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Badminton keeps barring Russia as Olympic qualifying begins

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:00 GMT

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Badminton upheld its ban on Russian and Belarusian players in international competitions on Thursday, days before Olympic qualifying begins.Meanwhile, modern pentathlon said it would set up a “pathway” for athletes from the two countries to return but didn’t commit to a date.Badminton’s qualifying period for the Paris Olympics next year starts on May 1 and uses a calendar-year ranking.The Badminton World Federation cited security concerns and the need for “more clarity” on the International Olympic Committee’s “complex criteria” to admit some Russians and Belarusians as neutral athletes without national symbols but keep excluding others, such as military personnel or those who have supported the invasion of Ukraine.The IOC also recommends allowing athletes from only Russia and its ally Belarus to compete individually and not in team sports or “team events in individual sports.” That raises the prospect in badminton of players being allowed t...

NBA Playoffs: Ja, Giannis watch their teams get big wins

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:00 GMT

Feel better, Ja Morant. You too, Giannis Antetokounmpo.The stars watched their teammates get big series-tying wins on Wednesday night.Memphis topped the Los Angeles Lakers without Morant, Milwaukee defeated the Miami Heat without Antetokounmpo, and those series are all knotted at a game apiece now. And Denver went up 2-0, wasting a big lead and then rallying to top Minnesota.Meanwhile, Golden State prepared Wednesday for what it’ll take to play without the suspended Draymond Green against Sacramento, with the Kings looking for their first 3-0 lead in any series since 1951 — yes, the 1951 NBA Finals, when they were the Rochester Royals.WHAT’S NEXT?The series begin to shift locations now as the run of Game 3’s begin Thursday — Philadelphia at Brooklyn, Sacramento at Golden State and Phoenix at the Los Angeles Clippers.Philadelphia and Sacramento hold 2-0 leads. The Suns-Clippers series is tied 1-1.There’s three more Game 3’s on Friday; Boston takes a 2-0 lead to Atlanta, D...

Traffic incident sidelines Czech footballer Jankto

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:00 GMT

PRAGUE (AP) — Czech Republic midfielder Jakub Jankto, who recently came out as gay, is taking time off from soccer following a traffic incident.Jankto’s Sparta Prague club said he was not with the team anymore and was given time to deal with his “personal situation.” Sparta declined to give more details and asked the public and media to respect Jankto’s privacy.Jankto said in a statement that his health didn’t make it possible to continue helping Sparta in title and cup races and thanked the club and the fans for their support.Police said he was checked by officers after they were notified by another driver on Tuesday. An alcohol test was negative but Jankto refused to be tested for other drugs.According to media reports, he also didn’t have a driver’s licence, which was taken from him previously by police. Failure to have a licence was punishable by a prison term.Jankto’s future was not clear.He was playing for Sparta Prague this season on loan from Spanish club G...

Who shot and killed this 18-year-old in West Colfax neighborhood?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:00 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Police need help with the investigation into who murdered an 18-year-old in a west Denver neighborhood.On April 17 at 11:30 p.m., the Denver Police Department said 18-year-old Richard "Richie" Lovato was shot in the area of West 14th Avenue and North Meade Street. The area is in the West Colfax neighborhood north of the Paco Sánchez Park. Warning: Picking up folded money could be dangerous DPD said Lovato was taken to a local hospital where he later died from the injuries he sustained in the shooting.Police need help looking for leads in this murder. Anyone with information regarding the people responsible for Lovato's death is asked to call the Metro Denver Crime Stoppers immediately. Tipsters can call 720-913-7867 and remain anonymous while still being eligible for a cash reward of up to $2,000.

Giant SpaceX rocket launches, explodes minutes later over Gulf of Mexico

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:00 GMT

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas (KVEO) — SpaceX’s giant new rocket blasted off on its first test flight Thursday from Boca Chica Beach, but failed minutes after rising from the launch pad.Elon Musk’s company was aiming to send the nearly 400-foot Starship rocket on a round-the-world trip from the southern tip of Texas. It carried no people or satellites, and both the booster and spacecraft on top were to be ditched into the Gulf of Mexico.Plan for the launch. Photo: SpaceX websiteAfter the blast, SpaceX posted on Twitter, “As if the flight test was not exciting enough, Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly before stage separation.”“With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s test will help us improve Starship’s reliability as SpaceX seeks to make life multi-planetary.”Musk said on Twitter the testing will continue, “Congrats @SpaceX team on an exciting test launch of Starship! Learned a lot for next test launch in a few months.”Thousands of spectato...

