The Rockets defeated the Raptors, 116-100. Tari Eason recorded a game-high 24 points (13 points in the 2nd Half), along with eight rebounds for the Rockets, while Jalen Green added 23 points, four rebounds and two assists in the victory. Pascal Siakam tallied a team-high 18 points and six rebounds for the Raptors in the losing effort. The Rockets improve to 2-0 in the NBA Preseason, while the Raptors fall to 2-1.
Colombia has become the latest Latin American country to announce it will break diplomatic relations with Israel over its military campaign in Gaza, but the repercussions for the South American nation could be broader than for other countries due to longstanding bilateral agreements over security matters. Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Wednesday described Israel’s actions in Gaza as “genocide” and announced his government would end diplomatic relations with Israel effective Thursday.
With student protests over the Israel-Hamas war disrupting campuses nationwide, several major universities are intent on ensuring that commencement ceremonies — joyous milestones for graduates, their families and friends — go off without a hitch this weekend. Colleges are hiring extra security, screening attendees at venues and emphasizing that significant disruptions by pro-Palestinian protesters won't be tolerated. “Milestone is a perfect word,” said Ken Burdick of Tampa, Florida, describing his daughter's graduation Saturday at the University of Michigan.
Russia will face consequences for a cyber attack allegedly orchestrated by a group with ties to its military intelligence, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Friday. Germany has been among the Western nations providing Ukraine military support in its war with Russia, with President Vladimir Putin saying in December that ties between the two countries stay largely frozen.
The prosecution's star witness has yet to take the stand in Donald Trump's hush money trial. The second week of testimony in the case will wrap up Friday after jurors heard a potentially crucial piece of evidence: a recording of Trump and Cohen, then his attorney, discussing a plan to pay off an ex-Playboy model who claimed to have an affair with Trump. Prosecutors have spent the week using detailed testimony about meetings, email exchanges, business transactions and bank accounts to build on the foundation of their case accusing the presumptive Republican presidential nominee of a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election.
Since President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine, attacks and harassment of Russians — prominent or not — have been blamed on Moscow's intelligence operatives across Europe and elsewhere. Despite attempts by Western governments to dismantle Russian spy networks, experts say the Kremlin apparently is still able to pursue those it perceives as traitors abroad in an attempt to silence dissent. Opponents of Putin increasingly fear the long arm of Moscow’s security services, including in countries they once thought were safe.
Elissa Slotkin had less than half an hour to reckon with a retirement announcement that would reshape Michigan’s political landscape. The state's senior senator and the third-ranking Democrat in the chamber, Debbie Stabenow, was about to reveal that she would retire in 2024. Rep. Slotkin, a Democratic congresswoman from Holly, soon met with her team to mobilize for a run at a U.S. Senate seat that Democrats had not expected would be hard to defend in the narrowly divided chamber.
Ukraine, trade and investment are expected to dominate Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s first trip to Europe in five years, as the Asian giant rebuilds its foreign relations after a prolonged absence during the Covid-19 pandemic. Xi will start the tour in Paris on Monday, meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, who has been stressing the idea of European strategic autonomy from the U.S. On a visit to Beijing last year, Macron courted controversy by saying France would not necessarily always align with the U.S. in foreign policy, an apparent reference to American support for the self-governing republic of Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory to be annexed by force if necessary. After leaving France, Xi will visit Hungary and Serbia, both seen as China-friendly and close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, rebuffing Western criticism of his full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
He's visiting Manhattan construction sites, decrying local crime and holding court in his gilded Fifth Avenue penthouse. After a years-long breakup with his hometown, Donald Trump is back in New York, this time as a criminal defendant. Stuck here most weekdays for the duration of his criminal hush money trial, the Queens-born presumptive GOP nominee has been conjuring images of his old days as a celebrity developer, reality TV star and tabloid fixture with weekly local campaign stops as he settles back into the place that made him, voted against him twice — and may end up convicting him.
The Labor Department's closely watched employment report on Friday is also expected to show the unemployment rate holding below 4% for the 27th straight month. Labor market endurance, however, leaves the Federal Reserve in no rush to start cutting interest rates, which could significantly slow down the economy. The U.S. central bank on Wednesday left its benchmark overnight interest rate unchanged in the current 5.25%-5.50% range, where it has been since July.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Thursday signed into law legislation to ensure that President Joe Biden will appear on the state’s November ballot, a spokesperson confirmed.
LONDON (Reuters) -Britain's opposition Labour Party won a parliamentary seat in northern England on Friday, beating the governing Conservatives in one of a series of votes that will help gauge public opinion ahead of a full national election due this year. The parliamentary seat for Blackpool South was up for grabs after the incumbent, elected in 2019 as a Conservative candidate, quit over a lobbying scandal. Labour candidate Chris Webb won the seat with 10,825 votes.
No bouquet? No problem. Bride Joelle Yuvienco ditched the flowers and carried her Pomeranian, Sago, down the aisle instead.
Xi Jinping heads to Europe on Sunday to defend China's "no limits" alliance with Russia, first to key Ukraine backer France, then to Serbia and Hungary, which have close ties to the Kremlin.- 'Eastern opening' - From France, Xi will head to Serbia, and then Hungary on May 8-10.
Dozens of pro-Palestinian students from Mexico's largest university camped out Thursday in solidarity with similar protests that have swept colleges in the United States. Dozens of universities in the United States have seen pro-Palestinian demonstrations in recent weeks, leading to clashes with police and counter-protests.
A mass fish die-off in a reservoir in southern Vietnam’s Dong Nai province has shone a new light on soaring temperatures in Southeast Asia.
An explosion killed one man and left another seriously injured at a central New Jersey home on Thursday. The cause is under investigation.
The clashes between police officers and pro-Palestinian protesters on college campuses have seized national attention.
A highway collapsed in southern China early on Wednesday, sending cars plummeting down a hill and killing dozens of people, Chinese state media reported.
Hong Kong led another rally across Asian markets Friday thanks to a surge in tech giants, while the yen extended gains against the dollar on revived hopes for US interest rate cuts.The yen extended gains, having soared against the greenback soon after the Fed rate meeting on Wednesday, which led to speculation that Japanese authorities had intervened in the forex market for a second time this week.
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