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Phoenix hosts Los Angeles after Taurasi’s 23-point game

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:27 GMT

Los Angeles Sparks (1-2, 1-2 Western Conference) at Phoenix Mercury (1-2, 1-1 Western Conference)Phoenix; Friday, 10 p.m. EDTBOTTOM LINE: Phoenix plays the Los Angeles Sparks after Diana Taurasi scored 23 points in the Phoenix Mercury’s 90-81 win over the Minnesota Lynx.Phoenix went 15-21 overall and 7-11 in Western Conference play a season ago. The Mercury shot 42.9% from the field and 32.9% from 3-point range last season.Los Angeles went 13-23 overall last season while going 6-12 in Western Conference action. The Sparks allowed opponents to score 86.6 points per game and shoot 46.7% from the field last season.INJURIES: Mercury: Skylar Diggins-Smith: out (personal), Shey Peddy: out (achilles).Sparks: Azura Stevens: out (back), 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

Labour MP Geraint Davies loses whip over sexual harassment allegations

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:27 GMT

LONDON — The U.K. Labour Party suspended MP Geraint Davies, after POLITICO reported on multiple accusations of inappropriate behavior toward junior female colleagues over a long career in British politics.Five women said that Geraint Davies, a former House of Commons select committee chair who was first elected in 1997, subjected them to unwanted sexual attention, both physical and verbal, after coming into contact with them through his work as an MP.Many of the alleged incidents took place on the parliamentary estate, sometimes in bars or after late-night votes. One of the women he allegedly targeted was just 19 years old at the time.In a statement Thursday morning, a Labour Party spokesperson said Davies has been administratively suspended from the party pending an investigation and has had the Labour whip in the House of Commons suspended.“These are incredibly serious allegations of completely unacceptable behaviour. We strongly encourage anyone with a complaint to come forward t...

Latest Russian missile bombardment of Ukraine’s capital kills at least 3 people, including a child

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:27 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The latest pre-dawn Russian missile attack on Kyiv killed at least three people Thursday, including a 9-year-old child and her mother, Ukrainian officials said.Ukrainian air defenses shot down all 10 cruise and ballistic missiles launched by the Kremlin’s forces, but falling debris caused damage and casualties on the ground, wounding 16 people.Russia has kept up a steady barrage on the Ukrainian capital and other parts of the country in recent weeks as Kyiv readies what it says is a counteroffensive to push back Moscow’s troops, 15 months after their full-scale invasion. Kyiv was the target of a reported 17 drone and missile attacks last month.The attack using what Ukrainian officials said were short-range Iskander ground-launched missiles coincided with events scheduled in Kyiv to celebrate International Children’s Day. Those events were canceled.Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska said one child was in hospital after the attack.“Children’s Day has to be about ...

UK government faces deadline to hand Boris Johnson’s messages to coronavirus inquiry

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:27 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The British government is facing a Thursday afternoon deadline to hand over a sheaf of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s personal messages to the country’s COVID-19 pandemic inquiry — or face legal action from a probe that Johnson himself set up.The notebooks, diaries and WhatsApp messages between Johnson and other officials form key evidence that the head of the probe, retired judge Heather Hallett, wants to see.But the government is worried about the precedent that disclosing Johnson’s full, unredacted conversations might set. It has handed over incomplete versions, saying it cut personal and private information that was not relevant to the investigation.Hallett, however, said “the entire contents of the specified documents are of potential relevance to the lines of investigation being pursued by the inquiry.”Hallett — who has the power to summon evidence and question witnesses under oath — set a deadline of 4 p.m. (1500 GMT) Thursday for the government to hand o...

US urges Sudanese rivals sides to return to cease-fire talks, abide by truce

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:27 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — The United States urged Sudan’s warring sides on Thursday to return to cease-fire talks and make a concerted effort to abide by a lasting truce after peace efforts collapsed yet again.The appeal from the U.S. State Department came after Sudan’s military on Wednesday suspended its participation in the talks, hosted in Saudi Arabia, with a rival paramilitary force. The fighting between the Sudanese military, led by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, broke out in mid-April. The violence has killed at least 866 civilians, according to a Sudanese doctors group, though the toll could be much higher. The Sudanese military’s withdrawal from the talks is a setback for Washington and Riyadh, which have been mediating between the two sides.“Once the forces make clear by their actions that they are serious about complying with the cease-fire, the United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are prepared to resume facil...

