Channeling the memories of his childhood hero, Hield poured in a career-high 42 points to rally the Sacramento Kings from a 27-point deficit to a 133-129 overtime victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. “That’s the reason I wanted to play in the NBA, because of Kobe,” Hield said. That was after Hield shot the Kings back into the game. “I can’t wait until I have a son and tell my son about this game,” Hield said. It was the first time that three Timberwolves have scored 20 or more points in a game since Dec. 13.

Omonia has decided to set up a Web site to reveal referee mistakes, as well as all that is “wrong, rotten and illegal” in Cypriot soccer, Papastavrou said. “Our goal isn’t to insult Cypriot soccer, but to stop the people that insult it,” he told a news conference. The Cyprus soccer federation said in a statement that it expects Papastavrou to provide evidence to authorities to back up his claims. Papastavrou’s remarks came as a delegation from UEFA is meeting in Cyprus with law enforcement officials who are probing match-fixing allegations. Cypriot soccer has also been roiled in recent weeks by two separate bomb attacks on the cars of a referee and the vice president of second-division leaders Aris Limassol.

By Lee I-chia / Staff reporterFormer New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday implied that he might not run in the by-election for Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairperson. Chu made the statement on Facebook yesterday morning, beginning the post by saying: “Making Taiwan better is the KMT’s responsibility. KMT Central Standing Committee member Lin Rong-te (林榮德) has taken over as acting chairman until a new chairperson is elected on March 7. Hau announced his bid for KMT chairperson on Jan. 20 and Chiang did the same on Saturday last week. The KMT is accepting registrations to run for chairperson on Monday and Tuesday, and plans to hold the by-election on Mar.

AFP, HARARELasith Embuldeniya yesterday picked up three wickets in the morning session as Sri Lanka bowled out Zimbabwe for 406 in their first innings on the second day of the second Test in Harare. Resuming on 352-6, Zimbabwe lost Regis Chakabva for his overnight 31 in the sixth over of the morning after he gave a feint edge off Embuldeniya to wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella. Debutant Tinotenda Mutombodzi made 33 before missing a sweep to fall leg before to Dhananjaya de Silva who finished with 3-71. Some resistance from the last three took the Zimbabwe total past 400, but Embuldeniya accounted for both Donald Tiripano and Victor Nyauchi who was brilliantly caught by de Silva at first slip. Broad was cited by the match officials after Monday’s incident in Johannesburg, when he approached South Africa captain Faf du Plessis and used “inappropriate language.”

Haleyi said that she “just felt like an idiot” for letting Weinstein convince her to meet again, but thought seeing him could help her regain power as she tried to make sense of the alleged assault. Haleyi said she did not want to be intimate with Weinstein, but said she did not think Weinstein forced her to have sex. Weinstein lawyer Damon Cheronis zeroed in on Haleyi’s continued interactions with Weinstein, scrutinizing her e-mails and calendar entries marked “HW” during cross-examination. They are the alleged rape of an aspiring actress in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013 and the alleged sexual assault of Haleyi. Under New York law applicable at the time, Weinstein is not being charged with rape in connection with Haleyi’s accusations.

Staff writer, with CNAThe US House of Representatives’ Committee on Foreign Affairs on Monday denounced the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for blocking Twitter accounts that criticized the organization’s continued exclusion of Taiwan during a global public health crisis. “The United Nation’s @icao plays a valuable role in ensuring aviation security. But silencing voices that oppose ICAO’s exclusion of Taiwan goes against their stated principles of fairness, inclusion, and transparency,” the committee said in a Twitter post. The tweet was a response to ICAO blocking critics, US news Web site Axios said in a report earlier on the same day. The Twitter accounts of several other critics were also blocked by ICAO, the Axios report said.

Yesterday’s announcement raised the total number of cases of 2019-nCoV confirmed in Taiwan to eight, with the latest being the husband of the fifth case reported on Monday. The man had not visited China, making it the first indigenous case of the 2019-nCoV infection, the command center said. “Cases of 2019-nCov infection have been confirmed in every province in China except for Tibet, and the number of cases have continued to increase, signifying a serious epidemic,” Chuang said. The two new imported cases in Taiwan are two female Chinese visitors in their 70s from Wuhan, who came to Taiwan on Wednesday last week. The command center on Monday received 130 reports of severe pneumonia with novel pathogens, bringing the total number of suspected cases to 530 in Taiwan.

The company asked employees to halt non-essential travel to China and told employees who had traveled there to work from home, a spokesman said yesterday. South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix Inc said it was urging employees to avoid all non-essential travel to China, while banking group Standard Chartered restricted travel to China and Hong Kong. In Germany, auto supplier Webasto Group, which has 11 sites in China, including Wuhan, has halted all corporate travel to and from China following the outbreak and the infection of an employee. As companies reassessed the risk of travel to China, some airlines said demand for flights was falling and they were adjusting schedules. International SOS, a medical and travel security services firm that advises companies on travel, said that its guidance for now is that business travel to China outside Hubei Province could continue.

The Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant in Michigan was scheduled to close as part of that plan, but would now get an overhaul and start producing two new electric vehicles (EVs) starting late next year: a pickup truck and the Cruise Origin autonomous shuttle vehicle, the company announced. “Our electric vehicle plan is unmatched in the industry,” GM president Mark Reuss said at a news conference in Detroit. Michigan politicians and labor unions also pushed against the plant’s closure, with Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan calling GM chief executive Mary Barra to plead the facility’s case. “I did ask her: ‘Why can’t GM build new vehicles here?’” Barra said, adding that building the factory required more than 4,000 residents to move elsewhere. The labor union cheered the news that the plant would remain open.

Each of those locations is more than 500km from Wuhan in central China, the epicenter of the viral outbreak, but that distance does not immunize them from its effects. “I can’t imagine a scenario where the supply chain isn’t disrupted,” said veteran industry analyst Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights & Strategy. Its supply chain also has a few million workers manufacturing products such as the iPad, iPhone and Apple Watch. “Supply chain disruption is a worry if employees across Foxconn and other component manufacturing hubs in China are restricted,” Wedbush Securities Inc analyst Dan Ives said. “If the China outbreak becomes more spread it could negatively impact the supply chain, which would be a major investor worry,” Ives said.

AFP, MILAN, ItalyPiotr Zielinski and Lorenzo Insigne on Sunday scored in the second half as struggling SSC Napoli shocked champions Juventus 2-1 to spoil coach Maurizio Sarri’s return to the Stadio San Paolo. Sarri had not been back to Naples since being sacked in May 2018 after three successful campaigns, and before moving to Chelsea. This season he has taken over eight-time reigning champions Juventus, a move seen as a betrayal by his former team, the two-time Serie A runners-up. Napoli move up to 10th place, 12 points off the UEFA Champions League places after ending a run of three consecutive defeats. Martinez’s frustration mirrored that of his team, who have now been held to three consecutive 1-1 draws and have taken 11 points from their past seven league games.

AFP, LOS ANGELESBasketball legend Kobe Bryant’s death in a helicopter crash along with his teenage daughter yesterday sparked an outpouring of grief across the world. The former Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard made his fifth visit to Taiwan in June 2016, when he was an instructor at a training camp for young basketball players. A five-time NBA champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist, Bryant is widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players in history. “As you can imagine, it’s a logistical nightmare in a sense, because the crash site itself is not easily accessible,” Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva told reporters. “Laker Nation, the game of basketball & our city, will never be the same without Kobe,” former Lakers star Magic Johnson tweeted.

AFP, LONDONLiverpool on Sunday let a 2-0 lead slip as League One Shrewsbury Town earned a FA Cup fourth-round replay at Anfield thanks to a 2-2 draw, while Manchester United and Manchester City cruised into the fifth round. Cummings then sent Montgomery Waters Meadow into raptures by slotting low under Adrian 15 minutes from time. Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was badly in need of a convincing performance after 2-0 defeats to Liverpool and Burnley over the previous seven days and got a response with a 6-0 thrashing of third-tier Tranmere Rovers. Phil Jones then nodded home his first United effort since 2014 and Anthony Martial’s deflected strike made it five before halftime. Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola hopes more fans show up at the Etihad Stadium for tomorrow’s derby after questioning why there were 15,000 empty seats for his side’s 4-0 stroll past Fulham.

By Lee I-chia / Staff reporterThe dismantlement of the Chongqing S Road (重慶南路) overpass, which served as an access ramp to Zhongzheng Bridge (中正橋) in Taipei, was completed yesterday morning, seven hours ahead of schedule. The overpass, which connected to Heping W Road (和平西路), and the Ziqiang Market (自強市場) under the overpass, were built in 1972. The overpass site was closed off at 9pm on Thursday and machines began demolishing it at midnight, the office said. That time was chosen to symbolize that the 49-year history of the overpass, Taipei Deputy Mayor Pong Cheng-sheng (彭振聲) said. “The city government will give people a safer and steadier bridge to cross between Taipei and New Taipei City’s Yonghe District (永和),” he added.

Zinedine Zidane’s side moved three points ahead of Barcelona a day after the defending champions lost 2-0 at Valencia. They are a very competitive team and these are three important points.”Besides taking advantage of Barcelona’s defeat, Real Madrid also saw Atletico Madrid stumble yet again and slip further behind. Getafe moved past Atletico and into fourth place — the final UEFA Champions League spot — after edging Real Betis Balompie 1-0 at home with a late penalty. Real Madrid, who have not won the title since 2016-2017, lead the standings on 46 points after 21 games. Getafe, a modest club from the capital, came close to earning a Champions League berth last season, finishing fifth.