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Ira Winderman: If Heat end season at a loss, it’s because of these nightmare scenarios

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:33:56 GMT

No, this was not the expectation for the final month of the regular season, the Miami Heat scrambling to deal with the nuances of the NBA’s play-in tournament, the second-chance postseason event for four teams lacking the wherewithal to secure direct playoff entry with a top-six seed.And, yes, there still is a potential escape hatch that will require help either from the New York Knicks or Brooklyn Nets.But what has become clear is that nothing could or can be assumed with the Heat this season, including what at least on paper sets up as a week where ground can be gained, with Monday night’s home game against the Utah Jazz, Wednesday night’s home game against a Ja Morant-less Memphis Grizzlies, and then road games next weekend against the Chicago Bulls and Detroit Pistons.Because bad losses are exactly what have the Heat at a loss this season, improbable if not unfathomable defeats sprinkled amid a won-loss mix that otherwise would have Erik Spoelstra’s team ...

Meta to block access to news on Facebook, Instagram if Online News Act adopted as-is

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:33:56 GMT

OTTAWA — Facebook and Instagram’s parent company says it will stop making news content available on its platforms if the proposed federal Online News Act passes in its current form.Meta spokesperson Lisa Laventure says the company made the decision because the act will require it to pay publishers for links or content it doesn’t post.Laventure says paying for these posts is neither sustainable nor workable for Meta.Tech giants like Meta and Google have fought against the proposed law known as Bill C-18, which would require digital giants such as Google to negotiate deals that would compensate Canadian media companies for linking to or repurposing their content online.Large Canadian media companies and the federal Liberal government argue the bill would level the playing field for news outlets that compete with tech giants for advertising dollars.Facebook blocked access to news in Australia after a similar law was discussed in 2021, but quickly backtracked after the gover...

French citizens protest anew against Macron’s pension plan

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:33:56 GMT

PARIS (AP) — Opponents of French President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 staged more protests Saturday to push the government to withdraw the unpopular plan. The nationwide rallies and marches were the second round of protests in four days against Macron’s pension reform proposals and the seventh round since January. More than a million people marched in cities and towns on Tuesday, but Macron’s refusal to accept union leaders’ request for a meeting has fed the determination of protesters, the leader of the leftist CGT union said ahead of Saturday’s march in Paris. “There’s more anger,” Philippe Martinez insisted, adding that refusing to meet the union leaders organizing the protests was an insult, amounting to “giving the finger.”Instead, Macron wrote a letter to unions. He said he chose to “make the French work a little longer” because other options would have involved “decreasing pensions, raising taxes or letting our children ...

Italy’s coast guard, navy, bring hundreds of migrants ashore

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:33:56 GMT

ROME (AP) — Italian coast guard and navy vessels on Saturday ferried hundreds of rescued migrants toward shore, while elsewhere in the Mediterranean Sea thousands of migrants overflowed from a shelter on a tiny tourist island.The influx of sea arrivals came in the face of a crackdown by Italy’s right-wing government on people smugglers announced only two days earlier. The coast guard said in a statement that overcrowding on two vessels and adverse sea and weather conditions had complicated rescue operations that began on Friday in the Ionian Sea off Calabria. A 94-meter (310-foot) -long coast guard vessel took 584 migrants aboard, while two smaller coast guard motorboats took on 379 and then transferred them to an Italian naval vessel, which was headed to Augusta, a port in eastern Sicily, as migrant shelters in Calabria quickly filled up.Separately, a boat carrying 487 people, intercepted by Italian vessels some 60 nautical miles (112 kilometers) off Crotone in Calabria on Fr...

Houston joins cities fighting potential state takeovers

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:33:56 GMT

HOUSTON (AP) — In four years of Houston schools being under threat of one of the biggest state takeovers ever in the U.S., teacher Arnetta Murray says the district has come a long way. As Houston braces for a decision from the state on whether it will seize control of public schools in Texas’ largest city, Murray thinks the fight isn’t just about failing grades. “I think that we focus on changing the narrative and doing different and sharing that, ‘Hey why is Gov. (Greg) Abbott attacking Houston?” said Murray, 57, who teaches special education at a middle school where most students are classified as economically disadvantaged. “Why is it? Is it money? Is it politics?’” Classrooms are not the only place where Houston officials and residents are scrambling to hold the line against potential takeovers that the city’s Democratic leaders see as driven by politics in a state where Republicans control the Statehouse and governor’s office. Election fumbles and ...

