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ufabet777 PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia 76ers forward Paul George has a bone bruise on his left knee and will miss two games, the team said Thursday. The 76ers said George did not suffer any structural damage when he injured the same knee that he hyperextended during the preseason in Wednesday night's loss at Memphis. The game marked the first time this season the All-Star trio of George, Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey started a game together. George will miss home games Friday against Brooklyn and Sunday against the Los Angeles Clippers, his former team. A nine-time All-Star, the 34-year-old George will be evaluated again on Monday. Wednesday's 117-111 loss to the Grizzlies dropped the Sixers to 2-12, the worst record in the NBA headed into Thursday night's games. George signed a four-year, $212 million contract with Philadelphia after five seasons with the Clippers. He has averaged 14.9 points in eight games this season. Embiid has been out with injuries, load management rest and a suspension, while Maxey was sidelined with a hamstring injury. An expected contender in the Eastern Conference, the Sixers haven't won since an overtime victory against Charlotte on Nov. 10. AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nbaNON-CONFERENCE Houston 71, Wabasha-Kellogg 38 ADVERTISEMENT NON-CONFERENCE Winona Cotter 68, Houston 53Irwin Cotler says Iran assassination plot should be ‘wake-up call’ to world

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WASHINGTON (AP) — American Airlines briefly grounded flights nationwide Tuesday due to a technical issu e just as the Christmas travel season kicks into overdrive and winter weather is threatening more potential problems for those planning to fly or drive. American flights were cleared to fly by federal regulators about one hour after a national ground stop order was issued by the Federal Aviation Administration. There were 1,447 delays for flights entering or leaving the U.S. early in the day, with 28 cancellations. Snow was falling early in New York and Dallas-Fort Worth International, which is American Airlines' main hub, was getting hit with rain. Dallas-Fort Worth had the most delays, followed by Charlotte, North Carolina, Washington, New York, Chicago and Miami Because the holiday travel period lasts weeks, airports and airlines typically have smaller peak days than they do during the rush around Thanksgiving, but the grind of one hectic day followed by another takes a toll on flight crews. And any hiccups — a winter storm or a computer outage — can snowball into massive disruptions. That is how Southwest Airlines stranded 2 million travelers in December 2022, and Delta Air Lines suffered a smaller but significant meltdown after a worldwide technology outage in July caused by a faulty software update from cybersecurity company CrowdStrike. Many flights during the holidays are sold out, which makes cancellations even more disruptive than during slower periods. That is especially true for smaller budget airlines that have fewer flights and fewer options for rebooking passengers. Only the largest airlines, including American, Delta and United, have “interline agreements” that let them put stranded customers on another carrier’s flights. This will be the first holiday season since a Transportation Department rule took effect that requires airlines to give customers an automatic cash refund for a canceled or significantly delayed flight. Most air travelers were already eligible for refunds, but they often had to request them. Passengers still can ask to get rebooked, which is often a better option than a refund during peak travel periods. That’s because finding a last-minute flight on another airline yourself tends to be very expensive. Just before 7 a.m. Eastern time, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered all American Airlines flights grounded in the U.S. at the airline’s request. American had reported a technical issue affecting its entire system with millions traveling for the holiday. American said in an email that the problem Tuesday morning was caused by a vendor technology issue that “impacted systems needed to release flights.” The groundings couldn’t come at a worse time for the millions of travelers expected to fly over the next 10 days. The Transportation Security Administration expects to screen 40 million passengers over the holidays and through January 2. Airlines expect to have their busiest days on Friday and Sunday, and on Dec. 26, Dec. 27 and Dec. 29. Many flights during the holidays are sold out, which makes cancellations more disruptive than during slower periods. Even with just a brief outage, the cancellations have a cascading effect that can take days to clear up. About 90% of Americans traveling far from home over the holidays will be in cars, according to AAA. “Airline travel is just really high right now, but most people do drive to their destinations, and that is true for every holiday,” AAA spokesperson Aixa Diaz said. Gasoline prices are similar to last year. The nationwide average Thursday was $3.04 a gallon, down from $3.13 a year ago, according to AAA. Charging an electric vehicle averages