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Mile-High NBA advantage: Denver altitude helps Nuggets go unbeaten at home in playoffs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:12 GMT

DENVER (AP) — Joking around before the start of the NBA Finals, Charles Barkley and Grant Hill took hits from oxygen masks they brought onto the set for a pregame TV show.But the thin air in Denver is no joke. There’s a reason it’s known as the Mile High City.The city sits 5,280 feet above sea level and there’s plenty of science that shows just how altitude impacts any athlete — including basketball players. The Denver Nuggets have been using the lung-searing elevation to their advantage for years — especially during these playoffs.With their 104-93 win over the Miami Heat on Thursday, the Nuggets improved to 9-0 at home during their postseason run. Yes, Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and friends have a lot to do with it. But altitude deserves an assist. The Nuggets try to push the pace to make the Heat feel the burn coming in from sea level.“So there’s just as much as oxygen in Denver as there is in Miami,” explained Randy Wilber, a senior sports physiologist for the U.S. O...

Biden to give Oval Office address on debt ceiling deal Friday evening after US avoids default

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:12 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden planned to praise the contentious, just-passed budget deal in a speech to the nation Friday evening, ready to sign the agreement averting the country’s first-ever government default, which would have sent shock waves through the U.S. and global economies.The measure was approved late Thursday night after passing the House in yet another late session the night before. Biden is expected to sign it at the White House on Saturday. After days of default threats, the debt limit-budget agreement was worked out by Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, giving Republicans some of their spending-cut demands but holding the line on major Democratic priorities.“No one got everything they wanted but the American people got what they needed,” Biden was to say, according to excerpts released in advance by the White House. “We averted an economic crisis and an economic collapse.”“We’re cutting spending and bringing deficits down,” Biden was to say. “And,...

UN calls for immediate cease-fire in Sudan and path to renewed democratic transition talks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:12 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council called Friday for an immediate cease-fire in Sudan to be followed by a permanent halt to hostilities and fresh efforts to reach a lasting democratic political settlement in the conflict-wracked country.The U.N.’s most powerful body strongly condemned all attacks on civilians since fighting between rival generals vying for power broke out in mid-April and called for “rapid, safe and unhindered access throughout Sudan” to help millions in need.The fighting has killed at least 866 civilians and wounded thousands more, according to the Sudanese Doctors’ Syndicate which tracks civilian casualties. And more than 1.3 million people have fled their homes to try to escape the violence, with over a million still in the country and 320,000 in neighboring Egypt, South Sudan, Chad, Ethiopia, and the Central African Republic, according to the U.N.’s International Organization for Migration.The press statement from the council was issued before the c...

Retired Phoenix police officer in landmark Miranda rights case dies at 87

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:12 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — Retired Phoenix Police Capt. Carroll Cooley, the arresting officer in the landmark case partially responsible for the Supreme Court’s Miranda rights ruling that requires suspects be read their rights, has died, the department confirmed Friday. He was 87. Phoenix police said in a brief statement that Cooley died on May 29 after an unspecified illness. The location and exact cause of his death were not immediately available, nor was information about services or survivors.Cooley joined the Phoenix department in 1958 and retired two decades later. On March 13, 1963, Cooley arrested Ernesto Miranda in the kidnap and rape of an 18-year-old Phoenix woman. Miranda was eventually convicted based on his handwritten confession and sentenced to 20-30 years in prison. Miranda appealed, and the case eventually went up to the U.S. Supreme Court, which issued a 1966 ruling overturning the conviction, saying that suspects should be advised of their constitutional rights against...

Detroit Grand Prix provides IndyCar drivers with fresh start after Indy 500

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:12 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Grand Prix, coming off Josef Newgarden’s win at the Indianapolis 500, provides drivers and teams with a chance for a fresh start for the rest of the season.Jack Harvey is thankful for that.The Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver is ranked No. 22, and, with 11 races remaining, he’s fighting to keep his job and salvage a sputtering IndyCar career.The Detroit Grand Prix is returning to a downtown street course for the first time since 1991 after running up the river on Belle Isle, perhaps giving Harvey a better chance to earn desperately needed points on Sunday.“We’re probably the most grateful for an equal opportunity,” Harvey said. “It’s a completely new track and no one really knows what to expect.”Harvey acknowledged he had a humbling experience in Indianapolis.The 30-year-old British driver was bumped off the starting grid. He bounced back in last-chance qualifying to earn a spot by barely edging teammate Graham Rahal, the team owner’...

