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With 7 games left, where do the Chicago Bulls stand in the NBA play-in tournament?

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:43:01 GMT

The Chicago Bulls are fighting for a spot in the NBA play-in tournament, a battle for the last two playoff seeds in each conference. Here’s an explainer about the history of the event and how it works — and where the Bulls stand.When did the play-in begin?The NBA introduced the idea after the restart of the pandemic-delayed 2019-20 season, with a team needing to be within four games of the No. 8 seed to force a play-in for the last playoff spot in the conference.The Memphis Grizzlies finished a half-game behind the No. 8 seed Portland Trail Blazers in the Western Conference, and the Blazers won the first game of a play-in, thus earning the final playoff spot. In the East, the ninth-place Washington Wizards finished 7½ games behind the eighth-place Orlando Magic, meaning a play-in was unnecessary.How has the tournament evolved?The next year, the NBA expanded its play-in rules, with only the top-six seeds in each conference guaranteed of a playoff spot and the Nos. 7-...

5 ways to deal with money envy

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:43:01 GMT

If you’ve ever scrolled through social media posts only to be gripped with envy when you see a friend posing in front of their beautiful house or enjoying themselves at a luxurious resort, then you understand how easy it is to want what other people have. Financial envy is real, and sometimes it can be ugly.“Financial envy is absolutely normal. It’s part of the human condition,” says Yvonne Hampton, who holds a doctorate in personal financial planning and runs a financial therapy practice in the Kansas City, Missouri, area.And it’s not necessarily a bad thing, she adds. “It’s an opportunity to dig more deeply internally about why we have that feeling so we can work through it and be happier in our own lives.”If you’re wondering how to turn the so-called green-eyed monster into a positive force in your life, here are five steps to take.1. Let go of shame“A lot of progress can be made simply by acknowledging: ‘Yes, I feel envious,’” says Rick Kahler, a certified financial therapist an...

Migrants start fire at Mexico detention center, killing 40

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:43:01 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Migrants fearing deportation set mattresses ablaze at an immigration detention center in northern Mexico, starting a fire that killed at least 40 people, the president said Tuesday, in one of the deadliest events ever at a Mexican immigration lockup.Hours after the fire broke out late Monday, rows of bodies were laid out under shimmery silver sheets outside the facility in Ciudad Juarez, which is across from El Paso, Texas, and a major crossing point for migrants. Ambulances, firefighters and vans from the morgue swarmed the scene.Twenty-nine people were injured and are in “delicate-serious” condition, according to the National Immigration Institute.At the time of the blaze, 68 men from Central and South America were being held at the facility, the agency said.Immigration authorities identified the dead and injured as being from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador, with Guatemalans being the largest contingent, according to a statemen...

Liberal outraises conservative in Wisconsin court race

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:43:01 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Democratic-funded candidate in Wisconsin’s pivotal state Supreme Court contest has raised more than five times as much money as her Republican-backed opponent ahead of the April 4 election.Liberal Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Janet Protasiewicz raised nearly $12.4 million in the final campaign finance reporting period between Feb. 7 and March 20, reports filed late Monday show. Her conservative opponent, former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly, raised $2.2 million during the same period.The winner of the country’s most expensive state Supreme Court race to date will determine majority control of Wisconsin’s high court with issues such as abortion access, legislative redistricting, union rights and election laws at stake. The race has garnered national attention, given Wisconsin’s importance as a presidential swing state.The state Supreme Court came within a vote of overturning President Joe Biden’s victory in 2020. Co...

‘People that voted to defund police, don’t vote for them’, Ford weighs in on Toronto mayoral race

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:43:01 GMT

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has weighed in on the Toronto mayoral race for the first time, saying people should avoid supporting any candidate who wants to defund the police.Ford had previously stated he would stay out of the race to replace John Tory, but he addressed the upcoming election on Tuesday when speaking to reporters at Toronto Pearson airport.Ford was asked about recent violence on the TTC, which includes the unprovoked fatal stabbing of a teen at Keele station over the weekend. He warned Torontonians not to vote for any candidate who wants to cut police funding, saying it seems like “everyone and their cousin” is running for mayor.“We got to put more money into policing and there are a couple of candidates that are running, that are sitting councillors, that voted to defund the police,” said Ford. “The people that voted to defund the police, don’t vote for them.”Ford says there should be full-time police officers in the TTC.“...

