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Kiszla: The King is dead! Long live the Joker! Nuggets turn narrative of Western Conference finals on its head.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:25:54 GMT

The King is dead. Long live the Joker.On a spring night in Colorado when human triple-double machine Nikola Jokic was large and in charge, while a muffed dunk reminded LeBron James what a drag it can be to grow old, the young guns from Denver out-lasted the Slowtime Lakers,108-103, to take control of the Western Conference finals.And maybe, just maybe, the Nuggets changed the narrative. While James will forever be the king, there’s a new sheriff in the West.The Lakers are yesterday’s news. Can we stop all the yada, yada, yada about the team ESPN fawns over? Denver is sick and tired of being nothing more than a prop on the national stage.“Whatever we can use for motivation,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said late Thursday.“Our guys, to be honest, they might not admit this, but you win Game 1 …  and all everybody talked about was the Lakers. Let’s be honest. That was the national narrative: Hey, the Lakers are fine. They’re down 1-0, but...

The Global Security Initiative: China’s Proposal for Safeguarding World Peace and Security

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:25:54 GMT

Currently, changes unseen in a century are unfolding at a faster pace, and humanity is faced with a deficit of governance, trust, development and peace. In a world of change and disorder on the security front, President Xi Jinping put forward the Global Security Initiative (GSI) in April 2022. The GSI, serving the common well-being of humanity, advocates a new path to security featuring dialogue over confrontation, partnership over the alliance and win-win over zero-sum. The GSI has provided China’s proposal for addressing the peace deficit and international security challenges.The GSI is underpinned by “six commitments”, namely, staying committed to the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security; staying committed to respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries; staying committed to abiding by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter; staying committed to taking the legitimate security concerns of all countries seriously; sta...

Lebanon: After Harfouch's success against corruption the defamatory campaign against him continues

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:25:54 GMT

Omar Harfouch, the founder of the "Third Republic of Lebanon", is the subject of a harsh campaign of defamation and spreading false news against him through media platforms financed by corrupt officials in Lebanon, after having succeeded in bringing the case of the governor of the Banque du Liban, Riad Salameh, to its terms, and the issuance of an indictment and an international arrest warrant by the French Financial Prosecutor's Office against the governor.Not to mention a plot organized against him by PM Najib Mikati - who is prosecuted for money laundering organized in Lebanon by the prosecutor's office of the Principality of Monaco - which aimed to liquidate him physically in an indirect way.For its part, the European Union is preparing a report on the inhuman persecution taking place in Lebanon against those who fight corruption, including Omar Harfouch, and is preparing a conference in Brussels on this subject next September.And before that, Omar Harfouch will tour European pa...

Police drone video captures foot chase with suspect in Seal Beach

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:25:54 GMT

Infrared video from a police drone captured a foot chase between police and a suspected thief Wednesday morning in Seal Beach.  The incident happened at around 1 a.m. when officers with the Seal Beach Police Department were called about a man checking the handles of car doors. Authorities said with the help of the drone, they were able to find the man hiding on the beach. When he attempted to flee on foot, the drone tracked him and led officers to his location. Authorities in Seal Beach say that between the two drones the department has, they’ve used them more than 50 times in the last year in different kinds of cases.  As for the suspect who was checking the handles of car doors in the area, he was ultimately arrested for a probation violation. 

Knife-wielding man arrested in supermarket assault in San Bernardino County

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:25:54 GMT

A knife-wielding man was arrested after assaulting someone in a San Bernardino County supermarket on Wednesday.Authorities received reports of an altercation at a Food 4 Less on the 20100 block of Bear Valley Road in Apple Valley around 1 p.m.Employees told San Bernardino County deputies the suspect, David Manuel Iagulli, 42, had engaged in an altercation with another person at the store.When employees asked Iagulli to leave, he became argumentative. He pulled out a knife before threatening and punching the victim, a 45-year-old man, several times, authorities said.He fled the grocery store before authorities arrived at the scene. The victim did not require hospitalization.Deputies later tracked down Iagulli in a nearby neighborhood where he was taken into custody. He was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon and booked into the High Desert Detention Center. Felon arrested, allegedly kidnapped, tortured women in Moreno Valley home It's unclear what caused the altercation and w...

