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March Madness has international flair for many women’s teams

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 13:46:08 GMT

STORRS, Conn. (AP) — When star guard Paige Bueckers went down with a season-ending knee injury last August, UConn went searching far and wide for a late addition to its roster.The Huskies found one overseas in Inês Bettencourt, a point guard from the Azores, off the coast of Portugal. An assistant coach had noticed her playing at the Division B U18 European Championships.A couple of months later, the Huskies announced the signing of a player they hope will be their next dominant forward: Jana El Alfy, who is 6-foot-4 and from Egypt. She enrolled in January and joined the team, but will not play until next season.The Big East champions are headed to the NCAA Tournament as a No. 2 seed with six international players on the roster after having just 10 others since Geno Auriemma began coaching the team in 1985. “There was very little video of them back then,” Auriemma said. “Today, we have video and those kids have video of everything; they see everything. They watch every one of ...

UN inquiry commission: Quake aid was slow to reach Syria

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 13:46:08 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — The international community and the Syrian government did not act quickly enough last month to help people in need in the rebel-held northwest after a deadly earthquake hit Turkey and conflict-ravaged Syria, a U.N.-backed commission said Monday.The Feb. 6 magnitude 7.8 earthquake and strong aftershocks that ravaged southern Turkey and northwestern Syria killed more than 50,000 people, including over 6,000 in Syria.The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria said there should be an investigation into why it took a week to open border crossings for aid to flow. It added that war-torn Syria “now needs a comprehensive cease-fire that is fully respected” for civilians, including aid workers, to be safe.The commission also said there have been new attacks in Syria, including a reported Israeli airstrike last week on the international airport of the northern city of Aleppo putting it out of service for three days. The airport has been a main point for aid flo...

Doubles star Bob Bryan succeeds Fish as US Davis Cup captain

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 13:46:08 GMT

One of many highlights of Bob Bryan’s time as half of a record-breaking men’s doubles duo was helping the United States claim the 2007 Davis Cup — the last time the country won the competition. Now Bryan will try to end that drought from the sideline.The U.S. Tennis Association on Monday announced Bryan’s appointment as Davis Cup captain, succeeding Mardy Fish. Bryan’s first matches in charge will come during the group stage in September.Bryan and his twin brother, Mike, earned a record 16 Grand Slam championships together, 119 tour-level titles and an Olympic gold medal in doubles, finishing 10 seasons atop the ATP rankings before retiring in 2020. They went 25-5 as a pair in Davis Cup matches, including a win that clinched the U.S. victory over Russia 16 years ago in Portland.“That is at the top of the list of my best memories in tennis. All of those times in the Davis Cup trenches with my teammates are seared into my mind. We had highs and we had lows, but they’re definitely unfo...

Woman dies after being rescued from mobile home fire

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 13:46:08 GMT

ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) -- A woman in her 60s died after being rescued from a mobile home fire Monday near Strasburg in Arapahoe County.Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office said it happened at 9:20 a.m. in the 1200 block of County Road 157. 12 shot in 7 separate shootings in metro over weekend Deputies with ACSO responded, as well as firefighters from Bennett-Watkins Fire Rescue, Sable Altura Fire Rescue, Deer Trail, and US Air Force Fire.A deputy sustained minor injuries as a result of the fire.

Physical key Kias, Hyundais most stolen car in Colorado

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 13:46:08 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Push button starts could be saving your car from Colorado's 2020s wave of car theft. Several Colorado authorities including the Colorado State Patrol, Auto Theft Prevention Authority, Division of Insurance and Division of Motor Vehicles have identified an increase in thefts of certain late-model Kias and Hyundais. These cars are being stolen more than 10 times as often as in 2019 and now make up a large share of the total number of cars stolen in the state. Lawmakers introduce bill to crack down on car thefts These models have physical key systems, unlike many later makes and models with remote key features. Even among Kias and Hyundais themselves, thieves target physical key models more frequently than touchless fob ignitions.These vehicles do conform to the U.S. Market Security Standard for new vehicles. Still, these vehicles are being stolen in high numbers. The total theft of these vehicles has skyrocketed tenfold since 2019. In 2019, there were 845 reported t...