Florida Division of Emergency Management officials apologize for early-morning alert

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:00 GMT

The Florida Division of Emergency Management sent out a tweet apologizing after waking up Floridians at 4:45 a.m. Thursday. A loud buzzing sound emitting from phones with the alert: “EMERGENCY ALERT: TEST – This is a TEST of the Emergency Alert System. No action is required.”https://twitter.com/FLSERT/status/1649030370791178241?s=20The alert, according to FDEM was supposed to be only on TVs not on phones.Ron DeSantis announced he has reached out to FDEM Director Kevin Guthrie to bring accountability for what occurred, calling it “inappropriate.” https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/1649061429348032512?s=20FDEM said they are taking the appropriate action to ensure this will never happen again and that only true emergencies are sent as alerts in the middle of the night.The state tests the emergency alert system once a month.

Elon Musk’s Starship rocket blows up minutes after launch

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:00 GMT

Starship, Elon Musk’s space rocket, exploded shortly after launch in Texas on Thursday.The Starship rocket’s booster attempted to separate, at which point its systems failed and Musk’s company SpaceX was forced to blow up the rocket, which was uncrewed.FTS abort. Well done Booster 7 (and Ship 24)! That was still a big win. Launch site is fine and got a lot of first stage data!Next up, Booster 9!https://t.co/npUj2AHByW pic.twitter.com/KRxBwsLlKq— Chris Bergin – NSF (@NASASpaceflight) April 20, 2023“As if the flight test was not exciting enough, Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly before stage separation,” SpaceX said in a statement.Billionaire entrepreneur Musk had said that anything that got off the launchpad would be considered a win. The rocket is being tested with the aim of one day being used to shuttle passengers to Mars. “Congrats SpaceX team on an exciting test launch of Starship!” Musk tweeted. “Learned a lot for next test ...

Patriots players help refurnish Fisher House apartments for military families

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:00 GMT

The Patriots made a special delivery on Wednesday to help military families at the Fisher House in Boston feel at home. Teaming up with Bob’s Discount Furniture, the New England Patriots Foundation refurnished three apartments run by Fisher House, which provides housing for military families receiving medical care in the city. “If you’re a military member and you’re coming here and you were just told you have to stay three months, you’ll lose your home,” said Fisher House Executive Director Jennifer DeLuca. ” So we step in and we make sure if you serve this country we serve you.”Patriots long snapper Joe Cardona and tight end Matt Sokol helped upgrade and decorate the apartment of the Sam and Brynne Bish, who have been staying in an apartment provided by the Fisher House since January while their 9-week-old, Cillian, receives care at Boston Children’s Hospital. “Two days after his diagnosis, we flew out to Boston Children&#...

Tom Brady throws party to celebrate retirement from NFL

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:00 GMT

Tom Brady threw a party to celebrate his retirement from the NFL after a 23-year career. Patriots icons including Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman were in attendance and having a great time doing everything from beach football to hitting the dance floor. “Grateful to have the chance to celebrate such an amazing life on and off the field with friends and family,” Brady Tweeted. Brady, who is widely considered the most successful quarterback in NFL history, announced that he was “retiring for good” in February. https://twitter.com/TomBrady/status/1648696402761990144

House passes trans athlete ban for girls and women’s teams

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:00 GMT

By KEVIN FREKING (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican-led House passed a bill Thursday that would bar federally supported schools and colleges from allowing transgender athletes whose biological sex assigned at birth was male to compete on girls or women’s sports teams.The legislation approved by a 219-203 vote is unlikely to advance further because the Democratic-led Senate will not support it and the White House said President Joe Biden would veto it. Supporters said the legislation, which would put violators at risk of losing taxpayer dollars, is necessary to ensure competitive fairness. They framed the vote as supporting female athletes disadvantaged by having to compete against those whose gender identify does not match their sex assigned at birth. Opponents criticized the bill as ostracizing an already vulnerable group for political gain. The House action comes as at least 20 other states have imposed similar limits on trans athletes at the K-12 or co...