Home

Wichita State squares off against No. 2 Kansas

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:14:26 GMT

Kansas Jayhawks (11-1) vs. Wichita State Shockers (8-4)Kansas City, Missouri; Saturday, 4 p.m. ESTBOTTOM LINE: The No. 2 Kansas Jayhawks and the Wichita State Shockers square off at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri.The Shockers are 8-4 in non-conference play. Wichita State is the AAC leader with 43.5 rebounds per game led by Kenny Pohto averaging 7.8.The Jayhawks are 11-1 in non-conference play. Kansas is seventh in the Big 12 giving up 65.2 points while holding opponents to 37.9% shooting.Wichita State makes 44.3% of its shots from the field this season, which is 6.4 percentage points higher than Kansas has allowed to its opponents (37.9%). Kansas scores 8.5 more points per game (79.1) than Wichita State allows (70.6).TOP PERFORMERS: Colby Rogers is averaging 16.8 points for the Shockers. Dalen Ridgnal is averaging 1.0 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Wichita State.Kevin McCullar is scoring 20.4 points per game and averaging 6.9 rebounds for the Jayhawks. Dajuan H...

Missouri Tigers take on the Central Arkansas Bears on 3-game slide

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:14:26 GMT

Central Arkansas Bears (3-11) at Missouri Tigers (7-5)Columbia, Missouri; Saturday, 3 p.m. ESTBOTTOM LINE: Missouri heads into the matchup with Central Arkansas after losing three in a row.The Tigers are 5-2 on their home court. Missouri scores 75.3 points while outscoring opponents by 3.0 points per game.The Bears are 1-7 on the road. Central Arkansas has a 1-3 record in one-possession games.Missouri scores 75.3 points per game, 1.2 fewer points than the 76.5 Central Arkansas gives up. Central Arkansas averages 69.4 points per game, 2.9 fewer than the 72.3 Missouri gives up.TOP PERFORMERS: Sean East is averaging 17.2 points and 3.8 assists for the Tigers. Nick Honor is averaging 11.5 points over the last 10 games for Missouri.Tucker Anderson is averaging 13.4 points for the Bears. Daniel Sofield is averaging 1.6 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Central Arkansas.LAST 10 GAMES: Tigers: 6-4, averaging 74.7 points, 32.2 rebounds, 13.5 assists, 8.7 steals and 5.9 blocks per ga...

Powell leads Rider against Penn State after 21-point game

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:14:26 GMT

Rider Broncs (3-9, 0-2 MAAC) at Penn State Nittany Lions (6-6, 1-1 Big Ten)University Park, Pennsylvania; Friday, 2 p.m. ESTFANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Nittany Lions -14; over/under is 147BOTTOM LINE: Rider takes on the Penn State Nittany Lions after Allen Powell scored 21 points in Rider’s 77-73 overtime loss to the Pennsylvania Quakers.The Nittany Lions have gone 6-1 at home. Penn State has a 1-1 record in games decided by less than 4 points.The Broncs are 1-7 on the road. Rider is sixth in the MAAC scoring 71.8 points per game and is shooting 40.6%.Penn State scores 76.4 points per game, 0.5 more points than the 75.9 Rider gives up. Rider averages 71.8 points per game, 0.9 more than the 70.9 Penn State allows to opponents.TOP PERFORMERS: Kanye Clary is shooting 48.5% and averaging 17.3 points for the Nittany Lions. Adrian Baldwin Jr. is averaging 1.8 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Penn State.Mervin James is averaging 19.2 points and 7.5 rebounds for the Broncs. Po...

Venezuela’s Maduro blasts ‘provocation’ as UK sends warship to Guyana

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:14:26 GMT

LONDON — Venezuela lashed out at “an act of hostile provocation” after the United Kingdom deployed a navy patrol ship to Guyana amid a simmering border dispute.The U.K. announced this week that its HMS Trent vessel had been dispatched to Guyana in what it described as a show of support for the ex-British colony, which neighbors Venezuela.President Nicolás Maduro’s regime held a referendum earlier this month seeking public backing for proposals to claim sovereignty over the vast oil- and mineral-rich Essequibo region, which is controlled by Guyana but long contested by Venezuela.Maduro said in a televised address Thursday night that his country’s armed forces would now kick off their own military exercises, calling it “a joint action of a defensive nature in response to the provocation and threat of the U.K. against peace and the sovereignty of our country.”Britain’s Ministry of Defense did not explicitly mention Venezuela when announcing the deployment earlier this week.It said only...

