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The Los Angeles Lakers need to win tonight's 9:00 p.m. local time (0400 UTC) home game to stay in the 2010 NBA Finals. The Boston Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers 92–86 on Sunday in game five of the seven-game series. The Celtics may have underperformed over the season, but in these 2010 playoffs, they have been playing like the championship team they were two years ago. Though Kobe Bryant scored 38 points, there were no other other major point contributors from the Lakers. Pau Gasol scored twelve points, and Derek Fisher added nine poin

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) issued a statement today calling for an end to Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip which it calls a "...collective punishment imposed in clear violation of Israel's obligations under international humanitarian law." The statement gives an overview of what the Red Cross views as a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The ICRC describes how the blockade has seriously impoverished the people of Gaza, as well as denying them basic access to housing, food and health care. The ICRC claims the blockade has

A report released by the United States noted that Afghanistan has nearly a trillion dollars worth of mineral reserves. The report, authored by the US military, the PPw|US Geological Service}}, and the US Agency for International Development, stated that the total wealth in mineral reserves is upwards of US$900 billion, although Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said the value of mineral reserves in the country could be as much as US$3 trillion. Resources claimed by the report include: 421 billion dollars worth of iron; 274 billion dollars wor

Scientology is facing renewed criticism, due to an extensive exposé in the Florida newspaper the St. Petersburg Times which contains revealing accounts of women involved in the organization who say they were forced to have abortions. Multiple different female members of the Scientology group called the Sea Org said they were pressured to have abortions, and were threatened with separation from their families, hard labor, interrogations, and shunning, if they did not comply. Women that came forward to the St. Petersburg Times said that those w

Search and rescue workers in Arkansas continue to search the Little Missouri and Caddo Rivers for survivors of Friday's flash flood. At least nineteen people were killed when the flood swept through the Albert Pike Recreation Area campground in the Ouachita National Forest in the southwestern portion of the state. Initially, Arkansas governor Mike Beebe said twenty people were killed when the flash flood reached its peak at about 5:30 a.m. local time on Friday morning, but as of Monday the death toll stands at nineteen. Amongst the dead are at

According to a spokesman for the Kyrgyzstan's ministry of health's press-service, at least 97 people have been confirmed dead from recent ethnic clashes between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks. Meanwhile, thousands of ethnic Uzbeks have fled to the border with Uzbekistan to escape the ongoing violence. "Currently, in the regions of Osh and Jhalalabad, 97 people have died. A further 1247 have been hospitalised," a spokeswoman commented. Some reports caution that the actual death toll might be higher than the figures announced. The violence, now in its third

A stampede in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi has killed at least five people and left at least 79 more wounded, reports say. The incident occurred at a church rally, led by Christian leaders voicing their opposition to a new constitution to be voted on in a referendum later this summer, primarily because it is to include a clause for abortion. A petrol bomb apparently was thrown into the crowd as the rally was drawing to a close at dusk, prompting panic as people tried to flee. Some witness reports suggest there were two individual blasts. Acc

The Chinese government has said that severe seasonal flooding in the country has displaced over a million people and killed at least 155. According to the Office of Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, the southeastern parts of China were hit the worst. 1.3 million people were forced to temporary shelters after 140,000 homes collapsed, mostly in the provinces of Hunan and Jiangxi. The office reports that direct economic losses from the disaster has reached 24 billion yuan, or about US$6.5 billion, and that the figure is 370% higher

Heavy fighting in the Somali capital of Mogadishu between government troops and local police has killed at least thirteen people and injured another fourteen. The clashes began yesterday in the Hamarjajab district when a dispute started between the police and army. Abdullahi Mo'alim Kerow, a police officer, described the incident to Reuters; "[t]he clashes came after some of the government troops started to rob a civilian car and the police were trying to stop it. We have collected bodies of nine government troops [...] and three unidentified

US President Barack Obama, in response to criticism over his handling of the ongoing Gulf of Mexico oil spill, has asked the oil company BP to create a special fund with "substantial" amounts of money to pay claimants over the disaster. Obama is to make his fourth visit to the Gulf Coast tomorrow, and on Tuesday is scheduled to make a speech about efforts to address the spill. In a television interview earlier today, the president's senior strategist David Axelrod commented that "[w]e want to make sure that money is escrowed for the legitimat

Traralgon reclaimed some pride with a thirteen point victory against Drouin at the Traralgon Recreation Reserve and Showground. As a result, Drouin move to fifth on the Gippsland Football League ladder and Traralgon reduce Maffra's lead on to to one game. The Gippsland Football League (officially Gippsland League) is the only major Australian rules football competition in the Gippsland region according to the Victorian Country Football League. Scores are quoted as goals-behinds (total). Around the Grounds Sale 8-13 61 def. by Morwell 12-13

22-year-old Dutch native Joran van der Sloot was charged yesterday with the murder of Peruvian Stephany Flores. Stephany Tatiana Flores Ramírez, the 21-year-old daughter of a former Peruvian presidential candidate, was found beaten to death in Van der Sloot's hotel room on May 30, 2010. The two appeared to have met only hours before while playing poker at a nearby casino. Flores was found four days later by an employee of the Hotel Tac in the Miraflores District of Lima. Van der Sloot had previously requested that no hotel staff enter his room.