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College basketball national champions make their celebratory White House trips

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:14:43 GMT

(CNN) — The 2023 NCAA men’s and women’s basketball champions made their celebratory trips to the White House on Friday as President Joe Biden and first lady Dr. Jill Biden congratulated both teams on their seasons.The women’s basketball champion Louisiana State University Tigers were first to be honored, as the Bidens lauded their accomplishments and the example they set.“You didn’t just play basketball, you didn’t just make history, you showed us – girls and boys, women and men – what it means to be a champion. You gave us hope and joy, a way to find that fire in ourselves. And most of all, the chance to see you soar. Thank you for giving us those gifts,” the first lady said.Vice President Kamala Harris also spoke during the celebration ceremony, congratulating the Tigers on their first ever championship and applauding them for their inspiring example.“Throughout your record-breaking season, you showed the world who you are. You are leaders. You are role models, and of co...

Taunton police welcome Maggie, a golden addition

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:14:43 GMT

Taunton police announced a furry addition to the force Friday. Maggie the Comfort Dog, a 9-week-old golden retriever, will respond to mental health calls with the department’s clinician once she graduates from Community Resource Dog training.Maggie arrived at the department in early May from Golden Opportunities for Independence, a service dog trainer, in Walpole. She’ll work with Taunton Police Co-Response Clinician Katrina Lee, officials announced.Maggie’s main role will be to de-escalate mental health calls and soothe people who may have experienced trauma with calls in the past.She was named for the force’s first policewoman Margaret Stevens, who began her time on the force in 1943.

Baseball/softball notebook: Walpole girls look like favorites

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:14:43 GMT

Coach Rachel Sprague’s team has their sights set on a state softball championship. If the results so far are any indication, that goal is well within reach.Walpole capped off an impressive regular season last week with wins over Bay State Conference foes as it finished perfect in league play and with a 17-1 overall record.The Timberwolves’ one loss was on opening day against Abington. Walpole avenged the defeat six weeks later on May 18.“Coming into the year we talked about how the state championship is the goal and that it’s possible for us,” Sprague said. “It’s possible for everyone, so why not this group and why not this year? Now it’s just one day at a time trying to make sure we do not look past anyone and look to play our best.”Walpole ace Sharlotte Stazinski has stifled opponents all year. Her brilliance was on full display just over a week ago when she defeated Newton North, Milton, and the aforementioned Green Wave in a ...

Bob Raissman: Wild Card playoff game on Peacock offers a new revenue stream for NFL

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:14:43 GMT

Why did CBS and Fox let a Peacock into the hen house?After all, the National Football League and its commissioners, including the current one, Roger Goodell, once followed a mantra about making its games available to the “largest possible audience.”Nonetheless, the NFL recently sold one primetime Saturday night (Jan. 13, 2024) Wild Card playoff game exclusively to NBCUniversal-owned streaming service, Peacock.There are 13 total playoff games, making each one a sparkler, a most lucrative piece of NFL inventory. Peacock paid the NFL $110 million for the exclusive rights to the primetime Wild Card game. Imagine what a streaming service would pay the league for exclusive rights to a Conference Championship tilt?Fans should recognize where the economics are headed. In order to watch that Saturday night game (unless you’re in the participating team’s markets) you’ll have to subscribe to Peacock. Consider this a test.If it is successful, expect some NFL rights...

New bill to build Athletics stadium on Las Vegas Strip caps Nevada’s cost at $380 million

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:14:43 GMT

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — A bill introduced late Friday in the Nevada Legislature would give the Oakland Athletics up to $380 million for a potential 30,000 seat, $1.5 billion retractable roof stadium on the Las Vegas Strip.The bulk of the public funding would come from $180 million in transferable tax credits from the state and $120 million in county bonds, which can vary based on interest rate returns. Clark County also would contribute $25 million in credit toward infrastructure costs.The A’s have been looking for a home to replace Oakland Coliseum, where the team has played since arriving from Kansas City for the 1968 season. The team had sought to build a stadium in Fremont, San Jose and finally the Oakland waterfront, all ideas that never materialized.The plan in the Nevada Legislature won’t directly raise taxes. It can move forward with a simply majority vote in the Senate and Assembly. Lawmakers have a little more than a week to consider the proposal before they adjourn...