Mikaela Shiffrin sets World Cup skiing record with 87th win

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:33:56 GMT

ARE, Sweden (AP) — American skier Mikaela Shiffrin set the outright World Cup record for most career victories with 87 by winning a slalom Saturday.Shiffrin broke a tie with Ingemar Stenmark on the all-time overall winners list between men and women. The Swede competed in the 1970s and 80s.Shiffrin had matched Stenmark’s mark of 86 wins with victory in a giant slalom Friday.“Pretty hard to comprehend,” Shiffrin said about the record.After finishing the final run, the American crouched and rested her head on her knees. Her bother, Taylor Shiffrin, then came out and hugged her during the winners ceremony.“My brother and sister-in-law are here and I didn’t know they were coming, that makes this so special,” Shiffrin said.Saturday’s result marked the American’s sixth slalom win of the season and the record-extending 53rd career win in the discipline.Shiffrin dominated the first run and posted the fifth-fastest time in the second to beat Swiss skier Wendy Holdener by 0.92 seconds.Thrird-...

Aches, rashes and fear: Trauma remains after Ohio derailment

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:33:56 GMT

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio (AP) — Heather Bable speaks rapidly, recalling the terror of the night when a train loaded with hazardous chemicals derailed less than a half-mile from her home in East Palestine, Ohio. She heard an earthshaking boom and, from her bathroom window, “all you saw was the flames.”Mind racing, she thought of the nearby filling station — its gasoline pumps, its diesel and propane tanks.“I kind of kept myself under control, told my kids, ‘OK, guys, we have to leave,’” Bable says. “… The only thing I knew was I had to get my kids to safety. Take just the necessary things and get out of there.”Her voice catches, tears welling in weary eyes, as she describes the physical and emotional toll following the Feb. 3 disaster and subsequent chemical burn: eight days in a hotel and an uneasy return home; hoarseness, congestion, nausea and itchy rashes; inconclusive doctor visits; the “god-awful smell” that disturbs her at night; anger at train company Norfolk Southern over ...

CPD officer injured in incident over gun in Lincoln Park

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:33:56 GMT

CHICAGO — A police officer was injured when an offender stole his gun and attempted to fire shots at him during an encounter in Lincoln Park Friday night. According to police, officers responded to a call of property damage at the location of 2100 block of North Cleaveland Avenue around 8:53 p.m. when officers were then directed to an alley where they encountered the offender. Woman fatally stabbed on CTA platform in Loop: Police Police say during an altercation the individual disarmed the officer and fired shots but no one was struck. The officer was able to regain control of his weapon and the individual fled on foot.The man was found and arrested shortly after and was taken into custody. The officer was transported to a local hospital for observation of minor injuries. Police are still investigating the incident.

If there's a run on the bank, is your money still safe?

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:33:56 GMT

(KTLA) – Remember the scene in "It's a Wonderful Life" when there's a run on Jimmy Stewart's bank? That just happened in real life.Silicon Valley Bank collapsed Friday after depositors rushed to pull funds from the tech lender amid jitters about its exposure to the fragile technology sector.It's the biggest bank failure since the 2008 financial crisis, putting nearly $175 billion in customer deposits under the control of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.While this kind of thing doesn't happen very often, the demise of Silicon Valley Bank serves as an lesson for all bank customers about what can happen if an institution goes under. Silicon Valley Bank seized by FDIC in largest bank failure since 2008 The good news is that, in most cases, the FDIC will cover all deposits up to $250,000. Beyond that amount, however, you'll have to get in line to receive a portion of whatever funds are still available for disbursement. That could be the full amount you're owed; it could be bupkis. T...

Boebert praises high rural teen birth rates, announces she's going to be a '36-year-old grandmother'

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:33:56 GMT

(The Hill) – Rep. Lauren Boebert has announced that she’ll soon be “a 36-year-old grandmother,” while praising “rural conservative communities” that “value life.”The Colorado Republican revealed that the girlfriend of her 17-year-old son, Tyler, is due next month.“I’m going to tell you all for the first time in a public setting, that not only am I a mom of four boys, but come April, I will be a gigi to a brand new grandson,” Boebert said Tuesday at a Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) event. Boebert: Jesus didn’t have enough AR-15s to ‘keep his government from killing him’ The lawmaker described her and her husband as being “so excited to welcome this new life into our family.”“Now any of you who have young children who are giving life, there’s some questions that pop up. There’s some fear that arises,” Boebert told the audience as she was presented with a “Mothers Influence Award” from Moms for America, a conservative group which aims to "empower moms to raise patrio...