A South African appeals court has convicted Oscar Pistorius of murder, overturning a lower court's conviction of the double-amputee Olympian on the lesser charge of manslaughter for shooting his girlfriend to death in 2013.
Justice Lorimer Leach of the Supreme Court of Appeal delivered the ruling by the five-judge appeals court Thursday in Bloemfontein and said the trial court, the North Gauteng High Court, should impose sentence.
Pistorius killed girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in the early morning of Valentine's Day. He insisted he thought she was an intruder behind a door in his home. The prosecution said Pistorius shot Steenkamp during an argument.
Leach said regardless of who might have behind the door, Pistorius should have known someone could be killed if he fired.
NBA:
In the NBA, New York beat Philadelphia 99-87. The Golden State Warriors are 20-game winners. Continuing their perfect start to the NBA season, the Warriors thrashed Charlotte 116-99 to set a franchise record with their 10th straight road victory. The Lakers topped Washington 108-104, Detroit won against Phoenix in overtime 127-122, Chicago bested Denver 99-90, Houston beat New Orleans 108-101, Toronto defeated Atlanta 96-86, San Antonio trumped Milwaukee 95-70, and it was Indiana over the Clippers 103-91.
NHL:
In the NHL, the Islanders beat the Rangers in a shootout 2-1, Edmonton skated by Boston in a shootout 3-2, Winnipeg crushed Toronto 6-1, and it was Tampa Bay over Anaheim 2-1.
NCAA:
In top 25 women’s college basketball, No. 1 UConn beat No. 23 DePaul 86-70.
In top 25 men’s college basketball, UConn bounced back from back-to-back losses in the Bahamas with an 82-49 rout of in-state rival Sacred Heart last night. Daniel Hamilton scored 14 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. It was Hamilton's third double-double of the season. He also had seven assists, two steals and two blocked shots.
Number 23 Providence beat Hartford 89-66 last night. Kris Dunn had 16 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds. Dunn posted the second triple-double of his career. He achieved the feat with 6:32 remaining with his 10th rebound. Ben Bentil led the Friars with 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting, while Jalen Lindsey added 15 points off the bench.
Yale defeated Bryant 79-40 last night. Makai Mason scored 14 of his 17 points in a breakaway second half. Sam Downey, starting for the second time in his career, chipped in 16 points with seven rebounds. Nick Victor added 14 points and eight boards for Yale.
Brown beat Central Connecticut State 82-64 last night. Cedric Kuakumensah had 21 points and 16 rebounds and tied an Ivy League record for career blocked shots. Tavon Blackmon added 14 points for Brown. Jason Massey scored 11, and Corey Daugherty 10. Khalen Cumberlander had 13 points to lead Central Connecticut. Mustafa Jones scored 12, and Jahlil Nails 10.
The University of Miami, which has been rebuilding for a decade and hasn't won a bowl game since 2006, is turning its football fortunes over to an accomplished alumnus. Mark Richt, who played quarterback for the 'Canes under Howard Schellenger and most recently coached Georgia for 15 seasons, has reached a tentative agreement to be the 'Canes next coach. That's what a source tells The Associated Press.
NFL:
Tonight on Thursday Night Football, Green Bay is in Detroit at 8:25.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has asked the league's powerful competition committee to look into how games are officiated, and the size of the rule book. The NFL has been plagued by missed or erroneous calls this season.
NFL owners have set a special meeting to deal with a possible relocation of teams to Los Angeles for Jan. 12-13 in Houston. But Commissioner Roger Goodell says there might not even be a vote then. The owners pushed back a decision while they seek more information from the cities hoping to retain their franchises. They are St. Louis, Oakland and San Diego. L.A. has not had an NFL franchise since the Rams and Raiders left after the 1994 season.
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has been cleared to play in Sunday night's game with visiting Indianapolis. He was struck in the head late in last week's 39-30 loss to Seattle and eventually left the game. Roethlisberger has been cleared of the concussion protocol.
MLB:
The Boston Red Sox have stepped up in the free agent market in an attempt to make themselves relevant in the American League East. They've picked up pitcher David Price and outfielder Chris Young.
The deal for Price is estimated to be worth $217 million over seven years. It has not been confirmed yet but a source has told The Associated Press the two sides have agreed to the contract. The left-hander went 18-5 with a 2.45 ERA in 2015, striking out 225 while playing for the Tigers and Blue Jays.
