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A Powerball player in California snags an estimated $1.73 billion lottery jackpot, ending long stretch with no winner

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:42 GMT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A Powerball player in California snags an estimated $1.73 billion lottery jackpot, ending long stretch with no winner.Source

Twins whiff their way to ALDS loss to Astros with 14 more strikeouts by MLB record holders

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:42 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Carlos Correa waited on deck with two outs in the ninth inning and the Minnesota Twins trailing by one run, eager for another at-bat against his former team.Tied for the third-most RBIs in postseason history, Correa has occasionally pointed to his wrist after clutch hits to signify the biggest situations are his time to shine.This moment never came. Houston closer Ryan Pressly completed a perfect ninth by striking out the side, hitting the outside corner with a full-count fastball that froze Max Kepler and ended a 3-2 victory for the Astros that eliminated the Twins in Game 4 of their AL Division Series on Wednesday night.The Astros advanced to their seventh straight ALCS. Correa played for them in the first five before coming to Minnesota.“The experience matters, and they played really good baseball this series,” Correa said. “They were just a little bit better than us.”Just a little bit better, but in a lot of ways.The Twins, who set a major league record ...

Another 100-win season leads to another October flop for Dodgers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:42 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers’ third straight 100-win season led to a third consecutive postseason flop.A three-game Division Series sweep by the Arizona Diamondbacks that ended with a 4-2 defeat Wednesday night highlighted how much expanded playoffs have devalued the regular season.Los Angeles has reached the playoffs in 11 straight years, the third-longest streak in major league history behind the Atlanta Braves’ 14 from 1991-2005 around the 1994 strike and the New York Yankees’ 13 from 1995-2007.The Dodgers won the NL West in 10 of those seasons, yet their only World Series in that span was following the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.Led by manager Dave Roberts, they have 100 or more wins in five of the last six full seasons.Expectations once again were high this year, with a starry roster and a $222 million opening-day payroll, baseball’s fifth highest.From April through September, they set the standard. Then in October, they turned so ordinary.After winning 106 games ...

Antisemitic hate symbol found inside Torrey Pines High School bathroom

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:42 GMT

SAN DIEGO - Just days after the conflict in Israel began, a hate symbol was found drawn in a Carmel Valley school bathroom. Police did confirm the graffiti Wednesday afternoon. “It's a way to install fear inside the Jewish community. It’s a hate symbol, and this is not acceptable," shared Fabienne Perlov, who is the Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League of San Diego. “We are horrified and condemning this hate symbol in the most serious terms.” It's a triggering sight for Perlov who works directly with local schools throughout the county to fight hate crime and extremism targeted toward the Jewish community; something Perlov says is on the rise. "Since January, antisemitic incidents reported to ADL have increased by 45%,” Perlov said. This crime comes as unrest, protests and demonstrations spark globally and here at home, between pro-Israel and pro-Palestine groups as the death toll continues to mount. The principal of Torrey Pines High School, Robert Coppo, released this s...

Australian minister credits improved relations with China for the release of a detained journalist

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:42 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong on Thursday credited improved relations with China for the return home this week of an Australian journalist whose three-year detention in China in a murky espionage case had strained ties.A teary-eyed Wong had greeted Cheng Lei with a hug at the airport Wednesday in Melbourne, where Cheng’s two children, 11 and 14, have been raised by their grandmother while Cheng was detained.“She was in extraordinarily good spirits. I think I was more emotional than she was,” Wong said of Cheng. “I think she’s pretty tough. She looked great.”Wong revealed that she had promised Cheng’s children some time ago that the government would do all it could to bring their mother home.“It was really moving to meet Cheng Lei yesterday and speak to her kids who are not much older than mine,” Wong said.She said she encouraged Cheng to thrive and be healthy and happy now that she’s free. “That’s what all Australians want you to be,”...

