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ASK IRA: And those who doubted the Heat are where now?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

Q: On behalf of Heat Nation, who all wanted the Heat to not make the playoffs because we had no shot at beating the Bucks . . . we all apologize. Come on now, with Tyler Herro and Victor Oladipo out, Bam Adebayo hobbled, who could have predicted this? Jimmy Butler was simply amazing but everyone played their butts off. – Brian, Fort Lauderdale.A: It is now 3 a.m. as I sit here, annoyingly typing while someone is trying to sleep in the hotel room next door, spending another night with my friend, Blue Moon, and I’m still having trouble processing both what happened both tonight and in this series. It seems like between Giannis Antetokounmpo, Tyler Herro and Victor Oladipo, this was nothing but a week of writing about injuries. And in the last two games, I had deadline stories fully written about the Heat going down big in the fourth quarter and their season approaching the finish line. Even as Wednesday night turns to Thursday morning, I’m still not sure how the Buck...

Five questions that could shape the Ravens’ 2023 draft

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

Few teams draft better than the Ravens.Since 2000, only the New England Patriots (17) have selected more players than Baltimore (16) who have gone on to be named first-team All-Pro. In the past five years, the Ravens are also the only team to have drafted an eventual NFL Most Valuable Player, which quarterback Lamar Jackson was in 2019.Other notable players the Ravens have drafted in the past five years include All-Pro and three-time Pro Bowl tight end Mark Andrews and four-time Pro Bowl offensive tackle Orlando Brown Jr., both in the third round in 2018; All-Pro kick returner and wide receiver Devin Duvernay in the third round in 2020; and emerging linebacker Patrick Queen in the first round in 2020.There have been plenty of other contributors, too. A pair of 2022 first-round picks, safety Kyle Hamilton and center Tyler Linderbaum, were among the league’s best rookies. J.K. Dobbins, drafted in the second round in 2020, rushed for nine touchdowns and led all NFL running backs ...

Powerful new obesity drug poised to upend weight loss care

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

As a growing number of overweight Americans clamor for Ozempic and Wegovy — drugs touted by celebrities and on TikTok to pare pounds — an even more powerful obesity medicine is poised to upend treatment.Tirzepatide, an Eli Lilly and Co. drug approved to treat type 2 diabetes under the brand name Mounjaro, helped people with the disease who were overweight or had obesity lose up to 16% of their body weight, or more than 34 pounds, over nearly 17 months, the company said on Thursday. The late-stage study of the drug for weight loss adds to earlier evidence that similar participants without diabetes lost up to 22% of their body weight over that period with weekly injections of the drug. For a typical patient on the highest dose, that meant shedding more than 50 pounds.Having diabetes makes it notoriously difficult to lose weight, said Dr. Nadia Ahmad, Lilly’s medical director of obesity clinical development, which means the recent results are especially significant. “We have not seen t...

Rights groups say second Uyghur dies in Thai detention

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Human rights organizations urged Thailand on Thursday to improve conditions in its immigration detention facilities after a second asylum seeker from China’s Muslim Uyghur minority died in custody within two months.Human Rights Watch called for an end to Thailand’s “inhumane and counterproductive” policy of indefinitely detaining people accused of violating immigration law after Uyghur rights groups reported Mattohti Mattursun, 40, died last Friday of suspected liver failure shortly after being taken to a hospital weeks after falling ill.“Thai authorities are putting people seeking refugee protection at grave risk by keeping them for years in awful conditions in immigration detention centers,” Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in an emailed statement. “Mattohti Mattursun’s death should sound the alarm to end this abusive policy of incarcerating asylum seekers and refugees for prolonged periods.”Rights groups have long criticized conditions at i...

Take Our Kids to Work Day turns 30, hopes donations rebound

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — At Michigan State University, children of employees can spend Thursday seeing what it’s like to staff a dairy farm, work in sports or plant a tree at the school’s first in-person Take Our Kids to Work Day since the pandemic began. Some 1,500 employees and kids have registered and the university has invited staff to bring any child in their life to explore the campus.“This is a way that people can see each other and meet their families, show off MSU, which is designated a family friendly university,” said Jaimie Hutchison, director of the university’s WorkLife Office. “It also allows people to see what others do across campus and have more pride in the institution that they work for.” MSU’s plans recall the roots of Take Our Kids to Work Day, which celebrates its 30th anniversary on Thursday. However, much has changed since then.The idea of Take Our Kids to Work Day seemed like part of a bygone era in recent years because, due to the pand...