just under 35 cents per per kilowatt hour, but varies by state. Transportation-data firm INRIX says travel times on the nation’s highways could be up to 30% longer than normal over the holidays, with Sunday expected to see the heaviest traffic. Boston, New York City, Seattle and Washington, D.C., are the metropolitan areas primed for the greatest delays, according to the company. —— AP Reporters David Koenig, Mae Anderson and Mike Pesoli contributed to this report.It was a Saturday night, on a national stage, facing the Maple Leafs in Toronto, when the Montreal Canadiens hit rock bottom. A 4-1 loss to Toronto left the Canadiens tied for last in the NHL with the San Jose Sharks with a 4-9-2 record. Their following game was on a Monday afternoon in Buffalo, Nov. 11, and it was far from perfect. The Canadiens blew three leads that day. Starting goaltender Cayden Primeau was pulled from the game early in the third period after allowing his fifth goal on 14 shots and his second in the opening four minutes of the third period, turning a 4-3 Canadiens lead into a 5-4 deficit. Advertisement But the Canadiens hung on, scored twice midway through the third and again into an empty net and held on to win a sloppy game 7-5. After that game, Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis admitted how heavy the opening 15 games of the season had been for both him and his young team. A win was sorely needed to alleviate that heaviness. “It’s not an easy league,” St. Louis said that day in Buffalo . “I said this to the boys after the game, I said, listen, I remember as a player thinking sometimes I’d never have another game in the league. And once I was in the league, I thought sometimes I would never score another goal in the league. And as a young coach, I swear, there are moments recently, you tell yourself, damn, will I win another game in this league? The league is tough sometimes. And sometimes, it’s not the way you play, but it’s the results that hit you hard emotionally. We stayed together, we kept working on our issues, and we got a win we needed. “But it’s one game.” On Saturday afternoon in Sunrise, Fla., the Canadiens played their 20th game since that loss in Toronto on Hockey Night in Canada, since hitting rock bottom. They beat the defending Stanley Cup-champion Florida Panthers 4-0 to run their record in those 20 games to 11-8-1, a .575 points percentage. That is a sample equivalent to a quarter of the season. That is not a rounding error or a short hot streak. This is a stretch that had some low moments, for sure — home games against the Vegas Golden Knights and Pittsburgh Penguins stand out here — but overall, the Canadiens have found a way to play winning hockey over a quarter of a season. And it’s been because some of the things that were holding the Canadiens back were corrected over that time. Patrik Laine ’s return from injury on Dec. 7 and Lane Hutson being promoted to the top unit has breathed new life into the power play. Getting consistently reliable performances from the third and fourth lines has allowed St. Louis to roll four lines regularly. And the arrival of Alexandre Carrier in a trade with the Nashville Predators has brought more balance and stability to a defence corps that was in a state of constant flux. Advertisement It should not be lost that this shutout win was backstopped by 33 saves from Jakub Dobeš making his NHL debut after Primeau — the starting goalie in the game that began this stretch, a game he did not finish — was placed on waivers during the first intermission of the game in Florida. It’s still too early to say Dobeš represents a long-term correction to the backup goalie problem that has been there all season, but it would be basically impossible for him to get off to a better start. premier match ✅ première victoire ✅ premier blanchissage ✅ first game ✅ first win ✅ first shutout ✅ #GoHabsGo | Casino de Montréal pic.twitter.com/NIWIzHksJF — Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) December 28, 2024 And the main problem that was plaguing the Canadiens 20 games ago, that their best players were playing like their worst players, has also mostly righted itself. That game in Toronto was the fourth in a row where Nick Suzuki was held without a point. “I expect a lot out of myself, so it hasn’t been fun lately. Just trying to do the best I can and help the team,” he said then. “My job is to produce, so I’m not doing my job right now.” In the 20 games since, Suzuki has 22 points, as does Cole Caufield after scoring his 18th goal of the season to seal the win Saturday afternoon. Lane Hutson has 18 points in those 20 games despite being held off the scoresheet Saturday, and Jake Evans has 15 points — a 60-point pace over a full season. There is still room for improvement here, and we’ve seen encouraging play lately from Juraj Slafkovský , Kirby Dach — with two goals Saturday to double his season total to 4 — and Alex Newhook . The Canadiens — prior to Saturday evening’s games — were 14th in the NHL in points percentage since Nov. 11. They have not lost more than two games in a row since that date. They were tied for eighth in the league in goals per game at 3.25, and perhaps more importantly, they are only allowing 3.05 goals per game, tied for 17th