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Heat still lead East finals, but Celtics roaring back with eye on history

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:14:32 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — Maybe Kevin Garnett was right. Maybe, as he screamed in celebration of Boston’s 2008 NBA championship, anything truly is possible.Even the impossible.The Celtics are halfway to history, and that alone has gotten them entry into a very small club. Of the first 150 teams that trailed a best-of-seven series 3-0 in NBA history, just 14 — 9.3% — found a way to extend the matchup to Game 6. None of them have won the series, and most are usually eliminated by now.Not the Celtics. They have cut the deficit in the Eastern Conference finals against the Miami Heat to 3-2, simultaneously trailing the series yet seeming to have all the momentum going into Game 6 in Miami on Saturday night.“Obviously, we didn’t imagine being in this position, being down 3-0, but when adversity hits, you get to see like what a team is really made of,” Celtics forward Jaylen Brown said. “I mean, it couldn’t get no worse than being down 3-0, but we didn’t look around, we didn’t go in separate ...

A real ‘smoking gun’: TSA agents come across ‘replica pistol hookah’ at Logan Airport

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:14:32 GMT

TSA agents at Logan International Airport came across a literal smoking gun this week during a security screening.A spokesperson for TSA New England shared an image of what appeared to be a turquoise-colored replica handgun designed for a different kind of “hitman.”“Yesterday @TSA officers @BostonLogan detected this replica pistol hookah during security screening,” Dan Velez said on the @TSA_NewEngland Twitter account. “This smoking gun never made it onto the aircraft! #travelfail”The discovery was made on Thursday, as TSA agents continue to see an uptick in air travel ahead of Memorial Day weekend. AAA reported that 42.3 million Americans plan to travel more than 50 miles from home, which is 2.7 million more than 2022. This is projected to be the third busiest Memorial Day weekend since AAA began tracking holiday travel in 2000.https://twitter.com/TSA_NewEngland/status/1662095642372583424

Pope Francis cancels meetings due to fever

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:14:32 GMT

Rome (CNN) — Pope Francis canceled all of his scheduled meetings on Friday morning due to a fever, the Vatican said, again raising concerns about the 86-year-old pontiff’s health.The Vatican press office didn’t provide any further details on the Pope’s illness.The Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said Francis was “tired” after a “very intense day” on Thursday, according to Italian news agency ANSA.“The Pope was tired. Yesterday he had a very intense day and saw many people. There was the meeting with Scholas Occurrentes and he wanted to greet each person individually. At a certain point, one becomes less resistant,” Parolin said.Francis was seen looking well Thursday afternoon at a live-streamed event from the Vatican for Scholas Occurrentes, an international education network that he founded, according to CNN’s team on the ground.He was hospitalized in March for bronchitis but responded well to antibiotics.Leaving hospital on that occasion, the Po...

FBI file reveals 1983 plot to kill Queen Elizabeth II during US visit

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:14:32 GMT

(CNN) — Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II faced a potential assassination threat 40 years ago, ahead of a trip to the United States, according to newly released documents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.A cache of 103 pages were posted to the FBI’s online records site, The Vault, on Tuesday. The files cover preparations for several trips the late Queen made to the US, including an official tour of the West Coast with her husband, Prince Philip, in 1983.One document appears to detail a tip gathered around a month before that visit from San Francisco police regarding a phone call from “a man who claimed that his daughter had been killed in Northern Ireland by a rubber bullet.”It continues: “This man additionally claimed that he was going to attempt to harm Queen Elizabeth and would do this either by dropping some object off the Golden Gate Bridge onto the Royal Yacht Britannia when it sails underneath, or would attempt to kill Queen Elizabeth when she visited Yosemite Nationa...

Chicago Bears players mentor high school athletes while helping food bank; ‘They realize they’re normal people who play the same sport’

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:14:32 GMT

North Chicago freshman and varsity football player Dyzhir Usher was in awe looking at Darnell Wright, the Chicago Bears’ top draft pick this year, but soon they were smiling and talking to each other like old friends.‘We talked about football and he told me you ‘have to keep up your grades,’” Usher, who hopes to play college football, said. “He pushed me hard to keep up with my grades.”Usher was one of 27 Warhawks and Wright among 24 Bears packaging tangerines, potatoes and butternut squash May 25 at the Northern Illinois Food Bank’s Lake Forest location, joining forces to battle food insecurity.For approximately an hour, the football players combined for a volunteer shift at the food bank packing food and getting it ready for shipment. Matt Simoene, the Bears’ director of community and alumni relations, said philanthropy is part of the team culture.“Giving back like this is important,” Simoene said. “It’s...

