Shooting woes sink Magic as Pistons even up series in G2

Cade Cunningham scored 27 points and had 11 assists and Tobias Harris added 16 points and 11 rebounds on Wednesday night as the Detroit Pistons bounced back to even their Eastern Conference playoff series with a 98-83 victory over the visiting Orlando Magic.

Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson each had 11 points for the Pistons, who snapped an 11-game home playoff game losing streak, the longest in NBA history. Duncan Robinson and Isaiah Stewart also scored 10 apiece for Detroit, which last won a home playoff game in 2008.

"It means a lot," said Harris of ending the home playoff skid. "Obviously, we've heard it. (We) heard it last year, but good one for us. But, game three is the game that we have to be ready for. It's obviously great for our fans to be able to be in our arena to give us that support. They're huge for us. They've been huge for us all season long. To get a big victory for them is awesome but we got to go on the road and handle business."

Jalen Suggs scored 19 points and Paolo Banchero added 18 for the eighth-seeded Magic. Franz Wagner and Desmond Bane also had 12 points for Orlando which connected on only 26 of 80 field-goal attempts, including just eight of 32 3-pointers.

Game 3 of the best-of-seven series is Saturday in Orlando.

After a defensive struggle in the first half for both teams, Detroit broke the game open in the third quarter, starting with a 30-3 run. The Pistons, who scored the first 11 points before Bane nailed a 3-pointer, outscored the Magic 38-16 in the quarter. Orlando hit only five shots, committed seven turnovers and trailed by as much as 27 points.

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"I think they came out, added a little bit of a level of aggression," Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. "Now, that first play we ran, they called offensive foul on Des (Desmond Bane), and then from there, they started picking up some heat, turned us over a couple of times. We missed a few shots at the rim, and that momentum just changed the game."

The Pistons maintained a comfortable cushion through the final quarter, allowing the Magic to get no closer than 97-83 with less than a minute remaining.

"We just play defense," Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. "It's that simple. When we play defense at the level we're capable of, it triggers everything for us. We can be an elite defensive team, a disruptive defensive team that pushes and gets us transition easy baskets, and that's what we did."

The first quarter was a defensive battle with the Pistons holding on for a 25-21 lead. Detroit, which led by as much as seven points, held Orlando to 26.9% shooting from the field while the Magic forced eight Pistons turnovers and briefly went in front 21-20.

The two teams continued the defensive intensity in the second quarter, which featured four ties and two lead changes. Detroit took an eight-point lead early in the quarter, but Orlando scored four of the last five points to tie the game at 46 at halftime.

--Field Level Media

byAlpha World

in

April 23, 2026

Shooting woes sink Magic as Pistons even up series in G2

Cade Cunningham scored 27 points and had 11 assists and Tobias Harris added 16 points and 11 rebounds on Wednesday night as the Detroit...

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Woman arrested at LAX, accused of brokering weapons deals for Iran

An Iranian woman who resides in Southern California was arrested on suspicion of “trafficking arms on behalf” of the Iranian government, an official said on Sunday, April 19.

Shamim Mafi, 44, was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport on April 18, said Bill Essayli, first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California.

According to a criminal complaint, Mafi is accused of having “conspired with others to perpetrate an unlawful scheme to broker the sale of weapons, weapons components, and ammunition on behalf of the Government of Iran,” violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

The International Emergency Economic Powers Act gives the president “broad authority to regulate a variety of economic transactions following a declaration of national emergency,” according to theCongressional Research Service. PresidentDonald Trumphas used thislaw to impose sweeping tariffs.

