Perkins Out for OKC
Oklahoma City Thunder center Kendrick Perkins did not practice Tuesday and his availability for Game 2 of the team's second-round series against the Los Angeles Lakers is uncertain after Perkins re-aggravated a hip injury in the series opener Monday night.
"If he's ready to go, he'll play," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. "If he's not, we won't play him. But we'll see how he feels. We have all day tomorrow. We have treatments today, treatments tomorrow and he'll be a game-time decision."
Perkins initially suffered the injury in the final game of the Thunder's first-round series against the Dallas Mavericks. With eight days off between series, Perkins was able to recover in time to play the Lakers.
Perkins initially suffered the injury in the final game of the Thunder's first-round series against the Dallas Mavericks. With eight days off between series, Perkins was able to recover in time to play the Lakers.
But less than two minutes into the third quarter Monday night he went up for a dunk and grimaced on his way back down the court. Perkins came out of the game 15 seconds later and went back to the locker room to be examined.
Perkins averaged 5.1 points and 6.5 rebounds this season. He had four points, one rebounds and two blocks Monday.
The Lakers lost to OKC 119 to 90
Euro 2012: Rio Ferdinand to be left out of England squad
England manager Roy Hodgson is set to omit Rio Ferdinand from his squad for Euro 2012 while fellow defender Kyle Walker misses out through injury.
Ferdinand, 33, has not played for the national side since the 2-2 draw with Switzerland in June last year.
The 23-man squad will be named on Wednesday.
It is understood that Chelsea defender John Terry, who was stripped of the captaincy for a second time in February, will be included.
Former England captain Ferdinand has been hampered by back problems in recent years but made 30 Premier League appearances this season, the most times he has featured in a campaign since 2007-08.
James Anderson named England cricketer of the year
England fast bowler James Anderson has been named cricketer of the year for the 2011-12 season by the England and Wales Cricket Board.
In the last year, Anderson took his 250th Test wicket and rose to fifth on the list of England's all-time wicket-takers in Test cricket.
The 29-year-old Anderson beat off competition from Stuart Broad and Alastair Cook to win the award.
Broad won the fans' moment of the year award for his hat-trick against India in last summer's Trent Bridge Test Match.
Charlotte Edwards won the women's award at the ceremony at Lord's.
Meanwhile, England captain Andrew Strauss will be presented with the ICC Test Championship mace tomorrow.
Strauss led England to the top of the Test rankings on the annual cut-off date of April 1 and will accept the mace and a cheque for just over 108 thousand pounds on behalf of the England and Wales Cricket Board.
The ceremony will be led by former West Indies skipper and chairman of the ICC cricket committee Clive Lloyd.
Derrick Rose out 8-12 months
Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose will be out approximately eight to 12 months after undergoing surgery to repair his left ACL, said Dr. Brian Cole, who performed the surgery on Saturday.
The 23-year-old Rose tore the ACL on April 28 during the first game of the Bulls' Eastern Conference quarterfinals series against the Philadelphia 76ers. Without Rose, the Bulls became only the fifth No. 1 seed to lose to an eighth seed as the Sixers won in six games.
Derrick is doing great," Cole said Tuesday at a press conference at Rush University Medical Center. "The surgery went extremely well. Really no surprises. It was pretty routine.
"We're at this point very optimistic. ... We think of recovery as the long process that's in stages. But the short answer is the time frame we believe an athlete of this caliber generally requires is about eight to 12 months. Sometimes shorter, sometimes longer."
That means Rose is likely to miss at least the first two months of next season, or he could miss the entire season.
Bulls general manager Gar Forman said Rose was ready for rehabilitation
"There was a period when he was down. But I think his spirts are good under the circumstances, and I think he's ready to aggressively attack this."
Source-ESPN
Halle Berry Addresses Pre-School Blow Up with Paparrazi
Halle Berry explained that she had every right to go off on those snooping photographers stocking her at her daughter’s school.
The actress lost her head when paparazzi posted up outside of her daughter Nahala’s pre-school. But she told Mario Lopez folks better watch out when it comes to her baby.
“I hate that I lost my cool, but you know, I’m human. That happens and when it comes to my daughter. I’m ferocious.”
Even if she is a celebrity, Berry admitted it would be nice to have some privacy.
“You know, I don’t know … I’ve been struggling for years,” she lamented as they discussed the celebrity privacy issue. “There are no laws here that protect our children and as a mom, coming to the school … not only my child, but all the children that are there. It’s just wrong, wrong, wrong.”
She even halfway joked about going to the president to do something about the issue, expressing that the children’s lives are essentially in danger.
Maybe one day the government will care.
Also, Berry was pleased to be a part of the recent EIF/Revlon Run/Walk for Women, which raises money for cancer research.
“I’ve lost so many people. I know people struggling right now with cancer.”