UN hears Africa, its Sahel region, are new terrorism targets

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:43:01 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — African nations called on the world Tuesday to pay attention to how terrorism targeted their continent, particularly its Sahel region, telling the United Nations Security Council that Africans made up nearly half the world’s terror attack victims.Using his country’s bully pulpit as Security Council chair for March, Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi told the council that “though terrorism is a global threat, the situation in Africa remains more critical.”His words were echoed by a series of ambassadors from African countries who discussed terror groups’ threats to their nations. One global terrorism index shows that 48% of terror victims last year were African, Nyusi said, “and the Sahel region is the new epicenter of terrorist attacks.” Many speakers said they were deeply concerned by terror groups’ operations in the vast, semi-arid expanse below the Sahara Desert.“The situation in Africa is especially concerning,” Secretary-General Anto...

Energy company: Minnesota leak fixed, plant to reopen soon

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:43:01 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (AP) — A faulty pipe that allowed water containing a radioactive isotope of hydrogen to leak at a Minnesota nuclear power plant has been repaired and the plant will return to service in the next week, a spokesman for the energy company said Tuesday.Meanwhile, a state agency said a fish kill that claimed at least 230 fish in the Mississippi River near Xcel Energy’s Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant was caused by a water temperature change resulting from the shutdown of the plant, not by any chemicals leaking into the river.The nuclear plant, about 38 miles (60 kilometers) northwest of Minneapolis, was fully powered down around 7 a.m. Saturday to fix the leaky pipe discovered last week, Xcel Energy spokesman Theo Keith said.“Crews have already repaired the leak, which did not pose any risks to public health, safety, or the environment,” Keith said in an email. “The pipe was confirmed as the only source of the leak.”The plant will return to service “in the next wee...

Pirates board oil tanker with 16 crew in Gulf of Guinea

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:43:01 GMT

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Pirates have boarded a Liberian-flagged oil tanker with 16 crew members in West Africa’s Gulf of Guinea, the Danish vessel owner said Tuesday.The attack took place southwest of Port Pointe-Noire, Congo. The Monjasa Reformer “experienced an emergency situation” late Saturday, Monjasa, the Denmark-based company that owns the ship, said in a statement. The crew sought refuge in a citadel — a safe area on the ship — in line with the on board anti-piracy emergency protocol, said company spokesman Thorstein Andreasen.The nationalities of the crew members and the pirates were not immediately known. Communication channels with the ship are down and international authorities have been alerted, said the statement. The exact location of the tanker is not known. The last position was transmitted Sunday without any updates since, said Martin Kelly, senior analyst with the London-based EOS Risk group, a security company operating in the area. The Gulf of Guinea is the ...

5 planets will be lined up in night sky this week. How and when to spot them

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:43:01 GMT

There will be a celestial treat tonight when five planets — Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Uranus, and Mars — will be lined up near the moon.NASA astronomer Bill Cooke says for a short window on Tuesday night, the five-planet spread will be able to be viewed from anywhere on earth, as long as there’s a clear sky and you have a west view.Mercury and Jupiter will dip below the horizon about 30 minutes after sunset at 7:39 p.m. in southwestern Ontario tonight. Mars will be very close to the first quarter moon on Tuesday, astronomers say, adding that Venus, Mars and Uranus are somewhat easier to find as Venus is bright in the evening skies.Binoculars are likely needed to spot Mercury and Uranus, as they’re dimmer planets. This kind of alignment happens when the planets’ orbits line them up on one side of the sun from earth’s perspective.“Find a nice view towards where the sun is setting. A nice low horizon. Obviously, it has to be clear out,” sa...

Ethiopia’s PM announces outreach to rebel group in Oromia

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:43:01 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Ethiopia’s prime minister said Tuesday his administration is attempting talks with an outlawed rebel group operating mainly in the restive Oromia region.Abiy Ahmed’s comments to lawmakers on outreach to the Oromo Liberation Army came amid efforts to replicate a peace process conducted for the conflict based in the northern Tigray region that saw an agreement signed in November to end the fighting.“The government has a high level of interest to resolve this conflict (with OLA) in peaceful terms. Not only interest, but also a committee entrusted with the task of leading the peace process has been set up,” the prime minister said, adding he hopes Ethiopians will support the process.“More than 10 attempts and contacts were made with the (OLA). The problem so far is that there is no centralized group so every unit has different ideas and positions … the committee is leading the talks and we will see the result together.”A spokesman for the rebel group, Odaa Tarbii, ...