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UCLA undergoes biggest roster rebuild under Mick Cronin after key losses

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:25 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — UCLA fans will be checking their programs this season after the biggest roster turnover in coach Mick Cronin’s tenure. Seven freshmen join just four holdovers from last season — when the Bruins reached the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16.The newcomers are Berke Buyuktuncel, Aday Mara, Jan Vide, Ilane Fibleuil, Sebastian Mack, Devin Williams and Brandon Williams (no relation). They join returnees Adem Bona, Dylan Andrews, Will McClendon and Kenneth Nwuba, as well as Utah transfer Lazar Stefanovic.Buyuktuncel is from Turkey, Mara is from Spain, Vide is from Slovenia and Fibleuil is from France.“We got talent. We got depth,” Cronin said. “We’re just young, and I know we’re an unknown to a lot of people, so it’s going to be interesting.”The Bruins aren’t ranked in the AP Top 25 preseason poll for the first time since 2019-20, which was Cronin’s first season. They are among teams receiving votes.The roster upheaval is due to the losses of Pac-12 player of the year Jaime Jaq...

Mpox vaccinations should be recommended for high-risk men, even after outbreak ends, advisers say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:25 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Gay and bisexual men at high risk for mpox infection should get vaccinated for the virus even after the current outbreak ends, government health advisers said Wednesday.The committee’s recommendation now goes to the director to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and — if she signs off on it — is sent out as guidance to U.S. doctors.More than 30,000 U.S. mpox cases were reported last year. The number dropped dramatically this year, to about 800. But because the virus doesn’t naturally circulate in the U.S., any single case counts as an outbreak, according to the CDC.Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is caused by a virus that’s in the same family as the one that causes smallpox. It is endemic in parts of Africa, where people have been infected through bites from rodents or small animals.The virus was not known to spread easily among people, but cases exploded in Europe and the U.S. in the spring and summer of 2022, mostly among men who have sex...

Mike Johnson is elected speaker with broad GOP support, elevating a staunch conservative and ending House chaos for now

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:25 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mike Johnson is elected speaker with broad GOP support, elevating a staunch conservative and ending House chaos for now.Source

Republican Mike Johnson has secured enough votes to become House speaker as ballot draws to a close

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:25 GMT

Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., vice chair of the House GOP Conference talks to reporters as he arrives to the Republican caucus meeting at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)(AP/Jose Luis Magana) Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., vice chair of the House GOP Conference talks to reporters as he arrives to the Republican caucus meeting at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)(AP/Jose Luis Magana) WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Mike Johnson easily secured enough votes to be elected House speaker on Wednesday, as Republicans were eagerly elevating the little-known conservative leader to the seat of U.S. power and ending for now the political chaos in their ...

Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana has secured enough votes to become speaker of the House as the ballot draws to a close

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:25 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana has secured enough votes to become speaker of the House as the ballot draws to a close.Source

Browns QB Deshaun Watson out against Seahawks because of right shoulder injury

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:25 GMT

BEREA, Ohio (AP) — Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson will not play again this week with a strained right shoulder, a nagging injury that has already cost him three games and lingered much longer than expected.Coach Kevin Stefanski said P.J. Walker will start for Watson on Sunday when the Browns (4-2) visit the Seattle Seahawks (4-2). Stefanski made the announcement before Wednesday’s practice, and said Watson won’t practice this week to focus on his rehab.Stefanski said Watson, who started last week at Indianapolis but left after just 12 plays, did not sustain any additional damage to his shoulder in the brief outing against the Colts. He initially hurt it on Sept. 27 against Tennessee.Stefanski said Watson has “residual swelling” in his shoulder. There has been no consideration for surgery, the coach said.Watson returned to practice last week for the first time since hurting it on a running play against the Titans. Although he was listed as questionable, he started ...

1st major storm of the season drops up to a foot of snow in Montana

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:25 GMT

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — The first major snowstorm of the season dropped up to a foot (30 centimeters) of snow in the Helena, Montana, area by Wednesday morning, canceling some school bus routes on the western side of the city as snow continued to fall throughout the morning.Residents woke up to swirling snow, the sound of shovels on sidewalks and snowplows on pavement just days after temperatures rose into the lower 80s. Trees with orange leaves and Halloween decorations were weighed down with snow. The National Weather Service warned of hazardous travel on snowy mountain passes and ice on some highways when snow initially melts and then freezes as road temperatures drop. The storm was forecast to come in waves, beginning with precipitation that fell Tuesday as rain at lower elevations in Washington state and as snow in the mountains. The snow was then forecast to spread across northern Idaho, Montana, northwestern Wyoming and North Dakota into Friday.Cold air moving down from northwes...

CSP warns motorists to stay sober or off the road this Halloween weekend

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:25 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — While kids are roaming the streets in search of candy, good-natured frights and fun, adults may be seeking less innocent pastimes during Halloween.The Colorado State Patrol is warning anyone consuming alcohol or other substances during the holiday weekend to plan ahead for a sober ride home. When was the last time Denver saw snow? There are many options in the Denver area, including ride-sharing applications like Lyft and Uber, as well as public transportation, like RTD.So far in the month of October, the Colorado Department of Transportation has distributed more than $23,000 in Uber discounts throughout its partnership with Uber and the Governors Highway Safety Association. This has resulted in over 6,900 sober rides.In 2022, CDOT reported 278 deaths from impaired driving, out of the total 754 lives lost on Colorado roadways throughout the year. Colorado's impaired fatalities rose almost 6% from 2021, and officials are hoping to curb this year's deaths.Last year,...

Spain calls for humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:25 GMT

BRUSSELS — Spain’s acting Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Wednesday called for a “halt and humanitarian cease-fire” in the Israel-Hamas war to allow for the “urgent introduction of humanitarian aid in Gaza in a manner that is systematic, permanent, and proportionate to the extraordinary needs of the Palestinian people.”Spain’s call for a cease-fire comes amid intense debate among EU countries ahead of a summit on Thursday about whether to call for a “humanitarian pause” or “humanitarian pauses” in the conflict to allow aid into Gaza. While Sánchez’s language is unusually direct, countries such as Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic are still reticent about agreeing to anything that resembles a cease-fire call for fear it would be seen as impinging on Israel’s right to fight Islamist militants from Hamas. While diplomats said Germany could accept the idea of a pause, Berlin’s chief government spokesper...

Trump is fined $10,000 over a comment he made outside court in his New York civil fraud trial

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:25 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The judge in Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial fined the former president $10,000 on Wednesday, saying Trump violated a limited gag order barring personal attacks on court staffers.The fine came after Trump was called to the witness stand to explain his comment outside the courtroom about “a person who’s very partisan sitting alongside” the judge in the case, Judge Arthur Engoron.Weeks ago, Engoron ordered all participants in the trial not to comment publicly about his staff. The narrow gag order imposed on Oct. 3 came after Trump made a social media post maligning the judge’s principal law clerk, who sits beside Engoron in court.The judge ordered Trump to take down that post and Trump did. But it lingered on his campaign website for weeks, prompting a $5,000 fine for Trump on Friday.Trump and his lawyers said his comment Wednesday was about witness Michael Cohen, not the clerk.Three of Trump’s attorneys objected to the fine, insisting that the comment was r...