Home Blog Page 512

Cleveland Cavaliers let late lead lapse, trim Detroit Pistons at buzzer, 118-115

DARIUS GARLAND made a 3-pointer as time expired to allow the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers to continue their dominance of the Detroit Pistons with a 118-115 victory on Wednesday night.

Garland made his transition basket after Cleveland squandered an eight-point lead in the final minute. Garland finished with 25 points as Cleveland defeated Detroit for the 12th straight time.

Evan Mobley led the Cavaliers with 30 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and four blocked shots. Craig Porter Jr. supplied 16 points, and Max Strus added 15.

Cade Cunningham carried the Pistons with 38 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. Tim Hardaway Jr. had 20 points and Ausar Thompson 12.

Cavaliers All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell was inactive due to a right shoulder contusion. Mitchell scored 31 points in a seven-point home loss to Boston on Tuesday.

Mobley dominated the first half, scoring 20 points as Cleveland grabbed a 65-56 lead.

Strus’ layup with 9:50 left in the third gave the Cavaliers a 70-60 lead. Thompson had a basket and an assist during a 7-0 Detroit spurt to cut Cleveland’s lead to three.

Cunningham’s 3-pointer with 4:47 remaining in the quarter pulled the Pistons within one at 77-76. Cunningham’s layup later in the quarter gave Detroit a one-point lead.

The Cavaliers regained the lead at 86-83 on a 3-pointer by Porter before the end of the quarter. Cleveland then scored the first nine points of the fourth. — Reuters

Nuggets extend Pelicans’ skid

MICHAEL PORTER JR. tied his career high with 39 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, Nikola Jokic finished with 38 points and 10 assists and the host Denver Nuggets beat the New Orleans Pelicans 144-119 on Wednesday night.

Christian Braun scored 23 points, Aaron Gordon tied his career high with 12 assists after missing a game and Jamal Murray and Julian Strawther had 10 points each for Denver.

The Nuggets set a season-high in points and swept the two-game home set from New Orleans.

The Nuggets were without Russell Westbrook due to a hamstring injury, while Jose Alvarado was unavailable for the Pelicans due to a non-COVID illness.

Zion Williamson led the Pelicans with 28 points, Trey Murphy III had 25 points and nine assists, CJ McCollum scored 19, Jordan Hawkins contributed 15, Yves Missi finished with 12 and Karlo Matkovic scored 10 and had nine rebounds.

New Orleans has lost seven straight.

The game was tied at halftime but Denver took control with a big third quarter after the Pelicans took a 72-68 lead. Braun hit two free throws and a layup, Porter and Jokic also made layups before Braun drained a 3-pointer and hit another layup to cap a 13-0 run.

New Orleans regrouped and got within six but Porter started to heat up. He dunked, made a layup and two from deep to spark another Nuggets run that made it 96-80 midway through the third.

Porter capped his 14-point quarter with a putback that gave Denver a 113-95 lead heading into the fourth.

The Pelicans got within 122-107 on a Hawkins jumper, prompting a Nuggets timeout and Jokic back into the game. He hit a 3-pointer and a hook shot, Porter dunked off a steal and Jokic hit his fifth 3-pointer to make it a 20-point lead.

New Orleans never got the deficit into single digits. Reuters

UP forward Torculas moving to NCAA

BONA FIDE Fighting Maroon Aldous Torculas is leaving Diliman for the first time in his basketball career.

A player for the University of the Philippines-Integrated School (UPIS) since high school, the versatile forward has bid goodbye to his long-time squad in the UAAP on Thursday to move to the NCAA for the remainder of his collegiate stint.

The destination school in the NCAA, where he will have two more playing years, is yet to be announced.

“We’re proud of Aldous (Torculas) we’re sure that he’ll make UP proud by bringing the UP Fight,” UP Office of Athletics and Sports Development Director Bo Perasol said.

The 6-foot-4 Mr. Torculas was a solid rotation player for the Fighting Maroons and despite having limited touches on offense served as one of its primary defenders, especially in their UAAP Season 87 championship run.

