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Celtics’ Payton Pritchard pushes through early-season struggles to reach breakthrough

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:52 GMT

The Celtics bet on Payton Pritchard this summer. After a frustrating third season in which his role diminished, he was promised a bigger one with the Marcus Smart trade. The Celtics backed it up with a contract extension.But even after a strong preseason, the early returns weren’t positive. Pritchard went on a cold spell to start the season. In a five-game stretch, he went scoreless in four of them. In the other, he scored 15 but all of them came in the fourth quarter of a blowout win over the Pacers. On Friday, he admitted that doubt started to creep in.“I think it started messing with me mentally a little bit,” Pritchard said. “But then I went back to what made me a great shooter in the first place. So I just dialed it back into that. It’s just kind of just a mental game. It starts to kind of affect you, start second-guessing shots. At the end of the day, you put in too much work. So I just believe in myself.”That work and that belief carried Pritchard through a trying seaso...

Pope forcibly removes leading US conservative, Texas bishop Strickland

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:52 GMT

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis on Saturday forcibly removed from office the bishop of Tyler, Texas, a conservative active on social media who has been a fierce critic of the pontiff and some of his priorities.A one-line statement from the Vatican said Francis had “relieved” Bishop Joseph Strickland of the pastoral governance of Tyler and appointed the bishop of Austin as the temporary administrator.Strickland has emerged as a critic of Francis, accusing him in a tweet earlier this year of “undermining the deposit of faith,” and particularly his recent meeting on the future of the Catholic Church. The Vatican earlier this year sent in investigators to look into his governance of the diocese, amid reports he was making doctrinally unorthodox claims.The Vatican has not released the findings of the investigation, and Strickland had insisted he wouldn’t resign voluntarily. He has said in media interviews he he was given a mandate to serve by the late Pope Benedict XVI.The Associated Press

A missile strike targets Kyiv as Russian train carriages derail due to ‘unauthorized interference’

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:52 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces targeted Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, as part of an overnight bombardment felt across the country, local officials said Saturday, while drones that Russian officials blamed on the Ukrainian military targeted areas around Moscow and the region of Smolensk.A ballistic missile was shot down as it approached the Ukrainian capital, said Serhii Popko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration. He said that no one was injured.The Ukrainian air force later confirmed an Iskander-M missile ballistic missile was used in the attack, the first attempted missile strike on Kyiv in almost two months. The missile was destroyed by the country’s Patriot air defense system.Ukraine’s air defense systems actively repelled attacks in Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Poltava, Sumy, and Kirovohrad regions. The country’s air force said Russian troops launched 31 Shahed-136/131 drones, of which 19 were shot down.The strike in the Odesa region damaged the cityR...

‘We want her back,’ husband of US journalist detained in Russia appeals for her immediate release

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:52 GMT

PRAGUE (AP) — This wasn’t how Pavel Butorin expected to celebrate his anniversary this week, with his wife of 21 years in a Russian prison and barely any communication available. Russian-American journalist, Alsu Kurmasheva — who works as an editor for U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe — has been detained in Russia for almost a month and charged with failing to self-register as a “foreign agent.” “Alsu should be celebrating this anniversary with me and our children at home, not in a Russian prison,” Butorin told The Associated Press in an interview in Prague on Friday. “We want her back. Alsu must be released as soon as possible,” he said, visibly shaken. Kurmasheva was detained on Oct 18, becoming the second U.S. journalist detained in Russia this year, after Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was arrested on espionage charges in March. She is being held in a detention center, awaiting a trial that could sentence her to up to five years in prison.Her ordeal ...

UK police step up efforts to ensure a massive pro-Palestinian march in London remains peaceful

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:52 GMT

LONDON (AP) — London police have stepped up efforts to ensure a pro-Palestinian march on Saturday remains peaceful following a week of political sparring over whether the demonstration should go ahead on the weekend Britain honors its war dead.More than 2,000 officers, some called in from surrounding forces, will be on the streets of the capital this weekend to make to ensure marchers obey the law and to prevent potential confrontations with counter protesters, the Metropolitan Police Service said.Police are also taking steps to reassure the Jewish community, which has been targeted by a surge in antisemitic incidents since Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7 and Israeli forces responded with strikes and sending troops into the Gaza Strip.“We know the cumulative impact continued protest, increasing tensions, and rising hate crimes are having across London and the fear and anxiety our Jewish communities in particular are feeling,” the police said in a statement. “They have a ri...

