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Joel Embiid decides to play for USA — not France — in Paris Olympics

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:41:51 GMT

Joel Embiid will wear red, white and blue in Paris next summer — not rouge, blanc and bleu.The NBA’s reigning MVP and scoring champion has told USA Basketball that, after more than a year of deliberating, he has picked the Americans over France as his team for the Paris Olympics.The Philadelphia 76ers’ star let USA Basketball managing director Grant Hill know his mind was made up and then made the decision public on Thursday. And one of the reasons Embiid cited in what had him pick the U.S.: His son is American.“I’ve been here for such a long time,” Embiid said in Fort Collins, Colorado, where the 76ers are having training camp — and where Embiid met with Hill this week. “For the past few years, every decision I’ve made has been based on just family. My family, my son, and having the chance to represent a country like the U.S., with my son being born here … I love my home country, but I really wanted to play in the Olympics.”France had given Embiid an O...

Healthy Jonathan Taylor happy to be back on the Colts practice field and ready to get started

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:41:51 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A healthy Jonathan Taylor explained Thursday how happy he is to be practicing again with the Indianapolis Colts.He wouldn’t discuss the ugly contract dispute he’s had with the team.In his first public comments since June, the All-Pro running back stood at the podium, smiled and mostly sidestepped questions about his relationship with the Colts and his future with the team.“I don’t think it matters if I’m saying committed or not because I’m here,” he said. “If somebody wasn’t committed, they wouldn’t be here. Right now, I’m here and my No. 1 goal is really to attack this first practice. It’s been over 290 days, I believe. When you’re not doing what you love, you’re going to notice it, so my main goal has been to attack this first day.”Taylor missed all of the team’s offseason workouts while rehabbing from ankle surgery and all of training camp after going on the physically unable to perf...

No big Powerball prize, but 2 tickets sold in Fairfax Co. won $50K each

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:41:51 GMT

While no one claimed the more than billion-dollar Powerball jackpot Wednesday, two tickets sold in Fairfax County, Virginia, raked in $50,000 each for the lucky buyers.The winning tickets were sold at a 7-Eleven on Leesburg Pike in Herndon and at a Crosspoint Market on Village Shops Drive in Fairfax Station, according to a news release Thursday from Virginia Lottery. In addition, a ticket sold at a Thrift Mart/Truck Plaza in Petersburg, Virginia, south of Richmond, won $50,000.The three winning tickets matched four of the first five numbers plus the Powerball number.A total of 86,410 tickets bought in Virginia won prizes of some sort in the drawing. Lottery profits in Virginia go toward K-12 education.Earlier this year, a Powerball player in Virginia won a $161 million jackpot. In addition, three Powerball players in Virginia have won $1 million prizes so far this year.With no winner, the current Powerball jackpot has swelled to an estimated $1.4 billion. The next drawing is Saturda...

Hand grenade fragments were found in the bodies of victims in Prigozhin’s plane crash, Putin says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:41:51 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that hand grenade fragments were found in the bodies of people who died in the Aug. 23 crash of mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s plane.Experts investigating the crash found no indication the private jet had suffered an “external impact,” he said. Prigozhin and two of his top lieutenants of the Wagner private military contractor were among the 10 people killed when the jet came down as it flew from Moscow to St. Petersburgh.There was no way to independently verify Putin’s statement.A preliminary U.S. intelligence assessment concluded that an intentional explosion caused the crash, and Western officials have pointed to a long list of Putin foes who have been assassinated. The Kremlin called allegations he was behind the crash as an “absolute lie.”A Russian investigation was launched but no findings have been released. Moscow rejected an offer from Brazil, where the Embraer business jet was built, to join the inquiry...

Hailie Deegan gets promotion to NASCAR’s second-tier Xfinity Series for 2024

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:41:51 GMT

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Hailie Deegan will make the move to NASCAR’s second-tier Xfinity Series next season in a multi-year deal with AM Racing announced Thursday. The 22-year-old Californian is the only woman competing full-time at NASCAR’s national level and has spent the last three seasons in the Truck Series. Deegan has been in the Ford Performance development program since 2020 and Ford has entered her in a variety of different disciplines, including the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, the ARCA Series and trucks. She’s now getting her promotion to the next level and has backing from Ford, as well as new sponsors Airbox and Viva Tequila Seltzer. She said she is excited about the opportunity.“From the start, the team has been nothing but great to work with, and the vision that (team president) Wade (Moore) has for the team to accomplish align with my values perfectly,” Deegan said. “Through the support of Ford and the AM Racing team, I feel that we wil...

