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Overshadowed by Wembanyama and the Spurs, the Rockets get even younger in the NBA draft

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:59:17 GMT

DALLAS (AP) — The young Houston Rockets are getting even younger with another pair of first-round picks.The Rockets added the first player drafted out of the Overtime Elite pro league to the NBA’s highest-ever G League selection of two years ago. Then they picked an 18-year-old for the second time in three years.All the rest of the draft moves from Southwest Division teams were going to be footnotes Thursday night after the San Antonio Spurs took French sensation Victor Wembanyama No. 1 overall.Houston was up first, and left little question that Ime Udoka’s return to coaching will be with one of the youngest set of core players in the NBA.The Rockets took Amen Thompson of Overtime Elite fourth overall. It was the first choice for the Atlanta-based pro league (his 20-year-old twin brother Ausar went fifth to Detroit). Two years ago, Houston made Jalen Green the highest choice from G League Ignite at No. 2 overall.At No. 20, the Rockets ended the slide for Cam Whitmore, the 18-y...

Hawks acquire 2nd-round center Mouhamed Gueye of Washington State from Celtics

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:59:17 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Hawks acquired the draft rights to Washington State center Mouhamed Gueye from the Boston Celtics in exchange for a future second-round pick Thursday night during the NBA draft, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.The Celtics drafted the 6-foot-11 Gueye with the No. 39 overall pick in the second round before sending the rights to Gueye to Atlanta, said the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the trade has not been finalized and approved by the NBA.Gueye, from Senegal, moved to California when he was 16. He averaged 14.3 points and 8.4 rebounds for Washington State as a sophomore last season.Because the trade was not official, Hawks general manager Landry Fields could not comment on Gueye when discussing Atlanta’s selections in the draft.The Hawks selected guard Kobe Bufkin of Michigan in the first round, at No. 15 overall. The Hawks selected wing player Seth Lundy from Penn State at No. 46 overall...

Los pasajeros del submarino Titán murieron tras una “implosión catastrófica”. ¿Cómo sigue la operación?

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:59:17 GMT

(CNN) — Los cinco pasajeros del submarino Titán murieron en una “implosión catastrófica”, informaron las autoridades estadounidenses el jueves, en el marco de la extraordinaria operación internacional de búsqueda de cinco días cerca del lugar del naufragio más famoso del mundo.Un vehículo operado de manera remota halló el cono de cola y otros restos a cerca de 500 metros de la proa del Titanic, en las profundidades del Atlántico Norte.“Se trata de un entorno increíblemente implacable en el fondo del mar, y los restos son compatibles con una implosión catastrófica del buque”, declaró a la prensa el contralmirante John Mauger, comandante del Primer Distrito de Guardacostas.Los vehículos teledirigidos permanecerán en el lugar de los hechos y seguirán recabando información, dijo Mauger. Llevará tiempo determinar una cronología específica de los acontecimientos en el caso “increíblemente complejo” de la avería del Titán, agregó.Hasta ahora han ub...

Georgian president pardons jailed journalist after EU, US outcry

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:59:17 GMT

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili has pardoned a prominent opposition journalist who spent more than a year in jail, amid pressure from the EU, U.S. and international NGOs seeking to secure his release.In a statement issued Thursday evening, the president of the South Caucasus nation announced she had “signed the act pardoning Nikoloz Gvaramia,” a high-profile critic of the government who was sentenced to three and a half years behind bars in May 2022.Zourabichvili said she made the decision to intervene after the Supreme Court declined to hear Gvaramia’s appeal. “I am not going to give any explanation for this decision, it is my discretionary right and I am using it today,” she added.In a statement following Zourabichvili’s decision, European Council President Charles Michel welcomed the pardon “as an essential step towards depolarisation in Georgia.”Despite a publicly stated ambition to join the EU, Georgia’s application ...

POLITICO Pro Morning Energy and Climate UK: CBAM countdown — Net zero and tax — Où est Rishi?

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:59:17 GMT

Presented by SSE By CHARLIE COOPER, ABBY WALLACE and RUSSELL HARGRAVE PRESENTED BY View in your browser or listen to audioSNEAK PEEK— The clock is ticking for the U.K. to decide whether it wants its own carbon border tax.— Does the tax system hold the key to net zero policy? One climate expert wants the Treasury to do more.— Why isn’t Rishi Sunak at the climate finance summit in Paris? Good question, say campaigners. A very warm welcome to Friday’s POLITICO Pro Morning Energy and Climate UK. Hay fever is letting up and Elton John is headlining Glastonbury — there can’t be a better way to ease into the weekend.If you are not already a Pro subscriber and would like a free trial of this newsletter, sign up here.DRIVING THE DAYCBAM COUNTDOWN: A government consultation on a potential U.K. carbon tax on imports is, as of midnight last night, closed — and the clock is ticking for the government to decide the way ahead.Recap: Ministers launched the co...