best in the league, but more notably below the number they are scoring. Advertisement “I feel comfortable with how we’re evolving as a team,” St. Louis told reporters in Sunrise after the game Saturday. It is not something St. Louis could credibly say a quarter of a season ago. But the Canadiens’ next 20 games will be far from easy, starting Sunday afternoon in Tampa against the Lightning . That stretch will get them to Super Bowl Sunday, when the Canadiens will again host the Lightning on Feb. 9, and to within seven games of the NHL trade deadline. The schedule is a meat grinder, the degree of difficulty in each game will be high, but the way the Canadiens played over their last 20 games, if it continues, will at least give them a chance to survive this stretch. You don’t get to simply erase the first 15 games of a season. Those games counted, and those games are the biggest reason the Canadiens find themselves so low in the standings, far from where they wanted to be this season. But when you’re not worried about contending for a Stanley Cup, or even playing in the playoffs, you can allow yourself to segment the season a bit more to look for signs of progression. And no matter how you measure progress, no one can argue the Canadiens have not progressed over their last 20 games, and Saturday afternoon in Florida was simply an exclamation point on that progress. (Photo: Sam Navarro / Imagn Images)

CINCINNATI (AP) — The Cincinnati Bengals have found all manner of ways to lose close games this season. Sunday's can be blamed on a defense that missed tackles and allowed 520 yards of offense, and three turnovers by Joe Burrow. It's become a familiar story in this disappointing season. Cincinnati (4-8) keeps scoring lots of points but can't close out games. Seven of the Bengals’ eight losses this year have been by one score. Burrow has stopped talking about the possibility of going on a run and making the playoffs. He'd just like to win another game or two. “Playoffs are the furthest thing from my mind,” the fifth-year quarterback said. “You never know what can happen, so I’ll keep putting one foot in front of the other and try to be the best player I can be for the rest of the season, week in and week out.” The Bengals allowed Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson to throw for a season-high 414 yards and three touchdowns. After Wilson threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown, the Steelers (9-3) scored on seven of their last nine possessions. They didn't punt until early in the fourth quarter. Burrow lost two fumbles and threw an interception. “We haven’t done enough to earn the win,” coach Zac Taylor said. “It’s a simple as that. It’s nobody else’s fault but our own. We haven’t earned it.” Turnovers aside, Burrow had another strong game, finishing with 28 for 38 for 309 yards with three touchdowns. Burrow is having a great season statistically, and he hasn't hidden his disappointment and frustration about Cincinnati's narrow losses. ... WR Ja'Marr Chase had a touchdown catch to bring his league-leading total to 13. The defense missed tackles and couldn't hold off the Steelers, even with Burrow keeping the game close. It didn’t help that LB Logan Wilson (knee) and DT Sheldon Rankins (illness) had to sit out. The Bengals have allowed 34 or more points six times, including in four of the past five games. Cincinnati became the first NFL team to lose four games in a season in which it scored 33 points or more. RB Chase Brown has been dependable as the featured back since Zack Moss went down with a neck injury. He rushed for 70 yards and a touchdown against the Steelers. He also had three catches for 30 yards. The second-year back has 677 yards rushing and six TDs. “He’s really coming along, improving his game every single week,” Burrow said. “Pass game, run game, running hard, understanding his protection responsibilities. He’s a guy that practices hard, plays hard, and a guy you can count on.” The Bengals' coaching staff. Something has got to give. There was no excuse for the defense to play this badly after a bye week. The unit gave up 500-plus yards for the second time this season. None were reported in the game. 30.3 — The average points per game by the Bengals against teams with a .500 or better record this season. They are 0-7 in those games. The Bengals will try to regroup before facing the Dallas Cowboys (5-7) next Monday night. AP NFL:Last year, we challenged 10 of our journalists from across our broadcast region to peer into the future and Gluttons for punishment, they're back again -- reflecting on 2024 and sharing their insights on what 2025 might have in store. A few recurring themes emerge from their predictions: For all this and more, read on. At the end of 2023, I argued that even if one side achieved a military victory in Ukraine in 2024, it would not necessarily bring us closer to a political resolution. This was true then and is true now, largely because Russian President Vladimir Putin's attack on Ukraine is part of a broader agenda, an attempt to restore, if not the Soviet empire itself, then at least its sphere of influence. What could push the war in Ukraine is the upcoming change at the White House. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump continues to assert his readiness to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. The question, though, is whether Trump's intentions and determination will be enough. After all, change would require not only the incoming U.S. president's commitment to ending the war but also agreement in Kyiv and Moscow to cease hostilities. If Putin were to agree to end the conflict -- despite continued Russian offensives on the battlefield and relentless strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure -- it would likely hinge on two key factors. The first is the Russian president's recognition that his country's economic situation cannot sustain a prolonged war. The second is Putin's readiness to shift from military pressure on Ukraine to political influence and destabilization. Under such a peace, Ukraine's future would depend on the security guarantees provided by its Western partners and the resilience of Ukrainian society in resisting Russian attempts at destabilization, for example, a barrage of disinformation during a future presidential election. If Putin concludes, however, that he has sufficient resources to continue the war, hostilities will persist -- certainly into 2025 and even beyond. Following the sudden death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash in May, a more moderate politician, , was elected as president. Some Iranians saw Pezeshkian's election as a potential sign that the country's clerical rulers might soften their hard-line approach. However, by the end of 2024, Pezeshkian has yet to deliver on promises to ease restrictions on Iranian life. There will be plenty for Pezeshkian to deal with: currency depreciation, environmental crises, an aging population, and worsening brain drain. Looming fuel price hikes, critical to addressing budget deficits, risk igniting protests like those in 2019 that left hundreds dead. Internationally, Iran might have an even harder time. With Tehran's allies -- Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and the ousted Syrian leadership -- facing significant setbacks in 2024 and Israel launching attacks on Iran during the same year, Iranian politicians are for the first time in a while openly discussing developing nuclear weapons as the ultimate deterrent. Tehran's relationship with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is in a precarious state. As a result, European powers censured Tehran twice in 2024 -- and if Western concerns are not resolved, then the process of reimposing UN sanctions on Iran could begin in the spring of 2025. International pressure on Iran is only likely to ramp up with the in the White House. In his first term, Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal and argued for strict economic sanctions to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions and regional influence. There weren't any pundits who predicted the rapid rise of Peter Magyar. Less than a year ago, Magyar was a loyalist of right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban; now, he is the popular and dynamic leader of the Hungarian opposition. Magyar's Tisza Party in June, winning a third of Hungary's 21 seats in the European Parliament elections and performing well in local polls. His rapid rise has created a headache for the ruling Fidesz party, which under Orban's guidance has been widely criticized for democratic backsliding and authoritarian tendencies. The party resorted to attacks in the press and is even said to be contemplating early elections. Orban, who has been widely criticized for leading Hungary, didn't let the Magyar party spoil his time in the limelight, as of the Council of the European Union during the second half of the year. Orban began the presidency in spectacular and controversial fashion: In early July, he traveled to Kyiv, Moscow, Beijing, and Mar-a-Lago, trips he framed as efforts to end the war in Ukraine and for which European officials heavily criticized him for. In December Orban, who endorsed Donald Trump as early as 2016, again visited the president-elect at his Florida residence. To put it mildly, European officials weren't happy, criticizing Orban for his unauthorized and uncoordinated visits. The idea of "fortress Europe" ruled the roost in 2024, with member states increasingly tough on migration and looking for creative ways to outsource the issue to third countries. (Italy, for example, has set up migrant-processing centers in Albania.) But even though there were gains for far-right and populist parties in national and European Parliament elections in 2024, the center still held -- and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen won her coveted second term. In 2025, . Populist parties will continue to shape policies and politics within EU member states. In the Czech Republic, Andrej Babis, a populist billionaire and former prime minister, is likely to return to power in the fall, forming a neat Eurosceptic triangle with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. In France, the populist left and right will continue to cause headaches for President Emmanuel Macron after his failed parliamentary elections gamble this summer. New elections will likely be held in the summer and Macron could suffer even a bigger