One year after liberation, Ukrainians in Kherson hold on to hope amid constant shelling

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:52 GMT

KHERSON, Ukraine (AP) — One year since Ukraine retook the city of Kherson from occupying Russian forces, residents have grown accustomed to hearing outgoing fire from the left bank of the Dnieper river, where Russian troops are positioned. They know that familiar crackle means they have seven seconds to find a shelter, or a sturdy wall to hide behind. Their lives are mostly limited to the comfort of home and the necessity of the supermarket. Many shops are still shuttered. Municipal workers wear bullet-proof vests and wait to be dispatched to sweep up the rubble from yet another impact.Between lulls of artillery fire coming from the river, which marks the contact line between battling armies in the Kherson region, Ukrainians venture out to buy food, bicycle down grassy residential lanes or convene in the few restaurants that dare to remain open.Marking the anniversary of Russia’s defeat on Nov. 11 is a bittersweet occasion, many residents say, as Ukraine’s counteroffensive grinds on...

China ambassador seeks ‘rational’ relations, trade boost by ‘reserving differences’

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:52 GMT

OTTAWA — China’s ambassador to Canada says Ottawa’s allegations of foreign interference in Canadian elections are hurting economic ties — but he insists his country isn’t punishing Canada.His comments come after years of diplomatic strain between the two countries.Beijing detained Canadian citizens Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig from late 2018 until fall 2021.China meanwhile imposed multi-year bans on Canadian imports of meat and canola. And a year after the Canadian government named China as a disruptive global force and declared Beijing as responsible for attempts at foreign interference, the Chinese government left Canada out as it loosened restrictions on group travel. Analysts argue those moves amount to economic coercion aimed at changing Canadian policies. But Chinese ambassador Cong Peiwu doesn’t see things that way — and the head of a prominent business group that advocates for deepening trade ties argues it’s time for a rethink.“China...

Ask Amy: Uninvited guest now feels disinvited

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:52 GMT

Dear Amy: I’d like your input regarding a family drama.My sister and I have not been speaking to each other for quite a while.My niece (her daughter) is getting married, and I reached out to this niece, saying that if it would cause unhappiness between her and her mother by inviting me to the wedding, I would understand if she chose not to issue the invitation to me.Well, I just found out from family members that I am not being invited, however my niece didn’t call and let me know.I am hurt that she didn’t take the time to let me know that I would not be invited to her wedding.We have had a good relationship up until now.My dilemma is that I am inclined not to send a gift for a wedding that I wasn’t invited to nor called about. What are your thoughts?— Feeling Hurt in the SouthDear Feeling Hurt: Let’s recap.You anticipated this issue by graciously letting your niece know that if it would cause problems for her or her mother to invite you to her wedding, you w...

Lack of enough disclosures alarms homebuyer under contract

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:52 GMT

Question: We just bought a Bay Area house. It sits on an oversized lot. Lush foliage fills the grounds. My father-in-law was not impressed. He asked about the water bill. He made a good point. Drought and water rationing are part of California living. The cost of keeping the grounds could be a budget buster.Recently, we requested the water bill. The seller’s agent did not respond. We found this odd. Later, we drove by the house. A neighbor was watering an equally large lot. We stopped and introduced ourselves. We learned that the neighborhood has city water pipes. That made sense. But the neighbor told us there is well water. Nearby homes have a well-water pipe to an underground spring dating back to the 1940s and 1950s. Then he added, “We are not supposed to use it.”You often write about presale inspection disclosure packages, especially on the San Francisco Peninsula. The disclosures are sparse. My father-in-law noted no mention of a well — or well water. We are wondering what els...

Paul: It’s not kids with the cellphone problem. It’s parents.

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:52 GMT

The hardest rule I ever set for my kids was refusing them cellphones until high school.I’d seen the research on the doleful effects of social media, screens and surveillance parenting on kids’ mental, physical and cognitive well-being. If it turns out that the data is wrong, I figured, they will have survived a mild deprivation in their relatively privileged lives and provided fodder for a future therapist’s couch.“How did you manage?!” other parents asked, and I knew exactly what they meant. Much as parents don’t want to admit it, we need — or it feels like we need — our kids to have a phone.They’ll be safer walking to school, we tell ourselves — fully aware that should they be hit by a car or snatched away, they won’t be texting Mom about the situation. Even in a school shooting, cellphones have as much potential for danger as they do for safety.We tell ourselves the phone will give our kids a sense of independence, even though phone trackers let us know exactly ...