In The News for June 1 : Canada to observe a National Day Against Gun Violence

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:27 GMT

In The News is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to kickstart your day. Here is what’s on the radar of our editors for the morning of June 1 …What we are watching in Canada …The federal government is proclaiming a National Day Against Gun Violence, to be held annually on the first Friday of June.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino and representatives of the Toronto Raptors basketball team are set to discuss the plans today at an event in Toronto.The government says the goal of the national day is to raise awareness and foster a national discussion about the causes and effects of gun violence.It comes as the Senate reviews a government bill that would cement restrictions on handguns, increase penalties for firearm trafficking, try to curb homemade ghost guns and ban assault-style firearms.The Conservatives opposed the bill in the House of Commons, saying it penalizes law-abiding firearm owners instead of tackling...

Sudan armed raids, bureaucracy hampering life-saving aid, doctor says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:27 GMT

OTTAWA — As Canada crafts its response to the crisis in Sudan, a doctor trying to co-ordinate basic medical services after the country’s rapid descent into chaos says bandits and bureaucracy are hampering life-saving aid and leaving children to die.“The people of Sudan are not getting as much care as they could, because our warehouses are being looted and we don’t have safe access to them,” said Javid Abdelmoneim, a Doctors Without Borders emergency-room physician.In a recent call from Sudan’s Gedaref state, near the border with Ethiopia, Abdelmoneim said the crisis is unlike ones he’s seen in Syria, Ukraine or Ethiopia, not just because of random violence, but also because of bureaucratic hurdles.In mid-April, a longstanding feud between the country’s military and its paramilitary force broke out into a turf war in the capital of Khartoum and led to violence across the country of 46 million people.That caused Canada and other western countr...

Air quality statements in place for Nova Scotia as wildfires burn

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:27 GMT

Air quality statements have been issued by Environment Canada for Nova Scotia as wildfires continue burning in the province.One advisory targets Shelburne County, near Barrington Lake in southwestern Nova Scotia, where the largest of the wildfires is burning.The blaze covered almost 180 square kilometres as of late Wednesday, making it one of the largest wildfires ever recorded in the province.Although tiny in comparison, a new, out-of-control wildfire was reported Wednesday near Lake Road in the Municipality of the District of Shelburne.Another air quality statement was issued for Upper Tantallon and Hammonds Plains, just outside Halifax, as an out-of-control wildfire there was estimated at just over eight square kilometres in size. Cooler temperatures and rain aren’t expected until late Friday or into the weekend.This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 1, 2023.The Canadian Press

Trudeau government proclaims annual day against gun violence

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:27 GMT

OTTAWA — The federal government is proclaiming a National Day Against Gun Violence, to be held annually on the first Friday of June.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino and representatives of the Toronto Raptors basketball team are set to discuss the plans today at an event in Toronto.The government says the goal of the national day is to raise awareness and foster a national discussion about the causes and effects of gun violence.It comes as the Senate reviews a government bill that would cement restrictions on handguns, increase penalties for firearm trafficking, try to curb homemade ghost guns and ban assault-style firearms.The Conservatives opposed the bill in the House of Commons, saying it penalizes law-abiding firearm owners instead of tackling gun crime.The government has also earmarked hundreds of millions of dollars for community programming aimed at reducing gun and gang violence, and deterring youth from taking up a life of crime.This rep...

Bill 96: Quebec public servants now required to make ‘exemplary’ use of French

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:27 GMT

MONTREAL — Quebec’s language law reform is continuing to draw criticism and legal challenges from the province’s English community as more of its provisions come into effect Thursday, exactly a year after it received royal assent.While many elements of the law, commonly known as Bill 96, took effect shortly after it was passed, others were delayed. Those include restrictions on communications with the provincial government in languages other than French, French-language requirements for certain contracts and a requirement that small businesses tell the government how many of their employees don’t speak French.The Quebec government has described the law as a moderate response to what it says is the declining use of French in the province, particularly in Montreal. Quebec Premier François Legault has repeatedly said that French will always be under threat in North America and he wants to avoid Quebec becoming like Louisiana, where few people speak French despite the ...