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Scoot Henderson and the Blazers aim to sweep Grizzlies in two games
Scoot Henderson sat on the bench for the first 51 games, but was eager to return and play with his Portland Trail Blazers team. Third-year pro is finally healthy after being derailed by a torn hamstring left. He hopes to make a solid contribution to the Trail Blazers' match against the Memphis Grizzlies, which takes place on Saturday in the second of a two-game back-to-back series between the teams. Henderson scored 11 points and had nine assists in just 21 minutes as the Trail Blazers thrashed the Grizzlies by 135-115, ending a six-game loss streak. Henderson was able to quickly reintegrate with his teammates and made crisp passes. The fact that he was on the floor was most important. Henderson explained: "All those times when they were playing and I was not, I just took in the game and what we needed." "I went out and tried to do that." "That was moving, staying connected and play fast." Portland scored its fifth highest total of the season. The Trail Blazers shot 54.4% on the field including 17 of 42 (40.5%) from 3-point range. Henderson stated that it was "just fun to be outside". Henderson, 22 years old, committed five turnovers. The rust was obvious. When he was chosen with the third pick in the NBA Draft 2023, the third-year pro?was touted as the future star of the team. Henderson received a lot of support from his teammates Friday. Toumani Camara scored 15 points while Jerami Grant had 23. Memphis struggled to deal with Donovan Clingan's 13 points and 17 rebounds. Deni Avdija, the All-Star of Portland (back), is questionable for Saturday. He sat out the first game for the eighth consecutive time. Shaedon sharpe (left leg) also sat out of the second half, and may not be able to play in the rematch. Sharpe scored two points in the first half of 14 minutes. Cam Spencer, a bench player who scored 18 points off 7-of-8 shots, and GG Jackson both added 15 points to the Grizzlies' loss. This was the seventh defeat in nine games. Jaren Jackson Jr. is no longer with the Grizzlies after he was traded earlier this week to the Utah Jazz as part of an eight-player trade. Jackson was named NBA Defensive player of the Year for 2022-23. Memphis played well in the early part of the game on Friday and led 36-25 at the end of the first quarter. The Grizzlies, however, allowed 81 total points in the second half of the game as Portland made it a rout. Tuomas Iisalo, Grizzlies' coach, said: "I love a lot of things about the way we began the game. I loved the energy, the enthusiasm and the competitive spirit that our team showed, as well as the way we shared the ball." "I believe there are some positives that we can take from this game and use them on Saturday." Iisalo's club trailed in the second and third quarters by 30 points. Iisalo stated, "We gave them the ball and allowed them to score on transition." "We had some communication errors. ... "They also shot the ball better in the second quarter." Scotty Pippen, Jr. made his Memphis debut after a left big toe operation. He had six assists and 13 points in 22 minutes. Scottie Pippen, his famous father who played for the Trail Blazers from 1999-2000 until 2022-03, was courtside. Ty Jerome was out of the lineup (calf). He returned recently and averaged 22.3 point and 7.0 assist in his first three matches of the season, before being held out Friday. Field Level Media
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China launches its fourth reusable spacecraft since 2020
China launched a reusable experiment spacecraft into orbit aboard a Long March-2F rocket carrier from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center located in 'the 'northwest of the country on Saturday. State news agency Xinhua confirmed this. Xinhua reported that the mission would provide technical support to the peaceful use of space by evaluating reusable spacecraft. However, it did not specify how long the 'craft' will be in orbit. The report does not mention what technologies were used or how high they flew. This is the 'fourth launch of a reusable satellite by the country since 2020. It is believed that the development of reusable satellites will be critical in increasing space flight frequency and decreasing costs per mission. In September 2020, the country will successfully launch its reusable experimental satellite for the first-ever time. It will fly in orbit for 2 days. According to Xinhua, a spacecraft?launched on August 20, 2022, returned to Earth by May 20, 2023, after a?276-day orbit. Meanwhile, a spacecraft launching from Jiuquan in September 2024, successfully returned to the designated landing site, after a 268-day orbit. Reporting by Ellen Zhang and Laurie Chen; Editing By Toby Chopra
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Zelenskiy: Russia has launched a massive attack against Ukraine's energy systems
Kyiv reported that Russia launched an air assault on Ukrainian energy infrastructure overnight Saturday. The attack targeted electricity generation and distribution. Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the president, said that the attack, which took place overnight, involved over?400 drones and 40 missiles. The targets were the grid, the generation facilities, and the distribution substations. Ukraine's energy sector, battered by Russian attacks, war damage, and the bitterly cold winter, is in ruins nearly four years after the war began. ZELENSKIY: RUSSIA Chooses Strikes Over Diplomacy Zelenskiy wrote on X: "Everyday, Russia could choose diplomacy but instead it chooses to launch new attacks." It is important that all those who support the trilateral talks respond to this. Moscow must be denied the ability to leverage 'the cold against Ukraine. Moscow has not yet commented on the attack. Denys Schmyhal, Energy Minister of Ukraine, said that the strikes targeted two thermal power plants in the western regions as well as core elements of Ukraine's electricity distribution system: substations and main electricity distribution lines. Shmyhal, a Telegram user, said that "Russian criminals have carried out another massive assault on Ukraine's power facilities." Energy workers are prepared to begin repair work as soon as security allows. The strikes began as temperatures started to drop. It is predicted that they will fall to minus 7 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 14 degrees Celsius) over the next few days. The latest Russian attacks on energy systems also comes just days after the latest round in the U.S.