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LAFC will play for back-to-back MLS Cup titles after beating Houston 2-0 in Western Conference final

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:50:00 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — After the longest season in Major League Soccer history, Los Angeles FC still has one more week of work to do.If the club completes its final assignment as well as it handled Saturday night, the reward will be historic.Ryan Hollingshead scored late in the first half and defending champion LAFC advanced to its second straight MLS Cup Final with a 2-0 victory over the Houston Dynamo.Houston’s Franco Escobar scored an own goal in the 80th minute to seal the Western Conference Final for LAFC, which will travel to Columbus next weekend to play for the title. The Crew beat FC Cincinnati 3-2 in a thriller earlier Saturday.LAFC, an expansion club in its sixth year of competition, has the chance to become MLS’ first back-to-back champions since the LA Galaxy (2011-12). LAFC never faded or wilted in its 52nd match of 2023 — an MLS record for games in a calendar year, thanks to the club’s competition in several non-league tournaments.“Very proud of what we’...

Por qué los activistas por la paz de Israel están reevaluando su posición sobre la guerra

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:50:00 GMT

(CNN) —  Cuando la activista de derechos humanos Ziv Stahl se despertó con el estallido de los disparos de cohetes el 7 de octubre, mientras se encontraba en la casa de su hermana en el kibutz Kfar Aza, no anticipó ni por un momento la escala del ataque terrorista que se estaba desarrollando a su alrededor. Tampoco se imaginó el horror que sentiría cuando más tarde llamó a la policía, quienes “básicamente me dijeron que no vendría nadie”.Ese día, su cuñada murió en manos de militantes de Hamas y a varios destacados activistas por la paz que vivían en el kibutz, una de las comunidades que sufrió la peor parte del ataque a Israel.Stahl, directora ejecutiva de la organización de derechos humanos Yesh Din, dice que no pide venganza por lo ocurrido ese día ni adopta una posición pacifista sobre la consiguiente guerra de Israel en Gaza contra Hamas. “No estoy diciendo un alto el fuego a cualquier precio”, afirmó. “Israel tiene derecho a defenderse y proteger a los ...

Carcone and Kerfoot help Arizona Coyotes beat St. Louis Blues 4-1 for 4th straight win

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:50:00 GMT

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Michael Carcone scored for the fourth time in three games, and the Arizona Coyotes beat the St. Louis Blues 4-1 on Saturday night for their fourth straight victory.Alex Kerfoot had a goal and two assists for Arizona, which had a 3-0 lead after one period. Nick Schmaltz and Matias Maccelli also scored, and Connor Ingram made 31 saves for his fourth straight win.The Coyotes’ season-best winning streak has come against the last four Stanley Cup champions — Colorado (2022), Tampa Bay (2020-21), Vegas (2023) and St. Louis (2019).Kerfoot got an empty-netter with 1:15 remaining. He has five assists in the last three games.Brandon Saad scored in the third period for the Blues, who had won four of six. Joel Hofer made 18 stops.DUCKS 4, AVALANCHE 3, SOANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Anaheim rookie Leo Carlsson had a goal and an assist and added the shootout winner as the Ducks snapped an eight-game losing streak.Alex Killorn and Adam Henrique also scored for Anaheim. John Gibson, w...

Kings overcome Jokic’s 8th triple-double of the season, beat Nuggets 123-117

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:50:00 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — De’Aaron Fox had 26 points and a career-high 16 assists, Malik Monk made a clutch 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter and the Sacramento Kings beat the Denver Nuggets 123-117 on Saturday night to spoil Nikola Jokic’s NBA-leading eighth triple-double.The Kings led comfortably most of the might before Denver made its best run of the night to get to 112-110 with four minutes left on Jokic’s only 3-pointer of the game.Fox then made a contested jumper in the key, before Monk’s corner 3-pointer with 1:11 helped seal it as chants of “Light the beam! Light the beam” broke out inside Golden 1 Center.“Fantastic, fantastic night from our best player when we needed it the most,” Kings coach Mike Brown said about Fox. “He has to step up in games like this for us to win.”Jokic finished with 36 points, 14 assists and 13 rebounds, the 114th career triple-double for Denver’s big man. The rest of the NBA had eight triple-doubles combined going into the night.“You’re never g...

Chavez kicks 29-yard FG in OT to help Idaho beat S. Illinois 20-17, advance to FCS quarters

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:50:00 GMT

MOSCOW, Idaho (AP) — Jermaine Jackson returned a punt 86 yards for a touchdown, Ricardo Chavez kicked a 29-yard field goal in overtime and No. 4 seed Idaho beat Southern Illinois 20-17 Saturday night in the second round of the FCS playoffs. Idaho (9-3) advances to play No. 5 seed Albany in the quarterfinals.Idaho’s Marcus Harris tackled Ro Elliott for 3-yard loss on the first play of overtime, Nic Baker was pressured into an incomplete pass on the second and then Harris picked off a pass from Baker to end SIU’s drive. Anthony Woods ran for a 16-yard gain on the next play from scrimmage but an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against Turon Ivy Jr. after the play backed up the Vandals to the 24. Woods then had consecutive carries for 6, 5, 0 and 4 yards to set up the winning field goal by Chavez. The Vandals played their first FCS postseason game at the Kibbie Dome since they beat Boston University 21-14 in a second-round matchup on Dec. 4, 1993. Elliott took the hand off, worked...