City Heights murder suspect to undergo mental competency evaluation

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:59:17 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Facing a first-degree murder charge, 23-year-old Siliveinusi Hamala appeared in court Thursday.Hamala allegedly stabbed and killed 65-year-old Chi Cao in City Heights Monday morning.On Thursday, Hamala was expected to be arraigned, but he did not make a plea.“Rather than being arraigned and entering a plea of guilty or not guilty, his attorney immediately declared a doubt as to his mental competency and criminal proceedings were suspended," Deputy District Attorney Amelia Diedrich said.Police say Cao was exercising at the Central Avenue Mini Park near her home around 8:30 a.m. when, without warning, she was attacked and stabbed multiple times.About nine hours later, police found and arrested Hamala at a home a few blocks away on 39th Street. 2 arrested in San Diego drug bust Irene Peralta says she knew Cao for a long time and often took walks with her.“I feel so bad. I was praying -- I still pray for her every day because I can't believe what happened," Peralta said.H...

SDPD plan to activate smart street lights, license plate readers moves forward

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:59:17 GMT

SAN DIEGO—The debate over smart surveillance street lights and license plate readers in the city of San Diego is heating up again. The San Diego Privacy Advisory Board voted unanimously to push the plan forward to the city council. The plan would make San Diego the largest city to use street lights with license plate readers.But some are worried about privacy.“Put the cameras away. Who watches who?” said community members at the meeting.Community members expressed their opposition to more surveillance technology potentially hitting the streets of San Diego.“Our biggest concern is this money should be going to our communities not towards cameras and surveillance,” said Stacey Uy with Asian Solidarity Collective. “We all know it’s not cameras that keep us safe. It’s youth drop-in centers. It’s community health centers. It’s mental health services. We need so much more than just cameras.”Smart street lights have been installed throughout the city but are not currently in use. The ...

Exploding fire extinguisher kills student and injures 5 during Bangkok high school fire drill

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:59:17 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — A fire extinguisher exploded during a high school’s annual fire drill Friday in Thailand’s capital, killing one student and injuring five others, a rescuer said.The canister that exploded was a CO2-type fire extinguisher and may have become defective from sun or heat exposure, said Anyawut Phoampai of the Ruam Katanyu Foundation, one of Thailand’s biggest rescue organizations, who confirmed the death and injuries.The incident happened at Rajavinit Mathayom School in Bangkok’s Dusit district.The Associated Press

Malaysia charges 4 Thais over the mass graves and human trafficking camps found in 2015

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:59:17 GMT

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Four Thai nationals were charged Friday under Malaysia’s anti-trafficking laws in connection with the 2015 discovery of mass graves believed to be of Rohingya Muslims and Bangladeshis held in camps in a hilly jungle area on the country’s border with Thailand.Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution said in a statement that the four were among 10 Thai citizens the government had sought for extradition in 2017 over the tragedy at Wang Kelian in northern Perlis state that had shocked the nation. Following cooperation with Thai authorities, he said the four men were caught and extradicted to Malaysia on Thursday to face charges.In May 2015, Malaysian police announced the discovery of a cluster of abandoned jungle camps used by human traffickers in Wang Kelian and later exhumed 139 bodies from mass graves there. The findings followed a similar discovery earlier the same month by Thai police, who unearthed 36 bodies from shallow graves on the Thai side of...

Storms and heavy rain flood roads, block railway lines in Germany

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:59:17 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Storms and heavy rain across a large swath of Germany flooded roads and forced the closure of some major railway routes on Friday, but there was no immediate word of any injuries.Germany’s national weather service had warned earlier this week of severe storms with significant amounts of rainfall, which hit on Thursday. In the western city of Duisburg, the fire service said it rescued several people from cars that got stuck on flooded streets. Shops were flooded and streets inundated in the northern city of Braunschweig, and there were similar reports from Kassel. In Hattersheim, near Frankfurt, trees fell on houses and cars, German news agency dpa reported.Germany’s national railway operator, Deutsche Bahn, said that the main line between Hamburg and Berlin was closed because of storm damage, as was a major north-south route between Kassel and Goettingen.The Associated Press