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Morant scores 31, Grizzlies top Pelicans 116-115 in OT

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:01 GMT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Ja Morant let out a triumphant yell as he threw down an alley-oop dunk in overtime that punctuated his third 30-point performance in just the fourth game of his return to the resurgent Memphis Grizzlies.Morant scored 31 points and the Grizzlies defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 116-115 in overtime on Tuesday night to improve to 4-0 since Morant made his season debut in same arena a week earlier.“Obviously excited to be back,” Morant said. “But being able to come back and win four games now and continue to take this momentum to the next game, and the next day, is bigtime for us.” Desmond Bane scored 27, including a 3 in the final minute of regulation that helped Memphis erase a 15-point, second-half deficit. Bane also made what turned out to be a clinching free throw to give the Grizzlies a 4-point lead with 4 seconds left in overtime.Memphis also won with defense, finishing with 17 blocked shots — five by Xavier Tillman — and 10 steals.“We know what we’re ca...

'Battle of the Bands' takes over Gaslamp ahead of Holiday Bowl

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:01 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- The night before kickoff at the 2023 Holiday Bowl, the fun already started in downtown San Diego.The Snapdragon Bowl Bash took over the Gaslamp Quarter with festivities and the anticipated battle of the bands.The USC Trojan marching band took on the University of Louisville Cardinals' program."Definitely the band world's best band. Any time we get the chance to see them play all Trojan fans get all fired up," said David Lippe, a USC Alumni.Two renowned bands and their counterparts: the cheer squad, color guard, song, dance teams facing off for 30 minutes straight. What to know before the Holiday Bowl and parade: Road closures, parking "We are the official band of the Kentucky Derby and we have been that band since 1936," said Jason Cumberledg, University of Louisville Marching Band Director.Even Tommy the Trojan and Louie the Cardinal, both team mascots, were out performing with the bands and giving it their all.It was somewhat a sea of red in the Gaslamp Quarter...

Man attacked in violent Torrance mall robbery, suspects at large

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:01 GMT

A group of armed suspects remains at large after a violent robbery at a Torrance shopping mall left a man beaten and bloodied.The victim, Absalom Wilkins, was leaving the Del Amo Fashion Center with Christmas gifts on Dec. 23 when two suspects approached him at gunpoint. “I was fearing for my life,” said Wilkins. “Especially when you're getting up and they're saying they're going to shoot you. It was sad, traumatizing, scary. I couldn't stop crying. When my family saw me, they couldn't stop crying.”Wilkins left the mall at around 9 p.m. when the suspects’ SUV nearly crashed into him as he was using a crosswalk near Buffalo Wild Wings.“This gentleman in the SUV blew past the stop sign and was not paying attention at all, “ Wilkins said. He knocked on the suspects’ car with his knuckles, telling the driver to pay attention. That’s when the driver stepped out of the vehicle to confront Wilkins.Absalom Wilkins was left bloodied and bruised after armed suspects robbed him at gunpoin...

What happened in local business in 2023? A look at the woes, wins, mergers and more

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:01 GMT

From restaurants shutting their doors and others opening for the first time, to mergers and acquisitions that made the news, WTOP has a roundup of the biggest D.C.-area business stories of the year.Restaurant woesThe Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington released a survey of D.C.-area restaurants that painted a bleak picture for the future, with restaurants citing inflation, lower customer traffic, labor shortages and crime.And many restaurants closed in 2023, including Adams Morgan mainstay Roofers Union, Navy Yard’s highly anticipated but short-lived Swingers, and Denizens Brewing, which closed its original Downtown Silver Spring taproom and now focuses on its larger Riverdale Park location.Two longtime D.C. restaurateurs permanently closed their last two remaining restaurants, Brine Oyster and Seafood House, citing crime and unsustainable costs. Award-winning chef Kevin Tien closed his popular Moon Rabbit restaurant at The Wharf in a dispute with its InterContin...

Former Pakistani premier Nawaz Sharif will seek fourth term in office, his party says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:01 GMT

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will seek a fourth term in office, his party said Wednesday, noting he would be its consensus candidate in the upcoming parliamentary elections and the office of the prime minister.Sharif, who has served as prime minister three times, returned to Pakistan in October after four years of self-exile in London to avoid serving prison sentences on corruption charges. However, his conviction and sentences were overturned on appeal after his return, making him eligible to run for a seat in the parliament, which will elect the new prime minister after the Feb. 8 vote. “There is no doubt about it. Nawaz Sharif is our candidate for the office of the prime minister,” said Rana Sanaullah Khan, a senior leader in Sharif’s party. Sharif stepped down as prime minister in 2017 over the corruption charges. In July 2018, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison over purchases of luxury apartments in London. In December that year...