See how Middle Eastern countries are caught in the crossfire of the war launched by the United States and Israel against Iran.
Bahrain
Smoke rises in the sky after blasts were heard in Manama, Bahrain, Feb. 28, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Syria
Syrian children stand on the wreckage of an Iranian rocket that was reportedly intercepted by Israeli forces in the southern countryside of Quneitra, near the Golan Heights, close to the town of Ghadir al-Bustan.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Iraq
A plume of smoke rises near Erbil International Airport in Erbil on March 1, 2026. Loud explosions were heard early on March 1 near Erbil airport, which hosts US-led coalition troops in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, an AFP journalist said.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Iraq
Members and officers from the Iraqi Interior Ministry's Explosives Directorate inspect the fuel tank of a rocket that landed in a rural village in the Siyahi area near the city of Hilla in the central Babil province on March 1, 2026. Iraq, which has recently regained a sense of stability but has long been a proxy battleground between the U.S. and Iran, warned that it did not want to be dragged into the war that started on Feb. 28 with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Qatar
A prayer appealing to God for protection is projected on the dome of al-Hazm shopping mall in Doha on March 1, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Qatar
Motorists drive past a plume of smoke rising from a reported Iranian strike in the industrial district of Doha on March 1, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Bahrain
A building that was damaged by an Iranian drone attack, after Israel and the U.S. launched strikes on Iran, in Manama, Bahrain, March 1, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Saudi Arabia
The empty terminal at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh is pictured on March 1, 2026. Global airlines cancelled flights across the Middle East after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Saturday, plunging the region into a new conflict. In Saudi Arabia, Iranian missiles targeting Riyadh's international airport and the Prince Sultan Airbase, which houses U.S. military personnel, were intercepted, a Gulf source briefed on the matter told AFP.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> United Arab Emirates
A food delivery bike drive close to a plume of smoke rising from the Zayed Port following a reported Iranian strike in Abu Dhabi on March 1, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> United Arab Emirates
An oil tanker is pictured offshore in Dubai on March 1, 2026. Attacks have damaged tankers, and many ship owners, oil majors and trading houses suspended crude oil, fuel and liquefied natural gas shipments via the Strait of Hormuz.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Oman
Smoke billows from an oil tanker under U.S. sanctions, that was hit off Oman's Musandam peninsula, in this screen grab from a video obtained by Reuters on March 1, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Kuwait
Smoke rises from a reported Iranian strike in the area where the U.S. Embassy is located in Kuwait City on March 2, 2026. Black smoke was seen rising from the U.S. embassy in Kuwait City on March 2 after the latest volley of Iranian strikes, an AFP correspondent saw,

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Saudi Arabia
A satellite image shows efforts to control a fire as smoke rises in the Ras Tanura oil refinery in Saudi Arabia after a drone attack, amid the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran, in Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia March 2, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Turkey
People make their way after crossing from Iran into Turkey at the Kapikoy Border Gate in eastern Van province,Turkey, March 2, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> United Arab Emirates
Delivery persons ride motorcycles along a road as a tall smoke plume billows following an explosion in the Fujairah industrial zone on March 3, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> United Arab Emirates
Pieces of missiles and drones recovered after Iran's strikes are displayed during a press briefing by the UAE government held in Abu Dhabi on March 3, 2026. Iran stepped up its attacks on economic targets and US missions across the Middle East on March 3, as the US president warned it was "too late" for the Islamic republic to seek talks to escape the war. As drones and missiles crashed into oil facilities and U.S. embassies in the Gulf, Washington's ally Israel bombarded targets in Iran and pushed troops deeper into Lebanon to battle the Tehran-backed militia Hezbollah.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Lebanon
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike on the southern suburbs of Beirut on March 3, 2026. The Israeli military issued new evacuation orders for dozens of locations in Lebanon on March 3, including warning residents in two southern Beirut neighbourhoods to stay away from several buildings ahead of an imminent operation.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Lebanon
Emergency personnel work at the site of an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, Lebanon, March 3, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Lebanon
Rescuers gather at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the Jamaa Islamiya offices in the southern Lebanese coastal city of Sidon on March 3, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> United Arab Emirates
Tankers are seen off the coast of the Fujairah, as Iran vows to close the Strait of Hormuz, amid the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran, in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, March 3, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />

See how the Iran war’s fallout is hitting the Middle East

See how Middle Eastern countries are caught in the crossfire of thewar launched by the United States and Israel against Iran.BahrainSmoke rises in the sky after blasts were heard in Manama, Bahrain, Feb. 28, 2026.

