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Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro help Heat rout 76ers 129-101

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:17:24 GMT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro each scored 24 points and the Miami Heat kept alive their hopes of avoiding the NBA’s play-in tournament with a 129-99 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night.Max Strus and Bam Adebayo both added 14 points. Miami started fast, leading 41-31 after a quarter.The Heat (43-37) would have to win both of their remaining games (at Washington and home against Orlando) and have Brooklyn lose both home games this weekend (to Orlando and Philadelphia) to move into the No. 6 spot and avoid the play-in round. Miami took the Southeast Division title with the win.Butler had five assists and four rebounds.Philadelphia (52-27) has already secured the third spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs. A win Thursday night would have sealed a first-round matchup against Brooklyn. Joel Embiid scored 21 points despite not playing in the fourth quarter. James Harden chipped in 14 in limited minutes.SCORING RACE WATCHWith Embiid’s 21 p...

Patio Bar & Pizza in Flagler Village invites you to hop into Easter Sunday fun for grown-ups

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:17:24 GMT

Forget what the kids said in the ball pit; you are not too old to have fun. In fact, you are the perfect age for this craziness we’re about to talk about. It’s an adult Easter egg hunt: the eggs are filled with prizes … and you’re filled with booze. It’s a win-win.Adults need some bunny action, too. At a new pizza joint in Fort Lauderdale’s Flagler Village, it’s all about to go down.Brian Parenteau: “Patio Bar & Pizza is a trendy indoor/outdoor venue with live music, live DJs, craft cocktails and amazing artisan pizza. Sunday’s event, we’re doing an amazing Easter brunch. The Easter Egg Hunt is an adult-only Easter egg [hunt].”And, on this “egg-citing” day, they’re whisking up something special on the menu.Brian Parenteau: “We’re serving two awesome pizzas. One is an Egg-Cellent Pizza with bacon, egg and sausage, and our other pizza is a Truffle Mushroom Pizza with an amazing truffle sauce and some great grated ch...

Playboy and erotica in Emmanuel Macron’s Cabinet of sin

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:17:24 GMT

Welcome to Declassified, a weekly humor column.You’ve got to hand it to Emmanuel Macron, he’s a master at the diversionary tactic. Faced with mounting anger from citizens who have been asked to work 14 hours a week (or something), the French president gathered his Cabinet and asked that time-honored question: “Who is prepared to get naked and distract people from the trash-filled, rat-infested, burning tire-fire that is Paris?”Step forward Marlène Schiappa, the junior social affairs minister, who is appearing on the cover of the Playboy magazine out on April 8. Now, it should be pointed out at this stage that Schiappa is not naked in the magazine (great news for those people who buy Playboy only for the articles) but appears on the cover wearing a low-cut white dress. Inside is a 12-page interview in which she talks about topics such as women’s rights and feminism.But a lot of people are unhappy, reportedly including Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, who ...

Russia is waging a disinformation war in the Middle East

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:17:24 GMT

H.A. Hellyer, a Carnegie Endowment scholar, is a senior fellow at the Royal United Services Institute and Cambridge University.The concept of a Russian disinformation campaign — saturating social media with Kremlin talking points and undermining opposition figures — might sound familiar.Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, the United States, United Kingdom and European Union all took quick and decisive action to counteract Russian propaganda, banning its state-sponsored television channels — Russia Today (RT) and Sputnik — from the airwaves, with YouTube also blocking their channels.In the Arabic-speaking world, however, Russian disinformation still hasn’t received the same attention — and as a result, Russia is doing a lot better on that front in the wider Middle East.Kick the hornets’ nest of Russian propaganda, and one will find familiar narratives working overtime to warp public perception.Just scanning social media sites like Twitter will throw up numer...

I am a political prisoner in Georgia, and I am dying

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:17:24 GMT

Mikheil Saakashvili served as president of the Republic of Georgia from 2004 to 2007 and from to 2008 to2013. Since February marked the one-year anniversary of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s maniacal and unprovoked military invasion of Ukraine, Georgia and other countries in the region have continued sliding toward the Kremlin. Georgia’s democratic regression was again highlighted with the release of the United States State Department’s Human Rights Report, while the global threat to democracy was showcased during a meeting between Putin and President Xi Jinping of China last month.  At the same time, however, people of Georgia confirmed their commitment to democracy and the fight against such tyranny by protesting in the streets in front of the parliament building in downtown Tbilisi.  The people of Georgia — who overwhelmingly want to join the European Union and NATO — were protesting against a newly promulgated “foreign agents” law, which...