North Carolina WR Tez Walker eligible to play after school provides ‘new information,’ NCAA says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:41:51 GMT

The NCAA accepted Tez Walker’s transfer waiver on Thursday, making the wide receiver eligible to play for the 14th-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels after the university fought for months to get him on the field.The NCAA released a terse statement saying its staff received new information that had not been made available by North Carolina previously, despite the school’s multiple chances to do so.“It is unfortunate that UNC failed to provide this important information previously,” NCAA President Charlie Baker and Division I Board of directors chair Jere Morehead said in a joint statement. “While we must be careful not to compromise a student-athlete’s right to privacy when it comes to sensitive issues, we want to assure the Division I membership and everyone watching how the new transfer rules are applied, that this meets the new transfer waiver standards.”The NCAA also criticized the Tar Heels’ behavior and “decision to wage a public relations campaign,” calling it “inapp...

A man was encouraged by a chatbot to kill Queen Elizabeth II in 2021. He was sentenced to 9 years

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:41:51 GMT

LONDON (AP) — A Star Wars fanatic who was encouraged by a chatbot “girlfriend” to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II was sentenced Thursday to nine years in prison for taking his plot to Windsor Castle, where he scaled the walls and was caught with a loaded crossbow nearly two years ago.“I’m here to kill the queen,” Jaswant Singh Chail, wearing a metal mask inspired by the dark force in the science fiction and fantasy franchise, declared on Christmas Day in 2021 when a police officer on the grounds of the castle asked, “Can I help, mate?” As a Sikh Indian, Chail wanted to kill the monarch to avenge the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre when British troops opened fire on thousands of Indians gathered in Amritsar and killed hundreds, a judge said in reciting the facts of the crime. Chail said the assassination was his life’s mission, something he’d thought about since adolescence, but had only shared with Sarai, the artificial intelligence-generated “girlfriend” he created ...

11-year-old accused of shooting 2 at Apopka football practice sobs in court; lawyer says he was bullied

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:41:51 GMT

APOPKA, Florida (WESH) — The 11-year-old boy accused of shooting two 13-year-olds after a football practice in Apopka appeared in court on Wednesday.“He is traumatized; this is going to change his life,” the child’s defense attorney, Robert Mandell, said.Mandell asked for his release to his grandparents, saying the 11-year-old already deals with emotional issues requiring counseling and that older boys were bullying him in the rec center parking lot.“You can count more than six people running after him after they attacked him,” Mandell said.The arrest report says that just before the 11-year-old grabbed his mom’s gun from under the front seat of her car, others were “hitting and chasing the shooter, just prior to the shooting” and that he “fired a single shot at the back of victim 1.”The state said his actions that night should keep him in detention.“This is life-changing to my victim who is in the hospital, with extensive injuri...

Indianapolis police capture a cheeky monkey that escaped and went on the lam

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:41:51 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Momo the monkey’s taste of freedom is over.The primate spurred an hourslong search on Indianapolis’ east side after he escaped Wednesday evening from his owner’s property. But the male patas monkey was finally captured safely Thursday morning, police said.Momo was captured by the brother of the monkey’s owner after police tracked the primate to the bathroom of a house under construction, said Lt. William Carter of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.“That was more than enough monkey business for us,” the department said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, to announce Momo’s capture.Carter said police were called to the city’s east side about 6 p.m. Wednesday on a report of “an aggressive animal” that turned out to be the monkey on the run.After his capture, Momo was taken into the care of Indianapolis’ Animal Care Services, which turned him over to staff at the Indianapolis Zoo for now, said Katie Trennepohl, ...

BSO search for missing 13-year-old girl in North Lauderdale

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:41:51 GMT

The Broward Sheriff’s Office is seeking the public’s help in finding a missing 13-year-old girl.Nasheba Goring was last seen around 5 p.m. on Saturday near the 6200 block of Southwest 17th Street. She was wearing a black shirt and black shorts.Goring stands at about 5 feet, 7 inches tall, weighs about 130 pounds, has black hair and brown eyes.Anyone with information on Goring’s whereabouts should contact BSO Detective Chris Blankenship at 954-321-4268 or the BSO non-emergency number at 954-764-HELP (4357).