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NBA play-in viewed as backing into playoffs? Heat’s Spoelstra says he doesn’t give a (bad word)

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:30 GMT

Before the start of Tuesday morning’s shootaround in Toronto, before that night’s disheartening 106-92 loss to the Raptors, before moving on to Wednesday night’s game against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, as he is wont to do, was embracing a moment.No, the play-in tournament is not the path of preference when it comes to advancing to the NBA playoffs. But with his team teetering toward that reality, Spoelstra, as he also is wont to do, seized the moment as a call to battle.So on the practice court at Scotiabank Arena, Spoelstra told his players there is no detour that can’t be traversed, no roadblock that can’t be navigated.Play-in? Playoffs? No matter, Spoelstra said, insisting there still are visions of a deep run beyond the April 9 regular-season finale, having come up one victory shy of last season’s NBA Finals.“I know our group,” Spoelstra said. “That’s what we set out to do c...

New Hampshire court rejects latest Pamela Smart petition

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:30 GMT

CONCORD, N.H. — New Hampshire’s highest court on Wednesday turned away the latest attempt to get a sentence reduction for Pamela Smart, who is serving life in prison for plotting with her teenage lover to have her husband killed in 1990.Smart, 55, was 22 and working as a high school media coordinator when she began an affair with a 15-year-old student who later shot and killed her husband, Gregory Smart. Though she denied knowledge of the plot, she was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and other crimes and sentenced to life without parole.Having exhausted her judicial appeal options, Smart asked a state council for a sentence reduction hearing last year. The five-member Executive Council, which approves state contracts and appointees to the courts and state agencies, rejected her request in less than three minutes, prompting the appeal to state Supreme Court.But the court dismissed the petition for lack of jurisdiction on Wednesday, saying that ordering the council to r...

Scouting the Yankees: Experts weigh in on if Bombers have done enough to make World Series run

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:30 GMT

The Yankees had a huge winter, from re-signing record-breaker Aaron Judge and then naming him captain to retaining Anthony Rizzo and also adding another ace-level arm to their starting rotation in Carlos Rodon, all for a cool $562 million.But was it a big enough buying binge to guarantee there won’t be yet another October disappointment? Over the past few seasons in the Bronx, playoff failure has joined Halloween as an October constant. Three times since 2017, the Yanks have lost to the Astros in the AL Championship Series, including a humiliating sweep last year. The Red Sox have sent the Yankees home twice in earlier rounds over that same time frame and the Rays did it once.All those defeats have left Yankee fans pining for the glory of 2009 — the last time the Yankees won the World Series — and hoping that Hal Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman can assemble a roster capable of unlocking MLB’s treacherous playoffs.Can the 2023 Yankees be the club that finally t...

Apple rolls out buy now, pay later service: What to know

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:30 GMT

By CORA LEWIS (Associated Press)NEW YORK (AP) — Apple is getting into the buy now, pay later space with a few tweaks to the existing model — including no option to pay with a credit card. The company will roll out the product to some consumers this spring, and will begin reporting the loans to credit bureaus in the fall.Since the start of the pandemic, the option to “buy now, pay later” has skyrocketed in popularity, especially among young and low-income consumers who may not have ready access to traditional credit.If you shop online for clothes or furniture, sneakers or concert tickets, you’ve seen the option at checkout to break the cost into smaller installments over time. Companies like Afterpay, Affirm, Klarna, and Paypal already offer the service, typically with late fees for missed payments and the option to use a credit card or bank account to make installment payments.Apple’s version, which is integrated with Apple Pay and facilitated by ...

Chance of thunderstorms, scattered showers forecast for San Diego

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:30 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A cold low pressure system is moving south towards San Diego with a slight chance of thunderstorms and showery precipitation expected throughout the county, according to the National Weather Service.Widespread precipitation is expected to spread eastward and southward Wednesday into Thursday, spreading across the mountains and to the coast, weather officials said. The greatest amount of precipitation is expected along the coastal slopes of the mountains. What is the forecast for Padres Opening Day? NWS says the snow level in the mountains will rise between 6,000 to 6,500 feet on Wednesday and then fall to around 4,000 feet into Thursday. Snowfall of six to 10 inches is possible above 5,000 feet with snowfall of 12 to 18 inches possible on higher peaks above 7,500 feet. For elevations around 4,000 to 4,500 feet, a few inches of snow is forecast.Due to wet soil conditions, weather officials say there will likely be instances of urban flooding and pooling of water in poo...

