UR MAG

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Desmond Bane scored 36 points and Paolo Banchero added 16 points and eight assists as the Orlando Magic held on for a 111-109 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday night.

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Wendell Carter Jr. had 15 points and 14 rebounds and Tristan da Silva scored 13 for the Magic, who improved to 5-2 since Feb. 5.

Kawhi Leonard shrugged off an ankle injury to score 37 points and Bennedict Mathurin added 21 points and nine rebounds off the bench for the Clippers, who are 4-5 since Feb. 2. Mathurin missed a 3-point attempt to win the game at the buzzer.

Jordan Miller had 14 points for the Clippers.

Leonard exited Friday's loss against the Los Angeles Lakers with an ankle sprain. Mathurin was playing in his fifth game for the Clippers after he was acquired at the trade deadline from the Indiana Pacers.

Orlando won despite going 8 of 23 from 3-point range, two games after setting a franchise record with 27 3-pointers in a victory at Sacramento. Jalen Suggs missed his second consecutive game for the Magic with back spasms.

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In a tight game throughout, Leonard gave the Clippers a 107-105 lead with 3:03 remaining on a jumper from the top of the key. The Magic took charge from there as Bane hit a jumper to tie the score and then made a layup with 1:28 left for a 109-107 advantage.

As the Clippers missed four consecutive shots, Orlando went up 111-107 on a fast-break dunk from Banchero with 40 seconds left.

Bane tried to pad the Magic's lead with eight seconds remaining but had his shot blocked inside by rookie Yanic Konan Niederhauser. Mathurin then raced down the floor only to miss a 25-footer as time expired.

Up next

Magic: At the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night.

Clippers: Host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday night.

AP NBA:https://apnews.com/hub/nba

WASHINGTON (AP) — FBI Director Kash Patel joined the American men's hockey players in the locker room Sunday for a rowdy celebration ofwinning the gold medalin the Winter Olympics.

Trump-Election Conspiracists

While he was in Milan, the U.S. Secret Serviceshot and killed an armed manwho had driven into Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump's resort in Florida. Hours later, around the time the game against Canada was headed into overtime, Patel posted on X that the FBI was "dedicating all necessary resources in the investigation."

Videos shared on social media showed a pumped-up Patel drinking beer from a bottle and spraying the rest around the locker room. After one of the players draped his gold medal around Patel's neck, he joined the players as they jumped up and down.

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"There was a threat at the president's residence at MAL, Americans in Mexico are facing major threats by cartel members, Nancy Guthrie is still missing, and our FBI Director thinks he's a frat bro?!," Xochitl Hinojosa, the spokeswoman for former Attorney General Merrick Garland said on X.

Patel responded to the criticism by posting that he was "extremely humbled when my friends, the newly minted Gold Medal winners on Team USA, invited me into the locker room to celebrate this historic moment with the boys."

The FBI director had defended his official trip to Italy by saying he was going to meet with Italian law enforcement officials and Americans helping to provide security at the Olympics. He posted pictures this week of his visit to the Milan Joint Operations Center, which he said was charged with protecting the security of American athletes and all those who traveled to Milan for the Winter Games. He also posted a photo of his meeting with the U.S. ambassador to Italy.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Prosecutors at theInternational Criminal Courtwill begin presenting evidence Monday to support their charges against former Philippine PresidentRodrigo Duterte, detailing his alleged involvement in dozens of killings as part of his so-called war on drugs.

The ex-leader is facing three counts ofcrimes against humanityfor deadly anti-drugs crackdowns he oversaw, first while he served as mayor of the southern Philippine city of Davao and later as president.

Rights groups and families of victimshailed Duterte's arrest in March, saying it was a step forward for justice.

"We have waited for this for so long, for years we have waited, but we did not relent," Llore Pasco told reporters at a news conference ahead of the hearing. She said both of her sons left for work in May 2017 and never returned. Their bodies were later found riddled with bullets.

The hearing is not a trial, but allows prosecutors to outline their case in court. After weighing the evidence, judges have 60 days to decide whether or not to confirm the charges.