Mr. Torculas, who will turn 21 this year, averaged only 3.9 points and 2.3 rebounds off the bench but was tasked to defend two-time UAAP MVP Kevin Quiambao as UP escaped with a 66-62 Game 3 win to dethrone De La Salle University.

Before his collegiate play for UP, he served as one of the vital cogs for UPIS in the UAAP junior division, where he made it to the Season 82 Boys’ Mythical Team behind all-around averages of 11.6 points, 15.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.3 blocks and 2.3 steals. — John Bryan Ulanday

Garcia header gives Real Madrid 3-2 cup win over Leganes

MADRID — A stoppage-time goal by 20-year-old striker Gonzalo Garcia earned a second-string Real Madrid side a hard-fought 3-2 win over lowly local rivals Leganes in the Copa del Rey quarter-finals on Wednesday.

Luka Modric and Endrick gave Real Madrid a two-goal lead with strikes early in the first half but Juan Cruz reduced the deficit from the penalty spot in the 39th minutes after a handball inside the box by Real defender Jacobo Ramon.

A deflected strike from Cruz in the 59th minute equalized the match but substitute Garcia scored the winner for Real in the 93rd minute, netting a towering header from a Brahim Diaz cross.

Ahead of Saturday’s LaLiga derby against second-placed Atletico Madrid and next week’s Champions League playoff clash at Manchester City, Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti decided to rest several key starters such as Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Jr. and Thibaut Courtois. — Reuters

Dončić trade

Luka Dončić was all smiles when he was formally introduced as a Laker the other day. He said all the right things as he faced members of the media — that he looked forward to wearing purple and gold, that working with erstwhile face of the franchise LeBron James “is just like a dream come true,” and that he understood both the privilege and the pressure of playing “for the greatest club in the world.” For all his optimism, however, it was likewise clear that he bore no small measure of regret for having been deprived of the opportunity to continue making history with the Mavericks.

Indeed, Dončić had been only too willing and ready to stay put in Dallas, which hitherto served as his home since being taken third overall in the 2018 draft. He confirmed the obvious: He said he gave absolutely no indication that he would not affix his Hancock on the $345-million supermax deal for which he would be eligible in the offseason. Yet, instead of certainly, what the Mavericks dealt him — and, to be fair, the rest of the National Basketball Association — was shock. At 25, he already boasted of a sterling resume, and was a mere seven months removed from a Finals appearance.

Immediately after the trade, the Mavericks, through general manager Nico Harrison, took pains to explain why Dončić had to be shown the door. And while the temptation to defend himself amid all the speculation about his conditioning, or lack thereof, was undoubtedly great, he chose to, in his words, “take the high road,” instead choosing to underscore “my amazing moments in Dallas with all my teammates, coaches, and, most importantly, the fans. They always supported me, and it was an amazing journey.”

Dončić went full bore during practice on Thursday, and, barring any setback, is slated to make his debut in a Lakers uniform over the weekend. How he will mesh with James and his new teammates remains to be seen. In any case, it’s clear that he figures to let his performances on the court do the talking for him. Little wonder, then, that fans and, yes, even casual observers of the pro scene cannot wait to see him burn rubber against the Mavericks in two and a half weeks. The first significant stop on his revenge tour figures to be a doozy.

 

Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and human resources management, corporate communications, and business development.

Panama Canal denies United States’ claim of preferential crossing rights

A container ship crosses the Gulf of Suez towards the Red Sea before entering the Suez Canal, April 24, 2017. — REUTERS

WASHINGTON/PANAMA CITY — The Panama Canal Authority on Wednesday denied the US State Department’s claim that US government vessels would be able to cross the canal without paying fees, likely ratcheting up tensions after President Donald Trump threatened to take back control of the crossing.

The canal authority, an autonomous agency overseen by the Panamanian government, said in a statement that it had not made any changes to charge fees or rights to cross the canal, adding its statement was directly in response to the US claims.

