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Knicks’ potential second-round matchup looks different after Giannis Antetokounmpo’s injury

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 01:31:32 GMT

CLEVELAND — The players won’t say it. The coach certainly won’t.But because of the circumstances elsewhere in the East, the Knicks’ first-round series suddenly feels a little more important.Before Giannis Antetokounmpo fell on his back Sunday, Knicks-Cavs was viewed as a matchup to determine who lost to the Bucks in the conference semis. It was the logical take since the Bucks, who finished with the NBA’s best record, were the betting favorites to win their second title in three years.Those odds shifted Sunday when Antetokounmpo suffered a bruised lower back and Milwaukee was pummeled by the Heat in Game 1.There’s reportedly “optimism” Antetotokounmpo will return for Game 2 on Wednesday, but it’s an injury that requires patience, maintenance with the potential for physical struggles. The Heat, meanwhile, represent a lively eighth seed even with Antetokounmpo at full strength.And the Knicks, who won their regular season series aga...

Only 10 EVs qualify for full $7,500 US tax credit

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 01:31:32 GMT

Only 10 electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles will qualify for $7,500 federal tax credits in the U.S. after stricter battery-sourcing rules take effect and render most plug-in models ineligible.General Motors Co., Tesla Inc. and Ford Motor Co. all have at least one EV that will qualify, while Ford and Stellantis NV each have one eligible plug-in hybrid model. No other automakers will have a vehicle for sale that fully meets the criteria that was finalized last month and will kick in on Tuesday, according to the Treasury Department.The requirements included in the Democrats’ marquee climate law — the Inflation Reduction Act — will roughly halve the number of vehicles that can receive the full tax credit relative to how many were eligible during the first few months of the year, when Treasury was finalizing its guidance for meeting the rules. Seven additional vehicles made by Tesla, Ford and Stellantis will qualify for half credits, meaning $3,750 will be available to eligible consumer...

Column: What Jalen Hurts’ record-breaking QB contract means for Justin Fields and the Chicago Bears

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 01:31:32 GMT

Five years, $255 million. With more than $179 million guaranteed.That’s the new bar in the NFL for “forever quarterbacks,” those game-changing engines of championship-hopeful teams. The Philadelphia Eagles set that bar Monday, and Jalen Hurts cleared it like a gold-medalist pole vaulter, capitalizing on his breakthrough 2022 season in which he finished second in league MVP voting and propelled his team to Super Bowl LVII.Hurts, seven days shy of the third anniversary of when he was drafted with the No. 53 pick, is now the highest-paid player in league history.Temporarily, of course.Life in the NFL always moves at dizzying speeds, especially when it comes to identifying, developing or paying big money to starting quarterbacks.If you blinked, you might not have noticed the jetpack Hurts used to get from draft weekend to the top of the NFL’s money mountain in three years.In the coming months, fellow Class of 2020 quarterback Joe Burrow will cash in his lottery t...

Ticker: Price at the pump continues to climb; IRS: Customer service improving 

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 01:31:32 GMT

The average gas price jumped 5 cents in the past week, landing at $3.39 a gallon, according to AAA.  The price of gas is now 11 cents higher than it was a month ago, though 68 cents lower than a year ago when it averaged $4.07.The main factor driving the higher price in recent weeks is an increase in the price of crude, according to the auto club.“When the cost of crude oil crosses the $80 a barrel mark, that puts a lot of upward pressure on what we pay at the pump,” said Mary Maguire, AAA Northeast Vice President of Public and Government Affairs, “and as long as oil costs remain at the current level, drivers will likely see incremental price increases for now.”Still, the price of gas in Massachusetts is running below the national average, according to the latest price survey. The national average climbed 7 cents in the last week and now sits at $3.67 per gallon, according to AAA.IRS: Customer service improvingThe IRS says it has answered 2 million more calls this tax fi...

FBI: Guardsman applied to be hitman, but job ad was a joke

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 01:31:32 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee Air National Guardsman was arrested after federal agents said he responded to an online ad for a hitman through a parody website that he thought was real. Josiah Garcia told an undercover FBI agent that he needed money and thought he would be good at killing people because of his military experience and because he was an excellent marksman, according to an affidavit filed in federal court Thursday. Messages left with the office of the federal public defender in Nashville, which was appointed to represent Garcia, and with Garcia’s phone were not immediately returned Monday morning. Garcia said he came across the website RentAHitman.com while searching the internet for contract mercenary jobs at the suggestion of a guard coworker. The site was originally created in 2005 to advertise a cybersecurity company that never took off. However, it received many inquiries over the years about murder-for-hire services, according to the affidavit. Eventua...