‘Big-time player’: Derrick White reminds Celtics of his importance with key Game 5 performance

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:14:32 GMT

After producing a strong regular season, the postseason has been uneven for Derrick White. He was one of the Celtics’ best players in the Hawks series, but struggled some against the 76ers and lost his place in the starting lineup.But this Celtics team is at its best when a fully confident White is playing well. He returned to the starting lineup for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals as Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla searched for answers to his stagnant offense. In Game 5, White made it clear that he’s one of the biggest keys if the Celtics will finish off a historic comeback against the Heat.White played his all-around best game of the playoffs in the victory. He scored a team-high 24 points on 8-for-11 shooting, which included six 3-pointers. But his defense may have been even better. White was relentless on that side of the ball, making life uncomfortable for a Heat team that had been far too comfortable to start to this series, and his play was critical for a dominant Celtics ...

Revolution midfielder Emmanuel Boateng to make sixth straight start

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:14:32 GMT

New England Revolution midfielder Emmanuel Boateng has provided quality minutes while the team’s growing list of injured starters is nearing a crisis stage.Boateng became a fixture in head coach Bruce Arena’s Starting XI when forward Dylan Borrero went down with a season-ending left knee injury. Borrero underwent successful surgery on his torn ACL on Monday at Mass. General Hospital in Foxboro and is expected to be out nine to 12 months.Boateng is slated to make his sixth consecutive start when the Revolution (7-3-3) host the Chicago Fire (3-4-6) on Saturday night (7:30) at Gillette Stadium.“He has done very well,” said Arena. “He’s stepped up for Dylan Borrero, who obviously we know is out for the year, and he’s done a very good job, no question about it. His experience shows and his fitness has improved so he’s really done a good job.”Striker Gustavo Bou, the team’s leading scorer in 2022, center back Henry Kessler and midfielder Tommy McNamara have been out for an extended ...

Prosecutors say 5-year-old Jeremiah Oliver was killed when he stood up for his mother

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:14:32 GMT

A bail hearing has revealed gruesome details of the death of 5-year-old Jeremiah Oliver, of Fitchburg, nearly a decade ago.Alberto Sierra Jr., 32, was arraigned last week in Worcester Superior Court on charges of murder and disinterring a body for the death of Oliver, whose body was found in a suitcase on the side of Interstate 90 in Sterling on April 18, 2014. Sierra was at the time the boyfriend of Oliver’s mother, Elsa Oliver.The state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined Jeremiah’s death a homicide, but the cause of death was undetermined: “homicidal violence of undetermined etiology.”On Friday morning, Sierra was ordered held without bail.News sources report that during that bail hearing, prosecutors outlined some gruesome new details about the case, including the allegation that Oliver may have been killed because he was sticking up for his mother while she was in a physical altercation with Sierra.According to WCVB, prosecutors say that young Oliver was kept in a k...

BC falls to Clemson 4-1 in ACC tournament

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:14:32 GMT

No. 6 seed Boston College’s rally in the top on the ninth fell short in Friday’s 4-1 loss to No. 3 seed Clemson in the ACC tournament Pool C elimination game at Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, N.C.BC opened the tournament with an 11-7 win over Virginia Tech on Tuesday. But the Eagles needed a victory over Clemson to secure an NCAA regional at the Eddie Pellagrini Diamond at the Harrington Athletic Village at Brighton Fields.The 22nd-ranked Eagles still have an outside chance to become the first New England school to host an NCAA regional on campus since No. 3 seed Maine procured the Northeast Regional in 1991. The NCAA bracket will be announced Monday at noon and BC (35-18) will secure a favorable slot in the field of 64.“We have a facility now that we can be proud of and the opportunity to show it off would be fortunate,” said BC coach Mike Gambino. “The thing about it is, the city of Boston turns out for big events and this will be a big deal in the city. It will be a huge d...

‘No question’ Rachael Rollins needed to resign after scathing federal reports, Healey says

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:14:32 GMT

There was “no question” former U.S. District Attorney Rachael Rollins had to resign after a pair of federal reports accused her of multiple ethical violations, Gov. Maura Healey said Friday.Rollins resigned as the top federal prosecutor in Massachusetts last week after she “committed an extraordinary abuse of her power” when she violated the Hatch Act, a law prohibiting federal employees from participating in partisan political activity, one of the federal reports found.Another report accused Rollins of using her position to sway last year’s race for Suffolk County District attorney between Boston City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo and DA Kevin Hayden.And Healey said Friday that Rollins’ alleged conduct was “troubling and disappointing.”“There was no question that she had to resign. I also support the ongoing efforts of the men and women in the U.S. Attorney’s Office. I worked closely with them as attorney general. And I know, Attorney General Campbell will continue to work and wor...