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ASK IRA: Are Heat in need of a steadying influence?

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 15:54:49 GMT

Q: How can you be the Sun Sentinel basketball expert with expert opinions like Kyle Lowry is going to return to lead the Heat? Do you actually watch the games or just stuff your face with hotdogs? – Alan.A: Actually, if you happened to be walking by on Wednesday night, you would have noticed I was stuffing my face with a donut, but that’s another story (the Heat only offer hot dogs in the media food room on weekends). And just because my business card reads “Basketball Expert,” I wouldn’t necessarily get caught up in the hype. In all seriousness, though, it became clear with Wednesday night’s 24 turnovers that the Heat need a steadying force for the types of games that Erik Spoelstra refers to as being “in the mud.” So there are two ways to look at Kyle Lowry’s impending return: 1. That the knee will remain an ongoing issue, limiting his efficiency to what he was before he took the past month off. 2. Or that Kyle will return refr...

Orioles roster projection: Questions remain with bullpen, infield rotation as opening day looms

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 15:54:49 GMT

Thursday marked three weeks until the Orioles begin the regular season at Fenway Park. Spring training to this point has done little to calcify the decisions they’ll have to make in that time.The club’s first cuts of the spring Thursday did little to alter the competitions in camp.The Orioles have made it through spring training relatively healthy to this point, which is manager Brandon Hyde’s emphasis whenever roster battles are discussed. Unless there are any changes in that regard — certainly a possibility with three weeks of games left — the majority of their roster appears largely set.Still, some of Baltimore’s 26 roster spots are up for grabs, and candidates have spent the first two weeks of exhibition games trying to grab them.Starting pitchers (5): Kyle Gibson, Dean Kremer, Kyle Bradish, Cole Irvin, Grayson RodriguezThis ordering largely aligns with how the Orioles have set their rotation for exhibitions, with the exception of Tyler Wells ...

UK has new Duke of Edinburgh as king gives his brother title

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 15:54:49 GMT

LONDON (AP) — King Charles III has made his youngest brother the Duke of Edinburgh, passing on a title held by their late father, Prince Philip.Buckingham Palace said the title was conferred on Prince Edward on Friday, his 59th birthday. Edward is the youngest of the four children of Philip and the late Queen Elizabeth II. His wife Sophie will now be known as the Duchess of Edinburgh, and their 15-year-old son James becomes Earl of Wessex, the title Edward previously held.Prince Philip was made Duke of Edinburgh when he married the then Princess Elizabeth in 1947, and he held the title until his death in 2021 at the age of 99. It had been Philip’s wish that Edward should get the dukedom after he and the queen had both died. Elizabeth died in September at age 96.One of Philip’s legacies is the Duke of Edinburgh awards, a popular youth activities program set up in 1956.The palace said that “the new Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh are proud to continue Prince Philip’s legacy of promoting...

What to do with the family in Toronto during March Break

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 15:54:49 GMT

Elementary and secondary schools will take their annual March break from Mar. 13 to Mar. 17, and there are plenty of activities available for families in the GTA.There are both indoor and outdoor activities for either free or at an affordable rate to entertain kids within the City of Toronto that families are encouraged to take advantage of.Community recreation – City community centres also offer free or low-cost programs for all agesSkating – Many outdoor artificial ice rinks are open throughout March Break, weather permitting. Indoor leisure programs will also be availableSkiing/snowboarding – Earl Bales Ski and Snowboard Centre is offering skiing and snowboarding, as well as lessonsSwimming – City pools will offer free leisure swimmingToronto Island Park – Ferries from downtown will be running through the weekConservatories/greenhouses – Both the Allan Gardens and Centennial Park conservatories are and open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.Riverdale Farm – Open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.Hi...

Tutoring is reaching a fraction of kids struggling in school

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 15:54:49 GMT

David Daniel knows his son needs help.The 8-year-old spent first grade in remote learning and several weeks of second grade in quarantine. The best way to catch him up, research suggests, is to tutor him several times a week during school.But his Indianapolis school offers Saturday or after-school tutoring — programs that don’t work for Daniel, a single father. The upshot is his son, now in third grade, isn’t getting the tutoring he needs.“I want him to have the help,” Daniel said. Without it, “next year is going to be really hard on him.”As America’s schools confront dramatic learning setbacks caused by the pandemic, experts have held up intensive tutoring as the single best antidote. Yet even as schools wield billions of dollars in federal COVID relief, a small fraction of students have received school tutoring, according to a survey of the nation’s largest districts by the nonprofit news organization Chalkbeat and The Associated Press.In eight of 12 school systems that provided d...