The US State Department had said earlier in the day that Panama’s government had agreed to no longer charge crossing fees for US government vessels, in a move that would save the US millions of dollars a year.

“With total responsibility, the Panama Canal Authority, as it has indicated, is willing to establish dialogue with relevant US officials regarding the transit of wartime vessels from said country,” the canal authority responded.

Panama has became a focal point of the Trump administration as the president has accused the Central American country of charging excessive rates to use its trade passage, one of the busiest in the world.

“If the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, and without question,” Mr. Trump said last month.

Mr. Trump has also repeatedly claimed that Panama has ceded control of the canal to China, which Panama and China deny.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino earlier this week as part of a trip through Central America, with Mr. Mulino vowing to pull out of China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

Mr. Mulino has also repeatedly dismissed Mr. Trump’s threat that the US retake control of the canal, which it largely built and administered for decades.

But the US and Panama signed a pair of accords in 1977 that paved the way for the canal’s return to full Panamanian control. The United States handed it over in 1999 after a period of joint administration. — Reuters

Year begins with warmest January despite shift towards cooling La Niña

The sun sets in Boracay island, Aklan, Jan. 31, 2025. — PHILIPPINE STAR/RUSSELL PALMA

BRUSSELS — Last month was the world’s warmest January on record, continuing a streak of extreme global temperatures despite a shift towards the cooling La Niña weather pattern, European Union (EU) scientists said on Thursday.

January extended a run of extraordinary heat, in which 18 of the last 19 months saw an average global temperature of more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times, the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said in a monthly bulletin.

That was despite the world shifting from the El Niño warming pattern — which helped make 2024 the world’s warmest year on record — and turning towards its cooler La Niña counterpart, which involves the cooling of equatorial Pacific waters, and can curb global temperatures.

“The fact that we’re still seeing record temperatures outside of the influence of El Niño is a little surprising,” said Samantha Burgess, Strategic Lead at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, which runs the C3S service.

El Niño peaked more than a year ago, Ms. Burgess noted.

The global average temperature in January was 1.75C higher than in pre-industrial times.

Copernicus assesses that La Niña has not yet fully developed, and the world is currently in neutral conditions between the two phases. Other data models can vary, with US scientists indicating last month that La Niña conditions had formed.

Even if La Niña does fully emerge, Ms. Burgess said its cooling effect may not be enough to temporarily curb global temperatures —  which are also affected by factors like the extreme heat seen in other ocean basins, and the main driver of climate change: emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases.

“By far and away the largest contributing factor to our warming climate is the burning of fossil fuels,” she said.

Scientists at Berkeley Earth and the UK Met Office have said they expect 2025 to be the third-warmest year on record — cooler than 2024 and 2023 because of the shift towards La Niña, though uncertainties remain about how the phenomenon will develop.

Globally, average sea surface temperatures in January were the second-highest on record for the month, exceeded only by January 2024. — Reuters

Australia passes tough hate crime laws with mandatory jail time for Nazi salutes

RAWPIXEL.COM-FREEPIK

SYDNEY — Australia passed tough anti-hate crime laws on Thursday, including mandatory minimum sentences for terror offenses and displaying hate symbols, in a bid to tackle a recent surge in antisemitism.

The laws will impose minimum jail sentences between 12 months for less serious hate crimes, such as giving a Nazi salute in public, and six years for those found guilty of terrorism offenses.

“I want people who are engaged in antisemitism to be held to account, to be charged, to be incarcerated,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who had initially opposed mandatory minimum sentences for hate crimes, told Sky News.

The government’s hate crimes bill was first introduced to parliament last year, creating new offenses for threatening force or violence against people based on their race, religion, nationality, national or ethnic origin, political opinion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex status.

Recent months have seen an escalation of attacks on synagogues, buildings and cars of Jewish community members across the country, including the discovery of a caravan laden with explosives with a list of Jewish targets in Sydney.

Mr. Albanese has been criticized by the center-right opposition party for being weak on crime and failing to address the rise in antisemitism.

