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A’ja Wilson scores 30, Aces take 2-0 series lead with 91-84 win over Wings

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:52:39 GMT

After saying it “hurt like hell” to just miss out on winning her third MVP, A’ja Wilson responded on Tuesday night with 30 points and 11 rebounds to lift the Las Vegas Aces to a 91-84 victory over the Dallas Wings and 2-0 series lead in the WNBA semifinals.Wilson became the first player in WNBA playoffs history with three straight 30-point games.Las Vegas also received contributions from Chelsea Gray with 23 points and eight assists, Kelsey Plum with 18 points, and Jackie Young with 13 points and nine rebounds.Arike Ogunbowale led No. 4 Dallas with 24 points and Natasha Howard had 20 points and 10 rebounds.The top-seeded Aces can close out the best-of-five series when it shifts to Dallas on Friday.LIBERTY 84, SUN 77Sabrina Ionescu scored 21 points and Betnijah Laney added 20 to help New York beat Connecticut, evening the best-of-five series at 1-1.New York led 59-57 to start the fourth quarter before the team went on a 13-5 run to start the period. Breanna Stewart, who was having a ...

Freeman homers in nightcap as Dodgers split doubleheader for Rockies’ 100th loss this season

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:52:39 GMT

DENVER (AP) — Freddie Freeman hit a two-run homer to back the strong seven-inning start by rookie Bobby Miller, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat Colorado 11-2 on Tuesday night to gain a doubleheader split and send the Rockies to their first 100-loss season.Chase Anderson pitched five scoreless innings for his first win in 17 starts this season and Nolan Jones homered in Colorado’s 4-1 win in the opener.David Peralta and Chris Taylor each hit two-run singles in a five-run second inning, James Outman added four hits and Max Muncy and Kiki Hernandez had three hits apiece in the nightcap. Elehuris Montero homered for Colorado.It was the postseason-bound Dodgers’ ninth win in 11 games against the Rockies this season and they improved to 31-16 overall against fellow NL West teams. The Rockies lost for the eighth time in nine games in dropping to 57-100 on the season, extending their franchise record for losses. The previous high was a 98-loss campaign in 2012. Injuries that forced an impr...

UK greenlights Rosebank oil field amid climate scrutiny

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:52:39 GMT

LONDON — The U.K. has given the green-light to Rosebank, the country’s biggest untapped oil field, amid increasing scrutiny of the country’s climate credentials.A spokesperson for oil and gas regulator the North Sea Transition Authority said on Wednesday: “We have today approved the Rosebank Field Development Plan which allows the owners to proceed with their project.“The FDP is awarded in accordance with our published guidance and taking net zero considerations into account throughout the project’s lifecycle.”The U.K. government has continually leaned into fossil fuels as a key part of its energy strategy, and earlier this year pledged to max out reserves as it granted hundreds of new oil and gas licenses in the North Sea.“We are investing on our world-leading renewable energy but, as the independent Climate Change Committee recognise, we will need oil and gas as part of that mix on the path to net zero and so it makes sense to use our own supplies from North Sea fields such ...

Azerbaijan says 192 of its troops were killed in last week’s offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:52:39 GMT

A total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and over 500 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh last week, the country’s Health Ministry announced on Wednesday. Nagorno-Karabakh officials said earlier that at least 200 people on their side, including 10 civilians, were killed and over 400 were wounded in the fighting. The military operation allowed Azerbaijan to reclaim full control over the breakaway region that was run by separatists for about 30 years. Tens of thousands of ethnic Armenians have already left the region and more are likely to do so after separatist troops agreed to lay down arms and Azerbaijan lifted a 10-month blockage of the road linking the territory to Armenia. Azerbaijan and separatist officials have held two rounds of talks on the “reintegration” of Nagorno-Karabakh and its ethnic Armenian population into the mainly Muslim country, but how exactly it would happen remains unclear. Nagorno-Karabakh is a region of Azerbaijan that came u...