Sudan’s generals battle for 3rd day; death toll soars to 185

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 01:31:32 GMT

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) — As explosions and gunfire thundered outside, Sudanese in the capital Khartoum and other cities huddled in their homes for a third day Monday, while the army and a powerful rival force battled in the streets for control of the country. At least 185 people have been killed and over 1,800 wounded since the fighting erupted, U.N. envoy Volker Perthes told reporters. The two sides are using tanks, artillery and other heavy weapons in densely populated areas. Fighter jets swooped overhead and anti-aircraft fire lit up the skies as darkness fell.The toll could be much higher because there are many bodies in the streets around central Khartoum that no one can reach because of the clashes. There has been no official word on how many civilians or combatants have been killed. The doctors’ syndicate earlier put the number of civilian deaths at 97.The sudden outbreak of violence over the weekend between the nation’s two top generals, each backed by tens of thou...

Secret Chinese police station in New York leads to arrests

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 01:31:32 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Two men were arrested Monday on charges that they helped establish a secret police station in New York City on behalf of the Chinese government, and about three dozen officers with China’s national police force were charged with using social media to harass dissidents inside the United States, authorities said Monday.The cases, taken together, are part of a series of Justice Department prosecutions in recent years aimed at disrupting Chinese government efforts to locate in America pro-democracy activists and others who are openly critical of Beijing’s policies and to suppress their speech.One of three cases announced Monday concerns a local branch of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security that had operated inside an office building in Manhattan’s Chinatown neighborhood before closing last fall amid an FBI investigation. The two men who were arrested were acting under the direction and control of a Chinese government official and deleted communicati...

Tribal colleges tap US energy funds to build ‘living labs’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 01:31:32 GMT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Tribal colleges and universities around the U.S. will be able to tap nearly $15 million in grant funding to boost clean energy development as part of the federal government’s latest investment in creating more reliable and sustainable electricity generation for Native American communities.The U.S. Department of Energy announced the new funding opportunity last week. It comes on the heels of another $50 million round of grants for deploying clean energy technology across Indian Country, where many communities have long been without basic services such as running water, electricity and broadband internet.“We know that there is a huge need for energy reliability but also for energy access in Indian Country,” said Wahleah Johns, director of the agency’s Office of Indian Energy.Johns, who is from the Navajo Nation, described it as an energy crisis in which families — and tribal governments — often have to be creative when finding ways to operate on th...

S&P/TSX composite posts small gain Monday, U.S. markets also rise

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 01:31:32 GMT

TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index posted a small gain to start the week while U.S. markets also rose in the latter half of the afternoon after sagging for most of the day. Monday was a benign trading day with investors in “wait and see” mode, said Kevin Headland, chief investment strategist at Manulife Investment Management.“We’re kind of still digesting the information from last week,” he said.The S&P/TSX composite index was up 62.06 points at 20,641.97.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 100.71 points at 33,987.18. The S&P 500 index was up 13.68 points at 4,151.32, while the Nasdaq composite was up 34.26 points at 12,157.72.In Canada, investors are waiting for fresh inflation data to be released Tuesday, Headland said. After last week’s rate decision by the Bank of Canada saw the central bank hold its key interest rate at 4.5 per cent, all eyes will be on key economic figures to see whether any more hikes could be in the cards, he said. The Bank of...

Defendant charged with kidnapping mother, child testifies

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 01:31:32 GMT

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — The Vermont man on trial for kidnapping a New Hampshire woman and her 4-year-old child more than four years ago testified Monday in his federal court trial that he took the two vehicles he is accused of stealing and taking across state lines, but he denied kidnapping the woman or her son.Everett Simpson, who is representing himself in the trial, wrote the questions that were asked by his standby attorney. U.S. District Court Judge William Sessions told the jury that Simpson had provided the questions that were being asked of him.After the day’s testimony, Sessions said closing arguments would be held on Tuesday, after which the case would be given to the jury. If convicted of the kidnapping charges, Simpson could be sentenced to life in prison. Simpson answered “I do,” several times after Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Lasher asked questions, including whether he had taken the alleged victim and her son from New Hampshire to Vermont and whether...