Tony Blair urges DUP to show ‘leadership’ and restore power-sharing at Stormont

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:17:24 GMT

Tony Blair has urged DUP chief Jeffrey Donaldson to show “political leadership” and bring his party back to Stormont to restore power-sharing in Northern Ireland.Speaking to POLITICO’s Westminster Insider podcast, Blair described the decision over whether to return to power-sharing with Sinn Féin as “a test” for Donaldson, but said he believes the DUP chief can show the leadership required. In a special episode to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, which brought peace to Northern Ireland after decades of violent conflict, the former U.K. prime minister said there were lessons for today’s crop of Stormont leaders to draw from the fraught 1998 negotiations.“There is a lesson — and it’s a lesson in political leadership,” Blair said. “In the end, politics only makes progress when political leaders lead, and that usually means persuading your own support of something they don’t want to be persuaded of. And instead of playing...

Experts share tips for pet owners ahead of ‘unprecedented tick season’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:17:24 GMT

Experts with the Animal Rescue League of Boston shared a warning this week, providing tips and urging pet owners to brace for an “unprecedented tick season.”“While many embrace the mild winter New England has experienced this year, one of the downsides to a winter filled with above-average temperatures is an explosion in the tick population in Massachusetts,” the Animal Rescue League said in a statement. Among other tips, experts said pet owners should keep an eye out for ticks, especially after taking their pets outside. Experts said pet owners can also consider vaccinating their pets with the Lyme disease vaccine. “It really takes about 24 hours for the tick to feed before transmitting any diseases, so if you can take a quick look over yourself and your dog and get those ticks before they start feeding, you can decrease the transmission of a lot of the tick borne diseases, as well,” Dr. NIcole Brenda at the Animal Rescue League told 7NEWS.

Gophers score 4 goals in 3rd, advance past BU in Frozen Four

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:17:24 GMT

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Freshman Luke Mittelstadt scored two third-period goals in two-and-a-half minutes and top-ranked Minnesota beat Boston University 6-2 on Thursday night in the opening game of the NCAA Frozen Four.Mittelstadt gave Minnesota a 3-2 lead on a power play with 18:20 left in the third period and his second came from the same spot at the left circle for his fifth goal of the season — and third in the NCAA Tournament.Logan Cooley added two empty-net goals to reach 22 on the season.The five-time national champion Gophers (29-9-1) will play in the title game on Saturday, seeking their first title since 2003. Minnesota has outscored its opponents 19-5 in the NCAA Tournament.Minnesota took a 2-1 lead late in the first period on back-to-back goals in 50 seconds by Mike Koster and Rhett Pitlick. Koster scored his sixth goal of the year on a blast from the circle to extend Cooley’s point streak to 16 straight games. Pitlick finished a between-the-legs pass from Aar...

Heat assure themselves of home postseason appearance with 129-101 rout of 76ers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:17:24 GMT

There will be postseason basketball on the Miami Heat’s homecourt, no matter what name the facility goes by these days.That part was assured with Thursday night’s 129-101 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center, the Heat’s most lopsided victory of the season.“I just know we’re gaining some confidence,” coach Erik Spoelsrta said. “And we’re getting healthy at the right time,”Assured now of no worse than a seventh-place finish in the Eastern Conference, the Heat, at the least, if they cannot make a further gain, will host a play-in game Tuesday night at the Kaseya Center, against either the Atlanta Hawks or the Toronto Raptors.There also remains a highly remote chance of the Heat moving to No. 6 in the East and facing the No. 3 76ers in the first round, which would give them the week off and spare them from the play-in round.With far more to play for, with Philadelphia locked into No. 3 entering the night, the Hea...

Winderman’s view: But will the 76ers still crush Heat hope?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:17:24 GMT

Observations and other notes of interest from Thursday night’s 129-101 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers:– Yes, the victory keeps the Heat alive for No. 6 in the East.– And direct entry into the best-of-seven first round of the playoffs.– And the victory probably doesn’t matter.– Because regardless of any other results going forward from the Heat or the Nets, if the 76ers lose Sunday in Brooklyn, then the Nets are Philadelphia’s first-round opponent.– And the Heat are in the play-in, where one or two losses and the season is over.– In other words, expect to see Dewayne Dedmon starting at point guard for Philadelphia in Brooklyn at Barclays Center on Sunday afternoon, if that is what is needed for the 76ers to avoid the Heat.– Yes, stranger has happened.– And, yes, a Nets win before Sunday (on Friday at home over Orlando) or a Heat loss in their final two (at Washington, home against the Magic), would make SundayR...