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Guregian: Celtics just don’t look the part of a championship driven team

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:13:12 GMT

So-called championship driven teams always know when to rise to the occasion. They know when it’s time to make their move in a game, but especially in a series.Based on the evidence at hand, the Celtics are a far cry from being championship caliber right now.In Game 5 against the Sixers on Tuesday night, with the series tied 2-all, the Celtics needed to bring their “A” game. They needed to impose their will and take command of the series.They could no longer afford to dilly dally, then turn on the jets at crunch time. They should have learned their lesson long before this. They should have already realized that tactic didn’t work in Game 4, as well as several other games during this postseason run.Talk about embarrassing, with 3:55 to go, down by 20 points, Joe Mazzulla emptied the bench and put in the subs. Even worse, the team was booed off the court at different times by a Celtic fandom that rarely is driven to that end.At least the scrubs showed a little more u...

Orioles putting organizational depth on display in strong start to 2023 season | ANALYSIS

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:13:12 GMT

Amid the Orioles’ rebuild, executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias pointed to the Tampa Bay Rays’ “transactional” nature as a reason for their short- and long-term success, suggesting it was something his organization could aspire to.Those days have arrived. With improved organizational depth, the Orioles have capitalized on the fringes of their roster in getting off to a 23-13 start, the latest win coming against a Tampa Bay team that is the only club in the American League with a better record (29-8) than Baltimore.“I think this is a season and a 40-man roster where every single person on that 40-man roster is going to come into play for us throughout the year,” Elias said before Tuesday’s game, shortly after the Orioles shuffled their bench and bullpen.With Ramón Urías going on the injured list with a left hamstring strain, Baltimore replaced an infielder who hits from the right side with two who bat left-handed,...

Fatal crash closes stretch of Hwy. 410 in Brampton during morning rush

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:13:12 GMT

A deadly crash has shut down a stretch of Highway 410 in Brampton during the Wednesday morning rush.The two-vehicle collision occurred in the southbound lanes of the highway south of Steeles Avenue around 3:30 a.m.Police say a car and a transport truck were involved. Paramedics tell CityNews an adult was pronounced dead at the scene.The southbound 410 is closed from Steeles to Highway 407 for the investigation. The closure is expected to last several hours.COLLISION: #Hwy410 #Brampton: Highway 410 southbound is closed between Steeles Ave and #Hwy407 following a collision. #OPP on scene. ^cw pic.twitter.com/tOBo7v1n5x— OPP GTA Traffic (@OPP_GTATraffic) May 10, 2023   

Court annuls EU approval of German billions for Lufthansa

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:13:12 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — A top European Union court on Wednesday ruled the EU was wrong to approve a plan for Germany to come to the rescue of Lufthansa with billions of euros in state aid to help the airline deal with the impact of COVID-19 restrictions.In June 2020, Germany notified the EU’s executive branch, the European Commission, of its intention to provide 6 billion euros ($6.6 billion) in aid to Lufthansa. The 27 EU member countries must seek commission approval when supplying financial support to companies.The EU’s General Court ruled that the commission “committed several errors” in making its positive assessment of the move, following an appeal to the Luxembourg-based tribunal by low-cost carrier Ryanair.It was not immediately clear what impact the ruling might have on Germany, or on other state aid that was approved at the time with the aim of helping to keep Europe’s airlines afloat during the pandemic.Among the errors, a statement from the court said, was to consider “that Luft...

Reluctant critic China urges Afghan changes on women’s roles

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:13:12 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — China on Wednesday called on Afghanistan to reform its radical policies excluding women from education and public life and “adopt a more resolute attitude in combating terrorism.” The comments from Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin came on the heels of a Pakistan-hosted mini-summit of China, Afghanistan and Pakistan that sought to promote trade and lower border tensions amid a surge of attacks inside Pakistan. Wang said China hopes the Taliban-appointed Afghan interim government will “take solid steps in the right direction, make practical efforts to gain the understanding and trust of the international community, and create favorable conditions for Afghanistan to further develop good neighborliness with its neighbors and integrate into the international community.” China generally refrains from commenting on the internal policies of nations with which it wishes to curry favor, or can use as leverage in its campaign to combat the dominance of global affairs by...