Former Aurora officer sentenced for standing by when man was strangled

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:12 GMT

ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) — A former Aurora police officer broke down in tears in a courtroom Friday as she was sentenced for failing to intervene and help a man in trouble.A judge admonished her, saying she should have stopped another officer from using excessive force.During much of the sentencing hearing, former Aurora Police Officer Francine Martinez cried as a judge considered her fate after being convicted of failing to intervene. Ghost guns banned under new Colorado law Two years ago, police body camera video showed her at a scene where another officer used excessive force. The man seen in the video, Kyle Vinson, was wanted on a warrant.The video shows an officer holding a gun to Vinson’s head and strangling him for 39 seconds. Martinez was sentenced to six months under house arrest.“I do not see that this rises to the level that you actually need be physically incarcerated in the Arapahoe County detention facility," Judge Cheryl Rowles-Stokes said.Law makes it a crime ...

Things go bumping in the night in new horror film ‘The Boogeyman’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:12 GMT

Back in the day, kids were scared of the Boogeyman. Now, the mysterious menace is having a frightening resurgence.Stephen King’s short story, “The Boogeyman” comes to life on the big screen.We caught up with the cast and crew to see if they’re afraid of the dark after working on this film.The Harper family is dealing with a tough loss in “The Boogeyman.” That’s when a mysterious monster decides the kids are its next victims.Chris Messina plays Will Harper, a widowed dad struggling to handle life without his wife while raising two daughters. And he has his theories about what the Boogeyman really represents. Chris Messina: “The Boogeyman, which is a really scary monster in this movie, is also all of the stuff that’s lurking inside of these people, and grief being the main component, how do they deal with grief? How do they not deal with grief?”Vivien Lyra Blair takes on the role of Will’s youngest daughter, Sawyer, an...

Biden celebrates bipartisanship, ‘crisis averted’ in Oval Office address on debt ceiling deal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:12 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden celebrated a “crisis averted” in his inaugural speech to the nation from the Oval Office Friday evening, ready to sign a budget agreement that eliminates the potential for a first-ever government default that would have sent shock waves through the U.S. and global economies.The bipartisan measure was approved by the Senate late Thursday night after passing the House in yet another late session the night before. Biden is set to sign it at the White House on Saturday with just two days to spare until the Treasury Department has warned the U.S. wouldn’t be able to meet its obligations.The agreement was hashed out by Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, giving Republicans some of their demanded federal spending cuts but holding the line on major Democratic priorities. It raises the debt limit until 2025 — after the 2024 presidential election — and giv...

Biden celebrates a ‘crisis averted’ in Oval Office address on bipartisan debt ceiling deal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:12 GMT

By ZEKE MILLER and CHRIS MEGERIAN (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden celebrated a “crisis averted” in his first speech to the nation from the Oval Office Friday evening, ready to sign a budget agreement that eliminates the potential for an unprecedented government default that he said would have been catastrophic for the U.S. and global economies.The bipartisan measure was approved by the Senate late Thursday night after passing the House in yet another late session the night before. Biden is set to sign it at the White House on Saturday with just two days to spare until the Treasury Department has warned the U.S. wouldn’t be able to meet its obligations.“Passing this budget agreement was critical. The stakes could not have been higher,” Biden said. “Nothing would have been more catastrophic,” he said, than defaulting on the country’s debt. The agreement was hashed out by Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarth...

More than 200 killed and 800 hurt after 2 trains derail in India

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:12 GMT

By ASHOK SHARMA (Associated Press)NEW DELHI (AP) — Two passenger trains derailed Friday in India, killing more than 200 people and trapping hundreds of others inside more than a dozen damaged rail cars, officials said.The accident that happened about 220 kilometers (137 miles) southwest of Kolkata created a chaotic scene of twisted wreckage and desperate rescuers as teams tried to free passengers and recover bodies. The cause was under investigation.Fire Services Chief Sudhanshu Sarangi told the Press Trust of India that more than 800 people were hurt.Ten to 12 coaches of one train derailed, and debris from some of the mangled coaches fell onto a nearby track, said Amitabh Sharma, a railroad ministry spokesperson.The debris was hit by another passenger train coming from the opposite direction, and up to three coaches of the second train also derailed, Sharma said.The Press Trust reported that a third train carrying freight was also involved, but there was no immediate confirma...