Former prime minister hangs up his political boots
FORMER Bahamas prime minister Hubert Ingraham says he will resign as leader of the main opposition Free National Movement (FNM) on May 26, when the party holds a special convention to formally elect a new leader.
Speaking at a “Thank You” meeting over the weekend, Ingraham, who led his FNM into defeat in the May 7 general elections, said that he has spent more than half of his 64 years in politics.
“I ran again this time to head the government for a fourth time; the Bahamian public rejected my message and denied my request. I accept their determination and in the Westminster tradition of electoral democracy which we adhere to, I have determined to end my public life which has spanned more than half my own lifetime,” he said.
Ingraham told the party faithfuls that he hopes they would “accept my determination to retire from public life and to return your seat to you”.
He said he would be supportive of whoever emerges as the party leader, adding, “I leave with my reputation intact; I gave you decent, honourable and incorruptible service. I did my best for you and I leave you now much, much better off than when we began”.
Cuba may lift travel restrictions
A high-ranking Cuban official has hinted that after fifty years of rigid control, the government may be on the verge of lifting many overseas travel restrictions.
Parliament Chief Ricardo Alarcon said a radical and profound change is weeks away.
It is being speculated that the much-hated exit visa could soon be a thing of the past, even if Raul Castro's government continues to limit the travel of doctors, scientists and others in sensitive positions to prevent a brain drain.
Other top officials have warned against over-optimism, leaving Cubans wondering how far the administration is willing to go.
In the past 18 months, President Castro has removed prohibitions on some private enterprise, legalised real estate and car sales, and allowed compatriots to hire employees.
European, US Markets Fall on Greek Uncertainty
European stock markets fell sharply Monday as traders voiced new concerns about political uncertainty in Greece and whether it could become the first country to drop out of the 17-nation euro currency union.
Stock indexes in London, Paris and Frankfurt all dropped about two percent, while major exchanges in New York were down a smaller amount in afternoon trading.
The value of the euro currency also fell below $1.29 for the first time in nearly four months.
One European market analyst, Theodore Krintas, said the inability of Greek political leaders to form a new government and the uncertainty of whether they will adhere to an austerity program to cut the country's deficit is leading to turmoil on financial markets.
“I believe that the markets would like the country to vote or actually to take on a new vision, a viable vision for the next 10 to 15 years. Markets are very comfortable with discounting the next 10 to 15 years and very, very uncomfortable with uncertainty and what we are feeding the markets, what Greece is feeding the markets the past one and a half years now is uncertainty and uncertainty only.”
European leaders pressured Greece to adhere to terms of the agreement they reached earlier this year calling for sharp social spending cuts, higher taxes and elimination of government jobs in exchange for approving the second international bailout for the country in the last two years.
As the finance chiefs of European governments gathered in Brussels for a meeting, their message for Athens was stern. Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said Greece's continued role in the eurozone depended on it “complying with the rules of the game.”
The German finance ministry said the “only and right” position for Greece is to adhere to its pledge on austerity measures.
Fallout Begins from Big JPMorgan Chase Loss
The fallout has begun from a $2 billion financial trading loss at the U.S.-based JPMorgan Chase investment company.
The firm said Monday that Ina Drew, JPMorgan's chief investment officer and one of Wall Street's highest paid female executives, is retiring. The company paid her $29 million in the last two years for her profitable investment trading decisions.
But she is leaving after three decades at the firm in the aftermath of the loss in the company's London division that she headed. Other officials are rumored to be quitting. JPMorgan named Matt Zames, another of its officials, to replace Drew.
JPMorgan's chief executive, Jamie Dimon, has often lobbied U.S. government officials in Washington against tighter controls of complex financial transactions involving millions of dollars. But last week he said the transactions that resulted in the huge loss were “poorly reviewed, poorly executed and poorly monitored” by key company officials.
Blast Kills 9 in Afghan Market
Afghan officials say a bomb blast at a market in the country's north has killed nine people, including a local official.
Police say Monday's explosion struck a shop in the Ghormuch district of Faryab province. A council member was among those killed by the remote-controlled bomb.
It is unclear who was responsible for the attack, which came a day after a top peace negotiator was gunned down in the capital, Kabul. Arsala Rahmani was a senior member of Afghanistan's 70-member High Peace Council.
Hundreds of mourners attended Rahmani's funeral on Monday. A military honor guard carried the former high-ranking Taliban official's coffin to a cemetery in Kabul.
The insurgent group denied responsibility for Rahmani's assassination.
Afghan officials expect violence to increase as the insurgent group recently announced the start of its spring offensive.
Afghan forces are increasingly taking control of security, as international combat troops withdraw by a 2014 deadline.
On Sunday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced the launch of the security transition's third of five phases.
Under the third phase, security control will be transferred from international to Afghan forces in all of Afghanistan's provincial capitals, and in all of Uruzgan, Kapisa and Parwan provinces.
President Karzai says after the phase is completed, 75 percent of the entire Afghan population will be under Afghan control.