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Crowds gather near a state funeral home as China’s former Premier Li Keqiang is put to rest

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:51 GMT

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Hundreds, possibly thousands, of people gathered Thursday near a state funeral home in Beijing as former Premier Li Keqiang was put to rest, while a steady stream of mourners showed their respects with scores of bouquets at the ex-leader’s childhood home in central China. Li, an English-speaking economist, died Oct. 27 of a heart attack at age 68. State media had said he would be cremated Thursday but didn’t mention funeral plans. According to precedent, retired high-level officials usually lie in state briefly as top leaders pass the body and offer wreaths of white flowers, the traditional color of mourning. In front of the funeral home, plainclothes and uniformed police lined the roadway in the Chinese capital’s west for hundreds of meters (yards), blocking traffic and telling people to move along and watching for the presence of any unofficial or foreign media. Police also moved people away from a subway station near the Babaoshan cemetery where ...

Robertson, Dadonov and Marchment score in 2nd period and Stars hold on to beat Flames 4-3

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:51 GMT

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Jason Robertson, Evgenii Dadonov, and Mason Marchment scored in Dallas’ three-goal second period and the Stars held on to beat the Calgary Flames 4-3 on Wednesday night.Jamie Benn had a goal and an assist, and Roope Hintz had two assists as Dallas won its second straight and improved to 6-1-1 this season. Jake Oettinger had a season-high 43 saves — including 21 in the third period — to improve to 5-0-1.“I feel pretty good,” Oettinger said. “The team’s played well in front of me. Just have to do my job, make a few big saves every night.”Stars coach Peter DeBoer was all praises for his goalie.“He’s a rock for us,” he said. “You take it for granted. You get used to it when you have a guy like that. He’s elite. He’s been our best player on almost every night he’s played.”MacKenzie Weegar had a goal and an assist, and Connor Zary and Andrew Mangiapane also scored for the Flames, who have lost six straight — all in regulation — and eight of nine. Calgary̵...

Prosvetov makes 28 saves and Rantanen has goal and assist as Avalanche beat Blues 4-1

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:51 GMT

DENVER (AP) — Ivan Prosvetov made 28 saves in his first start for Colorado, Mikko Rantanen had a goal and an assist, and the Avalanche beat the St. Louis Blues 3-1 on Wednesday night.Ross Colton, Artturi Lehkonen and Bowen Byram also had goals, and Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon had two assists apiece as Colorado snapped a two-game losing streak.“There’s a lot of pride in that room and you hate to lose, and then you lose a couple the way we did,” coach Jared Bednar said. “A lot of that was on us so we wanted to make corrections in our play and put our best foot forward.”Prosvetov, who got his first win since April 8, was claimed off waivers from Arizona on Oct. 9 after Alexandar Georgiev’s backup Pavel Francouz was placed on injured reserve. He made his Avalanche debut Oct. 26 in Pittsburgh when he spelled Georgiev for the final eight minutes of a 4-0 loss.“I was preparing before the game, I was ready to play,” Prosvetov said. “I was thinking it was going to come earlier than that ...

Autoridades de Ecuador dicen que controlaron los incidentes registrados en varias cárceles

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:51 GMT

(CNN Español) — Los incidentes que se generaron en algunas cárceles de Ecuador ya fueron controlados, dijo el Servicio de Personas Privadas de la Libertad el miércoles a la noche, luego de que se informara de episodios que incluyeron la retención de agentes penitenciaros y funcionarios, así como de huelgas de hambre.Según informó el SNAI más temprano, los incidentes empezaron luego de que un grupo de la delincuencia organizada —cuyo origen no fue especificado— amenazó a autoridades y funcionarios para insistir en un traslado masivo de miembros de la organización criminal a otro centro penitenciario.La guerra dentro de las cárceles de Ecuador“Este traslado resulta antitécnico y representa una intimidación y chantaje al Estado ecuatoriano; razón por la que se presentó una denuncia ante la Fiscalía General del Estado sobre estos actos criminales que atentan contra la seguridad de todos los ecuatorianos”, precisó el SNAI en un comunicado.El SNAI dijo que había pedido apoyo a la Po...

Lakers hold off Clippers 130-125 in OT to snap an 11-game losing streak in the Los Angeles rivalry

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:51 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James had 35 points and 11 rebounds, Austin Reaves scored seven of his 15 points in overtime and the Los Angeles Lakers snapped an 11-game losing streak against the Los Angeles Clippers with a 130-125 victory Wednesday night.D’Angelo Russell scored 27 points and Anthony Davis had 27 points and 10 rebounds for the short-handed Lakers, who beat their local rivals for the first time since July 2020 in the Florida bubble. The 17-time NBA champion Lakers hadn’t beaten the Clippers on the Lakers’ home court at their shared arena since Christmas 2016, losing 11 in a row.With James Harden watching in street clothes on the Clippers’ bench, Kawhi Leonard scored 38 points in the Clippers’ second loss of the young season. Paul George scored 20 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter, including eight points in the final minute, before fouling out 30 seconds into overtime.Although the Lakers used just eight players due to five significant injury absences...