The Liberal-National coalition began calling for mandatory minimum sentences to be added to the hate crimes bill last month.

Home Affairs minister Tony Burke, who introduced the amendments enabling the provisions late on Wednesday, said the changes were the “toughest laws Australia has ever had against hate crimes.”

The state of New South Wales, where most of the antisemitic attacks have taken place, said on Wednesday it would also strengthen its hate speech laws to reflect those already in place in Western Australia and Victoria. — Reuters

Two years after quake disaster, Turkey’s painful recovery continues

A woman stands near a collapsed building after an earthquake in Kahramanmaras, Turkey Feb. 6, 2023. — REUTERS

ANKARA — Two years after the deadliest and most destructive earthquake in modern Turkish history, hundreds of thousands of people remain displaced, with many still living in temporary housing, as rebuilding efforts lag behind initial targets.

The 7.8-magnitude earthquake on Feb. 6, 2023, and its aftershocks rattled 11 Turkish provinces and parts of northern Syria, killing more than 55,000 people and injuring more than 107,000.

The disaster reduced entire towns to rubble, including homes, hospitals, and historical landmarks, with Hatay, Kahramanmaras and Adiyaman hardest hit.

The government has pledged to build 650,000 homes, with President Tayyip Erdogan promising in the weeks after the tremor that 319,000 would be delivered within a year.

“We are fortunate to have delivered 201,431 independent units to their rightful owners less than two years after the earthquake,” Mr. Erdogan said after a cabinet meeting on Monday.

Environment and Urbanization Minister Murat Kurum said $75 billion had been spent on rebuilding across the quake region.

The critical phases of reconstruction have been completed, he said, adding that housing and business projects were progressing rapidly.

Many residents, however, remain in makeshift conditions, while others have left their home provinces entirely, disrupting communities and livelihoods.

Ozgur Ozel, leader of the main opposition CHP, said only 30% of the pledged reconstruction had been completed. The housing completion rate in Hatay, one of the worst-hit provinces, was only 18%, he said.

“Only three out of ten who believed in Mr. Erdogan now have homes, while the other seven are still in containers or seeking refuge in the homes of relatives,” Mr. Ozel said on Tuesday.

“How can they look into the eyes of those they forced to live in containers for two years and say, ‘We have kept all our promises, thank God’?”

LINGERING HARDSHIPS
International and local aid groups say a full recovery remains far off, with thousands of Turks still facing barriers to returning home.

The Hatay Earthquake Victims’ Association said in a report that more than 400,000 people remain in container-home cities, facing poor sanitation, inadequate healthcare, and an uncertain future.

It also raised concerns about asbestos exposure from unregulated demolitions and land seizures under emergency decrees.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said that millions of people in Turkey and Syria were still struggling to rebuild their lives. It called the pace of reconstruction “far too slow” for such a disaster.

Delays in reconstruction hurt long-term stability and risk depopulation of the region, some aid groups say.

In Hatay, in southernmost Turkey, empty streets, shuttered businesses, and demolition work still define the city, which was once a bustling mixture of cultures and religions, and a draw for tourism.

Ankara says its response to the earthquake has been effective and on track.

Mr. Kurum, the government minister, said 423,000 homes and workplaces will be handed over to survivors by the end of 2025, adding that Turkey had allocated 584 billion Turkish lira ($19 billion) for recovery efforts. — Reuters

Second bird flu strain found in US dairy cattle  — USDA

REUTERS

US dairy cattle tested positive for a strain of bird flu that previously had not been seen in cows, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said on Wednesday, ramping up concerns about the persistent spread of the virus.

The H5N1 virus has reduced milk output in cattle, pushed up egg prices by wiping out millions of hens, and infected nearly 70 people since April as it has spread across the country.

Genome sequencing of milk from Nevada identified the different strain, known as the D1.1 genotype, in dairy cows for the first time, the USDA said. Previously, all 957 bird flu infections among dairy herds reported since last March had been caused by another strain, the B3.13 genotype, according to the agency.