defeat, with either the hard-left or hard-right securing a majority. Germany is also heading to the polls, with parliamentary elections in February. And while the far-right Alternative For Germany party should get their best ever result -- potentially 20 percent of the vote -- you can expect a grand coalition of the center-left Social Democrats and the center-right Christian Democrats, with the latter's leader, Friedrich Merz, set to become chancellor. Donald Trump will be shaping Europe's politics as much as any European during the year ahead. The U.S. president-elect could well push his European allies to at the NATO summit in the Netherlands in June. And transatlantic trade frictions are also a distinct possibility, especially if Brussels hits Elon Musk, the tech tycoon and key Trump ally, and his X social media platform with billion-euro fines for not respecting social media rules in the bloc. In 2024, the authoritarian regime of Alyaksandr Lukashenka continued its rapid evolution into a totalitarian state. Political repression intensified further, legitimized by two electoral campaigns that only outwardly resembled democratic elections. Early in the year, a puppet parliament and local councils were elected. By the end of the year, a had begun, set to conclude in January 2025. The alliance between Belarus and Russia strengthened and deepened, particularly in the military sphere, where Lukashenka is trying to bolster Belarus's strategic position by hosting modern Russia weapons. The culmination of this process was the decision, announced in December, to deploy Russia's advanced in the second half of 2025. The main challenge for the Lukashenka regime in the next year will be navigating the new geopolitical reality shaped by potential peace talks on Ukraine. Minsk fears that its interests will be overlooked in the construction of a new security architecture for Eastern and Central Europe, which could emerge from these negotiations. This is why he has brought forward by six months the presidential election. His goal is to secure renewed legitimacy as leverage for participation in such negotiations. If the conflict in Ukraine remains frozen, however, Belarus could also remain frozen for years. The Lukashenka regime would consolidate and strengthen while all aspects of Belarusian life -- from the economy to culture -- would slowly degrade. The year 2024 was yet another desperate time for , culminating in December when the Taliban expanded its to prohibit private institutions from teaching women , nursing, and laboratory sciences. The latest restrictions build on measures from recent years that keep Afghan girls out of secondary schools and university educations "This doesn't just mean destroying the dreams of those girls who wanted to study and contribute to their communities," said Heather Barr, associate director of the women's rights division at the New York-based Human Rights Watch. "It also means this will cause deaths for women who won't be able to access medical care." Unprecedented worldwide legal momentum against these limitations has also been building over the past year. Shukria Barakzai, the former Afghan ambassador to Norway, highlighted progress in 2024, pointing to international efforts to hold the Taliban accountable. A major breakthrough came in November 2024 when a key UN General Assembly committee approved negotiations for the first-ever treaty specifically targeting crimes against humanity. This development could potentially address gender apartheid under international law, a crucial step long advocated by Afghan women's rights activists. Looking ahead to 2025, Barakzai sees some cause for optimism. "2025 could become the year of justice for Afghans, particularly Afghan women, as countries begin to mobilize against what is happening inside Afghanistan," she said. However, Barr also emphasized that meaningful change requires sustained international pressure and advocacy. Relations between Kosovo and Serbia remain at a historic low, at least since the start of EU-mediated negotiations in 2011. Efforts to normalize relations have stalled, still damaged by the 2022 withdrawal of Serb representatives from Kosovo's state institutions, violent clashes in northern Kosovo the following year, and the killing of a Kosovar policeman in September 2023. Despite the impasse, Serbia has maintained its signature balancing act in foreign policy: for example, refusing to sanction Russia while supporting Ukraine's territorial integrity. Belgrade has also deepened ties with Beijing. In regional politics, Serbian President remains a key player, and is particularly influential in Bosnia-Herzegovina. He is known to hold sway over pro-Russian populist leader Milorad Dodik from Republika Srpska, one of the two entities that make up Bosnia. By appearing to pacify Dodik, Vucic regularly positions himself to the EU and the United States as a moderating force capable of tempering the destabilizing tendencies of Balkan extremists. However, his ambiguous stance often leaves observers questioning whether he contributes to stability, instability, or both. In terms of the EU accession progress, Serbia is actually lagging behind Montenegro, after Podgorica made rapid progress within the last year. Some EU diplomats