Security prevents Rangers from celebrating in Chase Field pool after winning World Series

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:51 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — There was no pool party for the Texas Rangers after winning the World Series.A raucous celebration after the franchise’s first championship remained on dry land as about a dozen security officers guarded the pool behind the right-center wall at Chase Field.“Are they going over there?” Game 5 starter Nathan Eovaldi said during an interview with Fox. ”No, I don’t think they are.”The Rangers could’ve made a run for the water as they initially celebrated their 5-0 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 5 on Wednesday night. Despite a clear path to the pool, where a few fans lingered on the desk, the players were more interested in hugging each other, family and friends on the field.Once fans were cleared out and a few players headed down the steps to the clubhouse, security filled the area in front of the pool, spaced out every 20 to 30 feet.The Diamondbacks had two splashy celebrations during their improbable run to this year’s Worl...

Splash Brothers Curry, Thompson send Warriors past Kings, 102-101

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:51 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Golden State Warriors have faced the Northern California rival Sacramento Kings 11 times in their last 17 games including preseason matchups.“That’s probably never happened in the history of the NBA,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.Klay Thompson hit a 17-footer with less than a second remaining and the Warriors held off a second-half flurry by Sacramento for a 102-101 win Wednesday night.Domantas Sabonis put the Kings ahead moments earlier on a jumper with 16 seconds to play after Stephen Curry’s layup just before in a wild final minute. Curry scored with 33 seconds left following a 24-second violation by Sacramento that gave Golden State the ball for another chance with 38.4 seconds left trailing 99-98.Curry also made a 3-pointer at the 4:02 mark before Chris Paul’s steal helped set up another scoring possession. Curry scored 21 points and added four 3-pointers to take his NBA-leading total to 28 on a night the Kings missed leading scorer ...

Asia’s first Gay Games to kick off in Hong Kong, fostering hopes for wider LGBTQ+ inclusion

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:51 GMT

HONG KONG (AP) — Football enthusiast Gina Benjamin is not just training for victory in the upcoming Gay Games in Hong Kong, but she’s also on a mission to help push for legal reform for same-sex marriage.After moving to Hong Kong from Britain in 2016, Benjamin, 33, met her true love in the semi-autonomous southern Chinese city. But local laws, recognizing only heterosexual marriages, forced the couple to travel to the British Embassy in Vietnam to get married in August. Their inability to marry in the city where their love story unfolded left her frustrated.This weekend the drama teacher along with diverse teams of male, female and transgender players will take to the pitch with what she calls “a big purpose.” She hopes participation in the games can show the government the city’s strong support for equal rights for same-sex couples.“We’re playing to possibly change laws,” she said. Set to begin on Friday, the first Gay Games in Asia are fostering hopes for wider LGBTQ+ ...

One-armed table tennis player eyes both Olympics and Paralympics

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:51 GMT

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Bruna Alexandre wants to break barriers and spend a lot of time in Paris next year.The one-armed table tennis player, who starts competing at the Pan American Games on Thursday, is trying to make Brazil’s team for both the Olympics and the Paralympics in Paris, meaning she’ll be in France training and playing from late July until early September.Alexandre, 28, wants to join a group of five other athletes who, according to the International Paralympic Committee, have participated in both competitions in the same year: Archer Neroli Fairhall of New Zealand; Polish table tennis player Natalia Partyka; swimmer Natalie du Toit and sprinter Oscar Pistorious, both of South Africa; and Iranian archer Zarah Nemati.Brazil’s No. 3 women’s table tennis player, Alexandre will be the first athlete from the Americas to join that exclusive group it if she is picked for the Olympic team. Her spot at the Paralympics is already secured.Several other athletes have com...

US officials hold their breath for Iranian cyberattacks

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:51 GMT

The U.S. government is prepping for a potential onslaught of Iranian cyberattacks in retaliation for support for Israel in its conflict with Hamas.It’s far from just Israel at risk of cyberattacks from the Hamas-aligned regime’s cyber operatives, U.S. officials say. They also see the U.S. and other nations that support the Israeli government as likely targets.Such attacks could take the form of attempting to damage critical systems like water or electricity, would likely involve widespread disinformation efforts and could also involve proxies to keep Iran’s fingerprints off the incidents.“The cyber targeting of American interests and critical infrastructure that we already see conducted by Iran and non-state actors alike we can expect to get worse if the conflict expands, as will the threat of kinetic attacks,” FBI Director Christopher Wray testified to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Tuesday.Multiple U.S. federal agencies have stressed that they h...