Flag! Kansas and UNLV see yellow as penalties pile up at Guaranteed Rate Bowl

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:01 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — Fans were seeing yellow at the Guaranteed Rate Bowl.Officials called 27 penalties for 309 yards as Kansas beat UNLV 49-36 at Chase Field in a bowl game that was stop and start all night Tuesday. Kansas got the worst of it, flagged 18 times for 210 yards. The Jayhawks had four personal fouls, three pass interference calls, two unsportsmanlike conducts and two 15-yard facemasks.Kansas was 14th nationally for fewest penalties with 55 during the regular season.UNLV was hit with two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties and was flagged nine times for 99 yards in all.___AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-footballSource

La nave espacial lunar de Japón llega a órbita antes del histórico intento de alunizaje

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:01 GMT

(CNN) — El módulo de aterrizaje “Moon Sniper” desarrollado por la agencia espacial japonesa entró con éxito en la órbita lunar el día de Navidad. El hito acerca a la nación un paso más hacia el logro de su objetivo de hacer aterrizar un explorador robótico en la superficie de la Luna por primera vez.En su trayectoria actual, el módulo de aterrizaje completa una vuelta a la luna aproximadamente cada 6,4 horas. Pero durante las próximas semanas, el vehículo ajustará lentamente su órbita, acercándose más a la superficie de la luna mientras se prepara para su histórico intento de aterrizaje, programado para mediados de enero.Si tiene éxito, Japón se convertiría en apenas el quinto país en lograr tal hazaña y en el tercer país en hacerlo en el siglo XXI.China y la India son actualmente las únicas naciones que han logrado alunizar de forma segura un vehículo en la Luna en este siglo, lo que marca el advenimiento de una nueva carrera por la superficie lunar caracterizada en parte por...

Clippers end skid without Leonard, rally to beat Hornets 113-104

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:01 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — James Harden scored 20 of his 29 points in the first half and the Los Angeles Clippers rallied for a 113-104 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday night to end a two-game losing streak.Paul George scored 25 points and Ivica Zubac added 18 points with 14 rebounds as the Clippers won for the first time in three games since Kawhi Leonard was sidelined with a left hip contusion. Los Angeles’ two-game skid had followed a nine-game winning streak.The Clippers won three days after they absorbed a 37-point defeat at home against the Boston Celtics.Miles Bridges scored 21 points with 11 rebounds, while Terry Rozier and P.J. Washington added 18 each for the Hornets, who lost their eighth game in a row. Charlotte is 1-10 in December, all without LaMelo Ball (ankle), who has not played since Nov. 26.Nick Richards added 13 points and 10 rebounds for Charlotte. Rozier missed Saturday’s game against the Denver Nuggets with right knee soreness, while Brandon Miller (ankle...

Wolfgang Schaeuble, German elder statesman and finance minister during euro debt crisis, dies at 81

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:01 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Wolfgang Schaeuble, who helped negotiate German reunification in 1990 and as finance minister was a central figure in the austerity-heavy effort to drag Europe out of its debt crisis more than two decades later, has died. He was 81. Schaeuble died at home on Tuesday evening, his family told German news agency dpa on Wednesday.Schaeuble became Chancellor Angela Merkel’s finance minister in October 2009, just before revelations about Greece’s ballooning budget deficit set off the crisis that engulfed the continent and threatened to destabilize world’s financial order.A longtime supporter of greater European unity, he helped lead a yearslong effort that aimed for deeper integration and a stricter rulebook. But Germany drew criticism for its emphasis on austerity and a perceived lack of generosity.After eight years as finance minister, Schaeuble cemented his status as an elder statesman by becoming the German parliament’s speaker — the last step in a long front-line politi...

TEPCO’s operational ban is lifted, putting it one step closer to restarting reactors in Niigata

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:01 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese nuclear safety regulators lifted an operational ban Wednesday imposed on Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, the operator behind the Fukushima plant that ended in disaster, allowing the company to resume preparations for restarting a separate plant after more than 10 years.At its weekly meeting, the Nuclear Regulation Authority formally lifted the more than two-year ban imposed on the TEPCO over its lax safety measures, saying a series of inspections and meetings with company officials has shown sufficient improvement. The decision removes an order that prohibited TEPCO from transporting new fuel into the plant or placing it into reactors, a necessary step for restarting Kashiwazaki-Kariwa’s reactors. The plant on Japan’s northern coast of Niigata is TEPCO’s only workable nuclear power plant since the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami put its Fukushima Daiichi plant out of operation. Now the company is burdened with the growing cost of deco...