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Women’s Sweet 16 features new format and historic field

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:44:21 GMT

The Sweet 16 features a new format and a bit of history when it begins later this week.The NCAA changed its setup for the women’s tournament this season, trimming the traditional four regional sites to two. Seattle and Greenville — a city of 71,000 in South Carolina about halfway between Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina — will each host eight teams before sending the winners on to Dallas for the Final Four.It is also just the second time since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1994 that two of the No. 1 seeds didn’t reach the regional semifinals after Mississippi and Miami knocked out Stanford and Indiana, respectively. It also happened in 1998.The other top seeds — South Carolina and Virginia Tech — advanced. The Gamecocks, led by star Aliyah Boston, are four wins from completing their own historic journey and back-to-back national championships. They are seeking just the 10th undefeated season ever in women’s basketball, and the next steps for coach Daw...

Police chase ends in arrest after suspect crashes on Don Shula Expressway

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:44:21 GMT

A high-speed chase on State Road 874 ended in the arrest of a suspect after the driver refused to stop for police. The suspect crashed into a car on the northbound lanes of the Don Shula Expressway and as authorities continue their investigation lane closures are causing heavy delays.7News cameras were able to capture video footage of the chase and the suspect being taken into custody. In the video, the suspect can be seen with his hands behind his back and surrounded by police. The reason for the chase remains unclear, but 7News has reached out to the Miami-Dade Police Department for more information about the incident.As a result of this incident, three right lanes of the highway have been blocked off by police officers.It is unknown how long the Don Shula Expressway will remain closed to traffic or when more details about the incident will be released. The public is advised to avoid the area until the situation is resolved.

Crews in California brace for more flooding as another atmospheric river approaches, bringing heavy rain and fierce winds

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:44:21 GMT

(CNN) — California state emergency officials are positioning crews across several counties to brace for more damaging floods as another atmospheric river is set to slam storm-fatigued California Tuesday, threatening to whip up hurricane-force winds and deluge the state with more rain and snow.“Now’s the time to make sure you and your family are prepared,” California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services tweeted Monday. “Gather supplies for a go-bag, prep for a power outage and if told by officials to evacuate, don’t wait!”In southern California’s San Bernardino County, residents in the mountains were asked to limit travel as much as possible and maintain at least a two-week supply of food, water, medication and fuel ahead of the rapidly strengthening storm’s arrival.Swift-water rescue teams, hand crews and bulldozers are stationed in counties throughout the state.“This is going to be yet another challenging event &#...

London’s Met Police racist, misogynistic and homophobic, damning report finds

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:44:21 GMT

LONDON — The Metropolitan Police is riddled with “institutional” racism, misogyny and homophobia, a blistering report on the U.K.’s largest police force concluded.The official review — conducted over twelve months by former top civil servant Louise Casey in the wake of a host of high-profile crimes involving Met officers — warns that the London force has lost the faith of the British public. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said faith in the Met has been “hugely damaged,” while London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the report marked “one of the darkest days in the history” of the force.The findings come in the wake of serving Met officer Wayne Couzens’ kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard. Just last month, former Met officer David Carrick — similarly trusted to guard parliament and diplomatic sites as part of an elite team — was sentenced to life in jail for abusing multiple women while in the force.The review identifies a number of cases where f...

Russian cruise missiles destroyed in drone attack on Crimea, Ukraine says

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:44:21 GMT

KYIV — A series of blasts targeting Russian weapons took place in Russian-occupied Crimea on Monday night, according to videos posted on social media.The footage showed explosions in Dzhankoy, a town in the northern part of Crimea and a strategically important railway connection used by the Russian army. In some clips, a red cloud was visible in the night sky after the blasts. Others featured the sound of machine guns firing.Ukrainian Military Intelligence reported that an explosion had destroyed a cargo of Russian Kalibr cruise missiles — which Moscow has used to hammer Ukrainian critical infrastructure. Ukraine has not officially taken responsibility for the attack.“The mysterious series of blasts continues the process of Russia’s demilitarization and prepares the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea for de-occupation,” Ukrainian Military Intelligence said in a statement.However, Russian media reported that Russian-backed authorities in Crimea blamed a...

