fountain, and here I am watching.”Gibson said that was the closest he came to dealing with any “rookie hazing,” noting that when he became a big leaguer in 2013, that aspect of clubhouse culture had mostly faded away. That, Gibson said, is...

Ravens host Morgan State and Bowie State coaches, offering ‘refreshing’ look at NFL

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 13:01:05 GMT

The more Antone’ Sewell watched Ravens coaches from an intimate vantage, the more he was struck by the similarities between their work and the work he and his colleagues do leading Morgan State’s football program.It was an educational experience, but also an affirming one.“Some of it was getting new ideas and some of it was confirming things we already do,” said Sewell, Morgan’s assistant head coach and defensive coordinator. “Being around coach [John] Harbaugh, you expect things to be different when you’re talking about being around professional players, but he treats his guys, both coaches and players, like he genuinely cares for them.“I expected it to be strictly business. Every day, he’s sharing nuggets and giving guys information that can help you be a better football player but also just be a better man. That’s refreshing, because it’s also something that [Morgan State head] coach [Damon] Wilson has always been ...

Pope continues post-surgery recovery in hospital; faithful await his video message

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 13:01:05 GMT

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis spent another good night in the Rome hospital where he is recovering from abdominal surgery, the Vatican said Saturday.Francis, 86, underwent the operation on Wednesday to repair a hernia in the abdominal wall and to remove scar tissue that had formed following intestinal surgery in previous years. The Vatican said it would provide more details on the pope’s medical progress later in the day.Meanwhile, thousands of people were expected in St. Peter’s Square for a late-afternoon gathering at the Vatican to promote brotherhood — a quality so dear to Francis he wrote an encyclical on its importance in 2020. In that document, the pope explained his vision of a post-COVID world built on solidarity, fraternity and care for the environment.The crowd was expected to see a video message from the pope. It wasn’t immediately clear if Francis had recorded the message before his surgery or during the hospitalization.While in the 10th-floor apartment reserved for papal us...

Indonesia’s Anak Krakatau volcano spews ash, lava in new eruption

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 13:01:05 GMT

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia’s Anak Krakatau volcano has erupted, spewing ash as high as 3 kilometers (2 miles) into the air, officials said Saturday.The volcano island located in Indonesia’s Sunda Strait between the main Java and Sumatra islands has erupted at least seven times since late Friday, Indonesia’s Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center said. It was the longest eruption since the explosive collapse of the mountain caused a deadly tsunami in 2018 along the coasts of Java and Sumatra, the center said. There were no casualties reported in the latest eruption and no evacuation order was issued. The nearest settlement is 16 1/2 kilometers (10 1/2 miles) away.The center’s closed-circuit camera showed lava flares and the volcano continuously erupting until Saturday morning.The second-highest alert on a scale of four has remained in place since 2018. Authorities in May warned residents and tourists to stay 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the crater. Up till then, ...

French stabbing suspect faces charges as injured toddlers remain hospitalized

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 13:01:05 GMT

PARIS (AP) — The man suspected of stabbing four young children and two adults in a park in the French Alps is facing potential charges Saturday, after an attack that reverberated across France and beyond.The children, between 22 months and 3 years old, remain hospitalized, but the French president expressed hope after speaking to their doctors Friday that their conditions would continue to improve.The six victims came from four different countries: France, Britain, the Netherlands and Portugal.The suspect, a 31-year-old Syrian political refugee with permanent residency status in Sweden, was expected to appear before a judge Saturday, according to local officials. The regional prosecutor, Line Bonnet-Mathis, was scheduled to give a news conference later in the day.Police detained the suspect in the lakeside park in the town of Annecy after bystanders — notably, a Catholic pilgrim who repeatedly swung at the attacker with his backpack — sought to deter him.The motive behind Thursday&#...

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau makes surprise visit to Ukraine

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 13:01:05 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrived in Kyiv on Saturday for a surprise visit to show Canada’s solidarity with Ukraine’s ongoing efforts to push back against Russia more than a year after the invasion began.Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland joined him on the trip, which began with Trudeau laying a wreath at a memorial wall at St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery to honour Ukrainians who have died while defending their homeland.Some media outlets, including The Canadian Press, were made aware of the trip ahead of time on the condition that it not be reported until it was made public, for security reasons.Earlier this week, a hydroelectric dam on the Dnieper River ruptured, flooding a large part of the front line in southern Ukraine and worsening the humanitarian situation — including the need for drinking water — in an area that was already undergoing shelling.It remains unclear how the dam collapse happened. Kyiv has accused Russia of blowing...

Last reactor shut down at Ukraine’s largest nuclear plant as fighting, flooding continues

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 13:01:05 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s nuclear energy agency says it has put the last operating reactor at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant into a “cold shutdown” — a safety precaution amid catastrophic flooding from the collapse of a nearby dam as Russia’s war on Ukraine drags on through its 16th month.Russian forces continued pummeling the country with missiles and drones overnight, with Ukrainian officials reporting at least four deaths and damage to a military airfield.Five out of six reactors at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which is occupied by Russian forces, are already in a state of cold shutdown, in which all control rods are inserted into the reactor core to stop the nuclear fission reaction and generation of heat and pressure.Energoatom, the Ukrainian nuclear agency, said in a statement late Friday that there was “no direct threat” to the Zaporizhzhia plant due to the breach of the Kakhovka dam further down the Dnieper River, which has forced thousands of peopl...