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Connecticut puts road win streak on the line against Phoenix

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:46:43 GMT

Connecticut Sun (21-7, 11-3 Eastern Conference) at Phoenix Mercury (7-20, 2-12 Western Conference)Phoenix; Thursday, 10 p.m. EDTBOTTOM LINE: Connecticut will try to keep its four-game road win streak alive when the Sun take on Phoenix.The Mercury are 7-7 in home games. Phoenix is 3- when it turns the ball over less than its opponents and averages 15.6 turnovers per game.The Sun are 12-3 on the road. Connecticut ranks fifth in the WNBA with 8.2 offensive rebounds per game led by Brionna Jones averaging 3.2.The two teams play for the second time this season. The Mercury defeated the Sun 72-66 in their last meeting on July 19. Sophie Cunningham led the Mercury with 17 points, and DeWanna Bonner led the Sun with 19 points.TOP PERFORMERS: Diana Taurasi is averaging 18 points and 4.8 assists for the Mercury. Brittney Griner is averaging 11.6 points over the last 10 games for Phoenix.Alyssa Thomas is averaging 14.8 points, 10.1 rebounds, 8.2 assists and 1.9 steals for the Sun. Bonner is av...

Atlanta faces Seattle on 4-game road slide

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:46:43 GMT

Atlanta Dream (15-13, 9-8 Eastern Conference) at Seattle Storm (7-21, 5-8 Western Conference)Seattle; Thursday, 10 p.m. EDTBOTTOM LINE: Atlanta will look to break its four-game road slide when the Dream take on Seattle.The Storm are 2-13 in home games. Seattle is third in the WNBA averaging 8.6 made 3-pointers per game while shooting 34.6% from deep. Jewell Loyd leads the team averaging 3.3 makes while shooting 38.6% from 3-point range.The Dream are 7-7 on the road. Atlanta ranks seventh in the WNBA scoring 35.5 points per game in the paint led by Cheyenne Parker averaging 8.1.The teams play for the second time this season. The Dream won the last meeting 85-75 on July 12, with Allisha Gray scoring 19 points in the victory.TOP PERFORMERS: Loyd is averaging 24.3 points and 3.5 assists for the Storm. Ezi Magbegor is averaging 12.6 points over the last 10 games for Seattle.Rhyne Howard is averaging 17.6 points and 3.3 assists for the Dream. Gray is averaging 16.9 points over the last 10...

UK signs deal with Turkey to tackle small boat gangs

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:46:43 GMT

LONDON — The U.K. has announced a deal with Turkey aimed at disrupting smuggling gangs organizing small boat Channel crossings.Announcing the agreement Wednesday morning, the Home Office said U.K. and Turkish law enforcement officers will “step up joint operations” in an attempt to disrupt the supply of boat parts and other materials used by asylum seekers to make the journey to England. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made “stopping the boats” one of his five key priorities, with tens of thousands of asylum seekers now making the dangerous journey every year. His team see the issue as a key dividing line with the opposition Labour Party ahead of next year’s general election. Sunak’s Conservatives are currently trailing Labour 19 percentage points in the polls. The government has amplified its various efforts to curb cross-Channel migration, most recently by moving a handful — accounting for fewer than 1 percent of Britain’s asylum backlog — ...

Italian government softens shock 40 percent bank tax 

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:46:43 GMT

The Italian government has backtracked from plans to levy a one-off 40 percent windfall tax on banks after the news caught markets by surprise and shares plummeted. In a statement released late Tuesday, the finance ministry said a cap of 0.1 percent of banks’ total assets would be applied for the tax, announced 24 hours previously, in order to “safeguard financial stability.” While no limit had been specified during the original announcement on Monday, the follow-up was widely perceived as a watering down of the proposal that had caused bank shares to sharply drop. The SX7E index, a key measure of eurozone banks, recovered slightly on what Italian media described as the evening’s “clarification.” When the Italian government announced the plan ministers said the profits reaped by banks from rising interest rates had not been passed onto people hit by the cost-of-living crisis. It said the proceeds of the tax would be used to fund tax cuts and mortgage relief. Mark...

All-Star Félix Bautista blows 3-run lead in 9th as Orioles fall to Astros, 7-6, after Kyle Tucker’s grand slam

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:46:43 GMT

One swing of Kyle Tucker’s bat turned what would have been one of the Orioles’ best wins of the season into one of their worst losses.Félix Bautista entered his office Tuesday evening with a three-run lead — an advantage almost insurmountable against a pitcher having the type of season Baltimore’s closer is. But the 6-foot-8 right-hander allowed three of the first four Houston Astros batters to reach, bringing up Tucker with the bases loaded. On the ninth pitch of the at-bat, the two-time All-Star turned on a center-cut 100.4 mph fastball and deposited it into the right field bleachers.The grand slam was enough for Astros closer Ryan Pressly, who slammed the door in the ninth, as Houston won, 7-6, and ended Baltimore’s four-game winning streak. Pressly retired Jordan Westburg, Adam Frazier and Ryan O’Hearn in order to end the game.“Honestly, I just think it wasn’t my day,” Bautista said through team interpreter Brandon Quino...