Google reaches $1.8M settlement with NH over ‘deceptive’ location tracking practices

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:44:21 GMT

Google has reached a $1.8M settlement with New Hampshire over misleading consumers about its location tracking practices. New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella says the state is expected to receive $1.8 million from that settlement. The settlement is the result of allegations that Google violated state consumer protection laws by misleading consumers about its location tracking practices since at least 2014. Specifically, Formella says Google caused users to be confused about two account settings that control data collection of the users’ location – “Location History” and “Web & App Activity” – and the extent to which consumers could limit Google’s location tracking by adjusting their account and device settings. “Transparency regarding the way that large technology companies like Google track, share, and use the personal data of its users is critically important,” Formella said in a statement. “Consumers need to be able to understand how their location dat...

Spring Is In The Air

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:44:21 GMT

How about that recovery yesterday? After a chilly start, it turned out to be a very nice afternoon with temps running in the low to mid 50s and sunshine winning out. Today, we’re off to a seasonably cold start, but the recovery will once again be great. As sunny to partly cloudy skies win out, a west wind will be strong enough to hold back any sea breeze. That means, even in Boston, along the North Shore and South Shore, temps will push up to near 60 degrees. Fitting for the first full day of Spring as it’s certainly a late April/early May feel to the air outside. It’ll be a bit cooler along the south coast and in the Worcester Hills. That west wind will gust to 20-25mph. Tomorrow, it’ll be close to 60 again inland, but much cooler at the coast with an ocean breeze coming on it. Clouds fade the sunshine at times tomorrow as partly to mostly cloudy skies win out. Showers arrive Thursday with a gusty wind, especially in the afternoon. Then, we’ll dry ou...

Boston City Councilors to hear proposal on banning ‘nips’

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:44:21 GMT

Boston City Councilors are proposing a ban on single-serve liquor bottles known as ‘nips.’Councilor Ricardo Arroyo says nip bottles are too small to be recycled and they add to a large amount of litter in the city. Several communities across the state, including Chelsea and Newton, have banned nips and seen a drop in public intoxication.The Boston City Council could hear the proposal on Wednesday.

Jason Sudeikis and ‘Ted Lasso’ cast meet with Biden for mental health discussion

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:44:21 GMT

(CNN) — Ted Lasso and President Joe Biden are teaming up to — as the television football coach would say — “believe” in the importance of mental health.Biden and first lady Dr. Jill Biden hosted actor Jason Sudeikis and other members of the cast of “Ted Lasso” at the White House on Monday for a conversation on mental health, Apple TV+ announced Sunday.Cast members joining the discussion include Hannah Waddingham, Jeremy Swift, Phil Dunster, Brett Goldstein, Brendan Hunt, Toheeb Jimoh, Cristo Fernandez, Kola Bokinni, Billy Harris and James Lance.The cast visited the White House briefing room on Monday ahead of the meeting with the Bidens.“No matter who you are, no matter where you live, no matter who you voted for, we all probably — I assume, we all know someone who has or had been that someone ourselves actually, that’s struggled, that’s felt isolated, that’s felt anxious, that has felt alone,” S...

Battenfeld: Trumped up charges could become rallying cry for Republicans

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:44:21 GMT

The likely indictment of former President Donald Trump is a bold – some would say foolhardy – political gambit and could simply become a rallying cry for Trump’s presidential campaign.Liberal Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is risking galvanizing Republicans by charging the former president in a seven-year-old hush money deal to silence a porn star right before the 2016 election.Trump is already making hay of his potential arrest by urging supporters to protest – while other Republicans, even those like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis – are rallying to Trump’s side.DeSantis criticized Bragg as a “Soros-funded prosecutor” who is “pursuing a political agenda” – comments that drew Trump’s attention on Monday.“Ron DeSanctimonious will probably find out about FALSE ACCUSATIONS & FAKE STORIES sometime in the future as he gets older, wiser and better known,” Trump posted on his Truth Social site. “I’m sure he will want to fight these misfits just like I do.”Of course DeSantis isn’t f...