According to the complaint, Mafi, with the assistance of an unnamed co-conspirator, “brokered the sale of 55,000 bomb fuses to the Sudanese Ministry of Defense.” In addition, they “brokered the sale of millions of rounds of ammunition from Iran to Sudan.”

Mafi is accused of brokering weapons deals on behalf of Iran through a company she owns with a co-conspirator as recent as early 2025, according to the complaint. That includes one contract valued at over 60 million euros for a sale of Iranian-made drones to Sudan’s ministry of defense, according to the complaint. Other items that Mafi brokered, or attempted to broker, included “bombs” and “assault weapons,” according to the complaint.

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Essayli said that Mafi is expected to make her first court appearance on April 20. It’s not immediately clear who represents Mafi.

According to the complaint, Mafi was born in Iran but is a lawful permanent resident of the United States and maintains a residence in Woodland Hills of Los Angeles.

She frequently traveled to and from Los Angeles, and Mafi “only spends part of her time” in the U.S., according to the complaint.

Mafi faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison if convicted, according to Essayli.

Paris Barraza is a reporter covering Los Angeles and Southern California for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her atpbarraza@usatodayco.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Los Angeles woman arrested, accused of 'trafficking arms' for Iran

byAlpha World

in

April 23, 2026

Woman arrested at LAX, accused of brokering weapons deals for Iran

An Iranian woman who resides in Southern California was arrested on suspicion of “trafficking arms on behalf” of the Iranian government...

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Alabama rewards Kalen DeBoer and Nate Oats with raises and contract extensions

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Alabama has rewarded football coachKalen DeBoerand men's basketball coachNate Oatsfor getting their teams to the postseason.

Alabama QBs Football

DeBoer is getting a $2 million raise — up to $12.5 million — and a two-year contract extension after leading the Crimson Tide to the quarterfinals of theCollege Football Playoff, where Alabama lost to eventual national champion Indiana.

Oats is getting a $1.2 million raise — up to $7.2 million — and a two-year contract extension after leading Alabama to the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16, where the Crimson Tide lost to eventual national champion Michigan. Oats' new deal had beenagreed toearlier this month.

Alabama announced both deals Wednesday during a board of trustees meeting.

DeBoer had been scheduled to make $10.5 million during 2026. His salary was set to increase $250,000 annually. He is now under contract through the 2033 season.

Oats had been scheduled to make $6.02 million in 2026-27. He made $5.5 million this past season. He is now under contract through the 2032 season.

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DeBoer, courted by Michigan to replace fired coach Sherrone Moore, now has a $10 million buyout through January 2027. It drops to $8 million the following year and $6 million through January 2029.

“We are excited about the opportunity to continue our time in Tuscaloosa with this contract extension,” DeBoer said in a statement. "This university has become a special place to us, and I look forward to working to ensure that Alabama football remains at the forefront of college football.

"This program has a long history of success and an unmatched tradition that I was eager to be a part of two years ago, and I cannot wait to keep coaching our guys and bring more championships to Alabama.”

DeBoer is entering his third season in Tuscaloosa since replacing legendary coach Nick Saban. The Tide are 20-8 in his tenure, with a Southeastern Conference title game appearance and a first-round CFP victory over Oklahoma.

But he also has blowout losses to Indiana in the Rose Bowl and Georgia in the SEC title game on his Alabama resume as well as regular-season upsets to Oklahoma, Vanderbilt and Florida State.

AP college sports:https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports

byAlpha World

in

April 23, 2026

Alabama rewards Kalen DeBoer and Nate Oats with raises and contract extensions

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Alabama has rewarded football coachKalen DeBoerand men's basketball coachNate Oatsfor getting their teams t...

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Los Angeles becomes the first major school district to require screen time limits

The Los Angeles Unified School District’s board voted Tuesday to restrict students’ use of laptops and tablets in class and encourage pen-and-paper assignments instead, making it the first major American school system to do so.

The sweeping resolution, which passed 6-0 with one recusal, requires the district to create a screen time policy for each grade and subject, prohibit students in first grade and younger from using devices, clarify the process for parents to opt their child out of using technology at school, and audit its education technology contracts.

