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Mexican leader says US fentanyl crisis due to lack of hugs

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:30:51 GMT

Associated PressMEXICO CITY — Mexico’s president said Friday that U.S. families were to blame for the fentanyl overdose crisis because they don’t hug their kids enough.The comment by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador caps a week of provocative statements from him about the crisis caused by the fentanyl, a synthetic opioid trafficked by Mexican cartels that has been blamed for about 70,000 overdose deaths per year in the United States.López Obrador said family values have broken down in the United States, because parents don’t let their children live at home long enough. He has also denied that Mexico produces fentanyl.On Friday, the Mexican president told a morning news briefing that the problem was caused by “a lack of hugs, of embraces.”“There is a lot of disintegration of families, there is a lot of individualism, there is a lack of love, of brotherhood, of hugs and embraces,” López Obrador said of the U.S. crisis. “That is why ...

2 minors arrested after reported fight at Montgomery HS in Santa Rosa

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:30:51 GMT

SANTA ROSA, Calif. (KRON) -- Two minors were arrested after a fight reportedly broke out at Montgomery High School in Santa Rosa Friday morning, the Santa Rosa Police Department said. A student was killed in a stabbing at the school on March 1, and there have been multiple arrests there since. Police responded to the school at 10:42 a.m. after a report that five or six juveniles were involved in a fight on Matanzas Way, just west of the campus. After officers arrived, they encountered two minors who admitted to spectating the fight. Principal at school where student was fatally stabbed placed on leave Officers detained and searched both subjects. One boy had a knife in his pocket and the other had metal knuckles in his front pocket, according to police. Officers also located marijuana. An officer stationed at the school said he had seen the boy with the knife leave Montgomery's campus before the fight. He was arrested for possession of a knife on school grounds. The other boy was ...

Penn State-Texas 2nd-round matchup carries plenty of meaning

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:30:51 GMT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Penn State has been historically more likely to play Texas on a national stage in a football bowl game than the NCAA Tournament. On Saturday night, the Midwest Region matchup between two gridiron giants will be on the hardcourt for the first meeting in men’s basketball.It just may present one of the most intriguing — and meaningful — second round games. The teams are coming off sharp debuts in Des Moines, particularly on defense and from the 3-point line. Both programs, in their own way, would experience a sense of satisfaction from reaching the second weekend of the tournament. Then there are their beloved head coaches. Penn State (23-13) took a big step forward in Micah Shrewsberry’s second season, reaching the Big Ten Tournament championship game and posting the first NCAA Tournament win in 20 years by disposing of Texas A&M on Thursday night. Shrewsberry has been mentioned as a candidate for high-profile openings at Georgetown and Notre Dame, bu...

Nunge’s block helps No. 3 seed Xavier beat Kennesaw State

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:30:51 GMT

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Jack Nunge blocked Terrell Burden’s driving attempt at a go-ahead layup in the final seconds, and Xavier dug out of a 13-point hole against surprising Kennesaw State to escape with a 72-67 victory in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday.Souley Boum hit four clinching free throws in the final 2.6 seconds for the third-seeded Musketeers (26-9), who ran off 15 unanswered points as part of a game-ending 24-6 run. That was enough to turn away the 14th-seeded Owls (26-9) in the program’s first-ever March Madness game.Xavier moves on to face Pittsburgh on Sunday in the Midwest Region.Xavier led 68-67 when Burden — who’d been successful all day with dribble penetration — turned into the paint past Jerome Hunter and appeared to have a path to the rim. The 7-foot Nunge moved over and swatted the ball into the backboard.Jerome Hunter scored 24 points to lead the Musketeers, while Boum had 17. Nunge had 10 points, 11 rebounds, two steals and two blocks.Burden...

Kalkbrenner leads Creighton past NC State in March Madness

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:30:51 GMT

DENVER (AP) — The Creighton Bluejays couldn’t hit anything from outside. No worries — OK, maybe a little — they simply went inside to their big man.Ryan Kalkbrenner scored a career-high 31 points and sixth-seeded Creighton overcame a rough 3-point shooting day to fend off No. 11 seed North Carolina State 72-63 on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.The 7-foot-1 Kalkbrenner did a little bit of everything for the Bluejays, which included hitting a big 3-pointer on a day the team finished 3 of 20 from long range.The slender Kalkbrenner had six dunks and seven rebounds, and N.C. State big men D.J. Burns Jr. and Ebenezer Dowuona were hampered by foul trouble.“Nothing surprises me from Kalk,” Creighton coach Greg McDermott said. “He’s just improved in every facet of the game, and he was able to score on Burns. But then when they had to go small, we did a good job of executing some offense to get him the ball around the rim, and then he did the rest.”Next up ...