Russian officials say 2 drones approaching Moscow were shot down overnight, blame Ukraine

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:46:43 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian air defenses shot down two drones aimed at Moscow overnight, officials said Wednesday, in what they described as Ukraine’s latest attempt to strike the Russian capital in an apparent campaign to unnerve Muscovites and take the war to Russia.The drones were intercepted on their approach to Moscow and there were no casualties, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. The Russian Defense Ministry described it as a “terrorist attack.”One of the drones came down in the Domodedovo region south of Moscow and the other fell near the Minsk highway, west of the city, according to Sobyanin. Domodedovo airport is one of Moscow’s busiest.It was not clear where the drones were launched from, and Ukrainian officials made no immediate comment. Ukraine usually neither confirms nor denies such attacks.Flights were halted at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport on July 30 and Aug. 1, when drones smashed into the Moscow City business district after being jammed by air defenses in two separate...

French authorities say 11 are missing after fire in holiday home for people with disabilities

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:46:43 GMT

PARIS (AP) — French authorities say 11 adults are missing after a fire broke out early on Wednesday in a holiday home for people with disabilities in eastern France while 17 others have been evacuated.Interior minister Gerald Darmanin tweeted that “early this morning, a fire broke out in a facility for disabled people” in the small town of Wintzenheim, close to the border with Germany. “Despite the rapid and courageous intervention of the fire department … several casualties are reported,” he said. Rescue operations were still ongoing. The local administration of the Haut-Rhin region said the fire broke out at 6:30 a.m. in private accommodation in Wintzenheim. Seventeen people were evacuated, including 1 person sent to hospital in a “relative emergency.” Eleven people from the group of adults, who usually live in the city of Nancy, in eastern France, are still missing, the statement said.“The building was being used … for their vacation,” the statement ...

In the news today: Details of B.C. port strike deal, missing fishermen in N.B.

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:46:43 GMT

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed on what you need to know today…Terms of new contract that resolved British Columbia port dispute are releasedThe four-year agreement that brought an end to labour uncertainty on B.C.’s busy portlands includes pay raises, retirement bonuses and a maintenance work deal.The terms of the new contract are being shared by the Canada Industrial Relations Board, highlighting how the two sides finally got to together following months-long dispute, which included a disruptive 13-day strike.One of the sticking points that was finally resolved was a commitment by employers to train workers to perform maintenance on new equipment — instead of contracting third parties. Searchers find overturned boat, two fishermen last seen leaving N.B. harbour missingThe search for two missing fishermen in northeastern New Brunswick is getting some airborne backing.A Cormorant helicopter has joined the effor...

‘You have to have a strategy’: Fans ready to snatch up Taylor Swift Toronto tickets

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:46:43 GMT

One Taylor Swift fan says that if she is not able to secure a ticket to any of the superstar’s tour dates in Toronto, she’ll stand outside the venue all six nights anyway. “I’m totally OK with standing outside of the stadium with every single other Swifty and tailgating for all six shows,” said 27-year-old Jayde Fleming, who lives in Barrie, Ont. “I’m gonna get an Airbnb for myself to make sure that I’m in Toronto all six days.”In the meantime, her ticket-scoring strategy involves careful co-ordination with her own group of Swifties, who will each attempt to purchase tickets for different dates to ensure everyone gets to see at least one show. Such is the devotion of Taylor Swift’s fervent Canadian fans who say they’re “preparing for war” as tickets for six shows at Toronto’s Rogers Centre in November 2024 — the only Canadian stop on her Eras Tour — go on sale.Those looking to score tickets right away must have ...

‘It came back to life.’ Trees scarred by vandals recovering in historic Halifax park

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:46:43 GMT

HALIFAX — In the heart of downtown Halifax sits a small but beloved park known for its elaborate flower beds and stately trees. For more than 150 years, the Halifax Public Gardens have provided a quiet refuge for visitors and a pristine backdrop for countless weddings and graduations.Just over a year ago, however, the park was left badly scarred after vandals scaled its wrought iron fences in the middle of the night. They used an axe to hack away at more than two dozen trees, some of them more than 200 years old.“You would think that a place that gives people so much joy and relaxation, that nobody would want to harm the gardens,” Judith Cabrita, chairperson of the non-profit Friends of the Public Gardens, said in an interview this week. “To have the trees being attacked was like a personal attack for many people.”Sean Street, a horticulture supervisor with the Halifax Regional Municipality, said the initial prognosis for the damaged trees looked grim. In all...