Iowa defense slows down No. 2 Michigan, but stagnant offense costly for No. 18 Hawkeyes

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:50:00 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — No. 18 Iowa won the Big Ten West by mucking things up for everyone else.The Hawkeyes’ strategy failed them Saturday.While the defense did its part by holding one of the nation’s best offenses to two touchdowns and four field goals, their offensive struggles resurfaced in a 26-0 loss to No. 2 Michigan — their second conference title-game loss to the Wolverines in three years. Tonight is a low point,” coach Kirk Ferentz said following the second shutout in the Big Ten’s 13-game history. “These guys laid it out there. This guy (linebacker Jay Higgins), plus a bunch of other guys, laid it out there. Everybody laid it out there. Didn’t go our way, but they’ll get back on their feet because that’s the kind of people they are. For Iowa (10-3, No. 16 CFP), it was all too familiar.The Hawkeyes entered championship week with the FBS’ No. 4 scoring defense and it didn’t disappoint. Iowa sacked Big Ten quarterback of the year J.J. McCarthy...

Macron says ‘total destruction of Hamas’ would take a decade

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:50:00 GMT

French President Emmanuel Macron said Israel “must more precisely define” what it seeks to accomplish in its war on Hamas as the full elimination of the Palestinian militant group would take a decade. “We are at a moment when Israeli authorities must more precisely define their objectives and their final goal: the total destruction of Hamas — does anyone think it is possible? If this is the case, the war will last 10 years,” Macron said on Saturday.Macron told a press conference at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai: “There is no lasting security for Israel in the region if its security is achieved at the cost of Palestinian lives.” Macron made the comments after the Israeli military intensified its bombing of the Gaza Strip, on the second day after a truce between Israel and Hamas collapsed, with Israel accusing Hamas of violating the terms of the agreement.A Palestinian official familiar with the truce efforts told the BBC the negotiations a...

Israel steps up pounding of Gaza, targets southern areas

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:50:00 GMT

The Israeli military on Saturday stepped up its bombing of Gaza Strip, intensifying its renewed offensive on the second day after a truce between Israel and Hamas collapsed, with Israel accusing Hamas of violating the terms of the agreement.Israel pounded targets in the crowded southern areas of Gaza and ordered more neighborhoods designated for attack to evacuate, driving up the death toll as the United States and others urged more be done to protect civilians.The prospect of further pauses in the fighting in Gaza appeared bleak, as Israel recalled its negotiators and Hamas’ deputy leader said any further swap of Gaza-held hostages for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel would only happen as part of ending the war.“We will continue the war until we achieve all its goals, and it’s impossible to achieve those goals without the ground operation,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an address Saturday night.The Israel Defense Forces IDF said on X on Saturday that Israeli strikes h...

More Canadians have been approved to leave Gaza through Rafah crossing with Egypt

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:50:00 GMT

More Canadians have been approved to leave Gaza through the Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt.A new document published by Gaza’s General Authority for Crossings and Borders shows 165 names under the “Canada” heading.Israel’s military on Sunday ordered more areas in and around Gaza’s second-largest city of Khan Younis to evacuate, as it shifted its offensive to the southern half of the territory where it says many Hamas leaders are hiding.Heavy bombardments were reported overnight and into Sunday in the area of Khan Younis as well as Rafah itself.Many of the territory’s 2.3 million people are crammed in the south after Israeli forces ordered civilians to leave the north in the early days of the 2-month-old war.The war was sparked by an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas and other militants that killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in southern Israel.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 3, 2023.— with files from The Ass...

Earth is running a fever. And UN climate talks are focusing on the contagious effect on human health

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:50:00 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — With Planet Earth running a fever, U.N. climate talks focused Sunday on the contagious effects on human health.Under a brown haze over Dubai, the COP28 summit moved past two days of lofty rhetoric and calls for unity from top leaders to concerns on health issues like the deaths of at least 7 million people globally from air pollution each year and the spread of diseases like cholera and malaria as global warming upends weather systems.World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it was high time for the U.N. Conference of Parties on climate to hold its first health day in its 28th edition, saying the threats to health from climate change were “immediate and present.”“Although the climate crisis is a health crisis, it’s well overdue that 27 COPs have been and gone without a serious discussion of health,” he said. “Undoubtedly, health stands as the most compelling reason for taking climate action.”After two days of speec...