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San Antonio Spurs small forward Bruce Bowen was the man of the moment with his 3-pointer 36 seconds from time as the Spurs beat the short-handed Phoenix Suns 88-85 to go up 3-2 in the Western Conference semifinals. The Spurs can close it out in Game 6 Friday night at San Antonio. The Suns, without their all-NBA center Amare Stoudemire and his replacement Boris Diaw, and using largely a six-man rotation, nearly won a grind-it-out kind of game the Suns aren't supposed to be able to play.Tony Parker: No time for a break

Authorities arrested 118 illegal entrants Tuesday at a house in Rio Rico in what was one of the largest drop-house discoveries in Southern Arizona in recent years. Plainclothes Border Patrol agents raided the house in the 1300 block of Calle Tepic, about 60 miles south of Tucson, at about 5 p.m. after authorities received a tip, agency spokesman Jim Hawkins said Wednesday. The illegal entrants were part of a large-scale human smuggling operation, Hawkins said. He didn't know if the arrests were the largest number of entrants found at a single drop house in the Tucson Sector but said the...

td> U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Vincent Adler, Company A, 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, looks down into a well he is about to search for weapons and explosives during Operation Iron Triangle, in Iraq, May 10, 2006. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Ryan Matson   Operation Iron Triangle Photos Part 1 Part 2 Operation Iron Triangle Nets Suspects, Weapons U.S. soldiers link up with an Iraqi army unit in an operation that leads to the capture of five high-value suspects, as well as several weapons caches. By U.S. Army Sgt. Ryan Matson 101st Combat Aviation Brigade OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM, May...

AVONDALE, Ariz. - Following a week of tough talk, a 250-member sheriff's posse that was assembled to catch illegal immigrants made just one arrest in its first desert search early Thursday. The posse — made up of Maricopa County sheriff's deputies and trained volunteers — launched night patrols Wednesday in the desert and along major roads southwest of Phoenix. Deputies attempted to pull over a pickup truck about 12:45 a.m. Thursday, but the truck took off in the desert and its 15 to 20 occupants scattered. Only one person was tracked down, despite night-vision equipment, spotlights and a helicopter. "It...

ATHENS, Greece - A Greek fisherman has handed over to authorities a large section of an ancient bronze statue brought up in his nets in the Aegean Sea, officials said on Monday. The male torso was located last week near the eastern Aegean island of Kalymnos, the Culture Ministry said in an announcement. The one-meter (3-foot) high find belonged to a statue of a horseback soldier, and would have been part of the cargo of an ancient ship that sank in the area. It was taken to Athens to be cleaned and dated. Together with the torso, the fisherman brought...

OCEANSIDE – Police and federal investigators arrested 41 suspected gang members with ties to violent street gangs in three North County cities during a weeklong sweep, officials announced Friday. The arrests were made from Feb. 24 to March 2 in Escondido, Oceanside and San Marcos as part of Operation Community Shield, a nationwide anti-gang initiative targeting foreign gang members. Most of the people arrested in the sweep have criminal records, said Serge Duarte, acting special agent in charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Those arrested included seven juveniles and an 18-year-old man with two prior convictions for battery causing...

BAGHDAD (Army News Service, Jan. 13, 2006) — While conducting an air-insertion mission into the village of Shakaria, Iraq, Task Force Ironhorse Soldiers killed several insurgents, detained one and discovered a significant weapons cache Jan. 11. As part of Operation Falcon Sweep, Black Hawk helicopters landed near Shakaria Wednesday morning and Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment swept the village to identify terrorists. The 2-502nd Soldiers received small arms and indirect fire from insurgent forces at approximately 10:45 a.m. The Soldiers returned fire, killing six terrorists and wounding one other. Following the firefight, Soldiers discovered two dead insurgents...

Paris raid nets arms haul Jon Henley in Paris Friday December 16, 2005 The Guardian (UK) French police said yesterday they had found explosives, detonators and guns stashed in a suburban Paris garage in swoops this week that have netted 28 suspected Islamist militants, apparently with links to al-Qaida in Iraq. Interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy said that questioning suspects detained on Monday had led to arms seizure in Clichy-sous-Bois, outer Paris, on Wednesday. "A certain number of terrorists, in order to finance their activities, are involved in organised crime," Mr Sarkozy said, appearing to confirm earlier reports that the gang...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger raised between $2 million and $3 million for his expected special election campaign during a three-state swing last weekend, his chief fundraising consultant said Thursday. The governor said he intends to continue his aggressive fundraising schedule in hopes of pressuring Democrats to negotiate over the various measures he wants to place before voters in November. "Just remember, math says we need around $50 million altogether to fight the hundreds of millions of dollars the special interests and the unions are spending against our initiatives and against our reforms," Schwarzenegger told reporters during a media...