Japan government panel to decide whether to ask court to revoke legal status of Unification Church

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:42 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s government is convening a religious affairs council on Thursday to ask experts to decide whether to seek a court order to revoke the legal status of the Unification Church. The church’s fundraising tactics and cozy ties with the governing party have triggered public outrage.Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government has taken tough stance in a perceived move to shore up support, hurt by his governing Liberal Democratic party’s decades-long ties with the South Korea-based church that surfaced in the investigation of former leader Shinzo Abe’s 2022 assassination.The alleged Abe killer told police that his motive was the former prime minister’s link to the church that had bankrupted his family due to his mother’s excessive donations.Education Minister Masahito Moriyama told experts on the panel in his opening remarks that his ministry, if endorsed by the panel, hopes to file for a court approval to strip the church’s legal status. If the pane...

After troubled start, New York is shaking up its legal marijuana market with new competitors

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:42 GMT

RAVENA, N.Y. (AP) — New York officials launched legal recreational marijuana sales by promising many of the first retail licenses to people with past drug convictions, hoping to give people harmed by the war on drugs a chance to succeed before competitors crowded in.But more than nine months after sales started, only about two dozen state-sanctioned dispensaries have opened their doors. Legal challenges over the state’s permitting process have left more than 400 provisional licensees in limbo. Marijuana farmers are reeling because there are too few stores to sell their harvest.State regulators are now expanding the market amid those troubles. They recently opened up a 60-day general application window to grow, process, distribute or sell marijuana, expecting to issue more than 1,000 new licenses. New rules also will allow companies licensed to grow and sell medical marijuana in New York to get into the recreational market.The moves are expected to boost the number of legal dis...

Judge to hear arguments from TikTok and content creators who are challenging Montana’s ban on app

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:42 GMT

A federal judge is scheduled to hear arguments Thursday in a case filed by TikTok and five Montana content creators who want the court to block the state’s ban on the video sharing app before it takes effect Jan. 1. U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy of Missoula is not expected to rule immediately on the request for a preliminary injunction.Montana became the first state in the U.S. to pass a complete ban on the app, based on the argument that the Chinese government could gain access to user information from TikTok, whose parent company, ByteDance, is based in Beijing.Content creators say the ban violates free speech rights and could cause economic harm for their businesses. TikTok said in court filings that the state passed its law based on “unsubstantiated allegations,” that Montana cannot regulate foreign commerce and that the state could have passed a law requiring TikTok limit the kinds of data it could collect, or require parental controls, rather than trying to enact a complet...

IMF and World Bank are urged to boost funding for African nations facing conflict and climate change

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:42 GMT

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Many poor countries in Africa face the harshest effects of climate change: severe droughts, vicious heat and dry land, but also unpredictable rain and devastating flooding. The shocks worsen conflict and upend livelihoods because many people are farmers — work that is increasingly vulnerable in a warming world.Climate challenges are at the root of vulnerabilities faced by conflict-ridden countries in Africa’s Sahel region, such as Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Niger and northern Nigeria, experts say. Adapting to these challenges could cost up to $50 billion per year, according to the Global Commission on Adaptation, while the International Energy Agency estimates the clean energy transition could cost as much as $190 billion a year — overwhelming costs for Africa.Countries have limited space in their budgets, and borrowing more to fund climate goals will worsen their considerable debt burdens, argue African leaders, who are seeking a rapid boost in financing....

Avalanche superstars Mikko Rantanen, Nathan MacKinnon overpower Kings in season-opening win

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:42 GMT

LOS ANGELES – The Kings have a solid hockey team, one that expects to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season. Those Kings also played pretty well in spurts Wednesday night during the opening game of their season.They worked hard. They created chances. Alas, they did not have Mikko Ratanen and Nathan MacKinnon, but the other team did. And that was a big problem.Ranaten (two goals, four points) and MacKinnon combined for three goals and seven points as the Avalanche opened the 2023-24 season with a 5-2 win at Crypto.com Arena.“Just excited, I guess,” said Rantanen, who scored four points on opening night for the second straight season. “I missed some of the camp, so I was just excited to play and just playing with good players also helps.”It was far from a flawless performance for the Avs. There were too many penalties, though a couple were heavily disputed. The penalty kill looked like it was incorporating a lot of new players, but Alexandar Georgiev saved ...