Reuters reported news of the detection of the second strain on Wednesday ahead of USDA’s announcement.

The second strain was the predominant genotype among wild birds this past fall and winter and has also been found in poultry, the USDA said. It was identified in dairy cattle through an agency program that began testing milk for bird flu in December.

“We’re seeing the H5N1 virus itself be smarter than all of us,” said Beth Thompson, South Dakota’s state veterinarian.

“It’s modifying itself so it’s not just staying in the poultry and the wild waterfowl. It’s picking up a home in the mammals.”

Wild birds likely transmitted the second strain to cattle in Nevada, said J.J. Goicoechea, Nevada’s Agriculture director. Farmers need to ramp up safety and security measures to protect their animals, he said.

“We obviously aren’t doing everything we can and everything we should or the virus wouldn’t be getting in,” he said.

The Nevada Department of Agriculture said on Jan. 31 that herds in two counties had been placed under quarantine due to bird flu detections.

It is important for the USDA to contain the outbreak in the state quickly, so the strain does not spread to dairy cattle elsewhere, said Gail Hansen, a veterinary and public health consultant.

Last year, bird flu spread across the country as infected cattle were shipped from Texas after the virus first leapt to cows from wild birds.

“We didn’t get a hold on it before,” Ms. Hansen said. “We want to avoid that same scenario from happening in Nevada.”

Dairy herds that were formerly infected may be at risk again from the second strain, experts said.

“Now it looks like we have new strains of virus that may escape some of the immunity associated with the other strains of viruses that could exacerbate the epidemics among animals and wildlife,” said Gregory Gray, a University of Texas Medical Branch professor studying cattle diseases.

“It’s alarming.” — Reuters

Stunting rate in the Philippines still “alarming”

One in four Filipino children under the age of five is affected by stunting, a form of malnutrition. Dr. Jose V. Dimaano Jr., Abbott’s nutrition medical affairs director for Pacific Asia, talks more about stunting in the Philippines.

Interview by Patricia Mirasol
Video editing by Jayson Mariñas

South Korean ministries block DeepSeek on security concerns, officials say

FREEPIK

– South Korea’s industry ministry has temporarily blocked employee access to Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek due to security concerns, a ministry official said on Wednesday, as the government urges caution on generative AI services.

The government issued a notice on Tuesday calling for ministries and agencies to exercise caution about using AI services including DeepSeek and ChatGPT at work, officials said.

State-run Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power said it had blocked use of AI services including DeepSeek earlier this month.

The defense ministry has also blocked access to DeepSeek on its computers that are for military use, officials said on Thursday.

The foreign ministry has restricted access to DeepSeek in computers that connect to external networks, Yonhap News Agency said. The ministry said it cannot confirm specific security measures.

DeepSeek did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

It was not immediately clear if the ministries had taken any actions against ChatGPT.

The ban makes South Korea the latest government to warn about or place restrictions on DeepSeek.

Australia and Taiwan have banned DeepSeek this week from all government devices over concerns that the Chinese artificial intelligence startup poses security risks.

Italy’s data protection authority ordered DeepSeek in January to block its chatbot in the country after the Chinese startup failed to address the regulator’s concerns over its privacy policy.

Some other governments in Europe, the U.S. and India are also examining implications of using DeepSeek.

South Korea’s information privacy watchdog plans to ask DeepSeek about how the personal information of users is managed.

Chinese startup DeepSeek’s launch of its latest AI models last month sent shockwaves through the tech world. The company says its models are on a par with or better than products developed in the United States and are produced at a fraction of the cost.

South Korean chat app operator Kakao Corp has told its employees to refrain from using DeepSeek due to security fears, a spokesperson said on Wednesday, a day after the company announced its partnership with generative artificial intelligence heavyweight OpenAI.

Korean tech companies are now being more careful about using generative AI. SK Hynix , a maker of AI chips, has restricted access to generative AI services, and allowed limited use when necessary, a spokesperson said.

Naver, a major South Korean web portal, said it had asked employees not to use generative AI services that store data outside the company. – Reuters