“We have responsibility as one of the largest districts to draw a line in the sand when it comes to this recalibration and start the conversation,” Nick Melvoin, the board member in charge of drafting the resolution, said in an interview ahead of the vote.

The vote follows months of pressure from parents who started a group called Schools Beyond Screens, speaking at board meetings, on social media, at district listening sessions, and in private meetings with administrators and board members about problems their children faced when required to use school-issued Chromebooks and iPads.

Families previouslytold NBC News that their children’s gradeshad dropped as they became distracted playing video games in class, watching YouTube, and scrolling social media and internet forums. Parents and teachers also complained that some middle schools reserved one day a week for students to complete online math and reading quizzes, which disrupted unrelated classes such as gym, music and science.

“This is an historic reform that we hope will trickle down to the rest of the country very, very quickly,” said Anya Meksin, a mother of two and a deputy director of Schools Beyond Screens, which she said has 2,000 members locally. “We see this as a big cultural shift into how schools approach technology.”

The resolution requires the district to present a detailed screen time policy to the school board in June, to take effect in the 2026-2027 school year. The policy must largely restrict elementary and middle school students from using devices during lunch and recess, and it must prohibit students from seeking out YouTube videos on their own, according to the resolution.

Backlash against tech in classrooms

• In Los Angeles, a growing contingent of parents say school-mandated iPads are leading to behavior problems.

• Internal documents reveal Google’s work in schools aims to create a “pipeline of future users.”

• Parents are forming a loose network teaching one another how to opt their children out of school-issued Chromebooks and iPads.

• Lawmakers in 16 states proposed restrictions on classroom technology this year, including screen time limits.

The resolution is a remarkable change in direction for the nation’s second-largest school district following several years of investment in education technology, or ed tech, which was championed by Superintendent Alberto Carvalho. Carvalho was placed on leave in February after the FBI searched his Los Angeleshome and office, reportedly in connection withafailed technology companythat the districtpaid $3 millionto develop anonfunctional AI chatbot. Through an attorney, Carvalho has denied wrongdoing, and he has not been charged with a crime.

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During board meetings last fall, following parent complaints about excessive screen time in schools, Carvalho dismissed their concerns as “newly informed privilege” and framed providing devices to students as a matter of equity. “Do we have a specific to digital tool addiction in America? Yes we do — schools are not the reason, not even close,” he said at a September board meeting. “Parental responsibility is very much a part of this equation.”

The district defended Chromebook and iPad use in the classroom in a statement this week that said the devices improve education and the administration guides “schools to focus on how technology meaningfully supports learning rather than simply how long it is used.”

“Providing universal access to devices is a core equity strategy, helping eliminate disparities tied to income, geography, ability and family resources so that all students can participate in modern learning,” the district’s statement continued.

At Tuesday’s board meeting, acting Superintendent Andres Chait spoke positively about the resolution, as four dozen parents filled the room adorned with Schools Beyond Screens stickers and small signs reading “Teachers Over Tech” and “Relationships = Results.” The parents erupted into applause once the vote was tallied.

A grassroots movement of parents emerged nationwide over the past several months in the wake of cellphone bans in schools to demand that classrooms become less reliant on technology. Organized local coalitions have formed across the country calling on school districts to scale back policies to provide every student their own laptop or tablet, which are prevalent in the vast majority of schools. Some parents havedemanded to opt their children outof using devices at all for classwork, andan NBC News analysis found legislation proposed in 16 statesthis year that called for some sort of restriction on screen time or internet use in schools.

A handful of smaller school districts — including inBeverly Hills;Bend, Oregon; andBurke County, North Carolina — have enacted similar policies pushing a return to analog assignments in the classroom, but Los Angeles is the first of its size and in a major city to take on this approach amid parent backlash to screen time.

Melvoin and Tanya Ortiz Franklin, a board member co-sponsoring the resolution, each said they decided to introduce it following meetings with members of the Schools Beyond Screens parent coalition and after seeing kindergarten classrooms full of children with their heads buried in iPads and high schools populated by teenagers bending over Chromebooks.