7.7 magnitude earthquake in far Pacific creates small tsunami threat for Vanuatu, other islands

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:25:54 GMT

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A 7.7 magnitude earthquake Friday in the far Pacific posed a tsunami threat for Vanuatu.The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said waves up to 1 meter (3 feet) above tides were possible for Vanuatu, much lower than the initial forecast.New Zealand’s National Emergency Management Agency said it was still assessing the potential for a tsunami.The PTWC said waves up to .3 meters (1 foot) were possible for Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Guam and other Pacific islands.The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake near the Loyalty Islands was 37 kilometers (23 miles) deep. The epicenter is southwest of Fiji, north of New Zealand and east of Australia where the Coral Sea meets the Pacific.Source

Why Ukraine’s spring offensive still hasn’t begun — with summer just weeks away

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:25:54 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — For months, Western allies have shipped billions of dollars worth of weapons systems and ammunition to Ukraine with an urgency to get the supplies to Kyiv in time for an anticipated spring counteroffensive. Now summer is just weeks away. While Russia and Ukraine are focused on an intense battle for Bakhmut, the Ukrainian spring offensive has yet to begin. Last week Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said it’s been delayed because his country lacks enough Western weapons to succeed without suffering too many casualties. Weather and training are playing a role too, officials and defense experts say. Officials insist the counteroffensive is coming. Preliminary moves by Ukraine to set the conditions it wants for an attack have already begun, a U.S. official said on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.A look at the factors delaying the counteroffensive and the preparations both sides are making in anticipation of it starting soon.WEATHERA ...

Police investigate shootings across DC, Maryland

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:25:54 GMT

Police in the District and Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties in Maryland have started multiple shooting investigations.The latest shooting occurred at the Wheaton Metro Station just before 6 p.m.Metro Transit Police, in coordination with the Montgomery County Police Department, said an 18-year-old male was shot after a dispute moved from the station escalator to the platform. Shiera Goff, the director of public information from Montgomery County police, said the fight may have sparked the gunfire.“The victim was part of that confrontation,” Goff told reporters at a press conference.Joint investigations for MTP and MCPD limited Metrorail service along the Red Line between Forest Glen and Glenmont.Roughly 20 minutes before, at around 5:40 p.m., police in Prince George’s County said a teenage girl was hospitalized after a shooting in Riverdale, Maryland.That shooting in the 6800 block of Riverdale Road struck a young female outside an apartment complex par...

Today in History: May 19, Anne Boleyn beheaded

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:25:54 GMT

Today in History Today is Friday, May 19, the 139th day of 2023. There are 226 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On May 19, 1536, Anne Boleyn, the second wife of England’s King Henry VIII, was beheaded after being convicted of adultery. On this date: In 1780, a mysterious darkness enveloped much of New England and part of Canada in the early afternoon.In 1913, California Gov. Hiram Johnson signed the Webb-Hartley Law prohibiting “aliens ineligible to citizenship” from owning farm land, a measure targeting Asian immigrants, particularly Japanese. In 1920, ten people were killed in a gun battle between coal miners, who were led by a local police chief, and a group of private security guards hired to evict them for joining a union in Matewan, a small “company town” in West Virginia. In 1921, Congress passed, and President Warren G. Harding signed, the Emergency Quota Act, which established national quotas for immigrants. In 1943, in his second wartime address to the ...

Murray's big 4th quarter propels Nuggets past Lakers for 2-0 lead

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:25:54 GMT

DENVER (AP) — Jamal Murray scored 23 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter, propelling the Denver Nuggets to a 108-103 come-from-behind win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night for a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference finals.Nikola Jokic had his 13th playoff triple-double with 23 points, 17 rebounds and a dozen assists for the Nuggets, who have never been this close to reaching the NBA Finals in their history. Tickets on sale for Nuggets watch parties at Ball Arena Game 3 is Saturday night at Crypto.com Arena, where LeBron James and the Lakers are 8-0 in the playoffs.Murray missed 12 of his 17 shots through three quarters but found his touch in the fourth, going 6 for 7, including four 3-pointers and fueling a 15-1 run that gave Denver a 96-84 lead.Just like in Game 1, the Lakers didn't go down easily. They pulled to three points on Austin Reaves' jumper before Murray sank two free throws with 12 seconds left and Bruce Brown stole the ball from James, then dribbled out t...