Polish president seeks experts’ advice on contentious law targeting opposition

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:14:43 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Aides to Poland’s President Andrzej Duda said Saturday that his experts have begun analyzing a highly contentious law on Russia’s alleged influence in Poland, ahead of his decision on whether to sign it. Parliament on Friday approved the law, proposed by the right-wing ruling party, that is seen as targeting the opposition. It may affect the outcome of fall parliamentary elections in which the ruling Law and Justice party is seeking a third term. The law would establish a state commission for investigating Russian influence in Poland and on national security. It is generally seen as targeting former Prime Minister Donald Tusk, now the leader of the main opposition Civic Coalition, at a time when early campaigning for the elections is underway.The law cannot take effect without Duda’s approval, due within 21 days. It had caused an outcry, and the left-wing opposition has appealed to Duda to reject it, describing it as “shameful” and saying it may lead to wide-ra...

Former US diplomat Henry Kissinger celebrates 100th birthday, still active in global affairs

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:14:43 GMT

Former diplomat and presidential advisor Henry Kissinger marks his 100th birthday on Saturday, outlasting many of his political contemporaries who guided the United States through one of its most tumultuous periods including the presidency of Richard Nixon and the Vietnam War.Born in Germany on May 27, 1923, Kissinger remains known for his key role in American foreign policy of the 1960s and 1970s including eventual attempts to pull the U.S. out of Vietnam, but not before he became inextricably linked to many of the conflict’s most disputed actions.David Kissinger, writing in The Washington Post on Thursday, said his father’s centenary “might have an air of inevitability for anyone familiar with his force of character and love of historical symbolism. Not only has he outlived most of his peers, eminent detractors and students, but he has also remained indefatigably active throughout his 90s.”The elder Kissinger will celebrate this week with visits to New York, London and his h...

UK police free man involved in Downing Street collision – then arrest him on unrelated charge

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:14:43 GMT

LONDON (AP) — A man who was taken into custody after his car crashed into the gates of the British prime minister’s residence in central London was released in that case — but then immediately rearrested on charges of making indecent images of children, police said Saturday.The 43-year-old suspect was arrested for the unrelated offense shortly after he was released pending further investigation into the crash, the Metropolitan Police Service said in a statement. The collision Thursday afternoon outside the prime minister’s official residence and offices at 10 Downing St. set off an intense security response.Authorities later said the incident wasn’t believed to be terror-related. The suspect was arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving and criminal damage.It wasn’t immediately clear whether the crash was deliberate. Video posted on social media showed a silver hatchback car heading straight for the gates at low speed across Whitehall, the main thoroughfare in London’s government d...

Facing pushback from Lebanese officials, UN walks back plan to give aid to Syrian refugees in USD

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:14:43 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — The United Nations announced Saturday that it will suspend a plan to begin making aid payments to Syrian refugees in crisis-wracked Lebanon in dollars, after pushback from Lebanese officials.Lebanon has been in the throes of a severe financial crisis since 2019, with triple-digit inflation and the domestic currency having lost more than 98% of its market value. An estimated three-quarters of the population is now living in poverty, with refugees having been hit particularly hard. Some 90% of Syrian refugees in Lebanon are below the extreme poverty line, according to a U.N. assessment.Since the collapse of Lebanon’s currency, U.N. agencies had been paying assistance to refugees in Lebanese pounds.However, on Wednesday, citing “the rapid depreciation of the pound, increased fluctuations of the exchange rate, and the strain on the financial provider in supplying large volumes of cash in Lebanese pounds” the U.N. refugee agency and the World Food Program, along with the U....

12 shot, 3 dead in overnight shootings in Chicago ahead of weekend

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:14:43 GMT

CHICAGO — Chicago police reported 12 people shot, three fatally, in overnight shootings all over the Chicagoland area ahead of the holiday weekend.Police reported that a 33-year-old man was found unresponsive on the sidewalk near the 7800 block of South Seeley Avenue around 12:50 a.m. with a gunshot wound to the left armpit. He was pronounced dead on the scene. Around 1:18 a.m., police found a 25-year-old man near the 1400 block of West 49th Street inside a car with a gunshot wound to the head. he was transported to the hospital in critical condition.According to reports, a 34-year-old man was found on the sidewalk near the 500 block of West Surf Street with a gunshot wound to the chest. He was pronounced dead at the hospital shortly after. Shots fired on Chicago’s North Avenue Beach hours after opening for the summer Two women were standing on a sidewalk near the 2300 block of West 18th Street around 2:55 a.m. when shots were fired.A 36-year-old woman was transported to the hosp...