Myanmar military government offers cash rewards to defectors

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:13:12 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s military government is urging people fighting against its rule to surrender their weapons, offering a cash reward if they do so along with the possibility of reduced sentences if they broke the law.The official announcement in Wednesday’s edition of the Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper said people involved in major resistance organizations, including the People’s Defense Forces, are “invited to return to the legal fold.” The PDF are the armed wing of the pro-democracy movement that was organized after the army’s 2021 takeover.The announcement accused anti-military organizations, which the army calls terrorist groups, of using fear and indoctrination to persuade “innocent people” to join them.It said people who surrender will have to face trial if they committed crimes including murder, rape and injury to others, but that the government would reduce the penalties depending on the offenses.The announcement said people would receive up to 7.5 million...

Imran Khan appears in court as Pakistan braces for violence

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:13:12 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan braced for more turmoil a day after former Prime Minister Imran Khan was dragged from court in Islamabad and his supporters clashed with police across the country. The 70-year-old opposition leader appeared in court Wednesday for a hearing in which a judge was asked to approve keeping him in custody for up to 14 days.Khan, who lost power last year but remains the country’s most popular opposition figure, is the seventh former prime minister to be arrested in Pakistan. His arrest deepened political turmoil and sparked violent demonstrations on Tuesday. At least one person was killed in the southwestern city of Quetta, and dozens were wounded in various parts of the country. The judge is expected to rule on the request for a 14-day detention later on Wednesday, officials said. Khan earlier in the day met with his legal team at the court in the capital, Islamabad.Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party called for demonstrators to remain peaceful, hou...

Biden showcases Dem coalition with campaign advisory board

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:13:12 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is aiming to showcase the Democratic coalition rallying around his reelection bid as he announces on Wednesday his campaign’s national advisory board of prominent elected officials who will assist his 2024 campaign.The diverse group of 50 officials includes representatives from nearly every facet of the Democratic firmament. It brings together three of Biden’s 2020 primary rivals — Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar — and at least two contenders who eyed the Oval Office had Biden decided not to run for another term, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and California Gov. Gavin Newsom. They’re joined by progressive favorite Rep. Maxwell Frost, new party rising stars including Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, and prolific fundraisers like Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy.Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is chair...

Biden ramps up pressure on House GOP in debt limit battle

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:13:12 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fresh off a White House meeting with no serious breakthrough on the debt limit standoff, President Joe Biden is launching a new phase of his pressure campaign against House Republicans as he makes his case that lawmakers should lift the nation’s borrowing authority without any strings attached.Biden will travel to Valhalla, New York, on Wednesday to argue that a measure passed by House GOP lawmakers that would lift the debt limit for about a year while curbing some federal spending would impose cuts for veterans care, educators and other domestic priorities. The area is represented by first-term Republican Rep. Mike Lawler, whose district Biden won in 2020. The White House will use the trip to trumpet what it says is economic progress under the Democratic president — pointing to the number of jobs created during his term and a fresh focus on domestic manufacturing — while warning that an unprecedented debt default would threaten millions of jobs and raise the prosp...

Hackers aim to find flaws in AI – with White House help

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:13:12 GMT

No sooner did ChatGPT get unleashed than hackers started “jailbreaking” the artificial intelligence chatbot – trying to override its safeguards so it could blurt out something unhinged or obscene. But now its maker, OpenAI, and other major AI providers such as Google and Microsoft, are coordinating with the Biden administration to let thousands of hackers take a shot at testing the limits of their technology.Some of the things they’ll be looking to find: How can chatbots be manipulated to cause harm? Will they share the private information we confide in them to other users? And why do they assume a doctor is a man and a nurse is a woman?“This is why we need thousands of people,” said Rumman Chowdhury, lead coordinator of the mass hacking event planned for this summer’s DEF CON hacker convention in Las Vegas that’s expected to draw several thousand people. “We need a lot of people with a wide range of lived experiences, subject matter expertise and backg...