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7-foot-4 Frenchman Victor Wembanyama taken by the San Antonio Spurs with first pick of NBA Draft

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:10:14 GMT

(CNN) — Victor Wembanyama, a 7-foot-4 Frenchman who some NBA commentators think could be a generational talent, was the No. 1 pick by the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Draft on Thursday night.The past two times the five-time NBA champions have had the top pick, they also selected big men – David Robinson in 1987 and Tim Duncan in 1997. Both had Hall of Fame careers and earned championship rings.Unlike many players his size, Wembanyama is not a prototypical NBA center. While the 19-year-old can be dominant on defense, he is able to dribble the ball like a point guard and shoot from 3-point range efficiently.“It’s a tough league,” Wembanyama told draft broadcaster ESPN through tears after he was selected. “I going to try to learn as quick as possible because I want to win that ring.”Wembanyama said he had dreamed so much of hearing NBA Commissioner Adam Silver call his name, he had to cry when the moment arrived.Wembanyama played the past three seasons in Franc...

4 children found in South Boston apartment now in state custody as related death investigation continues 

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:10:14 GMT

The Boston Police Department updating a death investigation at a South Boston apartment complex.Members of the Boston City Council said drugs and other concerning items were found in an apartment at the McCormack housing complex off Old Colony Avenue where a person died. The Boston Police Department said its officers did not see evidence of those items. Boston fire crews were called to the apartment on Saturday for a report of an unconscious person. According a Boston Fire report, first responders also found four children in the apartment with unsanitary conditions. Police said each of the children had a parent present.They are now in state custody.

Zach LaVine camp would be against a Knicks trade: source

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:10:14 GMT

The Knicks were quiet on draft night and finished Thursday without a first-round pick for a second straight year. It left the summer trade market as the next important business for team president Leon Rose, but one potential star target should probably be crossed off the list.Zach LaVine’s representatives would be against a deal to the Knicks, the Daily News has learned. The Bulls are reportedly gauging interest in the All-Star guard, which prompted speculation that the Knicks — who are strapped with future draft assets — would get involved. But a source said the LaVine camp isn’t interested in dealing with the Knicks, who have a reputation around the league of favoring clients of CAA, the agency that employed Leon Rose before his move to the Knicks front office.Of course, the Knicks don’t need such approval to make a trade. But landmines are set and often detonated under those circumstances.LaVine, 28, a two-time All-Star who averaged 24.8 points ...

Quebec wildfires: Northern city and Cree community ordered to evacuate

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:10:14 GMT

MONTREAL — A northern Quebec city and a Cree community have ordered to residents to leave their homes as the areas face the threat of forest fires.The Cree community of Mistissini says residents need to evacuate the area by Friday, as heavy smoke is expected to make driving difficult by Sunday.The community, which has a population of about 4,000, is advising residents to also bring their pets, which are to be cared for in the town of Alma about 400 kilometres southeast. Earlier in the day, residents of Lebel-sur-Quévillon were ordered to evacuate the city for the second time in less than three weeks.Mayor Guy Lafrenière says one of two routes connecting the community to the rest of the province has been blocked by fire.Hot, dry weather conditions are forecasted to continue through the weekend.Lafrenière said Thursday that everyone had to leave before 6:30 p.m., and implored people ready to leave immediately to do so, to avoid traffic congestion on the evacuation route. Only firefigh...

Suspected Russian diplomat is occupying the nation’s vetoed embassy site in Australia’s capital

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:10:14 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A suspected lone Russian diplomat is apparently squatting on the site of Moscow’s proposed embassy after the Australian government vetoed the plan on security grounds. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese dismissed the Russian act of defiance, saying a “bloke standing in the cold on a bit of grass in Canberra is not a threat to our national security.”Parliament passed emergency legislation last week blocking on security grounds Russia’s lease on the largely empty block because the new embassy would have been too close to Parliament House.A man has been living on the site in a portable building since Sunday when passersby first saw Australian Federal Police outside the fenced block in Canberra’s Yarralumla diplomatic precinct.The Russian Embassy refused to comment on a report in The Australian newspaper that the man seen smoking cigarettes outside his accommodation was a Russian diplomat.The embassy also declined to explain why the man was on the sit...

