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March Madness bracket primer: Who should you pick?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:48:17 GMT

If you’re like most of the country, you probably didn’t count on a No. 8 seed reaching the national title game last year — or a No. 15 seed making it to the Elite Eight.Thank you North Carolina and Saint Peter’s, who made sure there’s nowhere to go but up trying to pick a winning bracket in 2023.This season, of course, picking the March Madness bracket comes with its own set of potential pitfalls. How do you account for injuries at Houston and UCLA? Can defending champ Kansas make another run after losing handily in the Big 12 Tournament final? Is this the year you can trust the Big Ten?Here’s one way to go with the bracket:SOUTH REGIONFirst Four: Texas A&M Corpus Christi over Southeast Missouri State.First round winners: Alabama, West Virginia, San Diego State, Virginia, Creighton, Baylor, Utah State and Arizona.Maryland was terrific at home this season and not very good on the road. At a neutral site, the Terrapins get a tough first-round matchup against a West Virginia team r...

Patriots free agency tracker and grades: Every New England signing, rumor and move

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:48:17 GMT

Welcome to NFL free agency!The NFL will officially open for business Monday at noon with the start of its “legal tampering” period, during which time teams can begin negotiating with free agents and their representatives.Spoiler: most of those talks have already been held.Several of the top free agents — including possibly Jakobi Meyers — should agree to a new contract Monday, when historically most major deals have been reached and reported following weeks of unsanctioned contract talks.As for the Patriots, they’re in a strong position. They own the eighth-most cap space in the NFL at $30.9 million, per Over the Cap, and rank among the lowest-spending teams in the league over the last three years. They have clear needs at wide receiver, offensive tackle and cornerback. Bill Belichick could solve one or two of them this week, provided the Pats are willing to spend and identify proper value in the market.So will they make a big splash? Or will the Patrio...

The meaning behind the blue ribbons worn at the Oscars

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:48:17 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.”The ribbons were made by Knotty Tie Co., which the agency says provides employment, training and education to refugees resettled in the Denver area.“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 people forced to flee, the statement continued.”Like o...

UN: World after earthquake was slow to send aid to Syria

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:48:17 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — The international community and the Syrian government did not act quickly last month to help people in need in the rebel-held northwest after a deadly earthquake hit Turkey and Syria, a U.N. 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.It took a week for the U.N. and Syria’s President Bashar Assad’s government to agree on opening two more border crossings into the rebel-held region bordering Turkey as many people were still under the rubble.“Since the earthquake, we have seen many acts to help victims by the Syrians them...

Missouri officer killed, 2nd hurt in shooting; suspect fled

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:48:17 GMT

HERMANN, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri police officer has been killed and a second officer is badly wounded after a shooting at a small-town convenience store.The shooting about 9:30 p.m. Sunday killed Detective Sgt. Mason Griffith of the Hermann Police Department. Authorities have not released the name of the injured officer. The Missouri State Highway Patrol said the injured officer was in serious but stable condition at a hospital.The patrol has not released information about what led to the shooting. It wasn’t clear if the officers returned fire. The patrol identified the suspect as 35-year-old Kenneth Lee Simpson of St. Louis County, who got away.The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Monday that police are focusing their search for Simpson on a home along Highway 19 near Hermann, not far from where the shooting happened.Police surrounded the home and yelled for him to come outside. Officers earlier searched near a motel in Hermann, where the Post-Dispatch said Simpson and his girl...

Death toll climbs as Cyclone Freddy slams Malawi, Mozambique

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:48:17 GMT

BLANTYRE, Malawi (AP) — An unrelenting Cyclone Freddy that is currently battering southern Africa has killed at least 56 people in Malawi and Mozambique since it struck the continent for a second time on Saturday night, authorities in both countries have confirmed. Local police said 51 people in Malawi, including 36 in Chilobwe in the financial hub of Blantyre in the center of the country have died, with several others missing or injured. Authorities in Mozambique reported that five people were killed in the country since Saturday.The deaths in Malawi include five members of a single family who died in Blantyre’s Ndirande township after Freddy’s destructive winds and heavy rains demolished their house, according to a police report. A three-year-old child who was “trapped in the debris” is also among the victims, with her parents among those reported missing, authorities also said.“We suspect that this figure will rise as we are trying to compile one national report from ...

Markets volatile in early morning trading after U.S. bank failures

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:48:17 GMT

TORONTO — It is a volatile trading session for markets this morning amid fears of financial contagion in the U.S. after the second- and third-largest bank failures in that country’s history, while Canada’s main stock exchange moves lower on weakness in the energy and financial sectors.The S&P/TSX composite index was down 148.96 points at 19,625.96.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 61.37 points at 31,971.01. The S&P 500 index was down 8.91 points at 3,852.68, while the Nasdaq composite was down 8.10 points at 11,130.79.The Canadian dollar traded for 72.76 cents US compared with 72.43 cents US on Friday.The April crude contract was down US$.38 at US$73.30 per barrel and the April natural gas contract was up 13 cents at US$2.56 per mmBTU.The April gold contract was up US$45.20 at US$1,912.4 an ounce and the May copper contract was down three cents at US$4.00 a pound.This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 13, 2023.Companies in this story: ...

Canadian Tire launches fee-based Triangle Rewards subscription program for $89/year

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:48:17 GMT

TORONTO — Canadian Tire Corp. is rolling out a new fee-based subscription program as part of its Triangle Rewards loyalty program. The retailer says the subscription, which will cost $89 a year plus taxes, is an upgrade to its existing rewards program that will deliver “even more value to customers.”The company says members who pay for so-called Triangle Select status will be able to earn CT Money faster through “stackable, bonus rewards” on eligible purchases at it stores, including Canadian Tire, Mark’s, Sport Chek, Sport Experts and Party City.Canadian Tire says subscribers will also receive a “welcome gift” valued at $50, online shopping perks and, for a limited time, a six-month subscription to the streaming service Crave.Jason Blanchette, senior vice-president of loyalty and customer insights at Canadian Tire Corp., says the Triangle Select program offers Canadians a new way to stretch their dollars and “earn even more rewards on...

Drake announces 2023 North American tour with 21 Savage

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:48:17 GMT

Four-time Grammy-winner Drake is teaming up with collaborator 21 Savage for a North American arena tour this year. The It’s All a Blur Tour will kick off June 16 in New Orleans and stop in Dallas, Miami, New York, Montreal, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Additional shows including Toronto will be announced later. The Canadian rapper-singer and Spotify’s most-streamed artist in the U.S. last year put out two albums in 2022, “Honestly, Nevermind” and his collaboration with 21 Savage, “Her Loss.” His last headlining tour was in 2018.During a show at the famed Apollo Theater earlier this year, he hinted at a tour and possibly even more music on the horizon.Several of the stops will be two-night stands, including in Atlanta, Chicago and Boston.Presales will be available through Cash App and Sprite beginning Wednesday and general sales will start Friday. (), The Associated Press

German department store chain seen shutting 40% of outlets

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:48:17 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s last major department store chain aims to close two-fifths of its branches, months after it filed for insolvency protection for the second time in less than three years, the company’s employee council said Monday.The long-troubled Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof plans to shut 52 of its current 129 stores, the council said. It added that the move would cost more than 5,000 jobs, German news agency dpa reported.The company, which resulted from the merger a few years ago of rivals Karstadt and Kaufhof, sought protection from creditors in late October, citing a steep rise in energy prices and weak consumer spending.It had already shut around 40 stores and cut some 4,000 jobs after seeking protection during the first lockdown of the coronavirus pandemic in April 2020, and reportedly was granted 680 million euros ($724 million) in state aid. The Associated Press