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UConn holds off late San Diego State surge in title victory

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:50 GMT

HOUSTON (AP) — UConn got the shots it wanted and made life miserable for San Diego State defensively, looking like it was going to turn the national championship game into a runaway.The Huskies knew the Aztecs would push, scrap and claw their way back. Their defense was too good, their will too strong.For a stretch, the Huskies buckled. It still ended in another rout.UConn dominated at both ends early and pulled away after San Diego State’s defensive clamp down, finishing off one of the most dominant NCAA Tournament runs with a 76-59 win over the Aztecs on Monday night.“We keep our composure,” UConn guard Jordan Hawkins said. “It doesn’t matter what we go through, we’re going to stick together no matter what.”Picking apart San Diego State’s menacing defense while draining the Aztecs’ offensive confidence, the Huskies (31-8) had fans wondering whether they should keep watching, building a 16-point lead.San Diego State (32-7) got back in it by getting in ...

José Ramírez hits go-ahead single in 10th, Guardians top A’s

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:50 GMT

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — José Ramírez hit a go-ahead single in the 10th inning after his RBI triple in the eighth gave Cleveland the lead, and the Guardians rallied to beat the Oakland Athletics 12-11 on Monday night.Cleveland added an insurance run on a wild pitch by Trevor May (1-1), which the Guardians needed when Oakland got one back in the bottom of the 10th on Esteury Ruiz’s double.Seth Brown hit a tying, two-run homer with two outs in the ninth for the A’s. Brown struck out on an automatic strike in Oakland’s five-run second for a pitch-clock violation charged to the batter for taking too much time on a windy, unseasonably chilly April night in the Bay Area. Josh Naylor homered leading off the fourth and hit an RBI single for the Guardians, who won their fourth straight after losing at Seattle on opening day.Jace Peterson hit a three-run homer in the second and Ramón Laureano added a two-run drive in the fifth, but the A’s squandered an early 6-2 lead for Jame...

Asian shares mixed as surging oil prices fan inflation fears

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:50 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Shares were mixed in Asia on Tuesday as investors watched for the latest moves by central banks, while oil prices steadied after shooting higher the day before following an announcement that major exporters plan to cut production. Benchmarks rose in Tokyo, Shanghai and Seoul but fell in Hong Kong and Sydney. Australia’s central bank kept its key interest rate unchanged at 3.60%“The Board took the decision to hold interest rates steady this month to provide additional time to assess the impact of the increase in interest rates to date and the economic outlook,” the Reserve Bank of Australia said in a statement, citing the usual lag between interest rate changes and their impacts. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney slipped 0.1% to 7,217.60. Shares fell in Bangkok. Markets were closed in India and Taiwan. Regional central banks have been varying their strategies as inflation wanes in some places but remains stubbornly high in others. Vietnam’s central bank eased i...

Dodgers rally for 7 runs in 5th, put chill on Rockies 13-4

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:50 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jason Heyward slammed a two-run homer as part of a seven-run rally with two outs in the fifth inning, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Colorado Rockies 13-4 on a wind-whipped Monday night.The game-time temperature was 55 degrees — well under the Los Angeles average of 73 this time of year — with a cold, 13 mph wind that gusted through the stadium and blew bits of trash onto the outfield warning track.With the Dodgers trailing 4-2, Freddie Freeman doubled and Will Smith and Max Muncy walked to load the bases with two outs, chasing Colorado starter Ryan Feltner (0-1).J.D. Martinez singled off Jake Bird, scoring Freeman and Smith to tie it 4-all.James Outman followed with triple to right, bringing home Muncy and Martinez for a 6-4 lead. Outman scored on fellow rookie Miguel Vargas’ RBI single, making it 7-4.Heyward kept it going with his first homer for the Dodgers, extending the lead to 9-4.Outman’s second RBI triple and Heyward’s sacrifice fly made ...

High winds mean fire danger, despite coming cold

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:50 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — The Pinpoint Weather team is tracking a cold front coming in Tuesday that led to windy conditions Monday across the Front Range.“Just four days ago, high winds brought us a wildland fire of some size,” said Lt. Scott Martin, with West Metro Fire Rescue. How much snow is coming tomorrow? Martin said that during red flag warnings like the metro area had on Monday, fire crews are extra prepared. Residents are asked to do the same. “When we have these high fire danger days, we up-staff or add brush trucks to our street rotations," Martin said. 'Explosive fires' can come in spring, late fallHe said it doesn't matter that cold weather is coming in. If there isn't moisture on the ground, there is still a risk. “The temperature plays a part in the whole diagram of a fire being able to burn, but it’s the smallest parts wind, fuel, topography, and those are the key components,” Martin said.The dry vegetation Colorado sees during colder months can be fuel for a fire.“The shou...