Nearly 1.5 million foreign pilgrims have arrived in Saudi Arabia so far for annual Hajj pilgrimage

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:10:14 GMT

MECCA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Saudi officials say close to 1.5 million foreign pilgrims have arrived in the country so far for the annual Hajj pilgrimage, the vast majority by air.This year’s pilgrimage will be the first without the restrictions imposed during the coronavirus pandemic, starting in 2020. More pilgrims are expected to arrive before the start of the Hajj on Monday.The Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam, and all Muslims are required to undertake it at least once in their lives if they are physically and financially able. It is one of the world’s largest religious gatherings.The Saudi media ministry Thursday that more than 1.49 million foreign pilgrims had arrived through its international ports up to Wednesday, with 1.43 million travelling by air. Saudi officials have said they expect the number of pilgrims in 2023 to reach pre-pandemic levels. In 2019, more than 2.4 million Muslims made the pilgrimage.The Associated Press

Tropical Storm Bret swirls near St. Vincent as it enters eastern Caribbean

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:10:14 GMT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Tropical Storm Bret swirled close to St. Vincent late Thursday as it began pushing into the eastern Caribbean, where islands were shut down to brace for torrential downpours, landslides and flooding.The storm’s center was about 5 miles (10 kilometers) east of St. Vincent just before midnight and moving westward at 18 mph (30 kph). Its maximum sustained winds had weakened a bit to 60 mph (95 kph).Airports, businesses, schools and offices closed on St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Dominica, Martinique and other islands by midday.Ralph Gonsalves, prime minister for St. Vincent and the Grenadines, had urged people to go to a government shelter if they believed their home might not withstand the strong winds and heavy rains.“These storms can turn around fairly quickly,” he warned.Earlier in the day, forecasters had warned that the storm might pass directly over St. Lucia, an island north of St. Vincent, but its path shifted to the south during the night.“Protect...

AI pioneer Yoshua Bengio to focus on safer uses of AI, argues regulation necessary

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:10:14 GMT

TORONTO — Artificial intelligence pioneer Yoshua Bengio says he will be redirecting his research to ensure he is working on applications of the technology that are safe for society.“I have been thinking a lot about this and I am going to do what I think is best to go in the right direction,” the 2018 winner of the A.M. Turing Award and director of the Mila AI institute in Quebec said Thursday evening.“I think I am going to reorient my research so that either I am working on applications that are not dangerous or very safe like…healthcare or the environment or working on safety, to prepare and prevent what could happen.”Bengio’s remarks came at the conclusion of a Munk debate hosted at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto, where he and Massachusetts Institute of Technology physics professor Max Tegmark sparred with other technology experts about whether AI poses an existential threat.The pair argued that AI is on a trajectory to become even more powerful and coul...

India’s Modi brings comedy game to big White House dinner in his honor

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:10:14 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought his comedy game to Thursday’s big White House dinner in his honor, cracking jokes about his lack of singing chops, the time President Joe Biden wanted him to eat even though he was fasting and how well Indians and Americans are getting along. Not really known for having a sense of humor, the prime minister kept the nearly 400 guests in stitches as he toasted Biden and first lady Jill Biden before dinner was served. “I know your hospitality has moved your guests to sing. I wish, I too, had the singing talent,” Modi joked. “I could have also sang before you all.”He was referring to South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who surprised guests when he got up onstage during a White House state dinner honoring him in April and belted out a rendition of “American Pie,” one of his favorite songs, to raucous applause. Modi is on a state visit designed to highlight and foster deeper ties between India and the U.S. He said that ...

Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is writing a book on leadership

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:10:14 GMT

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Friday she is writing a book, with the focus more on leadership than on politics.In an Instagram post, Ardern said she is often asked whether she will write about her five years as New Zealand’s leader.“At first, my answer was no. I didn’t want to write a book that hauled over the internal politics of the last five years, and then someone convinced me that I didn’t have to,” Ardern wrote.“That maybe it might be worth expanding on some of things I talked about in my valedictory instead — like the idea you can be your own kind of leader and still make a difference. And so that’s what I’m planning to do.”Ardern said she had no date for when the book will be published.“But I hope when it’s done, it’s the kind of book that would have made a difference to my 14-year-old self,” Ardern wrote. Just 37 when she became prime minister in 2017, Ardern was seen as a global icon of the left....