With hopes dimming for their $2 billion dream stadium in Manhattan, the Jets are closing in on a 10-year extension to the team's lease at Giants Stadium, state officials said yesterday. The new lease would firm up the Jets' right to remain in Giants Stadium until 2018, providing the team with a serious backup plan if its proposed West Side stadium project falls through. It also gives the team major leverage in upcoming talks with the Giants, who need the Jets' approval to build a $750 million stadium in the Meadowlands next to the existing one. Carl Goldberg, chairman of...

The contractors came by the dozens to the two San Jose houses, offering up estimates for painting, kitchen remodeling and landscaping. But the homeowners who welcomed their bids weren't who they appeared to be. They really were investigators for the state's contractors licensing board, carrying out an undercover sting this week -- a sting that nabbed 59 unlicensed builders. Those nabbed by the ruse were given criminal citations that could land them in jail for a maximum of six months, or they could be ordered to pay a $1,000 fine. A first offense for being unlicensed usually draws two years...

Darryl Strawberry will arrive at spring training on March 7 to impart wisdom to the Mets and to serve as a reminder of the team's last World Series championship, in 1986. He is the Mets' career leader in home runs and runs batted in, but his career was derailed by substance abuse. Strawberry, 42, who also survived two bouts with cancer, last played in the majors in 1999. "I have a great deal of wisdom about life," said Strawberry, who was hired this month to be a special instructor for about one week during spring training. "I think that's very...

Nets loss: Team dumps embattled coach Byron Scott By OHM YOUNGMISUKDAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER Nets coach Byron Scott was fired early this morning and will be replaced by lead assistant Lawrence Frank, two Nets sources told the Daily News today. Nets president Rod Thorn has scheduled a 2 p.m. press conference in which he will have a “major announcement” to make. Scott, the Nets all-time winningest NBA coach, leaves with a 149-139 record in his three and half seasons with the team. Sources say Scott had lost the confidence of the Nets, who are a disappointing 22-20 thus far....

<p>EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- New Jersey Nets center Alonzo Mourning is leaving basketball again because the kidney disease he's had for three years is worsening and he needs a transplant.</p> <p>The team said Mourning needs a transplant "in the near future" and that a nationwide search is under way for a prospective donor.</p>

Antivirus companies are warning Internet users about W32.Swen, a new worm that spreads using e-mail messages, vulnerable network connections, Internet Relay Chat (IRC), and peer-to-peer networks. F-Secure, Network Associates, and Symantec all have issued warnings about Swen, indicating that the worm is spreading on the Internet. Customers are being advised to update their antivirus definitions to detect and nullify Swen. Finding a Flaw First detected on Thursday, Swen exploits a security hole in Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser. It affects all supported versions of the Windows operating system, according to security products vendor F-Secure of Helsinki. The worm poses as...

<p>GALION -- A 19-year-old Galion woman was charged with several counts involving drugs after consenting to a vehicle search as police investigated her claim she was raped.</p> <p>A Galion Police Department report said officers stopped the woman at Portland Way South at Grove Avenue for speeding at 1:26 a.m. Tuesday.</p>

Auburn, Wash., June 11--The Rev. Lee Phillips attempts to nurture his flock through a religious philosophy that draws from Christianity, yoga and classical meditation. And the occasional toke Phillips, a 52-year-old Auburn resident, says that his church, registered with the state as a non-profit known as The Center for Healing and Spiritual Renewal, mandates the use of marijuana for "healing, communion, spiritual unity and physical well-being." He is ordained by the Religion of Jesus Church, founded in Hawaii 40 years ago, as a "cannabis sacrament minister." Call him a minister of marijuana. In addition to its religious significance for him,...

<p>EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — This was not a pretty basketball game. That's the way the San Antonio Spurs like it. They slowed the New Jersey Nets' fast break to a crawl and rode the inside strength of Tim Duncan and the outside smoothness of Tony Parker to an 84-79 victory as the Spurs regained control of the NBA Finals with a 2-1 series lead.</p>