Duterte will not be present for the hearing at The Hague-based court. He waived his right to appear, writing in a letter to judges that he did not want to attend legal proceedings "that I will forget within minutes. I am old, tired, and frail."

He also called the charges against him an "outrageous lie."

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Last month, judges found the octogenarianwas fit to stand trial, afterpostponing an earlier hearingover concerns about his health.

Supporters of Duterte criticized the administration of current Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Duterte's political rival, for arresting and surrendering the former leader to a court whose jurisdiction they dispute. Detractors include his daughter, current Philippine Vice President Sara Dutertewho announced last weekthat she would seek the presidency in the 2028 elections.

Sheerah Escudero is worried about what will happen if another Duterte comes to power. The body of her 18-year-old brother was found wrapped in packaging tape in 2017. "We know that the same policy of killings will continue," she told reporters ahead of the hearing.

Prosecutors at the ICC announced in February 2018 that they would open a preliminary investigation into the violent drug crackdowns. In a move that human rights activists say was aimed at escaping accountability, Duterte, who was president at the time, announced a month later that the Philippines would leave the court.

Judgesrejected a requestfrom Duterte's legal team to throw out the case on the grounds that the court did not have jurisdiction because of the Philippine withdrawal. Countries can't "abuse" their right to withdraw from the court's foundational Rome Statute "by shielding persons from justice in relation to alleged crimes that are already under consideration," the September decision says.

An appeal of that decision is still pending.

Estimates of the death toll during Duterte's presidential term vary, from the more than 6,000 that the national police have reported to up to 30,000 claimed by human rights groups.

NEW YORK, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Children across parts of the U.S. Northeast will stay home on Monday as a powerful winter storm forced school closures and pushed offices and transit systems onto emergency schedules, with officials across the ‌region warning of heavy snow, strong winds and dangerous travel conditions.

Winter snow storm hits New York City

The storm has already snarled travel along the East Coast from ‌Washington to New England, with airlines canceling thousands of flights and officials urging people to stay off the roads. Winter weather in the Northeast may also slow the ​processing, transport and delivery of mail and packages, the U.S. Postal Service said.

New York City, the nation's largest school district, ordered all public school buildings closed for a traditional snow day, with no remote instruction and all after-school programs canceled.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani declared a state of emergency and ordered non-essential vehicles off city roads from Sunday night to noon Monday, saying plows and emergency crews needed the streets clear as snowfall intensified. ‌The city is under its first blizzard warning ⁠since 2017.

City offices will close for in-person services, and non-essential municipal employees may work remotely. "I'm urging every New Yorker to please stay home," Mamdani said.

REGIONAL EMERGENCIES

New York Governor Kathy Hochul said she had activated 100 National ⁠Guard members to assist in Long Island, New York City and the Lower Hudson Valley - areas expected to bear the brunt of the heavy snow and coastal winds. The storm also forced closure of the U.N. headquarters complex in Manhattan on Monday.

Parts of the Northeast could see up to two ​feet of ​snow and wind gusts could reach 70 mph, raising the risk of ​falling trees and power outages, according to the Department ‌of Homeland Security.

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In an update on Sunday, the agency said despite its ongoing funding lapse, the Federal Emergency Management Agency's disaster‑response work continues uninterrupted, including staff travel, emergency operations, and critical assistance for people affected by active disasters, with life safety and property protection remaining top priorities.

Last week, Reuters reported that President Donald Trump's administration had ordered FEMA to suspend the deployment of hundreds of aid workers to disaster-affected areas around the country while the DHS is shut down.

Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey declared an emergency and told state workers to stay home. Connecticut ‌barred commercial vehicles from limited-access highways Sunday evening, exempting only emergency and essential ​deliveries.

New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill declared a statewide emergency effective noon Sunday and urged ​residents to take the storm seriously. "People need to take ​this very seriously," she told CNN.