Russia will extend Ukraine grain deal for 60 days — not 120

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:30:51 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — On the eve of the expiration of a deal enabling Ukraine to export grain, the United Nations’ humanitarian chief on Friday called its extension crucial to ensuring global food supplies and keeping prices from spiraling as they did after Russia’s invasion of its smaller neighbor. Russia’s U.N. ambassador reiterated that Moscow is ready to extend the deal — but only for 60 days, just half the 120 days in the agreement.Russian envoy Vassily Nebenzia’s briefing to the U.N. Security Council, reiterating what a Russian delegation told senior U.N. officials at a meeting in Geneva on Monday, reinforced the Kremlin’s insistence on reducing the duration of the deal to hold out for changes on how the package is working.The U.N. and Turkey brokered the deal between the warring countries last July that allows Ukraine — one of the world’s key breadbaskets — to ship food and fertilizer from three of its Black Sea ports. A separate memorandum of understanding between the United...

Sanogo, UConn send Pitino, Iona packing from March Madness

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:30:51 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — With a dominant performance from its best player in the second half, UConn took the next step toward returning to its championship past.Adama Sanogo scored 10 of his season-high 28 points in the first five minutes of the second half as the fourth-seeded Huskies seized control and beat Rick Pitino’s Iona Gaels 87-63 Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.UConn (26-8) advanced to play fifth-seeded Saint Mary’s on Sunday in the West Region after losing in the first round under coach Dan Hurley the last two seasons.“We grabbed him at halftime because he was pressing in the first half,” Hurley said of Sanogo. “He was hesitant. I think he carried the weight of getting us out of the first round, I think, a little bit too much in the first half.”Iona (27-8) had its 14-game winning streak snapped as the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champion didn’t have the depth to keep up with one of the Big East’s best for 40 minutes.“The played a great...

Prince George’s Co. shelter to waive all pet adoption fees for a limited time

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:30:51 GMT

From now until the end of April, the Prince George’s County, Maryland, Animal Services Facility and Adoption Center will waive all adoption fees for dogs and cats.It’s all thanks to $50,000 grant from Utah-based Best Friends Animal Society, a nonprofit organization with a focus on animal welfare by providing resources to shelters across the country.More Prince George’s County NewsMore Local NewsMarlan Roberts, senior manager of operations at Best Friends, said the surrender rates are increasing at the shelter, and waving the fee was an incentive to get people’s attention.“It’s just a great time right now,” Roberts said in an interview with WTOP. “Our numbers are increasing … the amount of animals entering our shelter due to folks having hard times. Why not allow dogs at a few waived fees so we can get them into a forever home?”The grant will allow hundreds of pets in the Upper Marlboro shelter to receive vaccines and other routin...

Perfect March Madness brackets could be gone before weekend

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:30:51 GMT

The dwindling number of perfect NCAA Tournament brackets might reach zero before the weekend.The NCAA March Madness Twitter account posted after Friday’s early games that only 30 such brackets remained. That’s out of millions, though the account didn’t say how many exactly.In ESPN’s Tournament Challenge bracket game, only 22 perfect brackets out of more than 20 million filled out were still out there with eight first-round games left to play. ESPN had no perfect brackets entering the weekend last year.Victories by double-digit seeds Princeton, Penn State and Furman on Thursday did particular damage. Only 1.4% of ESPN’s brackets had all three teams making it out of the first round, and only 0.1% had them surviving the weekend.On CBS’ site, 0.0003% of brackets were perfect through the eight early Friday games, according to Jared Shanker, the network’s senior director of digital communications.___AP March Madness coverage: https://apnews.com/hu...

Mississippi State sends Creighton home from March Madness

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:30:51 GMT

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Jerkaila Jordan scored 20 and led No. 11 seed Mississippi State to an 81-66 win against No. 6 Creighton in the women’s NCAA Tournament on Friday night.Jessika Carter, the 6-5 Bulldog center, took advantage of the Bluejays’ undersized front court, with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Anastasia Hayes chipped in 12 points and seven assists. Ahlana Smith and Asianae Johnson each added 10 points. Lauren Jensen scored 22 points to lead Creighton (22-9), which made a run to the regional final last season. Emma Ronsiek scored 21 points, hitting 3 of 6 shots from beyond the arc.The Bulldogs picked up their second NCAA Tournament victory in coach Sam Purcell’s inaugural season. Mississippi State defeated Illinois in a First Four matchup on Wednesday.Mississippi State (23-10) will face No. 3 Notre Dame (26-5) in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday. The Fighting Irish are hosting first and second-round NCAA games this weekend.TURNING POINTDebreasha Powe hit back...