“Let us model for our young people that adults are also learning, and we’re adjusting the rules and regulations that help their learning,” Ortiz Franklin said in an interview.

Los Angeles Unified’s administration will review the policy annually and survey students, parents and staff on it. And the district will have to figure out a way to track how long students spend on devices and specific software, then share regular reports with parents.

byAlpha World

in

April 22, 2026

Los Angeles becomes the first major school district to require screen time limits

The Los Angeles Unified School District’s board voted Tuesday to restrict students’ use of laptops and tablets in class and encourage p...

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Cruise ships escape through Strait of Hormuz and will carry passengers within weeks

All sixcruise shipsthat had been stranded in Dubai since the start of theIranwar have been able to clear theStrait of Hormuzand are set to resume passenger sailings within weeks.

Within hours of the first US-Israeli attack on Iran on 28 February, Tehran dispatched missiles and drones laden with explosives at key economic infrastructure in the Gulf states. Six cruise ships were operating in the region at the time.

MSC Euribia, Celestyal Discoveryand the Tui shipMein Schiff 4were in UAE ports when hostilities broke out.Celestyal JourneyandMein Schiff 5were in Doha. Saudi-ownedAroya Manarawas in the eastern port of Dammam.

All passengers and most of the crew from the ships were evacuated and flown home, althoughsome had to stay on board for several days. Only the essential crew for navigation remained.

A spokesperson for Celestyal Cruises said: “On Friday 17 April,Celestyal Discovery, under the command of Captain Nikolaos Vasileiou, became the first cruise vessel to depart the Arabian Gulf, executing a carefully coordinated voyage plan developed in close collaboration with regional authorities and maritime security teams.

“This pioneering movement established a safe and proven route through the Strait, enabling other cruise operators to follow.

“Building on this, on Saturday, April 18,Celestyal Journey, led by Captain Angelos Vasilakos, successfully navigated the same passage, heading a wider convoy of cruise vessels departing the region using the established corridor.”

Data from CruiseMapper.com indicatesCelestyal Journeydeparted from Doha on the afternoon of Friday 17 April and sailed east towards the Strait of Hormuz.Mein Schiff 5sailed from the Qatari port late on Friday night.

The final vessel to leave the Gulf wasAroya Manara, which sailed from Dammam in the early hours of Saturday morning and cleared the strait late on Sunday night.

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All six ships sailed close to the Omani shore of the Strait of Hormuz, staying as far as possible from Iranian territory.

The first five ships to leave the Gulf are understood to be sailing around the Cape – rather than the much shorter journey through the Suez Canal – before resuming scheduled sailings in Europe in May.

Aroya Manarais sailing around the Arabian peninsula to Jeddah on the western coast of Saudi Arabia.

Wybcke Meier, chief executive of Tui Cruises, said: “The past weeks have presented all of us with extraordinary challenges. My special thanks go to our captains, the crews, as well as all teams on board and on shore, who, with great professionalism, prudence, and dedication, have contributed to managing this situation.

“We are therefore all the more pleased that we can now return swiftly to regular operations and deploy our entire fleet as planned.”

A spokesperson for MSC Cruises said: “MSC Euribiais on course to resume her Northern Europe season, and as the ship will now be able to return sooner than previously anticipated, MSC Cruises confirms that the cruise departing on 16 May from Kiel (and 17 May from Copenhagen) will now operate as originally scheduled, with all subsequent sailings operating as planned.”

Dozens of cruises have been cancelled while the ships were stranded in the Gulf, costing the companies tens of millions of pounds.

Several other parts of the world were already off-limits due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine – notably the Black Sea and the key Baltic port of St Petersburg.

Read more:No aviation fuel crisis for the UK (yet) – but some key questions and answers

byAlpha World

in

April 22, 2026

Cruise ships escape through Strait of Hormuz and will carry passengers within weeks

All sixcruise shipsthat had been stranded in Dubai since the start of theIranwar have been able to clear theStrait of Hormuzand are set...

Read More