Young gets a two-year, $13 million deal. The 32-year-old had been with the Yankees since August 2014 and hit .252 with 14 homers and 42 RBIs in 318 at-bats for the New Yorkers. Young has a .235 career average with 169 homers and 528 RBIs over 10 seasons.
Elsewhere in the majors:
— Versatile pitcher Yusmeiro Petit, whose brilliant postseason in 2014 helped the Giants capture their third World Series championship in five years, was not offered a 2016 contract by San Francisco and became a free agent. Catcher Hector Sanchez also was not offered a deal.
— The Houston Astros declined to offer Chris Carter a contract for 2016, making the slugger a free agent. Carter hit .199 with 24 homers and 64 RBIs this season.
— Catcher A.J. Ellis has agreed to a $4.5 million, one-year contract to return to the Los Angeles Dodgers, avoiding arbitration. The 34-year-old Ellis has spent his entire major league career with the Dodgers, batting .241 with 35 homers and 178 RBIs over parts of eight seasons.
— The Cubs have agreed to a $1.42 million, one-year contract with recently acquired reliever Rex Brothers. The left-hander was obtained from Colorado last week for minor league pitcher Wander Cabrera.
— The Indians have acquired outfielder Collin Cowgill from the Los Angeles Angels for cash. Cowgill spent the past 2 1/2 seasons with the Angels. The 29-year-old has a career .236 average with 12 homers and 57 RBIs in 308 major league games.
— The Seattle Mariners' ongoing roster makeover now includes outfielder Nori Aoki. Two people with knowledge of the deal say the Mariners and the free agent outfielder have reached agreement on a contract for the 2016 season pending a physical.
— The Padres have traded first baseman Yonder Alonso and reliever Marc Rzepczynski to the Oakland A's for left-hander Drew Pomeranz and minor league pitcher Jose Torres, plus either a player to be named or cash.
FIFA:
Switzerland's justice ministry has identified FIFA vice presidents Juan Angel Napout and Alfredo Hawit as the two officials arrested today on suspicion of bribery.
The justice ministry says both men have opposed their extradition to the United States at Zurich police hearings on Thursday.
Napout, who is from Paraguay, and Hawit, who is from Honduras, were arrested at the request of U.S. authorities in early morning raids on the Baur au Lac hotel in Zurich. Napout is president of the South American confederation and Hawit leads the North American regional body.
They are the third past or current presidents of each continental body to be indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice since May in a widening corruption investigation.
F1:
The future of the struggling U.S. Grand Prix was thrown into further doubt Wednesday when the 2016 Formula One calendar listed the race as "subject to agreement" with the promoter.
The 2016 race calendar released by the FIA's World Motor Sport Council still has the race scheduled for Oct. 23 but with an asterisk.
FIA called the race date "provisional."
MLS:
The New York Red Bulls have decided not to exercise contract options for next season for nine players, including veteran defender Roy Miller.
The Major League Soccer club announced defender Damien Perrinelle, midfielder Shaun Wright-Phillips, goalkeeper Kyle Reynish, defender Anthony Wallace, midfielder Leo Stolz, forward Manolo Sanchez, midfielder Marius Obekop and forward Dane Richards also would not have their options picked up.
Sporting director Ali Curtis said the club was in negotiations with Wright-Phillips, Reynish and Perrinelle on new contracts, so they might return.
New York finished the 2015 season with the club's second Supporters' Shield in three seasons. The team was eliminated in the Eastern Conference final by Columbus this past weekend.
Marathon:
A marathoner from Massachusetts is in the running to become the first U.S. woman to complete the ultimate endurance test: finishing seven marathons in seven days — on seven continents. Becca Pizzi is one of 15 competitors from around the globe participating in the World Marathon Challenge in January.
Pizzi's first 26.2-mile race will be in Antarctica. Next up, on consecutive days, she'll attempt to finish back-to-back marathons in Chile; Miami; Spain; Morocco; the United Arab Emirates; and Australia. In-between, she'll have to recover aboard a charter flight shuttling competitors a total of 23,560 miles from race to race. The 35-year-old day care center operator says she wants to represent the U.S. and inspire the world that anything is possible.
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