Poland lawmakers back EU-sought liberalized wind energy law

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 15:54:49 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s lawmakers have approved a new law relaxing the rules for installation of onshore wind turbines, a move that was urged by the European Union, which is holding up recovery funds for the nation over a number of legislative issues. The law approved by the lower house, the Sejm, late Thursday allows for turbines to be built no less than 700 meters (765 yards) from houses — less restrictive than the previous rule of 10 times the turbine’s height that was introduced by the current government in 2016. That restriction practically stalled wind energy development in coal-reliant Poland as no suitable location could be found, and the 27-member EU has called on Poland to relax the rules. The vote was 231-209 with two abstentions. Almost all of the supporting votes came from the ruling coalition. Initially, the minimum new distance was planned at 500 meters, but was raised to 700 meters almost at the last moment, due to disputes inside the ruling coalition, which i...

U.S. charity calls on Egypt to release hunger-striking poet

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 15:54:49 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — A U.S. charity has called on Egypt to release a well-known poet and songwriter who is on a hunger strike against his incarceration, now entering its sixth year. Pen America demanded Thursday that Egyptian authorities release Galal al-Behairy, who was first detained in March of 2018 and later handed a three-year sentence for spreading false news and insulting Egypt’s military. In a leaked letter that coincided with the fifth anniversary of his arrest, al-Behairy said he would refuse food and medication until he secured his freedom.Al-Behairy wrote the lyrics to the hit Egyptian pop song, “Balaha,” sung by exiled pop star Ramy Essam. He was arrested a month after its release. ‘’I committed one crime, which is poetry,″ al-Behairy wrote in his letter, published across social media. “The strike will continue until I regain my freedom, alive or not.″The announcement comes a few months after a well-known imprisoned dissident, Alaa Abdel-Fattah, escalated his hunger...

Erdogan sets Turkey election date for May 14

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 15:54:49 GMT

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. who is seeking to extend his two-decades in power, on Friday formally set the country’s parliamentary and presidential elections for May 14 — a month earlier than scheduled despite last month’s devastating earthquake.The elections could be the country’s most significant vote in decades. It will determine whether the country will take a more democratic path or continue on the increasingly authoritarian course set by the strongman politician.Erdogan has ruled over Turkey since 2003 — first as prime minister and as president since 2014 — but this year’s elections could be his most challenging. The country is struggling with a troubled economy, soaring inflation and the aftermath of the powerful earthquake that killed more than 46,000 people and left hundreds of thousands of people across 11 Turkish provinces sheltering in tents or temporary accommodation.Many have criticized his government’s response to the earthquake and ac...

Beijing air quality plummets amid dust storm, pollution

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 15:54:49 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Skyscrapers in Beijing disappeared into the haze and air quality plummeted as China’s capital was enveloped in a dust storm and heavy pollution on Friday.Concentrations of the tiny PM2.5 particles that can reach deep into the lungs and bloodstream entered a dangerous range on air quality monitoring sites, with the IQAir website showing an air quality index of 1,093, a “hazardous” level, many times higher than what are considered “unhealthy” levels.Beijing was formerly notorious for its terrible air quality, but conditions had much improved in recent years as authorities took heavily polluting vehicles off the roads and moved coal-fired power plants and heavy industry to the surrounding provinces. The capital also used to be known for regular springtime dust and sandstorms caused by winds blowing in from the loess hills along the upper sections of the Yellow River to the west. Anti-desertification efforts have helped reduce both the frequency and intensity of the storm...

US trains West African militaries as jihadi threat spreads

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 15:54:49 GMT

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — As extremist violence in West Africa’s Sahel region spreads south toward coastal states, the United States military has launched its annual military training exercise aimed at helping armies contain the jihadi threat.Soldiers from several African countries are being trained in counter-insurgency tactics as part of the annual U.S.-led exercise known as Flintlock, that began this week.Some 1,300 military personnel from 29 countries are training in Ghana and Ivory Coast, amid surging jihadi violence linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group that’s killed thousands, displaced millions and plunged countries into crises.While most of the extremist activity is concentrated in West Africa’s inland Sahel region in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, the violence is rapidly spreading to coastal states like Ghana, which is experiencing an upsurge in attacks by unidentified groups, which could have links to jihadis. Ghana had just one violent attack in 2021 but ...