Iran says it puts imaging satellite sucessfully into orbit amid tensions with West

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:52:39 GMT

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran claimed on Wednesday that it has successfully put an imaging satellite into space.The state-run IRNA news agency, quoting the country’s communication minister, said the Noor-3 satellite had been put in an orbit 450 kilometers (280 miles) above the Earth’s surface. There was no immediate acknowledgment from Western officials of the launch or of the satellite being put into orbit. Iran has had a series of failed launches in recent years. The Associated Press

A rocket launcher shell accidentally explodes at a home in southern Pakistan and 8 people are dead

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:52:39 GMT

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — A shell of a rocket launcher apparently accidentally exploded at a home in a remote village in southern Pakistan on Wednesday, killing at least eight people, including women and children, police said.At least two people were also wounded in the blast in southern Sindh province, said regional police chief Rahil Khoso. Investigators believe that family members took the unexploded shell home after finding it at a nearby open farm field. Such blasts often happen when people try to dismantle unexploded ammunition to sell as scrap metal. The city of Kandhkot, where the explosion took place, is known as a hideout of robbers and criminals who are well armed, including with rockets. Security forces have launched operations against criminals in the area. The Associated Press

In a landmark court case, 6 young climate activists take on 32 European nations

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:52:39 GMT

STRASBOURG, France (AP) — Six young people from Portugal will argue that governments across Europe aren’t doing enough to protect people from the harms of climate change at the European Court of Human Rights on Wednesday, in the latest and largest instance of activists taking governments to court to force climate action.The lawyers representing the young adults and children claim that the 32 European governments they’re suing have failed to adequately address global warming and therefore violated some of their fundamental rights.“We’ve put forward evidence to show that it’s within the power of states to do vastly more to adjust their emissions, and they are choosing not do it,” lawyer Gerry Liston told The Associated Press at the start of the day-long hearing.Although there have been successful climate cases at national and regional levels — young environmentalists recently won a similar case in Montana — the activists’ legal team said that because national jurisdictions...

Abduction and terrorism trial after boy found dead at New Mexico compound opens with mom’s testimony

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:52:39 GMT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Federal prosecutors presented tearful testimony Tuesday from the mother of a sickly toddler who was whisked away from his Georgia home by relatives without her permission to a remote desert encampment in northern New Mexico where he died. Four family members, including the boy’s aunts, are facing kidnapping or terrorism charges, or both, that stem from an August 2018 raid in search of the 3-year-old boy at a squalid encampment near the Colorado line. Authorities said they found the suspects living with 11 hungry children without running water at the encampment encircled by berms of tires with an adjacent shooting range where guns and ammunition were seized.The badly decomposed body of Abdul-Ghani Wahhaj was eventually found in an underground tunnel at the compound. Abdul-Ghani’s mother, Hakima Ramzi, recounted her love and devotion to a cheerful son who lived with severe developmental disabilities and frequent seizures — and her shock when husband, Sir...

UN must focus on choices that will define our century, not just the short-term

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:52:39 GMT

Getty ImagesSince the establishment of the United Nations 78 years ago, the General Assembly has brought the world’s most influential leaders together under one roof to solve the world’s most pressing issues. Every year, this summit serves as a reminder of just how much responsibility is borne by so few — whose decisions, even those seemingly unimportant, can change the fates of billions, writes Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.This year, that responsibility weighs even heavier than usual. Not only is our international order more polarized than it has been in decades, but it is fragmented at a time when we cannot afford division, given the reality that these are decisive years in our planet’s history.Whether on climate change, on artificial intelligence,or in countless other areas, the decisions taken by global leaders over the next few months and years will resonate for decades, if not centuries. As such, every moment of international dialogue takes on a new dimension of importance.My message...

Celebrating the 74th Anniversary of the Founding of the People’s Republic of China: A Night to Remember in Brussels

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:52:39 GMT

On the evening of Monday, 25th September 2023, the Tangla Hotel Brussels located at Avenue Emmanuel Mounier 5, Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, was ablaze with the colours of China as dignitaries, diplomats, and guests gathered to celebrate the 74th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.The event, hosted by H.E. Mr. Fu Cong, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Head of Mission of the People’s Republic of China to the European Union, and H.E. Mr. Cao Zhongming, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China to the Kingdom of Belgium, was a spectacular showcase of Chinese culture, history, and diplomacy.As the sun dipped below the Brussels skyline, the Tangla Hotel's grand ballroom was transformed into a mesmerizing tapestry of Chinese aesthetics. Traditional lanterns and elegant Chinese calligraphy adorned the room, setting the stage for an evening that would transport guests to the heart of China.The event was not only a celebrat...