-brokered discussions between Ukraine and Russia about how to end war. The diplomatic efforts of the U.S. administration of President Donald Trump and numerous rounds have not yet yielded tangible results despite pressures from this administration. RUSSIAN ATTACKS INTENSIFIED ON UKRAINIAN POWER INDUSTRY Since autumn 2025, Moscow intensified its attacks against the Ukrainian power grid, and other energy infrastructure. This has caused frequent blackouts in Ukraine, and plunged millions of people into darkness for several hours. Ukrainian officials confirmed that there were emergency power cuts across the entire country. Shmyhal stated that the Ukrainian government requested emergency power imports from Poland to assist the Ukrainian grid. Regional officials reported attacks in all parts of the country including the western regions Khmelnytskyi Rivne Ternopil Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv. Officials?said that the thermal power plants of Burshtyn in western Ukraine and Dobrotvir in eastern Ukraine were both affected. DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy firm, stated that significant equipment damage was caused at its thermal power plants in different areas. DTEK reported that this was the 10th attack against its thermal power plants since October 2025. Maksym Kozoytskyi, regional governor of Lviv, said that power outages could last longer because Russians are targeting energy plants in different?regions of the country. He said that air alerts in the western Lviv area, near the Polish border, lasted for more than six-hours. As a precaution, the Polish authorities suspended two airports located in the southeast of Poland. This was due to Russian airstrikes on Ukrainian territory nearby. Later, the airports in Poland resumed their operations.
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Cuba protects essential services when US cuts off oil supply
Cuba detailed on Friday an extensive plan to protect essential services and to ration fuel, as the communist government dug in its heels to defy a U.S. attempt to cut off?oil supplies to the Caribbean Island. Cubans are already facing severe shortages in food, fuel and medicine. The first rationing measure announced is the first since President Donald Trump warned of tariffs being imposed on any country that exports fuel to Cuba. Ministers of the government said that these measures will ensure fuel supply to key sectors such as agriculture, education, water, healthcare, and defense. As he outlined the details of?the government plan, Commerce Minister Oscar Perez Oliva struck a defiant note. Perez-Oliva said on a television news program: "This is a chance and a problem that we are confident we will overcome." "We will not collapse." Perez-Oliva stated that the government would supply fuel to the tourism and export sectors to provide the foreign currency necessary to fund the other basic programs. Fuel rationing will not affect domestic and international travel immediately, but drivers will experience fuel price reductions until the supply returns to normal, he said. In an effort to protect the island's import and exported sectors, the government has said that it will protect ports and provide fuel for domestic transport. Perez-Oliva also announced an ambitious plan for planting 200,000 hectares of rice (500,000 acres) to ensure "an important part"?of our demands, but acknowledged that fuel shortages would force the country to rely more on renewable energy and animal power?for tilling field. Naima Ariatne said on the same show that infant-care and primary schools will remain open, and they'll be staffed by people, but secondary and higher schools will implement a hybrid system, which would require greater "flexibility", and would vary depending on institution and region. Ariatne stated that "as a matter of priority, we would like to keep (open) all our primary schools." Health care will also be given priority, according to top officials, with a special focus on emergency services and cancer programs. (Reporting and editing by Rosalba o'Brien, William Mallard, and Dave Sherwood)
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China's central banks purchases gold for the 15th consecutive month
The People's Bank of China's (PBOC) data released on Saturday showed that China's central banks continued its gold-buying spree in January for a fifteenth consecutive month. By the end of the month, the country's gold holdings had risen to 74.19 fine troy pounds. This is up from the previous 74.15. According to the PBOC, the value of China’s gold reserves rose to $369.58 Billion at the end last?month. This is up from $319.45 Billion a month before. In January, gold, which has been viewed as a safe haven to protect against political and economic risks, experienced a wild surge in a speculative purchasing spree that took it to an all-time high of $5,600 for one ounce. The bull market in spot gold collapsed after Kevin Warsh was nominated as the new chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve. It fell as low as $4403.24 per ounce by Monday. Gold is now trading at about $4,960 per ounce. China's gold demand dropped by 3.75% in 2025 to 950 tons. This is according to the state-backed China Gold Association. Gold bars and coins, which represent safe-haven demands, are up 35.14 % in 2025 and will account for over?half of the total gold consumption. The PBOC halted a 18-month gold-buying streak in May 2024 but resumed the purchases six months later. Reporting by Lewis Jackson and Dylan Duan; Editing Clarence Fernandez