290 migrants detained within 13-hour period: CBP

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:30 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Agents with the San Diego sector of U.S. Customs and Border Protection said 290 immigrants were detained in a 13-hour period as new international groups attempt to seek asylum in the U.S.The migrants were not from the typical countries, but from all over the world, officials said. This included places like Ireland, Ibiza, Belize, Egypt, Nepal, The Democratic Republic of Congo and Afghanistan, just to name a few of the countries of origin. Video shows guards walking away during fire that killed 38 “They are desperate. They are coming for different reasons, whether political asylum our religious reasons,” said Diana Ibarra, a supervising Border Patrol agent. "The immigrants crossed the border through the Tijuana River Valley in groups of dozens all speaking different languages."Now with inclement weather expected, safety conditions are likely to make migration even more difficult and dangerous. “Just a week ago we were forced to rescue six Haitians in the same area whe...

Man sought after woman, 20, sexually assaulted in Scarborough

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:30 GMT

Toronto police are hoping to identify a man wanted in an alleged sexual assault earlier this week in Scarborough.Investigators said officers were called to the Littles Road and Sewells Road area at midnight on Monday for reports of a sexual assault.It’s alleged that a 20-year-old woman was on the 3207 Finch line TTC bus travelling eastbound on Finch Avenue East when a man boarded from the southwest corner of McCowan Avenue, sitting in the back of the bus.RELATED: Man identified in sexual assault of woman in Toronto’s Annex neighbourhoodPolice said both got off the bus at the same stop and began walking southbound on Littles Road near Sewells Road when the man sexually assaulted the woman. He then fled on foot.The male suspect is described as 30-35 years old with black curly hair, a thin face, and clean-shaven.He was last seen wearing grey pants, black shoes, a black and grey winter jacket, a grey hoody, and a black backpack.

China threatens to retaliate if McCarthy meets Taiwan leader

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:30 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — China threatened retaliation on Wednesday if U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy meets with Taiwan’s president during her upcoming trip through Los Angeles. President Tsai Ing-wen left Taiwan on Wednesday afternoon on a tour of the island’s diplomatic allies in the Americas which she framed as a chance to demonstrate Taiwan’s commitment to democratic values on the world stage.Tsai is scheduled to transit through New York on Thursday before heading to Guatemala and Belize. She is expected to stop in Los Angeles on her way back to Taiwan on April 5, when a meeting with McCarthy is tentatively scheduled.The planned meeting has triggered fears of a heavy-handed Chinese reaction amid heightened friction between Beijing and Washington over U.S. support for Taiwan and trade and human rights issues. The spokesperson for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, Zhu Fenglian, denounced Tsai’s stopovers and demanded that no U.S. officials meet with her.“We firmly opp...

N. Carolina lawmakers scrap permit requirement to buy pistol

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:30 GMT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina legislators repealed the state’s requirement that someone obtain a permit from a local sheriff before buying a pistol, as the Republican-controlled legislature on Wednesday successfully overrode one of Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s vetoes for the first time since 2018.The House voted 71-46 to enact over Cooper’s objections in last week’s veto message the bill to eliminate the state’s long-standing pistol handgun purchase system, which among other things requires sheriffs to perform character evaluations of gun applicants. The Senate voted to override the veto on Tuesday.Cooper and Democratic lawmakers warned the repeal would allow more dangerous people to obtain weapons through private sales, which do not require a background check, and limit law enforcement’s ability to prevent them from committing violent crimes. But bill supporters say the sheriff screening process to buy a pistol is no longer necessary in light of significant updates to the nat...

Stocks rise on Wall Street as bank fears ease further

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:30 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are rising with markets across Europe and Asia Wednesday as Wall Street shakes off a bit more of the fear that dominated it earlier this month.The S&P 500 was 1% higher in morning trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 219 points, or 0.7%, at 32,613, as of 10:20 a.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was 1.4% higher. They followed similar sized gains in other markets around the world, and the S&P 500 is on track to close what’s been a tumultuous month with a modest gain. That’s despite the month being dominated by worries about banks and whether the industry is cracking under the pressure of much higher interest rates.By Wednesday, a measure of fear among stock investors on Wall Street was back down near its lowest point since March 8, the day before Silicon Valley Bank’s customers suddenly yanked out $42 billion in a panicked dash. It became the second-largest U.S. bank failure in history and sparked greater scrutiny of banks aro...