These teams will play in Denver for NCAA Tournament

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 13:46:08 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- The 2023 NCAA First Four will take place in Dayton, Ohio on Tuesday and Wednesday.The Mountain West Conference will host six games at Ball Arena for the First and Second Rounds of the NCAA Men's Tournament. FOX31 Basketball Challenge The games will take place on Friday and Sunday.March 17 games at Ball ArenaHere is a look at the schedule of games for March 17:No. 3 Baylor vs. No. 14 UC Santa Barbara: 11:30 a.m.No. 6 Creighton vs. No. 11 NC State: 2 p.m.No. 3 Gonzaga vs. No. 14 Grand Canyon: 5:35 p.m.No. 6 TCU vs. No. 11 Arizona State or No. 11 Nevada: 8:05 p.m.TicketsThe tickets are separated by sessions. There are three sessions that will take place at Ball Arena. The first two games on March 17 count as session one, the second set of games count as session two, and the two games on Sunday count as session three. CU women’s basketball team to play in NCAA Championship tournament Session one tickets are available on Ticketmaster and are $84 and up as of Monday ...

The blue ribbons worn at the Oscars have a Denver connection

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 13:46:08 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Small and subtle, the blue ribbons worn by many celebrities at the Oscars nonetheless had an important message: support refugees.According to a statement from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, donning the #WithRefugees ribbons Sunday "sends a powerful visual message that everyone has the right to seek safety, whoever, wherever, whenever they are.”The ribbons were made by Knotty Tie Co., which the agency says provides employment, training and education to refugees resettled in the Denver area. Photos from the 2023 Oscars: red carpet, ceremony, and more “In many of the films nominated at festivals and awards ceremonies this season, the human themes of conflict, separation and loss are present,” the agency said in the statement, citing movies like “Avatar: The Way of Water” and “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On.”“Through effective storytelling, these films help erode discrimination and misunderstandings, offer new perspectives and help to build compassion for ...

Skeletal remains of Roman aristocrat discovered in hidden lead coffin

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 13:46:08 GMT

(CNN) — The remains of a Roman aristocrat have been unearthed by archaeologists in northern England.The skeleton of the unidentified woman, believed to be more than 1,000 years old, was found in a lead coffin in a hidden cemetery in the city of Leeds last year.The remains of 62 people were dug up at the previously unknown archaeological site near Garforth. Men, women and 23 children were buried at the site uncovered by a team of archaeologists.The dead are thought to include people from both the late Roman and early Saxon era, as burial customs of both eras were found in the graves, according to a press release published by Leeds City Council Monday.David Hunter, principle archaeologist with West Yorkshire Joint Services, told CNN Monday that the discovery emerged after a commercial developer submitted an application for planning permission to the council.An archaeological survey of the site — the exact location of which hasn’t been released — led t...

UK’s Sunak paves way for TikTok ban U-turn

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 13:46:08 GMT

LONDON — U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hinted that Chinese app TikTok could be banned on all British government phones.It would mark a U-turn from London after it initially resisted pressure to follow the EU and U.S. in announcing such a move. In an interview during a trip to the U.S., the BBC asked Sunak if the social media app would be banned on government devices. “We take security of devices seriously,” he responded. “We look also at what our allies are doing. And we’re in the process of doing all of that.”The Sunday Times reported at the weekend that there has been a rethink in the U.K. after experts at intelligence agency GCHQ’s National Cyber Security Center assessed the app and found risks to sensitive information.Critics of China argue Beijing could demand tech firms such as TikTok owner ByteDance hand over information. TikTok, whose parent company is headquartered in Beijing, has repeatedly said it doesn’t share data with China, pointing out that its data centers ar...

Nor’easter to bring heavy winds, wet snow and coastal flooding as part of daylong, multifaceted storm

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 13:46:08 GMT

Crews continue to prep for plowable snow and potential outages as a nor’easter promises to dump plenty of flakes inland and hit the coast with heavy winds before tapering off on Wednesday.Steady, wet snow is expected to start arriving by 9 p.m. in western and central Massachusetts, while the remainder of the state sees mostly rain going into Tuesday morning before switching to snow later in the day.RELATED: 7WEATHER BLOG: Nasty Nor’easterFrom the overnight hours into Tuesday night, parts of northern Worcester County could see snow totals reach 12-18 inches, especially in the area between Ashburnham and Princeton. Worcester itself, as well as a number of communities along 495 stretching into the Merrimack Valley, could see between 6-9 inches, with towns closer to New Hampshire possibly seeing up to a foot of snow.By Tuesday afternoon, many of the showers hitting eastern Mass. are expected to flip to snow after winds force the rain/snow line sitting along 495 to collapse to the ...