Video captures chaos outside Viejas Arena as fans rush gates

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:50 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Video shows a chaotic scene Monday evening outside Viejas Arena, where San Diego State fans gathered for a watch party ahead of the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship game.Around 6:20 p.m., when the game between SDSU and University of Connecticut was just getting underway, Viejas Arena tweeted that the venue had reached maximum capacity and it would not be letting any more guests in. That tweet has since been deleted.About 6:34 p.m., Daniela Ramirez, a reporter for student-run newspaper The Daily Aztec, shared video to Twitter of the mayhem unraveling just outside. SDSU loses to UConn in national championship game "The security was not letting anyone inside due to max capacity..then terror struck," Ramirez wrote.Her video shows Aztecs fans scaling the gates, some successfully making it over while others do not. Some fans who make it across are then seen pushing the doors open to allow waiting fans to get in.At least one fan who made it over the gate appeared to be sto...

Train derailment near The Hague kills 1, injures several

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:50 GMT

VOORSCHOTEN, Netherlands (AP) — A train derailed near The Hague in the early hours of Tuesday, sending two carriages into a field next to the tracks, Dutch emergency services said. One person died and some 30 passengers were injured, many of them seriously.Television images showed people using makeshift bridges to cross a canal running alongside the rails to reach the stricken train in the darkness. Many windows in the train carriages were broken. It was not clear if that happened during the accident or as passengers attempted to escape.Photos from the scene showed two of the bright yellow and blue train carriages perpendicular to the tracks lying across a small canal and partially in a field. What appeared to be the front of the train was badly damaged. Other parts of the train were partially derailed.Images showed a freight train also stopped on rails close to the wreckage of the passenger train.Injured passengers were treated in homes near the line and transported in a fleet of a...

Grassroots faith leaders navigate a Northern Ireland in flux

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:50 GMT

BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) — Teenagers from Catholic and Protestant youth groups lit candles on a Belfast street in memory of those who perished in the Holocaust, then listened solemnly to a warning about the dangers of Northern Ireland’s own infamous religious bigotries.“We all know what prejudice is,” said Stephen Hughes, leader in charge of St. Peter’s Immaculata Youth Centre, his voice robustly carrying over the twilight rush-hour traffic. “We were encouraged to hate each other because they’re Protestant or they’re Catholic.”The teens were too young, he noted, to remember “the Troubles” — three decades of sectarian violence that claimed more than 3,600 lives in the late 20th century and left countless more wounded and bereaved.The violence largely ended 25 years ago this month with the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, which laid out a political process for resolving Northern Ireland’s future.But that political process has been turbulent, skirmishes have periodically res...

Canadian R&B singer Jully Black honoured at AFN ceremony for NBA anthem rendition

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:50 GMT

OTTAWA — Canadian R&B singer Jully Black was honoured at an AFN Special Chiefs Assembly in Ottawa Monday night for making an appreciated tweak to the Canadian national anthem at the NBA All-Star Game in Salt Lake City, Utah in February.The Juno Award-winner had swapped out one word in the anthem’s usual opening line “O Canada! Our home and native land!” with “O Canada! Our home on native land” to recognize the Indigenous peoples who lived on the land before European settlers.Black was presented with an eagle feather and wrapped with a blanket during a Blanketing Ceremony by AFN Knowledge Keepers and National Chief RoseAnne Archibald.The singer said she was “grateful” while holding back tears, adding “I didn’t realize that my action would garner such a response.”Black said, “On behalf of the Black community, I say we are one. We’re better together.”After the presentation of the blanket and feather, Blac...

Finland's PM Marin concedes defeat as right-wing NCP wins election

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:50 GMT

Finland's left-wing Prime Minster Sanna Marin conceded defeat in Sunday's (2 April) parliamentary elections. The opposition right-wing National Coalition Party won victory in a closely fought race.Pro-business NCP was expected win 48 of 200 parliament seats. This is narrowly ahead nationalist Finns Party, which has 46 seats, and Marin's Social Democrats, who have 43. Justice ministry election data shows that all ballots were counted."We got the largest mandate," NCP leader Petteri Oderpo stated in a speech to his followers. He pledged to "fix Finland's economy".As Marin's tenure as prime minister is expected to end, he will have the chance to form a coalition in order to win majority in parliament."We have gained support, and we have won more seats (in parliament). Even if we didn't finish first today, that's an outstanding achievement," the prime minister stated in a speech to party members.Marin, 37, was the world's youngest prime minster when she assumed office in 2019. She is re...