Russia bombs cities across Ukraine in ‘massive’ overnight assault

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:14:26 GMT

Russia launched an attack on several cities in Ukraine in a “massive” assault overnight Thursday, killing at least 12 people and injuring dozens across the country.Missiles and drones reportedly struck the capital, Kyiv, as well the cities of Kharkiv, Lviv, Odessa, Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia. Millions across the country received air raid alerts instructing them to seek shelter.About a thousand kilometres separate Lviv in the country’s west and Kharkiv in the east.“We haven’t seen so much red on our monitors for a long time,” Ukraine’s Air Force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat said, adding that Russia used a combination of hypersonic, cruise and ballistic missiles to strike targets across the country.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Telegram that Russia had fired approximately 110 missiles at Ukraine, “most of which were shot down.”In Kyiv, an apartment building, metro station and warehouse were damaged, killing at least one person and injurin...

Haley seeks to clarify Civil War comments as backlash mounts

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:14:26 GMT

Berlin, New Hampshire (CNN) — Nikki Haley on Thursday sought to clarify her comments about the Civil War one day after a voter in New Hampshire called her out for not mentioning slavery as a cause of the war.“I mean, of course the Civil War was about slavery,” Haley told radio host Jack Heath Thursday morning.“But what’s the lesson in all of that?” she continued. “That we need to make sure that every person has freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to do and be anything they want to be without anyone or government getting in the way. That was the goal of what that was at. Yes, I know it was about slavery. I’m from the South, of course I know it’s about slavery.”Her comments come amid intense backlash inside and outside the GOP after Haley told a New Hampshire town hall crowd that the Civil War was about government interfering in people’s freedoms.“I mean, I think the cause of the Civil War was basically how government was going to run. The freedoms and what people cou...

Russia unleashes what may be one of the biggest aerial barrages against Ukraine, Zelenskyy says

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:14:26 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched about 110 missiles as well as drones against Ukrainian targets during the night Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday, killing at least seven civilians in what appeared to be one of the biggest aerial barrages of the 22-month war.Most of the incoming missiles and drones were shot down during the roughly 18-hour onslaught, according to Zelenskyy. However, scores of people were injured and an unknown number of people were buried under rubble, Ukrainian officials said. Among the buildings damaged across Ukraine were a maternity hospital, apartment blocks and schools.Zelenskyy said the Kremlin’s forces used a wide variety of weapons, including ballistic and cruise missiles.“Today, Russia used nearly every type of weapon in its arsenal,” Zelenskyy said on sopcial media platform X, formerly Twitter.Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat said Russia “apparently launched everything they have” in the attack.If Zelenskyy’s count is conf...

Baker Portrait Hangs With Others On Lobby Walls

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:14:26 GMT

Members of the public can finally get a look at the $29,000 oil-on-canvas memorialization of Gov. Charlie Baker’s eight years in the corner office.Baker’s official portrait, unveiled at a private soiree Dec. 21 in the State House library, was up on the wall this week in the lobby of the executive suite for all to see.With display space in the lobby reserved for the 12 most recent governors, that means 1950s Gov. Christian Herter has finally moved out of the suite, with Gov. Foster Furcolo on deck to head out whenever Gov. Maura Healey’s picture goes on the wall. Gov. Deval Patrick slid down a space to make way for Baker to occupy a spot closest to the door.Ed Lyons, a Baker supporter known for writing about Massachusetts politics on social media, celebrated “unique” details of the portrait this week in a series of posts on X — such as the Swampscott Republican’s purple necktie, both a color of bipartisanship and of Alzheimer’s disease ...

Turkey reportedly detains 32 IS militants and foils possible attacks on synagogues and churches

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:14:26 GMT

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish security forces have detained 32 people suspected of links to the Islamic State extremist group who were allegedly planning to carry out attacks on synagogues and churches as well as the Iraqi Embassy, Turkey’s state-run news agency reported Friday.The suspects, including three alleged senior IS militants, were detained in raids carried out at dawn in nine provinces across Turkey, Anadolu Agency reported, citing unnamed security sources.They were detained in a joint operation by the country’s intelligence agency and police, the agency said.The arrests come a week after police rounded up 304 suspected IS militants in simultaneous raids across Turkey in what appeared to be a security sweep leading up to the New Year festivities.The Islamic State group has carried out a string of deadly attacks in Turkey, including a shooting at an Istanbul night club on Jan. 1, 2017, that killed 39 people during New Year celebrations.The Associated Press

North Korea’s new reactor at nuke site likely to be formally operational next summer, Seoul says

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:14:26 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A light-water reactor at North Korea’s main nuclear complex will likely be formally operational by next summer, South Korea’s defense minister said, amid suspicions that the North may use it as a new source of fissile materials for nuclear weapons.Concerns about North Korea’s nuclear program deepened recently as the U.N. atomic agency and foreign experts said they’ve detected signs indicating that North Korea had begun operating its light-water reactor at the Yongbyon nuclear complex.IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said last week that his agency had observed increased levels of activity at and near the reactor and since mid-October, a strong water outflow from its cooling system. He said the reactor is “a cause for concern” because it can produce plutonium — one of the two key ingredients used to manufacture nuclear weapons, along with highly enriched uranium.The South Korean Defense Ministry said Friday that Defense Minister Shin Wonsik told local repo...