Tense face-off: Philippines confronts China over sea claims

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

ABOARD BRP MALABRIGO (AP) — A Chinese coast guard ship blocked a Philippine patrol vessel steaming into a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, causing a frightening near-collision in the latest act of Beijing’s aggression in the strategic waterway.The high seas face-off Sunday between the larger Chinese ship and the Philippine coast guard’s BRP Malapascua near the Second Thomas Shoal was among the tense moments it and another Philippine vessel encountered in a weeklong sovereignty patrol in one of the world’s most hotly contested waterways.The Philippine coast guard had invited a small group of journalists, including three from The Associated Press, to join the 1,670-kilometer (1,038-mile) patrol for the first time as part of a new Philippine strategy aimed at exposing China’s increasingly aggressive actions in the South China Sea, where an estimated $5 trillion in global trade transits each year.In scorching summer heat but relatively calm waters, the Malapascua and another Phili...

Florida Gov. DeSantis says Disney lawsuit is political

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday shrugged off Disney's lawsuit against him as politically motivated, and that it was time for the iconic company to stop enjoying favorable treatment in his state.Disney sued DeSantis on Wednesday over the Republican’s appointment of a board of supervisors in its self-governed theme park district, alleging the governor waged a “targeted campaign of government retaliation” after the company opposed a law critics call, “Don’t Say Gay.”The legal filing is the latest salvo in a more than year-old feud between Disney and DeSantis that has engulfed the governor in criticism as he prepares to launch an expected 2024 presidential bid.“They’re upset because they’re having to live by the same rules as everybody else. They don’t want to pay the same taxes as everybody else and they want to be able to control things without proper oversight," DeSantis said during a visit to Israel. “The days of putting one company on a pedestal with no accou...

WWE and Vince McMahon sued by former writer alleging 'racist' scripts

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

(KTLA) - World Wrestling Entertainment and Vince McMahon are being sued by a former writer over what she called “offensively racist and stereotypical jargon” in scripts.The complaint was filed on April 24 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on behalf of Britney Abrahams by the Cochran Firm, according to Bloomberg.Abrahams, a Black woman, worked for WWE Smackdown! and WWE Monday Night RAW in 2020. Former WWE wrestler charged with theft of millions from Mississippi welfare According to the complaint, she complained of the use of racist and stereotypical language in scripts for Black wrestlers like Bianca Belair and Apollo Crews. The scripts had Belair saying, “Uh-Uh! Don’t make me take off my earrings and beat your a--!" and Crews to speak with a “stereotypical and exaggerated Nigerian accent," the publication reported. Abrahams said her complaints were ignored. She claimed she witnessed racist pitches while on a Slack thread that included McMahon and hi...

Ukraine's fate hangs in balance in 2024 clash

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

(The Hill) - President Biden's reelection bid on Tuesday set in motion an incoming clash with leading Republican candidates in the 2024 White House race over the war in Ukraine, with the outcome potentially proving decisive for Kyiv.Biden’s vow to stick with Ukraine until the war is won stands in stark contrast to former President Trump’s promise to negotiate peace as soon as he reenters America’s highest office.Other GOP candidates and potential candidates like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis are offering mixed views on the war, setting it up to be a central foreign policy issue in the months ahead.Andrew Albertson, executive director of Foreign Policy for America, said the 2024 election is evolving into a “leadership test” when it comes to foreign policy and the Ukraine war.“On the one hand, you've got the normal traditional role that the U.S. has played as a principled leader in the world, in this case, rallying our allies to support Ukrainians to defend themselves against Russia's hor...

Trump allies who stole from border wall donors sentenced to prison

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

(The Hill) - Two founders of an online fundraising scheme to help former President Trump build a border wall were sentenced to prison Wednesday for participating in a fraud scheme that stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from donors. Brain Kolfage and Andrew Badolato were each sentenced for their alleged involvement in the scheme, which siphoned the money from hundreds of thousands of people that donated to their "We Build the Wall" campaign. The campaign promised the donors that their funds would go toward construction of a wall at the border with Mexico, which is part of Trump's core platform. The fundraising campaign raised more than $25,000,000 from thousands of donors, with Kolfage promising that "100% of the funds raised … will be used in the execution of our mission and purpose," according to court documents. The court documents said this was false, alleging that Kolfage alone took more than $350,000 for personal funds. Kolfage was sentenced to 51 months in prison while B...