TRAVEL DISRUPTIONS

Air travel was among the earliest casualties. Flight-tracking site FlightAware showed more ‌than 5,000 flights already canceled for Monday. Aviation analytics firm ​Cirium said more than 25,000 flights ​were scheduled to depart from the United States on Monday, with cancellations also rising for Tuesday, especially at major Northeast airports.

NJ TRANSIT suspended bus, light rail and Access Link service Sunday evening and halted statewide rail service by Sunday night, with operations ​resuming only when conditions allow.

In New England, the ‌Rhode Island Public Transit Authority said it would suspend all service — including its RIde paratransit program — from Sunday night ​through Monday and would announce plans to resume service only when conditions improve.

(Reporting by Rajesh Kumar Singh in Chicago; ​Additional reporting by Tatiana Bautzer in New York; editing by Diane Craft)

By Xiuhao Chen, James Pomfret and Hyunjoo Jin

BEIJING/HONG KONG/SEOUL, Feb 23 (Reuters) - China is making a "full assessment" of the U.S. Supreme Court's tariff ruling and has urged Washington to lift "unilateral tariff measures" on its trading partners, warning that fighting between the two ‌countries is "harmful".

The comments from China's Commerce Ministry on Monday came days after the highest U.S. court dealt President Donald Trump a stinging ‌defeat by striking down many of the tariffs he has used in a global trade war, including some against rival China.

Within hours of the ruling, Trump said he would impose ​a new 10% duty on U.S. imports from all countries starting on Tuesday, only then to lift it to 15% in a move that seemed to surprise some of his own officials.

"U.S. unilateral tariffs ... violate international trade rules and U.S. domestic law, and are not in the interests of any party," the Chinese ministry said.

"Cooperation between China and the United States is beneficial to both sides, but fighting is harmful," it added.

Trade and tariffs are expected to dominate the ‌agenda for both China and the U.S. ahead of ⁠a highly anticipated visit by Trump to China in late March and early April - when he will meet his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.

Trump's planned new levies are grounded in a separate but untested law, known as Section 122, that ⁠allows tariffs up to 15% but requires congressional approval to extend them after 150 days. No president has previously invoked Section 122, and its use could lead to further legal challenges.

"China will continue to pay close attention to this and firmly safeguard its interests," the Commerce Ministry said.

Gao Lingyun, a research fellow at the Chinese ​Academy ​of Social Sciences, was cited by state-run Global Times as saying the U.S. tariff ​decisions are "highly arbitrary" and were being wielded as a "political weapon."

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"Tariff ‌policy should be based on rigorous assessment, not political preference," he was quoted as saying.

The U.S. court's ruling invalidated a number of tariffs that the Trump administration had imposed on Asian export powerhouses from China and South Korea to Japan and Taiwan, the world's largest chipmaker and a key player in tech supply chains.

UNCERTAINTY LOOMS AMID NEW GLOBAL TARIFFS

South Korea said it would continue to consult with the U.S. to maintain a "balance of interests" between the two countries, while its industry minister said there was concern among officals across industries, including cars, batteries and chips.

"The public and private sector need ‌to work together to secure Korean companies' export competitiveness and diversify their markets," Industry ​Minister Kim Jung-kwan said on Monday.

India said it had delayed plans to send a trade ​delegation to Washington this week to finalise an interim trade deal, ​chiefly because of fresh tariff uncertainty out of the U.S., according to a source in its trade ministry.

U.S. tariffs on ‌Indian goods were set to be cut to 18%, while ​India agreed to buy U.S. items ​worth $500 billion over five years, ranging from energy supplies to aircraft and parts, precious metals and technology products.

In Europe, meanwhile, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde warned of business risks, saying companies want predictability, not legal battles. She said any new tariff plans must be clearly ​defined to avoid further challenges and ensure they ‌comply with the U.S. Constitution.

"To sort of shake it up again is going to bring about disruptions," Lagarde said on CBS' "Face the ​Nation".

(Reporting by Xiuhao Chen, James Pomfret and Ryan Woo in Beijing and Hong Kong; Manoj Kumar in India; Hyunjoo Jin ​in South Korea; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree, Christian Schmollinger and Michael Perry)