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Mexican authorities discover remains that match one of the 10 kidnapped miners
Mexican authorities announced on Friday that a body that matched the description of at least one of the 10?mineworkers' who were abducted from a Sinaloa mine late last month has been found in a secret grave. The?Attorney General's Office of Mexico said that steps were being taken by the office to verify the victim's identification and collect evidence at the grave site in Concordia where the remains of other bodies had been found about 45 km (28miles) east of Mazatlan, a Pacific Coast city. Police have not yet formally identified?anybody of the bodies. According to family members interviewed, some of the missing workers from Canada's Vizsla Silver Corp mine had received threats by organized crime groups including the Chapitos - a faction of Sinaloa cartel headed by the sons Joaquin "El Chapo", the ex-Mexican drug baron. Security Minister Omar Garcia confirmed to the media last month that the Chapitos controlled the area in which the miners disappeared. Since the kidnapping, the silver mine is closed. The authorities have not yet established a motive for the kidnapping of the group on January 23, 2017. Jaime Lopez said that the family of Pablo Osorio (a 26-year old engineer who is one of the missing men) was "poor" and would not have the money to pay a ransom. He said "we are devastated" and added that his nephew had not been allowed to go to Concordia because it was dangerous. However, it was the only job postings that responded when he completed his degree in 2013. "We will do everything we can to find him." He said, "We cannot believe it," in tears, after learning of the mass grave. Lopez said that he was waiting for news from authorities about whether or not his nephew's remains were found on the site. Mexico sent more than 1,000 troops to the area, including elite marines and soldiers, this weekend in order to find the missing miners. Four suspects were arrested on Thursday in connection with the case. (Reporting and editing by Sam Holmes; Lizbeth Diaz)
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Union accepts refinery contract in US, avoiding nationwide strike
United Steelworkers of the United States adopted a national agreement regarding pay and benefits on Friday, averting an nationwide strike which could have affected up to 30,000 workers at?26 companies that operate crude oil refineries or petrochemical facilities. The union and the leading U.S. refining company Marathon Petroleum negotiated the agreement on behalf of refiners, chemical producers and other interested parties. Jamal Kheiry, a spokesperson for Marathon, said: "We are happy that Marathon and USW have successfully concluded a model agreement for new collective-bargaining contracts in the U.S. refinery industry." "We are looking forward to the local sites moving ahead with the ratification." The agreement, which will last four years, will increase the pay of hourly workers 15%. It also offers a $2,500 sign-up bonus to USW represented employees. USW members work in refineries which account for two-thirds or the U.S. capacity. The agreement, which "provides a pay increase of 4% in the first year and a 3.5% in the second and the third years" was proposed by the union on February 1. The previous offers, which were rejected since the negotiations began late in January, had been made. The USW National Oil Bargaining Program Policy Committee, which represents oil workers in the United States, approved the agreement. USW - NOBP Chairman Mike Smith gave credit to union members for the deal. Smith stated in a union statement that "USW members across the country stood united in their call for a fair contract." "Their solidarity and unity made this agreement possible." Although a national strike was avoided, some refineries and chemical factories could still experience work stoppages due to disagreements on local issues. USW Local 7-1, Whiting, Indiana told its members working at BP Plc's Whiting refinery on Thursday to prepare for a lockout or strike. BP announced on Friday that it will not be bound by the terms and conditions of the USW-approved national agreement. A BP spokesperson stated that "while the Whiting Refinery may not be obligated to follow a 'pattern', it is in no way obligated to do so." "We will continue bargaining in the best interest of our employees and our company." Eric Schultz of USW 7-1 called BP's announcement a "historical" event. Schultz stated that "we've spent the majority of our discussions discussing BP concessionary proposals which would eliminate local jobs and reduce pay across-the-board? and strip us of bargaining right." "We will continue in good faith to negotiate." Sources familiar with the negotiations said that union officials met this week with local unions in order to gauge their willingness accept what was to become Marathon's final, "best and last" offer. Sources said that the USW had hoped for a 16% increase in the USW's overall?increase, but Marathon refused to budge on its final offer. The union leaders were faced with expectations from the rank-and-file who hoped that the USW could achieve a 25% pay increase during the term of the new contract. Cost-of-living adjustments would be made if inflation was higher than the annual increases. Average inside operators at refineries make about $50 per hour. As the new contract is adopted in each plant, it will replace the old one. The current contract was extended by 24 hours on a rolling basis, just hours before its expiration date of 12:01 am on 1 February.