have even said Montenegro could potentially join the bloc this decade. But it is the change at the White House that diplomats in the Balkans are now fixated on. Vucic, for one, is certainly hopeful. He and his allies have expressed optimism about Donald Trump's return to the U.S. presidency, hoping for a shift toward a more "Serbian-friendly" approach in U.S. policy. A year ago, it looked as if a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan was on the horizon. Azerbaijan had just regained control of all of Nagorno-Karabakh, the territory at the heart of the conflict between the two sides. Both sides spoke of being nearly ready to sign a deal, with most of the fundamental issues agreed on. Now, and we are more or less in the same place, with Armenia and Azerbaijan still debating the finer points of the , and sometimes it seems as if Azerbaijan may not actually want a deal at all. Meanwhile, the attention in the Caucasus has shifted to Georgia. Its parliamentary elections in October were always going to be pivotal, but the crisis that has emerged is as dangerous as anyone could have expected. The opposition and protesters have refused to accept the results of elections they say were illegitimate. The government crackdown is already the harshest in Georgia's post-Soviet history. President Salome Zurabishvili, whose term ends December 29, is refusing to step down, setting up a with the government. And relations with the United States and European powers, Georgia's traditional main partners, keep getting worse. At the time of writing, neither the government nor the opposition and protesters show any willingness to compromise. Making any predictions now would be foolhardy. Except that a year from now, Georgia's politics are going to look a lot different than they do now. The conditions looked ripe for a renaissance of Russian power in Central Asia in 2024 and so it proved -- although Moscow did not have everything its own way. The Kremlin's state-backed energy companies Gazprom and Rosatom enjoyed a banner year in Uzbekistan, with Russian gas exports roughly tripling and Moscow and Tashkent finally inking a deal for a small facility. Following a on nuclear power in October 2024, Kazakhstan is also set to build a larger nuclear plant, and it would be a shock if Rosatom was not somehow involved. At the same time, both Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan resisted pressure to join blocs important for Moscow's prestige, while spats over the and Russia's colonial legacy in the region do the Kremlin's soft power prospects no good. China, meanwhile, will continue winning friends in Central Asia in the year ahead via quiet diplomacy and , especially in the region's emerging transport and renewable energy sectors. The region as a whole will also become even more authoritarian. In Tajikistan and Turkmenistan that would appear almost impossible, but expect both to make an effort. Meanwhile, in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, journalists and regime critics are steadily running out of rope thanks to , , and an apparently shared sentiment across these governments that phasing out freedoms is all for the best. The war in Ukraine has reached truly global proportions. While it is fought in Ukraine, it involves dozens of countries, affecting populations as far away as Africa, South America, and East Asia. It has caused the biggest global military buildup since the height of the Cold War, challenging the credibility of international institutions from NATO and the European Union to the UN and the International Criminal Court. On one side, there is the Western alliance led by the United States and NATO supporting Ukraine. On the other, there is an emerging bloc of non-Western states who are challenging the current world order. China is the heavyweight in this informal group, , and it is supported by the likes of Iran and North Korea. These states represent an alternative kind of globalization, with their new mechanisms to circumvent Western sanctions, new financial systems based on cryptocurrencies, and their own international institutions such as BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The battle lines are in Ukraine, but the war is taking place everywhere: Russia is meddling in elections all over the world (with Romania perhaps the most recent example) and is thought to be carrying out acts of sabotage in many Western countries. Meanwhile, the Middle East is once again engulfed in war; Venezuela is making territorial claims against its neighbor Guyana; and China is carefully watching the Ukraine conflict as it contemplates its own operation against Taiwan. In 2025, that global war will gain momentum, and it is likely to expand irrespective of the situation on the ground in Ukraine. Even a possible cease-fire will likely not stop the global turmoil, let alone Russia's expansionist zeal or the Kremlin's desire to eliminate Ukrainian statehood and challenge NATO and the United States. War in Ukraine has set off an avalanche. The elites of anti-globalization -- from the Islamists to revanchists -- are sensing blood, and there will be new outbreaks of conflict in unexpected places across the globe. In this sense, Putin has succeeded in his long-term plan of turning this conflict into a global one and challenging the world order. Drawing an analogy with World War II, we are now somewhere in 1938, with a global challenger, an undecided West, and a new Munich Agreement looming. One can only hope to live to see a new 1945. By RFE/RL

