Archive March 13, 2025

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 34 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder punched their ticket to the playoffs with an impressive 118-112 victory over the reigning champion Boston Celtics in a potential NBA Finals sneak preview.

Gilgeous-Alexander enhanced his credentials as favourite for the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award with a superb performance to silence Boston’s TD Garden home crowd in an absorbing duel settled by a burst of fourth-quarter Thunder scoring.

The Canadian point guard shot 11-of-20 from the field to finish with five rebounds, seven assists and 34 points, including 10-of-11 from the free throw line.

The victory lifted Western Conference leaders Oklahoma City to a 54-12 win-loss record for the season and guaranteed their place in next month’s playoffs.

Wednesday’s win over a vastly more experienced Boston lineup marked another mature display from a Thunder side that is the youngest in the league.

Oklahoma City effectively sealed victory late in the fourth, pulling away to open up a double-digit lead with just under two minutes remaining after Cason Wallace nailed a superb 24-foot three-pointer followed by a driving reverse layup.

Gilgeous-Alexander said the Thunder’s defensive solidity amid a barrage of 63 attempted threes from Boston had provided the foundation for the win.

“We were able to get stops, and that’s been the trend for us recently”, he told ESPN.

“When you’re coming down the stretch against a good basketball team with good players, you’ve got to find a way, and we did so tonight and gave ourselves a chance”.

While Gilgeous-Alexander grabbed the scoring headlines, the towering Chet Holmgren caught the eye with a double-double of 23 points with 15 rebounds.

“We all know the player Chet Holmgren is”, Gilgeous-Alexander said of his 22-year-old teammate. “He’s a stud, and he’s going to be a stud for a very long time. He’ll continue to grow and continue to be special”.

Boston’s scoring was led by Jayson Tatum with 33 points, while Derrick White had 22.

Despite missing Jaylin Williams from the lineup, the Thunder finished with seven players scoring in double figures against the Celtics.

Oklahoma City haven’t won an NBA title since 1979, when the franchise was located in Washington state and they were called the Seattle SuperSonics.

The Canadian government has announced plans to ease sanctions on Syria as the interim government in Damascus seeks international support.

Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly on Wednesday said Ottawa would provide 84 million Canadian dollars ($59m) in new funding for humanitarian assistance. It would also allow funds to be sent through certain banks, such as the Central Bank of Syria, she said.

Meanwhile, Canada’s ambassador to Lebanon – Stefanie McCollum – has been nominated to serve in a parallel role as the non-resident ambassador to Syria.

The Canadian government issued a statement announcing its “commitment to deliver much-needed humanitarian assistance to the Syrian people and to support a transition to an inclusive and peaceful future”.

It added that “these sanctions had been used as a tool against the Assad regime and easing them will help to enable the stable and sustainable delivery of aid, support local redevelopment efforts, and contribute to a swift recovery for Syria”.

Many Western nations, including Canada, placed a range of sanctions on Syria under President Bashar al-Assad, who was toppled late last year by rebel forces led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).

“Canada is also taking steps to ease existing sanctions for a period of 6 months, to support democratisation, stabilisation, and the delivery of aid to and within Syria during this period of transition”, the Canadian government said in its statement.

While the Syrian interim government has promised to protect its religious and ethnic minorities, security forces have reportedly killed hundreds of Alawite civilians in recent days.

According to the United Kingdom-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, more than 1, 500 people have been killed in outbreaks of violence in Syria this month, including at least 1, 068 civilians.

“We call on all parties to prioritise the work toward de-escalation and national reconciliation and prevent the country from descending into fragmentation and violence”, said Joly.

Riot police in Buenos Aires used tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon on Wednesday to disperse stone-throwing demonstrators angered by the government’s move.

Authorities said the injured were taken to hospital, among them a police officer who had been shot and a protester who had been hit in the head with a tear gas canister.

Retirees have been gathering each week to protest against cuts to their pensions, which have dried up since libertarian Milei took office in late 2023. On Wednesday, they teamed up with football fans from several clubs to stage a demonstration.

Al Jazeera’s Daniel Schweimler, reporting from Buenos Aires, said thousands joined in the protests after a video went viral of an elderly man in a football jersey being beaten by police.

Jose, a pensioner who joined the protest, told Al Jazeera that retirees have been denied access to medicine and have had their pensions cut.

Football fans were further angered after a resolution was published by Argentina’s Ministry of Security on Wednesday, banning anyone who engages in traffic and security disruption and “violent behaviour” from entering soccer stadiums.

The crowd chanted “Milei, garbage, you are the dictatorship”!, comparing his rule with that of Argentina’s 1976-1983 military government, as clashes erupted near the Congress building and the landmark Plaza de Mayo.

Among the injuries, the most serious was to photojournalist Pablo Grillo, seen in social media videos being hit by a projectile while taking pictures. His father Fabian told reporters that his wounded son’s life was in danger and blamed Milei’s government.

Drastic austerity

The demonstrators – many waving national flags and pictures of the late football great Diego Maradona – were met by a major security presence outside Congress, which was in session when the protests began.

Columns of riot police on foot, backed by officers on motorbikes, fought for more than two hours to clear a central avenue of protesters who threw firecrackers, stun grenades and stones taken from broken-up sidewalks.

A patrol car and garbage cans were set on fire, and several streets were barricaded with debris.

A video of a police officer pushing and hitting an elderly woman who fell to the ground, her head bleeding, has been widely shared on social media.

Emotions have been running high in the South American country with Tuesday’s start of the trial of seven medical staff accused of homicide over Maradona’s death in 2020.

The elderly Maradona died alone in a rented house in Buenos Aires, where he was being cared for after brain surgery. His medical team has been accused of being criminally negligent in his care.

In a year of drastic austerity, pensioners have taken the most pain, with pension increases having fallen far short of inflation. Nearly 60 percent of retirees receive only the minimum amount, equivalent to some $340 per month.