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French miner Eramet's finance director steps down temporarily after CEO ouster
Abel Martins Alexandre, finance chief at French miner Eramet, has temporarily stepped down 'during an investigation into management methods', said a company spokesperson on Friday. This comes days after Eramet fired its chief executive. The spokesperson confirmed that Eramet has appointed interim management in its finance department, while its CFO temporarily steps aside during an investigation into its management methods. Christel Bories, the chairperson of the board, said that the dismissal of CEO Paulo 'Castellari on Sunday was not due to the financial results but rather to issues in coordination with the 'board and staff'. Financial Times reported on the story first on Friday. Martins-Alexandre was said to have been on sick leave since Castellari left the company. Castellari was fired just a few months into his tenure, raising questions about the governance of the nickel, manganese, and lithium miner that is owned in part by the French government. The company's shares are down by?nearly 8 percent this week. According to sources cited by The FT, the dismissal of Castellari and MartinsAlexandre are unrelated to any accusations. Martins-Alexandre & Bories didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. According to the FT, Castellari and Martins Alexandre have been forming an internal taskforce in recent weeks to investigate possible financial mismanagement in the group over recent years. Eramet cited a decline in results due to a drop in metal prices, and setbacks on production at its mines. Reporting by Abu Sultan from Bengaluru, and Gus Trompiz from Paris; editing by Vijay Kishore, Will Dunham
Copper driven higher by technical elements
Copper rates extended gains for a sixth session on Thursday as technical aspects provided momentum and outweighed concern over U.S. Presidentelect Donald Trump's tariff prepare for leading metals customer China.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange ( LME) rose 0.7% to $9,096 a metric ton by 1049 GMT after hitting its highest given that Dec. 16 at $9,099.
The metal used in power and building continues to recuperate from a five-month low of $8,757 touched on Dec. 31. This week brought support on the technical front as it broke above resistance from the 21-day moving average, which now supports at a significant mental level around $9,000.
The market, however, stays concerned about how Trump will handle tariff policy after his return to the White Home on Jan. 20. During the election project Trump pledged to impose tariffs. of 60% on Chinese imports, but there have actually because been clashing. reports on the level of possible tariffs.
CNN on Wednesday reported that Trump is considering. stating a nationwide financial emergency situation to supply legal. validation for a series of universal tariffs on allies and. foes. On Monday the Washington Post stated Trump was. taking a look at more nuanced tariffs, which he later on rejected.
The Chinese yuan, on the other hand, has actually been hovering around a. 16-month low, triggering some Chinese traders to purchase copper to. try to protect themselves from this weakness and uncertainty. about the future, said Ole Hansen, head of commodity method at. Saxo Bank.
The Yangshan copper premium << SMM-CUYP-CN >, which shows. need for copper imported into China, reached its greatest in. more than a year at $73 a lot, versus $43 2 months earlier.
In other metals, LME aluminium increased 1.5% to $2,537 a. load, zinc included 1.4% to $2,864.50, lead gained. 0.2% to $1,942, tin edged up 0.2% to $30,110 and nickel. was consistent at $15,440.
(source: Reuters)