Music to Help: Michael Buble TributeNone

Coming off the fan-favorite retro-style 2D action game The Messenger, Sabotage Studio's follow-up Sea of Stars was another game paying homage to the 2D era, this time focusing on JRPGs. At the recent Golden Joystick Awards 2024 , GamesRadar+ caught up with game director Thierry Boulanger to catch up about the game and learn their references for making an original 2D-style JRPG. Simply put, Boulanger stated that Nintendo was one of their biggest influences in their retro throwbacks and how the team learns something from "every single game ever." "I mean, in a word, I think it's probably Nintendo, and just about everything they did in the '80s and '90s, and still to this day, to be fair," said Boulanger about Sabotage Studio's core influences. "As we were sort of growing and developing and understanding, [we realized that] that's going to be what we want to do for a living." It's very common for indie developers to cite Nintendo as a core influence, given that many creatives grew up with the classic consoles like the NES, the SNES, and N64 – an era of gaming that effectively shaped the aesthetic and formula of core Nintendo games. However, the games from Sabotage Studio are not just homage to a particular era of gaming but also add modern flourishes to them. For instance, The Messenger is a Ninja Gaiden-style action game with elements of a Metroidvania experience, but its biggest twist is that it allows players to shift between 8-bit and 16-bit realms seamlessly, leaning into the best of different eras of gaming. As for Seas of Stars – which is a direct prequel to their previous game – it's a game that pays homage to classic JRPGs like Chrono Trigger and Secret of Mana but allows players to engage in combat and adventuring with co-op play. "[For Nintendo], it's just the motherlode of everything you can learn and all the teachings that [come with it]," the director said. "For example, you can replay Super Mario Brothers 3, and you can still have takeaways on controls and level design and pacing and even difficulty and music and sound design and form-following functions And the way enemies are presented. And that still applies to this day. [Nintendo] really nails, like, all the core tenets that make a game kind of resonate and sing. But yeah, and then, other than that, every single game, too, because we play a lot of them." If you want to play other games like Sea of Stars that are deeply rooted in the optimism of a JRPG, check out our list of the best games to play right now .2024 in pop culture: In a bruising year, we sought out fantasy, escapism — and cute little animals

Clara Strack and Georgia Amoore each scored 21 points on Saturday to help No. 16 Kentucky beat visiting Western Kentucky 88-70 in Lexington. Teonni Key netted 15 points, Amelia Hassett paired nine points with 12 rebounds and Saniah Tyler scored 11 off the bench for the Wildcats (11-1), who won their fourth straight game. The Lady Toppers (9-3) got 18 points from Alexis Mead, 14 from Acacia Hayes, 11 from Destiny Salary and 10 from Josie Gilvin. Western Kentucky has lost three of five following a 7-0 start. Kentucky used a 9-0 run in the second quarter to take a double-digit lead that it held for the rest of the game. Strack bookended the surge with a layup and a 3-pointer that pushed the hosts ahead 36-22 with 1:01 remaining in the first half. The Wildcats' lead peaked at 23 points after Amoore scored five straight late in the fourth quarter to make it 88-65. Saturday marked the final nonconference game for both teams this season. Kentucky hosts Mississippi State to begin Southeastern Conference play on Thursday, while Western Kentucky starts its Conference USA slate by hosting Liberty the same night. --Field Level MediaAll the 2025 showbiz dates you need to know from Sabrina Carpenter’s tour to Brit Awards and GlastonburyNone

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(All times Eastern) Schedule subject to change and/or blackouts Wednesday, Dec. 25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL (MEN’S) 1:30 p.m. ESPNU — Diamond Head Classic: Loyola of Chicago vs. Murray St., Seventh-Place Game, Honolulu 3:30 p.m. ESPNU — Diamond Head Classic: Charleston vs. Charlotte, Fifth-Place Game, Honolulu 6:30 p.m. ESPN2 — Diamond Head Classic: Oakland vs. Hawaii, Third-Place Game, Honolulu 8:30 p.m. ESPN2 — Diamond Head Classic: Oregon St. vs. Nebraska, Championship, Honolulu NBA BASKETBALL Noon ABC — San Antonio at New York ESPN — San Antonio at New York 2:30 p.m. ABC — Minnesota at Dallas ESPN — Minnesota at Dallas 5 p.m. ABC — Philadelphia at Boston ESPN — Philadelphia at Boston 8 p.m. ABC — L.A. Lakers at Golden State ESPN — L.A. Lakers at Golden State 10:30 p.m. ABC — Denver at Phoenix ESPN — Denver at Phoenix NFL FOOTBALL 1 p.m. NETFLIX — Kansas City at Pittsburgh 4:30 p.m. NETFLIX — Baltimore at Houston The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive TV listings provided by LiveSportsOnTV .